| 44. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaì} ‘and’, linking two parallel future clauses introduced by the verbs edaphiousin {ἐδαφιοῦσίν | edaphioûsín} ‘they will level’ and aphesousin {ἀφήσουσιν | aphḗsousin} ‘they will leave’. In the first clause the direct object se {σε | se} ‘you’ and the accusative phrase ta tekna sou {τὰ τέκνα σου | tà tékna sou} ‘your children’ precede the locative prepositional phrase en soi {ἐν σοί | en soí} ‘within you’, highlighting the internal scope of the judgment. The second clause’s idiomatic expression lithon epi lithon {λίθον ἐπὶ λίθον | líthon epì líthon} ‘stone upon stone’ intensifies the completeness of the destruction, with repetition of en soi reinforcing its internal occurrence. The causal phrase anth hon {ἀνθʼ ὧν | anth hō̂n} ‘because of which’ introduces the reason clause, where the negated aorist verb egnōs {ἔγνως | égnōs} ‘you recognized’ governs the object phrase ton kairon tēs episkopēs sou {τὸν καιρόν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς σου | tòn kairón tēs episkopḗs sou} ‘the time of your visitation’, with kairos indicating an appointed, critical moment and episkopēs denoting a deliberate visitation personalized by the genitive pronoun sou. |