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2 Corinthians 6:5 — Word Study

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N1904ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

BSAinen beatings,plēgē [blows, wounds] inen imprisonments,phulakē [prisons, watch] inen riots,akatastasia [tumults, disorder] inen labors,kopos [toil, hard work] inen watchings,agrupnia [watchings, staying awake] inen fastings,nēsteia [fastings, abstinence from food]

Word
Listen & take away2 Corinthians 6
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 5 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 (nēsteia) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
2 Corinthians 6:5quick helps
In a sentencePaul lists the hardships he faced as a servant of God, detailing various forms of suffering.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the church in Corinth.
Where we areIn a section where Paul defends his ministry and outlines the challenges he endured.
The hard wordπληγή
Take awayThe hardships of ministry are real and varied.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause 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 — 2 Corinthians 6:5

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 — Paul's Defense of His Ministrygenerated

4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
5in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;
6in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

2 Corinthians 6:5 is part of Paul's defense of his apostolic authority, where he enumerates the sufferings endured for the sake of the Gospel. He emphasizes the endurance required to serve God faithfully, contrasting his experiences with the false apostles who sought to deceive the church. This passage highlights the cost of discipleship and the perseverance needed in ministry, as seen in the broader context of 2 Corinthians 6:4 and 2 Corinthians 11:23.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Corinthians 11:23–25Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
2Deuteronomy 25:3He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.
3Isaiah 53:5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
4Acts 16:23And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.
51 Kings 22:27and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”

The Key Word πληγή, plēgēgenerated

The word πληγή (plēgē) refers to a blow or wound, often associated with physical suffering. It is used in contexts where individuals experience pain or injury, such as in Revelation 13:3.

In this verse, it is in the dative plural form, indicating the means by which Paul endured hardships. The use of this term underscores the physical toll that ministry can take on a servant of God.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;. Other translations like the KJV use stripes for πληγαῖς, while the ASV also opts for stripes but maintains imprisonments for φυλακαῖς.

The BBE translates πληγαῖς as blows and φυλακαῖς as prisons, while the WEB keeps beatings and imprisonments. The translations generally agree on the hardships listed, though some variations exist in the choice of words.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The verse consists of a series of phrases that enumerate different hardships. The main verb is implied in the context of Paul's ongoing defense, with each phrase detailing the types of suffering he endured.

The structure is built around the preposition ἐν (en), which introduces each hardship, creating a rhythm that emphasizes the cumulative nature of Paul's experiences.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The term πληγή has a background in the Septuagint, where it translates the Hebrew word מַכָּה (makah), meaning blow or wound, as seen in passages like Exodus 21:18.

This connection highlights the continuity of suffering as a theme in both the Old and New Testaments, as God's servants often faced physical harm.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

2 Corinthians 6:5 lists the various hardships Paul endured as he served God. He mentions beatings, imprisonment, riots, hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger. These experiences demonstrate the challenges faced by those who follow Christ.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What kind of beatings did Paul endure?

Paul faced physical beatings as part of his ministry, which were often inflicted by authorities or mobs opposing his preaching, as detailed in 2 Corinthians 11:25.

Why does Paul mention sleepless nights?

Sleepless nights indicate the stress and anxiety Paul experienced while ministering, often due to the pressures of his mission and the care he felt for the churches, as noted in 2 Corinthians 11:28.

What does Paul mean by 'riots'?

The term 'riots' refers to the disturbances and civil unrest that Paul encountered, often as a result of his preaching, which incited opposition and violence, as seen in Acts 19:23.

How does fasting relate to Paul's ministry?

Fasting was a common practice among early Christians, including Paul, as a way to seek God's guidance and strength during difficult times, as seen in Acts 14:23.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What are some challenges I face in my own life that require endurance?
  2. How can I support others who are experiencing hardships in their faith journey?
  3. In what ways can I demonstrate perseverance in my spiritual life?
  4. How does understanding the sufferings of Paul impact my view of ministry and service?

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

Several early church writers comment on the sufferings of Paul as described in this verse, highlighting the trials faced by those dedicated to God's service.

Shepherd of HermasShepherd of Hermas, Similitude 5 c. 140
Be on your guard against every evil word, and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you guard against these things, your fasting will be perfect. And you will do also as follows.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 6 →
John ChrysostomHomily 12 on 2 Corinthians c. 347–407
"In stripes, in imprisonments, in tossings to and fro." Yet every one of these by itself was intolerable, the being scourged only, and being bound only, and being unable through persecution to remain fixed any where,
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 6 →
Apostolic ConstitutionsCONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES c. 375–380
We command that a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who receives the baptism, or the sacrifice of heretics, be deprived: "For what agreement is there between Christ and Belial? or what part hath a believer with an infidel? "
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 6 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 2 Corinthians 6:5 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

In stripes,.... As the Apostle Paul particularly was, who was thrice beaten with rods, and five times scourged by the Jews with the scourge of forty stripes save one.

Read John Gill on 2 Corinthians 6 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; Stripes (2 Corinthians 11:23-24; Acts 16:23). Imprisonments (2 Corinthians 11:23). He had been, doubtless, elsewhere imprisoned besides at Philippi.

Read Robert Jamieson on 2 Corinthians 6 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

In stripes: the apostle, , tells us he was in stripes above measure; and , that of the Jews he five times received forty stripes save one: we read of his many stripes, . In imprisonments; of the imprisonment of him and Silas, , which was not the only time before the writing of this Epistle, as appeareth by this verse. In tumults, or seditions raised by the Jews and the heathens; we have a record of one at Ephesus, , caused by Demetrius: others, by tumults, here, understand unfixed and uncertain habitations, tossing to and fro, so as they could be quiet in no place; but the former seemeth rather the sense of the word, as . In labours; he either means labours with his hands, (which Paul was…

Read Matthew Poole on 2 Corinthians 6 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; Ver. 5. In imprisonment] Chrysostom saith, he had rather be Paul cast into a prison than Paul rapped up into Paradise.

