Greek Form Guide

πορνείας (porneias) in Revelation 17:2: Noun Genitive Singular Feminine

πορνείας (porneias) in Revelation 17:2

Textual Witness

πορνείας porneias Noun Genitive Singular Feminine

The witness reads πορνείας in Revelation 17:2 within the phrase ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς.

How The Form Affects Interpretation

The form marks the wine image as morally and spiritually charged, while the vision's imagery supplies the broader interpretive frame.

How To Communicate It

Present the form as part of Revelation's prophetic metaphor, connecting it to corruption and idolatrous seduction while preserving the difference between symbol and literal usage.

What Not To Say

  • Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
  • Genitive case shows association in the phrase, but the vision supplies the symbolic force.
  • Do not make this metaphorical occurrence control every literal use of πορνεία elsewhere.

What Does The Label Mean?

Part of Speech

Noun: the form names the idea of sexual immorality, here used inside Revelation's symbolic indictment.

Case

Genitive: the form marks a dependent relationship, describing the wine by its association with her immorality.

Number

Singular: the form presents the image as one summed category or source of corruption in the vision.

Gender

Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which does not by itself create a gendered theological claim.

What The Form Does In This Verse

Attached To

οἴνου

Governed By

The form belongs to the genitive chain τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς and qualifies the wine from which the inhabitants of the earth become drunk.

Role In The Phrase

It characterizes the wine image as bound up with the woman's immoral and idolatrous corruption in the prophetic vision.

What It Is Not Doing

It does not require every occurrence of πορνεία to be metaphorical, and the genitive case alone does not identify the woman or the nations.

How Much The Form Matters Here

Interpretive Weight

High: The genitive noun shapes the wine image in a sensitive prophetic symbol of corrupting immorality and idolatrous seduction.

Syntax Profile

Genitive singular noun. describes the wine by association with her immorality in the vision. Attached to the wine phrase. Governed by the noun wine and the possessive phrase around it. The genitive marks association in the image; the vision supplies the symbolic scope.

Reader Question

What kind of wine does the phrase describe? It describes wine associated with her immoral and idolatrous corruption in the vision.

Translation Effect

Direct: The genitive directly supports a phrase such as the wine of her immorality.

Where Caution Is Needed

This occurrence is symbolic within Revelation's vision and should not erase literal uses of the lemma elsewhere. Genitive case marks association but does not by itself settle every layer of the symbol. Feminine gender is grammatical and not a theological gender claim.

Fallacies To Avoid

Genitive case proves the whole symbolism: The genitive relation marks association with the wine image; the prophetic vision governs the symbol. metaphorical use controls every literal use: This Revelation occurrence should not flatten the lemma's usage across all contexts.

How The Interpretation Is Derived

Textual Witness

The witness reads πορνείας in Revelation 17:2 within the phrase ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς.

Lexical Identity

The lemma πορνεία names sexual immorality, and Revelation uses the term here in a symbolic and covenantal register.

Grammar In Context

The genitive form depends on οἴνου and αὐτῆς, so the grammar describes the wine by its association with her corrupting immorality.

Passage Meaning

In context the image portrays the nations intoxicated by Babylon's corrupting influence, using sexual-immorality language as prophetic indictment.

Canonical Fit

This fits the biblical pattern of using harlotry language for covenant betrayal and idolatrous seduction, while remaining distinct from literal uses elsewhere.

Communication Use

For teaching Revelation, use the form to explain the symbolic image carefully: the grammar links the wine to her immorality without flattening the vision into one literal category.

Do Not Derive

Do not make the genitive case prove the whole symbolism, and do not force this metaphorical use back onto every literal use of the lemma.