| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence opens with the marked subject phrase hoi te ochloi {οἵ τε ὄχλοι | hoí te óch-loi}, where the particle te links this reaction to the previous narrative while foregrounding “the crowds” as a unified responding group. The aorist participle idontes {ἰδόντες | i-DÓN-tes} “having seen” functions adverbially, expressing the cause of their reaction and preceding the main finite verb, which is implicit in the first clause and then made explicit with epēran {ἐπῆραν | e-PE-ran} “they lifted.” The object phrase tēn phōnēn autōn {τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν | tēn phō-NĒN au-TŌN} “their voice” uses a singular “voice” with a plural pronoun, an idiom indicating a unified, loud outcry. The adverb Lykaonisti {Λυκαονιστὶ | ly-ka-o-NIS-ti} modifies the participle legontes {λέγοντες | LE-gon-tes} “saying,” specifying that the direct speech occurs in the local Lycaonian language, which narratively explains why the missionaries may not immediately understand the crowd’s exclamation. The reported speech itself begins with the nominative plural hoi theoi {Οἱ θεοὶ | HOI the-OI} “the gods” as subject, followed by the aorist participle homoiōthentes {ὁμοιωθέντες | ho-moi-o-THEN-tes} “having been made like” that is semantically linked to the dative anthropois {ἀνθρώποις | anth-RŌ-pois} “to men,” forming a participial clause that describes the manner or state in which the gods have acted. The main verb of the exclamation, katebēsan {κατέβησαν | ka-TE-bi-san} “they came down,” is an aorist indicative that presents the descent as a decisive event, with pros hēmas {πρὸς ἡμᾶς | pros hē-MAS} “to us” highlighting the perceived honor and immediacy of divine visitation. In translation, the sequence of participles has been represented with English “having seen” and “having become like” in the formal rendering to preserve the aspectual nuance, while the dynamic rendering slightly reshapes “having been made like men” as “in human form” to convey the same idea more naturally in contemporary English. |