| 44. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the nominative aorist participle pesōn {πεσὼν | pe-sṓn} ‘having fallen’ introducing a conditional protasis. The prepositional phrase epi ton lithon touton {ἐπὶ τὸν λίθον τοῦτον | epì tòn lí-thon toú-ton} ‘on this stone’ specifies the locus of judgment. The main clause employs the future passive indicative synthlasthēsetai {συνθλασθήσεται | syn-thla-sthḗ-se-tai} ‘will be smashed’ to convey inevitable destruction. The second clause uses the relative pronoun hon {ὃν | hòn} plus the contingency particle an {ἂν | àn} with the aorist subjunctive pesē {πέσῃ | pé-sē} ‘it may fall’, leading into the future active indicative likmēsei {λικμήσει | lik-mḗ-sei} ‘will grind to powder’, portraying the stone itself as active agent of ruin. The juxtaposition of passive judgment in the first clause with active destruction in the second underscores the inescapable and dual nature of divine judgment. |