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Grammar Analysis: Acts 15:20, 29; Acts 21:25

Text

Greek (Acts 15:20): ἀλλὰ ἐπιστεῖλαι αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς πορνείας καὶ πνικτοῦ καὶ τοῦ αἵματος.

Greek (Acts 15:29): ἀπέχεσθαι εἰδωλοθύτων καὶ αἵματος καὶ πνικτῶν καὶ πορνείας· ἐξ ὧν διατηροῦντες ἑαυτοὺς εὖ πράξετε. Ἔρρωσθε.

Greek (Acts 21:25): περὶ δὲ τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν ἡμεῖς ἐπεστείλαμεν κρίναντες φυλάσσεσθαι αὐτοὺς τό τε εἰδωλόθυτον καὶ αἷμα καὶ πνικτὸν καὶ πορνείαν.

KJV (Acts 15:20): But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and [from] fornication, and [from] things strangled, and [from] blood.

KJV (Acts 15:29): That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

KJV (Acts 21:25): As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written [and] concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from [things] offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

Word-by-Word Parsing

Acts 15:20

# Greek Lemma Strong Parsing
1 ἀλλὰ ἀλλά G235 CONJ
2 ἐπιστεῖλαι ἐπιστέλλω G1989 V-AAN, Aor Act Inf
3 αὐτοῖς αὐτός G846 P-DPM, Dat Pl M
4 τοῦ ὁ G3588 T-GSN, Gen Sg N
5 ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπέχω G568 V-PMN, Pres Mid Inf
6 τῶν ὁ G3588 T-GPN, Gen Pl N
7 ἀλισγημάτων ἀλίσγημα G234 N-GPN, Gen Pl N
8 τῶν ὁ G3588 T-GPN, Gen Pl N
9 εἰδώλων εἴδωλον G1497 N-GPN, Gen Pl N
10 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
11 τῆς ὁ G3588 T-GSF, Gen Sg F
12 πορνείας πορνεία G4202 N-GSF, Gen Sg F
13 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
14 πνικτοῦ πνικτός G4156 A-GSN, Gen Sg N
15 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
16 τοῦ ὁ G3588 T-GSN, Gen Sg N
17 αἵματος αἷμα G129 N-GSN, Gen Sg N

Acts 15:29

# Greek Lemma Strong Parsing
1 ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπέχω G568 V-PMN, Pres Mid Inf
2 εἰδωλοθύτων εἰδωλόθυτος G1494 A-GPN, Gen Pl N
3 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
4 αἵματος αἷμα G129 N-GSN, Gen Sg N
5 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
6 πνικτῶν πνικτός G4156 A-GPN, Gen Pl N
7 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
8 πορνείας πορνεία G4202 N-GSF, Gen Sg F
9 ἐξ ἐκ G1537 PREP
10 ὧν ὅς G3739 R-GPN, Gen Pl N
11 διατηροῦντες διατηρέω G1301 V-PAP-NPM, Pres Act Ptcp Nom Pl M
12 ἑαυτοὺς ἑαυτοῦ G1438 F-2APM, Acc Pl M
13 εὖ εὖ G2095 ADV
14 πράξετε πράσσω G4238 V-FAI-2P, Fut Act Ind 2P
15 Ἔρρωσθε ῥώννυμι G4517 V-RPM-2P, Perf Pass Impv 2P

Acts 21:25

# Greek Lemma Strong Parsing
1 περὶ περί G4012 PREP
2 δὲ δέ G1161 CONJ
3 τῶν ὁ G3588 T-GPM, Gen Pl M
4 πεπιστευκότων πιστεύω G4100 V-RAP-GPM, Perf Act Ptcp Gen Pl M
5 ἐθνῶν ἔθνος G1484 N-GPN, Gen Pl N
6 ἡμεῖς ἐγώ G1473 P-1NP, Nom Pl
7 ἐπεστείλαμεν ἀποστέλλω G1989 V-AAI-1P, Aor Act Ind 1P
8 κρίναντες κρίνω G2919 V-AAP-NPM, Aor Act Ptcp Nom Pl M
9 φυλάσσεσθαι φυλάσσω G5442 V-PMN, Pres Mid Inf
10 αὐτοὺς αὐτός G846 P-APM, Acc Pl M
11 τό ὁ G3588 T-ASN, Acc Sg N
12 τε τέ G5037 PRT
13 εἰδωλόθυτον εἰδωλόθυτος G1494 A-ASN, Acc Sg N
14 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
15 αἷμα αἷμα G129 N-ASN, Acc Sg N
16 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
17 πνικτὸν πνικτός G4156 A-ASN, Acc Sg N
18 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
19 πορνείαν πορνεία G4202 N-ASF, Acc Sg F

Key Grammatical Features

1. τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι — genitive articular infinitive in Acts 15:20

  • Form: τοῦ is genitive singular neuter article; ἀπέχεσθαι is present middle infinitive of ἀπέχω.
  • Significance: The articular infinitive gives the content/purpose of ἐπιστεῖλαι: the written instruction concerns abstaining. Its complements appear in the genitive case after ἀπέχεσθαι.
  • Grammar reference: greek-articular-infinitive-purpose.

