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1 Peter 3:17 — Word Study

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N1904κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

BSA[It is] betterkreittōn forgar doing goodagathopoieō [well-doing, righteous acts] ifei one would desirethelō theho willthelēma [desire, intention] <the>ho of God,theos [the one true deity] to sufferpaschō [endure pain, hardship] thanē doing evil;kakopoieō [harm, wrong]

Word
Listen & take away1 Peter 3
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 17 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (kakopoieō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
1 Peter 3:17quick helps
In a sentencePeter teaches that it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, if that is God's will.
Who is speakingThe apostle Peter, addressing believers about suffering.
Where we areThis verse is part of a section encouraging Christians to maintain good conduct despite suffering.
The hard wordκρεῖττον
Take awaySuffering for good is preferable and aligns with God's purpose.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectκρείττων verbἀγαθοποιέω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — 1 Peter 3:17

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — Guidance on Suffering for Righteousnessgenerated

16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
19in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison

1 Peter 3:17 emphasizes the value of suffering for righteousness in the Christian life. Peter reassures believers that enduring hardship for doing good is better than suffering for wrongdoing, aligning with God’s will. This teaching encourages a steadfast faith in the face of adversity, similar to the examples set by Christ in His suffering, as noted in 1 Peter 2:21.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
11 Peter 4:19So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
2Matthew 26:39–42Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
3Acts 21:14When he would not be dissuaded, we fell silent and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
41 Peter 3:14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word κρεῖττον, kreittōngenerated

The word κρεῖττον is a comparative adjective meaning 'better' or 'greater.' It is used to indicate a preference for one thing over another, often in terms of moral or spiritual advantage. Its parsing as nominative singular neuter suggests it is the subject of the sentence, highlighting the quality of suffering for good as superior.

In this context, Peter uses it to affirm that suffering for good is preferable to suffering for evil, emphasizing the moral choice believers face in their actions.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.' This wording is echoed in the KJV and ASV, which maintain the emphasis on God's will and the comparative aspect of suffering.

The YLT presents a slightly different structure, placing the emphasis on the action of doing good first, while the WEB and BBE also align closely with the BSB's interpretation, affirming the idea of suffering for righteousness.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main clause is governed by the finite verb κρεῖττον, it is better, which introduces the comparison between two actions: suffering for good and suffering for evil. The structure includes a conditional clause introduced by εἰ, if, indicating the condition under which this statement holds true.

The sentence flows logically, presenting the preferable option first, followed by the condition of God's will, and concluding with the contrasting action of doing evil.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The word κρεῖττον does not have a direct equivalent in the Septuagint but reflects the comparative nature often found in Hebrew texts that discuss moral choices and outcomes.

In the Septuagint, the concept of choosing between good and evil is prevalent, often illustrated through narratives that highlight the consequences of actions, similar to the moral teachings of the New Testament.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

1 Peter 3:17 teaches that it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, especially if that suffering is part of God's plan. This encourages believers to act righteously, knowing that God values their good actions even in the face of hardship.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to suffer for doing good?

Suffering for doing good refers to facing hardship or persecution as a result of acting righteously or morally, rather than for wrongdoing.

How can one know if it is God's will?

Understanding God's will often comes through prayer, studying Scripture, and seeking counsel from other believers, as well as observing the outcomes of one's actions.

Why is suffering sometimes seen as better?

Suffering for righteousness can lead to spiritual growth, a deeper relationship with God, and can serve as a testimony to others about faithfulness amidst trials.

What examples are there of suffering for good in the Bible?

Examples include the suffering of Jesus, the apostles, and other faithful believers who endured persecution for their faith and good deeds, as seen throughout the New Testament.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways have I experienced suffering for doing good, and how did I respond?
  2. How can I better align my actions with God's will in my daily life?
  3. What are some practical ways to encourage others who are suffering for righteousness?
  4. How does understanding the value of suffering for good change my perspective on hardships?

The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it

Early church Fathers reflect on the significance of suffering for righteousness in this verse, providing insights into its application in Christian life.

Augustine of HippoON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE 1.40 354–430
Everyone who lies acts unjustly, and if lying ever seems to be useful to someone, it may be that injustice sometimes seems useful to him. But in fact injustice is never useful, and lying always does harm.
Early Church Fathers on 1 Peter 3 →
Andreas of CaesareaCATENA c. 563–637
Once again, Peter exhorts us not to grieve over unjust suffering, if that is God’s will for us. He teaches us that we suffer for the specific purpose of being trained for what we are meant to be according to the mercy of God.
Early Church Fathers on 1 Peter 3 →
BedeCommentary on the Catholic Epistles c. 673–735
For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. This statement elegantly refutes the foolishness of those who, when they are accused by their brothers for faults or even restrained by punishments,
Early Church Fathers on 1 Peter 3 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 1 Peter 3:17 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For it is better, if the will of God be so,.... For all things are ordered by the will of God, even all the sufferings and afflictions of the saints; and which is a reason why they ought to be

Read John Gill on 1 Peter 3 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. Better. Say not, I would not bear it so ill if I deserved it.

Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Peter 3 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

If the will of God be so; viz. that ye must suffer; intimating that this is an argument for their patience and submission in their sufferings, and a ground of comfort to them, that they are led into them by the providence of God, (not by their own folly or rashness), and have him for a witness and judge both of their cause and deportment.

Read Matthew Poole on 1 Peter 3 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. Ver. 17. That ye suffer for well doing] The cause, and not the pain, makes the martyr. Together with the Lord Cromwell was beheaded (in Henry VIII’ s time) the Lord Hungerford, neither so Christianly suffering, nor so quietly dying for his offence committed against nature. (Speed’ s Chron.) What a sad thing was that related by Eusebius, that the cruel persecution under Diocletian was occasioned chiefly by the petulance, pride, and contentions of the pastors and bishops! which gave occasion to the tyrant to think that Christian religion was no better than a wretched device of wicked men.…

Read John Trapp on 1 Peter 3 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) For it is better.—There is a kind of ironical suppression in this comparison. If the will of God be so.—A strikingly reverent phrase in the original, If the will of God should will it. This is, of course, to be taken only with the word “suffer,” which itself means, as in 1 Peter 3:14, to suffer capitally. St. Peter is thinking of the legal process of 1 Peter 3:15-16, coming to a verdict of “guilty.” He was himself daily expecting such a death. For well doing.—Better, perhaps, as well doers. It does not necessarily mean, in the Greek, that the well doing was the reason of the suffering, but simply that it accompanied it.

Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Peter 3 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 17. For it is better] See on 1 Peter 2:19; 1 Peter 2:20.

Read AdamClarke on 1 Peter 3 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. For it is better, if the will of God be so] Literally, the Greek presenting a kind of emphatic pleonasm, if the will of God should so will. The Apostle falls back upon the thought of chap. 1 Peter 2:20. Men feel most aggrieved when they suffer wrongfully. They are told that it is precisely in such sufferings that they should find ground for rejoicing. These, at any rate, cannot fail to work out for them some greater good.

Read Cambridge on 1 Peter 3 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For it is better, if the will of God be so - That is, if God sees it to be necessary for your good that you should suffer, it is better that you should suffer for doing well than for crime.

Read Albert Barnes on 1 Peter 3 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing what is right than for doing evil.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

NETBNew English Translation2006

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

RVARevised Version, American1894

For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

For it is better, if the will of God is so, that ye suffer for well-doing, than for evil-doing.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

For it is better (if the will of God be so) that ye suffer for well doing, then for euil doing.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

For [it is] better, if the will of God should will it, to suffer [as] well-doers than [as] evildoers;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

for [it is] better doing good, if the will of God will it, to suffer, than doing evil;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

for if the will of God wills it, [it is] better to suffer doing good, than doing evil;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

It is better, if God desires, that you suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

For it is better doing well (if such be the will of God) to suffer, than doing ill.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

It's certainly better to suffer for doing good (if that's what God wants), than to suffer for doing wrong!

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Because if it is God's purpose for you to undergo pain, it is better to do so for well-doing than for evil-doing.

Word by word, the decisions they made

πάσχεινpaschō to suffer G3958 3 different renderings
to sufferBSB DBY DRA FBV LSV MSB NETB YLT
sufferASV GNV KJV NWB RVA
you sufferULB WEB
κακοποιοῦντας·kakopoieō doing evil; G2554 2 different renderings
doing evilBSB LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB YLT
wrongFBV

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseγὰρforclauseclausepredicateκρεῖττον[It is] betternoun phrase · subjectclauseadverbialἀγαθοποιοῦνταςdoing goodclause · adverbialεἰifclauseverbθέλοιwills [it]noun phrase · subjectτὸthenoun phraseθέλημαwillnoun phraseτοῦ-Θεοῦof Godverbπάσχεινto sufferthanclauseverbκακοποιοῦνταςdoing evilclauseὅτιbecauseclausenoun phrase · subjectκαὶalsoΧριστὸςChristadverbialἅπαξonceprepositional phrase · adverbialπερὶforἁμαρτιῶνsinsverbἀπέθανενsufferedclausesubjectδίκαιος[the] righteousprepositional phrase · adverbialὑπὲρforἀδίκων[the] unrighteousclauseἵναso thatclauseobjectὑμᾶςyouverbπροσαγάγῃHe might bringnoun phrase · indirect objectτῷ-Θεῷto Godclause · adverbialμὲνindeedclauseverbθανατωθεὶςhaving been put to deathadverbialσαρκὶin [the] fleshδὲhoweverclauseverbζωοποιηθεὶςhaving been made aliveadverbialπνεύματιin [the] spirit

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

Melius est enim benefacientes (si voluntas Dei velit) pati, quam malefacientes.

Jerome revised the Old Latin against the Greek from AD 382; the Latin west read this text for a thousand years.

Syriac Peshittaby AD 400

ܥܕܪܐ ܗܝ ܠܟܘܢ ܓܝܪ ܕܟܕ ܥܒܕܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܥܒܕܐ ܛܒܐ ܬܣܒܠܘܢ ܒܝܫܬܐ ܐܢ ܗܟܢܐ ܗܘ ܨܒܝܢܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܘܠܐ ܟܕ ܥܒܕܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܒܝܫܬܐ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

An independent critical text built from the oldest witnesses then known.

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας, εἰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, πάσχειν κακοποιοῦντας·

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

Every witness on this verse they differ
Critical editions
Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993SBL Greek New Testament2010Westcott–Hort1881Tregelles1857–1879Tyndale House Greek NT2017
Byzantine / Majority
Byzantine majority text2018
Received Text
Textus Receptus1550/1894

A witness that read differently would show its variant word here, marked.

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
θέλοι one would desireNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, Treg, ByzTR

The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

1 Peter 3:17κρείττων[It is] bet[It is] betterκρείττωνγάρforforγάρἀγαθοποιέωdoing gooddoing goodἀγαθοποιέωεἰififεἰθέλωone would done would desirθέλωthetheθέλημαwillwillθέλημα<the><the>θεόςof God,of God,θεόςπάσχωto sufferto sufferπάσχωthanthanκακοποιέωdoing evil;doing evil;κακοποιέωἀγαθοποιόςAdj a doerAdj a doer of tἀγαθοποιόςεἰ δὲ μήNeg.prt. bNeg.prt. but ifεἰ δὲ μήκακοποιόςAdj an eviAdj an evil-doeκακοποιόςκρείττωνAdj strongAdj stronger, mκρείττωνθέλωv. I will,v. I will, wishθέλωArticle thArticle theἤδηAdv now, aAdv now, alreadἤδηἤπερDisj.prt. Disj.prt. thanἤπερἔχωv. I have,v. I have, holdἔχωεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςὥσπερAdv just aAdv just as, asὥσπερτοιοῦτοςDem.pr. ofDem.pr. of suchτοιοῦτοςὑπομένωv. I remaiv. I remain behὑπομένωδυνατόςAdj powerfAdj powerful, aδυνατόςἀγνοέωv. I do nov. I do not knoἀγνοέωκαθαρίζωv. I make v. I make cleanκαθαρίζωπέμπωv. I sendv. I sendπέμπωποιέωv. I do, mv. I do, makeποιέω
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in 1 Peter 3:17

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
κρεῖττονkreittōn [It is] better G2908 Adjective · nominative · singular · neuter
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for better or greater, often referring to something that is more useful or advantageous, as seen in 1 Corinthians 11:17 and Hebrews 11:40. It can also describe something that is more excellent, like in Hebrews 1:4. This word is used to compare things.
Tyndale gloss
greater
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κρείττων is a comparative form of κρατύς, meaning 'strong' or 'mighty,' and is often used to denote 'better' or 'more excellent.' It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, highlighting superiority in terms of advantage or excellence, as seen in 1 Corinthians and Hebrews. The lexicons note its use in both a general sense of improvement and specific applications, such as moral or spiritual superiority.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κρείσσων

