| 36. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the adverb palin {πάλιν | pál-in} ‘again’, indicating repeated action. The main verb apesteilen {ἀπέστειλεν | apé-stei-len} ‘he sent’ takes the noun phrase allous doulous {ἄλλους δούλους | ál-lous dóu-lous} ‘other servants’ as its object. This object is modified by the comparative pleionas {πλείονας | pléio-nas} ‘more’ in the genitive phrase pleionas ton proton {πλείονας τῶν πρώτων | pléio-nas tôn prô-tōn} ‘than the first’ expressing comparison. The conjunction kai {καὶ | kaì} ‘and’ connects a parallel clause with epoiesan autois hosautōs {ἐποίησαν αὐτοῖς ὡσαύτως | epó-ē-san au-toîs hō-sáu-tōs} ‘they did to them likewise’, where the adverb hosautōs {ὡσαύτως | hō-sáu-tōs} ‘likewise’ reinforces the repeated pattern. English preserves subject-verb-object order and uses comparative phrasing to reflect the Greek structure. |