| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with kai {καὶ | kaí} “and,” marking a continuation of the narrative from the preceding actions. A sequence of aorist active indicatives—ebalen {ἔβαλεν | é-ba-len} “he threw,” ekleisen {ἔκλεισεν | é-klei-sen} “he shut,” esphragisen {ἐσφράγισεν | es-phrā́-gi-sen} “he sealed”—presents a chain of decisive, completed actions. The prepositional phrase eis ten abysson {εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον | eis tēn á-bys-son} specifies the destination of the casting, with abysson functioning as a technical apocalyptic term for a subterranean prison. The preposition epano {ἐπάνω | e-pá-nō} with the genitive autou {αὐτοῦ | au-toû} depicts the sealing “over him,” emphasizing secure confinement. The particle hina {ἵνα | hína} introduces a purpose clause, with me {μὴ | mē} plus the aorist subjunctive planesē {πλανήσῃ | pla-nḗ-sē} expressing the intended result: that “he might not deceive” as an ongoing possibility being prevented. The adverb eti {ἔτι | é-ti} “any longer” focuses on the cessation of prior deceptive activity. Achri {ἄχρι | á-chri} with the aorist passive subjunctive telesthē {τελεσθῇ | te-les-thḗ} marks a temporal limit “until…are fulfilled,” and the object ta chilia etē {τὰ χίλια ἔτη | tá chí-li-a é-tē} treats “the thousand years” as a single unit, explaining the singular verb despite the plural noun “years.” Meta tauta {μετὰ ταῦτα | me-tá taû-ta} then introduces a subsequent stage in the eschatological sequence. The impersonal dei {δεῖ | deî} “it is necessary” plus the aorist passive infinitive luthēnai {λυθῆναι | lu-thḗ-nai} “to be released” expresses divine or prophetic necessity, followed by mikron chronon {μικρὸν χρόνον | mi-krón khró-non}, an accusative of duration indicating the limited time of this release. The English renderings preserve the Greek clause relationships: the hina clause as explicit purpose, the achri phrase as a temporal boundary, and meta tauta with dei as the next mandated development in the narrative sequence. |