ζωῆς (zoes) in Revelation 22:17: Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ζωῆς (zoes) in Revelation 22:17
Textual Witness
The witnessed text reads τὸ ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν, with ζωῆς immediately following ὕδωρ in Revelation 22:17.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The grammar strengthens the invitation by identifying the water as life-related and freely given, but the verse's exhortation and promise still carry the main force.
How To Communicate It
Readers can hear the phrase as an open offer of life from God, not as a technical label detached from the call to come and receive.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive case shows relationship, but the exact relation must be read from the sentence.
- Grammatical gender is a language class, not a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a reality, here the concept of life, and functions as a content word within the phrase.
Genitive: the form usually marks a relationship to another noun, often describing source, quality, content, or association in context.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting life as a unified idea in the phrase.
Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which is a language feature and does not by itself create a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τὸ ὕδωρ
The genitive ζωῆς is linked to ὕδωρ and specifies the water in view, so the phrase speaks of water characterized by or connected with life.
It functions as a genitive modifier that narrows the sense of the water and helps the reader hear the offer as life-giving water.
It is not the main verb, not the direct object, and not a standalone statement about life apart from the phrase.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive noun shapes the free invitation to take the water of life in Revelation 22:17.
Genitive singular noun modifying water. describes the offered water as life-giving or life-associated. Attached to the water noun in the invitation. Governed by the call to take the water freely. The form gives content to the invitation while the imperatives and gift language carry the call.
What is offered freely in the invitation? The phrase offers the water of life, water defined by its relation to life.
Direct: The genitive directly supports wording such as "water of life" in the public invitation.
The genitive should be read with the invitation to come and take, not as a detached technical label. Life language is theological in context, but the noun form alone does not exhaust its meaning.
Genitive proves a single technical category: The form marks relation to life; the invitation context determines the force. free gift language is derived only from the noun: The noun contributes life language, while the word freely and the imperatives make the offer explicit.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witnessed text reads τὸ ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν, with ζωῆς immediately following ὕδωρ in Revelation 22:17.
The lemma ζωή means life, whether literal or figurative, and here the context points to life as a saving gift rather than mere physical vitality.
The genitive relation keeps the focus on the kind of water offered. It does not by itself define the whole theology, but it supports the idea that the water is life-giving.
In the call to come and receive freely, the phrase presents the gift as water associated with life, fitting the verse's invitation to those who thirst and want.
This fits the broader biblical pattern of life as a divine gift and, in this verse, as something offered freely in the closing invitation.
For teaching or translation, the form can be rendered naturally as water of life or life-giving water, depending on the target language and style.
Do not infer from the genitive alone that the phrase names a separate entity, a technical doctrine, or a gendered theological role.