| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The finite verb erxanto {ἤρξαντο | ḗrxanto} ‘they began’ introduces a new phase of response, with the plural subject implied by the verb referring to the gathered disciples. It governs two present infinitives, lupeisthai {λυπεῖσθαι | lupeîsthai} ‘to be grieved’ and legein {λέγειν | légein} ‘to be saying’, which function as complementary infinitives describing concurrent emotional and verbal reactions. The present tense of both infinitives emphasizes ongoing, durative activity: their sorrow continues as they repeatedly speak. The dative pronoun auto {αὐτῷ | autō̂} ‘to Him’ marks Jesus as the addressee of their questions. The idiomatic expression heis kata heis {εἷς κατὰ εἷς | heîs katà heîs} ‘one after one’ is a distributive construction that highlights the sequential, individual participation of each disciple in questioning. The interrogative particle meti {Μήτι | Mḗti} coupled with ego {ἐγώ | egṓ} forms a question that grammatically anticipates a negative answer, revealing a blend of fear and hope in each speaker. In translation, the infinitival structure is rendered with finite verbs (“began to be grieved,” “began…to say” / “started… and said”) to produce natural English while preserving the aspectual sense of ongoing grief and repeated questioning, and the distributive phrase is expressed as “one after another” or “one by one” to retain the sequential nuance. |