Menu

2 Peter 2:18 — Word Study

Depth

N1904Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

BSAArroganthuperogkos [inflated with their own nonsense, speaking proud words] forgar of vanitymataiotēs [of no real value, futile] speaking wordsphthengomai they enticedeleazō [lure, tempt] withen [the] passionsepithumia of [the] fleshsarx [the physical body, human nature] to sensualityaselgeia [lustful, driven by desires] thoseho scarcelyontōs escapingapopheugō [recently freed, turning away] from thoseho inen errorplanē [deceit, wrong beliefs, spiritual darkness] living,anastrephō

Word
Listen & take away2 Peter 2
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 18 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (anastrephō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
2 Peter 2:18quick helps
In a sentenceFalse teachers use impressive language to entice those who are newly freed from error.
Who is speakingThe author of 2 Peter warns against deceptive teachers.
Where we areThis verse is part of a warning about false teachers and their destructive influence.
The hard wordὙπέρογκα
Take awayBeware of those who use empty words to lead others astray.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectφθέγγομαι verbφθέγγομαι 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 Peter 2:18

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 — Warning Against False Teachersgenerated

17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
20If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

2 Peter 2:18 addresses the tactics of false teachers who use grandiose yet meaningless language to appeal to the desires of the flesh. This warning is crucial for those who have recently turned away from a life of error, highlighting the dangers that still lurk in their path. The surrounding verses, such as 2 Peter 2:17 and 2 Peter 2:19, emphasize the emptiness of these teachers and the false promises they offer.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Psalm 52:1–3Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
2Psalm 73:8–9They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
3Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
4Daniel 11:36Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.
5Acts 8:9Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 13 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word Ὑπέρογκα, huperogkosgenerated

The word ὑπέρογκος is an adjective that describes someone who is boastful or excessive in their speech. It suggests a kind of arrogance that is inflated and often misleading.

In this context, it indicates that the false teachers are not just speaking grand words; they are doing so in a way that is intentionally deceptive, aiming to lure others into their trap.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The Berean Standard Bible uses the term lofty for Ὑπέρογκα, while the KJV and ASV opt for great swelling, both emphasizing the impressive nature of the speech.

For ἐπιθυμίαις, the translations differ: lusts is chosen by KJV and ASV, while desires is used by BBE and YLT, and passions appears in the BSB.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb here is δελεάζουσιν, they entice, which governs the entire clause. This verb is supported by a series of phrases that describe how they entice and who they are enticing.

The structure includes a noun phrase τοὺς ἀποφεύγοντας (those escaping) as the object of the verb, indicating the target of the false teachers' tactics.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The term ἀναστρέφω appears in the Septuagint, where it is often related to the concept of turning back or returning, similar to its usage in the New Testament.

This connection emphasizes the idea of living or behaving in a certain way, which is relevant in understanding the behavior of those who are led astray.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

2 Peter 2:18 warns that false teachers use impressive but empty words to lure people who are just starting to escape from a life of error. They appeal to the desires of the flesh, leading these individuals away from the truth.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that they speak lofty words?

Lofty words refer to grandiose and impressive language that lacks substance, often used to deceive others.

Who are the ones being enticed?

The ones being enticed are those who are newly escaping from a life of error and are vulnerable to deception.

What is the danger of following false teachers?

Following false teachers can lead to a return to a life of sin and error, undermining the freedom that one has gained.

How can I recognize false teachers?

False teachers can often be recognized by their use of impressive language that lacks true value and by their appeal to sinful desires.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways have I encountered impressive words that turned out to be empty?
  2. How can I guard myself against being enticed by false teachings?
  3. What steps can I take to strengthen my understanding of the truth?
  4. How can I help others who are escaping from error to stay on the right path?

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

Early Church Fathers comment on the dangers of pride and false teachings as seen in this verse. Their insights provide a deeper understanding of the text.

Hilary of ArlesINTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 2 PETER c. 403–449
Pride is always vain because it makes people stupid, as they are without God insofar as they are proud.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Peter 2 →
Andreas of CaesareaCATENA c. 563–637
They are not punished merely for their ungodliness but for the enormity of it as well.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Peter 2 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 2 Peter 2:18 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

For when they speak great swelling [words] of vanity,.... Marvellous things against the God of gods, great things and blasphemies against God, his name, his tabernacle, and his saints; see Daniel

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

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

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

Great swelling words of vanity; i.e. big words, full of sound, and void of sense, at least of truth. He seems to tax the affected, vain speech of seducers, who were wont to clothe their erroneous doctrines (if not disguise the truths of God) with strange, uncouth phrases, which made a show of some rare discoveries, or deep mysteries, whereas indeed they were empty of any thing solid, or tending to edification. They allure: as with a bait; a metaphor taken from the manner of taking fish. Through the lusts of the flesh; to which they give liberty, as a bait to draw men after them. Through much wantonness; this explains the former, and shows what lusts they indulge men in, viz. wantonness and…

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

18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. Ver. 18. Great swelling words] Gr. υπερογκα, bubbles of words, full of wind, big swollen fancies, sesquipedalia verba. Swenckfeldius the heretic bewitched many with those big words (ever in his mouth) of illumination, revelation, deification, the inward and spiritual man, &c. Faith, he said, was nothing else but God himself indwelling in us. And have we not those now that tell their disciples they shall be Christed, Godded, &c.? Through much wantonness] As Hetserus and Monetarius the Anabaptists, who corrupted…

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

(18) Great swelling words of vanity.—Exaggeration, unreality, boastfulness, and emptiness are expressed by this phrase. It carries on the same idea as the waterless wells and the driven mists—great pretensions and no results. The rebuke here is not unlike the warning in 1 Peter 5:5-6. Allure.—Translated “beguile” in 2 Peter 2:14, where see Note. Through the lusts of the flesh.—Better, in the lusts of the flesh (as in 2 Peter 2:3, and 2 Peter 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Peter 1:13). The preposition “in” points to the sphere in which the enticement takes place; “through” should be reserved for “wantonness” (see Note on 2 Peter 2:2), which is the bait used to entice. Were clean escaped.—Both verb…

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

Verse 18. They speak great swelling words of vanity] The word υπερογκα signifies things of great magnitude, grand, superb, sublime; it sometimes signifies inflated, tumid, bombastic. These false teachers spoke of great and high things, and no doubt promised their disciples the greatest privileges, as they themselves pretended to a high degree of illumination; but they were all false and vain, though they tickled the fancy and excited the desires of the flesh; and indeed this appears to have been their object. And hence some think that the impure sect of the Nicolaitans is meant. See the preface. Those that were clean escaped] Those who, through hearing the doctrines of the Gospel, had been…

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

18. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity] Literally, For speaking.… The adjective is used by classical writers both literally and figuratively of excessive magnitude. It indicates what we should call the “high-flown” character of the language of the false teachers. “Vanity” is used in its proper sense of “emptiness.” There was no substance below their show of a transcendental knowledge. Here again we trace a parallel with St Paul’s language, “Knowledge puffeth up” (1 Corinthians 8:1).they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness] Better, they entice in the lusts of flesh (describing the state of the tempters) by acts of lasciviousness (as the dative of…

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

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity - When they make pretensions to wisdom and learning, or seem to attach great importance to what they say, and urge it in a pompous and positive manner.

