| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the circumstantial participle elthon {ἐλθὼν | el-thōn} ‘having come,’ followed by the nominative participle kalesas {καλέσας | kalésas} ‘having called,’ both governed by the article ho {ὁ | ho}, forming “the one who invited.” The accusative pronouns se {σὲ | sé} ‘you’ and auton {αὐτὸν | au-tòn} ‘him’ identify the invited guests. The main verb erei {ἐρεῖ | ereî} ‘he will say’ introduces direct speech addressed to the first guest. Within the quotation, the imperative dos {Δὸς | Dòs} ‘give’ takes toutōi {τούτῳ | toútōi} ‘to this one’ as an indirect object and topon {τόπον | tó-pon} ‘place’ as direct object, commanding the change of seating. The adverb tote {τότε | tó-te} ‘then’ signals the sequential action introduced by the future middle arche {ἄρξῃ | árxē} ‘you will begin,’ indicating the guest’s response. The prepositional phrase meta aischynes {μετὰ αἰσχύνης | me-tá aischý-nēs} ‘with shame’ employs a genitive to denote the emotional experience of dishonor. Finally, the infinitive katechein {κατέχειν | ka-té-khein} ‘to occupy’ is complemented by the accusative noun phrase ton eschaton topon {τὸν ἔσχατον τόπον | tòn és-kha-ton tó-pon} ‘the last place,’ portraying the social demotion enacted by the host’s reversal of seating. |