αὐτοῦ· (autou) in Matthew 1:2: Genitive Singular Masculine
αὐτοῦ· (autou) in Matthew 1:2
Textual Witness
The witness reads αὐτοῦ after τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς in Matthew 1:2, within a genealogy listing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and his brothers.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The pronoun sharpens the reference so the phrase reads as Judah's brothers, supporting the genealogy's concise and connected style.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, the form can be rendered naturally as 'his' while preserving the sense that the phrase is relational and contextual.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive form here suggests relation or reference, but the exact nuance comes from the phrase and verse, not from case alone.
- Grammatical gender is an agreement feature in this occurrence and must not be turned into a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the word refers back to a previously mentioned person rather than naming him again.
Genitive: the form usually marks a relation such as possession, association, or reference within the phrase.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, even when the sense may be distributive or contextual.
Masculine: the form is grammatically masculine here, but that feature only tracks agreement and does not by itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς
The pronoun is governed by the noun phrase it follows and reads as a genitive link to the brothers just named.
It identifies whose brothers are in view, namely Judah's brothers, and keeps the genealogy moving by reference.
It does not introduce a new subject, change the lineage, or claim more than the local possessive or relational sense allows.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The genitive pronoun identifies Judah's brothers in the genealogy.
Genitive singular masculine pronoun. connects the brothers to Judah. Attached to the brothers phrase in Matthew 1:2. Governed by the genealogy's concise kinship formula. The form keeps the genealogy line concise while preserving the family relation.
Whose brothers does the line mention? It mentions Judah's brothers.
Direct: The pronoun directly supports his brothers.
Genitive relation is kinship-related here and should not be overtechnical. Masculine agreement follows Judah as the referent. The form does not alter the genealogy's main line.
Genitive always means ownership: The genitive marks relation in a kinship phrase, not ownership in a property sense. pronoun supplies hidden genealogy data: The pronoun clarifies the local relation and should not add unstated genealogy claims.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads αὐτοῦ after τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς in Matthew 1:2, within a genealogy listing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and his brothers.
The lemma αὐτός commonly refers back to an already mentioned person, and here it points back to Judah in the immediate context.
The genitive singular masculine form fits a possessive or associative relation, so the phrase means Judah and his brothers without adding extra detail.
The verse continues the ancestral list and notes Judah together with the brothers associated with him in the family line.
This use matches the genealogy's simple pattern of identifying persons by relation, not by elaborating their roles beyond the sentence.
For readers, the form helps show continuity in the family sequence and prevents the reference from sounding vague or detached.
Do not derive a separate theological conclusion, a precise legal status, or a gendered statement from the masculine grammatical form alone.