τί

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τί

   TI

   what
2. sentence🔊 καὶ πάλιν ἐλθὼν εὗρεν αὐτοὺς καθεύδοντας ἦσαν γὰρ αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ καταβαρυνόμενοι καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν τί ἀποκριθῶσιν αὐτῷ

   kai PA-lin el-THŌN HEU-ren au-TOUS ka-THEU-don-tas Ê-san gar au-TÔN hoi oph-thal-MOI ka-ta-ba-ry-NO-me-noi kai ouk Êi-dei-san TI a-po-kri-THÔ-sin au-TÔI

   and again having come he found them sleeping they were for of them the eyes being weighed down and not they knew what they should answer to him

Exegesis

The final clause kai ouk edeisan ti apokrithosin auto {καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν τί ἀποκριθῶσιν αὐτῷ | kaí ouk ḗ-dei-san tí a-po-kri-thô-sin au-tôi} uses the pluperfect edeisan “they knew,” functioning with present force, negated by ouk to indicate their present inability, plus the interrogative ti “what” and the aorist subjunctive apokrithosin {ἀποκριθῶσιν | a-po-kri-thô-sin} in an indirect-question construction, “what they might answer Him.” English rendering adjusts word order, moving temporal and causal elements (“when He came again,” “because their eyes were so heavy”) into more natural positions while preserving the temporal sequence, causal linkage, and the sense of confusion and shame conveyed by the negated “they knew” plus subjunctive.

Root and etymology

mē🔊 μήmu–ēta

“not, by no means”

• 🔊 μηδένmu–ēta–delta–epsilon–nunothingMark 5:36
• 🔊 μήποτεmu–ēta–pi–omicron–tau–epsilonlest, neverHebrews 3:12