λέγει (legei) in John 1:43: Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
λέγει (legei) in John 1:43
Textual Witness
The witness reads λέγει in John 1:43 within the sequence that moves from Jesus finding Philip to Jesus speaking to him.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps the verse read as a direct spoken summons, but the command's force comes from the whole clause and scene, not from morphology by itself.
How To Communicate It
This form supports translation and teaching by showing that Jesus is the one speaking now in the narrative and that the words are addressed to Philip.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Present indicative here should be read as narrative speech reporting, not as a standalone doctrine.
- Verbal person and number describe the form, but they do not decide tone, motive, or theological scope.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or speech event, here the act of speaking in the clause.
Present: often views the action as in progress, customary, or presently in view. Context decides the exact force.
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 in person agreement, pointing to one speaker rather than a group.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ
The form is governed by the narrative flow after Jesus finds Philip, and it introduces direct speech to Philip.
It serves as the main reporting verb for Jesus' spoken command, linking the action of finding Philip to the words that follow.
It does not supply the content of the command itself, and it does not by itself define motive, tone, or theological emphasis.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The speech verb introduces Jesus command to Philip after Jesus finds him.
Third-person present active indicative command-introducing verb. introduces the quoted command that follows. Attached to Jesus as speaker and Philip as addressee. Governed by the narrative frame after Jesus finds Philip. The verb reports Jesus speaking; the imperative in the quotation carries the command.
Who gives the command to follow? The form frames Jesus as the speaker who addresses Philip.
Direct: The form directly supports the English speech frame before the command.
The speech verb does not make the command by itself; the quoted imperative supplies the command force.
Speech verb supplies command force: The verb introduces the quote; the imperative form in the quote carries the command.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads λέγει in John 1:43 within the sequence that moves from Jesus finding Philip to Jesus speaking to him.
The lemma is λέγω, a common verb for saying or speaking, so the form signals speech rather than a different lexical idea.
The present indicative fits the narrative as a vivid reporting form and introduces the quoted command without requiring more than the context provides.
In this verse, Jesus speaks directly to Philip and tells him, Follow me.
Within John's Gospel, the form simply marks spoken direction from Jesus, and the local context controls how the speech is heard.
For readers, the form highlights a direct and immediate address, helping the command land as personal and urgent in the scene.
Do not derive a changed lemma, a hidden tense theology, or a gendered meaning from the morphology alone.