| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with edunato gar {ἠδύνατο γὰρ | ē-dý-na-to gar} ‘for it was able,’ where the imperfect verb edunato presents unrealized potential in past time, and the postpositive conjunction gar links this statement as an explanation of the preceding objection. The demonstrative touto combined with the article and noun, touto to myron {τοῦτο τὸ μύρον | toû-to tò mý-ron}, forms a marked noun phrase, “this ointment,” which functions as the subject of the infinitival construction. The aorist passive infinitive prathenai {πραθῆναι | pra-thê-nai} ‘to be sold’ expresses a hypothetical action that could have happened, complemented by the prepositional phrase epano denariōn triakosiōn {ἐπάνω δηναρίων τριακοσίων | e-pá-nō dē-na-rí-ōn tri-a-ko-sí-ōn}, where epano with the genitive indicates value “for more than” a specified amount. The coordinated aorist passive infinitive dothenai {δοθῆναι | do-thê-nai} ‘to be given’ shares the same governing verb edunato and extends the hypothetical scenario: not only sold, but also bestowed upon tois ptōchois {τοῖς πτωχοῖς | toîs ptō-khoîs}, “the poor,” a dative of advantage. A new finite clause is then introduced with kai enebrimōnto autē {καὶ ἐνεβριμῶντο αὐτῇ | kaí e-ne-bri-mōn-to au-tê}, where the imperfect middle enebrimōnto portrays ongoing or repeated scolding toward “her” (autē, dative of reference), reflecting sustained indignation. In translation, the sequence of infinitives is preserved by “could have been sold” and “and given,” while the imperfects are expressed by “could have been” (unrealized possibility) and “began to scold” or “harshly criticized” (progressive hostile reaction). The prepositional genitive of price is rendered idiomatically as “for more than / over three hundred denarii” to reflect economic value clearly in English. |