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1 Thessalonians 5:22 — Word Study

Depth

N1904ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

BSAFromapo everypas [all, each] formeidos [appearance, external look] of evilponēros [bad, morally wrong, including all kinds of wickedness, unrighteousness] do abstain.apechō [keep away, refrain]

Word
Listen & take away1 Thessalonians 5
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 22 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (apechō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
1 Thessalonians 5:22quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs the Thessalonians to avoid any appearance of evil.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica.
Where we areThe conclusion of Paul's letter, providing final exhortations.
The hard wordἀπέχεσθε
Take awayAvoiding evil is a vital part of living a holy life.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause verbἀπέχω 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 Thessalonians 5:22

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 — Final Exhortations in 1 Thessaloniansgenerated

21but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.
22Abstain from every form of evil.
23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 is part of Paul's concluding remarks to the Thessalonian church, where he encourages them to remain steadfast in their faith and to live in a way that honors God. This verse specifically urges them to abstain from every form of evil, emphasizing the importance of moral integrity in their Christian walk. The surrounding verses highlight the need to test everything and hold on to what is good, reinforcing the call to discernment in their lives.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
11 Thessalonians 4:12Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.
2Exodus 23:7Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
3Isaiah 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
4Matthew 17:26–27“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared.
5Romans 12:17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 11 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word ἀπέχεσθε, apechōgenerated

The verb ἀπέχω (*apechō*) is a present middle imperative form meaning to abstain or refrain from something. It carries the sense of keeping oneself away from something undesirable, which in this context is evil.

The imperative mood indicates a command, urging the Thessalonians to actively avoid evil in all its forms. This reflects the broader biblical theme of moral purity and the necessity of distancing oneself from sin.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as Abstain from every form of evil. This is echoed in the ASV and WEB, which also emphasize the need to abstain from all forms of evil.

However, the KJV uses the phrase Abstain from all appearance of evil, which shifts the focus slightly to the outward appearance rather than the essence of evil itself. The YLT similarly emphasizes abstaining from all appearance of evil, while the BBE states Keep from every form of evil, aligning closely with the BSB.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in this verse is ἀπέχεσθε, do abstain, which governs the entire clause. The structure is straightforward, with the command to abstain followed by the object of that abstention, which is παντὸς εἴδους, every form of evil.

The sentence is concise, with a clear directive that emphasizes the importance of moral vigilance. The absence of additional clauses keeps the focus on the imperative nature of the instruction.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

εἴδος (*eidos*) appears in the Septuagint, where it often translates Hebrew words related to appearance or form, such as מַרְאֶה (*mar'eh*), meaning sight or appearance. This connection enriches our understanding of how outward appearances can reflect moral realities.

The term πονηρός (*ponēros*), meaning evil, is similarly found in the Septuagint, translating the Hebrew רַע (*ra*), which also conveys the idea of moral badness or wickedness.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

1 Thessalonians 5:22 tells us to stay away from every kind of evil. Paul emphasizes the importance of not just avoiding bad actions but also being careful about how we appear to others. This guidance helps us live a life that is pleasing to God.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to abstain from every form of evil?

It means to actively avoid all types of evil, whether in actions, thoughts, or appearances, to maintain moral integrity.

Why is it important to consider the appearance of evil?

Considering the appearance of evil helps ensure that our actions and behaviors do not mislead others or tarnish our witness as Christians.

How can I apply this verse in my daily life?

You can apply this verse by being mindful of your choices, avoiding situations that may lead to temptation, and striving to reflect Christ in all that you do.

What are some examples of forms of evil I should avoid?

Examples include dishonest practices, harmful speech, and engaging in activities that compromise your values or lead others astray.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what areas of my life do I need to be more vigilant against evil?
  2. How can I ensure that my actions reflect my commitment to abstaining from evil?
  3. What steps can I take to help others avoid the appearance of evil?
  4. How does this verse challenge me to live differently in my community?

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

Polycarp of Smyrna references this verse to emphasize the importance of understanding one's role in the church and avoiding evil.

Polycarp of SmyrnaEpistle to the Philippians 11 c. 69–155
I am greatly grieved for Valens, who was once a presbyter among you, because he so little understands the place that was given him [in the Church].

He expresses concern for a presbyter who has strayed from understanding his responsibilities, implying a need for moral clarity.

Early Church Fathers on 1 Thessalonians 5 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 1 Thessalonians 5:22 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Abstain from all appearance of evil. Of doctrinal evil. Not only open error and heresy are to be avoided, but what has any show of it, or looks like it, or carries in it a suspicion of it, or may be

Read John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. B Delta G f g, Vulgate, insert, 'but.' 'Aleph (') A C omit it.

Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

To make this verse have its connection with the former, some expositors understand it of doctrines and opinions only; to take heed of opinions that seem erroneous, and not rashly to receive them without due examination. Though this sense is not to be excluded, yet the verse need not be confined to it, but to extend to practice also; as in worship to abstain from the show of idolatry; as to eat meat in an idol’ s temple was not always gross idolatry, but had some appearance of it, and therefore the apostle forbids it, . And so in civil conversation, not only to abstain from vice, but the appearance of it; as of pride, covetousness, drunkenness, whoredom, &c.; and that both with respect to…

Read Matthew Poole on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. Ver. 22. Abstain from all, &c.] Whatsoever is heterodox, unsound, and unsavoury, shun it, as you would do a serpent in your way or poison in your meats. Theodosius tare the Arian’ s arguments presented to him in writing, because he found them repugnant to the Scriptures. And Austin retracteth even ironies only, because they had the appearance of lying. God commanded the Jews to abstain from swine’ s flesh; they would not so much as name it, but in their common talk would call a sow dabbar Achar, another thing. (Elias Thisbit.)

Read John Trapp on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Abstain from all appearance of evil.—This translation cannot stand. Possibly it might be rendered “every form of evil,” but the most natural version would be, “Hold yourselves aloof from every evil kind”—i.e., evil kind of whatever you may be testing. The word “evil” is here used in the moral sense, and does not constitute an exact antithesis to the “good” of the preceding verse.

Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.] Sin not, and avoid even the appearance of it. Do not drive your morality so near the bounds of evil as to lead even weak persons to believe that ye actually touch, taste, or handle it. Let not the form of it, ειδος, appear with or among you, much less the substance. Ye are called to holiness; be ye holy, for God is holy.

Read AdamClarke on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. Abstain from all appearance of evil] from every form of evil (R. V.). The Apostle does not advise the Thessalonians to avoid what looks like evil; the command thus understood encourages the studying of appearances, and tends to the “doing of our works to be seen of men” which our Lord condemns (Matthew 23:5). But in completing on the negative side the previous command, “hold fast the good (in prophesyings),” he gives to it the widest possible extension: “Keep yourselves not only from this, but from every sort of evil.” It is difficult, however, for the Greek scholar to justify the reading of evil in this sentence as a substantive, and the rendering of the governing noun by kind instead…

Read Cambridge on 1 Thessalonians 5 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Abstain from all appearance of evil - Not only from evil itself, but from that which seems to be wrong. There are many things which are known to be wrong.

