| 7. Linguistic Exegesis kai {καὶ | kaí} ‘and’ links this verse to the preceding narrative as a continuation of the scene. The participle idontes {ἰδόντες | idón-tes} ‘having seen’ functions temporally, describing the crowd’s perception that precedes and frames their response, while pantes {πάντες | pán-tes} ‘all’ foregrounds the collective nature of that response. The imperfect diegogguzon {διεγόγγυζον | di-e-góg-gyu-zon} ‘were grumbling’ conveys ongoing, repeated murmuring rather than a one-time complaint. The participle legontes {λέγοντες | lé-gon-tes} ‘saying’ introduces the specific content of that murmuring, which is marked by the conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hó-ti} ‘that’ as reported speech. The dative prepositional phrase para hamartōlō andri {Παρὰ ἁμαρτωλῷ ἀνδρὶ | pa-rá ha-mar-tō-lō an-drí} ‘with a sinner man’ highlights the crowd’s objection to Jesus’ association with someone deemed unworthy. The aorist verb eisēlthen {εἰσῆλθε��� | ei-sél-then} ‘he entered’ presents His action as a completed whole, while the infinitive katalysai {καταλῦσαι | ka-ta-lý-sai} ‘to lodge’ expresses His intention of staying there rather than merely visiting. Together, these features underscore the tension between the crowd’s expectations of holiness and Jesus’ mission to embrace those labeled sinners. |