| 44. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the dative temporal phrase tō de erchomenō sabbatō {Τῷ δὲ ἐρχομένῳ σαββάτῳ | Tō dè er-kho-Mé-nō sab-Bá-tō} ‘but on the coming Sabbath’, where the dative with the participle and noun functions adverbially to mark time. The adverb schedon {σχεδὸν | skhe-DÓN} ‘almost’ modifies the noun phrase pasa hē polis {πᾶσα ἡ πόλις | Pâ-sa hē Pó-lis} ‘the whole city’, slightly qualifying the otherwise comprehensive scope. This noun phrase stands as the subject of the aorist passive synēchthē {συνήχθη | sy-Nḗkh-thē} ‘was gathered’, presenting the crowd as being drawn together, likely by circumstances or external initiative, rather than simply deciding individually. The infinitive akousai {ἀκοῦσαι | a-koû-sai} ‘to hear’ expresses purpose, forming an infinitival clause that explains why the city was gathered. Its object is the accusative phrase ton logon tou kyriou {τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου | tòn Ló-gon tou ky-RÍ-ou} ‘the word of the Lord’, where the genitive tou kyriou is most naturally taken as a subjective genitive, indicating that the message belongs to or originates from the Lord. The English renderings preserve the temporal dative as a prepositional phrase “on the coming/next Sabbath,” maintain the passive nuance in the formal version to reflect the Greek voice, and express the infinitive of purpose with “to hear” or “to listen to,” keeping the focus on the collective eagerness to receive the Lord’s message. |