Read Albert Barnes on 1 Thessalonians 5 →

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

Abstain from every form of evil.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Abstain from every form of evil.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Abstain from every form of evil.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Stay away from every form of evil.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

abstain from every form of evil.

RVARevised Version, American1894

abstain from every form of evil.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Absteine from all appearance of euill.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

hold aloof from every form of wickedness.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

from all appearance of evil abstain ye;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

abstain from all appearance of evil;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Avoid every appearance of evil.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

keep away from every kind of evil.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Keep from every form of evil.

Word by word, the decisions they made

παντὸςpas every G3956 2 different renderings
everyASV BBE BSB DBY FBV MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB
allDRA GNV KJV LSV NWB YLT
εἴδουςeidos form G1491 2 different renderings
formASV BBE BSB DBY MSB NETB RVA WEB
appearanceDRA GNV KJV LSV NWB ULB YLT
ἀπέχεσθε.apechō do abstain. G568 4 different renderings
abstain fromASV BSB KJV LSV MSB NWB RVA WEB
abstainYLT
refrainDRA
keep awayFBV

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.

clauseclausenoun phrase · objectτὸTheΠνεῦμαSpiritadverbialμὴnotverbσβέννυτεdo quenchclauseobjectπροφητείαςPropheciesadverbialμὴnotverbἐξουθενεῖτεdo despiseδὲhoweverclauseclauseobjectπάνταAll thingsverbδοκιμάζετεtestclausenoun phrase · objectτὸTo theκαλὸνgoodverbκατέχετεhold fastclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἀπὸFromnoun phraseπαντὸςeverynoun phraseεἴδουςformπονηροῦof evilverbἀπέχεσθεabstain

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

Ab omni specie mala abstinete vos.

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

ܘܡܢ ܟܠ ܨܒܘ ܒܝܫܐ ܥܪܘܩܘ

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

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

Every witness on this verse all agree
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

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


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 Thessalonians 5:22ἀπόFromFromἀπόπᾶςeveryeveryπᾶςεἶδοςformformεἶδοςπονηρόςof evilof evilπονηρόςἀπέχωdo abstain.do abstain.ἀπέχωοἶδαv. I know,v. I know, remeοἶδαἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόκακόςAdj bad, eAdj bad, evilκακόςσαπρόςAdj rottenAdj rotten, useσαπρόςμακρόθενAdv from aAdv from a distμακρόθενἀρχήn.f. rulern.f. ruler, begἀρχήὑποτάσσωv. I placev. I place undeὑποτάσσωκατοικέωv. I dwellv. I dwell in, κατοικέωδένδρονn.n. a tren.n. a treeδένδρονγενεάn.f. a genn.f. a generatiγενεάπόρρω(Comp.)adv(Comp.)adv. farπόρρωμακράνAdv far awAdv far awayμακράν
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 Thessalonians 5:22

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.

From every form of evil do abstain.
ἀπὸapo From G575 Preposition
647× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Thessalonians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means moving away from something, like a place or a time. It's used in many parts of the Bible, like Matthew 5:29 and Luke 5:2, to show movement or separation. It can also mean because of something.
Tyndale gloss
away from
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀπό (transliterated as apo) is a preposition meaning 'from' or 'away from,' typically used with the genitive case. It covers a wide range of meanings, including separation, origin, and partitive sense, as well as indicating distance in time or place. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as indicating motion from a place or the source of something. The entries do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπό (on the freq. neglect of elision bef. vowels, v. Tdf., Pr., 94, WH, App., 146),

prep. c. gen. (WM, 462 ff.; on its relation to ἐκ, παρά, ὑπό, WM, 456 f.),

[in LXX for מִן, בְּ, לְ;]

from (i.e. from the exterior).

Of separation and cessation;

of motion from a place: Mt 5:29, 30 7:23, Lk 5:2 22:41, al.;

in partitive sense (M, Pr., 72, 102, 245; MM, s.v.; Bl., § 40, 2), Mt 9:16 27:21, Jo 21:10, Ac 5:2, al.; also after verbs of eating, etc.;

of alienation (cl. gen. of separation), after such verbs as λούω (Deiss., BS, 227), λύω, σώζω, παύω, etc.; ἀνάθεμα ἀ., Ro 9:3; ἀποθνήσκειν ἀ.,

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

ἀπό, [fr. Hom. down], preposition with the Genitive, (Lat. a, ab, abs, Germ. von, ab, weg, [ef. Eng. of, off ]), Jrom, signifying now Separation, now Origin. On its use in the N. T., in which the influence of the Hebr. 1 is traceable, cf. W. 364 sy. (342), 369 (346) sqq.; B. 321 (276) sqq. [On the neglect of elision before words beginning with a vowel see Τὰ Proleg. p. 94; cf. W. § 5,1a.; B. p.10sq.; WH. App. p. 146.] In order to avoid repetition we forbear to cite all the examples, but refer the reader to the several verbs followed by this preposition. ἀπό, then, is used I. of Separation; and 1. of local separation, after verbs of motion fr. a place, (of departing, fleeing, removing, expelling, throwing, etc., see αἴρω, ἀπέρχομαι, ἀποτινάσσω, ἀποχωρέω, ἀφίστημι, φεύγω. etc.) : ἀπεσπάσθη ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν, Lk. xxii.41; βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ. Mt. ν. 29 sq.3 ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος ἀπὸ [LT Tr WH ἐκ] τοῦ…

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

ἀπό. In this and the other prepositions cf very wide and general use we have not pretended to any fullness: they would afford abundant material for a fair-sized treatise. We only notice such special uses as we have remarked in our reading, and have therefore passed over most of the common and obvious uses. On ἀπό there are some illustrations in Prodeg. which may be recalled with some additions. There is the partitive use (pp. 102, 245), still current in MGr: so P Petr III. 11%° (B.c. 234) ddeloO[w] ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων μοι [σ]ωμάτων [ἐλ]εύθερα A. kal’A., 2d. 11. τα (1)> (= Selections p- 7) (iii/B.c.) ἀπὸ τούτου τὸ μὲν ἥμυσυ . . . τὸ δὲ λοιπόν κτλ. P Tebt II. 209013 (c. a.D. 50) ἀπολυσίμ[ο]υ ἀπὸ av8[pav πεντή]κοντα ‘one of the 50 exempted persons” (Edd.), P Iand 8° (ii/A.p.) διεπεμψάμην cor. . ἀϊπὸ τοῦ οἸΐνου Κ νίδια τρία, etc. To Kuhring’s scanty exx. (p. 37) for ἀπό of agent (cf. Proleg.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀπό (apo) — away from.

