| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the plural noun dynamis {Δυνάμεις | dý-na-meis} functioning as the subject and fronted for emphasis, highlighting the “powers” or “miracles” themselves. It is followed by the enclitic conjunction te {τε | te}, which links this statement to the surrounding narrative with a mild “and/also” force. The sequence ou tas tychousas {οὐ τὰς τυχούσας | ou tàs ty-khóu-sas} is a negated articular participial phrase modifying dynamis, literally “not the happenings” or “not the usual ones,” an idiom meaning “not ordinary.” The main clause centers on ho Theos epoiei {ὁ θεὸς ἐποίει | ho the-ós e-poí-ei}, where ho Theos is the explicit subject and epoiei, an imperfect indicative, portrays ongoing or repeated action in the past, suggesting a sustained period during which these miracles were taking place. The prepositional phrase dia ton kheiron Paulou {διὰ τῶν χειρῶν Παύλου | di-à tôn khei-rôn Paú-lou} uses dia with the genitive to express means or agency “through the hands of Paul,” with the genitive chain ton kheiron Paulou indicating that Paul’s hands are the instrumental channel of divine activity. In translation, the fronted subject “powers/miracles” is brought into a more typical English position after the verb to maintain natural syntax, while the idiom “not the usual” is rendered as “not ordinary” or “extraordinary” to convey the qualitative contrast implied by the participle tychousas. |