(Epic and old Att.) and κρείττων (later Att.), prop. comparat. of κρατύς, strong, but in sense often (as in cl., v. LS, s.v.) as comparat. of ἀγαθός,

[in LXX chiefly for טוֹב;]

better;

as to advantage or usefulness: I Co 11:17, He 11:40 12:24; πολλῷ μᾶλλον κ., Phl 1:23; κρεῖσσον ποιεῖν, I Co 7:38; ἐστιν, seq. inf., I Co 7:9, II Pe 2:21;

as to excellence: He 1:4 6:9 7:7, 19, 22 8:6 9:23 10:34 11:16, 35; κ. ἐστι, seq. inf., I Pe 3:17.†

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἀγαθός, -7, -όν, (akin to ἄγαμαι to wonder at, think highly of, ἀγαστός admirable, as explained by Plato, Crat. p. 412 ο. [al. al.; ef. Donaldson, New Crat. § 8287), in general denotes “ perfectus, . . . qui habet in se ac facit omnia quae habere et facere debet pro notione nominis, oflicio ac lege” (Irmisch ad Hdian. 1, 4, p. 134), excelling in any respect, distinguished, good. It can be predicated of persons, things, conditions, qualities and affections of the soul, deeds, times and seasons. To this general signif. can be traced back all those senses which the word gathers fr. the connection in which it stands; 1. of a good constitution or nature: γῆ, Lk. viii. 8; δένδρον, Mt. vii. 18, in sense equiv. to ‘fertile soil,’ ‘a fruitful tree,’ (Xen. oec. 16, 7 γῆ ἀγαθή, . . . γῆ κακή, an. 2, 4, 22 χώρας πολλῆς kK. ἀγαθῆς οὔσης). In Lk. viii. 15 ἀγαθὴ καρδία corresponds to the fig.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἀγαθός. The comparative βελτίων (in the LXX about 20 times for the commoner κρείσσων) occurs in the fragmentary P Petr III. 42 H (8) 15 (middle of iii/B.c.) (= Witkowski Epp.*, p. 16). In a votive inscription discovered at Cos (Paton and Hicks, 92), Nero is described as ἀγαθὸς θεός (cf. Deissmann ZAZ, p. 349). For ἀγαθὸς δαίμων, see 57 in the same collection (=C/G 2510)—Tiyxq ᾿Αγαθᾷ καὶ ᾿Αγαθῷ Δαίμονι καὶ τῶ(ι) δάμω(ι), etc., etc. Une other phrase is worth quoting: P Oxy II. 29814 (i/A.p.) ἐὰν ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ mapayévy, ‘if you arrive happily,” 7. III. 531° (ii/A.D.) ἕως ἐπ’ ἀγαθῷ πρὸς σὲ παραγένομαι, BGU III. 83519:: (beginning of 111Α.}.) εἰς τὴν ἐπ᾽ [ἀ]γαθοῖς γεναμένης κατασποράν, P Flor I. 2110 (a.p. 239) α΄. The neuter pl., as in Lk 1219, may be illustrated by P Ryl I. 2818? (iv/a.p.) ποὺς δεξιὸς ἐὰν ἅλληται, δεσπότης ἔσται πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κτημάτων, ‘if the right foot quiver, the man…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κρείσσων (kreissōn) — greater.

κρείσσων, ον,

genitive ονος, as always in Epic dialect and old Attic dialect; later Attic dialect κρείττων; Ionic dialect κρέσσων [Refs 5th c.BC+] κάρρων (which see); Cretan dialect κάρτων [Refs] — _comparative_ of κρατύς (see. κράτιστος), stronger, mightier, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; especially in battle, [Refs 6th c.BC+]: hence, having the upper hand, superior, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: as Law-term, of witnesses, [Refs] [prev. cited]

2. frequently as comparative of ἀγαθός, better, κρέσσονες one's betters, especially in point of rank, [Refs 5th c.BC+], of the greater gods, as opposed to to Oceanus, [Refs 4th c.BC+] (anapaest meter); οἱ κ. the Higher Powers, [Refs 5th c.BC+] the Almighty, Providence, [Refs 4th c.AD+] one's advantages, [Refs 5th c.BC+].

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀγαθός κρείττων κρείσσων

kreisson

neuter of an alternate form of 2909; (as noun) better, i.e. greater

advantage:--better.

see GREEK for 2909

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κρείσσων, ον

Adj

stronger, more excellent

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κρείττων kreittōn 19x

can also be spelled κρείσσων, better, more useful or profitable, more conducive to good, 1 Cor. 7:8, 38; superior, more excellent, of a higher nature, more valuable, Heb. 1:4; 6:9; 7:7, 19, 22

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-NSN-C — Adjective · nominative · singular · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-NSN-C Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter Degree: Comparative

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
63%better
better63% · 12×a better21% · 4×superior11% · 2×better thing5% · 1×

19 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 4 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object60%adverbial20%predicate20%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 5 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
εἰςἀγαπητόςloved, beloved
γαμίζωI give in marriage
μήNeg
μᾶλλονmore, rather
γάρfor
ἑαυτοῦ
ἔχωI have, hold, po
κρείττων[It is] better
what comes after →
ποιέωI do, make
ἀλλάbut, except
εἰς
καίand, even, also, nam
ἔχωI have, hold, po
ὕπαρξιςgoods, substance, pr
καίand, even, also,

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceκρείττων · 5× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Hebrews Philippians
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 8c. AD 40

Μωυσῆς δὲ καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἐπ’ αὐτὴν φθάσας ἀκρότητα καὶ χρησμοῖς τὰ πολλὰ καὶ συνεκτικώτατα τῶν τῆς φύσεως ἀναδιδαχθεὶς ἔγνω δή, ὅτι ἀναγκαιότατόν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τὸ μὲν εἶναι δραστήριον αἴτιον, τὸ δὲ παθητόν, καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὲν δραστήριον ὁ τῶν ὅλων…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.230c. AD 75–95

σύνεσις δὲ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐφύετʼ αὐτῷ τοῦ δὲ ταύτης μέτρου πολὺ κρείττων, καὶ πρεσβυτέραν διεδείκνυεν ταύτης τὴν περιουσίαν ἐν ταῖς παιδιαῖς, καὶ μειζόνων τῶν ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς γενησομένων ἐπαγγελίαν εἶχε τὰ τότε πραττόμενα.

Ignatius of AntiochThe Letters of Ignatius 5.9.1c. AD 110

Καλοὶ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς, κρεῖσσον δὲ ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ὁ πεπιστευμένος τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, ὃς μόνος πεπίστευται τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ θεοῦ: αὐτὸς ὢν θύρα τοῦ πατρός, δἰ ἧς εἰσέρχονται Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ οἱ προφῆται καὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ ἡ ἐκκλησία.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC undated
P.Genova 4 137Arsinoites259 BC–258 BC

τὸ λοιπὸν … ιαν ἔχωμεν· διαπιστευόμεθα ὑφ’ αὐτῶν … … … … … ὑμῶν κρεῖσσον γὰρ παρὰ ἑκόντων καὶ … τοῦτο γενέσθαι οὐκ ἀναγινώσκω δέ σου ὅτι δὲ

P.Oxy. 7 1062OxyrhynchosAD 101–AD 200

χαίρειν. περὶ τῶν πόκων σου ἐπαγελλομένου καλὰ ἀγοράσαι προσθέντος ὅτι τὰ θέρειά ἐστιν τὰ κρείσσονα σοὶ προσεταξάμην ὅτι ὅταν καλὰ γένηται τότε ἀγόρασον, καὶ ἔγραψά σοι ὅτι οὐκ ἐπένεγκαν

P.IFAO 2 17Arsinoites (?)AD 201–AD 250

Ἀμᾶτιν πέμψαι καὶ τὰ ξύλα. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ εὕρῃς ἓξ ἐκείνων τῶν ἐρίων, δείξαιμοι κρείσσονα. ἐπισκοποῦμαι σου τὴν ἀβάσκαντον σύμβιον. ἔρρωσο.

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
γὰρgar for G1063 Conjunction
1,038× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
For is a word used to explain or give a reason, often introducing a justification or clarification, as seen in Matthew 4:18 and Romans 7:1. It's a conjunction that connects ideas and provides additional information.
Tyndale gloss
for
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word γάρ (gar) is a coordinating particle primarily used to introduce reasons or explanations, similar to 'for' in English. It can serve various functions, including causal, explicative, and conclusive, and is often placed after the first word in a clause. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts that clarify or justify preceding statements, aligning with its classical usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γάρ,

co-ordinating particle, contr. of γε ἄρα,

verily then, hence, in truth, indeed, yea, then, why, and when giving a reason or explanation, for, the usage in NT being in general accord with that of cl.;

explicative and epexegetic: Mt 4:18 19:12, Mk 1:16 5:42 16:4, Lk 11:30, Ro 7:1, I Co 16:5, al.

Conclusive, in questions, answers and exclamations: Mt 9:5 27:23, Lk 9:25 22:27, Jo 9:30, Ac 8:31 16:37 19:35,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

γάρ, a conjunction, which ace. to its composition, γέ and dpa (i. 4. ἄρ), is properly a particle of affirmation and conclusion, denoting truly therefore, verily as the case stands, “ the thing is first aflirmed by the particle yé, and then is referred to what precedes by the force of the particle dpa” (Klotz ad Devar. ii. 1, p. 232; οἵ. Kiihner ii. p. 724; [Jelf § 786; W. 445 (415) sq-]). Now since by a new affirmation not infrequently the reason and nature of something previously mentioned are set forth, it comes to pass that, by the use of this particle, either the reason and cause of a foregoing statement is added, whence arises the causal or argumentative force of the particle, for (Lat. nam, enim; Germ. denn) ; or some previous declaration is explained, whence γάρ takes on an ex plicative force: YP Sor, the fact is, namely (Lat. videlicet, Germ. ndmilich). Thus the force of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γάρ (gar) — for.

γάρ

(γε, ἄρα), causal conjunction, used alone or with other Particles.

I. introducing the reason or cause of what precedes, for, τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη· κήδετο γ. Δαναῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but frequently in explanation of that which is implied in the preceding clause, πολλάων πολίων κατέλυσε κάρηνα.. τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον [Refs]

I. b in simple explanations, especially after a Pronoun or demonstrative adjective, ἀλλὰ τόδ᾽ αἰνὸν ἄχος κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἱκάνει· Ἕκτωρ γ. ποτε φήσει [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὃ δὲ δεινότατον.. ὁ Ζεὺς γ... [Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently in introducing proofs or examples, μαρτύριον δέ· Δήλου γ. καθαιρομένης.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τεκμήριον δέ· οὔτε γ. Λακεδαιμόνιοι.. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; in full, τεκμήριον δὲ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γάρ

gar

a primary particle; properly, assigning a reason (used in argument,

explanation or intensification; often with other particles):--and, as,

because (that), but, even, for, indeed, no doubt, seeing, then,

therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γάρ

Cj.

for

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γάρ gar 1x

for; it is, however, frequently used with an ellipsis of the clause to which it has reference, and its force must then be variously expressed: Mt. 15:27; 27:23, et al.; it is also sometimes epexegetic, or introductory of an intimated detail of circumstances, now, then, Mt. 1:18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γάρ for, Lat. enim, and like it, regularly placed after the first word of a sentence: to introduce the reason:

ARGUMENTATIVE, to introduce the reason for a statement, which usually precedes:—when it precedes the statement, it may be rendered since, as, Ἀτρείδη, πολλοὶ γὰρ τεθνᾶσιν Ἀχαιοί, χρὴ πόλεμον παῦσαι Il.

the statement of which γάρ gives the reason may be omitted, οὐ γάρ τί μοι Ζεὺς ἦν ὁ κηρύξας τάδε [yes], for it was not Zeus, etc., Soph.; ἔστι γὰρ οὕτω [yes], for so it is, i. e. yes certainly, Plat.; οἵδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ εἰσί: τοῦτο γάρ σε δήξεται [I say this], for it will sting thee, Eur.: —in Conditional Propositions, where the Condition is omitted, it may be transl. for otherwise, else, οὐ γὰρ ἄν με ἔπεμπον πάλιν, (sc. εἰ μὴ ἐπίστευον)…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Conj — Conjunction
conjunction — it joins clauses, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

for (ki (conjunction), le, from 'el (preposition), and various other words. In the New Testament also the words are various, chiefly gar, kai gar, hoti (conjunctions); anti apo eis dia (accusative), epi (dative and accusative), peri (genitive), pros (genitive and accusative), huper (genitive) (prepositions)): the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version give in many cases more literal or more accurate renderings than those in the King James Version.