ἀπό,

Aeolic dialect, Thess., [Refs 7th c.BC+], etc.:—preposition usually with Gen. but see below [Refs 5th c.BC+] (Cf. Sanskrit

__A ápa, Latin ab, Umbr. ap-ehtre 'ab extra', Gothic af, O[Refs 5th c.BC+] af, cef, of, etc.) Orig. sense, from. [ᾰπο?~X: where ἀπο ¯ is found in Epic dialect before see or liquids (as ἀπὸ ἕθεν[Refs 8th c.BC+] was sometimes written in later texts,[Refs] — ᾱ for the sake of meter in _Epic dialect_ compounds, such as ἀπονέεσθαι.]

__A.I OF PLACE, the earliest, and in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A.I.1 of Motion, from, away from, ἐσσεύοντο νεῶν ἄπο καὶ κλισιάων[Refs 8th c.BC+]; pleonastic, ἀ. Τροίηθεν[LXX+8th c.BC+]; also ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνος νέος ὤλεο, implying departure from life, [Refs]; opposed to ἐξ, of relatively superficial motion, λαμβάνομεν οὔτε ἐκ τῆς γῆς οὐδέν, οὔτ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκιῶν[Refs 5th c.BC+]; similarly…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀπό

apo

a primary particle; "off," i.e. away (from something near), in various

senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative):--(X

here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th),

from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with. In composition (as

a prefix) it usually denotes separation, departure, cessation,

completion, reversal, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀπό

Prep.

from, away from

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀπό apo 646x

pr. forth, from, away from; hence, it variously signifies departure; distance of time or place; avoidance; riddance; derivation from a quarter, source, or material; origination from agency or instrumentality

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀπό from, away from. c. gen.

prep. c. gen. = Lat. ab, from.

OF PLACE:

of Motion, from, away from, Hom., etc.; of warriors fighting from chariots, Hom.

of Position, away from, far from, apart from, ἀπὸ ἧς ἀλόχοιο Il.; ἀπ᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν far from sight, id. Il.; ἀπὸ θαλάσσης Thuc., etc.

of the mind, ἀπὸ θυμοῦ away from, i. e. alien from, my heart, Il.; οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου not without reason, Plat.; οὐκ ἀπὸ πράγματος Dem.

in partitive sense, αἶσ᾽ ἀπὸ ληΐδος a part from the booty, a share of it, Od.

OF TIME, from, after, ἀπὸ δείπνου after supper, Il.; ἀπὸ δείπνου γενέσθαι to have done supper, Hdt., etc.; ἀφ᾽ οὗ (sc. χρόνου), Lat. ex quo, id. Hdt., etc.

OF ORIGIN, CAUSE, etc.:

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Prep — Preposition
preposition — its sense depends on the case of the word it governs.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
82%from
from82% · 556×of7% · 48×by3% · 22×other renderings8% · 51×

677 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 23 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
adverbial91%subject5%predicate2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 647 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
ἐκπορεύομαιI journey out, cἀπόλαόςa people, the cr
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existτρεῖςthreeδεκατέσσαρεςfourteen
Article the
τὶςγινώσκωI come to know, ἸησοῦςJesus
ἐγώ
ὥστεso that, therefoκαθαρίζωI make cleanῥύομαιI rescue
εἰρήνηpeace, peace of mind
καίand, even, also,ἔλεοςpity, mercyμετά
ἀπόFrom647×
what comes after →
Article the
ΓαλιλαίαGalileeθεόςGod, a godἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ὅτιthat, since, bec
σύ
καίand, even, also,συμφέρωI collect, am prκαλόςbeautiful, good,
θεόςGod, a god
πατήρfather, Father, ἐξέρχομαιI go out, come oἔρχομαιI come, go
ἀρχήruler, beginning
ἵναin order that, sκτίσιςcreation, creatuArticle 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

Concordanceἀπό · 647× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Acts Mark John Revelation Romans Hebrews 1 John 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
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 12c. AD 40

ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ καὶ τὴν γένεσιν ἀνέγραψεν αὐτοῦ μάλα σεμνῶς θεολογήσας.

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.3c. AD 100

ὅτι ἀληθῶς βλέπω ἐν ὑμῖν ἐκκεχυμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ πλουσίου τῆς πηγῆς κυρίου πνεῦμα ἐφ̓ ὑμᾶς.

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 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

Σχώτου τῶν αὐτῶν ἱερέων ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος ἢ ἐλασσων μελίχρως μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν ὑπόσκνιφος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑπάρχοντος αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς παστοφορίου ὠκοδομημένου καὶ δεδοκωμένου καὶ τεθυρωμένου ἐν τῷ

P.Amh. 2 51Pathyris89 BC

ἔτους κϛ Μεσορὴι κη. ἀπέδοτο Πετεῆσις Πατῆτος Πελαίαι Εὐνόου τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτῶι ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ ἀπηλιώτου μέρει Παθύρεως οἰκίαν ᾠκοδομημένην καὶ δεδοκωμένην καὶ τεθυρωμένην ἧς αἱ γειτνίαι δεδήλωνται διὰ

From every form of evil do abstain.
παντὸςpas every G3956 Adjective · genitive · singular · neuter
1,242× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Thessalonians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means all or every, as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 7:8, where it refers to everything or all people, emphasizing the universal nature of God's message.
Amplified meaning
all, each
Tyndale gloss
all
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πᾶς (i.e., *pas*) means 'all' or 'every' and appears in various forms, including masculine, feminine, and neuter. It is used in the New Testament to denote totality, as in 'all things' or 'every kind,' and can function as an adjective or pronoun. Notably, it can also imply 'the whole' when used with definite articles, as seen in verses like Matthew 28:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, gen., παντός, πάσης, παντός,

[in LXX chiefly for כֹּל;]

all, every.

