| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with kai {καὶ | kaí} ‘and’, linking this statement to the preceding description of the bride. The aorist passive edothē {ἐδόθη | edóthē} ‘it was given’ functions as a divine passive, implying that God is the unstated giver, and foregrounds that the bride’s adornment is a gracious gift rather than self-produced. The hina {ἵνα | hína} clause, hina peribalētai {ἵνα περιβάληται | hína peribálētai} ‘so that she might clothe herself’, expresses purpose or intended result, with the middle voice of peribalētai highlighting the bride’s active participation in putting on what has been given. The direct object of this verb is byssinon {βύσσινον | býssinon} ‘fine linen’, further qualified by the attributive adjectives lampron {λαμπρὸν | lamprón} ‘bright’ and katharon {καθαρόν | katharón} ‘pure’, which together convey both visible splendor and moral or ritual cleanness.
The second clause begins with the nominative article to {τὸ | tó} followed by γάρ, forming the phrase to gar byssinon {τὸ γὰρ βύσσινον | tó gár býssinon}, which frontloads the subject ‘for the fine linen’ for emphasis. The copular verb estin {ἐστίν | estín} links this subject with the predicate nominative ta dikaiōmata tōn hagiōn {τὰ δικαιώματα τῶν ἁγίων | tá dikaiṓmata tōn hagíōn}, literally ‘the righteous acts of the saints’. The plural neuter ta dikaiōmata functions as concrete expressions of righteousness, while the genitive tōn hagiōn marks these acts as belonging to or performed by the holy ones. The γάρ (gar) signals that this second clause explains the symbolic meaning of the linen mentioned in the first clause. In translation, the purpose clause introduced by hina is rendered with “so that” and an English finite verb, and the explanatory γάρ clause is introduced with “for” or “because” to preserve the logical connection between the gift of clothing and its interpretation as the saints’ righteous deeds. |