| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the rhetorical question su tis ei ho krínōn {σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων | su} ‘you, who are the one judging,’ foregrounding the speaker’s challenge of unwarranted human judgment. The participle ho krínōn functions substantivally to identify the addressee as acting in judgment, with its object allótrion oikétēn {ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην | allótrion} ‘another’s servant,’ emphasizing the servant’s belonging elsewhere. The dative tō idíō kyríō {τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ | tō} ‘to his own master’ designates the rightful authority who evaluates him. The coordinated verbs stēkei ē píptei {στήκει ἢ πίπτει | stḗkei} ‘he stands or he falls’ present possible outcomes, while the future passive stathḗsetai {σταθήσεται | stathḗsetai} ‘he will be made to stand’ expresses divine intervention. The particle gar introduces the reason dynateî gar ho kýrios stêsai autón {δυνατεῖ γὰρ ὁ κύριος στῆσαι αὐτόν | dynateî}, identifying the Lord as the subject with the power-intensive infinitive stêsai to secure the servant’s posture, contrasting human uncertainty with sure divine support. |