| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hó-ti} introduces a causal clause explaining the preceding judgment declaration on Babylon. The aorist passive verb ekollēthēsan {ἐκολλήθησαν | e-kol-lḗ-thē-san} has as its grammatical subject the later noun phrase hai hamartiai {αἱ ἁμαρτίαι | hai ha-mar-tí-ai} “the sins,” producing a slight delay that foregrounds the possessive genitive autēs {αὐτῆς | au-tês} “of her,” emphasizing that the sins uniquely belong to this city. The verb’s passive voice (“were glued,” “have clung”) portrays the sins as adhering firmly rather than merely being counted, intensifying the image of inescapable guilt.
The prepositional phrase achri tou ouranou {ἄχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ | ákh-ri toû ou-ra-noû} functions adverbially, marking the extent of this adhesion “as far as heaven.” The genitive with achri underscores vertical reach and evokes the heavenly sphere as the realm of God’s oversight. The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí} then links this description of accumulated sin with the ensuing divine response, maintaining a tight cause–effect flow.
In the second clause, emnēmoneusen {ἐμνημόνευσεν | em-nē-mó-neu-sen} is an aorist active indicative with ho theos {ὁ θεὸς | ho the-ós} as explicit subject, presenting a decisive act of divine remembrance. In apocalyptic idiom, “remembering” is judicial, implying that the time for reckoning has arrived. The direct object ta adikēmata {τὰ ἀδικήματα | ta a-di-kḗ-ma-ta} specifies the character of what is remembered: concrete injustices and wrongs, again modified by autēs {αὐτῆς | au-tês} to keep focus on the city’s culpability. English renderings preserve the causal linkage and the two-step movement—sins ascending to heaven, then God’s deliberate act of remembering—while using idiomatic expressions (“have clung,” “have piled up,” “called to mind”) to convey the underlying forensic and spatial imagery. |