Πᾶσαι (Pasai) in Matthew 1:17: Adjective Nominative Plural Feminine
Πᾶσαι (Pasai) in Matthew 1:17
Textual Witness
The witness reads 'Pasae oun ai geneai', with the adjective first in the clause and directly before the article and noun.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
It strengthens the sense of a complete genealogy summary, but the surrounding syntax and repeated counts carry the main interpretive weight.
How To Communicate It
Use it to explain that Matthew is introducing the whole set of generations in view, while keeping the focus on the clause's counted structure.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Feminine gender is an agreement feature here, not a theological statement about persons or roles.
- The adjective marks totality within the clause, but it does not by itself decide the full historical or literary meaning.
What Does The Label Mean?
Adjective: the word describes or limits a noun, here marking totality rather than naming a separate entity.
Nominative: the form normally serves as a subject or predicate-side modifier, and here it agrees with the noun it qualifies.
Plural: the form is grammatically plural in this occurrence, matching the plural noun it modifies.
Feminine: the form is in the feminine grammatical class to agree with the noun, and this does not by itself imply any gendered theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It attaches to αἱ γενεαὶ, the opening phrase about the generations.
It is governed by agreement with the feminine plural noun it describes, so it frames the noun phrase as a totality.
It functions as a comprehensiveness marker, telling the reader that the generations in view are being summed up as a whole.
It does not by itself create a new subject, change the noun's meaning, or add a separate theological assertion.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The adjective frames Matthew's genealogy summary as the complete set of generations being counted.
Nominative plural modifier of generations. marks the generations in the summary as the whole set in view. Attached to αἱ γενεαὶ. Governed by agreement with the feminine plural noun phrase. The adjective marks completeness within Matthew's counted structure, not a separate historical claim by itself.
How is Matthew presenting the generations? The adjective presents the generations in view as the whole counted set in the summary.
Direct: The form directly supports a rendering such as all the generations.
The grammar marks totality within Matthew's literary count; historical questions about genealogy structure require wider context.
All generations settles every genealogy question: The adjective marks Matthew's summarized set; it does not by itself answer every question about genealogy compression or structure.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads 'Pasae oun ai geneai', with the adjective first in the clause and directly before the article and noun.
The lemma pi as regularly means all, every, or the whole, so here it points to breadth or completeness in the noun phrase.
In this summary of Jesus' ancestry, the plural feminine adjective naturally agrees with 'generations' and presents the whole sequence as one completed set.
The verse is counting the generations in three segments, and this form helps the line read as a full summary of those generations.
Within Matthew's opening genealogy, the wording supports the orderly and complete presentation of the ancestry without forcing extra detail into the count.
For readers and teachers, the form helps communicate that the genealogy is being introduced as a total overview, not as a partial sample.
Do not derive a hidden code, a special doctrinal claim, or a meaning that ignores the surrounding counting structure and repeated fourteen-generation pattern.