αὐτῇ (aute) in Matthew 1:20: Dative Singular Feminine
αὐτῇ (aute) in Matthew 1:20
Textual Witness
The witness reads αὐτῇ in Matthew 1:20 within the phrase τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form tightens the verse's reference to Mary and keeps the focus on the location of the conception, not on a new grammatical subject.
How To Communicate It
In exposition, this pronoun can be rendered plainly as 'in her' or 'within her' so the reader sees the referent and the clause's flow.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The feminine singular form indicates reference, not a theological claim about gender.
- If syntax is uncertain, state the relation conservatively and avoid overprecision.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the form refers back to a previously mentioned person or thing instead of naming it again.
Dative: the form usually marks an indirect relation, such as location, recipient, association, or reference, and here it is read through the clause around it.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, so it refers to one person or one item in view.
Feminine: the form is grammatically feminine, which follows the antecedent in context and does not by itself make a theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἐν αὐτῇ
The preposition ἐν and the surrounding clause govern the sense, so the pronoun works within a local reference of being 'in her'.
It identifies the person referred to in the statement about what was conceived, and the context points to Mary as the one in view.
It does not name a new subject, and it does not by itself explain the conception apart from the rest of the clause.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The dative pronoun anchors the conception statement to Mary within Joseph's dream.
Dative feminine pronoun governed by in. identifies Mary as the one in whom the child was conceived. Attached to the in her phrase. Governed by the preposition in and the conception clause. The pronoun is referential and local in the clause; the conception claim comes from the whole sentence.
Who is referred to by in her? The context points to Mary as the one in whom the child was conceived.
Direct: The dative pronoun with the preposition directly supports in her or within her.
The feminine dative identifies the referent in context and should not be made a separate gender theology. The prepositional phrase locates the conception statement but does not explain it apart from the rest of the clause. The referent should be supplied from Matthew 1:20, not from the pronoun alone.
Pronoun gender creates a theological argument by itself: The form identifies Mary in the clause; the verse supplies the conception claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads αὐτῇ in Matthew 1:20 within the phrase τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν.
The lemma αὐτός can function as a referring pronoun, and here it points back to the woman already named in the verse.
In this sentence the pronoun is not standing alone but is used with ἐν, so its force is relational and referential rather than emphatic.
The clause says that what was conceived was conceived in her, which fits the immediate reference to Mary in Joseph's dream.
Within Matthew 1:20 the wording supports the narrative claim that the conception belongs to the announced divine action and occurs in relation to Mary.
For teaching or translation, the form shows that the sentence refers back to Mary without repeating her name.
Do not derive a gender theology, a doctrinal system, or an altered lemma from the feminine dative form itself.