εἶπεν (eipen) in John 1:23: Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Active Indicative
εἶπεν (eipen) in John 1:23
Textual Witness
The witness reads εἶπεν in John 1:23, within a textus-receptus form that places the verb in the citation formula.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form reinforces that John presents Isaiah as the source of the cited words, helping the verse function as an explicit scriptural appeal.
How To Communicate It
In teaching or translation, this form can be rendered with a simple reporting verb such as said, keeping the focus on attribution and citation.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- A verbal form indicates reported speech here, but it does not by itself settle every interpretive question.
- Do not turn singular number or aorist aspect into claims that go beyond the verse's citation function.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action of speaking or saying, and here it reports speech in the narrative.
Second 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 form is grammatically singular and presents one speaking subject in this clause.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
καθὼς
The verb follows καθὼς and introduces the citation claim that what comes next agrees with what Isaiah said.
It serves as the speech-reporting verb for Isaiah, marking the quoted statement as something he said.
It is not the content of the quotation itself, and it does not by itself establish more than a reported speaking event.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The verb introduces Isaiah's quoted speech that John applies to his witness role.
Third-person second aorist active indicative citation verb. reports that Isaiah said the quoted words. Attached to Isaiah as the cited speaker. Governed by the citation formula in John 1:23. The verb introduces the citation; the quoted words and John's answer explain the identity claim.
Whose words are being introduced? The verb introduces the words attributed to Isaiah the prophet.
Direct: The aorist speech verb directly supports English wording such as "Isaiah said."
The verb marks citation, but the interpretation depends on the quoted words and John's use of them.
Speech verb alone proves the interpretation of the citation: The verb reports who spoke; the quotation and context carry the interpretive claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads εἶπεν in John 1:23, within a textus-receptus form that places the verb in the citation formula.
The lemma is λέγω, whose basic sense is to say or speak, so the form identifies a reported speech act.
The third person singular form fits Isaiah as the speaker named in the clause and connects directly to the preceding quotation marker.
The verse says that the voice in the wilderness and the call to make the Lord's way straight are presented as words Isaiah said.
The grammar supports a prophetic citation pattern common in Scripture, where a later speaker appeals to an earlier prophet's words.
For readers, the form signals a clear attribution of the quotation and helps the verse read as testimony grounded in prophetic speech.
Do not infer from the tense or singular form any hidden chronology beyond reported speech, and do not treat grammar as overriding the quotation's meaning.