In the New Testament the most important preps. from a doctrinal point of view are anti, "face to face," "over against," "instead," "on behalf of," peri, "around," "about," "concerning," huper, "over," "on behalf of." The first has been claimed as stating the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice as contrasted with huper and peri, more frequently used of it. But, although anti in the New Testament often means…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%for
for97% · 1050×other renderings3% · 33×

1,083 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 11 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,038 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςἐγώσύ
οὐNeg
οὐδείςno one, none, noαὐτόςλαλέωI speak, say
εἰμίI am, exist
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeλυπέωI pain, grieve, καθεύδωI sleep, am slee
οὗτος
εἰςαὐτόςδιά
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existκύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐγώ
γάρfor1038×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύἐν
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becἐνοὐNeg
αὐτός
Article theοὗτοςλέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theδιάἐν

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceγάρ · 1,038× in the New Testament
Romans Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Hebrews Acts 2 Corinthians John Mark Galatians 1 Thessalonians Revelation

1 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ λόγον καὶ ἀκοὴν ὑπερβάλλει μείζω καὶ σεμνότερα ὄντα ἢ ὡς θνητοῦ τινος ὀργάνοις ἐναρμοσθῆναι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

τινὲς μὲν γὰρ ἐπιδεικνύμενοι λόγων δεινότητα καὶ τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς θηρευόμενοι δόξαν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τῆς παιδείας τὸ μέρος ὁρμῶσιν, ἄλλοι δὲ χάριν ἐκείνοις φέροντες, περὶ ὧν τὴν ἀναγραφὴν εἶναι συμβέβηκε, τὸν εἰς αὐτὴν πόνον καὶ παρὰ δύναμιν ὑπέστησαν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.7c. AD 100

ἐγνώρισεν γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ δεσπότης διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰ παρεληλυθότα καὶ τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων δοὺς ἀπαρχὰς ἡμῖν γεύσεως, ὧν τὰ καθ̓ ἕκαστα βλέποντες ἐνεργούμενα, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν, ὀφείλομεν πλουσιώτερον καὶ ὑψηλότερον προσάγειν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD

ἀποκαταστῆναι , ἔτι καὶ νῦν καλῶς ποιήσεις παρακαλῶν σαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῶν· προσπέπτωκεν γὰρ Παῶν ἀναπλεῖν ἐν τῶι Τῦβι μηνὶ μετὰ δυνάμεων ἱκανῶν πρὸς τὸ καταστεῖλαι τοὺς ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

ἀλλʼ ἀποστερέσαι … ησας ἀλλά … τας κατὰ κοινόν … ἐπίσκεψιν ποιησάσθαι. … τούτων γὰρ γενομένων ἐσόμεθα βεβοηθημένοι ὑφʼ ὑμῶν. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους θ Φαρμοῦθι κζ, ἐπιλέγματος ἀναγνωσθέντος τοῦ ὑπομνήματος

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

ποιήσετε συνγεινόμενοι εἰς τοῦτον τόπον ἐν ἀσφαλείαι ὑπάρχοντα συντηρηθῆναι τοῦτον τῶι κυρίωι βασιλεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ πράσσοντες καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν διατηροῦντες … ε … παρὰ τῶν ἐπάνω

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
ἀγαθοποιοῦντας,agathopoieō doing good G15 Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
9× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This verb means to do good or be a well-doer, as seen in 1 Peter 2:15 and 3 John 11. It can be used to describe doing good for others, like in Mark 3:4 and Luke 6:9.
Amplified meaning
well-doing, righteous acts
Tyndale gloss
to do good
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀγαθοποιέω (i.e., *agathopoieo*) means 'to do good' or 'to act rightly.' It is derived from the components for 'good' and 'to make.' This term appears in the New Testament in several contexts, including 1 Peter and Luke, often emphasizing actions that benefit others. Notably, it is used in Mark 3:4 and Luke 6:9 in discussions about doing good on the Sabbath.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀγαθο-ποιέω, -ῶ (= cl. ἀγαθὸν ποιεῖν, εὐεργετεῖν),

[in LXX: Nu 10:32, Jg 17:13 A, Ze 1:12 (יטב hi.), To 12:13 B, I Mac 11:33, II Mac 1:2*;]

to do good;

univ.: I Pe 2:15, 20, 3:6, 17, III Jo 11;

for another's benefit: Mk 3:4 (T, ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι), Lk 6:9;

acc. pers., Lk 6:33, 35 (Cremer, 8).†

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἀγαθο-ποιέω, -@; 1 aor. inf. ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ; (fr. dyaboποιός) 5 1. to do good, do something which profits others: Mk. iii. 4 [Tdf. ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι; Lk. vi. 9]; to show one’s self beneficent, Acts xiv. 17 Rec.; τινά, to do some one a favor, io benefit, Lk. vi. 33, 35, (equiv. to 207, Zeph.i.12; Num. x. 32; Tob. xii. 13, etc.). 2 to do well, do right: 1 Pet. ii. 15, 20 (opp. to ἁμαρτάνω) ; iii. 6,17; 3 Jn. 11. (Not found in secular authors, except in a few of the later in an astrological sense, to Furnish a good omen.)

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀγαθοποιέω (agathopoieō) — to do good.

ἀγαθο-ποιέω,

do good, [NT+5th c.BC+]

2. ἀ. τινά do good to, [NT.Luke.6.33: with double _accusative LXX+NT]

3. make good, τι [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

4. Astrology texts, make favourable, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: passive, [Refs 5th c.AD+]

4. b exert beneficent influence, [Refs 5th c.AD+]

II. do well, act rightly, [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀγαθοποιέω

agathopoieo

from 17; to be a well-doer (as a favor or a duty):--(when) do good

(well).

see GREEK for 17

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀγαθοποιέω

v.

I do that which is good

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀγαθοποιέω agathopoieō 9x

to do good, do well; to do what is morally correct (1 Pet. 2:15, 20)

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀγαθοποιέω to do good, NTest.; ἀγ. τινά to do good to, id. NTest.

to do well, act rightly, id. NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAP-APM — Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAP-APM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

good (Tobh, Tubh, yaTabh; agathos, agathon, kalos, kalon): In English "good" is used in various senses, most of which are represented in the Bible.

(1) In the Old Testament the commonest word is Tobh, occurring very frequently and translated in a great variety of ways. Of the different shades of meaning, which frequently run into each other, the following may be distinguished:

(a) Possessing desirable qualities, beneficial, agreeable, e.g. "good for food" (Ge 2:9); "We will do thee good" (Nu 10:29); Who will show us any good?" (Ps 4:6); "good tidings of good" (Isa 52:7).

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
56%doing good
doing good56% · 5×do good22% · 2×you shall do good11% · 1×doing good to11% · 1×

9 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 4 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb78%adverbial22%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 9 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
ἀγαθοποιέωI do that which ἀγαθόςgood
σάββατονthe Sabbath, a week
Article the
ἐάνCond
γάρfor
καίand, even, also, nam
σύ
θεόςGod, a god
Article the
ἀγαθοποιέωdoing good
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
δανίζωI lend, borrowπάσχωI am acted upon,μήNeg
Disj
κακοποιέωI do harm, do wr
Article the
ἀγαθοποιέωI do that which
σύ
ποῖοςIrg
φιμόωI muzzle, silence
Article the

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceἀγαθοποιέω · 9× in the New Testament
1 Peter Luke 3 John
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
εἰei if G1487 Conditional particle
501× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means 'if' and is used to express conditions or questions. It appears in many Bible verses, such as Matthew 11:14 and Romans 8:25, introducing a condition or hypothesis.
Tyndale gloss
if
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εἰ, transliterated as ei, is a primary conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'whether.' It is used in various contexts, including conditions, indirect questions, and expressions of wishes. In the New Testament, it appears frequently, often followed by different verb tenses to indicate various conditions. The lexicons do not present significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰ,

conjunctive particle, used in conditions and in indirect questions.

Conditional, if;

c. indic., expressing a general assumption;

pres.: seq. indic, pres., Mt 11:14, Ro 8:25, al.; seq. imperat., Mk 4:23 9:22, Jo 15:18, I Co 7:9, al.; seq. fut. indic., Lk 16:31, Ro 8:11, al.; seq. pf. or aor., with negation in apodosis, Mt 12:26, Ro 4:14, al.; similarly, seq. impf., Lk 17:6, Jo 8:39; seq. quæst.,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

εἰ 109 εἰ WH, s0 Trin Mt. xii. 41; Ὀζείας L T Tr WH; Πειλᾶτος T WH; Σεμεείν T Tr WH; Ταβειθά WH; Χερουβείν 1, T Tr WH (-βίμ RG); Χοραζείν T Tr WH; ἀφείδεια L; εἰδέα T Tr WH; ἐπαρχεία T WH; ἐπιπόθεια WH; ἡλεί T ; πανοικεί TWH; ῥαββεί T WH; ῥαββουνεί WH; σαβαχθανεί Tr WH; ταλειθά WH; τάχειον WH; τραπεζείτης T WH.| el, is first a conditional particle, ἐγ (Lat. si) ; secondly, an interrogative particle, whether, (Lat. an, num, ne). I. εἰ CoNDITIONAL (on the difference between it and ἐάν, see ἐάν, I. 1 b.) is connected, according to the variety of conditions, with various tenses and moods; viz. ἘΣ with the Indicative of all tenses, when anything is simply and generally assumed to be, or to be done, or to have been done, or to be about to be, (W. § 41 b., 2; ef. 42, 2; [Β. 220(190)]). a. withthe Ind. Present; a. foll. in the apodosis by the ind. pres.: Mt. xix. 10 (εἰ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία...…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ΕἸ , J ἐκπλησσω γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ ἀστέρος καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐκπίπτει. See also Michel 827 A (mid. 11,8.0.) τό τε νόμισμα τὸ ἐκπεπτωκὸς ἀριθμῶι, of coins that have fallen out of use. The verb is not infrequent with reference to crops that “fall to be included”’ in the produce of a particular year, eg. BGU II. 5915" (A.p. 56-7) βουλόμεθα μισθώσασθαι τοὺς ἐκπεπτωκότας εἰς τὸ τρίτον ἔτος Νέρωνος. . . φοινεικίνους καρπούς, P Fay ο115 (A.p. 99) ἐϊλαϊκοὺς καρποὺς ἐκπεππτωκότας (/. ἐκπεπτωκ --Ἰ εἰς τὸ ἐνεστὸ(ς) τρίτον ἔτος. Cf. P Hib I. γ810 (B.c. 244--3) a letter requesting that two persons should be released from some public service—81a τὸ μὴ ἐκπεσίεῖν αὐτοῖς τὸ viv λειτουργῆσαι, ‘because it is not at present their turn to serve,’’ where the editors point out that éxmec[et]v, which has been corrected in the papyrus, is practically equivalent to προσπέσηι in 1.4 of the same document. For the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰ (ei) — if.

εἰ,

Attic dialect-Ionic dialect and [Refs 4th c.AD+] ἤ [Refs] in Epic dialect:— Particle used interjectionally with imperative and to express a wish, but usually either in conditions, if, or in indirect questions, whether. In the former use its regular negative is μ; in the latter, οὐ.

