ἕξει (exei) in Matthew 1:23: Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ἕξει (exei) in Matthew 1:23
Textual Witness
The witness reads ἕξει in Matthew 1:23 within the phrase ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form contributes a forward-looking, declarative tone and helps the reader hear the verse as an announced fact about the virgin's coming condition.
How To Communicate It
It communicates a promised future reality in concise narrative form, with the surrounding phrase making the intended sense pregnancy-oriented rather than generic possession.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Future indicative describes the clause's time and force, but the surrounding words control the specific sense.
- Do not turn verbal number or tense into a theological claim beyond what the verse states.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or state, and here it presents having or possession in verbal shape.
Future: points the action forward from the speaker's viewpoint, while the sentence controls the exact sense.
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 marked for a single subject, which fits the 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
ἐν γαστρὶ
The future indicative ἕξει belongs to the clause about the virgin and describes what will be true of her womb state in the announced event.
It functions as the finite verb in the phrase, expressing that she will have or bear within the womb, which supports the pregnancy sense in context.
It does not by itself mean simple ownership, and it should not be read as a detached statement of possession apart from the pregnancy context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The future verb contributes to the pregnancy announcement in the cited sign.
Third-person singular future active indicative. states what will be true of the woman in the sign. Attached to the virgin and the phrase in the womb. Governed by the cited announcement in Matthew 1:23. The verb expresses the announced womb-bearing sense, while the phrase and citation define the pregnancy context.
What future state does the clause announce? It announces that the virgin will have or bear in the womb.
Direct: The future verb directly supports English wording such as "will conceive" or "will have in the womb" in context.
The verb can mean have, but the womb phrase and citation control the pregnancy sense here.
Lexical have means simple possession here: The phrase in the womb and the birth context require the pregnancy sense, not detached possession.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ἕξει in Matthew 1:23 within the phrase ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν.
The lemma ἔχω normally means to have, hold, or possess, but its lexicon range includes the idiomatic sense of being with child when used with ἐν γαστρὶ.
The future indicative presents the action as forthcoming in the quotation, and the dative phrase ἐν γαστρὶ steers the meaning toward pregnancy rather than general possession.
In this verse the form supports the announcement that the virgin will be pregnant and will bear a son, so the grammar helps communicate promise and fulfillment.
This fits the passage's redemption theme by linking the promised child to God's saving presence, while the form itself only supports the clause and does not create the theme.
For readers, the form signals a clear future announcement: what is described is coming to pass, and the pregnancy wording carries the message naturally.
Do not derive from the verb alone a full theology of possession, agency, or identity, and do not let morphology override the immediate clause and its quotation.