Read Albert Barnes on 2 Peter 2 →

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

With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who have truly escaped from others who live in error.

NETBNew English Translation2006

For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;

RVARevised Version, American1894

For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that had quite escaped from them who live in error.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

For in speaking swelling wordes of vanitie, they beguile with wantonnesse through the lusts of the flesh them that were cleane escaped from them which are wrapped in errour,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

For [while] speaking great highflown words of vanity, they allure with [the] lusts of [the] flesh, by dissoluteness, those who have just fled those who walk in error,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

for overswellings of vanity speaking, they do entice in desires of the flesh — lasciviousnesses, those who had truly escaped from those conducting themselves in error,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

for speaking swollen words of vanity, they entice in desires of the flesh—licentiousness, those who had truly escaped from those conducting themselves in error,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

They speak with vain arrogance. They entice people through the lusts of the flesh. They entice people who try to escape from those who live in error.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

For, speaking proud words of vanity, they allure by the desires of fleshly riotousness, those who for a little while escape, such as converse in error:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Inflated with their own nonsense, they appeal to sensual desires, luring back into immorality those who have only just escaped from those who live in error.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error;

Word by word, the decisions they made

Ὑπέρογκαhuperogkos Arrogant G5246 3 different renderings
great swellingASV KJV NWB RVA WEB
speaking proud wordsDRA
inflated with their own nonsenseFBV
ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumia [the] passions G1939 3 different renderings
lustsASV DBY GNV KJV NWB RVA ULB WEB
desiresBBE DRA FBV LSV NETB YLT
passionsBSB MSB

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.

clauseγὰρforclauseclause · adverbialnoun phrase · objectὑπέρογκαArrogantματαιότητοςof vanityverbφθεγγόμενοιspeaking wordsverbδελεάζουσινthey enticeprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνwithnoun phrasenoun phraseἐπιθυμίαις[the] passionsσαρκὸςof [the] fleshἀσελγείαιςto sensualitynoun phrase · objectτοὺςthoseclauseadverbialὀλίγωςbarelyverbἀποφεύγονταςescapingnoun phrase · objectτοὺςfrom thoseclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinπλάνῃerrorverbἀναστρεφομένουςlivingclause · adverbialclauseobjectἐλευθερίανfreedomindirect objectαὐτοῖςthemverbἐπαγγελλόμενοιpromisingclausesubjectαὐτοὶthemselveslinking verbὑπάρχοντεςbeingnoun phrase · predicateδοῦλοιslavesnoun phraseτῆς-φθορᾶςof corruption

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

Superba enim vanitatis loquentes, pelliciunt in desideriis carnis luxuriæ eos, qui paululum effugiunt, qui in errore conversantur :

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

ܟܕ ܓܝܪ ܓܘܢܚܐ ܕܣܪܝܩܘܬܐ ܡܡܠܠܝܢ ܡܫܕܠܝܢ ܒܪܓܝܓܬܐ ܛܢܦܬܐ ܕܒܣܪܐ ܠܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܒܡܠܐ ܩܠܝܠ ܥܪܩܝܢ ܡܢ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܒܛܥܝܘܬܐ ܡܬܗܦܟܝܢ

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

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους,

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
ὀλίγως scarcelyNA27, SBL, WH, TregNA28, Tyn, TR, Byz
ἀποφεύγοντας escapingNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

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 Peter 2:18ὑπέρογκοςArrogantArrogantὑπέρογκοςγάρforforγάρματαιότηςof vanityof vanityματαιότηςφθέγγομαιspeaking wospeaking wordsφθέγγομαιδελεάζωthey enticethey enticeδελεάζωἐνwithwithἐνἐπιθυμία[the] passi[the] passionsἐπιθυμίασάρξof [the] flof [the] fleshσάρξἀσέλγειαto sensualito sensualityἀσέλγειαthosethoseοντωςscarcelyscarcelyοντωςἀποφεύγωescapingescapingἀποφεύγωfrom thosefrom thoseἐνininἐνπλάνηerrorerrorπλάνηἀναστρέφωliving,living,ἀναστρέφωἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκὑπέρPrep. in bPrep. in behalfὑπέρμάταιοςAdj vain, Adj vain, unproμάταιοςεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐπιθυμέωv. I long v. I long for, ἐπιθυμέωἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόἀνάPrep. and,Prep. and, apieἀνάφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίφέγγοςn.n. brighn.n. brightnessφέγγοςδόλοςn.m. decein.m. deceit, guδόλοςσαρόωv. I sweepv. I sweepσαρόωἄλφαletter theletter the firsἄλφαπλάνοςAdj misleaAdj misleading,πλάνοςἐνPrep. in, Prep. in, on, aἐνἐπιθυμίαn.f. desirn.f. desire, eaἐπιθυμίασυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςὥσπερAdv just aAdv just as, asὥσπερ
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 Peter 2:18

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.

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
Ὑπέρογκαhuperogkos Arrogant G5246 Adjective · accusative · plural · neuter
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Boastful people are insolent and excessive in their speech, as warned against in 2 Peter 2:18 and Jude 16. This kind of arrogant behavior is condemned in the Bible.
Amplified meaning
inflated with their own nonsense, speaking proud words
Tyndale gloss
boastful
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ὑπέρογκος is an adjective meaning excessive or immoderate, often used to describe something swollen or boastful. It combines the elements of 'over' and 'size' and is found in the New Testament in 2 Peter 2:18 and Jude 16, where it refers to arrogant speech. The lexicons note its use in both literal and figurative contexts, but there is some variation in emphasis on its boastful connotation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὑπέρ-ογκος, -ον

[in LXX: De 30:11 (נִפְלֵאת), etc. ;]

of excessive weight or size; metaph., excessive, immoderate, in late writers, of arrogant speech (v. Mayor on Ju, l.c.): n. pl., II Pe 2:18, Ju 16.†

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

ὑπέρογκος, lit. ‘-of excessive size,” and thence extended to speech “*big,” “arrogant,” in 2 Pet 2!8, Jude?®, the only occurrences in the NT: cf. Assumption of Moses vil. 9 os eorum loguetur ingentia, on which the passage in Jude depends.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὑπέρογκος (huperogkos) — boastful.