As adj.,

c. subst. anarth., all, every, of every kind: Mt 3:10 4:23, Mk 9:49, Lk 4:37, Jo 2:10, Ac 27:20, Ro 7:8, Re 18:17, al. mult.; pl., all, Ac 22:15, Ro 5:12, He 1:6, al.; of the highest degree, π. ἐξουσία (προθυμία, χαρά), Mt 28:18,

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

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, en. παντός, πάσης, παντός, [dat. plur. Lchm. πᾶσι ten times, -σιν seventy-two times; Tdf. -σι five times (see Proleg. p. 98 sq.), -ow seventy-seven times; Treg. -ow eighty-two times; WH -ox fourteen times, -ow sixty-eight times; see N, v (ἐφελκυστικόν)], Hebr. 75, [fr. Hom. down], all, every; it is used I. adjectively, and 1. with anarthrous nouns; a. any, every one (86. of the class denoted by the noun annexed to mas); with the Singular: as πᾶν δένδρον, Mt. iii. 10; πᾶσα θυσία, Mk. ix. 49 [T WH Tr mrg. om. Tr txt. br. the cl.]; add, Mt. v.11; xv. 13; Lk. iv. 37; Jn.ii. 10; xv.2; Acts ii.43; v.42; Ro. xiv. 11; 1 Co. iv. 17; Rev. xviii. 17, and very often; πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἀνθρώπου, Ro. ii. 9 (πᾶσα ἀνθρ. ψυχή, Plat. Phaedr. p- 249e.); πᾶσα συνείδησις ἀνθρώπων, 2 Co. iv. 2; mas λεγόμενος θεός, 2 Th. ii. 4; πᾶς ἅγιος ἐν Χριστῷ, Phil. iv. 21sqq. with the Plural, all or any that are…

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

παῖς. In Gnomon 41 (¢. A.D. 150) it is laid down—éav Αἰγύπτιος ἐκ κοπρίας [ἀν]έληται παῖδα καὶ τοῦτον υἱοποιήσηται, μετὰ θάνατον τεταρτολο[ γεῖτ]αι, ““1Γ an Egyptian shall take up a child from the dungheap, and adopt him as a son, he shall be mulcted after his death to the extent of one fourth of his property.” For παῖς applied to a female child see P Strass I. 41° (A.D. 250) ἐκδικῆσαι τὰ τῆς παιδός, and P Oxy 1 5215 (A.D. 325) εΠδαμὲν τὴν παῖδα ἔχουσαν κατὰ τῶν εἰσχίων ἀμυχὰς μετὰ πελιωμάτων (see 76. II. p. 319), ““νγῈ saw that the girl had wounds on her hips with livid spots”: cf. Lk 8° (for voc. of address see Pro/eg. pp. 70, 235). The word is commonly applied to slaves, as in Lk 77 a/., e.g. P Lille 27 (iii/B.c.), where 11 male slaves are enumerated under the heading παῖδες, then 2 female slaves, and then again 3 male slaves: cf. P Strass I. 405 (a. p. 569) Κολλοῦθος Βίκτορος…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πᾶς (pas) — all.

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν,

__AAeolic dialect παῖς, παῖσα [Refs 7th c.BC+] feminine πάνσα [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Delph. πάντεσσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also Locrian dialect πάντεσιν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πάντοις [Refs 2nd c.BC+] as accusative masculine in [LXX+7th c.BC+], etc. (but in compounds sometimes long in Attic dialect, [Refs].]—Coll. pronoun, when used of a number, all; when of one only, the whole; of the several persons in a number, every.

__A.I in plural, all, πάντες τε θεοὶ πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντες ὅσοι.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντας ᾧ ἂνπεριτυγχάνῃ, for ὅσοις ἄν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with the Article, see.below [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πᾶς

pas

including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all,

any, every, the whole:--all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one),

X daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X

thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν

Adj

all, the whole, every kind of

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πᾶς pas 1x

all; in the sg. the whole, entire, usually when the substantive has the article, Mt. 6:29; 8:32; Acts 19:26; every, only with an anarthrous subst., Mt. 3:10; 4:4; pl. all, Mt. 1:17, et al. freq.; πάντα, in all respects, Acts 20:35; 1 Cor. 9:25; 10:33; 11:2; by a Hebraism, a negative with πᾶς is sometimes equivalent to οὐδείς or μηδείς, Mt. 24:22; Lk. 1:37; Acts 10:14; Read the full entry →

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

A-GSN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
62%all
all62% · 789×all things12% · 156×every12% · 150×everyone6% · 76×everything3% · 34×other renderings3% · 40×other renderings2% · 19×

1,264 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 28 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
subject40%adverbial30%object21%predicate5%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,242 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
αὐτόςσύλόγοςa word, speech,
ἐν
καίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, exceptἐγώ
Article the
αὐτόςὅςArticle the
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδείκνυμιI point out, shoπροσφέρωI bring to, offe
ἐπί
καίand, even, also,ἐγώεἰμίI am, exist
πᾶςevery1242×
what comes after →
Article the
ἔθνοςa race, people, λαόςa people, the crπιστεύωI believe, have
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theχορτάζωI feed, satisfyδιά
σύ
εἰμίI am, existἐνκαίand, even, also,
γάρfor
Article theσύοὗτος
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςὅς

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

Concordanceπᾶς · 1,242× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians Romans Mark John Revelation Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians

27 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 10c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ πατὴρ ἐκγόνων καὶ δημιουργὸς τῶν δημιουργηθέντων στοχάζεται τῆς διαμονῆς καὶ ὅσα μὲν ἐπιζήμια καὶ βλαβερὰ μηχανῇ πάσῃ διωθεῖται, τὰ δὲ ὅσα ὠφέλιμα καὶ λυσιτελῆ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ἐκπορίζειν ἐπιποθεῖ·

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

ὡς οἱ Νώχου ἔγγονοι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπῴκησαν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.4c. AD 100

πεφανέρωκεν γὰρ ἡμῖν διὰ πάντων τῶν προφητῶν, ὅτι οὕτε θυσιῶν οὔτε ὁλοκαυτωμάτων οὔτε προσφορῶν χρῄζει, λέγων ὅτε μέν:

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 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

γῆ Σενπελαίας, βορρᾶ γῆ Πανᾶτος ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς Ἀραμείους, ἢ οἳ ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντων πάντοθεν. ἐπρίατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς Πανοβχούνιος ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐτῶν λ χαλκοῦ δραχμῶν τρισχιλίων . προπωληταὶ καὶ βεβαιωταὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Νεχούτης καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

From every form of evil do abstain.
εἴδουςeidos form G1491 Noun · genitive · singular · neuter
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Thessalonians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for appearance or form, used to describe something's external look or shape. In Luke 3:22 and 2 Corinthians 5:7, it refers to Jesus' appearance and our spiritual transformation. This concept is central to understanding our identity in Christ.
Amplified meaning
appearance, external look
Tyndale gloss
appearance
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εἶδος (*eidos*) refers to what is seen, encompassing meanings like appearance, form, or kind. It is used in various contexts, including physical appearance in Luke and John, and categories or types in 1 Thessalonians. Notably, it appears in 2 Corinthians 5:7, where it relates to perception. The lexicons agree on its general meanings, with no significant disagreements noted.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἶδος, -ους, τό,

[in LXX for מַרְאֶה, תֹּאַר, etc.;]

that which is seen, appearance, external form: Lk 3:22 9:29, Jo 5:37, II Co 5:7 (ICC in l.).

