| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is arranged as two coordinated future scenes. The opening noun chain σεισμοί τε μεγάλοι καὶ κατὰ τόπους λιμοὶ καὶ λοιμοὶ {seismoi te megaloi kai kata topous limoi kai loimoi | seis-moí te me-gá-loi ka-tà tó-pous li-moí kai loi-moí} piles up disasters before the first finite verb appears, creating a prophetic catalogue. The distributive phrase κατὰ τόπους {kata topous | ka-tà tó-pous} limits the famines and pestilences to scattered locations rather than one region. The future verb ἔσονται {esontai | É-son-tai} governs that first cluster, marking the events as certain future occurrences. The second half, φόβητρά τε καὶ σημεῖα ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ μεγάλα ἔσται {phobetra te kai semeia ap’ ouranou megala estai | phó-bē-tra te kai se-meî-a ap ou-ra-noû me-gá-la é-stai}, mirrors the first but shifts from earthly affliction to heavenly phenomena. The neuter plural subjects φόβητρά and σημεῖα {phobetra and semeia | phó-bē-tra and se-meî-a} take the singular ἔσται {estai | É-stai}, a normal Greek agreement pattern that still keeps them tightly bound as a single visionary set. The final placement of μεγάλα {megala | me-gá-la} after ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ {ap’ ouranou | ap ou-ra-noû} adds emphasis, so the verse ends by stressing the extraordinary scale of the signs. |