ταῦτα (tauta) in Matthew 1:20: Accusative Plural Neuter
ταῦτα (tauta) in Matthew 1:20
Textual Witness
The witness reads ταῦτα at the opening of Matthew 1:20 in the Textus Receptus tradition, so the form is part of the verse's opening temporal frame.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form gives the verse a backward glance, gathering the prior situation into one reference so the dream appearance is heard as a response to what Joseph had been considering.
How To Communicate It
In translation and explanation, this can be communicated as 'while he was considering these things,' which preserves the context-sensitive force without overloading the grammar.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The pronoun's gender is grammatical and should not be turned into a theological gender claim.
- If syntax is not fully certain from context, speak conservatively and avoid overclaiming.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the word points to a previously mentioned or nearby idea rather than naming it directly.
Accusative: the form commonly marks an object or an accusative phrase, but context decides the exact function.
Plural: the form is grammatically plural here, so it points to more than one item or to a collective sense.
Neuter: the grammatical gender is neuter in this occurrence, which does not by itself imply anything about personal or theological gender.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος,
The phrase most naturally stands with the participial setup at the start of the verse and refers back to the matters Joseph had been thinking about. Its precise internal syntax is less important than its clear temporal and referential role in the sentence.
It functions as the content or subject matter of Joseph's reflection, pointing back to the preceding situation as a whole.
It is not introducing a new person, and it should not be read as changing the lemma into another word or as forcing a special theological meaning.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The demonstrative gathers the matters Joseph was considering and prepares the angelic instruction that follows.
Accusative neuter plural as reflected matters. summarizes the matters under consideration in the genitive absolute setting. Attached to ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος. Governed by ἐνθυμηθέντος. The participial frame carries the timing and setting; the demonstrative gathers the content being considered.
What is Joseph thinking about? The demonstrative gathers these matters, the situation just described before the angel speaks.
Supporting: The form supports a rendering such as while he considered these things without requiring a wooden pronoun translation.
The pronoun gathers a set of matters rather than naming a single new object. The genitive absolute frame should guide the timing rather than the pronoun alone.
Plural neuter pronoun introduces hidden details: The pronoun gathers matters already in context; it does not add new information by itself.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ταῦτα at the opening of Matthew 1:20 in the Textus Receptus tradition, so the form is part of the verse's opening temporal frame.
The lemma is οὗτος, a demonstrative pronoun that can point to what is near in context, and here it points back to the immediately preceding matter.
The plural neuter accusative suits a general reference to the events or thoughts already in view, without needing to specify each detail separately.
The verse says that while Joseph was reflecting on these matters, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
Within the larger Gospel narrative, the form helps link Joseph's inward concern to the divine message that interrupts and redirects him.
For readers and teachers, the form encourages a plain reading: 'these things' refers to the surrounding situation, not to an isolated technical object.
Do not derive certainty about number of specific events, emotional intensity, or theological categories from the morphology alone.