| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The present indicative ekho {ἔχω | é-khō} ‘I have’ opens with a declaration of possession, and the postpositive conjunction gar {γὰρ | gàr} ‘for’ introduces the reason. The numeral pente {πέντε | pén-te} ‘five’ quantifies the noun adelphous {ἀδελφούς | a-del-phoús} ‘brothers.’ A nested purpose clause begins with hopos {ὅπως | hó-pōs} ‘so that,’ taking the aorist middle subjunctive diamartyrētai {διαμαρτύρηται | di-a-már-ty-rē-tai} ‘he may testify’ with its dative indirect object autois {αὐτοῖς | au-toîs} ‘to them,’ highlighting a formal attestation. A second purpose clause introduced by hina {ἵνα | hí-na} ‘so that’ governs the aorist active subjunctive elthōsin {ἔλθωσιν | él-thō-sin} ‘they may come,’ negated by the particle mē {μὴ | mḕ} ‘not’ and emphasized by kai {καὶ | kaì} ‘also’ plus autoi {αὐτοὶ | au-toì} ‘they themselves.’ The prepositional phrase eis ton topon touton {εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον | eis tòn tó-pon toû-ton} ‘into this place’ specifies the goal, and the descriptive genitive tēs basanou {τῆς βασάνου | tēs ba-sá-nou} ‘of torment’ defines its character. The layered double-purpose structure underscores the speaker’s strategy to secure a solemn warning that will prevent his brothers from suffering the same fate. |