| 40. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with kai {καί | kaí} “and,” linking this scene to the ongoing Gethsemane narrative, and palin {πάλιν | pá-lin} “again” signals repetition of a previous coming. The aorist participle elthon {ἐλθών | el-thṓn} “having come” functions temporally, preceding the main aorist indicative heuren {εὗρεν | heû-ren} “he found,” so the structure is “when He had come, He found.” The object autous {αὐτούς | au-toús} “them” is further specified by the participle katheudontas {καθεύδοντας | ka-theú-don-tas} “sleeping,” giving a circumstantial description of their state. The imperfect esan {ἦσαν | ê-san} combines with the participle katabarynomenoi {καταβαρυνόμενοι | ka-ta-ba-ry-nó-me-noi} and the subject phrase auton hoi ophthalmoi {αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί | au-tôn hoí oph-thal-moí} to form a periphrastic construction, “for their eyes were being weighed down,” expressing an ongoing condition of heavy drowsiness. The conjunction gar {γάρ | gár} “for” introduces this clause as an explanation for their repeated sleeping. The final clause kai ouk edeisan ti apokrithosin auto {καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν τί ἀποκριθῶσιν αὐτῷ | kaí ouk ḗ-dei-san tí a-po-kri-thô-sin au-tôi} uses the pluperfect edeisan “they knew,” functioning with present force, negated by ouk to indicate their present inability, plus the interrogative ti “what” and the aorist subjunctive apokrithosin {ἀποκριθῶσιν | a-po-kri-thô-sin} in an indirect-question construction, “what they might answer Him.” English rendering adjusts word order, moving temporal and causal elements (“when He came again,” “because their eyes were so heavy”) into more natural positions while preserving the temporal sequence, causal linkage, and the sense of confusion and shame conveyed by the negated “they knew” plus subjunctive. |