τοῦ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τοῦ

   TOU

   than the
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἀπόστολος μείζων τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν.

   OUK ES-tin DOU-los MEI-zōn TOU ky-REE-ou au-TOU ou-DE a-PO-sto-los MEI-zōn TOU PEMP-san-tos au-TON

   a servant is not greater his than the Lord nor a messenger greater the one who sent him
3. sentence🔊 ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἀπόστολος μείζων τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν.

   a-MÊN a-MÊN LE-gō hy-MEEN OUK ES-tin DOU-los MEI-zōn TOU ky-REE-ou au-TOU ou-DE a-PO-sto-los MEI-zōn TOU PEMP-san-tos au-TON

   truly truly I say to you a servant is not greater his than the Lord nor a messenger greater the one who sent him

Exegesis

The core assertion is a negative copular clause ouk estin {οὐκ ἔστιν | ouk éstin} ‘is not’, followed by a comparative predicate in which doulos {δοῦλος | doûlos} ‘slave’ is evaluated as meizōn {μείζων | meízōn} ‘greater’ than tou kyriou autou {τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ | toû kyríou autoû} ‘his master’.

The coordinating particle oude {οὐδὲ | oudé} ‘nor’ introduces a parallel comparison: apostolos {ἀπόστολος | apóstolos} ‘envoy’ is also evaluated as meizōn compared with tou pempsantos auton {τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν | toû pémp-santos autón} ‘the one who sent him’. This proverb-like parallelism highlights the hierarchy of service. In translation, the formal reconstruction uses “greater” to reflect the comparative form, while the dynamic reconstruction employs “above” for a natural expression of status.