αὐτῶν (auton) in Revelation 22:14: Genitive Plural Masculine
αὐτῶν (auton) in Revelation 22:14
Textual Witness
The witness reads αὐτῶν in Revelation 22:14 within the phrase ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The pronoun makes the promise sound personal and corporate: the authority belongs to the group already in view, not to an unnamed abstract class.
How To Communicate It
Readers should hear the verse as linking the promised authority and access to the same people described by their faithful obedience.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive case here indicates relation, but the exact nuance must be taken from the sentence, not from case alone.
- Masculine plural grammar identifies the form, not a theological claim about gender.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the form points back to a previously mentioned person or group instead of naming them again.
Genitive: the form usually marks possession, association, source, or a related reference in the clause.
Plural: the form refers to more than one person or thing in this occurrence.
Masculine: the form is grammatically masculine plural, which identifies the reference form and does not by itself make a theological claim about sex or status.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἡ ἐξουσία
The pronoun stands in a genitive relation to the noun phrase for authority, so it identifies whose authority is in view. The immediate context points to the blessed people who keep the commandments, and the pronoun helps link the promise to them.
It functions as a possessive or related-reference pronoun, indicating that the authority belongs to, or is associated with, the same group described earlier.
It does not by itself name the group, replace the subject of the sentence, or change the sense of the promise beyond the reference already supplied by context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive plural pronoun ties the promised authority or right to the blessed people in Revelation 22:14.
Genitive plural pronoun modifying authority. links the promised right or authority to the group just described. Attached to the their authority phrase. Governed by the blessing about access to the tree of life and the city. The form makes the promise corporate and personal without creating a new group.
Whose authority or right is in view? It belongs to the blessed people described in the verse.
Direct: The form directly supports their authority or their right.
The genitive relation should be read with the blessing and access language in the verse. Masculine plural grammar should not be turned into a gender restriction.
Masculine plural pronoun restricts the blessed group to males: The form is grammatical; the verse defines the blessed group by the promise context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads αὐτῶν in Revelation 22:14 within the phrase ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον.
The form comes from αὐτός, a flexible pronoun that can be emphatic or referential, here used in a genitive plural relationship.
In this clause, the genitive naturally links the authority to the preceding plural group. The grammar supports a reading of shared or possessed authority without forcing a more specific sense than the context gives.
The verse presents a blessing for those who do the commandments, and this pronoun ties the promised authority to that same group as they are granted access to the tree of life and the city.
Within the passage's promise-and-access pattern, the form contributes to the identification of the blessed people who receive the promised privilege.
In translation or explanation, the form is best rendered in a way that shows relation, such as 'their authority,' while keeping the focus on the verse's promise.
Do not derive a separate subject, a new doctrinal category, or a gender-based theological conclusion from the masculine plural form alone.