πρῶτός (protos) in John 1:15: Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine

Adjective: used predicatively, the form describes the one John identifies as having priority before him.

Not applicable to the adjective; the accompanying imperfect ἦν supplies the was statement.

Not applicable: adjectives do not carry verbal voice.

Not applicable: the adjective makes its contribution through the predicate construction, not verbal mood.

Not applicable: adjectives do not mark first, second, or third person.

Nominative: fits the masculine singular subject understood in the clause and serves as its predicate description.

Singular: describes the one person about whom John is testifying.

Masculine: agrees with the male referent in this sentence; the gender feature does not itself establish the referent's identity.

The adjective stands with ἦν as a predicate and is followed by μου, a genitive of comparison indicating priority relative to John.

The ὅτι clause that explains why the one coming after John has become ahead of him.

It states the coming one's priority relative to John and completes the verse's contrast between public sequence and prior standing.

It does not by itself define every sense of first, prove the full doctrine of preexistence, or make John the measure of Christ's identity.

High: The adjective supplies John's stated reason for the later-coming one's priority and connects his testimony to the prologue.

Predicate nominative adjective with comparative genitive. describes the subject as prior to John. Attached to the understood masculine singular subject with ἦν and the genitive μου. Governed by the explanatory ὅτι clause in John 1:15. The comparison and prologue determine whether priority is heard temporally, in rank, or with both dimensions in view.

How can the person who comes after John nevertheless stand ahead of him? John explains that this person was before him, a testimony that fits the prologue's account of the Word.

Direct: The predicate plus genitive comparison directly supports because he was before me.

First can signal time, rank, or order; this sentence deliberately places several kinds of priority in relation. The superlative-form marker should not be reduced to an English suffix such as most. The prologue supplies the theological identity that the brief comparison serves.

First only means first in a numbered series: The comparative genitive and contrast with coming after John call for relational priority. adjective morphology alone proves eternality: John 1:1-18 supplies the preexistence claim; this form participates in that context. masculine gender establishes divine identity: Gender agrees with the referent and does not create the Christological claim.

John 1:15 ends ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν, with πρῶτός tagged A-NSM-S.

The lemma πρῶτος can mark priority in time, order, or rank. The comparison with John and the three-part saying determine its force here.

Predicate position joins the adjective to the one under discussion, the genitive μου sets the comparison, and ἦν places the priority in a was statement. The surrounding lines contrast coming after John with standing ahead of him.

John testifies that the one whose public arrival follows his own has priority because he was before John, fitting the prologue's presentation of the Word who was in the beginning and became flesh.

The form serves John's opening witness to Jesus; the prologue, not the adjective alone, supplies the full claim about the Word's eternal identity and incarnation.

Read the three relations aloud: after me in appearance, ahead of me in standing, before me as the reason.

Do not reduce πρῶτος to numerical sequence only or ask its morphology to establish Christology apart from John's whole prologue.