Read John Trapp on 2 Corinthians 6 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) In stripes . . .—The list becomes more specific. “Stripes” we have seen at Philippi (Acts 16:23), and 2 Corinthians 11:23-24 show that there were other instances. Of “imprisonment?,” that at Philippi is, so far, the only recorded instance (Acts 16:24); but there may well have been others, as in 2 Corinthians 11:23. “Tumults” (the same word as in Luke 21:9) at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:50), Lystra (Acts 14:5-19), Thessalonica (Acts 17:5), Corinth itself (Acts 18:12), and Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41). “Labours” describe the usual tenor of his life, the daily work of his calling as a tent-maker, as well as that connected with his ministry. “Watchings” and “fastings” are, probably, both of…

Read Charles John Ellicott on 2 Corinthians 6 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 5. In stripes, in imprisonments] Of these the history of the Acts of the Apostles gives ample testimony; and there were doubtless many instances of persecution in various forms which are not on record. In tumults] ακαταστασιαις. Insurrections raised against them because of the Gospel. It is more natural to understand the word thus, than of agitations, or tossings to and fro in consequence of their unsettled state of life; or because of persecution, which obliged them to flee from place to place. In labours] Both with our own hands to provide for ourselves the necessaries of life, that we might not be chargeable to others; and in labours to spread the Gospel of God through all…

Read AdamClarke on 2 Corinthians 6 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. in stripes] Cf. ch. 2 Corinthians 11:23-24; Acts 16:23.in imprisonments] Cf. ch. 2 Corinthians 11:23. The Acts of the Apostles, up to this date, records only one such, namely that at Philippi, Acts 16:23-40. But the Acts is far from recording all the events of St Paul’s life. See notes on ch. 11:and on ch. 2 Corinthians 1:8.in tumults] The word in the original signifies primarily unsettlement. Cf. margin of A. V., tossings to and fro. St Chrysostom would interpret it of the uncertain dwelling-place of the Apostle. But the word came to mean disorder or tumult. See Luke 21:9; 1 Corinthians 14:33; James 3:16, as well as ch 2 Corinthians 12:20, where the word occurs. In these passages moral…

Read Cambridge on 2 Corinthians 6 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In stripes - In this verse, Paul proceeds to specifications of what he had been called to endure. In the previous verse, he had spoken of his afflictions in general terms.

Read Albert Barnes on 2 Corinthians 6 →

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

in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;

WEBWorld English Bible2000

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;

NETBNew English Translation2006

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in hunger,

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;

RVARevised Version, American1894

in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;

GNVGeneva Bible1599

In stripes, in prisons, in tumults, in labours,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

in stripes, in prisons, in riots, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

in stripes, in imprisonments, in insurrections, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

in stripes, in imprisonments, in insurrections, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

beatings, imprisonments, riots, in hard work, in sleepless nights, in hunger,

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

In stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

We have been beaten up, thrown into prison, and attacked by mobs. We have been worked to the bone, suffering sleepless nights and hunger.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

In blows, in prisons, in attacks, in hard work, in watchings, in going without food;

Word by word, the decisions they made

πληγαῖς,plēgē beatings, G4127 3 different renderings
stripesASV DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA YLT
beatingsBSB MSB NETB ULB WEB
blowsBBE
φυλακαῖς,phulakē imprisonments, G5438 3 different renderings
imprisonmentsASV BSB KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
prisonsBBE DBY DRA GNV
prisonFBV
ἀκαταστασίαις,akatastasia riots, G181 2 different renderings
riotsBSB DBY MSB NETB ULB WEB
tumultsASV GNV KJV NWB RVA
κόποις,kopos labors, G2873 4 different renderings
laborsASV LSV NWB WEB
laborBSB MSB
hard workBBE ULB
troublesNETB

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 · objectμηδεμίανNothingπροσκοπήνan obstacleprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνbeforeμηδενὶno oneverbδιδόντεςplacingclauseἵναso thatclauseadverbialμὴnotverbμωμηθῇshould be blemishednoun phrase · subjecttheδιακονίαministryἀλλ’ratherclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinπαντὶeverythingverbσυνιστάνοντεςwe are commendingobjectἑαυτοὺςourselvesprepositional phrase · adverbialὡςasnoun phraseΘεοῦGod’sδιάκονοιservantsprepositional phrase · adverbialprepositional phraseἐνinnoun phraseὑπομονῇenduranceπολλῇgreatprepositional phraseἐνinθλίψεσινtribulationsprepositional phraseἐνinἀνάγκαιςhardshipsprepositional phraseἐνinστενοχωρίαιςdistressesprepositional phraseἐνinπληγαῖςbeatingsprepositional phraseἐνinφυλακαῖςimprisonmentsprepositional phraseἐνinἀκαταστασίαιςriotsprepositional phraseἐνinκόποιςlaborsprepositional phraseἐνinἀγρυπνίαιςwatchingsprepositional phraseἐνinνηστείαιςfastingsprepositional phraseἐνinἁγνότητιpurityprepositional phraseἐνinγνώσειknowledgeprepositional phraseἐνinμακροθυμίᾳpatienceprepositional phraseἐνinχρηστότητιkindnessprepositional phraseἐνin [the]noun phraseΠνεύματιSpiritἉγίῳHolyprepositional phraseἐνinnoun phraseἀγάπῃloveἀνυποκρίτῳgenuineprepositional phraseἐνin [the]noun phraseλόγῳwordἀληθείαςof truthprepositional phraseἐνin [the]noun phraseδυνάμειpowerΘεοῦof Godprepositional phraseδιὰwithnoun phraseτῶνthenoun phraseὅπλωνweaponsnoun phraseτῆς-noun phraseδικαιοσύνηςof righteousnessnoun phraseτῶνfor thenoun phraseδεξιῶνright handκαὶandἀριστερῶνfor [the] leftprepositional phraseδιὰthroughnoun phraseδόξηςgloryκαὶandἀτιμίαςdishonorprepositional phraseδιὰthroughnoun phraseδυσφημίαςbad reportκαὶandεὐφημίαςgood report

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

in plagis, in carceribus, in seditionibus, in laboribus, in vigiliis, in jejuniis,

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

ܒܢܓܕܐ ܒܐܣܘܪܐ ܒܫܓܘܫܝܐ ܒܠܐܘܬܐ ܒܫܗܪܐ ܒܨܘܡܐ

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

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,

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.

2 Corinthians 6:5ἐνininἐνπληγήbeatings,beatings,πληγήἐνininἐνφυλακήimprisonmenimprisonments,φυλακήἐνininἐνἀκαταστασίαriots,riots,ἀκαταστασίαἐνininἐνκόποςlabors,labors,κόποςἐνininἐνἀγρυπνίαwatchings,watchings,ἀγρυπνίαἐνininἐννηστείαfastings,fastings,νηστείαεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκπλήσσωv. I strikv. I strike, smπλήσσωφυλάσσωv. I keep,v. I keep, guarφυλάσσωἀκατάστατοςAdj unsettAdj unsettled, ἀκατάστατοςκόπτωv. I cut ov. I cut off, mκόπτωἀγρυπνέωv. I am awv. I am awakeἀγρυπνέωνηστεύωv. I fastv. I fastνηστεύωσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςἐνPrep. in, Prep. in, on, aἐνἑπτάIndec.num.Indec.num. seveἑπτάφυλακήn.f. a watn.f. a watchingφυλακήθύραn.f. a doon.f. a door, opθύραβάλλωv. I cast,v. I cast, throβάλλωμόχθοςn.m. wearin.m. wearisome μόχθοςπαρέχωv. I offerv. I offer, proπαρέχω
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 2 Corinthians 6:5

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.

