ἦν

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ἦν

   ÊN

   there was
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 ἦν δὲ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὅπου ἐσταυρώθη κῆπος,

   ÊN de en TÔI TO-poi HO-pou e-stau-RO-thê KÊ-pos

   now in the place where he was crucified there was garden
3. sentence🔊 ἦν δὲ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὅπου ἐσταυρώθη κῆπος, καὶ ἐν τῷ κήπῳ μνημεῖον καινόν, ἐν ᾧ οὐδέπω οὐδεὶς ⸂ἦν τεθειμένος⸃·

   ÊN de en TÔI TO-poi HO-pou e-stau-RO-thê KÊ-pos KAI en TÔI KÊ-poi mnê-MEI-on kai-NON en HÔI ou-DE-pô ou-DEIS ÊN te-thei-ME-nos

   now in the place where he was crucified there was garden and in the garden new tomb in in which no one had been not yet laid

Exegesis

The sentence opens with en de {ἦν δὲ | ēn de} “now there was,” an imperfective existential expression that marks a narrative transition and sets the scene.

The nominative kepos {κῆπος | kê-pos} “garden” functions as the subject of en {ἦν | ēn}, while the coordinated structure kai en tō kepō mnemeion kainon {καὶ ἐν τῷ κήπῳ μνημεῖον καινόν | kaí en tôi kḗpō mnēmeîon kainón} introduces a second prepositional phrase “and in the garden,” within which mnemeion kainon “new tomb” stands as a nominative subject, creating a layered spatial arrangement: place → garden → tomb.

The relative clause en ho oudepo oudeis en tetheimenos {ἐν ᾧ οὐδέπω οὐδεὶς ἦν τεθειμένος | en hôi oudé-pō oudéis ēn tetheiménos} “in which no one had yet been laid” further specifies the tomb. The combination of the imperfect auxiliary en with the perfect passive participle tetheimenos yields a periphrastic construction that emphasizes a resultant state of the tomb’s complete unusedness up to that moment. In translation, the sequence and nesting of locations are preserved (“in the place… there was a garden… in the garden a new tomb”), and the periphrastic construction is rendered with English past perfect (“had yet been laid” / “had ever been buried”) to reflect the continuing state implied in Greek.

Root and etymology

Magdala🔊 Μάγδαλαmu–alpha–gamma–delta–alpha–lambda–alpha

“tower”

• 🔊 מִגְדָּלmem–gimel–dalet–lamedtowerJoshua 19:38