| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with legō gar {λέγω γὰρ | légō gár}, where the first person verb introduces Paul’s explanation and the postpositive conjunction ties his statement tightly to the preceding argument about Christ’s ministry. The object clause is centered on Christon diakonon gegenēsthai {Χριστὸν διάκονον γεγενῆσθαι | Khristón diákonon gegenḗsthai}, where the perfect middle infinitive gegenēsthai combines with the predicate accusative diakonon to express that Christ has entered into and remains in the role of “servant.” The genitive peritomēs {περιτομῆς | peritomês} functions as a genitive of reference or subordination, indicating the group to whom this servanthood is directed, namely “the circumcision,” a shorthand for the Jewish people. The prepositional phrase hyper alētheias theou {ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ | hypér alētheías theoû} expresses the motivating concern: Christ’s servanthood is “for the sake of” or “on behalf of” the truth that belongs to and characterizes God, highlighting divine faithfulness. The clause eis to bebaiōsai tas epangelias tōn paterōn {εἰς τὸ βεβαιῶσαι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν πατέρων | eis tó bebaiôsai tás epangelías tōn patérōn} uses eis plus an articular infinitive to denote purpose or intended result: “in order to confirm the promises.” Here tas epangelias is clarified by the genitive tōn paterōn, marking these as the promises made to the patriarchal ancestors. In translation, the articular infinitive construction is rendered with an explicit purpose phrase (“in order to confirm,” “so that … would be confirmed”), and the genitives are expressed by “of” or “to” phrases, preserving both the purpose nuance and the ancestral focus. |