ὑπέρογκ-ος, ον,

of excessive bulk or size, γενομένης τῆς κνήμης ὑ. swelled to a great size, [Refs 5th c.BC+]tim.15; δύναμις ὑ., opposed to ταπεινή, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. immoderate, excessive, οὐσίαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τιμαί, εὐτυχίαι, etc., [Refs 1st c.AD+]; τὰ ὑ., opposed to τὰ ἐλλείποντα, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of style, ponderous, verbose, [Refs 1st c.AD+] talk 'big', [NT]: generally, exceedingly great, πρᾶγμα [Refs 2nd c.AD+]. adverb -κως[Refs 1st c.AD+]: neuter as adverb, ὑπέρογκον φρονεῖν [Refs 4th c.AD+]

3. difficult, [LXX]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὑπέρογκος

huperogkos

from 5228 and 3591; bulging over, i.e. (figuratively) insolent:--great

swelling.

see GREEK for 5228

see GREEK for 3591

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὑπέρογκος, ον

Adj

immoderate, boastful

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὑπέρογκος hyperonkos 2x

pr. swollen, overgrown; of language, swelling, pompous, boastful, 2 Pet. 2:18; Jude 16*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὑπέρογκος ὑπέρ-ογκος, ον, of excessive bulk, swollen to a great size, Xen., Dem.

immoderate, excessive, Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-APN — Adjective · accusative · plural · neuter
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-APN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%arrogant
arrogant50% · 1×great swelling50% · 1×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λαλέωI speak, say
αὐτός
ὑπέρογκοςArrogant
what comes after →
γάρfor
ματαιότηςvanity, purposel
θαυμάζωI wonder, admire
πρόσωπονthe face, counte

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

Concordanceὑπέρογκος · 2× in the New Testament
2 Peter Jude
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
γὰρgar for G1063 Conjunction
1,038× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
For is a word used to explain or give a reason, often introducing a justification or clarification, as seen in Matthew 4:18 and Romans 7:1. It's a conjunction that connects ideas and provides additional information.
Tyndale gloss
for
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γάρ,

co-ordinating particle, contr. of γε ἄρα,

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

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

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γάρ (gar) — for.

γάρ

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

γάρ

gar

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

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

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

therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γάρ

Cj.

for

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γάρ gar 1x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

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

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

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

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ματαιότητοςmataiotēs of vanity G3153 Noun · genitive · singular · feminine
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Futility refers to something that is useless or has no real value. In Romans 8:20, it describes the world's condition, and in 2 Peter 2:18, it describes false teachers who lead people astray.
Amplified meaning
of no real value, futile
Tyndale gloss
futility
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ματαιότης (*mataiotēs*) means vanity, purposelessness, or futility. It is derived from μάταιος and is used in the New Testament in Romans 8:20, Ephesians 4:17, and 2 Peter 2:18. The term conveys a sense of emptiness or lack of true purpose, and it appears frequently in the Septuagint, particularly in Ecclesiastes.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† ματαιότης, -ητος, ἡ

(< μάταιος),

[in LXX for הֶבֶל, Ps 30 (31):6 38 (39):5 61 (62):9, al., and nearly 40 times in Ec; for שָׁוְא, Ps 25:4, al.; רִיק, etc.;]

vanity, emptiness, frailty, folly: Ro 8:20, II Pe 2:18; τ. νοός, Eph 4:17 (elsewhere only in Pollux, 6, 134, and Eccl.).†

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

ματαιότης, -7Tos, 7, (μάταιος, q. V-), a purely bibl. and eceles. word [(Pollux l. 6 ¢. 32 § 134)]; Sept. for ὙΠ (often in Eccles.), also for SW, ete.; vanity; a. what is devoid of truth and appropriateness: ὑπέρογκα ματαιότητος (gen. of quality), 2 Pet. ii. 18. Ὁ. perverseness, depravation: τοῦ νοός, Eph. iv. 17. c. frailly, want of vigor: Ro. viii. 20.

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

ματαιότης. This subst., which ‘‘ suggests either absence of purpose or failure to attain any true purpose ” (Robinson Z/%., p. 189), is found zer in the NT (Rom 8”, Eph 417, 2 Pet 218) and frequently in the LXX, but rarely in any secular author, cf. Pollux 6. 134 and Sextus Empiricus adv. Math. i. 278. The word is restored in C/G IV. 8743°.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ματαιότης (mataiotēs) — futility.

μᾰταιότης, ητος, ἡ,

vanity, purposelessness, ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων [LXX+1st c.AD+]; folly, ἀνθρώπων [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ματαιότης

mataiotes

from 3152; inutility; figuratively, transientness; morally,

depravity:--vanity.

see GREEK for 3152

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ματαιότης, τητος, ἡ

n.f.

vanity, purposelessness

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ματαιότης mataiotēs 3x

vanity, folly, futility, from the Hebrew, religious error, Eph. 4:17; 2 Pet. 2:18; false religion, Rom. 8:20*

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

N-GSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Does not usually denote, in Scripture, self-conceit or personal pride, 2Pe 2:18, but sometimes emptiness and fruitlessness, Job 7:3 Ps 144:4 Ec 1:1-18. It often denotes wickedness, particularly falsehood, De 32:21 Ps 4:2 24:4 119:37, and sometimes idols and idol-worship, 2Ki 17:15 Jer 2:5 18:15 Jon 2:8. Compare Paul’s expression, "they turned the truth of God into a lie,"

→ A consequence of the fall Ro 8:20

→ Every man has Ps 39:11

→ Every state of man is Ps 62:9

→ Man, at his best estate, is Ps 39:5

→ Man is similar to Ps 144:4

→ The thoughts of man are Ps 94:11

→ The days of man are Job 7:16; Ec 6:12

→ Childhood and youth are Ec 11:10

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- A consequence of the fall

Ro 8:20

- Every man is

Ps 39:11

- Every state of man is

Ps 62:9

- Man at his best estate is

Ps 39:5

- Man is like to

Ps 144:4

- The thoughts of man are

Ps 94:11

- The days of man are

Job 7:16; Ec 6:12

- Childhood and youth are

Ec 11:10

- The beauty of man is

Ps 39:11; Pr 31:30

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%futility
futility67% · 2×vanity33% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
indirect object33%adverbial33%object33%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 3 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
γάρfor
Article theὑπέρογκοςimmoderate, boas
ἐν
περιπατέωI walk, conduct
ματαιότηςof vanity
what comes after →
Article the
κτίσιςcreation, creatuνοῦςthe mind, reason
φθέγγομαιI speak aloud, utter
δελεάζωI allure, entice

