| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the third-class condition introduced by kai ean {καὶ ἐάν | kaì eán} ‘and if’, indicating a potential scenario. The indefinite pronoun tis {τις | tis} ‘anyone’ with the dative pronoun humin {ὑμῖν | hū-mīn} ‘to you’ sets up the interlocutor, and the aorist subjunctive eipe {εἴπῃ | eí-pē} ‘might say’ expresses contingency, followed by the future indicative ereite {ἐρεῖτε | e-reî-te} ‘you will say’ issuing the directive. The conjunction hoti {ὅτι | hó-ti} ‘that’ introduces the indirect speech. The article ho {Ὁ | ho} with the noun kyrios {κύριος | kú-ri-os} ‘Lord’ identifies the owner, and the genitive auton {αὐτῶν | au-tō̂n} ‘of them’ denotes possession of the animals. The phrase chreian echei {χρείαν ἔχει | khre-í-an é-khei} ‘has need’ conveys necessity, with the adverb euthus {εὐθὺς | eu-thŷs} ‘immediately’ and the postpositive conjunction de {δὲ | dè} ‘but’ marking swift transition, and the future indicative apostelei {ἀποστελεῖ | a-po-ste-leî} ‘he will send’ completing the promise of prompt dispatch with the pronoun autous {αὐτούς | au-toûs} ‘them’. |