σκέλη,

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 σκέλη,

   SKE-lê

   legs
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 οὐ κατέαξαν αὐτοῦ τὰ σκέλη,

   ou ka-TE-ak-san au-TOU ta SKE-lê

   not broke his the legs
3. sentence🔊 ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐλθόντες, ὡς εἶδον ⸂ἤδη αὐτὸν⸃ τεθνηκότα, οὐ κατέαξαν αὐτοῦ τὰ σκέλη,

   e-PEE de ton ee-ay-SOON el-THON-tes hōs EE-don Ê-dê au-TON te-thnê-KO-ta ou ka-TE-ak-san au-TOU ta SKE-lê

   but having come to {the} Jesus when they saw already him dead not broke his the legs

Exegesis

The negated verb ou kateaxan {οὐ κατέαξαν | ou katéaxan} “they did not break” follows, with the genitive autou {αὐτοῦ | autoû} “of Him” and the accusative object ta skele {τὰ σκέλη | tà skélē} “the legs,” yielding “they did not break His legs.” The Greek word order places the observation of Jesus’ death before the negated action, highlighting that the certainty of His death is the explicit reason the soldiers refrain from breaking His legs. In English, the participial and temporal sequence is rendered with a finite verb and a temporal clause (“when they came … and saw”), preserving the causal and temporal flow while providing natural narrative style.

Root and etymology

skelos🔊 σκέλοςsigma–kappa–epsilon–lambda–omicron–sigma

“leg, limb”

• 🔊 μονόσκεληςmu–omicron–nu–omicron–sigma–kappa–epsilon–lambda–epsilon–sigmaone-leggedpost-biblical Greek
• 🔊 σκέλοςsigma–kappa–epsilon–lambda–omicron–sigmalegconceptually parallel to bodily limbs in Hebrews 12:13