| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with the nominative plural subject anthropoi {Ἄνθρωποι | án-thrō-poi} ‘men’, which is immediately quantified by the numeral dyo {δύο | dú-o} ‘two’ to introduce the participants in the parable. The aorist verb anebesan {ἀνέβησαν | an-é-bē-san} ‘went up’ conveys a completed action and, given Jerusalem’s elevation and the temple mount, naturally carries the nuance of ascent. The prepositional phrase eis to hieron {εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν | eîs tò hi-er-òn} ‘into the temple’ specifies movement toward and entry into the sacred space. The aorist middle infinitive proseuxasthai {προσεύξασθαι | pros-eúx-as-thai} functions as a purpose infinitive, indicating the intended action for which they went up, so it is rendered with an English infinitive of purpose, “to pray.” The next segment consists of two parallel nominative appositional phrases: ho heis Pharisaios {ὁ εἷς Φαρισαῖος | hò hêîs Pha-ri-sái-os} ‘the one, a Pharisee’ and ho heteros telones {ὁ ἕτερος τελώνης | hò hé-te-ros te-lṓ-nēs} ‘the other, a tax collector’. The articles ho {ὁ | hò} with heis {εἷς | hêîs} and heteros {ἕτερος | hé-te-ros} mark the two men as distinct individuals within a pair, while the nouns Pharisaios and telones provide their contrasting identities. In English, the implied copula in these appositional constructions is made explicit with “was” to maintain clarity, and the parallelism is preserved by repeating the structure “one was … and the other was …,” mirroring the Greek contrast and setting up the moral and social tension that the parable will develop. |