ζωὴν

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ζωὴν

   zô-ÊN

   life
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 τί ἀγαθὸν ποιήσω ἵνα ⸀σχῶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον;

   TI a-ga-THON poi-Ê-sô HI-na SKHÔ zô-ÊN ai-Ô-ni-on

   what good deed must I do so that I may have life eternal
3. clause🔊 ⸀Διδάσκαλε, τί ἀγαθὸν ποιήσω ἵνα ⸀σχῶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον;

   di-DAS-ka-le TI a-ga-THON poi-Ê-sô HI-na SKHÔ zô-ÊN ai-Ô-ni-on

   Teacher what good deed must I do so that I may have life eternal
4. sentence🔊 Καὶ ἰδοὺ εἷς προσελθὼν ⸂αὐτῷ εἶπεν⸃· ⸀Διδάσκαλε, τί ἀγαθὸν ποιήσω ἵνα ⸀σχῶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον;

   KAI i-DOO HEIS pro-sel-THÔN au-TÔ EI-pen di-DAS-ka-le TI a-ga-THON poi-Ê-sô HI-na SKHÔ zô-ÊN ai-Ô-ni-on

   {And} Behold one man having approached to him {he} said Teacher what good deed must I do so that I may have life eternal

Exegesis

The object zōēn aiōnion {ζωὴν αἰώνιον | zōḗn aiṓnion} is a noun-adjective pair, “life eternal,” with the adjective following the noun in standard Greek order and qualifying the nature of the life sought. In translation, the participial structure “heis proselthōn autō eipen” is rendered in formal English as “one who had come to Him said,” preserving the temporal nuance of the participle, while the dynamic rendering “a man came up to Him and asked” converts the participle into a finite verb for smoother contemporary style. The hina-purpose construction is consistently carried over as “so that I may have” (formal) and “to receive” (dynamic), both preserving the purposive sense while varying in idiomatic expression.

Root and etymology

zaō🔊 ζάωzeta–alpha–omega

“to live, be alive”

• 🔊 ζάωzáōI liveGalatians 2:20
• 🔊 ζῶνzônliving oneRevelation 1:18