μετανοίας· (metanoias) in Matthew 3:8: Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
μετανοίας· (metanoias) in Matthew 3:8
Textual Witness
The witness reads μετανοίας in Matthew 3:8 within the command, ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form frames repentance as the standard or reference point for the fruit demanded, so the verse emphasizes congruent action rather than mere verbal profession.
How To Communicate It
Readers should hear a practical call: produce deeds that match repentance, because the grammar supports a relation of fitting correspondence in context.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive case can suggest relationship, but context determines the most responsible reading.
- Do not turn feminine grammatical gender into a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names an idea or reality, here repentance, and the noun form itself does not change the underlying lemma.
Genitive: the form usually shows a dependent relationship, often possession, description, source, or a closely linked reference in the clause.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting one abstract notion rather than a plural count.
Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which helps agreement in Greek but does not by itself make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
καρποὺς ἀξίους
The genitive form is governed by the surrounding phrase and marks relation, description, source, or possession as the context decides. This form functions as a descriptive genitive, pointing to fruit that corresponds to repentance or is fitting for repentance in this command.
It functions as a descriptive genitive, pointing to fruit that corresponds to repentance or is fitting for repentance in this command.
It is not a separate subject, and the form by itself does not prove a full causal, temporal, or instrumental idea.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive noun shapes the phrase about fruit that corresponds to repentance.
Genitive singular feminine noun in a fruit-and-repentance relation. describes the kind of fruit as fitting with repentance. Attached to the phrase about worthy fruit. Governed by the command to produce fruit worthy of repentance. The genitive marks relation, but the command context explains the visible fruit expected.
How is repentance related to the fruit in the command? The genitive links repentance to the fruit as the fitting or corresponding relation.
Supporting: The genitive relation supports English wording such as "fruit worthy of repentance" without requiring a wooden possessive rendering.
The genitive can express several kinds of relation, so the command and adjective "worthy" guide the reading here.
Genitive must mean possession: The genitive marks a dependent relation; this context points to fruit fitting with repentance.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads μετανοίας in Matthew 3:8 within the command, ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας.
The lexeme is μετάνοια, a noun for repentance or a change of mind, and the form here is a genitive singular feminine occurrence of that noun.
The genitive links repentance to the fruit to be produced, so the verse calls for visible results that match repentance rather than merely naming repentance in isolation.
In this context, John presses for evidence that repentance is real, so the grammar supports a demand for conduct that fits a repentant turn.
This aligns with the wider biblical pattern that repentance is not only stated but shown in changed conduct and response.
For teaching and translation, the form can be rendered with a phrase like of repentance, while the context guides readers to understand living proof of repentance.
Do not derive from the genitive alone a full doctrinal system, a hidden timetable, or a claim that grammar overrides the clear command for observable fruit.