| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative pivot ho de Iesous {ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς | ho dè Iē-soûs} ‘but Jesus’ introduces a contrast to the disciples’ suggestion and sets Jesus as the active speaker. The aorist indicative verb eipen {εἶπεν | eî-pen} functions as the introduction to direct speech. The negated object-centered construction Ou chreian echousin apelthein {Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν ἀπελθεῖν | ou chreí-an É-khou-sin a-pel-theîn} places the accusative noun chreian ‘need’ before the verb and infinitive, thereby emphasizing the absence of necessity, with the infinitive apelthein acting as the content clause of the ‘need.’ The following imperative clause dote autois hymeis phagein {δότε αὐτοῖς ὑμεῖς φαγεῖν | DÓ-te au-toîs hy-MEIS pha-geîn} features the aorist imperative dote ‘give’ commanding the disciples, with autois as the indirect object and phagein as the complementary infinitive, while the emphatic pronoun hymeis indicates their personal responsibility for the action. |