ζωή· (zoe) in John 14:6: Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ζωή· (zoe) in John 14:6
Textual Witness
The Textus Receptus witness for John 14:6 reads ζωή· with the morphology label Noun Nominative Singular Feminine.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form links life directly to Jesus' person in the verse, preparing the statement about access to the Father through him.
How To Communicate It
When teaching John 14:6, use this form to show that life is not merely a benefit Jesus gives. In this sentence, Jesus names himself as the life.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not treat this occurrence as a complete word study for G2222.
- Do not make a morphology label carry doctrine or application apart from the verse.
- Do not turn grammatical gender into a biological or theological claim by itself.
- The noun is central in the sentence, but the whole statement governs its interpretation.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a person, reality, title, idea, or thing in the sentence. Context determines what the noun contributes here.
Nominative: the case marks how the noun relates to the surrounding words in this occurrence.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular or plural in this occurrence and should be read within the clause context.
Feminine: the noun belongs to this grammatical class here. Grammatical gender does not by itself make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν
Jesus' coordinated self-identification in John 14:6
ζωή· is a Noun Nominative Singular Feminine within "ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν". The nominative noun functions as a predicate, naming Jesus as the life in the same coordinated statement that names him as the way and the truth.
The form does not define life apart from Jesus, and it does not make the noun carry all Johannine life theology by itself.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form matters because it functions as predicate in John 14:6.
Noun Nominative Singular Feminine. identifies what is predicated in the clause. Attached to the third predicate noun in Jesus' I am statement. Governed by Jesus' coordinated self-identification in John 14:6. The syntax should be explained from the clause, not isolated from the passage.
How does the verse attach life to Jesus? The predicate nominative names Jesus himself as the life.
Direct: The form directly shapes how John 14:6 is read, especially its predicate function.
The same morphology label can function differently in another verse. The immediate wording should decide the contextual force. Grammar identifies the form's role; the passage supplies the interpretive weight. Grammatical gender is not a separate theological claim.
Grammar alone proves doctrine: The form supports interpretation only as it serves the verse and its context. single word carries the whole theology: The noun is central in the sentence, but the whole statement governs its interpretation. grammatical gender proves theology: Grammatical gender is a language feature and should not be pressed beyond the verse.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The Textus Receptus witness for John 14:6 reads ζωή· with the morphology label Noun Nominative Singular Feminine.
The lemma is ζωή. The guide uses the gloss "life" only to orient this occurrence.
ζωή· appears in the phrase "ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν". The nominative noun functions as a predicate, naming Jesus as the life in the same coordinated statement that names him as the way and the truth.
John 14:6 presents Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him.
The form fits John's repeated testimony that life is found in Jesus and received through relation to him.
When teaching John 14:6, use this form to show that life is not merely a benefit Jesus gives. In this sentence, Jesus names himself as the life.
Do not isolate the noun from the coordinated statement. The three predicate nouns interpret each other inside Jesus' answer.