συκῆς, (sukes) in John 1:50: Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
συκῆς, (sukes) in John 1:50
Textual Witness
The witness reads συκῆς in John 1:50 in the phrase ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, and the surrounding text speaks of Jesus seeing Nathanael there.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The genitive form makes the phrase feel anchored and specific, helping the reader hear Jesus as referring to a particular remembered place.
How To Communicate It
For readers and teachers, this form supports a clear scene-setting translation and helps explain why the question in verse 50 carries personal force.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The feminine gender here is grammatical, not a theological statement about sex or personhood.
- The genitive case indicates relationship in context, but the exact nuance must be guided by the sentence, not assumed from the ending alone.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names a thing or reality in the sentence, here the fig-tree mentioned in Jesus' words.
Genitive: this form usually marks a relationship such as possession, association, source, or location within a phrase.
Singular: the form refers to one fig-tree, not to multiple trees, in this occurrence.
Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which here is a lexical feature and not a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τῆς before συκῆς
The article τῆς and the preposition-like phrase ὑποκάτω frame συκῆς as part of the location phrase, 'under the fig-tree.'
It identifies the tree as the reference point for where Jesus says he saw Nathanael, so the genitive supports the place description in the sentence.
It does not itself state causation, ownership, or a symbolic meaning; those ideas would have to come from the wider context if they are present.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The genitive fig-tree phrase anchors Jesus' reference to a specific remembered place.
Genitive noun in an under-the-tree location phrase. identifies the tree as the location reference for Jesus' seeing statement. Attached to the under the fig tree phrase. Governed by the location expression underneath. The form supports place reference; any symbolism must come from context, not the case ending.
What remembered location does Jesus name? The genitive phrase identifies the fig tree as the place under which Nathanael had been seen.
Direct: The form directly supports under the fig tree wording.
The form does not prove ownership, causation, or hidden symbolism. Feminine grammatical gender belongs to the noun form and is not a theological signal.
Fig-tree location is turned into hidden symbolism by grammar: The form anchors the location; any symbolic reading must be justified by the wider passage.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads συκῆς in John 1:50 in the phrase ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, and the surrounding text speaks of Jesus seeing Nathanael there.
The lemma συκῆ means a fig-tree, so the form keeps that basic referent while showing its grammatical relationship in the sentence.
The genitive helps mark the tree as the location connected to the earlier seeing, and the article makes the phrase specific rather than general.
Jesus refers back to a known moment of seeing Nathanael under the fig-tree, and that remembered location supports the force of his question about belief.
Within John's Gospel, the specific tree location helps ground Jesus' knowledge and the disciple's response without requiring the grammar to carry extra theology.
In translation or teaching, this form is best rendered as 'the fig-tree' in the phrase 'under the fig-tree,' with attention to the scene it identifies.
Do not derive hidden symbolism, gender theology, or a different lemma from the case ending alone; the form only contributes one part of the sentence's meaning.