| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with eisin gar {εἰσὶν γὰρ | ei-sìn gàr} ‘for they are’, a copular clause that grounds the description of the agents in the preceding context. The grammatical subject is implicit in the verb, while the predicate nominative pneumata daimoniōn {πνεύματα δαιμονίων | pnéu-ma-ta dai-mo-ní-on} ‘spirits of demons’ identifies their nature and allegiance by means of a head noun with a descriptive genitive. The participial phrase poiounta sēmeia {ποιοῦντα σημεῖα | poi-oûn-ta sē-meî-a} ‘performing signs’ functions attributively, further characterizing these spirits by their deceptive, wonder-working activity. The relative pronoun ha {ἃ | ha} ‘which’ picks up the signs and introduces the clause ha ekporeuetai {ἃ ἐκπορεύεται | ha ek-po-reú-e-tai} ‘which go out’, portraying the signs (and by implication their demonic agents) as moving toward a specific target. This target is expressed with the prepositional phrase epi tous basileis {ἐπὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς | epì toùs ba-si-leîs} ‘to the kings’, further defined by the genitive chain tēs oikoumenēs holēs {τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης | tēs oi-kou-mé-nēs hó-lēs} ‘of the whole inhabited world’, which universalizes the scope of influence. The aorist infinitive sunagagein {συναγαγεῖν | sy-na-ga-geîn} ‘to gather together’ expresses purpose, with autous {αὐτοὺς | au-toùs} ‘them’ referring back to the kings as the ones being assembled. The telic prepositional phrase eis ton polemon {εἰς τὸν πόλεμον | eis tòn pó-le-mon} ‘for the war’ clarifies the end toward which they are gathered, elaborated by the genitive phrase tēs hēmeras tēs megalēs {τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς μεγάλης | tēs hē-mé-ras tēs me-gá-lēs} ‘of the great day’. The climactic genitive chain tou theou tou pantokratoros {τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος | toû the-oû toû pan-to-krá-to-ros} ‘of God, the Almighty’ anchors this eschatological conflict firmly in the sphere of divine initiative and sovereignty. In translation, relative clauses and infinitival purpose are rendered with English finite clauses and purpose phrases (“to gather them for the battle”) to preserve the causative and teleological flow of the Greek. |