οἱ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 οἱ

   hoi

   the {ones}
2. sentence🔊 οἱ δὲ ἤνεγκαν καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς Τίνος ἡ εἰκὼν αὕτη καὶ ἡ ἐπιγραφή οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτῷ Καίσαρος

   hoi de Ê-nen-gan kai LE-gei au-TOIS TI-nos hê ei-KÔN HAU-tê kai hê e-pi-gra-PHÊ hoi de EI-pan au-TÔI KAI-sa-ros

   the {ones} and brought and he says to them whose the image this and the inscription the {ones} and they said to him of Caesar

Exegesis

The verse begins with the subject-particle combination hoi de {οἱ δὲ | hoí dè} functioning as a nominative substantive “they,” followed by the aorist verb ēnenkan {ἤνεγκαν | ḗ-nen-kan} to narrate the completed action “brought.”

The second clause, hoi de eipan {οἱ δὲ εἶπαν | hoí dè eî-pan}, again uses hoi as a substantive subject, with the aorist eipan “they said” marking the responsive reply, followed by the indirect object autō {αὐτῷ | au-tôi} “to Him” and the concise genitive answer Kaisaros {Καίσαρος | Kaí-sa-ros} “of Caesar,” which completes the elliptical structure “it is Caesar’s.” In translation, the historical present legei is rendered as a simple past (“said” / “asked”) for natural English narrative flow, while the interrogative structure is preserved by placing “Whose” at the head of the question and retaining the two coordinated elements “image” and “inscription” (or “picture” and “writing”) to reflect the dual description in Greek.

Root and etymology

Sadok🔊 צדוקtsade–dalet–vav–qof

“Zadok, righteous one”

• 🔊 ΣαδώκSadokZadok the priest1 Kings 1:34
• 🔊 ΣαδδουκαῖοιSaddoukaioiSadduceesActs 5:17