κεφαλὴν

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 κεφαλὴν

   ke-pha-LÊN

   head of
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 ὧδε ἐπὶ πίνακι τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ.

   HÔ-de e-PI PI-na-ki TÊN ke-pha-LÊN i-ô-AN-noo TOO bap-ti-STOO

   here on a platter the head of John the Baptist
3. clause🔊 Δός μοι, φησίν, ὧδε ἐπὶ πίνακι τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ.

   DOS moi phê-SIN HÔ-de e-PI PI-na-ki TÊN ke-pha-LÊN i-ô-AN-noo TOO bap-ti-STOO

   {she} says give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist
4. sentence🔊 ἡ δὲ προβιβασθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῆς· Δός μοι, φησίν, ὧδε ἐπὶ πίνακι τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ.

   hê DE pro-bi-bas-THEI-sa hy-PO TÊS mê-TROS au-TÊS DOS moi phê-SIN HÔ-de e-PI PI-na-ki TÊN ke-pha-LÊN i-ô-AN-noo TOO bap-ti-STOO

   but she having been prompted by her the mother of {she} says give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist

Exegesis

The accusative object tēn kephalēn {τὴν κεφαλὴν | tēn ke-pha-lén} is then tightly qualified by the genitive Iōannou tou baptistou {Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ | I-ō-án-nou toû bap-tis-toû}, a proper name with titular genitive that uniquely identifies the victim. In translation, the participial clause is rendered as a causal or concessive frame (“having been prompted / urged”), the historical present phēsin is preserved as “says” in the more formal rendering for vividness but naturalized to “said” in the dynamic version, and the Greek word order around the imperative and adverb is slightly smoothed while maintaining the focus on the shocking request for John’s head.

Root and etymology

κεφαλή🔊 κεφαλήkappa–epsilon–phi–alpha–lambda–ēta

“head”

• 🔊 κεφάλαιονkappa–epsilon–phi–alpha–lambda–iota–omicron–numain point, summaryHebrews 8:1