Ἁγίου. (Agiou) in Matthew 1:20: Adjective Genitive Singular Neuter
Ἁγίου. (Agiou) in Matthew 1:20
Textual Witness
The witness reads ἐκ Πνεύματός ἐστιν Ἁγίου, placing Ἁγίου after the copula and linking it closely to Πνεύματός.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form strengthens the verse's explanation of origin by marking the spirit as holy, which supports the message that the conception is divine in source.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, the form should be presented as part of the phrase Holy Spirit, letting the context guide the meaning of source and holiness.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive form can signal relationship, but the surrounding sentence determines the exact sense.
- Do not turn grammatical gender into a theological gender claim, and do not overread case, number, or mood.
What Does The Label Mean?
Adjective: the word describes or qualifies a noun, here giving a quality tied to the thing mentioned.
Genitive: the form usually marks a dependent relation, and here it most naturally describes what kind of spirit is meant.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, so it speaks of one referent in the clause.
Neuter: the form belongs to the neuter grammatical class, which does not by itself make a theological claim about personhood.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It is attached to Πνεύματός and completes the phrase ἐκ Πνεύματός ... Ἁγίου.
It is governed by the genitive relation inside the prepositional phrase, so it qualifies the spirit spoken of as holy.
It functions as an attributive descriptor that tells the reader the birth is from the Holy Spirit, not from an ordinary human source.
It does not by itself change the subject of the verse, and it does not create a separate noun or independent clause.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive adjective completes the Holy Spirit source designation in Joseph's angelic instruction.
Genitive adjective modifying Πνεύματός. identifies the Spirit as holy in the source statement. Attached to ἐκ Πνεύματός ... Ἁγίου. Governed by the source phrase after ἐκ. The word order is separated, but the adjective still modifies the Spirit noun in context.
From whom is the conception said to be? The phrase identifies the source as the Holy Spirit.
Direct: The form directly supports rendering the phrase as from the Holy Spirit.
The separated word order should be explained from the sentence rather than treated as a different referent. The genitive adjective should not be made to carry the whole theology of the Spirit by itself.
Word order creates a separate source: The adjective remains tied to Πνεύματός in the source phrase; context identifies the referent.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ἐκ Πνεύματός ἐστιν Ἁγίου, placing Ἁγίου after the copula and linking it closely to Πνεύματός.
The lemma ἅγιος means holy or set apart, so the form points to the holiness quality associated with the spirit named here.
In this context the grammar serves the claim that the child conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit, and the adjective helps identify that source.
Joseph is told not to fear, because the conception in Mary is attributed to the Holy Spirit, not to human initiative.
This fits the wider biblical pattern where God's holy action is associated with distinct, life-giving, and saving initiative.
For communication, the form supports a clear rendering such as Holy Spirit, with the adjective read as part of the source designation.
Do not derive from this form alone a full doctrine beyond the verse's immediate point, and do not press gender as a theological category.