__A INTERJECTIONALLY, in [Refs 8th c.BC+], come now! with imperative, εἰ δὲ.. ἄκουσον [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A.2 in wishes, with optative, ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις.. καλέσειεν [Refs]; so later, εἴ μοι ξυνείη μοῖρα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of unattained wishes, in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later with past tenses of indicative, εἰ γάρ μ᾽ ὑπὸ γῆν.. ἧκεν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; εἰ γὰρ τοσαύτην δύναμιν εἶχον ὥστε.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]infinitive (compare the use of infinitive in commands), αἰ γὰρ τοῖος ἐὼν.. ἐμὸς γαμβρὸς καλέεσθαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰ

ei

a primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that,

etc.:--forasmuch as, if, that, (al-)though, whether. Often used in

connection or composition with other particles, especially as in 1489,

1490, 1499, 1508, 1509, 1512, 1513, 1536, 1537. See also 1437.

see GREEK for 1489

see GREEK for 1490

see GREEK for 1499

see GREEK for 1508

see GREEK for 1509

see GREEK for 1512

see GREEK for 1513

see GREEK for 1536

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 1437

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰ

Cond.

if

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰ ei 502x

if, Mt. 4:3, 6; 12:7; Acts 27:39, freq.; since, Acts 4:9; whether, Mk. 9:23; Acts 17:11; that, in certain expressions, Acts 26:8, 23; Heb. 7:15; by a suppression of the apodosis of a sentence, εἰ serves to express a wish; O if! O that! Lk. 19:42; 22:42; also a strong negation, Mk. 8:12; Heb. 3:11; 4:3; εἰ καί, if even, though, although, Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
COND — Conditional particle
conditional particle — it marks the clause as a condition.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

COND CONDitional particle or conjunction

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%if
if74% · 388×only17% · 89×whether3% · 14×lest3% · 14×other renderings3% · 17×

522 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 501 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδίδωμιI offer, giveἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fδίδωμιI offer, give
ὅτιthat, since, because
ΒηθσαϊδάPropγινώσκωI come to know, σύ
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςἐγώ
εἰif501×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
τὶςArticle theεἰ δὲ μήNeg
μήNeg
Article theἐνεἷςone
τὶς
θέλωI will, wish, deδοκέωI think, seem, aἔχωI have, hold, po
γάρfor
Article theπιστεύωI believe, have διά
Article the
θεόςGod, a godΣατανᾶςan adversary, Saδεξιόςon the right han

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceεἰ · 501× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew Luke John Romans 2 Corinthians Acts Mark Galatians Hebrews Revelation 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament25 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 307 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
θέλοιthelō one would desire G2309 Verb · present · active · optative · third person · singular
207× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To will or desire something, as seen in Romans 9:16 and 1 Corinthians 12:6, where it describes a person's intentional choice or preference. This word is about making a conscious decision.
Tyndale gloss
to will/desire
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θέλω (thelō) means to will, wish, or desire. It is a common verb in the New Testament, often expressing intention or resolution, and can appear in various constructions, such as with an infinitive or an accusative. The lexicons note its frequent use compared to similar verbs and highlight its role in expressing personal desire or divine will, but they do not indicate significant disagreements among them.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θέλω (the strengthened form ἐθέλω is found in Hom., and is the more freq. in Attic; v. Rutherford, NPhr., 415 f.),

[in LXX for חפץ ,אבה; c. neg., מאן pi., etc.;]

to will, be willing, wish, desire (more freq. than βούλομαι, q.v., in vernac. and late Gk., also in MGr.; for various views as to its relation to β., v. Thayer, 286; but v. also Bl., §24, s.v.): absol., Ro 9:16, I Co 4:19 12:18, Ja 4:15; τ. θεοῦ θέλοντος, Ac 18:21; c. acc. rei, Mt 20:21, Mk 14:36, Jo 15:7, Ro 7:15, 16, I Co 4:21 7:36, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

θέλω (only in this form in the N. T.; in Grk. auth. also ἐθέλω [Veitch 5. v.; Lob. ad Phryn. p. 7; B. 57 (49)]); impf. ἤθελον ; [fut. 3 pers. sing. θελήσει, Rev. xi. 5 WII mrg.]; 1 aor. ἠθέλησα; (derived apparently fr. dey with a fuller aspiration, so that it means prop. to seize with the mind; but Curtius p. 726, ed. 5, regards its root as uncertain [he inclines, however, to the view of Pott, Fick, Vanicek and others, which connects it with a root meaning to hold to]); Sept. for 728 and yan; To WILL, (have in mind,) intend; i. e. 1. to be resolved or determined, to purpose: absol., ὁ θέλων, Ro. ix. 16; τοῦ θεοῦ θέλοντος if God will, Acts xviii. 21; ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ (in Attic ἐὰν θεὸς θέλῃ, ἣν οἱ θεοὶ θέλωσιν [ ef. Lob. u.s.]), 1 Co. iv. 19; Jas. ἵν. 15; καθὼς ἠθέλησε, 1 Co. xii. 18; xv. 38; τί, Ro. vii. 15 sq. 19 sq.; 1 Co. vii. 36; Gal. v.17; with the aorist inf., Mt. xx. 14…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

θέλω. For the form ἐθέλω, which is wanting in the NT as in the LXX, Nageli (p. 57) refers to the magic papyri and to the poetic 7J/de 111. 1064: it is common in the Attic inscrr. up to the end of iv/B.c., but from B.C. 250 θέλω occurs, and eventually takes its place as the regular form in the Kow (cf. Meisterhans G7. p. 178). For the verb denoting a personal wish or desire we may cite P Petr I. ταῦ (a Will) τὰ [ἐμαυτοῦ διοικεῖν ὡς ἐ]γὼ θέλω, P Oxy VIT. τοῦτ" (B.c. 22) od BE ypade ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐὰν θέλῃς (ci Mt 85), 726. III. 531° (ii/A.p.) περὶ ὧν θέλεις δήλωσόν μοι, P Cairo Preis 48° (ii/A.D.) τὸ μὲν πλοῖόν σοι, ὡς ἠθέλησας, σκέψομαι, and the constant epistolary phrase γινώσκειν σε θέλω, as in P Oxy IV. 74377 (B.c. 2) ὥστ᾽ ἂν τοῦτό σε θέλω γεινώσκειν ὅτι ἐγὼ αὐτῴ διαστολὰς δεδώκειν τὸ βαδίσαι εἰς Τακόνα, ‘I wish you therefore to know…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θέλω (thelō) — to will/desire.

θέλω,

see at {ἐθέλω} and add ὅστις ἂν θέλῃ [Refs]

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θέλω

v.

I will, wish, desire

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θέλω thelō 208x

to exercise the will, properly by an unimpassioned operation; to be willing, Mt. 17:4; to be inclined, disposed, Rom. 13:3; to choose, Lk. 1:62; to intend, design, Lk. 14:28; to will, Jn. 5:21; 21:22; ἤθελον, I could wish, Gal. 4:20

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAO-3S — Verb · present · active · optative · third person · singular
present active optative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAO-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Optative Person: third Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

de-zir': The verb "to desire" in the Scriptures usually means "to long for," "to ask for," "to demand," and may be used in a good or bad sense (compare De 7:25 the King James Version). the Revised Version (British and American) frequently renders the more literal meaning of the Hebrew. Compare Job 20:20, "delight"; Pr 21:20, "precious"; Ps 40:6, "delight"; aiteo (except Col 1:9), and erotao (except Lu 7:36) are rendered "to ask" and zeteo, "to seek" (compare Lu 9:9 et. al.). The Hebrew kacaph, literally, "to lose in…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ SPIRITUAL De 4:29; Ps 9:1; 17:1; 22:26; 24:6; 25:5,15; 27:8,14; 33:20; 34:10; 37:4,7,9,34; 39:12; 40:1,8; 42:1-11; 51:1-17; 62:1; 63:1,8; 68:28; 69:3,32; 70:4; 81:10; 84:2; 86:11,12,16; 94:19; 105:4; 118:17; 119:2,10,20,40,77,88,116,117,122,133,149,156; 123:1,2; 130:5,6; 143:5,6; Pr 2:3-5; 8:17,34; Isa 8:17,19; 26:8,9; 40:31; 55:1,2,6; Jer 29:13; La 3:25,26,41; Ho 10:12; Hab 3:2; Mt 5:6;

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
9%desiring
desiring9% · 18×i desire5% · 10×wishing4% · 9×willing4% · 8×i want3% · 7×do you desire3% · 7×desires3% · 7×shall desire3% · 7×other renderings65% · 138×

211 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 89 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 207 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ὅςλέγωI say, speak
ἐάνCond
ὅςγάρforκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
καίand, even, also,γραμματεύςa scribe, town-cὅπωςhow, in order th
ὅς
γάρforβασιλεύςa king, ruler, eἐγώ
τίςIrg
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakΠιλᾶτοςPilate
θέλωone would desire207×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
σύπᾶςall, the whole, οὗτος
Article the
ψυχήthe soul, life, θέλημαwill, wish, desiθεόςGod, a god
ποιέωI do, make
Article theὧδεhereἐν
αὐτός
ἀποκτείνωI put to death, δειγματίζωI hold up as an λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also, nam
οὐNegἰάομαιI healδίδωμιI offer, give

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceθέλω · 207× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Mark John 1 Corinthians Romans Acts Galatians 2 Corinthians Revelation Hebrews 1 Timothy

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament22 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 61 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 104c. AD 40

τῇ δ’ ἕκτῃ περὶ πάντα καταρτύεται νόος ἀνδρός, οὐδ’ ἕρδειν ἔθ’ ὁμῶς ἔργ’ ἀπάλαμνα θέλει·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.9c. AD 75–95

τούτῳ δὴ πειθόμενος ὡς αἰεὶ τοῖς χρήσιμον ἢ καλόν τι πράττειν δυναμένοις συμφιλοκαλοῦντι καὶ ἐμαυτὸν αἰσχυνόμενος, εἰ δόξαιμι ῥαθυμίᾳ πλέον ἢ τῷ περὶ τὰ κάλλιστα χαίρειν πόνῳ, προθυμότερον ἐπερρώσθην, ἔτι κἀκεῖνα πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις λογισάμενος οὐ…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.9c. AD 100

αἰσθάνεσθαι οὖν ὀφείλομεν, μὴ ὄντες ἀσύνετοι, τὴν γνώμην τῆς ἀγαθωσύνης τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, ὅτ̓ ἡμῖν λέγει, θέλων ἡμᾶς μὴ ὁμοίως πλανωμένους ἐκείνοις ζητεῖν, πῶς προσάγωμεν αὐτῷ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Edg. $1Alexandria (?)252 BC

αὐτός τε ἔρρωσαι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα σοί ἐστιν κατὰ νοῦν, εἴη ἂν ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω· ὑγίαινον δὲ καὶ αὐτός. ἐγραψέν μοι Μαιανδρία ὅτι χλαμύδα αὐτὴν κελεύεις ἐξυφᾶναι. νυνὶ μὲν

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59478276 BC–227 BC

αὐτός τε ἔρρωσαι καὶ τὰ λοιπά σοι κατὰ γνώμην ἐστίν, εἴη ἂν ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω· ὑγίαινον δὲ καὶ αὐτός. ἀπέσταλκά σοι κομίζοντα Πολέμωνα χοιρίδιον τριακονθήμερον α καὶ χαλκῶν δραχμὰς

P.Cair. Zen. 4 59575276 BC–227 BC

σὺ καὶ οὕς βούλει καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ κατὰ νοῦν ἐστιν, γένοιτʼ ἂν ὡς ἡμεῖς θέλομεν. ἱκανῶς δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔχομεν, καί σου μνημονεύομεν ἐν παντὶ καιρῶι, ὥσπερ καὶ προσῆκόν

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
τὸho the G3588 Article · nominative · singular · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The definite article — the commonest word in the Greek New Testament at 19,867 occurrences. Greek uses it more freely than English does and can drop it deliberately, so its presence and its absence both carry weight for a translator; but no single occurrence carries a message of its own. Here it simply gathers “the things” into one definite bundle.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

the prepositive article (ἄρθρον προτακτικόν), originally a demonstr. pron. (so usually in Hom.), in general corresponding to the Eng. definite article.

As demonstr. pron.

As freq. in Hom., absol., he (she, it), his (etc.): Ac 17:28 (quoted from the poet Aratus).

Distributive, ὁ μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, the one . . . the other: I Co 7:7, Ga 4:22; pl., Ac 14:4, 17:32, Phl 1:16, al.; οἱ μὲν . . . ἄλλοι δέ, Mt 16:14, Jo 7:12; οἱ μεν̀ . . . ὁ δέ, He 7:21, 23.

