ἀφέντες (aphentes) in Matthew 4:20: Verb Second Aorist Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine

Verb: the form names an action or state in the clause.

Tense or aspect: the morphology should be read with the immediate context.

Active: presents the subject as carrying out the action.

Mood: the verbal mood should be read with the clause.

Person: the form marks its subject relationship in the clause.

Not applicable: this finite verb form is not using noun case to mark its clause role.

Plural: the verb's number should be read with its subject in this clause.

Not applicable: this finite verb form does not use grammatical gender.

Having left the nets

The disciples' immediate response

Describes the brothers leaving their nets.

Do not make the participle alone define all renunciation.

High: The participle marks the concrete response to Jesus' call.

Participle accompanying followed. describes what they did as they followed. Attached to having left the nets. Governed by the disciples' immediate response. Read with immediately and followed him.

What did they leave? They left the nets and followed him.

Direct: The form directly supports having left.

The leaving is concrete here, while application must respect broader discipleship context.

Leaving nets becomes universal economic rule: The occurrence shows this call scene, not every possible discipleship circumstance.

The witness reads ἀφέντες in Matthew 4:20.

The lemma ἀφίημι carries the gloss "I send away, release, remit, forgive, permit", and here it names leaving or releasing in the response scene.

The participle precedes the finite followed verb and describes what they left behind.

The first disciples leave their nets and follow Jesus.

The form fits Matthew's pattern of decisive response to Jesus' call.

Use it to connect leaving with following rather than isolating sacrifice.

Do not use this participle alone to prescribe one economic pattern for every disciple.