| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conditional particle ean {ἐὰν | eàn} introducing a present general-style condition, followed immediately by the adverb–genitive sequence heptakis tēs hēmeras {ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας | hep-tá-kis tês hēméras} “seven times in the day.” Fronting this frequency phrase before the verb hamartē {ἁμάρτῃ | ha-már-tē} heightens the emphasis on repeated offense within a single day. The subjunctive hamartē, together with ean, forms the protasis, with the prepositional phrase eis se {εἰς σέ | eis sé} specifying the person against whom the sin is directed. The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaì} then links a parallel clause, again marked by heptakis modifying the subjunctive epistrepsē {ἐπιστρέψῃ | e-pi-strép-sē}, “he should turn,” which portrays repeated relational return toward the offended party, expressed by pros se {πρός σέ | prós sé}. The participle legōn {λέγων | lég-ōn} functions circumstantially, introducing the reported speech Μετανοῶ {Μετανοῶ | me-ta-no-ô} “I repent” as the content accompanying each return. The apodosis consists of the future indicative aphēseis {ἀφήσεις | a-phḗ-seis}, which in this conditional context carries an imperatival force: the hearer is obligated to forgive. The overall syntactic pattern—conditional protasis with repeated-subjunctive actions followed by a singular future indicative—highlights a contrast between potentially numerous offenses and the single, consistent response of mandated forgiveness, which is maintained in translation by using “should” for the subjunctives and a deontic “shall/must” for aphēseis. |