Ἁγίῳ (Agio) in Matthew 3:11: Adjective Dative Singular Neuter
Ἁγίῳ (Agio) in Matthew 3:11
Textual Witness
The witness reads Ἁγίῳ in Matthew 3:11.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The adjective specifies the Spirit as holy in John's promise.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to show that the phrase is Holy Spirit, not an undefined spiritual force.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not make grammatical agreement itself carry the theological claim.
- Do not build a full doctrine from this form alone.
- Do not use morphology to detach the word from Matthew's immediate argument.
What Does The Label Mean?
Adjective: the form describes or qualifies another word in the clause.
Dative: Dative marks how the form functions in this occurrence.
Singular: the number should be read from this occurrence, not generalized beyond the clause.
Neuter: grammatical gender marks form agreement and does not by itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Spirit
The Spirit phrase after the future baptism verb
It modifies Spirit and marks the phrase as Holy Spirit.
It does not turn grammatical gender or case into a theological argument.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The adjective is part of the Holy Spirit phrase in John's promise.
Adjectival modifier of Spirit. qualifies Spirit as Holy. Attached to Spirit. Governed by the Spirit phrase after the future baptism verb. The adjective should be read together with the noun Spirit.
How is the Spirit named in the phrase? The phrase names Holy Spirit.
Direct: The form directly supports the rendering Holy.
The adjective qualifies Spirit, while theology of the Spirit must be read more broadly.
Holy adjective alone proves every theological claim: The occurrence forms the Holy Spirit phrase; broader doctrine must include broader Scripture.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads Ἁγίῳ in Matthew 3:11.
The lemma hagios means holy or set apart; here it qualifies Spirit.
The dative adjective agrees with Spirit in the prepositional phrase.
John announces baptism in Holy Spirit and fire.
The form fits Matthew's identification of God's Spirit in relation to Jesus' ministry.
In teaching, explain the adjective as part of the Holy Spirit phrase rather than as a detached quality word.
Do not derive a full doctrine of holiness from the adjective alone.