| 35. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the future middle verb diakousomai {Διακούσομαί | Diakoúsomai} ‘I will hear’, fronted before the narrative verb to emphasize the governor’s promise of a future judicial session. The genitive pronoun sou {σου | sou} depends on this verb, marking the person whose case will be heard. The narrative frame ephē {ἔφη | éphē} ‘he said’ then introduces direct speech, which is followed by a temporal clause introduced by hotan {ὅταν | hótan} ‘whenever/when’. This clause contains the subject–verb unit hoi katēgoroi sou paragenōntai {οἱ κατήγοροί σου παραγένωνται | hoi katḗgoroi sou paragenṓntai} ‘your accusers arrive’, with the subjunctive paragenōntai governed by hotan to indicate a future, yet contingent, time.
After the reported promise, the aorist participle keleusas {κελεύσας | keleúsas} ‘having commanded’ introduces a participial clause that is syntactically tied to the same subject (“he”), describing an action subsequent to his speech. This participle governs the infinitive phulassesthai {φυλάσσεσθαι | phylássesthai} ‘to be guarded’, with auton {αὐτόν | autón} as its object, expressing an indirect command construction (“he ordered him to be guarded”). The prepositional phrase en tō praitōriō tou Hērōidou {ἐν τῷ πραιτωρίῳ τοῦ Ἡρῴδου | en tō praitōriō tou Hērōidou} specifies the location of custody: the praetorium associated with Herod.
In translation, the temporal hotan-clause is rendered as “when/once your accusers arrive/get here” to preserve its future contingency in natural English. The participle–infinitive structure (keleusas … phulassesthai) is converted into the finite clause “he ordered that he be kept/guarded,” a common way in English to represent Greek indirect commands. The phrase en tō praitōriō is kept explicitly as “praetorium” in the more formal rendering for historical precision and as “headquarters” in the dynamic rendering for contemporary clarity, while maintaining the link to Herod through the genitive construction. |