υἱὸς (uios) in John 1:42: Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
υἱὸς (uios) in John 1:42
Textual Witness
The witness reads υἱὸς in John 1:42, within the received text form of the verse.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The grammar supports a simple familial identification that sharpens the direct address and prepares for the renaming that follows.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, this form can be rendered plainly as son, with the context making the relationship to Jonah explicit.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Nominative singular here guides the phrase role, but context determines the meaning of the address.
- Do not turn masculine grammatical class into a doctrinal claim about persons or roles.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names a person or relationship term, and here it is the word for son.
Nominative: this form normally marks a subject or a nominative complement, and here it helps identify Simon in apposition.
Singular: this form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, pointing to one identified person in the sentence.
Masculine: this is the noun's grammatical class in Greek, and it does not by itself make a theological claim about gender.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It is attached to Σίμων and the article ὁ in the phrase ὁ υἱὸς Ἰωνᾶ.
The nominative form fits a naming expression after the linking verb εἶ, so it serves identification rather than verbal action.
It functions as part of a descriptive apposition: Simon is identified as the son of Jonah.
It is not acting as a direct object, and it does not by itself introduce a separate clause or new subject.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The nominative noun identifies Simon by family relation within Jesus' direct address.
Nominative appositional family identifier. identifies Simon as son of Jonah in the naming statement. Attached to Σίμων ... ὁ υἱὸς Ἰωνᾶ. Governed by εἶ. The phrase identifies the addressee; the following renaming supplies the narrative movement.
How is Simon identified before the new name is given? The noun identifies him as son of Jonah.
Direct: The appositional phrase directly supports rendering Simon, son of Jonah.
The family identifier should not be detached from the direct address and made into a separate subject.
Nominative noun always supplies the main subject: The noun belongs to an identifying phrase in the direct address; the clause context decides its role.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads υἱὸς in John 1:42, within the received text form of the verse.
The lemma υἱός means son, and in context it refers to a human family relationship.
Its nominative singular form, with the article and the genitive of Ἰωνᾶ, supports a title-like identification of Simon.
Jesus calls Simon by name and identifies him as the son of Jonah before announcing a new name for him.
The verse fits the Gospel pattern of Jesus knowing and naming people with personal authority and clarity.
For readers, the form signals a brief, direct identification that keeps the focus on Simon's recognition and coming renaming.
Do not derive more than identification from the form alone, and do not treat grammatical gender as a theological statement.