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

Concordanceματαιότης · 3× in the New Testament
2 Peter Ephesians Romans
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Confusion of Tongues 159c. AD 40

ἔστι δὲ φύσει πολέμια ταῦτα, στοχασμὸς ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ματαιότης ἐπιστήμῃ καὶ ἡ διὰ ἐνθουσιασμοῦ μαντεία νηφούσῃ σοφίᾳ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.10c. AD 100

φύγωμεν ἀπὸ πάσης ματαιότητος, μισήσωμεν τελείως τὰ ἔργα τῆς πονηρᾶς ὁδοῦ.

Ignatius of AntiochThe Letters of Ignatius 3.8.2c. AD 110

Οὐαὶ γάρ, δἰ οὗ ἐπὶ ματαιότητι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπί τινων βλασφημεῖται.

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
φθεγγόμενοιphthengomai speaking words G5350 Verb · present · middle deponent · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To speak means to utter a clear sound or proclaim something. This word is used in Acts 4:18 and 2 Peter 2:16 to describe speaking or making a sound.
Tyndale gloss
to speak
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

φθέγγομαι is a verb meaning to utter a sound or voice, often associated with speaking clearly or loudly. It applies to humans, animals, and even inanimate objects, like doors creaking or thunder sounding. The New Testament uses it in contexts such as Acts 4:18 and 2 Peter 2:16, where it conveys the idea of proclaiming or speaking out.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

φθέγγομαι

[in LXX for ענה, נבע hi., etc. ;]

of men or animals, to utter a sound or voice: absol., Ac 4:18; seq. ἐν φωνῇ, II Pe 2:16; c. acc., ὑπέρογκα, ib. 18.†

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

φθέγγομαι; 1 aor. ptep. φθεγξάμενος ; (φέγγος [but ef. Vaniéek p. 1176], ΦΑΩ); depon. mid.; fr. Hom. down; 1. to give out a sound, noise, or cry; used by the Grks. of any sort of sound or voice, whether of man or animal or inanimate object —as of thunder, musical instruments, ete.; [φθέγγ. denotes sound in its relation to the hearer rather than to its cause; the μέγα λαλῶν is a braggart, the μέγα φθεγγόμενος is a lofty orator; Schmidt, Syn. ch. 1 § 53]. 2. to proclaim; to speak, utter: Acts iv. 18; ὑπέρογκα, 2 Pet. ii. 18 (ἄδικα, Sap. i. 8); ὑποζύγιον ἄφωνον ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φωνῇ φθεγξάμενον, 2 Pet. ii. 16. [Comp.: ἀπο-φθέγγομαι.

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

φθέγγομαι ἐκφορίων, “‘and that Musaeus should receive a discharge from the rents previously obtained’’ (Edd.), P Oxy II. 237%) 89 (A.D. 186) ὅτι φθάνει τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀκρειβῶς [ἐξ]ητασμένον, ‘‘the fact that a searching inquiry into the affair had already been held’ (Edd.), 26. Υἷϊ. 2 εἰ ἔφθακας (cf. 2 Thess 215 ἔφθακεν BD* 31) ἅπαξ προῖκα δοὺς t[q] θυγ]ατρί cov, ἀποκατάστησον, “if you have already once given a dowry to your daughter, you must restore it,” (Edd.), 72. XIV. 16663 (iii/A.pD.) φθάνω δὲ ὑμεῖν πρότερον γεγραφηκὼς περὶ τοῦ μεικροῦ Ilavoaviov ὡς els λεγιῶνα στρατευσάμενον, “I have previously written to you about the little Pausanias becoming a soldier of a legion”’ (Edd.), 76. VI. go07!4 (a Will—a.p. 276) τῇ Πτολεμαίδι βεβαιῶ διὰ τούτου pov τοῦ βουλήματος ἣν φθάσας ἐπιδέδωκα αὐτῇ προῖκα, ‘and I also confirm to Ptolemais by this will the dowry which I previously gave her” (Edd.), zd.…

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φθέγγομαι (phthengomai) — to speak.

φθέγγομαι,

[Refs 8th c.BC+]: future φθέγξομαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist ἐφθεγξάμην, Epic dialect and poetry φθεγξάμην [Refs 5th c.BC+]perfect ἔφθεγμαι, 2nd pers. singular ἔφθεγξαι [Refs 5th c.BC+], 3rd.pers. singular ἔφθεγκται (transitive) [Refs 4th c.BC+]: —utter a sound or voice, especially speak loud and clear, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+] (properly of all animals that have lungs, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

I. of the human voice, ἀνθρωπηΐῃ φωνῇ φ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with a participle expressing the kind of cry, φθέγξομ᾽ ἐγὼν ἰάχουσα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also of weak, small voice, φθεγξάμενος ὀλίγῃ ὀπί [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of the battle-cry, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the recitative of the chorus, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐδ᾽ ἂν φθέγξασθαι δυνηθείη would not be able to utter a syllable, [Refs 5th…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

φθέγγομαι

phtheggomai

probably akin to 5338 and thus to 5346; to utter a clear sound, i.e.

(generally) to proclaim:--speak.

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 5338

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φθέγγομαι

v.

I speak aloud, utter

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φθέγγομαι phthengomai 3x

to emit a sound; to speak, Acts 4:18; 2 Pet. 2:16, 18*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

φθέγγομαι to utter a sound or voice, esp. to speak loud and clear, speak, Hom., etc.

of animals, as a horse, to neigh, whinny, Hdt.; of an eagle, to scream, Xen.; of a fawn, to cry, Theocr.

of inanimate things, of a door, to creak, Ar.; of thunder, to sound, Xen.; of musical instruments, Il.

