| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the subject-predicate sequence polloi eleusontai {πολλοὶ ἐλεύσονται | polloì eléusontai} ‘many will come,’ using the future middle to portray a definite but still future intrusion of these figures. The prepositional phrase epi tō onomati mou {ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου | epì tō̂ onómatí moû} uses epi with the dative to indicate basis or sphere, depicting people arriving “on” or “in connection with” the name and thus the authority and reputation of Jesus. The circumstantial participle legontes {λέγοντες | légontes} ‘saying’ is nominative masculine plural and agrees with polloi, introducing the content of their claim via the conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hóti}, which marks indirect discourse: egō eimi {Ἐγώ εἰμι | Egṓ eimí} ‘I am.’ The use of the emphatic pronoun egō heightens the pretension of these claimants, echoing patterns of self-identification that properly belong to the true Christ. The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí} links the content of their claim with its effect, forming a compound predicate: they will come claiming a false identity and they will also deceive. The verb planēsousin {πλανήσουσιν | planḗsousin} governs the object pollous {πολλοὺς | polloús} ‘many,’ creating a parallel between the many deceivers and the many deceived. In translation, this structure is preserved by maintaining a single main clause with coordinated verbs (“will come … and they will deceive / mislead”) and by keeping the indirect discourse in quoted form to highlight the audacity of the claim. |