Luke 20:44 — ExegesisTAB

The verse opens with the nominative subject dauid {Δαυὶδ | Dau-íd} ‘David,’ marking him as the speaking psalmist whose words are being interpreted. It is followed by the inferential conjunction oun {οὖν | oûn} ‘therefore,’ which connects this line of reasoning to the prior citation of the psalm. The accusative pronoun auton {αὐτὸν | au-tòn} ‘him’ precedes the noun kyrion {κύριον | ký-ri-on} ‘lord,’ and together they form the object phrase of the verb kalei {καλεῖ | ka-leî} ‘calls,’ yielding the sense “David therefore calls him Lord.” The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí} ‘and’ then introduces an interrogative clause, beginning with the adverb pos {πῶς | pôs} ‘how,’ which signals a rhetorical question. Within this clause, the genitive pronoun autou {αὐτοῦ | au-toû} ‘of him’ modifies the nominative noun huios {υἱός | hui-ós} ‘son,’ while the copula estin {ἐστιν | é-stin} ‘is’ completes the thought: “and how is he his son?” The order places the object phrase auton kyrion before the verb, giving prominence to the designation “Lord,” and the ensuing question creates a tension between David’s acknowledgment of this figure’s superior lordship and the expectation of simple physical descent, a tension preserved in translation by maintaining the explicit contrast between “Lord” and “son.”