| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with kai {καὶ | kaí} “and,” linking this action to the preceding narrative. The participial phrase anabas {ἀναβὰς | a-na-bás} “having gone up” functions temporally and circumstantially, describing prior movement toward the ruling figure (Pilate, understood from context). The subject ho ochlos {ὁ ὄχλος | ho óch-los} “the crowd” follows, with the article marking it as a specific, already known group. The main verbal idea is expressed by erxato aiteisthai {ἤρξατο αἰτεῖσθαι | ḗr-xa-to ai-teîs-thai}, a common Greek periphrasis where “began” plus an infinitive (“to ask”) indicates the inception of an activity, here the onset of repeated or extended petitions. The subordinating conjunction kathos {καθὼς | ka-thṓs} “just as” introduces a manner clause governed by the imperfect epoiei {ἐποίει | e-poí-ei} “he used to do,” which portrays a settled past custom or practice. The dative autois {αὐτοῖς | au-toîs} “for them” identifies the beneficiaries of this habitual action. Syntactically, the structure moves from narrative linkage (kai) to setting (anabas), to subject (ho ochlos), to inceptive action (erxato aiteisthai), and finally to a comparison of current petitions with an established custom (kathos epoiei autois). In English, the participle is best rendered as a finite clause (“when the crowd had come up”/“the crowd came up”), and the infinitive as “began to ask” or “began to request,” while the imperfect conveys “used to do” or “usually did” to preserve the nuance of ongoing past habit. |