| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the narrative connector kai elalesen {καὶ ἐλάλησεν | kaì elálēsen} ‘and He spoke’, which advances the storyline and introduces a new teaching section. The indirect object autois {αὐτοῖς | autoîs} ‘to them’ identifies the audience as those already gathered. The phrase polla en parabolais {πολλὰ ἐν παραβολαῖς | pollá en parabolâis} combines the extent of the discourse (‘many things’) with its medium (‘in parables’), with parabolais functioning as a dative of means that indicates how the instruction is delivered. The circumstantial participle legon {λέγων | légōn} ‘saying’ introduces the direct speech that follows. The interjection Idou {Ἰδοὺ | Idoú} ‘behold’ serves as an attention-getting device, drawing listeners into the illustrative scene. Within the parabolic frame, the main verb exelthen {ἐξῆλθεν | exḗlthen} ‘went out’ precedes the subject ho speiron {ὁ σπείρων | ho speírōn} ‘the sower’, an articular present participle that characterizes the subject by his ongoing activity. The genitive articular infinitive tou speirein {τοῦ σπείρειν | toû speírein} expresses purpose (‘in order to sow’), a nuance conveyed in English with the infinitive “to sow” and, in the dynamic rendering, “to plant seed.” The overall syntactic flow moves from narrative setup to the vivid opening line of the parable, preserving both the teaching context and the intentional action of the sower. |