| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with eipen {εἶπέν | eî-pen} ‘he said’, with the enclitic te {τε | te} linking this utterance to the preceding narrative. The prepositional phrase pros autous {πρὸς αὐτοὺς | pròs au-toús} ‘to them’ indicates the audience of Paul’s inquiry. The conditional particle Ei {Εἰ | Eî} introduces a direct question, where the object pneuma hagion {πνεῦμα ἅγιον | pnéu-ma há-gi-on} ‘Holy Spirit’ precedes elabete {ἐλάβετε | e-lá-be-te} ‘you received’ to place emphasis on the reception. The participle pisteusantes {πιστεύσαντες | pis-teú-san-tes} functions adverbially, ‘when you believed’. In the reply, hoi de {οἱ δὲ | hoi dè} ‘but they’ contrasts with Paul, and pros auton {πρὸς αὐτὸν | pròs au-tón} ‘to him’ shows the direction of their response. The adversative particles All {Ἀλλ’ | Áll’} and oud {οὐδ’ | oúd’} intensify the negative answer. The clause ei pneuma hagion estin {εἰ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐστιν | eî pnéu-ma há-gi-on é-stin} serves as an indirect question under ēkousamen {ἠκούσαμεν | ē-koú-sa-men} ‘we heard’, rendered in English to convey uncertainty about the existence of the Spirit. |