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
πληγαῖς,plēgē beatings, G4127 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
22× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means a blow, wound, or plague, like the wounds Jesus received, as seen in Revelation 13:3. It can also mean a calamity or disaster. In the Bible, it's used to describe physical harm or suffering.
Amplified meaning
blows, wounds
Tyndale gloss
plague/blow/wound
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πληγή (plēgē) means a blow, stripe, or wound, derived from the verb πλήσσω (plēssō). It can also refer to a calamity or plague, particularly in a metaphorical sense. This term appears in several New Testament passages, including Luke 10:30 and Revelation 9:20, where it conveys both physical and figurative meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πληγή, ῆς, ἡ

(< πλήσσω),

[in LXX chiefly for מַכָּה, also for מַגֶּפָה etc.;]

a blow, stripe, wound: pl., Lk 10:30 12:48, Ac 16:23, 33, II Co 6:5 11:23; ἡ π. τ. θανάτου (RV, death-stroke), Re 13:3, 12; τ. μαχαίρας, Re 13:14.

Metaph., a calamity, plague: Re 9:18, 20 11:6 15:1, 6, 8 16:9, 21 18:4, 8 21:9 22:18.†

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

πληγή, -ῆς, ἧ, (πλήσσω), fr. Hom. down; Sept. chiefly for 137, also for 7539 ; 1. a blow, stripe: plur., Lk. x. 30; xii. 48; Acts xvi. 23,33; 2 Co. vi.5; xi. 23; a wound: ἡ πληγὴ τοῦ θανάτου, deadly wound [R. V. death-stroke], Rey. xiii. 3, 12; τῆς μαχαίρας, wound made by a sword [sword-stroke], Rey. xiii. 14. [On its idiomatic omission (Lk. xii. 47, ete.) ef. Β. 82 (13); W. § 64, 4.] ὩΣ a public calamity, heavy affliction, [ οἵ. Eng. plague], (now tormenting now destroying the bodies of men, and sent by God as a punishment) : Rev. ix. 18 [Ree. om.], 20; xi. 6; xv. 1, 6, 8; xvi. 9,[21]; xviii. 4,85 xxi.9; xxii. 18. [Cf. md. Διός, Soph. Aj. 137 (cf. 279); al.]

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

πληγή, “blow ’’: cf. Chrest. IL. 69 (B.C. 246) πληγάς μοι ἐνέβαλεν, P Tebt I. 4419 (B.c. 114) ἔδωκεν πληγὰς πλείους ἧι [εἸῖχεν ῥάβδωι, P Fay 1217 (c. π.6. 103) ἤγαγον μεθ᾽ ὕβρεως καὶ πληγῶν, ‘they dragged me away with insults and blows,’’ and P Tebt 11. 33129 (c. A.b. 131) ἐϊπήνεγκά[ν μο]ι πληγὰς εἰς πᾶν μέλ[ο]ς το[ῦ σ]ώματος. Add from the law of astynomy at Pergamum, carved on stone in the time of Trajan, OG/S 483177, αὐτὸς μαστιγούσθω ἐν τῶι κύφωνι (‘‘ the pillory’’) πληγαῖς πεντήκοντα, and see also Sy// 737 (=* 1109)** (A.p. 178) ἐὰν δέ τις ἄχρι πληγῶν ἔλθῃ, ἀπογραφέστω ὁ πληγεὶς πρὸς τὸν ἱερέα ἢ τὸν ἀνθιερέα. For the ellipsis οἵ πληγάς in Lk 1247, 2 Cor 11%, cf. Herodas IIT. 77, V. 33 (with Headlam’s…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πληγή (plēgē) — plague/blow/wound.

πληγ-ή,

Doric dialect πλᾱγά, ἡ, (πλήσσω) blow, stroke, πεπληγὼν πληγῇσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]: frequently joined with Verbs of cognate signification, πέπληγμαι καιρίαν πληγήν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τύπτεσθαι τῇ δημοσίᾳ μάστιγι ν πληγάς Legal cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+] is frequently omitted, τρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι [NT+5th c.BC+]; καιρίῃ (i.e. πληγῇ) τετύφθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἐμβαλεῖν, ἐντείνειν τινί, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πληγαῖς ζημιοῦν, κολάζειν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πληγῆς ἄρχειν strike the first blow, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰς π. στέγειν, of the shell of a tortoise, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πληγή

plege

from 4141; a stroke; by implication, a wound; figuratively, a

calamity:--plague, stripe, wound(-ed).

see GREEK for 4141

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πληγή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

a blow, stripe, wound

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πληγή plēgē 22x

a blow, stroke, stripe, Lk. 10:30; 12:48; meton. a wound, Acts 16:33; Rev. 13:3, 12, 14; from the Hebrew, a plague, affliction, calamity, Rev. 9:20; 11:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πληγή πληγή, doric πλα_γά, ἡ,

πλήσσω a blow, stroke, Lat. plaga, Hom., etc.; πληγὴν πέπληγμαι καιρίαν Aesch.; in such phrases πληγήν or πληγάς is often omitted, πολλὰς τυπτόμενος Ar., etc.:—the person struck is said πληγὰς λαβεῖν id. Ar.; the striker πληγὰς δοῦναι, ἐμβάλλειν, ἐντείνειν τινί Xen.

a stroke by lightning, Hes.: a blow, stroke of calamity, Aesch.; πλ. θεοῦ a blow from heaven, Soph.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DPF — Noun · dative · plural · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
45%plagues
plagues45% · 10×plague14% · 3×wound14% · 3×wounds9% · 2×beatings9% · 2×blows5% · 1×stripes5% · 1×

22 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 7 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
adverbial41%object36%subject23%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 22 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
ἐκἀπόἐν
ἑπτάIndec
Article the
ἐν
περισσῶςComp
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτός
ἄξιοςworthy, worthy of, d
δέbut, on the othe
πληγήbeatings,22×
what comes after →
Article the
θάνατοςdeathμάχαιραa swordἑπτάIndec
οὗτος
ἀποκτείνωI put to death, οὐδέNegκαίand, even, also,
αὐτός
σφόδραexceedingly, greἵναin order that, sθάνατοςdeath
ἐπιτίθημιI put, place upon, l
ἀπέρχομαιI come or go awa
δέρωI flay, flog, scourg
ὀλίγος& Adv

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

Concordanceπληγή · 22× in the New Testament
Revelation 2 Corinthians Acts Luke
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 50 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 Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 63c. AD 40

ταῖς γὰρ συνεχέσι πληγαῖς γυμναζόμενα καὶ βίᾳ τὴν φορὰν ἀνωθοῦντα κραταιότερά τέ ἐστι καὶ πιαίνεται μᾶλλον.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.50c. AD 75–95

