προφήτης. (prophetes) in John 1:23: Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
προφήτης. (prophetes) in John 1:23
Textual Witness
The witness reads Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης, so the form directly belongs to the citation formula in John 1:23.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form strengthens the citation as an attribution to Isaiah the prophet, helping the verse present John the Baptist's words as scripturally grounded.
How To Communicate It
In teaching or translation notes, this form can be rendered as a simple title, such as Isaiah the prophet, to preserve the citation's function clearly.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Masculine gender here is grammatical agreement, not a theological statement about gender.
- The nominative form identifies Isaiah in apposition and should not be overread as a separate clause role.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a person or recognized role, here identifying Isaiah by office rather than by action.
Nominative: the form commonly marks a subject or a label in apposition, and here it describes Isaiah as the prophet.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, referring to one identified person in the citation.
Masculine: the noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which here functions as normal noun agreement and does not itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης
The noun stands with the article after the name and identifies Isaiah as the prophet being cited.
It functions appositionally as a title or identifier for Isaiah, clarifying the source of the quoted words.
It does not introduce a new subject or change the lemma into another sense; it simply labels the named person in context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The nominative noun identifies Isaiah as the prophetic source of the quoted words.
Appositional title after a proper name. identifies Isaiah by office as the prophet being cited. Attached to Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης. Governed by the citation frame. The form labels the named source; the quoted Scripture supplies the content of the witness.
How is Isaiah identified in the citation frame? The noun identifies Isaiah as the prophet whose words are being cited.
Direct: The appositional title directly supports rendering the phrase as Isaiah the prophet.
The noun labels Isaiah's role here and does not introduce a second person into the sentence.
Appositional title creates a new subject: The title identifies Isaiah; it does not add a separate actor beyond the named prophet.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης, so the form directly belongs to the citation formula in John 1:23.
The lemma προφήτης normally names a prophet or inspired speaker, and here it fits the explicit title attached to Isaiah.
The nominative form works with the article to identify Isaiah rather than to add a separate clause role.
John presents the quotation as Isaiah's own prophetic speech, supporting the claim that the quoted voice belongs to Scripture and prophetic witness.
This aligns with the wider biblical use of prophetic citation to anchor John the Baptist's words in Isaiah's witness.
For readers, the form helps mark the authority and source of the quotation, not a special semantic shift in the word itself.
Do not infer more from nominative case or masculine gender than the context supports; the form identifies Isaiah as prophet and nothing beyond that.