| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the temporal prepositional phrase en keinei te hora {ἐν κείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ | en keínē tē hṓra} ‘at that hour’, which foregrounds a specific moment and links this scene to the preceding context. The aorist verb proselthon {προσῆλθον | prosḗlthon} ‘they came’ governs the nominative subject hoi mathetai {οἱ μαθηταί | hoi mathētai} ‘the disciples’, marking a collective, deliberate approach. The dative phrase to Iesou {τῷ Ἰησοῦ | tō Iēsou} ‘to Jesus’ identifies the one to whom they come, while the circumstantial participle legontes {λέγοντες | légontes} ‘saying’ connects their movement with the ensuing speech, forming a typical narrative pattern of approach plus question. The direct question is introduced by the interrogative tis {τίς | tís} ‘who’, with the inferential particle ara {ἄρα | ára} ‘then’ connecting their question logically to Jesus’ prior teaching. The comparative predicate adjective meizon {μείζων | meízōn} ‘greater’ combined with the copular verb estin {ἐστίν | estín} ‘is’ expresses a concern for relative status without naming a specific candidate. The sphere of comparison is defined by the prepositional phrase en te basileia ton ouranon {ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν | en tē basileía tōn ouranōn} ‘in the kingdom of the heavens’, a characteristically Matthean expression that points to God’s reign rather than a purely spatial heaven. In translation, the initial temporal phrase is kept at the front to maintain narrative focus, the participle legontes is rendered with a finite verb (‘saying/asked’) for clarity in English, and the comparative structure ‘who then is greater’ is preserved to reflect the disciples’ hierarchical concern within the context of God’s rule. |