ἀφείλετο δὲ καὶ τὸν ὄφιν τὴν φωνὴν ὀργισθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ κακοηθείᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὸν Ἄδαμον καὶ ἰὸν ἐντίθησιν ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτῷ πολέμιον ἀποδείξας ἀνθρώποις καὶ ὑποθέμενος κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς φέρειν τὰς πληγάς, ὡς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τοῦ τε κακοῦ τοῦ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.12c. AD 100

λέγει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὴν πληγὴν τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἐξ αὐτῶν: Ὅταν πατάξωσιν τὸν ποιμένα ἑαυτῶν, τότε ἀπολεῖται τὰ πρόβατα τῆς ποίμνης.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD
P.Louvre 1 1Soknopaiu Nesos (ArsinoitesAD 13

ἐφʼ ὃ ἔχω συκήρατον ἐξετρύγησεν βιαίως ὅσον ἠβούλετο. πρὸς ὃν καὶ λογοποιούμενος ἔδωκέν μοι πληγὰς πλείους καὶ κατέαξεν κράνωι τὴν ἀριστερὰν χεῖρα καὶ ἀπηνέγκατό μου χιτῶνα καὶ ζώνην καὶ

P.Sijp. 14Philadelphia (?) (Arsinoites)AD 22

θυγάτηρ … … ερε … οῦς, αἱ δύο, καταπεριστᾶσαι τὴν θυγατέρα μου ἔδοσαν αὐτῆι πληγὰς πλείους καὶ ἀφήρπασαν τὸν ταύτης χιτῶνα καὶ τὰς τοῦ ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς τέσσαρας. διὸ ἀξιῶ,

P.Athen.. 32Karanis? (Arsinoites)AD 39

εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν μου ἀπηνέγκαντο ἱματισμὸν … πάντες βε … σκεύη καὶ ἐπήνεγκάν μοι πληγὰς πλείστας εἰς τὸ τυχὸν μέρος τοῦ σώματος … ἐπιθέντες τη … ὥρας δ τῆς

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
φυλακαῖς,phulakē imprisonments, G5438 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
46× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Corinthians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word refers to a prison, guard, or watch, like in Acts 12:10 where Peter was held in prison by King Herod's guards. It can also mean a place of protection or a time of vigilance, as in Luke 2:8 where shepherds kept watch over their flocks.
Amplified meaning
prisons, watch
Tyndale gloss
prison/watch: prison
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

φυλακή (phulakē) refers to a guarding or watch, often associated with the act of keeping watch or the place where individuals are held, such as a prison. It encompasses meanings related to security, custody, and the time divisions of night. The New Testament uses it in contexts of imprisonment (e.g., Mt 14:10) and as a watch during the night (e.g., Lk 12:38).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

φυλακή, -ῆς, ἡ

(< φυλάσσω)

[in LXX chiefly for מִשְׁמֶרֶת and cogn. forms, also for כֶּלֶא etc. ;]

actively, a guarding, guard, watch (Hom., Plat., Xen., al.): cogn. acc., φυλάσσειν φυλακάς, to keep watch, Lk 2:8;

of those who keep watch (as also Lat. custodia), a guard; pl., sentinels, a guard (Hom., al.): Ac 12:10;

of the place where persons are kept under guard, a prison (Hdt., Thuc., al.): Mt 14:10, Mk 6:17, Lk 3:20, Ac 5:19, II Co 6:5,

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

φυλακή, -js, ἡ, (φυλάσσω), fr. Hom. down, Sept. for NNW, Ww, 71D (a prison), x52 (enclosure, confinement), guard, watch, i. e. a. in an act. sense, a watching, keeping watch: φυλάσσειν φυλακάς, to keep watch, Lk. ii. 8 (often in the Grk. writ. fr. Xen. an. 2, 6, 10, etc.; Plat. lege. 6 p. 758 ἃ. down; [οἵ. φυλακὰς ἔχειν, ete. fr. Hom. (Il. 9, 1 ete.) on]; often also in Sept. for Το Ww). b. like the Lat. custodia and more freq. the plur. custodiae (see Klotz, Hdwrbch. [or Harpers’ Lat. Dict.] s.v.), iq. persons keeping watch, a guard, sentinels: Acts xii. 10 [here A. V. ward] (and very often in prof. auth. fr. Hom. down). c. of the place where captives are kept, a prison: Mt. xiv. 10; xxy. 36, [39], 43 sq.; Mk. vi. 17, 27 (28); Lk. iii. 20; xxi. 12; xxii.33; Actsv.19, 22; vili.3; xii. ὅ 5α. 17; xvi. 27,40; xxii.4; xxvi. 10; 2 Co. vi. 5 [here, as in ΗΘ}. xi. 36, A. V. imprisonment]; 2 Co.…

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

φυλακή. (1) For φυλακή in the general sense of ‘‘ care,” “charge,” of a thing: P Lille I. 78 (iii/B.c.) ἐπιζητήσαντος αὐτοῦ βυβλάριά τινα, ἃ ἐδεδώκειν ἐν φυ(λακῆι) ““1] me réclama de petits livres qu’il m’avait donnés en garde.” (2) ‘‘ watch,” “‘guard”’: P Tebt II. 2827 (late ii/B.c.) a guard declares that he will keep the best watch possible upon other people’s holdings—ov(Aakiv) ἀλ[λο]τρ[{1ὧν κλή(ρων) συντηιρήσιν ἀπὸ τίο]ῦ BeAtirov, /vene 254 (soon after B.C. 200) ὅπως δὲ ἡ χ]ώρα ἡ Μιλησίων καὶ ἸΠριηνέων ἐμ. φυλ[ακῆι καὶ σωτηρίαι ὑπάρχηι. (3) = ‘‘a guard,” i.e. ‘‘persons keeping guard” (Lat. custodia), as in Ac 12: P Giss I. 1915 (ii/A.D.), a sister begs her brother not to face some danger (perhaps connected with the Jewish war) without a guard—pi μόνος τὸν κίνδυνον [ἄνευ] φυλακῆς ὑπόμεινε (/. ὑπόμενε). (4) = “« prison” (Mt 1419, a/.): BGU IV. 1138'8 (B.c. 18) ἀπολείίψ)ομαι τὸν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φυλακή (phulakē) — prison/watch: prison.

