αὐτὴν (auten) in Matthew 1:19: Accusative Singular Feminine
αὐτὴν (auten) in Matthew 1:19
Textual Witness
The witness reads αὐτὴν in Matthew 1:19, and the surrounding line speaks of Joseph's restraint and intended private action.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form clarifies who is being acted toward, reinforcing the verse's emphasis on Joseph's intended private and restrained response.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, the pronoun should be rendered in a way that keeps the female referent clear and the sentence natural in context.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The feminine form reflects syntax and reference here, not a standalone theological statement.
- If syntax is uncertain, stay conservative and describe only what the verse context supports.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the word points to a previously known person or thing rather than naming her directly.
Accusative: the form usually marks the direct object or another closely related object-like role in the clause.
Singular: the form refers grammatically to one person in this occurrence.
Feminine: the form is in the feminine grammatical class, which here matches the female referent and does not by itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It is attached to the infinitive παραδειγματίσαι and, again, to ἀπολῦσαι in the verse.
The accusative is governed by the verbs and infinitives in the sentence, where it functions as the person affected by Joseph's intended action.
In context, it identifies the woman Joseph did not want to expose publicly and whom he planned to send away secretly.
It is not a nominative subject, and it does not by itself supply a separate theological or moral category.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The pronoun identifies Mary as the person affected by Joseph's intended restraint.
Accusative object pronoun. identifies the woman affected by the planned action. Attached to the infinitives describing exposure and sending away. Governed by the verbs and infinitives that describe Joseph's intended action. The form should stay tied to the narrative's restrained description, not expanded beyond it.
Whom did Joseph not want to expose? The pronoun points to Mary as the person affected by Joseph's intended response.
Direct: The object relation directly supports rendering the pronoun as 'her.'
The pronoun's sensitive context calls for careful wording that does not add accusation or speculation.
Pronoun form supplies moral judgment: The pronoun identifies the affected person; the narrative supplies the moral and pastoral context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads αὐτὴν in Matthew 1:19, and the surrounding line speaks of Joseph's restraint and intended private action.
The lexeme αὐτός is a general pronoun that can mean he, she, it, them, or same, with the form here showing feminine singular accusative.
Here the form points back to Mary in the narrative and marks her as the one Joseph would not shame and would release secretly.
The grammar supports the sense that Joseph is choosing a quiet, non-public response toward the woman involved.
Across the passage, the pronoun keeps the narrative focused on Joseph's concern for the woman and his intended discreet handling of the situation.
For communication, the form helps a reader keep the object of Joseph's decision clear without repeating her name.
Do not infer more from the accusative form than the local syntax allows, and do not let grammatical gender become a doctrinal claim.