τῆς

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τῆς

   tês

   of the
2. sentence🔊 ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐν Δαμασκῷ πρῶτόν τε καὶ Ἱεροσολύμοις πᾶσάν τε τὴν χώραν τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀπήγγελλον μετανοεῖν καὶ ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν ἄξια τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα πράσσοντας

   al-LA tois en da-mas-KÔ PRÔ-ton te kai hi-e-ro-so-LY-mois PA-san te tēn KHÔ-ran tês i-ou-da-I-as kai tois ETH-ne-sin a-PÊN-gel-lon me-ta-no-EIN kai e-pi-STRE-phein e-PI ton the-ON AX-ia tês me-ta-NOI-as ER-ga PRAS-son-tas

   but to the in Damascus first and and to Jerusalem all and the region of the Judea and to the nations I was announcing to repent and to turn back to the God worthy of repentance deeds doing

Exegesis

A series of dative phrases marks the recipients of his proclamation: tois en Damaskō {τοῖς ἐν Δαμασκῷ | toîs en Da-mas-kṓ} ‘to those in Damascus’, then Hierosolymois {Ἱεροσολύμοις | Hie-ro-so-lý-mois} ‘in Jerusalem’, followed by the expanded object pasan tēn chōran tēs Ioudaias {πᾶσάν τε τὴν χώραν τῆς Ἰουδαίας | pâ-san te tḕn khṓ-ran tês I-ou-daí-as} ‘all the region of Judea’, and finally tois ethnesin {τοῖς ἔθνεσιν | toîs éth-ne-sin} ‘to the nations, the Gentiles’.

The participial phrase axia tēs metanoias erga prassontas {ἄξια τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα πράσσοντας | áx-i-a tês meta-noí-as ér-ga prás-son-tas} functions circumstantially, describing how the hearers are to respond: by ‘doing works worthy of repentance’. The participle prassontas agrees with the implied people who repent and is rendered in English as a finite verb clause to make the sequence clear: their repentance must be evidenced by appropriate deeds. The English reconstructions preserve the progression from place to place, the ongoing nature of Paul’s preaching, the paired infinitives expressing the content of his message, and the requirement that genuine repentance produce observable works.

Root and etymology

ginōskō🔊 γινώσκωgamma–iota–nu–omega–sigma–kappa–omega

“to know, to come to know”

• 🔊 γνῶσιςgnōsisknowledgeRomans 2:20
• 🔊 ἐπίγνωσιςepignōsisfull knowledgeColossians 1:9