| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the conditional framework kai ei mē {καὶ εἰ μὴ | kaí ei mē}, introducing a counterfactual scenario whose apodosis is marked by ouk an esōthē {οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη | ouk an esṓthē}, a combination of the negative particle, the modal particle an, and the aorist passive indicative that together express “would not have been saved.” The subject pasa sarx {πᾶσα σάρξ | pâsa sárx} is a Semitic-style universal expression meaning all humanity, here represented by “no flesh” in the formal and “no person” in the dynamic rendering. The main verb ekolobosen {ἐκολόβωσεν | ekolóbōsen} with kyrios {κύριος | ký-rios} as its implied subject describes decisive divine intervention in history by “cutting short” the days, referring to a period of tribulation indicated by the repeated object tas hēmeras {τὰς ἡμέρας | tàs hē-mé-ras}. The adversative alla {ἀλλὰ | allà} introduces the motive clause dia tous eklektous {διὰ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς | diá toùs eklektoús}, “because of the elect,” further specified by the relative clause hous exelexato {οὓς ἐξελέξατο | hoús exelÉxato}, which grounds their status in God’s prior choice. The repetition of ekolobosen {ἐκολόβωσεν | ekolóbōsen} at the end forms a rhetorical inclusio around the verse and highlights that the shortening of the days is both the means and the outcome of the Lord’s protective action for the elect. In translation, the conditional structure is preserved (“if… had not… no… would have”), while the idiom “all flesh” is rendered more transparently in the dynamic version, and the causal “because of/for the sake of” is maintained to show that the elect are the reason for this intervention. |