| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with kai {καί | kaí} linking this scene to the preceding narrative in a simple paratactic sequence. The aorist verb epērōtēsen {ἐπηρώτησεν | epē-rṓ-tē-sen} introduces Pilate’s formal inquiry as a completed action within the trial setting. The order auton ho Pilatos {αὐτὸν ὁ Πιλᾶτος | au-tón ho Pi-lâ-tos} places the object “him” before the subject “Pilate,” momentarily foregrounding Jesus as the one questioned. Pilate’s direct question uses the emphatic subject pronoun Sy {σύ | sý} with the verb ei {εἶ | eî}, Sy ei ho basileus tōn Ioudaiōn {Σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | sý eî ho ba-si-leús tōn I-ou-daí-ōn}, where the article ho with basileus {βασιλεύς | ba-si-leús} marks “the King” as a specific, possibly official title. The genitive tōn Ioudaiōn {τῶν Ἰουδαίων | tōn I-ou-daí-ōn} indicates the people over whom this kingship would extend, highlighting the political and ethnic dimension of the charge. The narrative formula ho de apokritheis autō legei {ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῷ λέγει | ho dè a-po-kri-theís au-tô lé-gei} combines the participle apokritheis {ἀποκριθείς | a-po-kri-theís} with the present legei {λέγει | lé-gei}, a common idiom in narrative Greek that can convey a vivid, ongoing sense (“he answers and says”) while still referring to a single responsive act. Jesus’ reply Sy legeis {Σὺ λέγεις | sý lé-geis} retains the fronted “You” for emphasis, grammatically assigning ownership of the statement to Pilate. In English the formal rendering “You say so” preserves this ambiguity, while the dynamic “Those are your words” makes explicit the nuance that Jesus neither straightforwardly affirms nor directly denies the title, but reflects it back to the questioner. |