| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with kai {καὶ | kaì} ‘and’ marking continuation, followed by eipan {εἶπαν | eî-pan} ‘they said’ to introduce direct address (autō {αὐτῷ | au-tō̂} ‘to Him’). The present indicative akoueis {ἀκούεις | akou-eis} ‘do You hear’ with interrogative ti {τί | tí} ‘what’ and demonstrative houtoi {οὗτοι | hoút-oi} ‘these’ signals a rhetorical question about the crowd’s ongoing legousin {λέγουσιν | lég-ou-sin} ‘they are saying’. The adversative de {δὲ | dè} ‘but’ contrasts the question with Jesus’ authoritative response (legei {λέγει | lé-gei} ‘says’). Jesus issues a scriptural challenge with oudepote anegnote {οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε | oud-é-po-te an-ég-no-te} ‘have You never read’, introducing the citation with hoti {ὅτι | hó-ti} ‘that’. The clause ek stomatos {ἐκ στόματος | ek stó-ma-tos} ‘from the mouth’ uses ek with the genitive to indicate source, and nēpiōn {νηπίων | nē-pí-ōn} and thēlazontōn {θηλαζόντων | thē-laz-ón-tōn} function as genitives of source. The verb katērtisō {κατηρτίσω | ka-tēr-tí-sō} ‘You have prepared’ in the aorist active indicative emphasizes completed divine action, culminating in the noun ainon {αἶνον | âi-non} ‘praise’. The Greek interrogative and citation structure are rendered in English through matching direct questions and quotation marks to preserve the rhetorical force. |