| 31. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the object–verb–indirect object sequence allen parabolen {Ἄλλην παραβολὴν | Ál-lēn pa-ra-bo-lḗn} followed by paretheken autois {παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς | pa-ré-thē-ken au-toîs}, placing focus first on “another parable” before identifying that it is presented “to them.” The participle legon {λέγων | lé-gōn} introduces the direct discourse that follows, functioning as a circumstantial participle accompanying the main verb. Within the quotation, homoia estin {Ὁμοία ἐστὶν | ho-moía é-stin} forms a predicate adjective construction, where homoia takes the subject he basileia ton ouranon {ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν | hē ba-si-leí-a tōn ou-ra-nōn}, so that the “kingdom of heaven” is equated with something to which it is “like.” The dative phrase kokkō sinapeos {κόκκῳ σινάπεως | kók-kōi si-ná-pe-ōs} functions as the complement of homoia, expressing comparison (“like a grain of mustard”). The relative clause hon labon anthropos espeiren {ὃν λαβὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔσπειρεν | hon la-bōn án-thrō-pos É-spei-ren} modifies kokkō, with hon referring back to the “grain.” The aorist participle labon is temporally subordinate to espeiren, indicating prior action (“after taking, he sowed”). The prepositional phrase en tō agrō autou {ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ | en tō a-grōi au-toû} specifies location and ownership, emphasizing that the sowing occurred in “his own field.” In translation, the Greek word order is slightly smoothed so that the comparison and the human agent are clear, while preserving the parabolic structure and the sequence of actions. |