Λέγει (Legei) in Revelation 22:20: Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
Λέγει (Legei) in Revelation 22:20
Textual Witness
The witness reads Λέγει ὁ μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα, and the verb stands at the head of the quoted exchange in Revelation 22:20.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form guides the reader to hear an actual utterance from the witness, but the surrounding words supply the specific content and force of the appeal.
How To Communicate It
It communicates testimony in direct, living speech, preparing the reader for the repeated yes and the final plea, 'Come, Lord Jesus.'
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Present indicative here supports the speech-act framing, but context determines who speaks and what is meant.
- Do not turn verbal morphology into a theology by itself, and do not make grammatical gender into a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the word expresses an act of saying or speaking, and here it introduces the reported words that follow.
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 verb is marked for a single subject in this clause, which fits the one speaker introduced by the context.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Λέγει ὁ μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα,
The verb is governed by the nearby subject phrase ὁ μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα, which identifies who is speaking in the verse.
It functions as the main reporting verb, introducing the speaker's affirmation and the direct speech that follows.
It does not by itself identify a different speaker, change the wording of the quote, or add a special theological category beyond speech reporting.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The speech verb introduces the affirmation from the one bearing witness to these things.
Third-person present active indicative affirmation verb. introduces the direct affirmation that follows. Attached to the singular witness who speaks the affirmation. Governed by the subject phrase identifying the one who testifies to these things. The verb reports the saying; the speaker identity and promise are defined by the surrounding phrase and quotation.
Who is presented as speaking the affirmation? The singular speech verb is governed by the nearby subject phrase, the one who testifies to these things.
Direct: The third-person present directly supports the English reporting clause before the affirmation.
The verb should be read with its subject phrase; tense alone does not settle every question of speaker emphasis.
Present tense settles speaker identity by itself: The verb reports speech; the subject phrase and context identify the speaker.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads Λέγει ὁ μαρτυρῶν ταῦτα, and the verb stands at the head of the quoted exchange in Revelation 22:20.
The lexical identity is λέγω, meaning to say or speak, so the form belongs to the common Greek verb of verbal report.
The singular present indicative fits a single speaker and marks the utterance as the reported speech of the witness named in the clause.
In this verse the form helps introduce the witness's words, so the focus falls on the message spoken and the responsive prayer that follows.
Within the book's closing appeal, the wording supports a direct, personal summons and reply without requiring the grammar to carry more than speech and response.
For readers and hearers, the form signals that the verse is not abstract description but spoken testimony that invites immediate reception.
Do not derive a new lemma, a hidden tense-based theology, or a claim that grammar alone settles every question of speaker identity or emphasis.