John 19:33 — ExegesisTAB

The sentence forms a single narrative unit that shifts focus to Jesus through the prepositional phrase epi de ton Iesoun {ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν | epì dè tòn Iē-soûn}, in which epi with the accusative indicates movement “toward” or “up to” Him. The participle elthontes {ἐλθόντες | elthóntes} “having come” stands at the head of the clause and is linked with the temporal conjunction hos {ὡς | hōs} “when,” producing a temporal participial construction: “when they had come.” The main finite verb of perception is eidon {εἶδον | eîdon} “they saw,” which governs the object clause introduced implicitly, describing what they perceived about Jesus. This perceived state is expressed by the perfect participle tethnekota {τεθνηκότα | tethnēkóta} “having died,” modified by the adverb ede {ἤδη | ḗdē} “already,” emphasizing a death that is both completed and still in effect at that moment. 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.