| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the aorist imperative apodote {ἀπόδοτε | apó-do-te} ‘give back’, which issues a decisive command. The dative plural πᾶσι {πᾶσι | pâ-si} ‘to all’ expands the scope to every recipient. The accusative τὰς ὀφειλάς {τὰς ὀφειλάς | tàs o-phei-lás} ‘the debts’ serves as the object, encompassing all obligations. A series of parallel constructions follows: each starts with a dative article τῷ {τῷ | tô} plus an implied participle, meaning “to the one to whom X is due,” then repeats the accusative noun (e.g. τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον {τὸν φόρον | tòn phó-ron}) for emphasis. This pattern continues with τέλος {τέλος | té-los} ‘custom’, φόβον {φόβον | phó-bon} ‘fear’, and τιμήν {τιμήν | ti-mḗn} ‘honor’, creating rhythmic parallelism. The exact repetition underscores precise reciprocity. The translation preserves this structure, clarifying the implied “to the one owed” for smooth English. |