ὁ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ὁ

   ho

   {the}
2. clause🔊 ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Πιλᾶτος·

   a-pe-KRI-thê ho pi-LA-tos

   {the} Pilate answered
3. sentence🔊 ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Πιλᾶτος· Ὃ γέγραφα γέγραφα.

   a-pe-KRI-thê ho pi-LA-tos HO YE-gra-pha YE-gra-pha

   {the} Pilate answered What I have written I have written

Exegesis

The article ho with Pilatos {ὁ Πιλᾶτος | ho Pilâtos} forms a simple subject noun phrase, explicitly marking Pilate as the speaker.

The relative pronoun ho {Ὃ | hó} ‘what, that which’ functions as a relative introducing an internal object clause that serves as the direct object of the verb gegrapha {γέγραφα | gégrapha} ‘I have written’. The perfect tense form gegrapha, repeated twice, carries the sense of a completed action with present results, underlining both the fact that the inscription has already been written and that its effect or status continues. The repetition “gegrapha gegrapha” structures the sentence chiastically around the relative clause (“What I have written, I have written”), creating a terse, emphatic assertion of finality. In English, the formal translation preserves the repetition and relative-clause structure to mirror the rhetorical impact. The dynamic rendering slightly reshapes the second clause (“will remain as it is”) to make explicit the enduring consequence implied by the Greek perfect and by the emphatic repetition, while still reflecting the decisive, juridical tone of Pilate’s statement.

Root and etymology

Latin Pilatus🔊 Πιλᾶτοςpi–iota–lambda–alpha–tau–omicron–sigma

“armed with a javelin”