| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the emphatic subject–particle sequence hymeis de {ὑμεῖς δὲ | hymeîs dè} setting a contrast between Jesus’ audience and the divine command just cited in the previous verse. The main verb legete {λέγετε | légete} introduces a reported teaching. The construction hos an eipē {Ὃς ἂν εἴπῃ | hós àn eípēi} combines a relative pronoun with the modal particle an and aorist subjunctive, forming an indefinite relative clause, “whoever might say,” which presents a general, hypothetical case rather than a single instance. The coordinated datives tō patri ē tē mētri {τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί | tôi patrì ḗ tē̂ mētrí} mark the potential recipients—father or mother—of the statement, preserving the parallelism of parental obligations.
The isolated nominative dōron {Δῶρον | Dôron} functions as a nominative of exclamation or an implied predicate (“it is a gift”), introducing a formula that reclassifies resources. The following relative–conditional clause ho ean ex emou ōphelethēs {ὃ ἐὰν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ὠφεληθῇς | hó eán ex emoû ōphelēthêis} specifies the scope: “whatever you might be benefited from Me,” with ho ean conveying an open-ended range of possible benefits and the aorist passive subjunctive ōphelethēs expressing potential future support that could have come from Jesus. Syntactically, this clause functions as the subject of the implied “is a gift,” indicating that resources originally available for parental care are being declared off-limits under the guise of a religious gift.
In translation, the indefinite and conditional nuances of hos an and ho ean are preserved through “whoever” and “whatever” combined with modal auxiliaries (“might,” “could have”). The exclamatory or predicate force of dōron is rendered as “is a gift,” making the implied copula explicit for clarity while retaining the abruptness of the formula. The word order in English is slightly adjusted to maintain natural flow but keeps the focus on how a religious declaration can neutralize familial responsibility. |