| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the temporal adverb tote {Τότε | tóte}, which connects Peter’s question to the preceding teaching on reconciliation within the community. The aorist participle proselthon {προσελθών | proselthṓn} functions circumstantially, describing Peter’s deliberate approach to Jesus and setting the scene before the main verb eipen {εἶπεν | eipen} “said.” The dative auto {αὐτῷ | autō} marks Jesus as the one to whom Peter comes and speaks. The direct address Kyrie {Κύριε | Kýrĭe} signals respect and frames the utterance as a request for authoritative guidance. The interrogative adverb posakis {ποσάκις | posákis} introduces a question about frequency, which is further defined by the future verb hamartesei {ἁμαρτήσει | hamartḗsei} and the prepositional phrase eis eme {εἰς ἐμέ | eis emé}, specifying repeated sin directed “against me.” The nominative ho adelphos {ὁ ἀδελφός | ho adelphós} functions as the subject of hamartesei, with mou {μου | mou} indicating a kinship or community relationship, “my brother.” The coordinated clause kai apheso auto {καὶ ἀφήσω αὐτῷ | kai aphḗsō autō} places Peter’s own action of forgiving in parallel with the brother’s sinning, highlighting reciprocity and responsibility. Finally, the prepositional phrase heos heptakis {ἕως ἑπτάκις | héōs heptákis} expresses a proposed numerical limit “up to seven times,” using the numeral adverb to intensify the sense of repeated offenses. In translation, the Greek participial construction is rendered as a finite clause (“Peter came to Him and said”) for clarity, while the two linked clauses of sinning and forgiving are preserved as a single complex question, maintaining the rhetorical force of Peter’s query. |