αὐτὸν (auton) in Revelation 22:18: Accusative Singular Masculine
αὐτὸν (auton) in Revelation 22:18
Textual Witness
The witness reads αὐτὸν in Revelation 22:18 within the warning about adding to the words of the prophecy of this book.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The pronoun sharpens the warning by tying the coming plagues to a specific recipient, but the surrounding clause supplies the meaning, not the form alone.
How To Communicate It
In teaching or translation, render the phrase so the reader sees that the plagues are directed toward the offender, not merely described in the abstract.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- A masculine form here is grammatical reference, not a theological gender statement.
- If syntax is uncertain, state the most conservative reading that fits the clause.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the word stands in for a referent already in view, here helping point to the one who receives the threatened plagues.
Accusative: the form normally marks the direct object or another object-like relation, and here it follows the preposition and is governed by the clause sense.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, so it points to one recipient rather than a plural group.
Masculine: the form is grammatically masculine, but that is a language feature for reference and agreement, not a theological claim about gender.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The prepositional phrase naming the offender who receives the plagues
The pronoun is governed by the preposition in the clause after the verb of adding.
It identifies the one upon whom God will place the plagues, making the warning personal and direct.
It is not the subject of the sentence, and it does not name the plagues themselves or change the referent into another person.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The pronoun identifies the recipient of the warning's threatened judgment.
Accusative object of the preposition. identifies the offender as the recipient of judgment. Attached to the phrase naming the one upon whom the plagues are placed. Governed by the preposition in the warning clause. The pronoun sharpens the personal warning, while the verse supplies the judgment claim.
Upon whom are the plagues placed in the warning? The pronoun points to the offender described in the clause.
Direct: The prepositional-object relation directly supports rendering the phrase as 'upon him' or equivalent.
The referent is defined by the warning context, not by the masculine form alone.
Pronoun gender limits the warning only to males: The masculine form is grammatical reference; the warning's scope comes from the clause.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads αὐτὸν in Revelation 22:18 within the warning about adding to the words of the prophecy of this book.
The lemma αὐτός can function as a self, emphatic, or referential pronoun, and here it points back to the warned-of person.
The accusative form after ἐπ᾽ fits a target or object-like sense, so the phrase means the plagues fall upon that person.
The verse warns that God will place the written plagues on whoever adds to the book's prophecy, making the warning individualized.
Within Revelation's warning language, the form supports a concrete threatened recipient without adding details beyond the sentence.
For readers and translators, the form helps preserve the direct force of the warning: the judgment is aimed at an identified offender.
Do not infer from the masculine form alone that the offender must be male, or that grammar by itself settles every syntactic detail.