| 24. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a fronted object phrase, allen parabolen {Ἄλλην παραβολὴν | Ál-lēn pa-ra-bo-lḕn} ‘another parable’, followed by the verb paretheken {παρέθηκεν | pa-ré-thē-ken} ‘he set before, presented’ and the indirect object autois {αὐτοῖς | au-toîs} ‘to them’. This word order (object–verb–indirect object) highlights the new parable as the focal element of the sentence. The circumstantial participle legon {λέγων | lé-gōn} ‘saying’ links the narrative action of presenting with the content of what is spoken, functioning as a participial bridge into the quoted comparison. The aorist passive homoiothe {Ὡμοιώθη | hō-moi-ṓ-thē} ‘was likened’ introduces the parabolic comparison, with he basileia ton ouranon {ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν | hē ba-si-leí-a tôn ou-ra-nôn} ‘the kingdom of heaven’ as the grammatical subject. The dative anthropo speiranti {ἀνθρώπῳ σπείραντι | an-thrṓ-pō speí-ran-ti} forms a dative of comparison or reference, characterizing the man by his action of sowing, with the aorist participle speiranti indicating the specific act that defines him in the story. The object phrase kalon sperma {καλὸν σπέρμα | ka-lón spé-rma} ‘good seed’ specifies the quality of what is sown, which becomes crucial in the ensuing parable. The prepositional phrase en tō agro autou {ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ | en tō a-grō̂ au-toû} ‘in his field’ locates the action and marks possession through autou. In English, the passive “was likened” is rendered as “is like” to maintain idiomatic parabolic style while keeping the underlying comparative force, and verbal aspect is conveyed through simple past for the narrative frame (“set,” “told”) and present-like comparison inside the quotation (“is like”). |