| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The verse consists of a single main clause centered on the imperfect verb dietribon {διέτριβον | dié-tri-bon} ‘they were spending time’, whose imperfective aspect portrays an ongoing, extended activity rather than a momentary visit. The postpositive conjunction de {δὲ | dè} mildly contrasts or continues the preceding narrative, best rendered as “and” or “but” without strong adversative force. The object chronon ouk oligon {χρόνον οὐκ ὀλίγον | khró-non ouk o-lí-gon} is an accusative of extent of time, with the idiomatic litotes ouk oligon ‘not little’ intensifying duration into “considerable” time. The prepositional phrase syn tois mathetais {σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς | syn toîs ma-thē-taîs} indicates close association and companionship with the disciples, the dative case marking the group in whose company the time was spent. Word order places the verb first, followed by the temporal extent phrase and ending with the prepositional phrase, allowing the verse to move from the action, to its duration, to its relational context. In English, the imperfect is represented with simple past verbs “spent” and “stayed,” while the idiom ouk oligon is rendered formally as “no little time” and dynamically as “a long time,” both preserving the emphasis on an extended period of fellowship. |