| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative begins with kai {καί | kaí} linking this statement to the preceding context, followed by the aorist verb eipen {εἶπεν | eî-pen} introducing reported speech. The indirect object phrase tois paisin autou {τοῖς παισίν αὐτοῦ | toîs pai-sín au-toû} specifies the audience (“to his servants”) using the dative article–noun–pronoun sequence. Direct discourse opens with the demonstrative houtos {Οὗτός | Hoû-tos} functioning as a deictic subject (“this one”), leading into an equative clause houtos estin Iōannēs ho baptistēs {Οὗτός ἐστιν Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστής | Hoû-tos é-stin I-ō-án-nēs ho bap-tis-tḗs}, where the copula estin {ἐστιν | é-stin} links the demonstrative to the identifying predicate nominative “John the Baptist.” The following autos ēgerthē {αὐτὸς ἠγέρθη | au-tós ē-gér-thē} uses the emphatic pronoun autos to stress the same individual as the one who “was raised,” with apo tōn nekrōn {ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν | a-pó tôn ne-krôn} forming a prepositional genitive phrase indicating source (“from the dead”). The causal construction dia touto {διὰ τοῦτο | di-á toû-to} introduces a reason clause that governs the finite verb energousin {ἐνεργοῦσιν | e-ner-goû-sin}; its subject is hai dynameis {αἱ δυνάμεις | haí dy-ná-meis}, a nominative plural referring to miraculous powers. The prepositional phrase en autō {ἐν αὐτῷ | en au-tôi} marks the sphere or location in which these powers operate. English renderings preserve this syntax by maintaining the direct speech, the causal “because of this / that is why,” and an explicit subject–verb–prepositional phrase sequence (“the powers are working in him”) to reflect the Greek clause structure and logical progression. |