| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with kai {Καὶ | kaì} ‘and’, linking this saying to the prior exchange. The aorist verb eipen {εἶπεν | eî-pen} ‘he said’ introduces direct speech, while the dative autois {αὐτοῖς | au-toîs} ‘to them’ marks the addressees. The nominative subject ho Iesous {ὁ Ἰησοῦς | ho Iē-soûs} ‘Jesus’ explicitly identifies the speaker before the reported words. A new clause is introduced with the nominative plural hoi huioi {Οἱ υἱοὶ | hoi hu-ioì} ‘the sons’, which is qualified by the genitive phrase tou aionos toutou {τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου | toû ai-ō-nos toú-tou} ‘of this age’, expressing belonging to the present temporal order. The coordinated verbs gamousin {γαμοῦσιν | ga-moû-sin} ‘they marry’ (active) and gamiskontai {γαμίσκονται | ga-mís-kon-tai} ‘they are given in marriage’ (passive) form a balanced pair that reflects the mutual roles in marriage arrangements. In English, the clause is rendered with a straightforward subject–verb sequence, preserving the temporal frame “of this age” as the key qualifier of those who participate in ordinary marriage patterns. |