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὁ 435 ὁ tives of quantity, ὅλος, πᾶς, πολύς, see each in its own place. d. What has been said concerning adjectives holds true also of all other limitations added to substantives, as ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις, Ro. ix. 11; ἡ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, Ro. xi. 27; 6 λόγος 6 τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1 Co. i. 18; ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, Col. ii. 5; on the other hand, ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 1 Th. i. 8; τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους, 2 Co. viii. 4; see many other exx. of each usage in W. 131 (124) sqq.; [B. 91 (80) sqq.]. e. The noun has the article before it when a demonstrative pronoun (υὗτος, ἐκεῖνος) belonging to it either precedes or follows [W. § 18, 4; B. § 127, 29-31]; as, ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος, Jn. ix. 24 [οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρ. 1, Tr mrg. WH); Acts vi. 13; xxii. 26; ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, Mt. xv. 8; 6 vids σου οὗτος, Lk. xv. 30; plur. Lk. xxiv. 17, and numberless other exx.; οὗτος 6 ἄνθρωπος, Lk. xiv. 30; οὗτος ὁ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὃ, ἡ τό. (1) Apart from connexion with μέν or δέ (see below) the demonstrative use of the art. in the NT is confined to a poetical quotation Ac 1778, but it is not uncommon in the papyri, e.g. P Par 45® (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski®, p. 85) τὰ (for ἃ) πράσεις (Δ πράσσεις), P Oxy VIII. 1160! (iii/iv A.D.) Ta (for ἃ) σεσύλληχα (for συνείληχα) δὲ κέρμα {ταν τηρῶ αὐτὰ εἰς τὴν δίκην, “1 am keeping for the trial the money that I have collected” (Ed.). For the distributive Opéev.. - 6 8€, as in 1 Cor7’, cf. P Lond 535 (B.c. 161) (=I. p. 19, U.P.Z. i. p. 239) kal τὰ μὲν ἡμῶν ἐληφότων εἰς τὴν γινομένην ἡμῖν συντάξειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔτι διὰ τὴν τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων {(.. ... > παρελκομένων. (2) The use of the art. as a relative, of which there is no trace in the NT, may again be illustrated by the following papyrus citations from ¢c. A.D. 346—P Lond 414® (= II. Ῥ. 292) γεινῴσκιν oe θέλω περὶ τοῦ βρεουίου…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

__C in Epic dialect, the so-called postpositive Article, = relative Pronoun, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.—The nominative masculine and feminine singular and plural, ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ, have no accent in codices and most printed books, except when used as the relative; but ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ differ only in writing from ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, α; the nominative forms of the article are said by Hdn.Gr.1.474 to be oxytone, and by [Refs 2nd c.AD+] in Aeolic dialect accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+] genitive and dative dual τοῖιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]— In Doric dialect and all other dialects except Attic dialect and Ionic dialect the feminine forms preserve the old ᾱ instead of changing it to η, hence Doric dialect etc. ἁ, τάν, τᾶ; the genitive plural τάων contracts in many dialects to τᾶ; the genitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be

supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one,

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

the prepositive article, answering, to a considerable extent, to the English definite article; but, for the principle and facts of its usage, consult a grammar; ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, the one ... the other, Phil. 1:16, 17; Heb. 7:5, 6, 20, 21, 23, 24; pl. some ... others, Mt. 13:23; 22:5, 6; ὁ δέ, but he, Mt. 4:4; 12:48; οἱ δέ, but others, Mt. 28:17; used, in a poetic quotation, for a personal pronoun, Acts 17:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

in epic, the relative Pronoun, when it is written with the accent ὅ, ἥ, τό ῀ ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. Besides the common forms, note epic gen. sg. τοῖο for τοῦ; pl. nom. τοί, ταί; gen. fem. τάων [α^], dat. τοῖσι, τῇς and τῇσι; dual gen, and dat. τοῖιν:— in Trag. we find τοὶ μέν . . , τοὶ δέ . . , for οἱ μέν . . , οἱ δέ . . ; dat. pl. also τοῖσι, ταῖσι: the dual has commonly but one gender, τώ for τά, τοῖν for ταῖν.

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

joined with a Subst., not as the Art., but like Lat. ille, ὁ Τυδείδης Tydeus's famous son, Il.; Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων Nestor— that aged man, id. Il.; τιμῆς τῆς Πριάμου for honour, namely that of Priam, id. Il.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-NSN — Article · nominative · singular · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-NSN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

1. This adjective is used as a definitive, that is, before nouns which are specific or understood; or it is used to limit their signification to a specific thing or things, or to describe them; as the laws of the twelve tables. the independent tribunals of justice in our country, are the security or private rights, and the best bulwark against arbitrary power. the sun is the source of light and heat.

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

2. the is also used rhetorically before a noun in the singular number, to denote a species by way of distinction; a single thing representing the whole. the fig tree putteth forth her green figs; the almond tree shall flourish; the grasshopper shall be a burden.

3. In poetry, the sometimes loses the final vowel before another vowel.

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%the
the64% · 13160×<the>28% · 5846×those3% · 597×other renderings4% · 788×other renderings1% · 294×

20,685 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 83 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject34%adverbial32%object24%predicate5%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19,783 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordance · 19,783× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Revelation Mark Romans 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

40 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

Τῶν ἄλλων νομοθετῶν οἱ μὲν ἀκαλλώπιστα καὶ γυμνὰ τὰ νομισθέντα παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι δίκαια διετάξαντο, οἱ δὲ πολὺν ὄγκον τοῖς νοήμασι προσπεριβαλόντες ἐξετύφωσαν τὰ πλήθη μυθικοῖς πλάσμασι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπικρύψαντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.1c. AD 100

Χαίρετε, υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς, ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

r βασιλεύοντος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει Παθύρεως χαλκοῦ Γ. ἐπρίατο Ὧρος Νεχούτου.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
θέλημαthelēma will G2307 Noun · nominative · singular · neuter
62× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Will or desire refers to a person's choice or intention, like God's will in Matthew 18:14 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. It can also mean a decree or purpose, like God's plan for our lives.
Amplified meaning
desire, intention
Tyndale gloss
will/desire
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word θέλημα (thelēma) means 'will' or 'desire' and is derived from the verb θέλω (thelō). It refers to what is willed or desired, both objectively (the thing willed) and subjectively (the act of willing). In the New Testament, it often describes God's will, as seen in phrases like θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ (thelema tou theou), meaning 'the will of God.' The lexicons do not present significant disagreements on its meaning.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† θέλημα, -τος, τό

(< θέλω),

[in LXX chiefly for חָפֶץ, also for רָצוֹן, etc.;]

will,

objectively = that which is willed: Mt 18:14, Lk 12:47, Jo 5:30, I Co 7:37, I Th 5:18, II Ti 2:26, He 10:10, Re 4:11; θ. τ. θεοῦ, Ac 22:14, Ro 2:18 12:2, Eph 1:9, Col 1:9 4:12, I Pe 4:2; τ. κυρίου,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

θέλημα, -τος, τό, (θέλω), a word purely bibl. and eccl. [yet found in Aristot. de plant. 1, 1 p. 815%, 21]; Sept. for yan and ΠΣ; will, i.e. a. what one wishes or has determined shall be done, [i. 6. objectively, thing willed]: Lk. xii.47; Jn. v.30; 1 Co. vii. 37; 1 ΤῊ. ν. 18; 2 Tim. ii. 26; Heb. x. 10; Rev.iv.11; θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ is used —of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ, Acts xxii. 14; Eph.i.9; Col. i. 9; of what God wishes to be done by us, Ro. xii. 2; Col. iv. 12 [W. 111 (105) ]; 1 Pet. iv. 2; and simply τὸ θέλημα, Ro. ii. 18 [W. 594 (553)] (Sir. xliii. 16 (17) [but here the better txt. now adds αὐτοῦ, see Fritzsche; in patrist. Grk., however, θέλημα is so used even without the art.; cf. Ignat. ad Rom. 1,1: ad Eph. 20, 1, ete.]); τοῦ κυρίου, Eph. v. 17; plur. commands, precepts: [Mk. iii. 35 WH. mrg.]; Acts xiii. 22, (Ps. cii. (ciii.) 7; 2 Mace. i. 3); ἐστὶ τὸ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

θέλημα. This word, which is almost unknown outside Bibl. and eccles. writings, occurs in P Oxy VI. 924, a Christian charm of Gnostic character, belonging to iv/A.pD. After a prayer to the Deity to protect the petitioner from ague etc., the charm continues—*tatra ev[peva]s [π]ρά[ξ]εις ὅλως κατὰ Td θέλημά cov πρῶτον Kal τὴν πίστιν αὐτῆς, “‘all this thou wilt graciously do in accordance with thy will first and with her faith” (Edd.). Cf. also P Lond 418 (c. A.D. 346) (ΞΞ- 11. p. 303) τὸ θέλημα τῆς ψυχῆς σον. The Pauline usage of the word is discussed by Slaten Qualitative Nouns, p. 52 ff.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θέλημα (thelēma) — will/desire.

θέλ-ημα, ατος, τό,

(θέλω) will, [NT+5th c.BC+]

II. ἔστιν μοι θ. ἔν τινι pleasure in.., [LXX]:—also θελ-ήμη, ἡ, [Refs 9th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

θέλημα

thelema

from the prolonged form of 2309; a determination (properly, the

thing), i.e. (actively) choice (specially, purpose, decree;

abstractly, volition) or (passively) inclination:-- desire, pleasure,

will.

see GREEK for 2309

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θέλημα, ατος, τό

n.n.

will, wish, desire

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θέλημα thelēma 62x

will, bent, inclination, 1 Cor. 16:12; Eph. 2:3; 1 Pet. 4:3; resolve, 1 Cor. 7:37; will, purpose, design, 2 Tim. 2:26; 2 Pet. 1:21; will, sovereign pleasure, behest, Mt. 18:14; Lk. 12:47; Acts 13:22, et al. freq.; ἐν τῷ θελήματι θεοῦ, Deo permittente, if God please or permit, Rom. 1:10

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θέλημα θέλημα, ατος, τό, θέλω will, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-NSN — Noun · nominative · singular · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-NSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

See TESTAMENT.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ THE MENTAL FACULTY

Freedom of, recognized by God Ge 4:6-10; De 5:29; 1Ki 20:42; Isa 1:18-20; 43:26; Jer 36:3,7; Joh 7:17

See BLESSINGS, CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE

See CHOICE

See CONTINGENCY

→ OF GOD, THE SUPREME RULE OF DUTY Mt 6:10; 12:50; 26:39,42; Mr 3:35; 14:36; Lu 11:2; 22:42; Joh 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; Ac…

Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 21 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.197c. AD 40

οὗ χάριν καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ἀκολουθῶν τῷ θεοῦ θελήματι τὰ μὲν ὑπάρχοντα, ἅπερ ἦν αὐτῷ ἐκ θεοῦ, κατέχει, ἀποπέμπεται δὲ τὴν ἵππον τοῦ βασιλέως Σοδόμων (Gen.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement preface.1c. AD 96

Ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ παροικοῦσα Ῥώμην τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ παροικούσῃ Κόρινθον, κλητοῖς ἡγιασμένοις ἐν θελήματι θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 17.6.2c. AD 140

πιστεύσατε οὖν τῷ θεῷ ὑμεῖς οἱ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπεγνωκότες τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῶν καὶ προστιθέντες ἁμαρτίαις καὶ καταβαρύνοντες τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῶν, ὅτι, ἐὰν ἐπιστραφῆτε πρὸς τὸν κύριον ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν καὶ ἐργάσησθε τὴν δικαιοσύνην, τὰς λοιπὰς…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Lond. 2 p. 302-303 no. 418Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)AD 346

καὶ τοσοιλο … τοχοι ἀληθῶς, Ἀβιννέας, κατὰ πάντα τρόπον . γραφόμεθά σοι, ἀγαποῦμεν τὸ θέλημα τῆς ψυχῆς σου· ἐθέλω γὰρ ἀπαντῆσαί σοι, ἐπειδὴ ἀνάγκη πρὸς μὲ ἦλθε καὶ ἐσπούδασα,

P. Ross. Georg. 4 27 (I.a)Aphrodites Kome (Antaiopolites)AD 526–AD 575

ου μαρτυρῶ τῇ ὀφειλῇ ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ θεμένου. διʼ ἐμοῦ Κύρου νομικοῦ ἐγράφη θεοῦ θελήματι

P.Petra 5 56Petra (?) (Tertia Palaestina Salutaris)AD 573

τῆς μητρὸς … ξενοδοχεῖον … ὑπὲρ τῆς … εὐχομένου … λας εὖξαι … τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ζῆν … ἀσφάλειαν σημαίνω … των παρὰ τοῦ … παρὰ τοῦ κοινοῦ ἡμῶν

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
τοῦho <the> G3588 Article · genitive · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The definite article — the commonest word in the Greek New Testament at 19,867 occurrences. Greek uses it more freely than English does and can drop it deliberately, so its presence and its absence both carry weight for a translator; but no single occurrence carries a message of its own. Here it simply gathers “the things” into one definite bundle.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

the prepositive article (ἄρθρον προτακτικόν), originally a demonstr. pron. (so usually in Hom.), in general corresponding to the Eng. definite article.

As demonstr. pron.

As freq. in Hom., absol., he (she, it), his (etc.): Ac 17:28 (quoted from the poet Aratus).

Distributive, ὁ μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, the one . . . the other: I Co 7:7, Ga 4:22; pl., Ac 14:4, 17:32, Phl 1:16, al.; οἱ μὲν . . . ἄλλοι δέ, Mt 16:14, Jo 7:12; οἱ μεν̀ . . . ὁ δέ, He 7:21, 23.