= ὀνομάζω, to name, call by name, Plat.

c. acc. pers. to celebrate one aloud, extol, Pind.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PDP-NPM — Verb · present · middle deponent · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PDP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Nave's Topical Bible

→ Of Jesus

Gracious Lu 4:22

Are spirit and life Joh 6:63

Of eternal life Joh 6:68

Will judge Joh 12:47,48

→ Of the wise

As goads, and as well-fastened nails Ec 12:11

Gracious Ec 10:12

→ Spoken at the proper moment Pr 15:23; Isa 50:4

→ Aptly spoken, like apples of gold in filigree of silver Pr 25:11

→ Of the complete man, gentle Jas 3:2

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%speak
speak33% · 1×having spoken33% · 1×speaking words33% · 1×

3 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 3 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
μήNeg
καθόλουentirely, at all
φωνήa sound, noise, voic
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ματαιότηςvanity, purposelessn
γάρfor
φθέγγομαιspeaking words
what comes after →
μηδέNeg
διδάσκωI teach
κωλύωI prevent, hinder
Article the
δελεάζωI allure, entice by
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

Concordanceφθέγγομαι · 3× in the New Testament
2 Peter Acts
Across the New Testament2 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
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Decalogue 93c. AD 40

οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον, δι’ οὗ στόματος τὸ ἱερώτατον ὄνομα προφέρεταί τις, διὰ τούτου φθέγγεσθαί τι τῶν αἰσχρῶν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 11.40c. AD 75–95

μεταποιεῖ γὰρ καὶ μεταγεννᾷ τὰς ψυχὰς ἐν αὐταῖς ἐγγενόμενος, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἐν συμφορᾷ καθεστηκότων σβέννυσι τὸ λυποῦν, τοὺς δὲ ἀλλότρια χρέα λαβόντας εἰς λήθην ἄγει καὶ ποιεῖ δοκεῖν αὐτοὺς ἁπάντων πλουσιωτάτους, ὡς μηδὲν μικρὸν φθέγγεσθαι, ταλάντων δὲ…

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
δελεάζουσινdeleazō they entice G1185 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · plural
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To entice means to tempt or lure someone into doing something wrong, as warned in 2 Peter 2:14 and James 1:14.
Amplified meaning
lure, tempt
Tyndale gloss
to entice
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word δελεάζω (*deleazo*) is derived from δέλεαρ (bait) and means to entice or allure, often in a deceptive manner. It appears in the New Testament in contexts suggesting temptation or seduction, specifically in James 1:14 and 2 Peter 2:14, 18. The lexicons consistently emphasize its metaphorical use of enticing or beguiling.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* δελεάζω

(< δέλεαρ, a bait),

to allure by a bait: metaph., to allure, entice: c. acc, II Pe 2:14, 18; pass., Ja 1:14.†

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

δελεάζω ; [pres. pass. δελεάζομαι]; (SéAeapabait); 1. prop. to bait, catch by a bait: Xen. mem. 2, 1, 4, et al. 2. as often in prof. auth., metaph. fo beguile by blandishments, allure, entice, deceive: twa, 2 Pet. ii. 14,18; Jas. i. 14, on this pass. οἵ. Philo, quod omn. prob. lib. ἃ 22 πρὸς ἐπιθυμίας ἐλαύνεται ἢ ὑφ᾽ ἡδονῆς δελεάζεται." [Δελματία see Δαλματία.]

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δελεάζω (deleazō) — to entice.

δελε-άζω,

(δέλεαρ) entice or catch by a bait, τὴν γραῦν δ. λεπαστῇ [Refs 4th c.BC+]:— passive, γαστρὶ δελεάζεσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑπὸ χρημάτων, ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II. with accusative cognate, νῶτον ὑὸς περὶ ἄγκιστρον δ. put it on the hook as a bait, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but δ. ἄγκιστρον ἰσχάδι bait it with a fig, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

δελεάζω

deleazo

from the base of 1388; to entrap, i.e. (figuratively) delude:--allure,

beguile, entice.

see GREEK for 1388

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δελεάζω

v.

I allure, entice by a bait

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δελεάζω deleazō 3x

pr. to entrap, take or catch with a bait; met. allure, entice, Jas. 1:14; 2 Pet. 2:14, 18*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δελεάζω δέλεαρ to entice or catch by a bait: — Pass., Xen., Dem.

c. acc. cogn., νῶτον ὑὸς περὶ ἄγκιστρον δ. to put it on the hook as a bait, Hdt.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-3P — Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%being enticed
being enticed33% · 1×enticing33% · 1×they entice33% · 1×

3 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 3 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
ἐξέλκωI entice
ἁμαρτίαa sin
ἀκατάπαυστοςnot ceasing from
φθέγγομαιI speak aloud, utter
ματαιότηςvanity, purposel
δελεάζωthey entice
what comes after →
ψυχήthe soul, life, self
ἀστήρικτοςunsteady, unstab
ἐν
ἐπιθυμίαdesire, eagernes

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

Concordanceδελεάζω · 3× in the New Testament
2 Peter James
Across the New Testament2 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
Josephus
JosephusThe Jewish War 2.468c. AD 75–95

δύο μὲν ἡμέρας ἠρέμησαν οἱ Σκυθοπολῖται τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν δελεάζοντες, τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ νυκτὶ παρατηρήσαντες τοὺς μὲν ἀφυλάκτους οὓς δὲ κοιμωμένους ἅπαντας ἀπέσφαξαν ὄντας τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὑπὲρ μυρίους καὶ τρισχιλίους, τὰς δὲ κτήσεις διήρπασαν ἁπάντων.

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ἐνen with G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter 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)…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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.

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

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
79%in
in79% · 2226×with5% · 135×among5% · 132×by4% · 112×on3% · 72×other renderings4% · 116×other renderings1% · 40×

2,833 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 36 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
adverbial82%predicate11%object3%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,743 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,πᾶςall, the whole, σύ
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύεἰμίI am, exist
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the othe
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,οὐNeg
ἐγώ
μετάπατήρfather, Father, εἰς
ἐνwith2743×
what comes after →
Article the
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaἡμέραa dayκαρδίαthe heart, inner
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theμένωI remain, abide
σύ
εἰμίI am, existμένωI remain, abideκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
καίand, even, also,εἰμίI am, existArticle the
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theτόποςa placeσοφίαwisdom

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

Concordanceἐν · 2,743× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Acts John Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Revelation Mark Ephesians Colossians 1 John

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ἐπιθυμίαιςepithumia [the] passions G1939 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
38× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means a strong desire or longing, often for something forbidden, as seen in Luke 22:15 and Romans 7:7-8. It can describe a passion or craving that can lead to sin or destruction.
Tyndale gloss
desire
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπιθυμία (i.e., *epithumia*) means desire or longing, often with a focus on forbidden things, such as lust. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, including Luke 22:15 and Romans 7:7-8. The term is derived from ἐπιθυμέω and can refer to both earnest and inordinate desires. Some lexicons note its use for sexual desire, while others emphasize its broader implications.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — πάθος, ἐπιθυμία, ὁρμή, ὄρεξις from a scan