φῠλᾰκ-ή, ἡ,

(φύλαξ) watching or guarding, especially by night, φυλακῆς μνήσασθε [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φυλακὰς ἔχειν keep watch and ward, [Refs]; φ. κατέχειν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φυλακὴ ἔχει αὐτόν watching engages him, variant in [Refs 8th c.BC+] tell an unarmed man to stand on the defensive, i.e. to give commands that cannot be obeyed, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅπως ἀφανὴς εἴη ἡ φ. that there might be nothing visible to watch, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φυλακὰς φυλάξειν keep watch and ward, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φυλακὰς καταστήσασθαι, κατασκευάσασθαι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. watch or guard, of persons, [NT+5th c.BC+]; φ. τοῦ σώματος a body guard, [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.; garrison of a place or fortress, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἡ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

φυλακή

phulake

from 5442; a guarding or (concretely, guard), the act, the person;

figuratively, the place, the condition, or (specially), the time (as a

division of day or night), literally or figuratively:--cage, hold,

(im-)prison(-ment), ward, watch.

see GREEK for 5442

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φυλακή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

a watching, guard, prison, imprisonment

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φυλακή phylakē 47x

a keeping watch, ward, guard, Lk. 2:8; a place of watch, Rev. 18:2; a watch, guard, body of guards, Acts 12:10; ward, custody, imprisonment, 2 Cor. 6:5; 11:23; Heb. 11:36; prison, 1 Pet. 3:19; a place of custody, prison, Mt. 14:10; 25:39, 44; a watch or division, of the night, which in the time of our Savior was divided into watches of three hours each, called ὀψέ, μεσονύκτιον, ἀλεκτοροψωνία and πρωία, or πρωί, Mt. 14:25; 24:43; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

φυλακή φυ^λα^κή, ἡ, φυλάσσω a watching or guarding, watch, guard, ward, esp. by night, φυλακῆς μνήσασθε keep watch and ward, Il.; so, φυλακὰς ἔχειν id. Il.; ὅπως ἀφανὴς εἴη ἡ φ. that there might be nothing visible to watch, Thuc.; φυλακὴν φυλάττειν to keep watch, Xen.; τὰς φ. ποιεῖσθαι id. Xen.; φυλακὰς καταστήσασθαι to set watches, Ar.

a watch or guard, of persons, Plat., Xen., etc.; ἡ τοῦ σώματος φ. a body guard, Dem.:— a guard or garrison, Hdt.; ἡ ἐν τῇ Ναυπάκτῳ φ., of a squadron of ships, Thuc.

of place, a watch, station, post, Il., Xen.

of time, a watch of the night, Hdt., Eur., etc.

a place for keeping others in, a ward, prison, Anth., NTest.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DPF — Noun · dative · plural · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
73%prison
prison73% · 35×watch10% · 5×prisons6% · 3×imprisonments4% · 2×guard2% · 1×imprisonment2% · 1×time of night2% · 1×

48 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 7 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
adverbial74%predicate13%object9%subject2%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 46 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
ἐνθύραa door, opportunἐκ
εἰς
βάλλωI cast, throw, rκαίand, even, also,παραδίδωμιI hand over, del
ἐν
καίand, even, also,ἐγώDisj
καίand, even, also, nam
συναγωγήan assembly, conδεσμόςa bond, chainδαιμόνιονan evil-spirit,
δέbut, on the other ha
τέταρτοςfourth
φυλακήimprisonments,46×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
οὐNegἔρχομαιI come, goφέρωI carry, bear, b
Article the
νύξthe night, nightκλέπτηςa thief
εἰμίI am, exist
καίand, even, also,ἐν
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spὄρνεονa bird
βάλλωI cast, throw, rush,

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

Concordanceφυλακή · 46× in the New Testament
Acts Matthew Luke Revelation Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Peter Hebrews John
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 71 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 Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.55c. AD 40

ἡ μὲν οὖν εὐθιξία θέσις ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, ἡ δὲ ἐπιμονὴ πρᾶξις τῶν καλῶν [τὸ ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ καλά], ἡ δὲ μνήμη φυλακὴ καὶ διατήρησις τῶν ἁγίων δογμάτων.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.136c. AD 75–95

Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἱππεῖς παραλαβόντες τὸν Βενιαμὶν ἦγον πρὸς Ἰώσηπον καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἑπομένων, ὁ δὲ τὸν μὲν ἰδὼν ἐν φυλακῇ, τοὺς δʼ ἐν πενθίμοις σχήμασι, τί δή, φησίν, ὦ κάκιστοι, φρονήσαντες ἢ περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἢ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς προνοίας…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 14.7c. AD 100

λέγει οὖν ὁ προφήτης: Ἐγὼ κύριος, ὁ θεός σου, ἐκάλεσά σε ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ κρατήσω τῆς χειρός σου καὶ ἐνισχύσω σε, καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλῶν καὶ ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ δεσμῶν πεπεδημένους καὶ ἐξ οἴκου φυλακῆς…

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

τῆς τούτων ἀπαιτήσεως οὐ μετρίως ἐσκυλμένος ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου συνόδου … μετὰ φυλακῆς τόπον ἐκ τόπου μεταγειοχότων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου πρα … ησων ἀπʼ ὀλίγων

P.Lond. 2 p. 163-165 no. 354Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites8 BC–5 BC

τας φάσκοντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν μεθεστακέναι πρὸς … λο … κατὰ φυλακὴν. καταστάντες δὲ καὶ ἀπολογησάμενοι ἐφάνημεν τῶι Κόρδωι ἀθῶιοι τῆς συκοφαντίας, ὥστε εἰ μὴ ἐξ

P.Fay. 53Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 111

ἄλλος μητρὸς τῆς αὐτῆς συντάξιμον τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔτους Θεαδελφίας δραχμὰς ὀκτώ, γίνονται δραχμαὶ η, φυλακῆς δραχμὴν μίαν διώβολον, ἐπιμερισμοῦ ἀπόρων τρεισκαιδεκάτου ἔτους δραχμὰς δύο ἡμιώβολον δεσμοφυλάκων ἡμιώβολον χαλκοῦς β,

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἀκαταστασίαις,akatastasia riots, G181 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This term refers to disorder or confusion, like in 1 Corinthians 14:33 and James 3:16. It describes a state of instability or tumult. The KJV Bible translates it as 'commotion' or 'confusion'.
Amplified meaning
tumults, disorder
Tyndale gloss
disorder
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) is built from the root meaning 'unstable' and covers concepts like instability, disorder, and confusion. It appears in the New Testament in contexts of tumult and disturbance, notably in 1 Corinthians 14:33 and James 3:16. The lexicons agree on its meanings, but Moulton & Milligan note its broader literary use in Stoic texts and astrology.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† ἀκαταστασία, -ας, ἡ (< ἀκατάστατος),

[in LXX: Pr 26:28 (מִדְחֶה), To 4:13*;]

instability (MM, VGT, s.v.); hence, confusion, tumult: I Co 14:33, Ja 3:16; pl. (Bl., §32, 6), Lk 21:9, II Co 6:5, 12:20 (Polyb., al.; v. Cremer, 739).†

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

ἀκαταστασία, -as, 7, (ἀκατάστατος), instability, a state of disorder, disturbance, confusion: 1 Co. xiv. 33; Jas. iii. 16; (Clem. Rom. 1 Cor.14,1; [Prov. xxvi. 28; Tob. iv. 13]); plur. disturbances, disorders: of dissensions, 2 Co. xii. 20; of seditions, 2 Co. vi. 5 (cf. Mey. ad loc.) ; of the tumults or commotions of war, Lk. xxi. 9. (Polyb., Dion. Hal.) * oe

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

ἀκαταστασία. A literary citation for this Stoic word may be made from P Grenf I. 14 (ii/B.c.), the Erotic fragment, where the faithless lover is called ἀκαταστασίης εὑρέτης. See also the astrolegical papyrus published in Archiv i. p. 493 f. τῆς συ[μβ]ίου σῆς ἀκαταστασί[αν] (1. 25 f.). It occurs nearly a dozen times in Vettius Valens, coupled with πλάνη καὶ ἀλητεία (p. 418), ἀνωμαλία (p. 4418—one MS.), στάσις, ἔχθρα, συνοχή, κρίσις, ταραχή, etc.: it several times has οἰκείων dependent on it. The verb ἀκαταστατέω also occurs three times. That the astrologers had so thoroughly domesticated it does not prove that Paul, James and Luke were using a word of the higher culture.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) — disorder.

