| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The verse unfolds in three coordinated clauses linked by kai {καὶ | kaí}, forming a tightly connected sequence. The opening clause kai autoi ouden toutōn synēkan {καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐδὲν τούτων συνῆκαν | kai autoi ouden toútōn synêkan} places autoi in an emphatic position, stressing that they themselves failed to understand, while the aorist synēkan presents their lack of comprehension as a complete cognitive failure regarding “none of these things,” referring back to the preceding passion prediction. The next clause, kai ēn to rhēma touto kekrymmenon apʼ autōn {καὶ ἦν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο κεκρυμμένον ἀπʼ αὐτῶν | kai ên tò rhêma toûto kekrumménon ap' autôn}, is a periphrastic construction (imperfect of “to be” plus perfect passive participle) that emphasizes the sustained result of a prior act of concealment: “this saying” stood in a state of being hidden from them. The final clause kai ouk eginōskon ta legomena {καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκον τὰ λεγόμενα | kai ouk egínōskon tà legómena} uses the imperfect eginōskon to portray an ongoing, progressive failure to recognize the content of “the things being said,” with the present passive participle legomena suggesting repeated or continuous speech. The English renderings mirror this triadic progression—from total non-understanding, to the underlying state of concealment, to continued failure of recognition—by using parallel verbs (“understood,” “was hidden,” “did not comprehend / could not perceive”) and by preserving the sense of repeated speech (“things that were being said / spoken”). |