Πάθος occurs three times in the N. T.; once coordinated with ἐπιθυμία (Col. 111. 5; for παθήματα and ἐπιθυμίαι in like manner joined together see Gal. v. 24) ; once subordinated to it (πάθος ἐπιθυμίας, 1 Thess. iv. 5); while on the other occasion of its use (Rom. i. 26), the πάθη ἀτιμίας (“ vile affections,” A. V.) are lusts that dishonour those who indulge in them. The word belongs to the terminology of the Greek Schools. Thus Cicero (Tusc. Quest. iv. 5): ‘Que Greci πάθη vocant, nobis perturbationes appellari magis placet quam morbos ;’ on this preference see iii. 10; and presently after he adopts Zeno’s definition, ‘aversa a recté ratione, contra naturam, animi commotio ;’ and elsewhere (Offic. ii. 5), ‘motus animi turbatus.’ The exact definition of Zeno, as given by Diogenes Laértius, is as follows (vii. 1. 68): ἔστι δὲ αὐτὸ τὸ πάθος ἡ ἄλογος καὶ παρὰ φύσιν ψυχῆς κίνησις, ἢ ὁρμὴ…

Read the full entry →
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπιθυμία, -ας, ἡ

(< έπιθυμέω),

[in LXX chiefly for תַּאֲוָה, אָוָה; also for חָמוּד, etc. ;]

desire, longing: Lk 22:15 (v.s. ἐπιθυμέω), Phl 1:23, I Th 2:17, Re 18:14; p1., Mk 4:19; esp. with ref. to forbidden things, desire, lust (Vg., concupiscentia): Ro 7:7, 8, Ja 1:14, 15, II Pe 1:4; pl., Ga 5:24, I Ti 6:9, II Ti 2:22 4:3, I Pe 1:14 4:2; πάθος ἐπιθυμίας,

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἐπιθυμία, -as, ἡ, (ἐπιθυμέω), [fr. Hdt. on], Sept. chiefly for MINN, TN, WWM; desire, craving, longing: Lk. xxii. 15 (on which see in ἐπιθυμέω, fin.); Rev. xviii. 14; τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἔχειν εἴς τι, the desire directed towards, Phil. 1. 23; ἐν πολλῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ with great desire, 1 Th. ii. 17; plur. αἱ περὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐπιθυμίαι, Mk. iv. 19 [W. § 30, 3 N. 5]; spec. desire for what is forbidden, lust, (Vulg. concupiscentia) : Ro. vii. 7sq.; Jas. i. 14 sq. ; 2 Pet.i.4; πάθος ἐπιθυμίας, 1 Th. iv. 5; ἐπιθυμία κακή, Col. iii. 5, (Prov. xxi. 26; [xii. 12]; Plat. legg. 9 p. 854 ἃ. ; πονηρά, Xen. mem. 1, 2, 64; ἀγαθή, Sir. xiv. 14 where see Fritzsche, [who cites also Prov. xi. 23; xiii. 12]); plur., Gal. v. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 9; 2 Tim. ii. 22; iv. 3; 1 Pet.i.14; iv. 2; with a gen. of the object, ἐπιθυμία μιασμοῦ, for unclean intercourse, 2 Pet. ii. 10 [al. with W. § 34, 3 Ὁ. take μιασμ. as gen. of quality]…

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἐπιθυμία in the widest sense of ‘‘ desire,’’ which Hort finds even in Jas 114, may be illustrated from P Giss I. 79 11:16 (c, A.D. 117) δι’ ἣν ἕξομεν εὐω[νεῖν κατ᾽ ἐπ]ιθυμίαν σου, “and then we shall be able to buy cheaply in accordance with your desire” (ἀθυμέω = ‘‘draw back,” ‘‘hesitate,’’ occurs in the same document: see s.v.), Βα III. 970% (ii/a.p.) μεταδῶναί μοι ἀντίρρησιν. .. πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπιθυμίαν, and Sy// 366% (c. A.D. 38) ἀ(λ)είπτοις (‘‘steadfast”’) ἐκείνου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας βουλήμασιν. See also the iii/a.p. love-spell from Hadrumetum edited by Deissmann &S, p. 273 ff., where | the forsaken husband is described as*!—épavra μαινόμενον brought him to you at the expense of a severe and violent | attack upon myself’ (Edd.), 7. VIII. 11217 (A.D. 295) kal αὐτὴ yap ἀνυπέρβλητον ἐπίθεσιν Kal ἁρπαγὴν πάσχουσα πρόσειμι μαρτυρο[μέν]η τὰ εἴς με ἐπιχειρηθέντα, “1 there- | fore, being the…

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπιθυμία (epithumia) — desire.

ἐπιθῡμ-ία,

Ionic dialect -ιη, ἡ, desire, yearning, ἐ. ἐκτελέσαι 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.32; ἐπιθυμίᾳ by passion, opposed to προνοίᾳ, [Refs]: generally, appetite, [Refs]; αἱ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἐ. [Refs]; especially sexual desire, lust, [Refs]; αἱ πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας ἐ. [Refs]

2. with genitive, longing after a thing, desire of or for it, ὕδατος, τοῦ πιεῖν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν ἐ. τινὸς εἶναι [Refs]; εἰς ἐ. τινὸς ἀφικέσθαι θεάσασθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. ἐμποιεῖν ἔς τινα an inclination towards.., [Refs]

II. ={ἐπιθύμημα}, object of desire, ἐπιθυμίας τυχεῖν Thalesap.[Refs]; ἀνδρὸς ἐ., of woman, [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπιθυμία

epithumia

from 1937; a longing (especially for what is

forbidden):--concupiscence, desire, lust (after).

see GREEK for 1937

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπιθυμία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

desire, eagerness for, inordinate desire, lust

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπιθυμία epithumia 38x

earnest desire, Lk. 22:15; irregular or violent desire, Mk. 4:19; spc. impure desire, lust, Rom. 1:24; met. the object of desire, what enkindles desire, 1 Jn. 2:16, 17

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπιθυμία ἐπιθυ_μία, ἡ, ἐπιθυμέω desire, yearning, longing, Hdt., Plat., etc.; ἐπιθυμίᾳ by passion, opp. to προνοίᾳ, Thuc.

c. gen. a longing after a thing, desire of or for it, id. Thuc., etc.; so, ἐπ. πρός τι id. Thuc.

