κατηγορεῖν

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 κατηγορεῖν

   ka-tê-go-REIN

   to accuse
2. sentence🔊 ἀντιλεγόντων δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἠναγκάσθην ἐπικαλέσασθαι Καίσαρα οὐχ ὡς τοῦ ἔθνους μου ἔχων τι κατηγορεῖν

   an-ti-le-GON-tōn de tōn i-ou-dai-ŌN ê-naŋ-KA-sthēn e-pi-ka-LE-sa-sthai KAI-sa-ra oukh hōs tou E-thnous mou E-khōn ti ka-tê-go-REIN

   objecting but of the Jews I was compelled to appeal Caesar not as if of the nation my having something to accuse

Exegesis

The negative adverbial clause oukh hōs tou ethnous mou ekhōn ti katēgorein {οὐχ ὡς τοῦ ἔθνους μου ἔχων τι κατηγορεῖν | oukh hōs tou éthnous mou échōn ti katēgoreîn} qualifies the manner or motive of the appeal: “not as having anything to accuse my nation of.”

Here, ekhōn {ἔχων | échōn} is a circumstantial participle linked conceptually to the subject of the main verb, and katēgorein {κατηγορεῖν | katēgoreîn} is an infinitive dependent on “having,” forming the idiom “to have something to accuse.” In translation, the genitive absolute is rendered with a temporal-causal clause (“when the Jews opposed me” / “because the Jewish leaders objected”) to make the relationship explicit, and the negated adverbial clause is conveyed with “not as though” / “not doing this to” to preserve the emphasis on Paul’s lack of hostile intent toward his own people.

Root and etymology

katēgoreō🔊 κατηγορέωkappa–alpha–tau–eta–gamma–omicron–rho–epsilon–omega

“to accuse publicly, bring charges”

• 🔊 κατήγοροςkappa–alpha–tau–eta–gamma–omicron–rho–omicron–sigmaaccuserRevelation 12:10