| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with ouai {οὐαί | ouaí} ‘woe’, a prophetic lament formula that frames the whole saying as a warning of coming misery. The paired dative phrases tais en gastri echousais {ταῖς ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσαις | taîs en gastrí ekhóusais} and tais thelazousais {ταῖς θηλαζούσαις | taîs thēlazoúsais} are substantival participial groups, so the women in view are named by condition rather than by a finite verb. En ekeinais tais hemerais {ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις | en ekeínais taîs hēmérais} supplies the temporal setting and pushes the warning into a specific future crisis. Estai gar {ἔσται γὰρ | éstai gar} introduces the explanation, making the next clause the reason for the woe. Ananke megalē {ἀνάγκη μεγάλη | anánkē megálē} functions as the nominative subject of the future existential clause, presenting the coming pressure as overwhelming and inescapable, while epi tes ges {ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς | epí tēs gēs} marks the sphere affected. The final clause kai orge tō lao toutō {καὶ ὀργὴ τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ | kaí orgḗ tō laō toútō} adds a second coordinated judgment, balancing the land and the people as twin targets of disaster. The English renderings smooth the idiom of the dative participles while preserving the causal gar relation and the parallel outcomes. |