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
34%desires
desires34% · 13×desire32% · 12×lusts11% · 4×passions11% · 4×covetousness5% · 2×lust3% · 1×passion3% · 1×evil desires3% · 1×

38 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 8 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
adverbial50%object32%subject16%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 38 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,ἐνκατά
ἴδιοςone’s own, private,
Article the
ἐν
κόσμοςthe world, univeσάρξflesh, bodyδελεάζωI allure, entice
καίand, even, also, nam
περιπατέωI walk, conduct παγίςa snare, trap
πάθοςsuffering, emotion,
ἀκαθαρσίαuncleanness, impἐν
ἐπιθυμία[the] passions38×
what comes after →
Article the
σάρξflesh, bodyπατήρfather, Father, καρδίαthe heart, inner
αὐτός
πορεύομαιI travel, journeArticle the
σάρξflesh, body
οὐNegἀσέλγειαwantonness, lewd
εἰσπορεύομαιI journey into, go i
συμπνίγωI choke utterly,
ἐπιθυμέωI long for, covet, l
οὗτος

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

Concordanceἐπιθυμία · 38× in the New Testament
Romans 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 Timothy 1 Thessalonians Ephesians Galatians James Jude Titus 1 Timothy
Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 31 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 79c. AD 40

τουτὶ δὲ συμβήσεται, ἐὰν μήτε αἱ ἄλογοι ἡδοναὶ ψυχῆς δυναστεύσωσι γαστριμαργίαν καὶ λαγνείαν ἐπιτειχίσασαι μήτε αἱ δόξης ἢ χρημάτων ἢ ἀρχῆς ἐπιθυμίαι τὸ τοῦ βίου κράτος ἀνάψωνται μήτε στείλωσι καὶ κάμψωσι διάνοιαν αἱ λῦπαι μήθ’ ὁ κακὸς σύμβουλος…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.164c. AD 75–95

ἐμποδίζει δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεὸς τὴν ἄδικον ἐπιθυμίαν νόσῳ τε καὶ στάσει τῶν πραγμάτων·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 10.9c. AD 100

περὶ μὲν τῶν βρωμάτων λαβὼν Μωϋσῆς τρία δόγματα οὕτως ἐν πνεύματι ἐλάλησεν: οἱ δὲ κατ̓ ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς σαρκὸς ὡς περὶ βρώσεως προσεδέξαντο.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD

δυνηθῆναι ὠφελούμεν … … ἀφʼ ὧν ἔσχον καὶ ζῆλον τοῖς λοιποῖς ἐμποιῆσαι τῆς ὁμοίας ἐπιθυμίας ἀπὸ τοῦ παραδείγματος. ἔτους ιϛ Μεσορὴ α εἰσὶ δὲ Κυνοπολίτου Ὀξυρυγχίτου Ὀάσεως ζ Νομῶν

BGU 3 970ArsinoitesAD 177

ἡ δὲ ἐτόλμησεν μεταδῶναί μοι ἀντίρρησιν διʼ ἧς ἐνε … τινα πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπιθυμίαν. ἄχρι δὲ οὗ ἂν τὰ ἑξῆς ἐπιτελῶ διὰ τοῦ ξενικῶν πράκτορος ἀκολούθως ᾗ παρεκόμισα

P.Herm. 6Hermupolis ? (HermopolitesAD 317–AD 323

τοῖς ἐρῶσι καὶ ποθοῦσι διαφαίνεται. οὕτω τοίνυν τὸν αὐτὸν παθὼν, εὔχομαι τῆς τοιαύτης ἀπαλλαγῆναι ἐπιθυμίας, ἀφʼ ἧς καὶ θεωρεῖν σε τάχιστά μοι συμβήσεται· ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτωι διάκειμαι τοὺς

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
σαρκὸςsarx of [the] flesh G4561 Noun · genitive · singular · feminine
147× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Flesh refers to the physical body, like the meat of an animal or the human body, as seen in 1 Corinthians 15:39 and Luke 24:39.
Amplified meaning
the physical body, human nature
Tyndale gloss
flesh
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σάρξ (i.e. *sarx*) means 'flesh' and refers to the soft substance of the body, both human and animal. It encompasses physical aspects, such as the body and its desires, as well as metaphorical uses related to human nature and mortality. In the New Testament, it contrasts with the spirit and is often associated with sinful desires. Notably, the term appears in various contexts, including references to Christ's earthly life and the nature of humanity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for בָּשָׂר ;]

flesh;

as in cl. generally,

prop., of the soft substance of the animal body: I Co 15:39, II Co 12:7, Ga 6:13, al.; σ. καὶ αἷμα, I Co 5:50; σ. καὶ ὀστέα, Lk 24:39; pl., of the flesh of many or parts of the flesh of one (cl.), Re 17:16 19:18; φαγεῖν, Re, ll. c. (cf. κατεσθίειν, IV Ki 9:36, al., and βιβρώσκειν, freq. in l.); metaph., Ja 5:3; mystically, φ. (τρώγειν) τὴν σ. τοῦ υἱοῦ τ. ἀνθρώπου, Jo 6:52-56;

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ, (Aeol. σύρξ ; hence it seems to be derived fr. σύρω, akin to σαίρω, ‘to draw,’ ‘to draw off,’ and to signify what can be stripped off fr. the bones [ Etym. Magn. 708, 34; “sed quis ae ” (Lob. Paralip. p: 111)]), fr. Hom. down, Hebr. Ww 1. prop. flesh (the soft substance 5 the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both men and beasts: 1 Co. xv. 39; plur.—of the flesh of many beings, Rev. xix. 18, 21; of the parts of the flesh of one, Lk. xxiv. 39 Tdf.; Rev. xvii. 16; accordingly it is distinguished both from blood, σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα (on which expression see below, 2 a.; 3 bis; 4 fin. τς W. 191), and from bones, πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει, Lk. xxiv. 39 (οὐ γὰρ ἔτι σάρκας τε καὶ ὀστέα ἶνες ἔχουσιν, Hom. Od. 11, 219). φαγεῖν Tas σάρκας τινός: prop., Rey. xvii. 16; xix. 18, (Lev. xxvi. 29; κατεσθίειν, 2 K. ix. 36, and often in Sept.; in class.…

