| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse strings together three imperfect verbs—ērchonto {ἤρχοντο | ḗr-khon-to} “they were coming,” elegon {ἔλεγον | é-le-gon} “they were saying,” and edidosan {ἐδίδοσαν | e-dí-do-san} “they were giving”—to depict repeated, ongoing actions rather than a single moment, conveying a continuous cycle of approach, mockery, and abuse. The prepositional phrase pros auton {πρὸς αὐτόν | prós au-tón} identifies Jesus as the constant target of these actions, while the imperative khaire {Χαῖρε | khaî-re} functions as a formal greeting twisted into ridicule. The title ho basileus tōn Ioudaiōn {ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | ho ba-si-leús tōn I-ou-daí-ōn} stands in apposition to the greeting, making the salutation itself a mock coronation formula. The final clause with rhapsimata {ῥαπίσματα | rhap-ís-ma-ta} “slaps” specifies the kind of violence, emphasizing open-handed blows that humiliate as well as harm. In translation, the repeated “were coming,” “were saying,” and “were giving” in the formal rendering, and “kept approaching” and “kept slapping” in the dynamic rendering, aim to carry over the iterative force of the imperfects and the cumulative sense of derision directed at Jesus. |