| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaí} linking this statement to the preceding dialogue. The vivid historical present legei {λέγει | lé-gei} introduces direct speech, with the dative autois {αὐτοῖς | au-toîs} marking the audience of the question. The interrogative genitive tinos {Τίνος | Tí-nos} functions as a possessive, governing both predicate nouns that follow. The article he {ἡ | hē} plus eikon {εἰκὼν | ei-kôn} forms the nominal phrase “the image,” and the demonstrative haute {αὕτη | hau-tē} specifies “this particular” image, pointing deictically to the object in view (the coin). The second coordinated phrase, kai he epigraphe {καὶ ἡ ἐπιγραφή | kaí hē e-pi-gra-phē}, parallels the first, pairing the visual feature (image) with the textual feature (inscription). In translation, the possessive interrogative “whose” is supplied for the second noun to keep clear English parallelism, while maintaining the two coordinated elements that highlight the coin’s bearer and authority. |