ἀκατα-στᾰσία, ἡ,

instability, anarchy, confusion, [NT+2nd c.BC+]

II. unsteadiness, τοῦ σώματος[Refs 3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀκαταστασία

akatastasia

from 182; instability, i.e. disorder:--commotion, confusion, tumult.

see GREEK for 182

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀκαταστασία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

disturbance, upheaval, revolution

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀκαταστασία akatastasia 5x

pr. instability; hence, an unsettled state; disorder, commotion, tumult, sedition, Lk. 21:9; 1 Cor. 14:33; 2 Cor. 6:5; 12:20; Jas. 3:16*

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DPF — Noun · dative · plural · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%disorder
disorder60% · 3×riots20% · 1×commotions20% · 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
subject40%object20%predicate20%adverbial20%

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
καίand, even, also, nam
πόλεμοςa war, battle, s
εἰμίI am, exist
γάρfor
ἐν
φυλακήa watching, guar
φυσίωσιςa puffing up, pride
ψιθυρισμόςa whispering, se
ἐκεῖthere, yonder, thith
ἐριθείαambition, rivalr
ἀκαταστασίαriots,
what comes after →
μήNeg
πτοέωI terrify, scare
Article the
θεόςGod, a god
ἐν
κόποςtrouble, toil, l
καίand, even, also, nam
πᾶςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceἀκαταστασία · 5× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians James Luke
Across the New Testament4 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
Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Clement of RomeFirst Clement 3.2c. AD 96

ἐκ τούτου ζῆλος καὶ φθόνος, καὶ ἔρις, καὶ στάσις, διωγμὸς καὶ ἀκαταστασία, πόλεμος καὶ αἰχμαλωσία.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 23.3.4c. AD 140

βιωτικαί εἰσιν αἱ βάσανοι: τιμωροῦνται γὰρ οἱ μὲν ζημίαις, οἱ δὲ ὑστερήσεσιν, οἱ δὲ ἀσθενείαις ποικίλαις, οἱ δὲ πάσῃ ἀκαταστασίᾳ, οἱ δὲ ὑβριζόμενοι ὑπὸ ἀναξίων καὶ ἑτέραις πολλαῖς πράξεσι πάσχοντες.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD
P.Mert. 2 93AD 301–AD 400

τοῖς φίλοις πᾶσι διάγων διατελεῖν ἐὰν … … διὰ τῆς παρεμβολῆς εἴσελθε … … ἀκαταστασίας καὶ δυ … … … ω διὰ θαλάσσης … … ν ἐνεγκεῖν· καίτοι καὶ

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
κόποις,kopos labors, G2873 Noun · dative · plural · masculine
18× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Labor or toil that is physically or emotionally exhausting, such as in John 4:38 and 1 Corinthians 3:8.
Amplified meaning
toil, hard work
Tyndale gloss
labor
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κόπος (kopos) refers to labor, toil, and trouble, often implying fatigue or weariness. It is derived from the verb meaning 'to strike' and encompasses a range of meanings from physical labor to emotional distress. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as the labor of love (1 Thessalonians 1:3) and the efforts of teaching (John 4:38). Different lexicons highlight nuances in its use, particularly in distinguishing it from similar terms like μόχθος.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κόπος, -ου, ὁ

(< κόπτω),

[in LXX chiefly for עָמָל, also for אָוֶן, etc.;]

a striking, beating (in Je 51:33 (45:3) = κοπετός).

laborious toil, trouble: Jo 4:38, I Co 3:8 15:58, I Th 3:5; κ. τ. ἀγάπης, I Th 1:3; ἔργα καὶ κ., Re 2:2; κ. καὶ μόχθος, II Co 11:27, I Th 2:9, II Th 3:8; pl., ἐν κ., II Co 6:5 10:15 11:23; ἐκ τ. κ., Re 14:13; κόπους (-ον) παρέχειν (in cl. more freq. π. πράγματα…

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

κόπος, -ου, 6, (κόπτω) ; 1. i. 4: τὸ κόπτειν, a beating. 2. i. 4. κοπετός, a beating of the breast in grief, sorrow, (Jer. li. 33 (xlv. 3)). 3. labor (so Sept. often for })» ἘΜῸΝ a. trouble (Aeschyl., Soph.) : κόπους παρέχειν τινί, to cause one trouble, make work for him, Mt. xxvi. 10; Mk. xiv. 6; Lk. xi. 7; Gal. vi. 17; κόπον παρέχ. τινί, Lk. xviii. 5. ὍὌ. intense labor united with trouble, toil, (Eur., Arstph., al.) : univ., plur., 2 Co. vi. 5; xi. 23; of manual labor, joined with μόχθος [(see below) ], 1 Th. ii. 9; ἐν κόπῳ Kk. μόχθῳ, [toil and travail], 2 Co. xi. 27 (where L T Tr WH om. ev); 2 Th. iii. 8; of the laborious euurts of Christian virtue, 1 Co. xv. 58; Rev. ii. 2; plur. Rev. xiv. 13; 6 κόπος τῆς ἀγάπης, the labor to which love prompts, and which voluntarily assumes and endures trouble and pains for the salvation of others, 1 Th. i. 3; Heb. vi. 10 Rec.; of toil in teaching…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κόπος (kopos) — labor.

