Matthew 17:14 — ExegesisTAB

The verse opens with the genitive absolute construction kai elthontōn {Καὶ ἐλθόντων | Kaì elthóntōn} ‘and when they came,’ which sets the temporal scene. The prepositional phrase pros ton ochlon {πρὸς τὸν ὄχλον | pròs tòn óchlon} marks movement toward the crowd, with the accusative object emphasizing the assembled group. The main clause features the aorist verb prosēlthen {προσῆλθεν | prosêlthen} ‘he approached,’ foregrounding the action of coming to Jesus. The noun anthrōpos {ἄνθρωπος | ánthrōpos} ‘a man’ follows, reflecting typical Greek narrative word order where the verb precedes the subject. The participle gonypetōn {γονυπετῶν | gonupetôn} ‘kneeling’ functions adverbially to describe the posture accompanying his approach. The dative autō {αὐτῷ | autô} and accusative auton {αὐτὸν | autòn} both refer to Jesus implicitly, indicating to whom the man comes and before whom he bows. In English, the genitive absolute is rendered with a temporal clause (“When they came”), and the participle is rendered with a finite verb (“knelt,” “fell on his knees”) to maintain narrative flow while preserving the original sequence and emphasis.