| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the nominative subject hekatontarches {ἑκατοντάρχης | hekatontárkhēs} ‘the centurion’, linked by the conjunction de {δὲ | dè} ‘but’ to the preceding narrative. The dative phrase tō kybernete kai tō nauklero {τῷ κυβερνήτῃ καὶ τῷ ναυκλήρῳ | tō kybernéte kai tō naukléro} ‘to the pilot and to the shipowner’ marks the persons toward whom the persuasion is directed. The middle-voice imperfect verb epeitheto {ἐπείθετο | epeítheto} ‘he was being persuaded’ governs these datives as datives of reference. The comparative is formed by mallon {μᾶλλον | mâllon} ‘more’ combined with e {ἢ | ḗ} ‘than’. The contrasting element tois hypo Paulou legomenois {τοῖς ὑπὸ Παύλου λεγομένοις | toîs hypò Páulou legoménois} ‘the things being said by Paul’ combines the article with a present participle to denote ongoing speech, with hypo Paulou marking Paul as agent. This word order foregrounds human expertise before Paul’s counsel, highlighting the tension between professional advice and apostolic proclamation. English renderings preserve this comparative pattern by placing ‘more’ before the verb and ‘than’ before the contrasted phrase. |