ἐπὶ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ἐπὶ

   e-PI

   over
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι χαίρει ἐπʼ αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα τοῖς μὴ πεπλανημένοις.

   a-MÊN LE-gô hy-MIN HO-ti KHAI-rei ep au-TÔ MAL-lon Ê e-PI TOIS e-ne-NÊ-kon-ta en-NE-a TOIS MÊ pe-pla-nê-ME-nois

   truly I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety nine those not having gone astray
3. sentence🔊 καὶ ἐὰν γένηται εὑρεῖν αὐτό, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι χαίρει ἐπʼ αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα τοῖς μὴ πεπλανημένοις.

   KAI e-AN YE-nê-tai heu-REIN au-TO a-MÊN LE-gô hy-MIN HO-ti KHAI-rei ep au-TÔ MAL-lon Ê e-PI TOIS e-ne-NÊ-kon-ta en-NE-a TOIS MÊ pe-pla-nê-ME-nois

   and if it happens to find it truly I say to you that he rejoices over it more than over the ninety nine those not having gone astray

Exegesis

The comparative malon ē {μᾶλλον ἢ | mâllon ḗ} sets up a contrast with epi tois enenēkonta ennea {ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα | epí toîs enenḗkonta ennéa} “over the ninety-nine,” and the final substantival participle tois mē peplanēmenois {τοῖς μὴ πεπλανημένοις | toîs mḗ peplanēménois} defines those who remained. The translation preserves the conditional mood and comparative emphasis to highlight the greater joy in recovering the one.