| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the prepositional phrase en de to katheudein tous anthropous {ἐν δὲ τῷ καθεύδειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους | en dè tôi katheúdein toùs anthrṓpous} “but while the people were sleeping,” where the articular infinitive katheudein functions as the object of en to create a temporal clause. The postpositive conjunction de links this sentence to the preceding context and introduces a slight contrast between the sower’s good work and what follows. The main aorist verb elthen {ἦλθεν | êlthen} “he came” introduces the subject ho echthros {ὁ ἐχθρὸς | ho echthròs} “the enemy,” whose definiteness (marked by the article ho) portrays a specific, recognizable adversary. This is followed by the coordinated aorists epespeiren {ἐπέσπειρεν | epéspeiren} “he sowed” and apelthen {ἀπῆλθεν | apêlthen} “he went away,” forming a compact sequence of completed actions that emphasize the enemy’s swift, clandestine activity. The direct object of epespeiren is zizania {ζιζάνια | zizánia} “weeds,” and the prepositional phrase ana meson tou sitou {ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σίτου | anà méson toû sítou} “in the midst of the wheat” pinpoints the location of the sabotage within the good crop itself. In translation, the temporal nuance of the articular infinitive is expressed with “while/as” plus a finite verb, and the chain of aorists is rendered with simple past verbs to preserve the narrative flow and the sense of deliberate, stealthy intrusion. |