| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with kai {καί | kaí} 'and', linking this clause to the preceding vision. The nominative subject phrase to teichos tēs poleōs {τὸ τεῖχος τῆς πόλεως | tò teî-khos tês pó-le-ōs} 'the wall of the city' follows article–noun–genitive order. The participle echōn {ἔχων | é-khōn} 'having' agrees with teichos and introduces a participial clause specifying possession of twelve foundations (themelious dōdeka {θεμελίους δώδεκα | the-me-lí-ous dṓ-de-ka} 'twelve foundations'). The second kai {καί | kaí} 'and' coordinates an additional clause: the prepositional phrase ep autōn {ἐπʼ αὐτῶν | ep au-tôn} 'upon them' identifies the locus for twelve names (dōdeka onomata {δώδεκα ὀνόματα | dṓ-de-ka o-nó-ma-ta} 'twelve names'). A genitive chain ton dōdeka apóstolōn {τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων | tôn dṓ-de-ka a-pos-tó-lōn} 'of the twelve apostles' modifies onomata, while the dependent genitive tou arnīou {τοῦ ἀρνίου | toû ar-ní-ou} 'of the Lamb' specifies ownership and Christological identity. The repetition of dōdeka underscores symbolic completeness, and the English preserves this parallelism while rendering the genitives with 'of' and possessive forms. |