| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with kalon {καλὸν | kalón} ‘good,’ a predicate adjective placed first for emphasis, followed by the articular infinitive construction tò mḕ phagein krea {τὸ μὴ φαγεῖν κρέα | tò mḕ phageîn kréa}, which functions substantivally to express a general moral principle. The conjunction mēdè {μηδὲ | mēdè} links this first infinitival phrase with a second, piein oinon {πιεῖν οἶνον | pieîn oînon}, forming a coordinated pair of specific actions (eating meat and drinking wine). A further mēdè introduces the prepositional relative phrase en hō {ἐν ᾧ | en hō̂}, which shifts the construction from specific actions to any situation “in which” something occurs, widening the scope of the principle. Within this relative clause, ho adelphos sou proskoptei {ὁ ἀδελφός σου προσκόπτει | ho adelphós sou proskóptei} presents “your brother” as the subject who “stumbles,” and this is followed by two additional finite verbs, skandalízeta {σκανδαλίζεται | skandalízeta} ‘is offended’ and astheneî {ἀσθενεῖ | astheneî} ‘is weakened,’ all connected by ē {ἢ | ē} “or.” The coordinated verbal series portrays different but related forms of spiritual harm to another believer’s conscience. In translation, kalon is rendered with an impersonal construction (“It is good” and “It is the right thing”) to reflect the idiomatic way Greek states general evaluations, while the relative phrase with en hō is translated more literally in the formal reconstruction and made more explicit in the dynamic rendering (“to do anything that might cause”) to capture the inclusive ethical scope implied by the Greek syntax. |