καὶ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 καὶ

   kai

   also
2. sentence🔊 εὐδόκησαν γάρ καὶ ὀφειλέται εἰσὶν αὐτῶν εἰ γὰρ τοῖς πνευματικοῖς αὐτῶν ἐκοινώνησαν τὰ ἔθνη ὀφείλουσιν καὶ ἐν τοῖς σαρκικοῖς λειτουργῆσαι αὐτοῖς

   eu-DO-kê-san GAR KAI o-phei-LE-tai EI-sin au-TÔN ei gar tois pneu-ma-ti-KOIS au-TÔN e-koi-NÔ-nê-san ta E-thnê o-PHEI-lou-sin kai en tois sar-ki-KOIS lei-tour-GÊ-sai au-TOIS

   they were pleased for and debtors they are of them if for to the spiritual {things} of them they shared the nations {Gentiles} they owe also in the material {things} to serve to them

Exegesis

The verse begins with eudokesan gar kai opheiletai eisin auton {εὐδόκησαν γάρ καὶ ὀφειλέται εἰσὶν αὐτῶν | eu-dó-kē-san gár kaí o-phei-lé-tai ei-sín au-tôn}, where the aorist eudokesan ‘they were pleased’ states a completed, voluntary decision, and gar links this to the preceding discussion of the collection. The coordination kai opheiletai eisin creates a balance between willingness and obligation: they are not only willing but also “debtors” in an ongoing sense. The genitive auton marks those to whom the obligation is owed.

The coordinated phrase kai en tois sarkikois leitourgesai autois {καὶ ἐν τοῖς σαρκικοῖς λειτουργῆσαι αὐτοῖς | kaí en toîs sar-ki-koîs lei-tour-gê-sai au-toîs} sets up a parallel between spiritual participation and material ministry: the prepositional en with the dative “material things” marks the sphere in which the infinitive leitourgesai ‘to minister’ is to be carried out, and autois identifies the beneficiaries. The Greek sentence thus moves from voluntary pleasure, to recognized indebtedness, to a conditional argument that grounds material service in prior spiritual sharing, which is reflected in English by preserving the two gar clauses and the “if… also” conditional structure.