ὁ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ὁ

   ho

   the
2. sentence🔊 παντὸς ἀκούοντος τὸν λόγον τῆς βασιλείας καὶ μὴ συνιέντος ἔρχεται ὁ πονηρὸς καὶ ἁρπάζει τὸ ἐσπαρμένον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν σπαρείς

   pan-TOS a-KOU-on-tos ton LO-gon tês ba-si-LEI-as KAI MÊ sy-ni-EN-tos ER-khe-tai ho po-nê-ROS KAI har-PA-zei to es-par-ME-non en têi kar-DI-a au-TOU hou-TOS ES-tin ho pa-RA tên ho-DON spa-REIS

   of everyone hearing the word of the kingdom and not understanding comes the evil one and snatches the having been sown in the heart of him this one is the beside the path having been sown

Exegesis

The main clause then introduces the subject ho poneros {ὁ πονηρὸς | ho ponērós} 'the evil one', an articular adjective used substantively to denote a personal hostile agent.

The deictic houtos {οὗτός | hoútos} 'this one' introduces an identification clause: houtos estin ho para tēn hodon spareis {οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν σπαρείς | hoútos estin ho pará tḕn hodón spareís}, where the articular participle spareis, modified by the prepositional phrase para tēn hodon 'by the path', labels this kind of hearer as the specific soil type in the parable. In translation, the genitive absolute is rendered as a temporal clause for clarity, and the articular participles are converted into relative or descriptive clauses that maintain the explanatory force of Jesus’ interpretation.

Root and etymology

poneros🔊 πονηρόςpi–omicron–nu–eta–rho–omicron–sigma

“morally bad, harmful”

• 🔊 πονηρίαponēríawickednessMatthew 22:18
• 🔊 ὁ πονηρόςho ponērósthe evil oneEphesians 6:16