τοῦτο (touto) in John 1:31: Accusative Singular Neuter
τοῦτο (touto) in John 1:31
Textual Witness
The witness reads τοῦτο in John 1:31 within the clause διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ, so the form belongs to the reason stated in the verse.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form supports a backward-looking causal reading, so the verse communicates purpose rather than introducing a fresh subject or object.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, it is best rendered with a brief reason phrase such as this or for this reason, depending on English style.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Accusative singular neuter here gives a likely function, but the nearby preposition and verse flow determine the sense.
- Do not turn grammatical gender into a theological gender claim or treat the form as changing the lemma itself.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the word points to a previously mentioned or implied referent rather than naming it directly.
Accusative: the form commonly marks a direct object or another object-like relation, though context decides the exact force.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence and points to one referred-to reality.
Neuter: the noun class is neuter here, which guides agreement but does not by itself make a gendered theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
διὰ
The preposition διὰ governs this form and frames it as the reason or cause behind the stated action.
It works with the preposition to point back to the purpose just stated, namely that Jesus might be revealed to Israel.
It is not a stand-alone subject or a new topic marker, and it does not by itself introduce a different referent.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The demonstrative gives the stated reason for John's baptizing action in relation to Jesus being revealed to Israel.
Accusative demonstrative governed by διά. forms a reason phrase that points back to the purpose just stated. Attached to διὰ τοῦτο. Governed by διά. The preposition and context determine the causal force more than the pronoun does by itself.
Why does John say he came baptizing? The phrase points to the reason, namely that Jesus might be revealed to Israel.
Direct: The prepositional phrase directly affects the rendering as for this reason or because of this.
The neuter demonstrative summarizes a reason in context; it should not be treated as a new named referent.
Pronoun alone explains the purpose: The pronoun points back; the preceding purpose clause supplies what this refers to.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads τοῦτο in John 1:31 within the clause διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον ἐγὼ, so the form belongs to the reason stated in the verse.
The lemma οὗτος is a demonstrative pronoun that can mean this, it, or this one, with the exact referent supplied by context.
Here the accusative singular neuter fits a prepositional phrase of cause or reason and points back to what precedes, not forward to a new actor.
The sentence says John came baptizing in water for this reason, namely for the manifestation of Jesus to Israel.
This use fits the common biblical pattern in which a demonstrative resumes a stated purpose or event and ties it to the next action.
For readers and teachers, the form helps keep the sentence focused on motive: the ministry of baptizing serves the revealing purpose already named.
Do not derive a new subject, a doctrinal title, or a change of lemma from the case ending alone.