Ἑλληνιστί⸃

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 Ἑλληνιστί⸃

   hel-lê-nis-TI

   in Greek
2. clause🔊 καὶ ἦν γεγραμμένον Ἑβραϊστί, ⸂Ῥωμαϊστί, Ἑλληνιστί⸃

   KAI ÊN ye-gram-ME-non he-bra-i-STI RHÔ-ma-i-STI hel-lê-nis-TI

   and was written in Hebrew in Latin in Greek
3. sentence🔊 τοῦτον οὖν τὸν τίτλον πολλοὶ ἀνέγνωσαν τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἦν ὁ τόπος τῆς πόλεως ὅπου ἐσταυρώθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς· καὶ ἦν γεγραμμένον Ἑβραϊστί, ⸂Ῥωμαϊστί, Ἑλληνιστί⸃

   TOU-ton OUN TON TI-tlon pol-LOI a-NEG-nō-san TÔN i-ou-DAI-ŌN HO-ti eng-GYS ÊN HO TO-pos TÊS PO-le-ōs HO-pou e-stau-RŌ-thē HO ee-ay-SOOS KAI ÊN ye-gram-ME-non he-bra-i-STI RHÔ-ma-i-STI hel-lê-nis-TI

   therefore many of the Jews read this the inscription because the place of the city where {the} Jesus was crucified was near and was written in Hebrew in Latin in Greek

Exegesis

A causal subclause introduced by hoti {ὅτι | hó-ti} explains why many could read it: engys ēn ho topos tēs poleōs {ἐγγὺς ἦν ὁ τόπος τῆς πόλεως | eng-gýs ēn ho tó-pos tēs pó-le-ōs} uses the adverb engys “near” with the copula to describe the proximity of “the place of the city.”

A coordinated clause follows with kai ēn gegrammenon {καὶ ἦν γεγραμμένον | kai ēn ge-gram-mé-non}, a periphrastic construction combining the imperfect of “to be” with a perfect passive participle, emphasizing the continuing state “and it stood written.”

The three adverbs Hebraisti, Rhōmaisti, Hellēnisti {Ἑβραϊστί Ῥωμαϊστί Ἑλληνιστί | He-bra-is-tí Rhō-ma-is-tí Hel-lē-nis-tí} function as adverbial modifiers indicating the languages in which the inscription was presented. In translation, the causal relationship introduced by hoti is rendered with “because/since,” and the periphrastic “was having been written” is simplified to “was written,” while maintaining the focus on the multilingual, publicly accessible nature of the crucifixion notice.