| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the connective kai {καὶ | kaí}, linking this scene to the preceding visionary sequence. The narrative verb ēkousa {ἤκουσα | ḗ-kou-sa} introduces John’s auditory experience and is followed by a genitive construction, tou angelou tōn hydatōn {τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων | toû ag-gé-lou tôn hy-dá-tōn}, in which the genitive article–noun–article–noun chain specifies “the angel whose domain is the waters.” The participle legontos {λέγοντος | lé-gon-tos} in the genitive agrees with angelou, forming a genitive absolute–like structure that smoothly introduces the direct speech.
Inside the speech, dikaios {Δίκαιος | Dí-kai-os} stands first for emphasis, functioning as a predicate adjective in a vocative-like address: “Righteous are You.” The second person verb ei {εἶ | eî} supplies the copula, with the subject implied in the address to the Deity. The articular participles ho ōn kai ho ēn {ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν | ho ṓn kaí ho ḗn} follow appositionally, forming a title that highlights divine existence in present and past time, echoing earlier formulations in the book and evoking covenantal self-revelation. The further appositive ho hosios {ὁ ὅσιος | ho hó-si-os} adds a qualitative descriptor, underscoring God’s holy, devout character.
The conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hó-ti} marks a causal clause explaining the acclamation: “because.” The verb ekrinas {ἔκρινας | É-kri-nas} is aorist, portraying God’s judgments as decisive and completed, while the object tauta {ταῦτα | taû-ta} is broad enough to encompass the specific bowl judgments just described. In translation, the fronted “Righteous” is retained to preserve the marked emphasis, the participial titles are rendered as relative clauses (“the One who is and who was”) to sound natural in English, and the causal hoti-clause is expressed with “because” followed by a perfect-like English (“have judged”) to reflect the completed yet climactic force of the aorist within the narrative. |