| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the demonstrative–adjective cluster tauta panta {Ταῦτα πάντα | Taû-ta pán-ta} “all these things,” which frontloads a summary of the preceding teaching for emphasis. The main verb elalēsen {ἐλάλησεν | e-lá-lē-sen} “spoke” is aorist, narrating a completed act of speaking, with the explicit subject ho Iēsous {ὁ Ἰησοῦς | ho Iē-soûs} placed after the verb in typical narrative order. The prepositional phrase en parabolais {ἐν παραβολαῖς | en pa-ra-bo-lâis} “in parables” indicates the manner or medium of speech, while the dative phrase tois ochlois {τοῖς ὄχλοις | toîs óch-lois} “to the crowds” marks the indirect object, forming the first clause. The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí} links this to a second clause that heightens the first by negation: chōris parabolēs {χωρὶς παραβολῆς | chō-rís pa-ra-bo-lês} “without a parable” uses a genitive of separation to express exclusion. The construction ouden elalei {οὐδὲν ἐλάλει | ou-dén e-lá-lei} “He was speaking nothing” employs the imperfect to portray Jesus’ customary, ongoing practice of always using parables. The final dative autois {αὐτοῖς | au-toîs} “to them” ties both clauses to the same audience. In translation, the first clause is rendered with a straightforward past (“spoke all these things”) and the second with a habitual past (“did not speak” / “never spoke”) to reflect the aspectual difference between aorist and imperfect while preserving the parallelism and emphasis on Jesus’ consistent parabolic method. |