John 8:34

I read John 8:34 in German last week before watching the corresponding Daily Dose of Greek video, and I noticed a small feature about it.  In English, it's "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits a sin is a slave to sin.'"  The word order is a bit different in German, however:  "Jesus antwortete ihnen und sprach:  Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch:  Wer Sünde tut, der ist der Sünde Knecht."  Instead of "a slave to sin," the German has "of sin a slave" ("der Sünde Knecht").  The genitive precedes the predicate nominative it modifies, and this word order illustrates the subordinate position of the slave.

Isaiah 1:4

A couple weeks ago, I read Isaiah 1.  Part of verse four stuck out to me:  "Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly!  They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged."

Almost the entirety of the chapter exhibits either pairs of related items or parallel clauses.  In this verse, "sinful nation" parallels with "a people laden with iniquity," "offspring of evildoers" with "children who deal corruptly," and "they have forsaken the LORD" with "they have despised the Holy One of Israel."  The clause "they are utterly estranged," however, isn't paired or paralleled with anything, and this lack of a complement emphasizes the meaning.