βασιλεὺς (basileus) in Matthew 1:6: Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
βασιλεὺς (basileus) in Matthew 1:6
Textual Witness
The witness reads βασιλεὺς in Matthew 1:6 within the phrase Δαβὶδ δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐγέννησε τὸν Σολομῶντα.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form reinforces that David is being identified in his royal role, which supports the genealogy's emphasis on kingship without adding more than the verse states.
How To Communicate It
In teaching or translation, this form can be rendered naturally as David the king, showing how the grammar serves the sentence's meaning.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Nominative form does not by itself prove subjecthood in every sentence, so the clause and article must guide the reading.
- Masculine grammatical gender is a language category here and must not be turned into a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names a person or office, so here it can point to David as king in the sentence.
Nominative: this form usually marks the subject or a predicate role, and here it fits the clause as the named subject phrase with the article.
Singular: this occurrence is grammatically singular and refers to one royal figure in view, not a group.
Masculine: this is the noun's grammatical class in Greek, and it does not by itself make a theological claim about gender.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The article and king title naming David
The article and noun form the subject phrase in the clause, and the verb gives it the role of the one who fathered Solomon.
It functions as the nominative subject title, identifying David as the king who is said to have begotten Solomon.
It does not by itself supply the action, change the lemma, or turn the noun into a different sense apart from the verse context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The noun names David's royal identity as the subject of the genealogy clause.
Nominative subject title. identifies David as the subject who fathers Solomon. Attached to the king title naming David. Governed by the genealogy verb that follows. The form marks subject and title function, while the genealogy shapes the larger meaning.
Who is the subject of the clause? David, identified as the king, is the subject of the genealogy statement.
Direct: The subject title supports rendering the phrase as 'David the king.'
The article and clause must guide the subject reading, not the nominative ending alone.
Nominative title proves theological emphasis by itself: The case supports the subject title; the genealogy supplies the royal-line emphasis.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads βασιλεὺς in Matthew 1:6 within the phrase Δαβὶδ δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐγέννησε τὸν Σολομῶντα.
The lemma βασιλεύς means king or ruler, and the lexicon notes royal and messianic uses across Scripture.
The nominative singular with article marks David as the subject in apposition to his name, so the verse presents him as David the king.
In this genealogy, the form supports the point that David is remembered in his royal office, which matters for the line leading to Solomon and the Messiah.
This fits the Gospel's larger emphasis on kingdom and messianic kingship, while still speaking first as a simple genealogical identification here.
For readers, the grammar helps the verse read smoothly as a royal title attached to David, not as a separate action or new character.
Do not derive a theological argument from case alone, and do not treat grammatical gender as a statement about human gender or divine status.