4
I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Greek — tap a word ↓
de Legō hymin mou tois philois mē phobēthēte apo tōn apokteinontōn to sōma kai meta tauta mē echontōn poiēsai ti perissoteron
Word by word21 · parsed
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
Present indicative, first person: the solemn authorial “I say,” which recurs in v. 5 twice. Jesus speaks in His own name, not “thus says the Lord.”
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
√ φίλος — actively, fond, iAdjectiveDative Masculine Plural
phílos: friend, one held dear The only place in the Synoptic form of this saying where the disciples are called “friends” (Matthew 10:28 lacks it). Ellicott notes the words as peculiar to Luke; JFB reads them as spoken from Jesus' sense that in the “killing of the body” He and they would be “affectingly one.” The Verifier links this lexeme (G5384, 27 vv) to John 15:14.
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
√ φοβέω — to frighten, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive2nd Person Plural
phobéō: to fear (aorist subjunctive passive) With mē, the aorist subjunctive is the standard Greek form of a prohibition against beginning an action: do not let this fear take hold at all. Its passive form is deponent in sense (“be afraid”). The same verb then returns three times in v. 5 and once more in v. 7, so that the unit is built on one word, redirected.
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
apó: from Cambridge: the fear “from” them, i.e. of whatever issues from them; a construction found in the LXX and NT.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
√ ἀποκτείνω — to kill outrightVerbPresent Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Plural
apokteínō: to kill outright A plain verb for killing. Present participle: the persecutors are those who kill. Luke 11:49, a few verses earlier, already said of the prophets and apostles “some of whom they will kill” (cited by Pulpit), so the threat is not hypothetical.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
√ σῶμα — the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figurativelyNounAccusative Neuter Singular
sôma: the body The object of human power is precisely and only the body. The limit is anthropological as well as moral: Gill and Poole both draw from it that the soul lies outside the persecutor's reach.
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Plural
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Plural
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
Aorist infinitive “to do,” dependent on “having”: they have nothing further they are able to do.
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
√ περισσός — superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality)AdjectiveAccusative Neuter SingularComparative
perissós: superabundant, more Comparative neuter. In v. 5 the contrast is not that God can do “more” of the same thing, but that He acts after death, where human power has already stopped.