2. Genitive complements after ἀπέχεσθαι — Acts 15:20 and 15:29

  • Form: Acts 15:20 has a coordinated genitive list: τῶν ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων, τῆς πορνείας, πνικτοῦ, τοῦ αἵματος. Acts 15:29 has εἰδωλοθύτων, αἵματος, πνικτῶν, πορνείας.
  • Significance: The abstention verb governs a series of genitive complements. The list changes vocabulary between ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων ("pollutions of idols") and εἰδωλοθύτων ("idol-offered things"), but the syntactic relation remains parallel: genitive items coordinated by καί.
  • Grammar reference: no dedicated Greek genitive-complement-after-ἀπέχω entry exists.

3. πνικτοῦ / πνικτῶν beside αἵματος — coordinate syntax, not subordination

  • Form: πνικτοῦ in Acts 15:20 is adjective genitive singular neuter; πνικτῶν in Acts 15:29 is adjective genitive plural neuter; πνικτὸν in Acts 21:25 is adjective accusative singular neuter. αἵματος is genitive singular neuter in Acts 15; αἷμα is accusative singular neuter in Acts 21:25.
  • Significance: In all three passages, πνικτός is coordinated with αἷμα by καί. Grammatically it is not an adjective modifying "blood"; it is its own coordinated list item. Its proximity to blood may be conceptually relevant, but the syntax treats "strangled" and "blood" as adjacent coordinated complements/objects.
  • Word study: G4156-pniktos.

4. διατηροῦντες ἑαυτούς — participial self-keeping clause in Acts 15:29

  • Form: διατηροῦντες is present active participle nominative plural masculine; ἑαυτούς is reflexive accusative plural masculine.
  • Significance: The participle supplies the condition/means related to εὖ πράξετε: keeping yourselves from these things is the action attached to doing well. The relative ἐξ ὧν points back to the preceding coordinated list.
  • Grammar reference: no dedicated entry for this participial construction exists; compare paired-middle-participles for participial coordination elsewhere.

5. φυλάσσεσθαι + accusative list — Acts 21:25 restatement

  • Form: φυλάσσεσθαι is present middle infinitive; αὐτούς is accusative plural masculine subject of the infinitive. The abstention items are accusative objects: τό τε εἰδωλόθυτον, αἷμα, πνικτόν, πορνείαν.
  • Significance: Acts 21:25 restates the decree with a different governing infinitive and a different case frame. Instead of ἀπέχεσθαι + genitive, it uses φυλάσσεσθαι + accusative object list. The same coordinate list structure remains visible.
  • Grammar reference: no dedicated Greek middle-infinitive-with-accusative-object entry exists.

Clause / Syntax Structure

Acts 15:20

  • ἀλλὰ marks contrast with the preceding proposal.
  • ἐπιστεῖλαι αὐτοῖς is the main infinitival action in the reported decision.
  • τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι is the articular infinitive construction.
  • The abstention complements are genitive and coordinated: idol-pollutions, fornication, strangled, blood.

Acts 15:29

  • ἀπέχεσθαι heads the clause.
  • Four genitive complements follow in a coordinated list.
  • ἐξ ὧν resumes the list by relative pronoun.
  • διατηροῦντες ἑαυτούς is participial, attached to εὖ πράξετε.

Acts 21:25

  • περὶ δὲ τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν frames the topic: the believing Gentiles.
  • ἡμεῖς ἐπεστείλαμεν κρίναντες gives the prior written decision with aorist indicative plus aorist participle.
  • φυλάσσεσθαι αὐτούς introduces the infinitive content.
  • The kept-from items are accusative and coordinated: idol-offered thing, blood, strangled thing, fornication.

The Greek parser found no NT verses with similarity >= 0.6 for the full morphological patterns of Acts 15:29 or Acts 21:25. A lemma search for πνικτός found only three NT occurrences: Acts 15:20, Acts 15:29, and Acts 21:25.

Cross-References