John 19:25 — ExegesisTAB

The verse begins with the pluperfect verb heistekeisan {Εἱστήκεισαν | heis-tē-kei-san} ‘they were standing’, which in context functions as an intensive pluperfect, depicting a state of continued standing that extends into the present moment of the crucifixion scene. The postpositive conjunction de {δὲ | dè} links this description to the preceding narrative while slightly shifting focus to the bystanders. The prepositional phrase para tō staurō {παρὰ τῷ σταυρῷ | parà tôi staurô} specifies close physical proximity to the cross, with the genitive modifier tou Iesou {τοῦ Ἰησοῦ | toû Iē-soû} identifying it as the cross associated with Jesus. The subject is a series of nominative feminine noun phrases, each introduced or marked by the article hē {ἡ | hē}, beginning with hē mētēr autou {ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ | hē mḗtēr autou} ‘His mother’ and followed by hē adelphē tēs mētros autou {ἡ ἀδελφὴ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ | hē adelphē tês mḗtros autou} ‘the sister of His mother’. Appositional constructions then further define the women: Maria hē tou Klopa {Μαρία ἡ τοῦ Κλωπᾶ | Maria hē tou Klōpa} ‘Mary, the one of Clopas’ (understood as his wife) and kai Maria hē Magdalene {καὶ Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή | kai Maria hē Mag-dalēnḗ} ‘and Mary the Magdalene’. The repeated kai {καὶ | kaí} coordinates the series, and the pattern of article plus genitive (hē tou Klopa) and article plus epithet (hē Magdalene) serves to distinguish the different Marys. English rendering mirrors this syntactic layering by maintaining the sequence of nominative subjects and by expressing the genitive relationships with “His mother,” “His mother’s sister,” “the wife of Clopas,” and the descriptive title “Magdalene.”