ἑαυτὸν

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 ἑαυτὸν

   he-au-TON

   himself
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 καὶ ὅστις ταπεινώσει ἑαυτὸν ⸀ὑψωθήσεται.

   KAI HO-stis ta-pei-NÔ-sei he-au-TON hy-psô-THÊ-se-tai

   and whoever will humble himself will be exalted
3. sentence🔊 ὅστις δὲ ὑψώσει ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, καὶ ὅστις ταπεινώσει ἑαυτὸν ⸀ὑψωθήσεται.

   HO-stis DE hy-PSÔ-sei he-au-TON ta-pei-nô-THÊ-se-tai KAI HO-stis ta-pei-NÔ-sei he-au-TON hy-psô-THÊ-se-tai

   {but} Whoever will exalt himself will be humbled and whoever will humble himself will be exalted

Exegesis

In the first clause, hupsosei heauton {ὑψώσει ἑαυτόν | hypsṓsei heautón} presents a future action of self-exaltation, with the reflexive pronoun marking the subject as both agent and affected party of the initial action.

The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí} introduces the mirror image: tapeinōsei heauton {ταπεινώσει ἑαυτόν | tapeinṓsei heautón} describes deliberate self-humbling, followed by the future passive hupsthēsetai {ὑψωθήσεται | hypsōthḗsetai}, again implying an external exalting agent. The chiastic reversal of active and passive verbs between the two halves intensifies the moral principle of reversal. In translation, the future tenses are preserved to retain the proverbial promise or warning, and the reflexive structure “humble himself / exalt himself” is maintained to highlight personal responsibility leading to divinely governed outcomes.