form, sort, kind: I Th 5:22.†

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

εἶδος, -ous, τό, (EIAQ), in Sept. chiefly for AND and 48h; prop. that which strikes the eye, which is exposed to view; 1. the external appearance, form, figure, shape, (so fr. Hom. down): Jn. ν. 37; σωματικῷ cide, Lk. iii. 22; τὸ εἶδος τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, Lk. ix. 29; διὰ εἴδους, as encompassed with the visible appearance (of eternal things), (see διά, A. I. 2), 2 Co. ν. 7, — com. explained, by sight i. e. beholding (Luth.: im Schauen) ; but no ex. has yet been adduced fr. any Grk. writ. in which εἶδος is used actively, like the Lat. species, of vision; (στόμα κατὰ στόμα, ἐν εἴδ ει, καὶ οὐ δι᾿ ὁραμάτων καὶ ἐνυπνίων, Clem. homil. 17, 18; οἵ. Num. xii. 8 Sept.). “Ἔ form, kind : ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε, i. 6. from every kind of evil or wrong, 1 Th. v. 22 [cf. πονηρός, sub fin.]; (Joseph. antt. 10, 3,1 πᾶν εἶδος πονηρίας. The Grks., esp. Plato, oppose τὸ εἶδος to τὸ γένος, as the…

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

εἶδος. The RV rendering of 1 Th 555 ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε, “abstain from every form of evil,” is confirmed by the recurrent formula in the papyri παντὸς εἴδους = “‘ of every kind,” found in business documents fass?z, e.g. in P Tebt I. 58"! (p.c. 111) atax-farmer undertakes προσάξιν ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους (πυροῦ) v, ‘‘to collect from every class 400 artabae of wheat more” (Edd.): see further Milligan Zhess. p. 76f. Cf. P Tebt 11. 2895 (A.p. 23) where the strategus writes to a toparch—réprre μοι πρόσγραφον τῶν μέχρι τῆς σήμερον διαγεγρί(αμμένων) κατ᾽ εἶδος, ‘send me a supplementary classified statement of payments made up to date” (Edd.), and P Oxy IT. 2370}: 42 (a.p. 186) τῆς τελευταίας ἑκάστου ὀνόματος ὑποστάσεως κατὰ κώμην καὶ κατ᾽ εἶδος, “‘ the last statement of property of each person arranged under villages and classes” (Edd.): but see Chrest. II. i. p. 103. In P Tebt I.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἶδος (eidos) — appearance.

εἶδος, εος, τό,

(εἴδω A) that which is seen: form, shape, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+], of the human form or figure, especially absolutely in accusative with adjectives, εἶδος ἄριστος, ἀγητός, κακός, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to βίη, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δευτέρα πεδ᾽ Ἀγιδὼν τὸ εἶ. [Refs 7th c.BC+]; appearance, of a dog, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: hence, periphrastic for person, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__b especially of beauty of person, comeliness, εἴδεος ἐπαμμένος [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__c in Medicine texts, physique, habit of body, constitution, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. generally, shape, σχῆμα καὶ εἶδος [Refs]; pattern, of 'figurate' numbers, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; decorative pattern or figure, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; of a musical scale, τοῦ διὰ τεσσάρων τρία εἰδη [Refs 4th c.BC+]: in plural…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἶδος

eidos

from 1492; a view, i.e. form (literally or figuratively):--appearance,

fashion, shape, sight.

see GREEK for 1492

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἶδος, ους, τό

n.n.

visible form, shape, appearance, kind

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἶδος eidos 5x

form, external appearance, Lk. 3:22; 9:29; Jn. 5:37; kind, species, 1 Thess. 5:22; sight, perception, 2 Cor. 5:7*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εἶδος εἶδος, εος, *εἴδω A that which is seen, form, shape, figure, Lat. species, forma, Hom.; absol. in acc., εἶδος ἄριστος, etc.

a form, sort, particular kind or nature, Hdt., etc.

a particular state of things or course of action, Thuc.

a class, kind, sort, whether genus or species, Plat., etc.

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

N-GSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

form (yatsar, to'ar; morphe):

(1) To form is "to fashion," "create," "produce." In the Old Testament it is for the most part the translation of yatsar, "to form," "to fashion" (Ge 2:7, etc., "Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground," etc.); also of chul and chil, "to be twisted" "turned round" "to bring forth (in pain)" (compare Isa 13:8; Mic 4:10; De 32:18 the King James Version, "God that formed thee"; Job 26:13 the King James Version; Ps 90:2, "or ever thou hadst formed the earth" etc.; Pr 26:10 the King…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ IN RELIGIOUS SERVICE 1Ch 15:13,14; 2Ch 29:34

→ IRREGULARITIES IN 2Ch 30:2-5,17-20; Mt 12:3,4

See CHURCH AND STATE

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%form
form60% · 3×sight20% · 1×appearance20% · 1×

5 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 3 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
adverbial60%subject20%object20%

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
σωματικόςbodily, corporeal
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,
Article the
αὐτός
οὔτεNeg
ἀκούωI hear, listen
διά
οὐNeg
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἀπό
εἶδοςform
what comes after →
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
περιστεράa dove
Article the
πρόσωπονthe face, counte
αὐτός
ὁράωI see, look upon
πονηρόςevil, bad, wicked
ἀπέχωI have in full,

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

Concordanceεἶδος · 5× in the New Testament
Luke 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians John
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 32 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 Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 25c. AD 40

εἰ δὲ τὸ μέρος εἰκὼν εἰκόνος [δῆλον ὅτι] καὶ τὸ ὅλον εἶδος, σύμπας οὗτος ὁ αἰσθητὸς κόσμος, εἰ μείζων τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐστίν, μίμημα θείας εἰκόνος, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ἡ ἀρχέτυπος σφραγίς, ὅν φαμεν νοητὸν εἶναι κόσμον, αὐτὸς ἂν εἴη [τὸ παράδειγμα, ἀρχέτυπος…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.247c. AD 75–95

καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων παρίημι νῦν γράφειν οὐκ ἀγνοούντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων τῆς ἴβιδος τὸ εἶδος.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 16.3c. AD 96

ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ: οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ εἶδος οὐδὲ δόξα, καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τὸ εἶδος τῶν ἀνθρώπων: ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ πόνῳ καὶ…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Fouad 1 40Tebtynis? (Arsinoites)AD 35

καὶ βεβαιώσει ὁ Λέων τὴν μίσθωσιν ταύτην καθαρὰν ἀπὸ δημοσίων τελεσμάτων πάντων καὶ παντὸς εἴδους. Λέων Πετεήσιος ὁμολογῶ μεμισθωκέναι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ περὶ … Εἱμέραν γῆν ἀρουρῶν … εἰς χόρτου

