αὐτοῦ (autou) in John 1:16: Genitive Singular Masculine
αὐτοῦ (autou) in John 1:16
Textual Witness
The witness reads αὐτοῦ in John 1:16 within the phrase ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ, so the form is securely part of the source expression in the verse.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form strengthens the idea of receipt from a known source and keeps the verse focused on relationship and origin rather than on a newly introduced actor.
How To Communicate It
In translation and explanation, it can be rendered simply as 'his' or 'of him' according to context, with the main point being the referential link to the source of fullness.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The masculine marking is grammatical, not a theological gender claim.
- If the syntax is uncertain, state the safest contextual reading and avoid overprecision.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the form refers back to a person or thing already in view, rather than naming it again.
Genitive: the form usually marks relationship, source, possession, or close association in the clause.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular here, so it presents one referent as the source or possessor.
Masculine: the form is marked masculine in grammar, but that feature only helps identify the agreement pattern and does not by itself make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος
The pronoun stands with ἐκ and the genitive phrase to identify the source of what was received, namely the fullness associated with the prior referent.
It functions as the linked referent for the source phrase, pointing readers back to the one in view and supporting the sense of derived receipt.
It does not by itself define the referent's nature, add a new subject, or turn the phrase into a statement about another person or thing.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive pronoun identifies the source fullness from which the verse says all have received.
Genitive pronoun modifying fullness in a source phrase. points back to the prior referent as the source associated with fullness. Attached to the from his fullness phrase. Governed by the receiving statement in John 1:16. The pronoun anchors the source phrase; the surrounding prologue identifies whose fullness is meant.
Whose fullness is the source of what is received? The pronoun points back to the one already in view as the source of fullness.
Direct: The form directly supports his fullness or of his fullness.
The pronoun's antecedent must be traced from the surrounding prologue, not from morphology alone. The genitive marks relation to fullness but does not define every theological implication of fullness by itself.
Genitive pronoun proves a full theology of fullness: The form supplies reference and relation; John 1:14-17 supplies the theological context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads αὐτοῦ in John 1:16 within the phrase ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ, so the form is securely part of the source expression in the verse.
The lemma αὐτός is a flexible pronoun that can be emphatic or referential, and here the context favors a simple back reference to the prior discourse referent.
Because the phrase uses ἐκ plus the genitive, the pronoun naturally marks the source from which the receiving occurs, without needing to specify more than the context supplies.
The sentence says that all received from that fullness, and the pronoun helps readers understand whose fullness is meant in the flow of the verse.
Within John 1, the referent fits the opening testimony about the one through whom grace and truth are disclosed, but the grammar itself only supports the local reference.
For readers and teachers, the form helps keep the sentence from sounding abstract, since it anchors the source phrase to the preceding subject context.
Do not derive extra doctrine from the genitive ending alone, and do not treat grammatical gender as a direct statement about divine or human gender.