John 20:15 — ExegesisTAB

The narrative opens with the historical present legei {λέγει | lé-gei} ‘says’ followed by the indirect object autē {αὐτῇ | au-tē̂} ‘to her’ and the subject Iesous {Ἰησοῦς | Iē-soûs} ‘Jesus’, a common Greek arrangement smoothed into English while retaining immediacy. The direct address Gynai {Γύναι | Gý-nai} ‘woman’ marks respect and emotional distance, so it is preserved. The paired questions ti klaieis {τί κλαίεις | tí klái-eis} ‘why are you weeping?’ and tina zeteis {τίνα ζητεῖς | tí-na zē-teîs} ‘whom are you seeking?’ form a balanced interrogation: the first probes grief, the second probes the search motif. The participial clause ekeine dokousa hoti ho kepouros estin {ἐκείνη δοκοῦσα ὅτι ὁ κηπουρός ἐστιν | e-keí-nē do-koû-sa hó-ti ho kē-pou-rós é-stin} ‘she supposing that he is the gardener’ creates dramatic irony, since the reader knows the identity she does not. The second speech frame legei autō {λέγει αὐτῷ | lé-gei au-tôi} ‘says to him’ again uses the historical present, but English benefits from past-tense narration for completed actions. The conditional clause ei sy ebastasas auton {εἰ σὺ ἐβάστασας αὐτόν | ei sý e-bás-ta-sas au-tón} ‘if you carried him’ introduces a hypothetical, followed by the imperative eipe moi {εἰπέ μοι | ei-pé moi} ‘tell me’ and the interrogative pou ethēkas auton {ποῦ ἔθηκας αὐτόν | poû é-thē-kas au-tón} ‘where you laid him’, which preserve urgency. The closing clause kago auton arō {κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἀρῶ | ka-gṓ au-tòn a-rō̂} ‘and I will lift him up’ combines coordination with first-person future resolve, making her promise emphatic. The structure thus moves from questioning to mistaken supposition to determined resolve in a compact dialogue.