P.Coll.Youtie 1 19Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 44

ἀπὸ μὲν δημοσίων τελεσμάτων πάντων σιτικῶν τε καὶ ἀργυρικῶν καὶ ἐπιγραφῶν πασῶν καὶ παντὸς εἴδους ἐκ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν χρόνων μέχρι τοῦ γ ἔτους καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ γ ἔτους Τιβερίου

ZPE 156 (2006), p. 199-216Soknopaiu Nesos (ArsinoitesAD 50

τῆς ἐνεστώσης ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον. βεβαιώσω πάσῃ βεβαιώσει διὰ παντὸς ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους. ἀντίγραφον ὑπογραφῶν. Ὧρος Στοτοήτιος μητρὸς Ταοννώφριος ὁμολογῶ πεπρακέναι Στοτοήτι Σαταβοῦτος μητρὸς Θαήσιος δέκατον μέρος

From every form of evil do abstain.
πονηροῦponēros of evil G4190 Adjective · genitive · singular · neuter
78× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Thessalonians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for evil or bad, describing something that causes harm or is morally wrong, used in the New Testament to describe people and things, like in Matthew 7:11 and Ephesians 5:16.
Amplified meaning
bad, morally wrong, including all kinds of wickedness, unrighteousness
Tyndale gloss
evil/bad
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πονηρός (poneros) means bad or evil, often in a moral sense, and is derived from the verb πονέω meaning to toil. It describes things that are toilsome or painful and can refer to people, actions, or even spirits, particularly in the context of wickedness or malice. The New Testament frequently uses it to describe the devil or evil individuals, as seen in verses like Matthew 5:37 and 13:19.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — κακός, πονηρός from a scan

Taat which is morally evil may be contemplated on various sides and from various points of view; the several epithets which it will thus obtain bringing out the several aspects under which it will have presented itself to us. Kaxos and πονηρός occur together, Rev. xvi. 2; as «axia and πονηρία at I Cor. v. 8; the διαλογισμοὶ κακοί of St. Mark vii. 21 are διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί in the parallel passage of St. Matthew (xv. 19). The distinction between these will best be considered when we come to deal with πονηρός. Kaxos, the constant antithesis to ἀγαθός (Deut. eens 06¢) Ps; xxiii; 15; Rom. xii. 21; 2 Cor. v. 10; of. Plato, Rep. x. 608 e), and though not quite so frequently to καλός (Gen. xxiv. 50; xliv. 4; Heb. v. 14; Plutarch, Reg. et Imp. Apoph. Epam. 20), affirms of that which it 316 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § τχχχιν. characterizes that qualities and conditions are wanting there…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πονηρός, -ά, -όν

(< πονέω, to toil),

[in LXX chiefly for רַע;]

of persons, oppressed by toils (Hes.);

of things, toilsome, painful (καιρός, Si 51:12): Eph 5:16 6:13, Re 16:2.

bad, worthless;

in physical sense: καρπός, Mt 7:17, 18;

in ethical sense, bad, evil, wicked;

of persons: Mt 7:11 12:34, 35 18:32 25:26, Lk 6:45 11:13 19:22, Ac 17:5, II Th 3:2, II Ti 3:13; γενεά, Mt 12:39, 45 16:4…

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

πονηρός (on the accent ef. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 389; Gottling, Lehre v. Accent, p. 304 sq.; [Chandler §§ 404, 405]; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 26), -d, τόν ; compar. πονηρότερος (Mt. xii. 45; Lk. xi. 26); (πονέω, πόνος) ; fr. Hes., [Hom. (ep. 15, 20), Theog.] down; Sept. often for 1; 1. full of labors, annoyances, hardships ; a. pressed and harassed by labors ; thus Hercules is called πονηρότατος καὶ ἄριστος, Hes. frag. 43, 5. b. bringing toils, annoyances, perils: (καιρός, Sir. li. 12); ἡμέρα πονηρά, of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness, Eph. v. 16; vi. 13, (so in the plur. ἡμέραι πον. Barn. ep. 2, 1); causing pain and trouble [A. V. grievous], ἕλκος, Rev. xvi. 2. 2. bad, of a bad nature or condition ; a. in a physical sense: ὀφθαλμός, diseased or blind, Mt. vi. 23; Lk. xi. 34, (πονηρία ὀφθαλμῶν, Plat. Hipp. min. p. 3874 ἃ. ; the Greeks use πονηρῶς ἔχειν or…

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

πονηρός. This adj. denoting the active exercise of evil is seen in BGU 11. 372%) (a.p. 154) πονηρ[ὃν K]g[l] λῃσίτ]ρικὸν β[(ον, PSI V. 4521 (iv/A.D.) πονηρὰ βουλευσαμέν[ ου]ς, and Syil 809 (= *1175)'® (iv/iii B.C.) ῥῆμα μοχθηρὸν ἢ πονηρὸν φθένγεσθαι. With the Lat. sepulchral formula ad hoc monumento dolus malus abesto, cf. BGU I. 3261-3 (a.nd. 194) ταύτῃ TH διαθήκῃ δόλος πονηρὸς ἀπέστηί( --ω)Ἱ. In the deed of divorce P Grenf II. 76° (A.D. 305-306) a couple are stated to have renounced their married life ἐκ τινὸς πονηροῦ δαίμονος, ‘‘owing to some evil deity,” and similarly P Lips I. 345 (ες A.D. 375). The word is joined with ἀσεβεῖς in Jos. Anét. xii. 252, xiii. 34. For the original meaning of πονηρός, ‘ toilworn,” ‘“laborious ’’ we may cite the description of Heracles, the type of the strenuous life—ovypdtatos καὶ ἄριστος (Hes. Fr. 43.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πονηρός (ponēros) — evil/bad.

πονηρός, ά, όν,

in physical sense, oppressed by toils, πονηρότατος καὶ ἄριστος, of Heracles, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

2. of things, toilsome, painful, grievous, ἔργα [Refs 8th c.BC+]

II. in bad case, in sorry plight, useless, good-for-nothing, σύμμαχοι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; κύων, ἱππάριον, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δίαιτα, τροφή, σιτία, injurious, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. σῶμα, opposed to χρηστόν, [Refs]; π. σκώμματα sorry jests, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. πράγματα a bad state of things, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἀρχὴ τῆς παιδείας a bad beginning, [Refs 5th c.BC+] adverb, -ρῶς ἔχειν to be in bad case, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. διακεῖσθαι, διατεθῆναι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πονηρός

poneros

from a derivative of 4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or

influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to

essential character, as well as from 4550, which indicates degeneracy

from original virtue); figuratively, calamitous; also (passively) ill,

i.e. diseased; but especially (morally) culpable, i.e. derelict,

vicious, facinorous; neuter (singular) mischief, malice, or (plural)

guilt; masculine (singular) the devil, or (plural) sinners:--bad,

evil, grievous, harm, lewd, malicious, wicked(-ness). See also 4191.

