| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conjunction de {δὲ | dé}, linking Jesus’ reply to the prior discussion, followed by the aorist passive participle apokritheis {ἀποκριθεὶς | apokritheís} ‘having answered’, which functions adverbially to introduce the main finite verb eipen {εἶπεν | eipen} ‘He said’. This participle-verb pairing is a common narrative pattern that foregrounds the speech that follows rather than the act of answering itself. The subject is implicit in the verb but contextually refers to Jesus. The direct discourse consists of a universal statement introduced by Pasa phuteia {Πᾶσα φυτεία | pâ-sa phuteía} ‘every plant’, where the adjective Pasa modifies the noun phuteia, creating a generic category. This is further specified by the relative clause hen ouk ephuteusen {ἣν οὐκ ἐφύτευσεν | hḗn ouk ephýteusen} ‘which He did not plant’, with hen referring back to phuteia and ephuteusen taking an implied subject, here the “Father.” The phrase ho pater mou ho ouranios {ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ οὐράνιος | ho patḗr mou ho ouránios} is an emphatic nominal group: the repeated article ho marks both pater and ouranios, yielding “My Father, the heavenly One,” and strongly identifying God as the true planter. The future passive verb ekrizothesetai {ἐκριζωθήσεται | ekrizōthḗsetai} ‘will be uprooted’ presents an eschatological or decisive future action carried out upon every plant not of divine origin, emphasizing inevitability and completeness. In translation, the participial construction is rendered as a simple past “But He answered and said / He replied” to maintain natural English word order, while the relative clause is preserved to keep the focus on divine agency in planting. The future passive is maintained (“will be uprooted / will be pulled up by the roots”) to retain the sense of certain, externally enacted judgment. |