κόπ-ος, ὁ,

(κόπτω) striking, beating, ὀξύχειρι σὺν κόπῳ (Pauw for κτύπῳ) [Refs 4th c.BC+]; στέρνων κόπους (Seidler for κτύπους) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ={κοπανισμός}, [Refs 5th c.AD+]

II. toil and trouble, suffering, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; pain of a disease, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κόπους παρέχειν τινί to give trouble, [NT+2nd c.BC+]; κόπον ἔχειν [Refs 1st c.BC+]

II.2. fatigue, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κόπου ὕπο from very weariness, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κόπῳ δαμέντες, ἁλίσκεσθαι, [NT+5th c.BC+]; περὶ κόπων title of work by [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II.3. work, exertion, καμάραν ἀφ᾽ ἱδίων κόπων ἐποίησεν [Refs 1st c.AD+]; κόπῳ κόπον λύειν proverbial in [Refs 4th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

κόπος

kopos

from 2875; a cut, i.e. (by analogy) toil (as reducing the strength),

literally or figuratively; by implication, pains:--labour, + trouble,

weariness.

see GREEK for 2875

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κόπος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

trouble, toil, labor

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κόπος kopos 18x

trouble, difficulty, uneasiness, Mt. 26:10; Mk. 14:6; labor, wearisome labor, travail, toil, 1 Cor. 3:8; 15:58; meton. the fruit or consequence of labor, Jn. 4:38; 2 Cor. 10:15

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κόπος κόπος, ου, κόπτω a striking, beating, Aesch., Eur.

toil, trouble, suffering, Aesch., Soph.

weariness, fatigue, Eur., Ar.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DPM — Noun · dative · plural · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
47%labor
labor47% · 9×labors21% · 4×trouble21% · 4×toil5% · 1×troubles5% · 1×

19 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 5 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
object44%adverbial39%subject11%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 18 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
καίand, even, also,εἰςὅτιthat, since, bec
ἐν
ἀκαταστασίαdisturbance, uphἐγώἀλλάbut, except
ἐγώ
μήNegπαρέχωI offer, provide
τίςIrg
αὐτός
αὐτός
τίςIrg
κόποςlabors,18×
what comes after →
παρέχωI offer, provide
Article theκαλόςbeautiful, good,ἤδηnow, already
καίand, even, also, nam
μόχθοςwearisome labor,Article the
ἐγώ
μηδείςno one, nothingκαίand, even, also,
Article the
χῆροςa widowἀγάπηlove
αὐτός
εἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inArticle 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

Concordanceκόπος · 18× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 1 Corinthians Luke Revelation 2 Thessalonians Galatians John Matthew Mark
Across the New Testament10 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 17 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 Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Special Laws 2.39c. AD 40

ὧν καὶ ἡ ἄνευ κόπου ψιλὴ διήγησις ἱκανὴ τοὺς μὲν εὐφυεῖς τελειῶσαι πρὸς ἀρετήν, τοὺς δ’ ἀφηνιαστὰς καὶ σκληροὺς τὸ ἦθος εὐπειθεστέρους ἀπεργάσασθαι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.336c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὁ Ἡσαῦς ἀσπασάμενος αὐτὸν ἀνήρετο τῶν παίδων τὸν ὄχλον καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας, ἠξίου τε τότε μαθὼν περὶ αὐτῶν τὸ πᾶν καὶ αὐτὸς συμβαδίζειν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, Ἰακώβου δὲ προφασιζομένου τὸν κόπον τῶν ὑποζυγίων ὑπεχώρησεν εἰς Σάειραν·

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 3.3.2c. AD 140

καὶ μηκέτι μοι κόπους πάρεχε περὶ ἀποκαλύψεως: αἱ γὰρ ἀποκαλύψεις αὗται τέλος ἔχουσιν: πεπληρωμέναι γάρ εἰσιν.

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 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Mich. 12 656Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)AD 1–AD 50

τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ ὑποδεῖξαι αὐτοῖς ὅτι Παπεῖ χάριν τοῦ ἀρχιμαχαιροφόρου ἀνάστατόν με ποιεῖ ἐφόδοις κοπῶν με. διʼ ἃ δεῖ αὐτοὺς τῶι στρατηγῶι μνησθῆναι. οὐδὲν ὀφείλω οὔτε ἔκθεσιν οὔτε ὑποκείμενον.

Doc.Eser.Rom. 103AD 63–AD 64

γράψατε δὲ εἰς πιττάκια, ποῦ ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπιμένει, καὶ γράψω τοῖς στρατηγοῖς, ἵνα μηδεὶς κόπους παράσχῃ. τῆι δ τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ μηνὸς ἐπιδεδώκαμεν αὐτῷ τὰ πιττάκια ἐν τοῖς πριγκιππίοις καὶ

BIFAO 41 (1941), p. 182-183 no. 28Wâdi FawâkhirAD 1–AD 200

παρέχῃ Ἰσχυρᾶς αἰτῶ σε χαλκὸν μὴ αὐτῷ δὸς μηδὲ ἕν . ἂν δέ σοι κόπους παρέχῃ, πλείω τῶν δέκα στατήρων ὧν σοι δέδωκε κατὰ χεῖρας μὴ δὸς … εδυ

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἀγρυπνίαις,agrupnia watchings, G70 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Agrupnia refers to sleeplessness or staying awake, as seen in 2 Corinthians 6:5 and 11:27, where Paul lists it as one of his hardships.
Amplified meaning
watchings, staying awake
Tyndale gloss
sleeplessness
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀγρυπνία (i.e. agrypnia) means sleeplessness or watching. It is derived from the verb ἀγρυπνέω (agrypneo) and is used in contexts of vigilance or wakefulness. In the New Testament, it appears in 2 Corinthians 6:5 and 11:27. The lexicons consistently define it as related to the state of being awake or alert.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** ἀγρυπνία, -ας, ἡ (v. supr.),

[in LXX: Si9, II Mac 2:26*;]

sleeplessness, watching: II Co 6:5 11:27. (Plat., Hdt.; for exx. in π., v. MM, VGT, s.v.).†

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

ἀγρυπνία, -as, 7, sleeplessness, watching: 2 Co. vi. 5; xi. 217. [From Hdt. down.]

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

ἀγρυπνία. This word, in NT only 2 Cor 6°, 1137, is found in Sy// 803°° (iii/B.c.) οὗτος ἀγρυπνίαις συνεχόμενος διὰ τὸμ πόνον τᾶς κεφαλᾶ[ς]--α passage which also throws light on the NT usage of συνέχομαι, e.g. Mt 45 νόσοις καὶ βασάνοις συνεXopévovs. For the adverb of the primary ἄγρυπνος, see OG/S 194” (i/B.c.) ἀ[γρ]ύπνως . . . [ἐφ]ρόντισεν. ayvid. This word, very common in papyri, is claimed for NT vocabulary by an acute conjecture of Mr A. Pallis (4 few Notes on St Mark and St Matthew, based chiefly on Modern Greek, Liverpool, 1903, p. 12). In Mk 655) ἐν ἀγοραῖς appears as ἐν πλατείαις in D 565 700; and the Old Syriac, Latin and Gothic versions have ‘‘streets,”’ which is preferable in sense. Tallis suggests that ἐν ἀγυιαῖς was the original, from which bya very slight corruption came ἀγοραῖς in the Greek MSS, and by paraphrase πλατείαις in D and its fellows. In Oxyrhynchus papyri ἐν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀγρυπνία (agrupnia) — sleeplessness.