see GREEK for 4192

see GREEK for 2556

see GREEK for 4550

see GREEK for 4191

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πονηρός, ά, όν

Adj

evil, bad, wicked

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πονηρός ponēros 78x

bad, unsound, Mt. 6:23; 7:17, 18; evil, afflictive, Eph. 5:16; 6:13; Rev. 16:2; evil, wrongful, malignant, malevolent, Mt. 5:11, 39; Acts 28:21; evil, wicked, impious, and τὸ πονηρόν, evil, wrong, wickedness, Mt. 5:37, 45; 9:4; slothful, inactive, Mt. 25:26; Lk. 19:22; ὁ πονηρός, the evil one, the devil, Mt. 13:19, 38; Jn.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πονηρός πονηρός, ή, όν πονέω toilsome, painful, grievous, Theogn., Ar.

in bad case, in sorry plight, useless, good-for-nothing, Ar., Plat., etc.:—adv., πονηρῶς ἔχειν to be in bad case, Thuc.

in moral sense, bad, worthless, knavish, Lat. pravus, improbus, Aesch., Eur.; πονηρὸς κἀκ πονηρῶν rogue and son of rogues, Ar.; πόνῳ πονηρός laboriously wicked, id. Ar.:— ὁ π. the evil one, NTest.

base, cowardly, Soph.; π. χρώματα the coward's hue, Xen.

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

A-GSN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

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
78%evil
evil78% · 62×wicked4% · 3×evil one3% · 2×bad3% · 2×more evil3% · 2×evils3% · 2×other renderings8% · 6×

79 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
object28%adverbial26%predicate22%subject19%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 78 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
ἐκπνεῦμαwind, breath, spκαίand, even, also,
σύ
ὀφθαλμόςthe eyeοὖνtherefore, thenκρίνωI judge, decide,
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
ἕτεροςanother, differeκαίand, even, also,ἀπό
αὐτός
ἔργονwork, labor, actλέγωI say, speakγάρfor
γενεάa generation
αὐτόςοὗτος
πονηρόςof evil78×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
καίand, even, also,ὅλοςall, the whole, οἶδαI know, remember
καίand, even, also, nam
μοιχαλίςan adulteressἀγαθόςgoodἁρπάζωI seize, snatch,
ἐκ
μέσοςmiddle, in the mArticle theγάρfor
Article the
ἩρῴδηςHerodἔργονwork, labor, actὄνομαname, character,
κατά
σύArticle 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

Concordanceπονηρός · 78× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Acts 1 John Ephesians John 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy Hebrews James Mark 1 Corinthians
Across the New Testament20 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 172 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 The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 154c. AD 40

ἀλλ’ ὡς ἔοικεν αἰνίττεται διὰ μὲν τοῦ παραδείσου τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡγεμονικόν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ κατάπλεων οἷα φυτῶν μυρίων ὅσων δοξῶν, διὰ δὲ τοῦ δένδρου τῆς ζωῆς τὴν μεγίστην τῶν ἀρετῶν θεοσέβειαν, δι’ ἧς ἀθανατίζεται ἡ ψυχή, διὰ δὲ τοῦ καλῶν καὶ πονηρῶν…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.22c. AD 75–95

οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι νομοθέται τοῖς μύθοις ἐξακολουθήσαντες τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἁμαρτημάτων εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς τῷ λόγῳ τὴν αἰσχύνην μετέθεσαν καὶ πολλὴν ὑποτίμησιν τοῖς πονηροῖς ἔδωκαν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.1c. AD 100

Ἡμερῶν οὖν οὐσῶν πονηρῶν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος ἔχοντος τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὀφείλομεν ἑαυτοῖς προσέχοντες ἐκζητεῖν τὰ δικαιώματα κυρίου,

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 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
P.Lond. 2 p. 163-165 no. 354Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites8 BC–5 BC

ἡμῶν περὶ τὴν τῶν ἐδαφῶν γεωργίαν μηδὲν τοῖς δημοσίοις ἔλαττον ἐπακολουθήσῃ, διαλάβη δὲ … πονηρὸν περιπεσόντων αὐτῶν τῇ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους κολάσει, ἵνʼ ὦμεν εὐεργετημένοι. διευτύχει.

P.Mil.Vogl. 1 24Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 117

κλαίοντα πλείστοις δάκρυσιν. τί 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

JJP 18 (1974), p. 181 no. 3Bakchias (Arsinoites)AD 137

πρὸ σοῦ καὶ ὑπέσχε διατυπώσασθαι π … … α … α καὶ ὅτι πονηροῦ … … … … η … δοκεῖ δέ μοι παραμ … … … ολης

From every form of evil do abstain.
ἀπέχεσθε.apechō do abstain. G568 Verb · present · middle · imperative · second person · plural
19× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Thessalonians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means to have or receive something in full, as seen in Matthew 6:2. It can also mean to keep oneself away or be distant from something, and is often used in the context of receiving payment or reward. The word is used in different biblical contexts, including Jesus' teachings on giving and prayer.
Amplified meaning
keep away, refrain
Tyndale gloss
to have in full
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀπέχω (apechō) is a Greek verb meaning to hold back or keep off, to have in full, or to be distant. It is used in various contexts, from receiving a reward (as in Matthew 6:2, 5, 16) to abstaining from actions (as in Acts 15:29). The word is built from the prefix ἀπ- (away) and ἔχω (to have). Lexicons note its use in both a transitive and intransitive sense, but they do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπ-έχω,

[in LXX chiefly for רחק;]

trans.,

to hold back, keep off;

to have in full, to have received (on the "punctiliar" force of the compound, v. M, Pr., 109, 247): c. acc., Mt 6:2, 5, 16, Lk 6:24, Phl 4:18, Phm 15 (for illustr. from π., where it is used in receipts, v. Deiss., BS, 229; LAE, 110 f.; MM, s.v.); impers., ἀπέχει (Field, Notes, 39), it is enough: Mk 14:41.

