ἔδειξέ (edeixen) in Revelation 22:1: Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔδειξέ (edeixen) in Revelation 22:1
Textual Witness
The witness reads ἔδειξέ in Revelation 22:1, within the phrase καὶ ἔδειξέ μοι καθαρὸν ποταμὸν.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The grammar makes the verse read as a narrated act of revelation: John receives a shown scene, namely the clear river of life.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to explain that the verse is not merely describing water, but reporting that the water was shown within the vision.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Verb tense and voice describe the narrated action, but the scene and its meaning come from the whole verse.
- Do not make grammatical number or person carry a theological claim beyond the sentence context.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the word names an action of showing or making something visible or known in the sentence.
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 verb is singular here and agrees with its singular subject in the clause.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It is attached to the clause and takes μοι as the indirect object, with καθαρὸν ποταμὸν as the thing shown.
The verb governs the flow of the sentence by introducing what John is being shown, while the nearby objects clarify the participants in that action.
It states the revelatory action in the verse: someone showed John a clean river of the water of life.
It does not by itself identify the speaker beyond the immediate narrative context, and it does not change the meaning of the nouns it takes.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The verb introduces what John is shown in the vision sequence.
Aorist active indicative vision report. states the action by which the vision content is presented. Attached to the clause introducing the river shown to John. Governed by the narrative vision report. The form identifies the showing action, while the surrounding context identifies the participant who shows it.
What action introduces this part of the vision? Someone shows John the river of the water of life.
Direct: The aorist active indicative directly supports an English narrative verb such as 'he showed.'
The verb does not by itself identify the subject; that must be taken from the surrounding vision context.
Aorist means once-for-all: The aorist presents the showing as a whole event in the narrative and should not be given a special once-for-all force.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ἔδειξέ in Revelation 22:1, within the phrase καὶ ἔδειξέ μοι καθαρὸν ποταμὸν.
The lemma δείκνυμι means to show, point out, or make known, and that basic sense fits the verse well.
The singular aorist indicative supports a simple narrative statement: the vision reports that the river was shown to John.
The verse communicates a revealed sight, not a private inference, as John is told or shown what he then describes.
This fits the wider biblical pattern in which divine revelation is given by showing, especially in apocalyptic settings.
For readers, the form helps signal that the verse is reporting received revelation, so the scene should be heard as shown truth within the vision.
Do not derive speaker identity, theological rank, or hidden symbolism from the verb form alone, and do not let grammar override the immediate context.