| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with ho de apokritheis {ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθείς | ho de a-po-kri-theís} ‘but having answered’, an aorist passive participle functioning circumstantially to introduce the response and link it to the preceding complaint. The finite verb eipen {εἶπεν | eî-pen} ‘he said’ forms the common narrative pair “answering, he said,” which marks the start of direct speech. The phrase heni autōn {ἑνὶ αὐτῶν | hení autôn} ‘to one of them’ combines a dative singular numeral with a partitive genitive plural, narrowing the focus to a specific individual within the group of laborers. The vocative hetaire {Ἑταῖρε | he-taî-re} ‘friend’ directly addresses this worker; in Matthew it often carries a mildly reproving or ironic tone, softening yet confronting the addressee. The clause ouk adiko se {οὐκ ἀδικῶ σε | ouk a-di-kô se} ‘I am not doing wrong to you’ uses simple negation with the present tense to assert an ongoing state of justice from the speaker’s perspective. The following question, oukhi denariou synephōnēsas moi {οὐχὶ δηναρίου συνεφώνησάς μοι | ou-khì dē-na-rí-ou sy-ne-phō-nē-sás moi} ‘did you not agree with me for a denarius?’ employs the emphatic particle oukhi to expect an affirmative answer, grounding the claim of fairness in the prior agreement. The genitive denariou denotes the amount involved in the agreement, while the dative moi marks the other party to the contract. In English, the participial opening is rendered with a finite verb for idiomatic style, but the sequence of address, denial of injustice, and appeal to the agreed wage is preserved to maintain the argument’s logic. |