αὐτοῦ (autou) in Matthew 1:23: Genitive Singular Masculine
αὐτοῦ (autou) in Matthew 1:23
Textual Witness
In the received text of Matthew 1:23, the phrase reads 'καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ', placing the pronoun directly with 'name'.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The pronoun sharpens the referent of 'name' and keeps the reader focused on the identified child, while the surrounding quotation supplies the meaning.
How To Communicate It
In English, 'his name' communicates the relation plainly and preserves the verse's flow without overstating the grammar.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive form indicates relationship here, but the verse context decides the precise sense.
- Masculine grammatical gender is a form tag, not a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the word points back to a previously mentioned referent rather than naming it directly.
Genitive: the form usually expresses possession, relationship, source, or another dependent link in the clause.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence and points to one referent in view.
Masculine: the form is tagged masculine by agreement, but that grammatical class does not by itself make a theological claim about gender.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τὸ ὄνομα
The genitive pronoun depends on the noun phrase 'name' and identifies whose name is in view.
It marks the name as belonging to or associated with the one already being spoken about, namely the child named in the sentence.
It does not introduce a new subject, and it does not by itself explain the meaning of Emmanuel.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive pronoun links the Emmanuel naming statement to the promised child in Matthew's quotation.
Genitive pronoun modifying name. identifies the child as the one whose name is called Emmanuel. Attached to the his name Emmanuel phrase. Governed by the quotation's naming statement. The pronoun clarifies reference; the quotation explains the name.
Whose name is called Emmanuel? The pronoun points to the promised child.
Direct: The form directly supports his name.
The genitive relation belongs to the naming phrase and does not by itself explain Emmanuel. The context supplies the identification and theological meaning.
Pronoun alone explains Emmanuel: The form identifies whose name is in view; Matthew's quotation explains the name's meaning.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
In the received text of Matthew 1:23, the phrase reads 'καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ', placing the pronoun directly with 'name'.
The lemma αὐτός is a flexible pronoun that can point back to a person or thing already identified by context.
Here the genitive singular masculine form most naturally functions as a referential link to the promised son, so the phrase means 'his name' in context.
The verse announces that the child will be called Emmanuel, and the pronoun helps specify that this is the child's name.
Within Matthew's quotation, the naming language supports the larger claim that the promised child stands in close saving relation to God's people.
For teaching or translation, the form can be rendered simply as 'his' to keep the relationship clear and natural.
Do not infer more from the case ending than the context supports, and do not make the masculine form a doctrinal statement about gender.