| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with the verb ephoboumen {ἐφοβούμην | ephoboúmēn} ‘I was afraid’, an imperfect middle/passive indicative that portrays sustained fear rather than a momentary reaction. The postpositive conjunction gar {γάρ | gár} links this explanation to the master’s preceding words by giving the reason, with se {σε | se} as the accusative object of fear. The conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hóti} introduces the explanatory content of that fear, expressed in the nominal clause anthropos austēros ei {ἄνθρωπος αὐστηρὸς εἶ | ánthrōpos austērós eî}, where the predicate adjective austēros characterizes the anthropos as severe. The sentence then presents two coordinated accusations through the present indicatives aireis {αἴρεις | aíreis} and therizeis {θερίζεις | therízeis}, each governing an object expressed by a relative clause introduced by ho {ὃ | hó}. Within these clauses the negated aorists ouk ethēkas {οὐκ ἔθηκας | ouk éthēkas} and ouk espeiras {οὐκ ἔσπειρας | ouk éspeiras} contrast what the master did not do in the past (not depositing, not sowing) with what he is accused of doing now (taking up, reaping). The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaì} links the two parallel accusations, and the Greek parallelism is mirrored in translation by maintaining the repeated pattern “what you did not…,” preserving the rhetorical force of the servant’s complaint. |