| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the aorist passive participle eperotetheis {ἐπερωτηθεὶς | e-pe-rō-tē-theis} ‘having been asked’, which functions as a circumstantial participle setting the temporal and situational background for the main action. The prepositional phrase hupo tōn Pharisaiōn {ὑπὸ τῶν Φαρισαίων | hù-po tōn Pha-ri-sai-ōn} ‘by the Pharisees’ supplies the agents of the questioning, marked by the genitive after hupo. The interrogative adverb pote {πότε | pó-te} ‘when’ introduces the content of their inquiry, governing the present middle/passive indicative erchetai {ἔρχεται | ér-che-tai} ‘comes’ and focusing on the anticipated arrival of hē basileia tou theou {ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | hē ba-si-lei-a tou the-ou} ‘the kingdom of God’. The narrative then moves to the main finite verb apekrithe {ἀπεκρίθη | a-pe-krí-thē} ‘he answered’, followed by the dative indirect object autois {αὐτοῖς | au-tois} ‘to them’ and coordinated verb eipen {εἶπεν | ei-pen} ‘he said’, a stereotyped pair forming a formal response formula. In the direct speech, the negative particle ouk {Οὐκ | Ouk} precedes the verb erchetai to negate the expected mode of arrival, while the repeated subject phrase hē basileia tou theou creates thematic emphasis and cohesion with the question. The prepositional phrase meta paratereseos {μετὰ παρατηρήσεως | mè-ta pa-ra-te-rē-se-ōs} ‘with observation’ specifies the denied manner, using a genitive of manner to characterize an externally verifiable, scrutinized appearance. The translation renders the initial participial construction as a finite clause introduced by “when” or “having been asked” to make the temporal relationship clear, and it unpacks the idiomatic meta paratereseos as “with observation” and “in a way that can be observed” to capture the sense of visible, outwardly noticeable signs. |