| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with Krispos {Κρίσπος | Krís-pos} as the nominative subject, immediately followed by the connective de {δὲ | dè}, which signals a new step in the narrative while loosely linking it with what precedes. The definite article ho {ὁ | ho} plus archisynagogos {ἀρχισυνάγωγος | ar-khi-su-NÁ-go-gos} forms a noun phrase “the ruler of the synagogue,” foregrounding Crispus’s official status. The aorist verb episteusen {ἐπίστευσεν | e-PÍ-steu-sen} presents his believing as a decisive, completed act. The dative kuriō {κυρίῳ | ku-RÍ-ō} functions as the dative of personal object after episteusen, idiomatically rendered “believed in the Lord,” indicating the Lord as the one in whom faith is placed. The preposition syn {σὺν | sún} with holōi tō oikō autou {ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ | HÓ-lō tô OÍ-kō au-TÚ} marks close accompaniment, expressing that the entire household shares in Crispus’s act of faith. A coordinated clause follows with polloi {πολλοὶ | pol-LOI} as a new nominative subject, further specified by the genitive tôn Korinthiōn {τῶν Κορινθίων | tôn ko-rin-THÍ-ōn}, yielding “many of the Corinthians.” The participle akouontes {ἀκούοντες | a-KÚ-on-tes} is circumstantial, most naturally temporal (“as they were hearing”), and it precedes the main imperfect verbs episteuon {ἐπίστευον | e-PÍ-steu-on} and ebaptizonto {ἐβαπτίζοντο | e-bap-TÍ-zon-to}. These two imperfects depict an ongoing or iterative pattern: as the Corinthians continued to hear the message, they were repeatedly coming to faith and undergoing baptism. The sequence—Crispus’s decisive belief with his household, followed by the continuing response of many Corinthians—creates a narrative flow that moves from a representative leader’s conversion to a broader communal movement. |