ἀδελφοὺς (adelphous) in Matthew 1:2: Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
ἀδελφοὺς (adelphous) in Matthew 1:2
Textual Witness
The witness reads ἀδελφοὺς in Matthew 1:2 within the phrase Ἰούδαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps the reader hear a family-group reference in the genealogy, but the narrative context still controls whether the brothers are understood narrowly or more broadly.
How To Communicate It
Use the form to communicate that Matthew is listing Judah and his brothers as part of the ancestral record, without overreading the case or number.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Accusative plural here marks the local syntactic role, but it does not alone settle every detail of kinship or emphasis.
- Do not turn masculine grammatical gender into a theological gender claim.
- Do not use the grammar profile as a shortcut around the wording and logic of the verse.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names persons, and here it refers to brothers or brothers in a family group.
Accusative: the form commonly marks the direct object, and in this verse it fits the object role after the verb of begetting.
Plural: the form is grammatically plural here, so it points to more than one brother in the stated group.
Masculine: the noun is in the masculine grammatical class, which describes the word form and does not by itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ
The form is governed by ἐγέννησε, which takes Judah and his brothers as the ones generated in the genealogy's sequence.
It functions as part of the object phrase naming the brothers associated with Judah.
It does not by itself introduce a new subject, and it does not require a special figurative reading beyond what the context supplies.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The accusative plural keeps Judah's brothers within the genealogy's generated line of reference.
Coordinated object in the genealogy. adds the brothers as part of the object phrase connected to Judah. Attached to Judah and his brothers. Governed by the genealogy verb begot. The form supports the genealogy's relational listing without shifting the focus away from the line being traced.
How are the brothers included in the genealogy sentence? They are included as part of the object phrase associated with Judah.
Direct: The accusative plural directly supports rendering the phrase as "Judah and his brothers."
The plural noun contributes to the family listing, but the genealogy's structure determines the larger line of descent.
Object role changes the genealogy's main line: The form includes the brothers in the sentence while the surrounding genealogy still traces the named line.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ἀδελφοὺς in Matthew 1:2 within the phrase Ἰούδαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ.
The lemma ἀδελφός means brother, and can refer to literal brothers or broader kinship relations depending on context.
The accusative plural fits the coordinated object phrase after ἐγέννησε, so the grammar supports listing Judah together with his brothers as part of the genealogy.
The verse presents the line of descent through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, while also naming Judah's brothers as part of the family setting.
This usage fits the wider biblical pattern where brothers can mean literal family members and, in other places, a broader kinship relation when context requires it.
In translation and teaching, the form alerts readers that the verse is naming a plural group related to Judah, not a single individual.
Do not derive theology of spiritual brotherhood from this form alone, and do not force the grammar to decide the exact kinship category beyond the immediate context.