λαὸν (laon) in Matthew 1:21: Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
λαὸν (laon) in Matthew 1:21
Textual Witness
The witness reads 'τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ' in Matthew 1:21, within the statement that he will save this people from their sins.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The accusative form sharpens the sentence by showing who is being saved, but the meaning remains governed by the whole clause and its context.
How To Communicate It
This form can be rendered simply as 'his people' in the object position, preserving the clause's focus on rescue from sins.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The masculine noun class is a grammatical feature, not a theological gender claim.
- Do not press the case beyond the verse's clear object role or use it to change the lemma's meaning.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a people or collective group, and here it refers to the object of the saving action in the clause.
Accusative: the form usually marks a direct object or related complement, and here it fits the one being saved.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting the group as one collective people.
Masculine: the noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which does not by itself make a theological claim about sex or personhood.
What The Form Does In This Verse
σώσει
The accusative noun is governed by the verb 'will save' and stands as the thing affected by that saving action.
It functions as the direct object, identifying the people Jesus will rescue from their sins.
It is not the subject of the clause, and the case alone does not make it a title, an abstract idea, or a different lemma.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The accusative noun identifies the people as the object of Jesus' saving action from their sins.
Accusative collective noun as direct object. names the people who receive the saving action promised in the clause. Attached to τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. Governed by σώσει. The grammar identifies the object of rescue; the saving purpose is supplied by the full clause.
Whom will Jesus save in this clause? The accusative noun identifies his people as the ones receiving the saving action.
Direct: The accusative directly supports rendering his people as the object of will save.
The singular noun presents a collective people, not a lone individual. The case identifies the object of salvation but does not by itself settle every question about the scope of the people.
Grammar alone defines the full people-of-God theology: The form identifies the object in this clause; covenant and salvation theology must be read from the full passage and canon. singular means only one individual: The singular form can name a collective people when the noun and context require it.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads 'τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ' in Matthew 1:21, within the statement that he will save this people from their sins.
The lemma λαός means a people or people group, often a collective community rather than a scattered crowd.
In context, the accusative form marks the people as the direct object of 'will save,' so the grammar supports a targeted rescue.
The verse presents Jesus as the one who will rescue his people from sin, with the noun naming the community that receives that saving action.
This fits the passage's wider emphasis on divine rescue and faithful response without requiring the grammar to supply more than the verse states.
For teaching or translation, the form helps readers hear that the saving work has a defined object: his people.
Do not derive from the case alone a full theology of election, the exact boundaries of the group, or any claim that grammar overrides the sentence's context.