| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The adverb maten {μάτην | má-tēn} ‘in vain’ opens the verse, setting a tone of futility. The postpositive conjunction de {δὲ | dè} provides a transitional contrast to the preceding context. The verb sebontai {σέβονταί | sé-bon-tai} ‘they worship’ takes me {με | me} as its direct object, indicating the one being worshiped. The participle didaskontes {διδάσκοντες | di-dás-kon-tes} ‘teaching’ functions circumstantially, describing how the worship is conducted. The accusative sequence didaskalias entalmata anthropon {διδασκαλίας ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων | di-das-ka-lí-as en-tál-ma-ta an-thrṓ-pōn} forms an object-complement structure, with entalmata ‘commandments’ as the main object and didaskalias ‘teachings’ characterizing those commandments. The genitive anthropon identifies their human origin in contrast to divine mandate. |