| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with kai eipen {καὶ εἶπεν | kaì eîpen} ‘and He said’, a narrative connector that introduces direct speech and ties this statement to the previous argument in the dialogue. The prepositional phrase Heneka toutou {Ἕνεκα τούτου | Héneka toútou} ‘for this reason’ is fronted, giving causal emphasis and marking the statement as a theological explanation grounded in the creation account. The main clause follows a straightforward subject–verb–object order: the subject anthropos {ἄνθρωπος | ánthrōpos} ‘man’ precedes the future verb kataleipsei {καταλείψει | kataleípsei} ‘will leave’, which governs the coordinated objects ton patera kai tēn metera {τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα | tòn patéra kaì tḕn mētéra} ‘the father and the mother’. The next clause introduces the second key action with the future passive kollēthēsetai {κολληθήσεται | kollēthḗsetai} ‘will be joined’, taking the dative tē gynaiki autou {τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ | têi gynaikí autoû} ‘to his wife’ as a dative of close association, underscoring a bonded union rather than a loose connection. The final clause esontai hoi dyo eis sarka mian {ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν | ésontai hoi dýo eis sárka mían} uses the future middle of eimi ‘to be’ plus the preposition eis ‘into’ to depict movement into a new state, with hoi dyo ‘the two’ becoming sarka mian ‘one flesh’ as a single, unified entity. The progression of verbs—kataleipsei, kollēthēsetai, esontai—creates a logical sequence: leaving the parental household, cleaving to the spouse, and entering a new, one-flesh reality. In translation, the formal rendering preserves the future tenses to reflect the solemn, normative character of the declaration, while the dynamic rendering uses present forms for idiomatic description of the ongoing pattern of marriage. |