| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence opens with the aorist verb epelthan {Ἐπῆλθαν | Epêl-than} combined with the postpositive de {δὲ | de}, marking a narrative transition, “but then they came.” The prepositional phrase apo Antiocheias kai Ikoniou {ἀπὸ Ἀντιοχείας καὶ Ἰκονίου | apó Anti-okheías kaí Ikoní-ou} specifies the origin of the subject Ioudaioi {Ἰουδαῖοι | Iou-daî-oi}, who remain the implied agents throughout. A chain of nominative masculine plural participles—peisantes {πείσαντες | peí-san-tes} and lithasantes {λιθάσαντες | li-thá-san-tes}—presents their actions in sequence as backgrounded circumstances leading up to the imperfect main verb esuron {ἔσυρον | é-su-ron} “they were dragging,” which carries the narrative foreground. The direct object ton Paulon {τὸν Παῦλον | ton Paû-lon} is shared logically by both participles and the finite verb, creating a compact portrayal of escalating hostility. The adverb exo {ἔξω | éx-ō} with the genitive phrase tes poleos {τῆς πόλεως | tês pó-le-ōs} forms a spatial expression “outside the city,” indicating exclusion from the civic community. The present participle nomizontes {νομίζοντες | no-mí-zon-tes} introduces a circumstantial clause of attendant perception, expressing the attackers’ ongoing assumption, while the perfect infinitive tethnekenai {τεθνηκέναι | teth-nē-ke-nai} denotes a completed state “to have died.” This infinitival construction functions as the object of “supposing,” specifying what they believed about auton {αὐτὸν | au-tón} “him.” In translation, the participles are rendered with English participial or subordinate clauses to preserve temporal sequencing, while the imperfect esuron is conveyed with a simple past “they dragged” for idiomatic narrative style. |