τάφος (taphos) in Romans 3:13: Noun Nominative Singular Masculine

Noun: the word names a thing or image here, and in this verse it points to a tomb as a vivid comparison.

Nominative: the form usually marks the subject or a predicate role, and here it most naturally participates in the clause's descriptive comparison.

Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting one tomb image rather than a plural set.

Masculine: the noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which is a language feature and does not by itself make a theological or biological claim.

τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος

It is presented with the participial description ἀνεῳγμένος, so the noun functions as part of a compact image rather than standing alone as a fully stated clause member.

It helps identify the metaphorical picture of an open grave, describing the throat as a place of death, corruption, and menace in the larger indictment.

It should not be pressed as if the grammar by itself proves the sentence's exact syntactic label beyond the image the context clearly supplies.

High: The nominative noun carries the open-tomb image in Paul's indictment of sinful speech.

Predicate image in a compressed comparison. identifies the image used to describe destructive speech. Attached to τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος. Governed by the clause comparing the throat to an open tomb. The grammar supports the metaphor; the indictment context supplies the moral meaning.

What image describes the throat in this line? The noun supplies the image of an open tomb.

Direct: The predicate image directly supports rendering their throat as an open grave or tomb.

The noun is metaphorical in context and should not be treated as a literal burial-place reference.

Noun image must be literal: The context uses the noun as an image for speech; morphology alone does not erase the metaphor.

The witness reads τάφος in Romans 3:13 within the phrase τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, so the form is tied to the open-grave comparison in the verse.

The lemma τάφος means a grave or tomb, and the form here keeps that identity while placing it in a figurative comparison.

The nominative singular form works with the nearby participle to present a vivid descriptive image, not to force a separate theological idea from morphology alone.

In context, the phrase says their throat is like an open tomb, intensifying the charge that their speech brings deathlike harm and corruption.

Within Romans 3, the image fits the broader chain of Old Testament-style descriptions of human sinfulness and speech that damages others.

For readers, the grammar helps the image land quickly and sharply, making the warning about speech concrete and memorable.

Do not derive from nominative case, singular number, or masculine gender any claim about the moral status, sex, or theology of the noun itself.