| 38. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with the demonstrative haute {αὕτη | haú-tē} functioning as the grammatical subject, which points back deictically to the previously quoted command. The copular verb estin {ἐστίν | es-tín} links this subject to the predicate nominative phrase. The article hē {ἡ | hē} introduces the noun entolē {ἐντολή | en-to-lḗ} in the nominative, with the attributive adjectives megalē kai prōtē {μεγάλη καὶ πρώτη | me-gá-lē kaí prô-tē} placed between article and noun, a standard Greek pattern that marks them as modifiers of entolē. The coordination of megalē and prōtē with kai {καὶ | kaí} conveys both qualitative greatness and primacy in order or rank, creating a compact but emphatic description. The sentence is an equative statement that identifies the specific command previously cited as uniquely distinguished among all commands. In translation, the demonstrative “This” is kept in initial position to preserve the backward reference, while the phrase “the great and first commandment” mirrors the Greek word order to maintain the sense of both supremacy and priority. |