| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is built around the present middle participle diamartyromenos {διαμαρτυρόμενος | dia-marturó-menos} “testifying solemnly,” which functions as a circumstantial participle summarizing Paul’s ongoing ministry activity in this context. The dative plural nouns Ioudaiois {Ἰουδαίοις | Iou-daí-ois} “to Jews” and Hellesin {Ἕλλησιν | Hél-lē-sin} “to Greeks,” linked by the correlative te–kai {τε καί | te kaí}, highlight the comprehensive scope of his audience, embracing both Jewish and non-Jewish hearers. The object of this testifying is expressed in two coordinated accusative phrases: ten eis theon metanoian {τὴν εἰς θεὸν μετάνοιαν | tḕn eis the-ón me-tá-noi-an} “the repentance toward God” and pistin eis ton kyrion hēmon Iēsoun {πίστιν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν | pís-tin eis tón ký-ri-on hē-môn Iē-soûn} “faith toward our Lord Jesus.” In both cases, the preposition eis {εἰς | eis} with the accusative marks directed movement toward a personal object, underscoring that repentance and faith are not abstract qualities but relational responses to God and to the Lord Jesus. The single participial structure in Greek is rendered in English as a finite verbal idea (“Testifying,” “I have been solemnly declaring”) to make the sentence flow naturally while preserving the dual focus on repentance and faith and the parallelism between “toward God” and “toward our Lord Jesus.” |