ἄξια

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ἄξια

   AX-ia

   worthy
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

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.