ποταμὸν (potamon) in Revelation 22:1: Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ποταμὸν (potamon) in Revelation 22:1
Textual Witness
The witness reads ποταμὸν in Revelation 22:1 within the phrase ἔδειξέ μοι καθαρὸν ποταμὸν ὕδατος ζωῆς.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The accusative form helps the reader see that the river is what is being shown, not the actor doing the showing.
How To Communicate It
This form supports clear English rendering and careful explanation of the vision, while keeping the image dependent on the clause and context.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Masculine gender here is a grammatical class and not a theological gender claim.
- The case form helps describe the river's role, but it does not by itself determine the verse's symbolic scope.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a thing or reality here, specifically a river in the vision scene.
Accusative: the form usually marks a direct object or closely related complement, and here it fits the thing shown to John.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting one river in the scene.
Masculine: the noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which does not by itself create a masculine theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἔδειξέ μοι καθαρὸν
The accusative form is governed by the verb ἔδειξέ and the scene description, marking the river as what was shown to John.
It functions as the object within the vision report, naming the river that is described as clean, bright, and coming from the throne.
It is not a subject form, and it does not by itself supply the source, motion, or symbolic meaning of the river.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The accusative noun identifies the river shown to John in the final vision scene.
Accusative noun as object of showing. names the river as what the angel shows to John. Attached to ποταμὸν καθαρὸν. Governed by ἔδειξέ. The grammar identifies the shown object; the vision context supplies the symbolic significance.
What is shown to John in this phrase? The accusative noun names the river shown in the vision.
Direct: The object role directly supports rendering the phrase as he showed me a river.
The case marks the object shown, but the image's theological meaning comes from the vision scene.
Accusative case defines the symbol: The case identifies the object; Revelation's vision context supplies the symbol's meaning.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ποταμὸν in Revelation 22:1 within the phrase ἔδειξέ μοι καθαρὸν ποταμὸν ὕδατος ζωῆς.
The lemma ποταμός means river or stream, so the form names an actual river image rather than changing the lemma into another word.
Its accusative singular form fits the show-and-see frame of the verse, where John is shown a river described by the surrounding words.
The verse presents a single, pure river of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, using vivid image language.
The river image coheres with wider biblical patterns of life-giving water and holy presence, but the grammar itself only supports the image in this verse.
In translation and teaching, this form supports reading the river as the object of the revelatory act and as part of the scene description.
Do not derive a full theology of gender, a separate doctrine, or a meaning beyond what the verse and context actually state.