ἐγέννησε (egennesen) in Matthew 1:2: Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐγέννησε (egennesen) in Matthew 1:2
Textual Witness
The text reads Ἀβραὰμ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰσαάκ, followed by the same pattern with Isaac and Jacob, showing a repeated ancestry formula.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form makes the verse read as a chain of descent, so the focus falls on succession, family linkage, and the movement from one patriarch to the next.
How To Communicate It
In public reading or teaching, this form can be explained as the simple narrative verb that carries the genealogy forward from Abraham to Isaac and onward.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Verb morphology here supports genealogy, but it does not by itself settle every historical or theological question.
- Do not turn singular verb agreement into a claim that exceeds the clause or the immediate ancestry sequence.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or event, here the act of begetting or fathering in the genealogy.
Aorist: commonly views the action as a whole event. It should not be treated as automatically punctiliar or automatically past in every context.
Active: presents the subject as doing or carrying the action.
Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.
Third person: the form speaks about someone or something rather than directly as I/we or you.
Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.
Singular: the ending marks a third person singular subject, fitting one ancestral figure in the sentence.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Ἀβραὰμ, Ἰσαὰκ, and Ἰακὼβ in the repeated genealogy pattern.
The verb is governed by the surrounding subject and object pattern, where one named ancestor acts toward the next named descendant.
It states the main genealogical action in the clause and links each named father to the following child in sequence.
It does not by itself identify the full scope of the relationship beyond the genealogy, and it does not turn the sentence into a generic statement unrelated to descent.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The verb establishes the repeated genealogy pattern from Abraham onward in Matthew's opening line of descent.
Aorist active indicative in a repeated genealogy pattern. states the generational link between each named father and the next named descendant. Attached to each named ancestor and descendant in Matthew 1:2. Governed by the ancestry formula that links Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The form gives the sequence; the genealogy as a whole supplies the interpretive weight.
How does Matthew begin the ancestry sequence? This form links Abraham to Isaac and continues the repeated fathering formula through the verse.
Direct: The aorist active indicative directly supports a simple past genealogy rendering such as 'fathered' or 'begot.'
The repeated genealogy formula is concise and should not be made to supply every historical detail. Aorist aspect marks the verbal event as a whole without adding theological force by itself.
Aorist proves exact chronology: The form supports the genealogy sequence, but the verse does not state every chronological detail. verb morphology carries the whole covenant claim: The form links names in the genealogy; Matthew's broader context carries the covenant significance.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The text reads Ἀβραὰμ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰσαάκ, followed by the same pattern with Isaac and Jacob, showing a repeated ancestry formula.
The lemma γεννάω means to beget or bring forth, and in this context it marks father-to-child descent.
The singular verb matches each named ancestor as the subject and takes the next person as its direct object, so the grammar supports a line of descent.
In Matthew 1:2 the form helps present Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in a successive family line, emphasizing continuity across generations.
This use fits Matthew's opening genealogy, where the verb repeatedly serves the tracing of Israel's ancestral line.
For readers and hearers, the form communicates orderly succession and relational continuity rather than abstract theology.
Do not derive a claim from tense or voice alone beyond the stated genealogical action, and do not make grammatical details override the narrative context.