| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the fronted object elegxin {ἔλεγξιν | é-leg-xin} “rebuke,” giving prominence to formal censure before stating that eschen {ἔσχεν | é-schen} “he had” it as a consequence of idias paranomias {ἰδίας παρανομίας | i-dí-as pa-ra-no-mí-as} “his own transgression.” The narrative then shifts the subject to hypozygion aphonon {ὑποζύγιον ἄφωνον | hy-po-zý-gi-on á-pho-non} “a mute beast of burden,” highlighted by its neuter nominative form against typical human subjects. This is elaborated by the aorist middle participle phthen-gxamenon {φθεγξάμενον | phthen-gxá-me-non}, modified by the prepositional phrase en anthropou phōnē {ἐν ἀνθρώπου φωνῇ | en an-thrṓ-pou phō-nē}, yielding “having spoken with a man’s voice.” The main verb ekolusen {ἐκώλυσεν | e-kó-lu-sen} “restrained” governs the direct object tēn toû prophētou paraphronian {τὴν τοῦ προφήτου παραφρονίαν | tēn toû pro-phḗ-tou pa-ra-phro-ní-an} “the madness of the prophet.” The Greek word order thus foregrounds the rebuke, the ironic agency of the donkey, and the outcome of checked folly, a sequence preserved in the English renderings. |