| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse presents two aorist participles, kheirotonesantes {χειροτονήσαντες | kheirotonḗsantes} ‘having appointed’ and proseuxamenoi {προσευξάμενοι | proseuxámenoi} ‘having prayed,’ which frame the main verb parethento {παρέθεντο | paréthento} ‘they entrusted.’ The dative autois {αὐτοῖς | autoîs} marks the beneficiaries, while kat ekklēsian {κατʼ ἐκκλησίαν | katá ekklēsían} functions distributively ‘in each church.’ The genitive meta nēsteiōn {μετὰ νηστειῶν | metà nēsteiṓn} adds the context of fasting. In the main clause, autous {αὐτοὺς | autoús} is the direct object and tō Kyriō {τῷ κυρίῳ | tôi kyríō} the indirect object. The relative clause eis hon pepisteukeisan {εἰς ὃν πεπιστεύκεισαν | eis hòn pepisteúkēsan} ‘into Whom they had believed’ uses the pluperfect to emphasize the established nature of their faith prior to entrusting them to the Lord. |