| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with two circumstantial participles, dianoigon {διανοίγων | dia-noí-gōn} ‘explaining thoroughly’ and paratithemenos {παρατιθέμενος | pa-ra-ti-thé-me-nos} ‘setting forth’, which describe the manner of Paul’s reasoning in the synagogue. These participles govern two hoti-clauses that express the doctrinal content of his explanation. The first clause, hoti ton christon edei pathein kai anastēnai ek nekrōn {ὅτι τὸν χριστὸν ἔδει παθεῖν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν | hó-ti tón khri-stón é-dei pa-theîn kaì a-na-stē-nai ek ne-krôn}, combines the impersonal verb edei ‘it was necessary’ with a pair of complementary aorist infinitives, pathein ‘to suffer’ and anastēnai ‘to rise’, framing Messiah’s suffering and resurrection as a divinely ordained necessity. The prepositional phrase ek nekrōn ‘from the dead ones’ specifies the realm out of which the rising occurs, underscoring bodily resurrection.
The second hoti-clause, hoti houtos estin ho christos ho Iesous {ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός ὁ Ἰησοῦς | hó-ti hou-tós es-tin ho khri-stós ho Iē-soûs}, uses the demonstrative houtos ‘this one’ in a presentational sense, equating the proclaimed historical Jesus with the awaited Christ. The apposition ho christos ho Iesous places the title ‘the Christ’ before the personal name ‘Jesus’ for emphasis. The relative clause hon egō katangellō hymin {ὃν ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν | hon e-gṓ ka-tang-gél-lō hy-mîn} adds focus on Paul’s own proclamation through the explicit egō ‘I’. In translation, the participial phrase is rendered as an introductory finite clause to maintain natural English word order, while the two hoti-clauses are kept as “that”-clauses to preserve the tight logical link between explanation and its christological content. |