| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence opens with kai eipan legontes {καὶ εἶπαν λέγοντες | kaí eî-pan lé-gon-tes} ‘and they said, saying’, a characteristic Lukan reporting formula that introduces direct speech and highlights the speakers’ initiative. The prepositional phrase pros auton {πρὸς αὐτόν | prós au-tón} marks Jesus as the addressee and frames the confrontation. The aorist imperative eipon {Εἰπὸν | Eí-pon} ‘Tell’ conveys a direct, insistent demand rather than a polite request. The interrogative prepositional phrase en poia exousia {ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ | en poí-a ex-ou-sí-a} ‘by what kind of authority’ uses the dative with en to express means or basis, focusing on the nature or source of Jesus’ legitimating power. The clause tauta poieis {ταῦτα ποιεῖς | taû-ta poi-eîs} ‘you do these things’ places the verb at the end, with the demonstrative tauta foregrounding the specific controversial actions in question. The disjunctive ē {ἢ | ē} introduces an alternative but closely related question. The following clause tis estin ho dous soi tēn exousian tautēn {τίς ἐστιν ὁ δούς σοι τὴν ἐξουσίαν ταύτην | tís es-tin ho doûs soi tēn ex-ou-sí-an taû-tēn} employs a substantival participle ho dous ‘the one who has given’ as the predicate nominative after estin, sharpening the inquiry into the personal agent behind Jesus’ authority. English word order shifts to a more natural “who is it that has given you” construction while preserving the focus on both the kind of authority and the one who confers it. |