| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the nominative phrase he hymon hypakoe {ἡ ὑμῶν ὑπακοὴ | hē hymôn hypakoḗ} ‘your obedience,’ with the postpositive conjunction gar {γὰρ | gár} ‘for’ linking back to the preceding context. The prepositional phrase eis pantas {εἰς πάντας | eis pántas} ‘to all’ follows the aorist middle verb aphiketo {ἀφίκετο | aphíketo} ‘has come,’ illustrating the widespread reputation of their obedience. In the next clause, eph’ hymin oun chairo {ἐφʼ ὑμῖν οὖν χαίρω | eph’ hymîn oûn chaírō} ‘therefore I rejoice on your behalf,’ the object phrase ‘on your behalf’ is fronted for emphasis before the inferential oun ‘therefore’ and the verb chairo ‘I rejoice.’ The final construction, thelo de hymas sophous einai eis to agathon, akeraious de eis to kakon {θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς σοφοὺς εἶναι εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἀκεραίους δὲ εἰς τὸ κακόν | thélō dé hymâs sophoús eînai eis tó agathón, akeráious dé eis tó kakón}, presents two parallel accusative complements of the infinitive einai ‘to be’: ‘wise with respect to the good’ and ‘innocent with respect to the evil.’ The repetition of eis plus to builds an antithesis, balancing ethical discernment and moral simplicity. Particles gar, oun, and de are repositioned to fit natural English while preserving causal and contrasting nuances. |