Intrans., to be away, distant: absol., Lk 15:20; seq. ἀπό, Mt 14:24 15:8, Mk 7:6, Lk 7:6 15:20 24:13. Mid., to abstain: c. gen.,

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

ἀπέχω. Deissmann (BS p. 229 and LAE p. τὸ ἢ.) has already shown how much light is thrown on the NT use of this word (Mt 6% 16 Phil 418) by the papyri and ostraca. There it 4s constantly found in the sense of *‘I have received,” as a technical expression in drawing up a receipt. Consequently in the Sermon on the Mount we are led to understand ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν, ‘they can Sign the receipt of their reward: their right to receive the reward is realised, prectsely as if they had already given a receipt for it” (BS p. 229). To the almost contemporary instances of this usage which Deissmann gives, BGU II. 5845% (A.D. 44) Kal ἀπέχω τὴν συνκεχωρημένην τιμὴν πᾶσαν ἐκ πλήρους, and 2. 6125: (A.D. 57) ἀπέχω παρ᾽ ὑμῶν τὸν φόρον τοῦ ἐλα[ι]ουργίου, ὧν ἔχετέ [po]u ἐν μισθώσει, we may add a few exx. which might be multiplied almost indefinitely : P Par 523 (B.c. 163-2) ἀπέχι παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τιμῆς…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀπέχω (apechō) — to have in full.

ἀπέχω,

future ἀφέξω, and [Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist ἀπέσχον:— keep off or away from, αἴ κεν τυδέος υἱὸν ἀπόσχη Ἰλίου ἱρῆς[Refs 8th c.BC+]; κληῖδες ἀπ᾽ ὤμων αὐχέν᾽ ἔχουσιν the collar-bone parts the neck from the shoulders, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Εὐβοίης ἀπέχειν.. αἶγας Oracle texts cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. with dative person, τοι.. χεῖρας ἀφέξω[Refs 8th c.BC+]

3. with a preposition, ἀ. φρένα περισσῶν παρὰ φωτῶν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

4. c.accusative only, keep off or away, σκοτεινὸν ἀ. ψόγον[Refs 5th c.BC+]

5. οὐδὲν ἀπέχει with infinitive, nothing hinders, debars one from doing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀπέχω

apecho

from 575 and 2192; (actively) to have out, i.e. receive in full;

(intransitively) to keep (oneself) away, i.e. be distant (literally or

figuratively):--be, have, receive.

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 2192

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀπέχω

v.

I have in full, am far, it is enough

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀπέχω apechō 19x

trans. to have in full what is due or is sought, Mt. 6:2, 5, 16; Lk. 6:24; Phil. 4:18; to have altogether, Phlm. 15; hence, it is enough, Mk. 14:41; intrans. to be distant, Lk. 7:6; to be estranged, Mt. 15:8; Mk. 7:6, mid. to abstain from, Acts 14:20

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀπέχω to keep off or away from, τινά or τί τινος Il.: absol. to keep off, Eur.

to keep apart, part, κληῖδες ἀπ᾽ ὤμων αὐχέν᾽ ἔχουσιν the collar-bones part the neck from the shoulders, Il.

Mid., ἀπὸ χεῖρας ἔχεσθαί τινος (in tmesi) to hold one's hands off or away from, Od.: also, ἀπέχεσθαί τινος to hold oneself off a thing, abstain or desist from it, Hom., Hdt., etc.

c. inf., ἀπέχεσθαι ποιεῖν or μὴ ποιεῖν τι to abstain from doing a thing, Thuc., etc.

intr. in Act. to be away or far from, c. gen. loci, id. Thuc.; also, ἀπ. ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος, etc., Hdt.: absol. to be distant, Xen.

of actions, to be far from, ἀπεῖχον τῆς ἐξευρέσιος were far from the discovery, Hdt.; πλεῖστον ἀπ. τοῦ ποιεῖν to be as far as possible from doing…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PMM-2P — Verb · present · middle · imperative · second person · plural
present middle imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PMM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Middle Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Thompson Chain Reference topics

commands to avoid certain evils

Ac 15:20; 1Th 4:3; 5:22; 1Pe 2:11

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
21%abstain
abstain21% · 4×they have16% · 3×being distant16% · 3×kept11% · 2×abstain from5% · 1×i have5% · 1×do abstain5% · 1×you may possess5% · 1×other renderings16% · 3×

19 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19 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
λέγωI say, speakἁγιασμόςsanctification,
πόρρωComp
αὐτός
μακράνfar away
οὐNegαὐτός
γῆthe earth, soil, lan
Article the
ἀναπαύωI make to rest, give
καίand, even, also,
ἀπέχωdo abstain.19×
what comes after →
Article the
μισθόςwages, rewardπαράκλησιςexhortation, entἀλίσγημαpollution, perha
ἀπό
ἐγώArticle the
βασανίζωI torment, torture,
ὑπό
ἔρχομαιI come, go
Article the
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
αὐτός

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

Concordanceἀπέχω · 19× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke 1 Thessalonians Acts Mark 1 Peter 1 Timothy Philemon Philippians
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 170c. AD 40

Τοιοῦτος μὲν ὁ βίος τῶν ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν ἀκακίᾳ καὶ ἁπλότητι χρωμένων, αὖθις δὲ κακίαν ἀντ’ ἀρετῆς προτιμώντων [ὧν ἄξιον ἀπέχεσθαι].

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.40c. AD 75–95

Ὁ δὴ τοίνυν θεὸς τὸν Ἄδαμον καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τῶν μὲν ἄλλων φυτῶν ἐκέλευε γεύεσθαι, τοῦ δὲ τῆς φρονήσεως ἀπέχεσθαι, προειπὼν ἁψαμένοις ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ὄλεθρον γενησόμενον.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 17.2.2c. AD 140

ἀπέχεσθαι οὖν δεῖ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν τῶν πονηρῶν, ἵνα ἀποσχόμενοι ζήσητε τῷ θεῷ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
1st c. AD 2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC 1st c. BC
P.Athen.. 25Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 61

Μεσουήριος τὸν ὑπάρχοντα μοι μύλον θηβαϊκὸν σὺν τραπέζῃ καὶ κώπῃ τοῦτον τοιοῦτον ἀναπόρριφον καὶ ἀπέχω τὴν τιμὴν καὶ βεβαιῶ σοι πάσῃ βεβαιώσει καθὼς πρόκιται. ἔγραψεν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ Κόραξ Ἀπολλωνίου

P.Aberd. 63ArsinoitesAD 101–AD 102

Ἀπολλώνιος Δημητρίου Ψεναμοῦνι γεωργῷ χαίρειν. ἀπέχω παρὰ σοῦ τὸ ἐκφόριον τοῦ διεληλυθότος τετάρτου ἔτους οὗ γεωργεῖς μου κλήρου περὶ τὸ

P.Aberd. 55Soknopaiu Nesos? (Arsinoites)AD 117–AD 138

Ἀρτεμιδώρου Χαιρήμονι Σαταβοῦτος χαίρειν. ὁμολογῶ πεπρακέναι σοι ὄνον θήλειαν λευκὴν ταύτην τοιαύτην ἀναπόρριφον καὶ ἀπέχω τὴν συνπεφωνημένην τιμὴν πᾶσαν ἐκ πλήρους ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς ἑξήκοντα, γίνονται δραχμαὶ ξ. … ν

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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