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὁ 435 ὁ tives of quantity, ὅλος, πᾶς, πολύς, see each in its own place. d. What has been said concerning adjectives holds true also of all other limitations added to substantives, as ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις, Ro. ix. 11; ἡ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, Ro. xi. 27; 6 λόγος 6 τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1 Co. i. 18; ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, Col. ii. 5; on the other hand, ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 1 Th. i. 8; τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους, 2 Co. viii. 4; see many other exx. of each usage in W. 131 (124) sqq.; [B. 91 (80) sqq.]. e. The noun has the article before it when a demonstrative pronoun (υὗτος, ἐκεῖνος) belonging to it either precedes or follows [W. § 18, 4; B. § 127, 29-31]; as, ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος, Jn. ix. 24 [οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρ. 1, Tr mrg. WH); Acts vi. 13; xxii. 26; ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, Mt. xv. 8; 6 vids σου οὗτος, Lk. xv. 30; plur. Lk. xxiv. 17, and numberless other exx.; οὗτος 6 ἄνθρωπος, Lk. xiv. 30; οὗτος ὁ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὃ, ἡ τό. (1) Apart from connexion with μέν or δέ (see below) the demonstrative use of the art. in the NT is confined to a poetical quotation Ac 1778, but it is not uncommon in the papyri, e.g. P Par 45® (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski®, p. 85) τὰ (for ἃ) πράσεις (Δ πράσσεις), P Oxy VIII. 1160! (iii/iv A.D.) Ta (for ἃ) σεσύλληχα (for συνείληχα) δὲ κέρμα {ταν τηρῶ αὐτὰ εἰς τὴν δίκην, “1 am keeping for the trial the money that I have collected” (Ed.). For the distributive Opéev.. - 6 8€, as in 1 Cor7’, cf. P Lond 535 (B.c. 161) (=I. p. 19, U.P.Z. i. p. 239) kal τὰ μὲν ἡμῶν ἐληφότων εἰς τὴν γινομένην ἡμῖν συντάξειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔτι διὰ τὴν τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων {(.. ... > παρελκομένων. (2) The use of the art. as a relative, of which there is no trace in the NT, may again be illustrated by the following papyrus citations from ¢c. A.D. 346—P Lond 414® (= II. Ῥ. 292) γεινῴσκιν oe θέλω περὶ τοῦ βρεουίου…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

__C in Epic dialect, the so-called postpositive Article, = relative Pronoun, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.—The nominative masculine and feminine singular and plural, ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ, have no accent in codices and most printed books, except when used as the relative; but ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ differ only in writing from ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, α; the nominative forms of the article are said by Hdn.Gr.1.474 to be oxytone, and by [Refs 2nd c.AD+] in Aeolic dialect accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+] genitive and dative dual τοῖιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]— In Doric dialect and all other dialects except Attic dialect and Ionic dialect the feminine forms preserve the old ᾱ instead of changing it to η, hence Doric dialect etc. ἁ, τάν, τᾶ; the genitive plural τάων contracts in many dialects to τᾶ; the genitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be

supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one,

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

the prepositive article, answering, to a considerable extent, to the English definite article; but, for the principle and facts of its usage, consult a grammar; ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, the one ... the other, Phil. 1:16, 17; Heb. 7:5, 6, 20, 21, 23, 24; pl. some ... others, Mt. 13:23; 22:5, 6; ὁ δέ, but he, Mt. 4:4; 12:48; οἱ δέ, but others, Mt. 28:17; used, in a poetic quotation, for a personal pronoun, Acts 17:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

in epic, the relative Pronoun, when it is written with the accent ὅ, ἥ, τό ῀ ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. Besides the common forms, note epic gen. sg. τοῖο for τοῦ; pl. nom. τοί, ταί; gen. fem. τάων [α^], dat. τοῖσι, τῇς and τῇσι; dual gen, and dat. τοῖιν:— in Trag. we find τοὶ μέν . . , τοὶ δέ . . , for οἱ μέν . . , οἱ δέ . . ; dat. pl. also τοῖσι, ταῖσι: the dual has commonly but one gender, τώ for τά, τοῖν for ταῖν.

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

joined with a Subst., not as the Art., but like Lat. ille, ὁ Τυδείδης Tydeus's famous son, Il.; Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων Nestor— that aged man, id. Il.; τιμῆς τῆς Πριάμου for honour, namely that of Priam, id. Il.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-GSM — Article · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

1. This adjective is used as a definitive, that is, before nouns which are specific or understood; or it is used to limit their signification to a specific thing or things, or to describe them; as the laws of the twelve tables. the independent tribunals of justice in our country, are the security or private rights, and the best bulwark against arbitrary power. the sun is the source of light and heat.

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

2. the is also used rhetorically before a noun in the singular number, to denote a species by way of distinction; a single thing representing the whole. the fig tree putteth forth her green figs; the almond tree shall flourish; the grasshopper shall be a burden.

3. In poetry, the sometimes loses the final vowel before another vowel.

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%the
the64% · 13160×<the>28% · 5846×those3% · 597×other renderings4% · 788×other renderings1% · 294×

20,685 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 83 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject34%adverbial32%object24%predicate5%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19,783 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
<the>19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordance · 19,783× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Revelation Mark Romans 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

40 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

Τῶν ἄλλων νομοθετῶν οἱ μὲν ἀκαλλώπιστα καὶ γυμνὰ τὰ νομισθέντα παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι δίκαια διετάξαντο, οἱ δὲ πολὺν ὄγκον τοῖς νοήμασι προσπεριβαλόντες ἐξετύφωσαν τὰ πλήθη μυθικοῖς πλάσμασι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπικρύψαντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.1c. AD 100

Χαίρετε, υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς, ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

r βασιλεύοντος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει Παθύρεως χαλκοῦ Γ. ἐπρίατο Ὧρος Νεχούτου.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
θεοῦ,theos of God, G2316 Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
1,311× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word simply means God, referring to the one true deity. It is used throughout the New Testament, including in Matthew 27:46 and Acts 14:11, to describe the supreme being and creator of the universe.
Amplified meaning
the one true deity
Tyndale gloss
God
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θεός (theos) means 'God' or 'a god' and is used in both singular and plural forms. It refers to the supreme deity in monotheistic contexts, as well as to lesser deities in polytheistic settings. The New Testament frequently employs this term, notably in verses like Matthew 27:46 and Acts 19:37. Some lexicons note its use as a title for rulers or magistrates, reflecting its broader application in ancient texts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (Ac 19:37 only; v. M, Pr., 60, 244), late voc., θεέ (Mt 27:46; cf. De 3:24, al.),

[in LXX chiefly for אֱלֹהִים, also for אֵל and other cognate forms, יהוה, etc.;]

a god or deity, God.

In polytheistic sense, a god or deity: Ac 28:6, I Co 8:4, II Th 2:4, al.; pl., Ac. 14:11 19:26, Ga 4:8, al.

Of the one true God;

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

θεός, -οὔ, ὁ and ἡ, voc. θεέ, once in the N. T., Mt. xxvii. 46; besides in Deut. iii. 24; Judg. [xvi. 28;] xxi. 3; [2 S. vii. 25; Is. xxxviii. 20]; Sir. xxiii. 4; Sap. ix. 1; 3 Mace. vi. 3; 4 Mace. vi. 27; Act. Thom. 44 sq. 57; Eus. h. 6. 2, 23,16; [5, 20,7; vit. Const. 2,55, 1.59]; ef. W. §8, 2 ο.; [B. 12 (11)]; ({on the eight or more proposed derivations see Vaniéek p. 386, who follows Curtius (after Doderlein) p. 513 sqq. in connecting it with a root meaning to supplicate, implore; hence the implored ; per contra cf. Max Miiller, Chips ete. iv. 227 sq.; L. and 8. s. v. fin.]); [fr. Hom. down]; Sept. for 58, ΟΝ and m7; a god, a goddess; 1. a general appellation of deities or divinities: Acts xxviii. 6; 1 Co. viii. 4; 2 Th. ii. 4; once ἡ θεός, Acts xix. 37 G LT Tr WH; θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου, Acts xii. 22; ἄνθρωπος ὧν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν, Jn. x. 33; plur., of the gods of the…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

θεός. For the application of the title θεός to the Ptolemaic kings it is sufficient to recall Brit. Mus. Inscrr. IV. 1 No. 906% (B.C. 284-273) where a votive offering is dedicated in honour of Πτολεμαίου τοῦ σωτῆρος καὶ θεοῦ, and the description of Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes) on the Rosetta stone—OG/S gol? (B.C. 196) ὑπάρχων θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ Kal θεᾶς : cf. Deissmann LAE, p. 348 and the full discussion by E. Kornemann ‘‘ Zur Geschichte der antiken Herrscherkulte” in Beztrdge zur alten Geschichte [Klio] i., p. 51 ff. (Leipzig, 1902). The same practice is still more strikingly illustrated in the Imperial period, as when in an inscr. from the Fayum district, dated March 17th, B.c. 24, Augustus is described as θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ (OG/S 6557), or as when a votive inscr. is addressed to Nero—daya0a(t) θεῶ(ι) (Cos 927): see Deissmann 7s. p. 349. With this may be compared the frequent use for Augustus of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θεός (theos) — God.

θεός, ὁ,

Boeotian dialect θιός, Laconian dialect σιός (see. below), [Refs 5th c.AD+], Cretan dialect θιός [Refs], Doric dialect also θεύς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; vocative (only late) θεός, also θεέ [LXX+NT]; but classical in compound names, Ἀμφίθεε, Τιμόθεε:—God, the Deity, in general sense, both singular and plural (εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ θεοὺς καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ θεὸν ἁρμόζει μεταφέρειν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σὺν θ. εἰρημένον [Refs 5th c.BC+]: so in plural, σύν γε θεοῖσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐ θεῶν ἄτερ pi.[Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὑπὲρ θεόν against his will,[Refs 4th c.BC+]; θεῶν συνεθελόντων, βουλομένων, [Refs 5th c.BC+]bless you! good heavens! for heaven's sake! [Refs 8th c.BC+]: doubled in poets, θεὸν θεόν τις ἀγλαϊζέτω [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θεοί (Cretan dialect θιοί) as an opening formula in Inscrr. (i.e. τύχην ἀγαθὴν διδοῖεν), [Refs].1, etc.: in Prose also with the Article, ὁ θ.…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

θεός

theos

of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with 3588) the supreme

Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:--X exceeding,

God, god(-ly, -ward).

see GREEK for 3588

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θεός, οῦ, ὁ

n.f. & n.m.

God, a god

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θεός theos 1x

a deity, Acts 7:43; 1 Cor. 8:5; an idol, Acts 7:40; God, the true God, Mt. 3:9, et al. freq.; God, possessed of true godhead, Jn. 1:1; Rom. 9:5; from the Hebrew, applied to potentates, Jn. 10:34, 35; τῷ θεῷ, an intensive term, from the Hebrew, exceedingly, Acts 7:20, and, perhaps, 2 Cor. 10:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θεός θεός, ὁ, God, Hom., both in general sense, Θεὸς δώσει God will grant, and in particular sense, θεός τις a god; πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Hom.:—things are said to happen σὺν θεῷ, σύν γε θεοῖσιν by the will of God, id. Hom., etc.; οὐκ ἄνευ θεοῦ, Lat. non sine diis, Od.; οὐκ ἄνευθε θεοῦ Il.; οὐ θεῶν ἄτερ Pind.;— ἐκ θεόφι Il.;— ὑπὲρ θεόν against his will, id. Il.;— κατὰ θεόν τινα, Lat. divinitus, Eur.:—as an oath, πρὸς θεῶν by the gods, in God's name, Trag.; θεὸς ἴστω Soph., etc.

θεός as fem. for θεά, θέαινα, a goddess, Hom.; θήλεια θεός Il.; ἡ νερτέρα θ. Proserpine, Soph.; often in oaths, νὴ τὼ θεώ id. Soph.; ναὶ τὼ σιώ, with the Spartans, of Castor and Pollux, Xen.; with the Boeotians, of Amphion and Zethus, id.…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-GSM — Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-GSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

god ('Elohim, 'El, [`Elyon], Shadday, Yahweh; Theos):

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE GENERAL IDEA

1. The Idea in Experience and in Thought

2. Definition of the Idea

3. The Knowledge of God

4. Ethnic Ideas of God

(1) Animism

(2) Fetishism

(3) Idolatry

(4) Polytheism

(5) Henotheism

(6) Pantheism

(7) Deism

(8) Semitic Monolatry

(9) Monotheism

II. THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. The Course of Its Development

2. Forms of Its Manifestation

(1) The Face or Countenance of God

(2) The Voice and Word of God

(3) The Glory of God

(4) The Angel of God

(5) The Spirit of God

(6) The Name of God

(7) Occasional Forms

3. The Names of God

(1) Generic

(2) Attributive

(3) Yahweh

4. Pre-prophetic Conceptions of God

(1) Yahweh Alone Is the God of Israel

(a) His Early Worship

(b) Popular Religion

(c) Polytheistic Tendencies

(i) Coordination

(ii) Assimilation

(iii) Disintegration

(d) No Hebrew Goddesses

(e) Human Sacrifices

Easton's Bible Dictionary

God

(A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew ’El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of ’Eloah_, plural _’Elohim. The singular form, Eloah, is used only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by “LORD,” printed in small capitals. The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argument to prove it. He who disbelieves this truth is spoken of as one devoid of understanding (Ps. 14:1).

