| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with kai {καὶ | kaí} as a narrative connector, linking this action to the preceding context. The main finite verb is enosphisato {ἐνοσφίσατο | enosphísato} ‘he kept back for himself’, an aorist middle form that emphasizes a decisive act done for personal advantage. The prepositional phrase apo tēs timēs {ἀπὸ τῆς τιμῆς | apó tês timês} ‘from the price’ specifies that the withholding concerns only a portion of the total sale value. The participial genitive construction syneidyes kai tēs gynaikos {συνειδυίης καὶ τῆς γυναικός | syneiduíēs kaí tês gynaikós} functions as a genitive absolute, portraying the wife’s awareness as accompanying background circumstance, and highlighting her complicity without interrupting the main verbal line.
A second participle, enenkas {ἐνέγκας | enéngkas} ‘having brought’, precedes the main verb ethēken {ἔθηκεν | éthēken} ‘he placed’ and is aorist as well, marking the bringing of the gift as action completed prior to the placing of it. The object of enenkas is meros ti {μέρος τι | méros ti} ‘a certain part’, with the indefinite ti underlining that only an unspecified portion of the total price was presented. The prepositional phrase para tous podas tōn apostolōn {παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων | pará toús pódas tôn apostólōn} describes the physical placement of the gift “at the feet” of the apostles, a spatial metaphor for deference and recognition of their authority.
In rendering this structure, the English formal reconstruction maintains the sequence of the main verb enosphisato and the subsequent ethēken, while embedding the genitive absolute as “with the knowledge also of his wife” to keep it clearly circumstantial. The participle enenkas is conveyed with “having brought,” preserving its temporal relationship to ethēken, and the prepositional phrase para tous podas is translated as “at the feet of the apostles” to retain both the concrete image and its authoritative overtones. |