ἀνάστασιν, (anastasin) in Matthew 22:23: Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἀνάστασιν, (anastasin) in Matthew 22:23
Textual Witness
The witness reads ἀνάστασιν in Matthew 22:23 within the phrase οἱ λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The grammar helps the reader see that resurrection is the point being denied in the Sadducees' claim, sharpening the controversy in the verse.
How To Communicate It
This form supports a clear explanation such as no resurrection and helps readers hear the verse as a direct denial of that hope.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Accusative case identifies function here, but it does not by itself settle every syntactic detail.
- Grammatical gender here is a class label, not a theological statement about persons or divine identity.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names a reality or concept, here the idea of resurrection.
Accusative: this form normally marks a direct object or another object-like role in the clause.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, pointing to the concept as one whole.
Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which by itself does not make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
μὴ εἶναι
The accusative form is governed by the surrounding phrase, verb, or preposition and marks object, complement, extent, or goal as the context decides. This form functions as the object-like complement of the denial, stating what they say is not the case.
It functions as the object-like complement of the denial, stating what they say is not the case.
It is not the subject of the clause, and the case alone should not be used to press a fuller syntactic claim than the context supports.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The accusative noun names resurrection as the contested point in the Sadducees' denial.
Accusative complement in an indirect statement. names what is denied in the reported claim. Attached to the denial that there is resurrection. Governed by the infinitive construction after the saying verb. The form supports the object-like complement of the denial, but the controversy is explained by the narrative context.
What are the Sadducees denying in this verse? They deny resurrection, and this accusative noun names the disputed reality.
Direct: The form directly supports rendering resurrection as the thing denied in the reported statement.
The accusative works inside an infinitive construction here, so it should not be treated as an ordinary direct object of the main verb.
Accusative always means direct object: Accusative can function in indirect statement or complement constructions; context decides the role.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ἀνάστασιν in Matthew 22:23 within the phrase οἱ λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν.
The lemma ἀνάστασις means resurrection, a rising again, so the form names that concept rather than changing its sense.
The accusative works with the infinitive construction to mark the claim being denied: no resurrection.
The verse introduces the Sadducees as people who deny resurrection, which sets up Jesus' response in the surrounding context.
This fits the broader gospel teaching that resurrection is a major hope and a central part of Jesus' teaching.
In translation and teaching, the form should be heard as the denied proposition, not as a special theological code.
Do not infer from the accusative, singular, or feminine form more than the local syntax supports, and do not turn grammatical gender into doctrine.