ἀγρυπν-ία,

Ionic dialect -ιη, ἡ, sleeplessness, wakefulness, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. time of watching, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. of poetry, product of sleepless nights, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀγρυπνία

agrupnia

from 69; sleeplessness, i.e. a keeping awake:--watch.

see GREEK for 69

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀγρυπνία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

sleeplessness, watching

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀγρυπνία agrypnia 2x

want of sleep, watching, 2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀγρυπνία ἀγρυπνέω sleeplessness, waking, watching, Plat.; ἀγρυπνίῃσιν εἴχετο Hdt.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DPF — Noun · dative · plural · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Watchings

(2 Cor. 6:5), lit. “sleeplessnesses,” the result of “manual labour, teaching, travelling, meditating, praying, cares, and the like” (Meyer’s Com.).

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%watchings
watchings100% · 2×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἐν
κόποςtrouble, toil, lμόχθοςwearisome labor,
ἀγρυπνίαwatchings,
what comes after →
ἐν
νηστείαfasting, the day
πολλάκιςmany times, often
ἐν

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

Concordanceἀγρυπνία · 2× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas
JosephusThe Jewish War 3.318c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὡς ἀγρυπνίᾳ διηνεκεῖ καὶ μάχαις ἐπαλλήλοις δεδαπανημένοι δυνατοὶ μὲν εἶεν οὐδὲ βιαζομένους ἔτι φέρειν, καὶ δόλῳ δʼ ἂν ἁλοῖεν, εἴ τις ἐπιθοῖτο·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 21.7c. AD 100

εἰ δὲ τίς ἐστιν ἀγαθοῦ μνεία, μνημονεύετέ μου μελετῶντες ταῦτα, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία καὶ ἡ ἀγρυπνία εἴς τι ἀγαθὸν χωρήσῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD
PSI 10 1128OxyrhynchosAD 201–AD 300

Σαραπιάδι ἐκεῖσε ἐν τῷ τῆς ἁγιωτάτης Ἴσιδος ἱερῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνθάδε παραγενομένων αὐτῶν τῇ ἀγρυπνίᾳ νυκτὶ τῇ εἰς τὴν δ τοῦ Θὼθ μηνὸς τοῦ εἰσιόντος β ἔτους ἐν τῷ

in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
νηστείαις,nēsteia fastings, G3521 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Fasting or abstinence from food, often for religious reasons, as seen in Matthew 17:21 and Acts 14:23. It can also refer to involuntary abstinence from food, such as in 2 Corinthians 6:5.
Amplified meaning
fastings, abstinence from food
Tyndale gloss
fasting
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

νηστεία (nesteia) refers to fasting or voluntary abstinence from food, often in a religious context. It is used in the New Testament to describe various forms of fasting, including the Day of Atonement and instances of personal abstinence. The term is derived from the verb νηστεύω (nisteuo), meaning 'to fast.'

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

νηστεία, -ας, ἡ

(< νηστεύω),

[in LXX for צוֹם;]

fasting, a fast;

of voluntary abstinence from food: Mt 17:21 (WH, R, txt., om.), Mk 9:29 (WH, txt., R, txt., om.), Lk 2:37, Ac 14:23; of the Day of Atonement, Ac 27:9;

of involuntary abstinence: II Co 6:5 11:27.†

SYN.: ἀσιτία, q.v.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

νηστεία (nēsteia) — fasting.

νηστ-εία, ἡ,

fast, νηστεῖαι καὶ ὁρταί [NT+5th c.BC+]; νηστείας ὄζειν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; at Athens, name for the third day of the Thesmophoria, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

νηστεία

nesteia

from 3522; abstinence (from lack of food, or voluntary and religious);

specially, the fast of the Day of Atonement:-- fast(-ing).

see GREEK for 3522

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

νηστεία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

fasting, the day of atonement

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

νηστεία nēsteia 5x

fasting, want of food, 2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27; a fast, religious abstinence from food, Mt. 17:21; Lk. 2:37; spc. the annual public fast of the Jews, the great day of atonement, occurring in the month Tisri, corresponding to the new moon of October, Acts 27:9*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

νηστεία νηστεία, ἡ, a fast, Hdt.

from νηστεύω

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DPF — Noun · dative · plural · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
75%fastings
fastings75% · 6×fasting13% · 1×fast13% · 1×

8 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%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
ἐν
ἀγρυπνίαsleeplessness, wδίψοςthirst
ἱερόςa temple
Article the
μετά
προσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
Article the
καίand, even, also,
νηστείαfastings,
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
δέησιςsupplication, pr
παρατίθημιI set before, serve,
αὐτός
ἤδηnow, already
παρέρχομαιI pass by
πολλάκιςmany times, often
ἐν

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

Concordanceνηστεία · 5× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Acts Luke
Across the New Testament3 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
The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn Drunkenness 148c. AD 40

καίτοι γε ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τρόπον τινὰ μεθύουσιν οἱ νήφοντες τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἀθρόα ἠκρατισμένοι καὶ τὰς προπόσεις παρὰ τελείας ἀρετῆς δεξάμενοι, οἱ δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ οἴνου μεθύοντες μέθην ἄγευστοι φρονήσεως διετέλεσαν νηστείαν συνεχῆ καὶ λιμὸν αὐτῆς ἄγοντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 5.166c. AD 75–95

Μετάνοια δʼ αὐτοὺς λαμβάνει τῆς τῶν Βενιαμιτῶν συμφορᾶς καὶ νηστείαν ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς προέθεντο καίτοι δίκαια παθεῖν αὐτοὺς ἀξιοῦντες εἰς τοὺς νόμους ἐξαμαρτάνοντας, καὶ τοὺς διαφυγόντας αὐτῶν ἑξακοσίους διὰ πρεσβευτῶν ἐκάλουν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 3.1c. AD 100

οὐ ταύτην τὴν νηστείαν ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην, λέγει κύριος, οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ταπεινοῦντα τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 7th c. AD
P.Köln 14 561Herakleopolis173 BC

δ Αἰγυπτίων … ου εἰσαγωγέως Χοιὰχ α ἕως δ οὐθέν. ε ἀχρημάτιστος διὰ τὴν νηστείαν … ς ζ οὐθέν. η Αἰγυπτίων η ὁ δεῖνα τοῦ δεῖνος Ἡρακλεώτης τῆς ἐπιγονῆς

CPR 5 25Hermopolis (?)AD 601–AD 800

καθαρίσαι ὅλον τὸ χώρημα ἐκεῖνο ὅπως εὕρωμεν ἐπιχωματίσαι αὐτό, ὡς προέγραψα, ἐν ταῖς προκειμέναις νηστείαις θεοῦ κελεύοντος. τὴν δὲ ὑγίειαν Θεοδοσίου γράψῃ μοι, ἐπειδὴ ἤκουσα ὡς σιαίνεται καὶ πάνυ

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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