The arguments generally adduced by theologians in proof of the being of God are:

(1.) The a priori argument, which is the testimony afforded by reason.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(good). Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures two chief names are used for the one true divine Being--ELOHIM, commonly translated God in our version, and JEHOVAH, translated Lord . Elohim is the plural of Eloah (in Arabic Allah); it is often used in the short form EL (a word signifying strength , as in EL-SHADDAI, God Almighty, the name by which God was specially known to the patriarchs. (Genesis 17:1; 28:3; Exodus 6:3) The etymology is uncertain, but it is generally agreed that the primary idea is that of strength, power of effect , and that it properly describes God in that character in which he is exhibited to all men in his works, as the creator, sustainer and supreme governor of the world. The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea that it…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

This name, the derivation of which is uncertain, we give to that eternal, infinite, perfect, and incomprehensible Being, the Creator of all things, who preserves and governs all by his almighty power and wisdom, and is the only proper object of worship. The proper Hebrew name for God is JEHOVAH, which signifies He is. But the Jews, from a feeling of reverence, avoid pronouncing this name, substituting for it, wherever it occurs in the sacred test, the word ADONAI, Lord; except in the expression, ADONAI JEHOVAH, Lord Jehovah, for which they put, ADONAI ELOHIM, Lord God. This usage, which is not without an element of superstition, is very ancient, dating its origin some centuries before Christ; but there is no good ground for assuming its existence in the days of the inspired Old Testament writers. The proper word for God is ELOHIM, which is plural in its form, being thus used to signify…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
96%god
god96% · 1289×other renderings3% · 34×other renderings1% · 19×

1,342 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 14 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject31%adverbial26%object24%predicate12%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,311 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
βασιλείαkingship, sovereλόγοςa word, speech, υἱόςa son, descenden
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπαράδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnes
ἀπό
εἰρήνηpeace, peace of ὅτιthat, since, becἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἈβραάμPropἸσαάκPropΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegυἱόςa son, descendenοὗτος
θεόςof God,1311×
what comes after →
Article the
δίδωμιI offer, giveπαντοκράτωρruler of the uniπατήρfather, Father,
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπατήρfather, Father, αὐτός
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,εἰς

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceθεός · 1,311× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Revelation John 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 John Matthew Mark 1 Peter

15 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,637 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς πύργος, ὃν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμησαν, καὶ ὡς τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν μετέβαλε καὶ ὁ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ τοῦτο γέγονε, Βαβυλὼν ἐκλήθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. AD 100

Μεγάλων μὲν ὄντων καὶ πλουσίων τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωμάτων εἰς ὑμᾶς, ὑπέρ τι καὶ καθ̓ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπερευφραίνομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς μακαρίοις καὶ ἐνδόξοις ὑμῶν πνεύμασιν: οὕτως ἔμφυτον τῆς δωρεᾶς πνευματικῆς χάριν εἰλήφατε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

αὐτῷ μέρος ἧς ἐμισθώσατο σὺν Πακοίβι Σχώτου καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις γῆς σιτοφόρου λεγομένης Νεχθαραῦτι θεοῦ μεγάλου παρὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἐτῶν δέκα εἰς τὰ ἐνλιπόντα αὐτῷ ἑτέρων , τεσσάρων εἰς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

1 βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου θεοῦ Φιλομήτορος καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεᾶς Φιλαδέλφου ἔτους ἑκκαιδεκάτου ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἡμῖν Φιλόξενος ὁ ἀδελφὸς διʼ ὧν κεκόμικεν ἡμῖν Ὄρσης γραμμάτων περὶ τοῦ τὸν μέγιστον Θεὸν Σωτῆρα βασιλέα ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
πάσχεινpaschō to suffer G3958 Verb · present · active · infinitive
40× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To suffer means to experience pain or hardship, as seen in Luke 22:15 and Acts 1:3. It can also refer to enduring misfortunes or difficulties, such as those faced by Jesus and the apostles.
Amplified meaning
endure pain, hardship
Tyndale gloss
to suffer
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πάσχω (paschō) means to suffer or be affected by something, often with a focus on negative experiences. It can also refer to positive experiences when qualified by an adjective. The New Testament frequently uses it in contexts of suffering, such as in Luke 22:15 and 1 Peter 2:19. The word is built from the root meaning to receive an impression, and it appears in various forms across Greek literature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πάσχω,

[in LXX: Am 6:6 (חלה ni.), Wi 12:27, Si 38:16, al.;]

to suffer, be acted on, as opp. to acting, often limited by a word expressive of good or evil;

of misfortunes (most freq. without any limiting word): absol., Lk 22:15 24:46, Ac 1:3 3:18 17:3, I Co 12:26, He 2:18 9:26 13:12, I Pe 2:19, 20, 23 3:17 4:15, 19; seq. ὑπό, c. gen., Mt 17:12; ὑπέρ, Ac 9:16, Phl 1:20, II Th 1:5,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

πάσχω; 2 aor. ἔπαθον : pf. πέπονθα (Lk. xiii. 2; Heb. ii. 18); fr. Hom. down; to be affected or have been affected, to feel, have a sensible experience, to undergo; it is a vox media— used in either a good or a bad sense; as, ὅσα πεπόνθασι καὶ ὅσα αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο, of perils and deliverance from them, Esth. ix. 26 (for AN); hence κακῶς πάσχειν, to suffer sadly, be in bad plight, of a sick person, Mt. xvii. 15 where L Tr txt. WH txt. x. ἔχειν (on the other hand, εὖ πάσχειν, to be well off, in good case, often in Grk. writ. fr. Pind. down). 1. in a bad sense, of misfortunes, to suffer, to undergo evils, to be afflicted, (so everywhere in Hom. and Hes.; also in the other Grk. writ. where it is used absol.): absol., Lk. xxii. 15; xxiv. 46; Acts i. 8; iii. 18; xvii. 3; 1 Co. xii. 26; Heb. ii. 18; ix. 26; 1 Pet. ii. 19 sq. 23; iii. 17; iv. 15,19; Heb. xiii. 12; ὀλίγον, a little while, 1 Pet. v.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

πάσχω. For the neutral sense of this verb ‘fam acted upon,” “experience,” as in Mt 1715 (v. /.), cf. the common euphemism ἐάν te πάσχω with reference to death, e.g. P Eleph 23 (B.c. 285-4) ἐὰν δέ τι πάσχηι Διονύσιος, P Petr [. 149 (4 Will—s.c. 237) ἐὰν δέ τι] ἀνθρώπινον πάσχω καταλιμπάνω τὰ ὑπίάρχοντα KTA., and P Ryl Il. 68% (B.c. 89) where ἐὰν μέν τι πάθω is contrasted with ἐὰν δὲ In a deed of divorce. P Flor Ζ (εν rive. περιγένωμαι, “11 survive.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πάσχω (paschō) — to suffer.

πάσχω,

[Refs 8th c.BC+]: imperfect ἔπασχον [Refs]: future πείσομαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Doric dialect 3rd.pers. singular παισεῖται [Refs 3rd c.BC+]: aorist ἔπᾰθον [Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect πέπονθα [Refs 8th c.BC+]pluperfect ἐπεπόνθειν[Refs]; Attic dialect ἐπεπόνθη [Refs 5th c.BC+] (all the above tenses in [Refs 8th c.BC+], present and aorist only in [Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect πέπασθε (so [Refs 8th c.BC+]; feminine perfect participle πεπᾰθυῖα [Refs]; Doric dialect perfect πέποσχα [Refs 7th c.BC+]:—have something done to one, suffer, opposed to do, ὅσσ᾽ ἔρξαν τ᾽ ἔπαθόν τε [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δρᾶν καὶ πάσχειν, see at {δρά; πολλὰ μὲν.. πείσεσθαι}, πολλὰ δὲ ποιήσειν [Refs 5th c.BC+]passive of ποιέω compare [Refs 4th c.BC+] to be treated so and so by another, suffer it at his hands, ἃ πάσχοντες ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρων ὀργίζεσθε, ταῦτα τοὺς ἄλλους μὴ ποιεῖτε [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πάσχω,pavscw

"3958 pascho {pas'-kho} 包括 (patho {path'-o} 和 pentho {pen'-tho})

patho path'-o, and

pentho pen'-tho, used only in certain tenses for it

apparently a primary verb; to experience a sensation or impression

(usually painful):--feel, passion, suffer, vex.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πάσχω

v.

I am acted upon, suffer

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πάσχω paschō 42x

to be affected by a thing, whether good or bad, to suffer, endure evil, Mt. 16:21; 17:12, 15; 27:19; absol. to suffer death, Lk. 22:15; 24:26

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πάσχω radical sense, to receive an impression from without, to suffer, as opp. to doing, ἔρξαν τ᾽ ἔπαθόν τε Od.; δρᾶν καὶ πάσχειν, etc.; ὁμοίως π. τινί to be in the same case with . . , Hdt.

the sense is often limited by some word expressing good or evil:

κακῶς πάσχειν to be ill off, in evil plight, unlucky, Od., etc.; κακῶς π. ὑπό τινος to be ill used, ill treated by . . , Aesch.; often with an adj., κακά, λυγρὰ π. Il., etc.; δεινὰ π. Dem.; also with a Subst., ἄλγεα π. etc., Hom.

εὖ πάσχειν to be well off, in good case, lucky, Theogn., etc.; also, to receive benefits, opp. to εὖ δρᾶν, Aesch., etc.; so, ἀγαθὰ π. Hdt., etc.

without a limiting word, it always refers to evil, being used for κακῶς or κακὰ π., μάλα πολλ᾽ ἔπαθον Od., etc.; μή τι πάθηις lest thou…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAN — Verb · present · active · infinitive
present active infinitive — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5721

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%suffer
suffer26% · 11×suffering14% · 6×suffered10% · 4×having suffered10% · 4×have suffered5% · 2×he suffered5% · 2×suffers5% · 2×did you suffer2% · 1×other renderings24% · 10×

42 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 18 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb98%adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 40 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
πολύςmuch, many, often
καίand, even, also,ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thἵναin order that, s
ἐγώ
Article theὄνομαname, character,καίand, even, also,
Article the
μετάὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
ὅςἀγαθοποιέωI do that which εἰCond
μέλλωI am about to
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thὅς
πάσχωto suffer40×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀποδοκιμάζωI reject after tἐξουδενέωI ignore, despisἀνίστημιI raise up, set
Article the
Χριστόςanointed, the Meὑπακοήobedience
αὐτός
ἐνπειράζωI try, tempt, teκαταρτίζωI fit together,
ἀπό
Article theκαταβολήa foundation, de
ὑπό
αὐτόςπολύςmuch, many, ofte

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceπάσχω · 40× in the New Testament
1 Peter Luke Acts Hebrews Matthew Mark 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy Galatians
Across the New Testament14 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 23c. AD 40

οὐ γὰρ ὡς πέφυκεν ὁ θεὸς εὖ ποιεῖν, οὕτως καὶ τὸ γινόμενον εὖ πάσχειν, ἐπεὶ τοῦ μὲν αἱ δυνάμεις ὑπερβάλλουσι, τὸ δ’ ἀσθενέστερον ὂν ἢ ὥστε δέξασθαι τὸ μέγεθος αὐτῶν ἀπεῖπεν ἄν, εἰ μὴ διεμετρήσατο σταθμησάμενος εὐαρμόστως ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἐπιβάλλον.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.51c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὁ μὲν θεὸς ταῦτα προστάξας αὐτοῖς πάσχειν μετοικίζει τὸν Ἄδαμον καὶ τὴν Εὔαν ἐκ τοῦ κήπου εἰς ἕτερον χωρίον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.5c. AD 100

ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ἀδελφοί μου: εἰ ὁ κύριος ὑπέμεινεν παθεῖν περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ὢν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου κύριος ᾧ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου: Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ̓ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ̓ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν: πῶς οὖν ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὸ χειρὸς ἀνθρώπων παθεῖν;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 5th c. AD
P.Mil.Vogl. 1 24Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 117

οὖν ἐστιν; ἐγὼ πεπεισμένος μου τῇ διανοίᾳ μηθὲν κακῷ ἢ πονηρῷ συνειδώς, δοκῶ μηδὲν παθεῖν· ὃ ἐὰν οὖν ἐφίδω πῶς μου τὰ πραγμάτια χωρεῖ πάλιν σοι δηλώσω, κύριε· οἶδα

