ἐγίνωσκεν (eginosken) in Matthew 1:25: Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative

Verb: the form names an action or state, and here it presents the action of knowing in the clause.

Imperfect: presents the action from a past viewpoint, often with ongoing or repeated force. It is not merely an English past tense label.

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.

Third person singular: the verb agrees with a singular subject and refers to that subject's action in the sentence.

Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.

It stands with the surrounding clause in, "καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἕως οὗ".

The negation and clause structure frame the verb as an ongoing or continuing action in the past, but the verse context determines the sense more than tense alone.

It functions as the main verbal idea in the negative clause and describes Joseph's not knowing Mary during the time span marked by "ἕως οὗ".

It does not by itself settle every question about the duration or all implications of the statement, and it does not change the surrounding narrative point.

High: The negated imperfect is sensitive because it states Joseph's restrained relation to Mary within the birth narrative.

Third-person singular imperfect active indicative under negation. describes the continuing negative state or action in the stated time frame. Attached to the clause about Joseph not knowing Mary until the birth. Governed by the negation and temporal boundary in Matthew 1:25. The imperfect contributes past ongoing force, but the temporal phrase controls the stated boundary.

What does Matthew say Joseph did not do before the birth? He did not know Mary in the stated period before she gave birth.

Direct: The imperfect under negation directly supports restrained past wording such as "did not know her."

The verb must be read with its contextual sense in the birth narrative. The imperfect suggests a continuing past situation, but it should not be pressed beyond the verse. The temporal phrase gives the stated boundary; questions outside that boundary require caution.

Imperfect proves permanent duration: The imperfect presents the situation in past time, while the temporal phrase and narrative context limit what may be claimed. grammar alone settles later marital relations: The form states the verse-level claim; it should not be used to answer questions the verse does not explicitly address.

The witnessed form is "ἐγίνωσκεν" in Matthew 1:25, with the immediate wording "καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἕως οὗ".

The lemma is γινώσκω, a verb of knowing, recognizing, or coming to know, and in past forms it can express realized or ongoing knowing.

Here the imperfect form works with the negation to present a continuing non-knowledge or abstention from knowledge in the stated time frame, without requiring more than the verse itself says.

The verse states that Joseph did not know her until the birth event, while the next clause moves to the naming of the child; the grammar supports the narrative flow but should not be pressed beyond the text.

Within the broader Gospel context, the form fits a straightforward narrative report about the period before the birth, and it should be read as part of that literary and theological setting.

For readers, the imperfect negative helps convey a sustained situation in past time, so translation and teaching should preserve the clause's restraint and not add unwarranted detail.

Do not derive a claim about all possible relations outside the verse, and do not make the tense alone settle questions the passage does not explicitly answer.