Greek Form Guide

σταυροῦ (staurou) in Colossians 1:20: Noun Genitive Singular Masculine

σταυροῦ (staurou) in Colossians 1:20

Textual Witness

σταυροῦ staurou Noun Genitive Singular Masculine

The witness reads σταυροῦ in Colossians 1:20 within the phrase τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ.

How The Form Affects Interpretation

The form supports reading the cross as the means or setting of Christ's reconciling blood, but the verse context supplies the full meaning.

How To Communicate It

In communication, this form can be rendered naturally as 'of the cross' or 'the cross's,' depending on style and context.

What Not To Say

  • Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
  • Genitive case indicates relationship, but the exact relation must be read from the phrase and verse.
  • Grammatical gender is a form class and should not be turned into a theological gender claim.

What Does The Label Mean?

Part of Speech

Noun: this form names a thing or reality, here the cross as the object in the phrase.

Case

Genitive: this form usually marks relationship, source, or association, and the nearby phrase shows that kind of linkage.

Number

Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, so it refers to one cross in the expression.

Gender

Masculine: the noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which does not by itself make a theological claim about sex or personhood.

What The Form Does In This Verse

Attached To

This occurrence of σταυροῦ is tied to its immediate phrase or clause in Colossians 1:20. It functions as part of a genitive relation that ties the blood to the cross and supports the passage's statement about peacemaking through Christ's sacrificial death.

Governed By

The genitive form is governed by the surrounding phrase and marks relation, description, source, or possession as the context decides. This form functions as part of a genitive relation that ties the blood to the cross and supports the passage's statement about peacemaking through Christ's sacrificial death.

Role In The Phrase

It functions as part of a genitive relation that ties the blood to the cross and supports the passage's statement about peacemaking through Christ's sacrificial death.

What It Is Not Doing

It does not by itself tell the whole theology of the verse, and it does not change the lemma into another word or force a meaning beyond the context.

How Much The Form Matters Here

Interpretive Weight

High: The genitive cross phrase ties Christ's reconciling blood to the cross in the peacemaking statement.

Syntax Profile

Genitive noun dependent in the blood of his cross phrase. links the blood to the cross as the setting or event of Christ's sacrificial death. Attached to the blood phrase. Governed by the surrounding genitive construction. The form is significant, but the verse's reconciliation claim comes from the whole clause.

Reader Question

How is the blood phrase connected to the cross? The genitive links the blood to the cross in the peacemaking statement.

Translation Effect

Direct: The form directly supports blood of his cross or a careful equivalent.

Where Caution Is Needed

The exact genitive nuance should not be over-labeled beyond what the phrase requires. Masculine grammatical gender belongs to the noun and does not add a theological claim.

Fallacies To Avoid

Genitive relation replaces the verse's reconciliation logic: The form links blood and cross; the clause states the peacemaking and reconciling work.

How The Interpretation Is Derived

Textual Witness

The witness reads σταυροῦ in Colossians 1:20 within the phrase τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ.

Lexical Identity

The lemma σταυρός means cross, and the form here names that same lexical item in a genitive singular relation.

Grammar In Context

In Colossians 1:20, the noun genitive singular masculine works inside the immediate phrase or clause. It functions as part of a genitive relation that ties the blood to the cross and supports the passage's statement about peacemaking through Christ's sacrificial death. The form supports the verse's wording without carrying the whole interpretation by itself.

Passage Meaning

The verse presents peace-making and reconciliation as accomplished through the blood connected with the cross of Christ.

Canonical Fit

This fits the broader New Testament pattern in which the cross is associated with Christ's saving death and the reconciliation it brings.

Communication Use

For teaching, the form helps readers hear that the cross is not an abstract symbol only, but part of the verse's concrete saving language.

Do Not Derive

Do not derive from the genitive alone a precise technical label for the relationship, or treat grammar as overriding the immediate phrase and verse context.