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Εἶπε δὲ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς, Ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστι τοῦ μὴ ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα· οὐαὶ δὲ δι᾽ οὗ ἔρχεται.
RBT Greek Interlinear:
Strongs 2036  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Eipen
Εἶπεν
Said
V-AIA-3S
Strongs 1161  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
de
δὲ
and
Conj
Strongs 4314  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
pros
πρὸς
toward
Prep
Strongs 3588  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
tous
τοὺς
the
Art-AMP
Strongs 3101  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
mathētas
μαθητὰς
Learners
N-AMP
Strongs 846  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
autou
αὐτοῦ
himself
PPro-GM3S
Strongs 418  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Anendekton
Ἀνένδεκτόν
Impossible
Adj-NNS
Strongs 1510  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
estin
ἐστιν
is
V-PIA-3S
Strongs 3588  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
tou
τοῦ
the
Art-GNS
Strongs 3588  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
ta
τὰ
the
Art-ANP
Strongs 4625  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
skandala
σκάνδαλα
scandals
N-ANP
Strongs 3361  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus

μὴ
not
Adv
Strongs 2064  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
elthein
ἐλθεῖν
coming
V-ANA
Strongs 4133  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
plēn
πλὴν*
but
Conj
Strongs 3759  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
ouai
οὐαὶ
Woe to
I
Strongs 1223  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
di’
δι’
across
Prep
Strongs 3739  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
hou
οὗ
whose/whosoever
RelPro-GMS
Strongs 2064  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
erchetai
ἔρχεται
is coming
V-PIM/P-3S
RBT Hebrew Literal:
Scandalous stones Made, Scandalous stones Take Back
And he said toward the Learners of himself, "The Not-Coming of the Scandals is inadmissible, except woe through whomever63 they are coming!
Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
And he said to the disciples, It is impossible there come not causes of offence: and woe, through whom they come!
LITV Translation:
And He said to the disciples, It is impossible that the offenses should not come, but woe to him by whom they come!
ESV Translation:
Error retrieving verse.

Footnotes

63

The phrase τοῦ τὰ σκάνδαλα μὴ ἐλθεῖν employs a genitive articular infinitive, a construction common in classical and Koine Greek whereby an infinitive is substantivized through the definite article and declined. The genitive case here serves as the subject of the impersonal verb ἐστιν. Thus, the entire clause may be rendered literally as “the not-coming of the scandals,” functioning as the subject of Ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστιν (“it is inadmissable”). The presence of τοῦ marks this grammatical structure and should not be confused with a possessive or partitive genitive.

The phrase οὐαὶ δὲ δι' οὗ ἔρχεται can be translated as "Woe through whom they are coming." The word οὐαὶ is an interjection expressing lamentation or judgment, while δι' οὗ uses the genitive case (from the relative pronoun οὗ, "whom") to indicate the agent or means by which something occurs. This construction is not "woe to" (which would take the accusative or dative - cf. οὐαὶ woe and all its usages in the NT), but rather "woe through whom", identifying the individual responsible for bringing about the event. Therefore, the phrase expresses judgment on the one through whom the action takes place.