| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí}, linking this sentence to the preceding narrative. The aorist participle anablepsasai {ἀναβλέψασαι | anablépsasai} functions as a temporal circumstantial participle, best understood as “when they looked up,” marking an action that precedes the main verb. The main clause is headed by the present indicative theorousin {θεωροῦσιν | theoroûsin} “they see,” a historical present that creates vividness in the narrative. The conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hóti} introduces the content of what they see, forming a content clause. Within this clause, apokekylistai {ἀποκεκύλισται | apokekýlistai} is a perfect passive indicative, emphasizing the resulting state that “has been rolled away” and remains so at the moment of perception. The noun phrase ho lithos {ὁ λίθος | ho líthos} functions as the grammatical subject of the following explanatory clause. The clause en gar megas sphodra {ἦν γὰρ μέγας σφόδρα | ēn gár mégas sphódra} is introduced by the postpositive gar, providing the reason or explanation (“for/because”) for the narrative surprise: the stone was in fact extraordinarily large. The imperfect en {ἦν | ēn} presents this largeness as a continuing state in the past, while megas {μέγας | mégas} is intensified by sphodra {σφόδρα | sphódra}, an adverb meaning “exceedingly,” together underscoring the human impossibility of moving such a stone. In English, the temporal participle is rendered with a finite verb in both reconstructions for clarity, while the perfect passive is expressed with “had been rolled away” to preserve the idea of a completed action with a present result, and the causal clause retains “for” or “because” to preserve the explanatory nuance. |