| 32. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is a single clause with a compound subject Ioudas {Ἰούδας | Ioú-das} and Silas {Σιλᾶς | Si-lâs}, linked by the correlative particle te {τέ | té} and the conjunction kai {καί | kaí}, giving the sense of both persons together. The phrase kai autoi prophetai ontes {καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες | kaí au-toí pro-phê-tai ón-tes} is an intensive participial construction indicating that these men are indeed prophets, with the present participle ontes providing descriptive background. The prepositional phrase dia logou pollou {διὰ λόγου πολλοῦ | di-â ló-gou pol-loû} expresses means, denoting their ministry through abundant speech. The aorist verbs parekalesan {παρεκάλεσαν | pa-re-ká-le-san} and epesterisan {ἐπεστήρισαν | e-pe-stḗ-ri-san}, connected by kai, respectively describe their completed acts of encouragement and of strengthening the community. In translation, the participial phrase is formally rendered as who themselves were prophets, and the idiom dia logou pollou is rendered formally as with many words and dynamically as spoke at length, both aiming to convey sustained verbal ministry that builds up the believers. |