| 36. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with egeneto {ἐγένετο | e-gé-ne-to} ‘it happened’ as the main verb, summarizing and concluding the preceding narrative actions. The postpositive conjunction gar {γὰρ | gar} links this statement logically to what has just been narrated, introducing an explanatory reason. The demonstrative tauta {ταῦτα | taû-ta} ‘these things’ functions as the subject of egeneto, gathering the preceding crucifixion details into a single complex event.
The conjunction hina {ἵνα | hína} introduces a purpose clause, marking divine intent behind the events. Within this clause, the articular noun phrase he graphe {ἡ γραφὴ | hē gra-phḗ} ‘the Scripture’ uses the article to signal a recognized body of sacred writings, and serves as the subject of the verb plerothe {πληρωθῇ | plē-rō-thêi} ‘might be fulfilled’. The aorist passive subjunctive indicates a divinely directed fulfillment viewed as a complete event, with the passive voice implying God as the ultimate agent.
The cited line ostoun ou suntribesetai autou {Ὀστοῦν οὐ συντριβήσεται αὐτοῦ | O-stoûn ou sun-tri-bḗ-se-tai au-toû} functions appositionally to explain the specific Scripture being fulfilled. Ostoun ‘bone’ appears in the nominative as the subject of the future passive verb suntribesetai ‘will be broken, will be crushed’, while autou ‘of Him’ is a genitive of possession referring to Jesus. The negative particle ou precedes the verb, giving strong denial in the future indicative: the breaking of His bones will not occur.
In translation, the hina clause is rendered with an explicit purpose construction (“so that…the Scripture might be fulfilled” / “to fulfill the Scripture”) to preserve the teleological force. The citation is formatted as direct speech in quotation marks to represent the embedded scriptural voice and to highlight the prophetic fulfillment motif, while maintaining the basic word relationships of subject, verb, and possessive genitive found in the Greek. |