| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the circumstantial participle proselthontes {προσελθόντες | proselthóntes} ‘having come’, which sets the prior action of approach and is linked to the main verb eipan {εἶπον | eîpon} ‘they said’. The postpositive conjunction de {δὲ | dè} connects this sentence to the preceding narrative while leaving the initial participle in first position for emphasis on the servants’ initiative. The subject is specified by hoi douloi {οἱ δοῦλοι | hoi doûloi} ‘the servants’, followed by the genitive tou oikodespotou {τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου | toû oikodespótou} ‘of the master of the house’, a possessive genitive that defines their relationship and social hierarchy. The indirect object autō {αὐτῷ | autō} ‘to him’ precedes the direct speech, marking the master as the one addressed. Direct discourse begins with the vocative Kyrie {Κύριε | Kýrie} ‘Master’, a respectful address consistent with their subordinate status. The question itself uses the emphatic negative ouchi {οὐχὶ | ouchí} with the aorist verb espeiras {ἔσπειρας | éspeiras} ‘did you sow’, forming a rhetorical question that assumes a positive answer and expresses surprise. The phrase kalon sperma {καλὸν σπέρμα | kalón spérma} ‘good seed’ stands in sharp contrast to the final object zizania {ζιζάνια | zizánia} ‘weeds, darnel’. The interrogative adverb pothen {πόθεν | póthen} ‘from where’ combined with the inferential particle oun {οὖν | oûn} ‘then’ creates a logical, almost forensic inquiry: given the good seed, how can the field now ‘have’ (echei {ἔχει | échei}) weeds? In translation, the participial clause is rendered as a finite clause for smoother English narrative, while the double question structure and contrast between ‘good seed’ and ‘weeds’ is preserved to retain the servants’ perplexity and the parable’s tension. |