ἐπάρατοί

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ἐπάρατοί

   e-pa-ra-TOI

   accursed
2. sentence🔊 ἀλλὰ ὁ ὄχλος οὗτος ὁ μὴ γινώσκων τὸν νόμον ἐπάρατοί εἰσιν

   al-LA ho O-khlos OO-tos ho MÊ gi-NO-skon ton NO-mon e-pa-ra-TOI EI-sin

   but this {the} crowd {the} not knowing {the} law are accursed

Exegesis

The predicate adjective construction ἐπάρατοί εἰσιν {ἐπάρατοί εἰσιν | epá-ra-toi eî-sin} ‘they are accursed’ uses a nominative plural adjective with the copula to make a strong evaluative, almost judicial, pronouncement about the crowd’s status. The syntax thus moves from contrast (alla) to identification (articular noun with demonstrative, plus attributive participle) to verdict (predicate adjective), giving rhetorical weight to the leaders’ contempt. In translation, the formal rendering preserves the explicit apposition (“this crowd, the ones not knowing the law”) to mirror the Greek structure and highlight the descriptive force of the participle, while the dynamic rendering turns the participial phrase into a relative clause (“who do not understand the law”) to sound natural in contemporary English but still convey continuous lack of comprehension. The predicate adjective is rendered as “are accursed” in formal and “are under a curse” in dynamic to preserve the judicial nuance while varying idiom.