αὐτοῦ· (autou) in Revelation 22:2: Genitive Singular Neuter
αὐτοῦ· (autou) in Revelation 22:2
Textual Witness
The TR witness reads αὐτοῦ in Revelation 22:2, following καρπὸν and before the next clause about the leaves.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form slightly tightens the image by showing that the fruit belongs to the tree that produces it.
How To Communicate It
Readers can hear the clause as a calm, repeated cycle of the tree giving its own fruit, not as a detached or abstract statement.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Neuter gender is grammatical agreement, not a claim about divine or human gender.
- If syntax is uncertain, state the most conservative relationship the context supports.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the form points back to an understood noun in the context rather than naming it again.
Genitive: the form usually expresses a relationship such as possession, source, or close association in the clause.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular here, so it points to one referent or one collective unit in view.
Neuter: the grammatical class is neuter, which guides agreement but does not by itself make a theological claim about sex or personhood.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τοῦ καρπὸν
The form most naturally relates to the fruit being given back, marking the fruit as belonging to or arising from the tree in the image.
It functions as a genitive of association or possession, helping readers hear the fruit as the tree's fruit in the picture.
It does not by itself identify a new subject, and it does not require a separate referent beyond the tree already in view.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The genitive pronoun ties the fruit to the tree of life and keeps the abundance image anchored in the tree already named.
Genitive pronoun linking fruit to the tree. identifies the fruit as belonging to or arising from the tree already in view. Attached to the fruit phrase in the tree-of-life image. Governed by the noun phrase describing the tree giving fruit. The form clarifies the image relation; the verse context carries the theology of restored provision.
Whose fruit is being described? The pronoun points back to the tree of life as the source or owner of the fruit.
Direct: The form directly supports a rendering such as its fruit or the tree's fruit.
The neuter genitive fits the tree as the referent and should not be isolated from the larger image. The case marks relation; it does not create a separate theological claim apart from the vision scene.
Genitive pronoun proves a hidden symbolic referent: The pronoun links the fruit to the tree; symbolic significance must come from the verse and canonical context.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The TR witness reads αὐτοῦ in Revelation 22:2, following καρπὸν and before the next clause about the leaves.
The lemma αὐτός is a common pronoun that can be emphatic or referential, and here it simply points back within the sentence.
In this context the genitive singular neuter fits the neuter tree, so the pronoun links the fruit to the tree without adding extra emphasis.
The verse pictures the tree of life as steadily producing and giving back its own fruit, reinforcing ongoing abundance and provision.
The wording fits the wider biblical theme of life-giving provision, but this form alone should not be pressed beyond the immediate scene.
For teaching or translation, the pronoun is best conveyed in a way that clearly ties the fruit to the tree and keeps the image readable.
Do not derive a new subject, a different noun, or a special theological point from the gender or case alone.