εἶπε, (eipen) in John 1:42: Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Active Indicative
εἶπε, (eipen) in John 1:42
Textual Witness
The witness reads εἶπε in John 1:42 in the TR Scrivener 1894 text, within the clause where Jesus speaks to Simon.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form keeps focus on Jesus' spoken, narrated response and supports reading the sentence as a direct statement to Simon.
How To Communicate It
It functions as the speech frame for the quotation, guiding the reader to attend to what Jesus says next.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not overread tense, voice, or mood beyond what the sentence clearly supports.
- Do not make verbal form or gender carry theological claims that the passage does not state.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action of speaking, and here it reports Jesus' spoken response in the sentence.
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 singular, matching the single speaker, Jesus, in this occurrence.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ὁ Ἰησοῦς
The verb is governed by the subject ὁ Ἰησοῦς and introduces direct speech to Simon in the quoted line.
It functions as the main speech verb that frames Jesus' address and the naming statement that follows.
It does not by itself tell the reader the content of the speech or add a separate action beyond speaking.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The aorist speech verb introduces Jesus addressing Simon and naming him Cephas.
Third-person singular second aorist active indicative address verb. frames Jesus direct address and naming statement. Attached to Jesus as the speaker and Simon as the addressee. Governed by the narrative clause that brings Simon to Jesus. The aorist reports the speech event; the naming content is carried by the quotation.
Who speaks the naming statement? The singular speech verb presents Jesus as the speaker who addresses Simon.
Direct: The third-person aorist directly supports English wording such as "Jesus said."
The verb frames the address, but the naming statement must be interpreted from Jesus words and the wider context.
Aorist tense creates the meaning of the name: The aorist reports the saying; the name and its interpretation come from the quoted statement and context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads εἶπε in John 1:42 in the TR Scrivener 1894 text, within the clause where Jesus speaks to Simon.
The lemma is λέγω, a common verb of saying, speaking, declaring, or reporting words.
The verb form marks a completed speech event in the narrative and serves to introduce the quoted words that identify Simon and rename him.
In this verse, the grammar helps the reader hear Jesus' direct, decisive address before the naming and promise that follow.
Across Scripture, saying verbs often frame revelation, instruction, or naming, and this verse fits that communicative pattern without needing extra force from the form alone.
For communication, the form signals that the important content lies in the quoted words, while the verb itself simply anchors them in the story.
Do not derive a hidden theological code from the aorist form, and do not treat tense alone as controlling the verse's meaning.