| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the genitive absolute akouonton auton tauta {Ἀκουόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ταῦτα | a-kou-ÓN-ton de au-TŌN TAU-ta} ‘while they were hearing these things’, which sets a temporal background independent of the main clause and ties the parable to the preceding teaching. The participle-plus-finite construction prostheis eipen {προσθεὶς εἶπεν | pros-THEIS EI-pen} marks a narrative progression as Jesus added and spoke a parable. The causal clause introduced by dia with the articular infinitive dia to engus einai Ierousalem auton {διὰ τὸ ἐγγὺς εἶναι Ἰερουσαλὴμ αὐτὸν | di-A to eng-GYS EI-nai ie-rou-sa-LEM au-TON} cites proximity to Jerusalem as the first reason. The coordinate infinitive clause kai dokein autous hoti mellei he basileia tou theou anaphainesthai {καὶ δοκεῖν αὐτοὺς ὅτι παραχρῆμα μέλλει ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναφαίνεσθαι | KAI do-KEIN au-TOUS HO-ti pa-ra-KHRE-ma MEL-lei HE ba-si-LEI-a TOU the-OU a-na-PHAIN-es-thai} adds their mistaken expectation that the kingdom of God was about to appear immediately. The adverb parachrema intensifies the sense of imminence conveyed by mellei plus infinitive. In translation, the genitive absolute is rendered as a temporal clause, the articular infinitive as a causal clause, and the infinitive dokein plus hoti-clause as their presumed belief, preserving the causal logic and highlighting the timing contrast. |