ὕδωρ (udor) in Revelation 22:17: Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ὕδωρ (udor) in Revelation 22:17
Textual Witness
The witness reads ὕδωρ in Revelation 22:17 within the invitation, ὁ θέλων λαμβανέτω τὸ ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form clarifies that the invitation is concrete and receptive: the hearer is to take the water offered by grace.
How To Communicate It
This wording communicates welcome, availability, and free reception, which matches the verse's direct invitation.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Accusative case here identifies the received gift, but it does not by itself exhaust the verse's meaning.
- Neuter gender is a grammatical class, not a basis for a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names a thing or reality, here the thing offered to the one who desires.
Accusative: this form usually marks the direct object, and here it fits what the willing person is told to receive.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting the gift as one whole provision.
Neuter: the noun belongs to the neuter grammatical class, which does not by itself make a gendered theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
λαμβανέτω
The accusative form is governed by the imperative of receiving, so it functions as the thing taken or accepted in the sentence.
It serves as the object of receiving, naming what the thirsty and willing person is invited to take.
It is not the subject of the clause, and the case alone should not be pressed into a broader doctrinal claim.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The accusative noun names the gift freely received in Revelation's closing invitation.
Accusative object of an imperative. names the water of life as what the willing person is invited to take. Attached to ὕδωρ ζωῆς. Governed by λαμβανέτω. The form identifies the received gift; the invitation context supplies the gracious force.
What is the willing person invited to take? The noun names the water of life as the gift received.
Direct: The direct-object role directly supports rendering let him take the water of life.
The case marks what is received, but it does not by itself explain the full image of the water of life.
Accusative object explains the whole symbol: The case identifies the received gift; Revelation's invitation language explains the symbol's force.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ὕδωρ in Revelation 22:17 within the invitation, ὁ θέλων λαμβανέτω τὸ ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν.
The lemma ὕδωρ means water, and the artifact notes both literal and figurative use, including the phrase water of life.
Its accusative singular form fits as the direct object of λαμβανέτω, so the verse presents water as something offered for reception.
In this call, the grammar supports an open invitation to receive the water of life freely, without making the form itself carry the whole meaning.
This fits the book's broader life-giving imagery, but the local context remains the main guide for interpretation.
In teaching or translation, the form helps show that the hearer is being invited to receive a gift, not merely to observe an idea.
Do not derive from case or number any claim beyond the offered object, and do not turn grammatical gender into a theological statement.