| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with humeis {Ὑμεῖς | hy-meîs} ‘you’, which is fronted for emphasis, directly engaging the audience and highlighting their responsibility to respond. The inferential particle oun {οὖν | oûn} ‘therefore, then’ links this verse to the preceding discourse, indicating that what follows is the logical explanation of the earlier parable. The verb akousate {ἀκούσατε | a-koú-sa-te} is an aorist active imperative, functioning as a forceful command that calls for decisive and attentive listening. The direct object is formed by the article–noun pair ten parabolen {τὴν παραβολὴν | tēn pa-ra-bo-lḗn} ‘the parable’, marking a specific parable already introduced. The genitive construction tou speirantos {τοῦ σπείραντος | toû speí-ran-tos} ‘of the sower’ is a substantival participle specifying which parable is in view, namely the one involving the sower. Greek word order, placing humeis first and the imperative akousate near the front, foregrounds the hearers’ duty to understand, while the genitive phrase narrows the reference and signals that an interpretation of the previously told parable is about to follow. |