| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with kai {Καὶ | Kaí} linking this scene to the preceding narrative while introducing a new episode. The aorist verb prosēlthon {προσῆλθον | pro-sḗl-thon} functions as the main narrative verb, with Pharisaioi {Φαρισαῖοι | Pha-ri-saî-oi} as its subject. Two present participles, peirazontes {πειράζοντες | pei-rá-zon-tes} and legontes {λέγοντες | lé-gon-tes}, are circumstantial, expressing manner: they came while “testing” and “saying.” This participial chaining foregrounds both motive and speech. The dative autō {αὐτῷ | au-tṓ} marks the indirect object, referring contextually to Jesus, whose identity is conveyed in English by the capitalized pronoun “Him.” The question is framed by Ei {Εἰ | Ei} plus the verb exestin {ἔξεστιν | ék-se-stin}, a legal formula meaning “it is lawful,” with anthrōpō {ἀνθρώπῳ | an-thrṓ-pō} as a dative of reference (“for a man”). The infinitive apolysai {ἀπολῦσαι | a-po-lû-sai} expresses the contemplated action, taking as its object the phrase tēn gynaika autou {τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ | tḕn gy-naî-ka au-toû}, “his wife,” which encodes both relational and legal status. The prepositional phrase kata pasan aitian {κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν | ka-tá pâ-san ai-tí-an} specifies scope, “for every cause,” suggesting an extremely broad range of permissible grounds. In translation, the participles are rendered as finite verbal phrases (“putting Him to the test,” “trying to trap Him”) to clarify the Pharisees’ intent, and the legal formula exestin is consistently expressed with “is it lawful / legally,” preserving the juridical tone while producing natural English word order. |