υἱὸν (uion) in John 3:14: Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
υἱὸν (uion) in John 3:14
Textual Witness
The Textus Receptus witness for John 3:14 reads υἱὸν with the morphology label Noun Accusative Singular Masculine.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form focuses the lifting-up statement on the Son of Man, helping readers follow the grammar from comparison to mission.
How To Communicate It
When teaching John 3:14, use the form to identify who is lifted up, then let the surrounding comparison and mission language explain why it matters.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not isolate the noun from the Son of Man phrase.
- Do not use accusative case alone to prove the full theology of the cross.
- Do not detach John 3:14 from the following purpose statement in John 3:15.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a person, reality, or concept. The sentence determines how that noun functions here.
Accusative: the form marks its relationship in the phrase, and here the surrounding words determine the exact force.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence and should be tied to its sentence role.
Masculine: the noun belongs to this grammatical class, which should not by itself be turned into a theological gender claim.
Not applicable: this nominal form does not use verbal tense or aspect.
Not applicable: this nominal form does not use verbal voice.
Not applicable: this nominal form does not use verbal mood.
Not applicable: this nominal form does not use grammatical person.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The Son of Man phrase in the lifting-up comparison
The infinitive ???????? in John 3:14
υἱὸν is an accusative noun in the phrase "οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου·". It belongs to the Son of Man expression and identifies the one who must be lifted up.
The accusative case does not by itself define the full meaning of lifted up; the comparison with Moses and Jesus' following words provide the interpretive frame.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The accusative noun identifies the one who must be lifted up in Jesus' Son of Man saying.
Noun Accusative Singular Masculine. identifies the one who is lifted up. Attached to the infinitive about being lifted up. Governed by the necessity statement in John 3:14. The syntax should be explained from the clause, not isolated from the passage.
Who must be lifted up? The accusative noun names the Son as the one in view within the Son of Man phrase.
Direct: The accusative form directly supports the object of the lifting-up statement.
The noun is part of the larger Son of Man phrase, so it should not be isolated from ??? ????????. Accusative case identifies the object relation here; it does not explain the full theological meaning of lifted up by itself.
Case ending proves doctrine by itself: The accusative identifies the object in the clause; doctrine must be drawn from the whole statement and context. Son language is detached from the phrase Son of Man: Read the noun within the complete phrase and John's immediate comparison.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The Textus Receptus witness for John 3:14 reads υἱὸν with the morphology label Noun Accusative Singular Masculine.
The lemma is υἱός. The gloss "a son, descendent" orients this occurrence without replacing the sentence context.
υἱὸν is an accusative noun in the phrase "οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου·". It belongs to the Son of Man expression and identifies the one who must be lifted up.
John 3:14 compares the lifting up of the Son of Man with Moses lifting the serpent, preparing the way for Jesus' saving mission.
The form belongs to John's Son of Man language and must be read with the immediate lifting-up context rather than as an isolated title study.
When teaching John 3:14, use the form to identify who is lifted up, then let the surrounding comparison and mission language explain why it matters.
Do not make accusative case prove atonement theology by itself; the case identifies the object, while the passage supplies the saving significance.