P.Amh. 2 78Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 184

r Αὐρηλίῳ Ἀντωνείνῳ ἑκατοντάρχῳ παρὰ Στοτοήτιος Ἀγχώφεως ἀπὸ κώμης Σοκνοπαίου Νήσου. βίαν πάσχων ἑκάστοτε ὑπὸ Ἑκύσεως ἐπικαλουμένου Εὐπορᾶ τινος ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς κώμης ὅστις πολλὰ μὲν καὶ

P.Prag. 3 209Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 184

Αὐρηλίῳ Ἀντωνείνῳ ἑκατοντάρχῳ παρὰ Στοτοήτιος Ἀγχώφεως ἀπὸ κώμης Σοκνοπαίου Νήσου. βίαν πάσχω ἑκάστοτε ὑπὸ Ἐκύσεως ἐπικαλουμένου Εὐπορᾶ τινος ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς κώμης, ὅστις πολλὰ μὲν καὶ

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
ē than G2228 Particle
343× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Or is a word used to show a choice between two things, like in Matthew 5:17 where it's either obey God's law or not. It's also used to compare things, like in Romans 1:21 where it's one thing or another.
Tyndale gloss
or
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word (ē) is a particle used to indicate distinction, functioning as a disjunctive 'or' and a comparative 'than.' It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in phrases like 'either...or' and in disjunctive questions. Notably, it can also express comparisons after comparative terms, such as in Matthew 10:15. The entries do not show any significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἤ, disjunctive and comparative particle (Bl., §36, 12; 77, 11);

disjunctive, or;

between single words: Mt 5:17, Mk 6:56, Lk 2:24, Jo 6:19, Ro 1:21, al.;

before a sentence expressing a variation, denial or refutation of a previous statement, freq. in interrog. form: Mt 7:4, 9, Mk 12:14, Lk 13:4, Ro 3:29 6:3 9:21, I Co 6:9, 16 9:6, II Co 11:7; ἢ . . . ἤ…

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ (NVWT ΒΗ Targ. Jonath. ad ᾿ς lili. 10), the kingdom of the Messiah, which will be founded by God through the Messiah and over which the Messiah will preside as God’s vicegerent; ἡ Bac. τῶν οὐρανῶν, only in Matthew, but very frequently [some 33 times], the kingdom of heaven, i. e. the kingdom which is of heavenly or divine origin and nature (in rabbin. writ. nown mao is the rule of God, the theocracy viewed universally, not the Messianic kingdom); sometimes simply ἡ βασιλεία : Mt. iv. 23, ete.; Jas. ii. 5; once ἡ Bac. τοῦ Δαυείδ, because it was supposed the Messiah would be one of David’s descendants and a king very like David, Mk. xi. 10; once also ἡ Bac. τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ, Eph. ν. 5. Relying principally on the prophecies of Daniel — who had declared it to be the purpose of God that, after four vast and mighty kingdoms had succeeded one another and the last of…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἢ μή. The general distinction between οὐ and μή is that οὐ is objective, dealing only with facts, while μή is sudjectize, involving will and thought. But in late Greek μή has encroached very largely upon οὐ, with the result that in the NT οὐ is almost entirely confined to the indicative, while μή monopolizes the other moods (but see I. 5). A few exx. of some of the many uses of μή will make this clear. I. Μή negatives (1) the conjunctive (a) after ἐάν (4v)—P Oxy II. 294%? (A.D. 22) (= Selections, p. 36), where certain men are confined to prison, ἐὰν μή τι πίσωσι τὸν ἀρχιστάτορα δο[ῦν]αι etk(= ἱκ)ανόν, ‘* unless indeed they shall persuade the chief usher to give security,’’ BGU II. 5301” \i/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 61) alav (/. ἐὰν) μὴ ἔλθῃς, κινδυνεύω ἐκστῆvat od ἔχω [κλή]ρου, “if you do not come I run the risk of losing the lot (of land) which I possess ”—a father writes to Selections…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἤ (ē) — or.

ἤ,

Epic dialect also ἠέ (in signification [Refs 4th c.BC+], conjunction with two chief senses, Disj. (or) and comparative (than).

__A DISJUNCTIVE, or, ἐγὼ.. ἢ ἄλλος Ἀχαιῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; θεόσυτος ἢ βρότειος ἢ κεκραμένη [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__A.2 ἢ.. ἤ either.. or, ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ᾽ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα [Refs 8th c.BC+], etc.; so ἢ.. ἤτοι.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] is emphasized, later no distinction is implied, [NT+2nd c.BC+]; ἤ repeated any number of times, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι ἢ τεὸν ἢ Αἴαντος ἰὼν γέρας ἢ Ὀδυσῆος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἤ is probably wrongly accented in codices of [Refs 8th c.BC+] adverb [Refs 4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

e

a primary particle of distinction between two connected terms;

disjunctive, or; comparative, than:--and, but (either), (n-)either,

except it be, (n-)or (else), rather, save, than, that, what, yea.

Often used in connection with other particles. Compare especially

2235, 2260, 2273.

see GREEK for 2235

see GREEK for 2260

see GREEK for 2273

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Disj.prt.

or, than

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἤ ē 343x

can function as a conj (298x), either, or, Mt. 6:24; after comparatives, and ἄλλος, ἕτερος, expressed or implied, than, Mt. 10:15; 18:8; Acts 17:21; 24:21; intensive after ἀλλά and πρίν, Lk. 12:51; Mt. 1:18; it also serves to point an interrogation, Rom. 3:29

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Particle — Particle
particle — a small word colouring the clause; it does not decline.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PRT PaRTicle, disjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
84%or
or84% · 304×than13% · 47×other renderings4% · 13×

364 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 9 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial20%object18%subject12%predicate7%verb4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 343 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
σύ
πρόςχείρa handἁμαρτίαa sin
πατήρfather, Father, ance
Article theκακολογέωI speak evil of,Disj
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaἀνεκτόςendurable, tolerθεόςGod, a god
αὐτός
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenβοῦςan ox
ἀδελφόςa brother
DisjArticle theἐάνCond
than343×
what comes after →
Article the
μήτηρa motherπόλιςa cityδύο
τίςIrg
πίνωI drink, imbibeεἰμίI am, existλαλέωI speak, say
οὐNeg
οἶδαI know, rememberἀναγινώσκωI readδίδωμιI offer, give
ἐν
φυλακήa watching, guarτίςIrgποῖοςIrg
καίand, even, also, nam
ἰχθύςa fishαἰτέωI ask, request, πρός

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordance · 343× in the New Testament
Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Acts Mark Romans 2 Corinthians John 1 Peter Galatians James Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament24 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 457 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

[It is] better for doing good if one would desire the will <the> of God, to suffer than doing evil;
κακοποιοῦντας·kakopoieō doing evil; G2554 Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
4× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To do harm or evil to someone, like Jesus talked about in Mark 3:4 and Luke 6:9. This word is about causing injury or sinning against others. The Bible warns against doing evil and encourages people to do good instead.
Amplified meaning
harm, wrong
Tyndale gloss
to do evil/harm
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word κακοποιέω (i.e. *kakopoieo*) is built from the prefix κακο- meaning 'bad' and the verb ποιέω meaning 'to do.' It covers a range of meanings related to doing harm or evil, as seen in references from the New Testament, including Mark 3:4 and 1 Peter 3:17. The lexicons note its use in both moral and physical contexts, with some variation in the emphasis on injury versus wrongdoing.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κακο-ποιέω, ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for רעע hi.;]

to do harm, to do evil: Mk 3:4, Lk 6:9, I Pe 3:17, III Jo 11 (Cremer, 329).†

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

κακο-ποιέω, -@ ; 1 aor. inf. κακοποιησαι; (κακοποιός); 1. to ao harm: ΜΕ. iii. 4; Lk. vi. 9. 2. to do evil, do 0 κακοω wrong: 1 Pet.iii.17; 8 ὅπ.11. ([Aeschyl., Arstph., Xen., Polyb., Antonin., Plut.; Sept.)

Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

κακοποιέω. The wider sense of evil-doing from a moral point of view, as in I Pet 317, 3 Jn, may be illustrated by P Hib I. 591° (c. B.C. 245) εἰ ph παύσει κ[α]κοποῶν ἐν τῆι κώμη[ι] μεταμελή[σἼει σοι, ‘if you do not stop your malpractices in the village you will repent it” (Edd.). P Ryl 11. 4377 (i/a.D.) ἐὰν κακοποιοί--Ἴ kal ἄπρακτα t[—] εἰς πλοῖον ἐλ is too fragmentary to enable us to determine the exact force, but it seems to point to a more restricted sense ‘‘injure,”’ “do harm to,’’ as in the few occurrences of the verb in class. literature, and in Sy// 6531 (B.c. 91) ἐχέτω δὲ ἐπιμέλειαν ὃ ἀγορανόμος Kal περὶ Tod ὕδατος, ὅπως .. - - μηθεὶς KaKoποιεῖ μήτε [τὸ] πλῆμα μήτε τοὺς ὀχετούς, 10. 893." (1i/A.D.) εἰ δέ τις τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἐκκόψῃ ἐκ τῆς παραστά[δο]ς ἢ αὐτὴν ἄρῃ ἢ κακο[ποι]ήσῃ, δώσ(ε)ν κτλ. See also Aristeas 164 πάντα γὰρ λυμαίνονται καὶ κακοποιοῦσι μύες οὐ μόνον πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῶν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κακοποιέω (kakopoieō) — to do evil/harm.

κᾰκοποι-έω,

do ill, play the knave, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; manage one's affairs ill, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. transitive, do mischief to, injure, πολλὰ μὲν τὴν βασιλέως Χώραν κ. [Refs 2nd c.BC+]:—passive, [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

κακοποιέω

kakopoieo

from 2555; to be a bad-doer, i.e. (objectively) to injure, or

(genitive) to sin:--do(ing) evil.

see GREEK for 2555

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κακοποιέω

v.

I do harm, do wrong

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κακοποιέω kakopoieō 4x

to cause evil, injure, do harm, Mk. 3:4; Lk. 6:9; to do evil, commit sin, 1 Pet. 3:17; 3 Jn. 11*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κακοποιέω κα^κοποιέω, φυτ. -ήσω to do ill, play the knave, Ar.: to manage one's affairs ill, Xen.

trans. to do mischief to, maltreat, id. Xen.

from κακοποιός

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAP-APM — Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAP-APM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ev'-'-l, e'-vil ra`; poneros, @kakos, @kakon:

In the Bible it is represented as moral and physical. We choose to discuss the subject under these heads. Many of the evils that come upon men have not been intended by those who suffer for them. Disease, individual and national calamity, drought, scarcity of food, may not always be charged to the account of intentional wrong. Many times the innocent suffer with, and even for, the guilty. In such cases, only physical evil is apparent. Even when the suffering has been occasioned by sin or dereliction of duty, whether the wrong is active or passive, many, perhaps the majority of those who are injured, are not accountable in any way for the ills which come upon them. Neither is God the author of moral evil. "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man" (Jas 1:13).

Nave's Topical Bible

→ APPEARANCE OF, TO BE AVOIDED Ro 14:1-23; 1Co 8:7-13; 10:28-33; 1Th 4:11,12; 5:22

→ INSTANCES OF

Paul, in refusing to eat what had been offered to idols 1Co 8:13

In supporting himself 1Co 9:7-23

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%doing evil
doing evil50% · 2×do evil?50% · 2×

4 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 2 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 4 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Disj
ποιέωI do, makeἀγαθοποιέωI do that which πάσχωI am acted upon,
Article the
εἰμίI am, exist
κακοποιέωdoing evil;
what comes after →
ψυχήthe soul, life, self
σῴζωI save, heal
οὐNeg
ὁράωI see, look upon

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceκακοποιέω · 4× in the New Testament
1 Peter 3 John Luke Mark
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 16 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn Dreams 2.296c. AD 40

„ψυχὴ ἄνομος ἡ διαστέλλουσα τοῖς χείλεσι κακοποιῆσαι ἢ καλῶς ποιῆσαι·

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
P.Hib. 1 59Oxyrhynchites246 BC

σοι ἔχουσαν τὸ κλόπιμον ἔλαιον καὶ τὸν παραδόντα σοι ἀπόστειλον· καὶ εἰ μὴ παύσει κακοποιῶν ἐν τῆι κώμηι μεταμελήσει σοι. ἔρρωσο. ἔτους … Ἐπεὶφ ι.

P.Tarich. 3Tanis (Arsinoites190 BC

ἡμέρας γνώσεως, οἱ δὲ ἀντίδικοι οὐ παρεγένοντο, ἀλλὰ παραλαβόντες τοὺς φυλακίτας κατέτρεχον ἡμᾶς βουλόμενοι κακοποιῆσαι ὅπως ἐκλίπωμεν τὴν κρίσιν, ἐπιδόντων δὲ ἡμῶν ὑπόμνημα τοῖς χρηματισταῖς περὶ τούτων καὶ οὐδενὸς

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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