| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence opens with the narrative verb ephē {ἔφη | é-phē} followed by the enclitic conjunction te {τε | te}, forming a typical discourse tag “and he said,” with the explicit subject ho Paulos {ὁ Παῦλος | ho Paû-los} following for clarity and emphasis on the speaker. The clause Ouk ēidein, adelphoi {Οὐκ ᾔδειν, ἀδελφοί | Oûk ēi-dein, a-del-phoí} places the negated first person verb “I did not know” before the vocative “brothers,” presenting Paul’s confession of ignorance and his fraternal appeal together. The content clause hoti estin archiereus {ὅτι ἐστὶν ἀρχιερεύς | hó-ti es-tín ar-khi-e-reús} is introduced by hoti, marking what Paul did not know, and identifies the unnamed “he” as the high priest. The appeal to Scripture begins with gegraptai gar {γέγραπται γὰρ | gé-grap-tai gár}, an impersonal perfect passive “it stands written,” where gar provides the rationale for Paul’s response by grounding it in authoritative written revelation. A second hoti introduces the cited command: hoti Archonta tou laou sou ouk ereis kakōs {ὅτι Ἄρχοντα τοῦ λαοῦ σου οὐκ ἐρεῖς κακῶς | hó-ti Ár-khon-ta toû la-oû sou oûk e-reîs ka-kôs}. Within this quotation, the object Archonta {Ἄρχοντα | Ár-khon-ta} is fronted before the rest of the clause for focus, highlighting the dignity of the “ruler.” The genitive phrase tou laou sou {τοῦ λαοῦ σου | toû la-oû soû} specifies that this is a ruler belonging to “your people,” reinforcing an in-group covenant responsibility. The future indicative ereis {ἐρεῖς | e-reîs} functions as a prohibitive command (“you shall not speak”), and the adverb kakōs {κακῶς | ka-kôs} characterizes the forbidden speech as morally wrong. In English, direct speech markers and punctuation are used to distinguish Paul’s words from the embedded Scripture citation, while maintaining the logical flow from Paul’s explanation to the scriptural justification. |