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

σάρξ. It lies outside our purpose to discuss the theological implications underlying the use of this important word in the NT. They are due partly to tie influence of the LXX, and partly to the language-forming power of Christianity by which old terms were ‘‘ baptized” into new conditions: see the full discussion of the term in Greek and Hebrew writings until A.p. 180 in Burton, ‘‘ Spirit, Soul, and Flesh” (Chicago, 1918), and the same writer’s ‘‘ Commentary on Galatians ’’ (in ZCC) p. 492 ff., also Lightfoot Notes, p. 88. All that can be attempted here is to cite a few exx. of the word from the inscrr. It does not seem to occur in the papyri. Thus for σάρξ Ξε κρέας see OG/S γ815 (B.c. 221-205) SiSwv . .. σάρκα πεντάμναιον ἀπίὸ τῶ Blods τῶ θυομένω τῶ Δὶ τῶ Σώϊτηρ]ι, and, for the plur., Sy// 645 (= *1047)" (c. B.C. 100) παρατιθέτω]σαν δὲ καὶ é[r]l τὴν τράπεζαν τοῦ μὲν βοὸς .. . . - καὶ]…

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σάρξ (sarx) — flesh.

σάρξ,

genitive σαρκός, ἡ, Aeolic dialect σύρξ [Refs]:— flesh, [Refs 8th c.BC+] always in plural, except [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes to represent the whole body, μήτε γῆ δέξαιτό μου σάρκας θανόντος [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also collectively, of the body, γέροντα τὸν νοῦν, σάρκα δ᾽ ἡβῶσαν φέρει [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σαρκὸς περιβόλαια, ἐνδυτά, [Refs 5th c.BC+] uses singular and plural in much the same manner, ταῖς σαρξὶ σάρκες προσγένωνται [Refs], etc.: portions of meat, usually in plural, σάρκας τρεῖς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; but, pieces of flesh or membrane, βήσσοντα.. ὥστε σάρκας ἐνπύους.. ἀποβάλλειν [Refs]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

σάρξ

sarx

probably from the base of 4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e.

(strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body

(as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is

external, or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human

nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or

(specially), a human being (as such):--carnal(-ly, + -ly minded),

flesh(-ly).

see GREEK for 4563

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

n.f.

flesh, body

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σάρξ sarx 147x

flesh, Lk. 24:39; Jn. 3:6; the human body, 2 Cor. 7:5; flesh, human nature, human frame, Jn. 1:13, 14; 1 Pet. 4:1; 1 Jn. 4:2; kindred, Rom. 11:14; lineage, Rom. 1:3; 9:3; flesh, humanity, human beings, Mt. 24:22; Lk. 3:6; Jn. 17:2; the circumstances of the body, material condition, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σάρξ σαρκός flesh, Lat. caro, Hom., etc.: in pl. the flesh or muscles of the body, ἔγκατά τε σάρκας τε καὶ ὀστέα Hom.; so in Hes., Aesch., etc.:—so sometimes in sg., the flesh, the body, γέροντα τὸν νοῦν, σάρκα δ᾽ ἡβῶσαν φέρει Aesch.

the flesh, as opp. to the spirit, NTest.; also for man's nature generally, id. NTest.; πᾶσα σάρξ all human kind, id. NTest.

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

N-GSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

@basar, she'er):

1. Etymology:

Used in all senses of the word, the latter, however, most frequently in the sense of kin, family, relationship (compare sha'arah, "kins-woman," Le 18:17): Le 18:6; 25:49; Pr 11:17; Jer 51:35, and probably Ps 73:26. In all other places she'er means "flesh" = body (Pr 5:11) or = food (Ps 78:20,27; Mic 3:2,3). Tibhchah, is "(slaughtered) flesh for food," "butcher's meat" (1Sa…

Flesh

In the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and particularly humanity as a whole (Gen. 6:12, 13); (4) mutability and weakness (2 Chr. 32:8; comp. Isa. 31:3; Ps. 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression “heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19). The expression “my flesh and bone” (

The substance of which the bodies of men and animals are composed. In the Bible, besides the ordinary sense, Job 33:25, it denotes mankind as a race, Ge 6:12 Ps 145:21 Isa 40:5-6; and all living creatures on the earth, Ge 6:17,19. It is often used in opposition to "spirit," as we use body and soul, Job 14:22; and sometimes means the body as animated and sensitive, Mt 26:41, and the seat of bodily appetites, Pr 5:11

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

Counted over the 107 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 124c. AD 40

φησὶ δὲ καὶ Ἱπποκράτης ὁ τῆς φύσεως ἐπιγνώμων ἐν ἑβδομάδι κρατύνεσθαι καὶ τὴν πῆξιν τῆς γονῆς καὶ τὴν ἀνάπλασιν τῆς σαρκός.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.120c. AD 75–95

ἀπαγγέλλεται δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπὸ τῶν γραμματέων, ὅτι τὸ πλῆθος εἰς τὸν θεὸν ἐξαμαρτάνει θῦσαν καὶ πρὶν ἢ τὸ αἷμα καλῶς ἀποπλῦναι καὶ τὰς σάρκας ποιῆσαι καθαρὰς ἐσθίον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.1c. AD 100

Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὑπέμεινεν ὁ κύριος παραδοῦναι τὴν σάρκα εἰς καταφθοράν, ἵνα τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἁγνισθῶμεν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ ῥαντίσματος αὐτοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 8th c. AD
BIFAO 64 (1964), p. 68-Magdola (Arsinoites) Magdola232 BC

ὃ ἂν τύχοι μέρος τοῦ σώματός μου, καὶ δακοῦσα τὸν ἀριστερὸν ὦμόν μου, ἀποσπᾶι σάρκα, παρόντων Πάσιτος τοῦ Κρίτωνος καὶ Ἁρμάχιος καὶ Τοτοέους καὶ Πάσιτος καὶ τοῦ Ὥρου. ἀξιῶ

JJP 33 (2003), p. 165-169 no. 2Ban­ganartiAD 751–AD 800

ἀπὸ Διοκλητιανοῦ … , μηνὶ Φαῶφι κγ. ὁ θεὸς τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ πάσης σαρκός, ἀνάπαυσον τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτ

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ἀσελγείαιςaselgeia to sensuality G766 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Debauchery refers to licentiousness or wantonness, involving excessive and immoral behavior. It is mentioned in Mark 7:22, Galatians 5:19, and 1 Peter 4:3 as a vice to be avoided.
Amplified meaning
lustful, driven by desires
Tyndale gloss
debauchery
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀσέλγεια (i.e., *aselgeia*) refers to licentiousness, wantonness, or excess. It is built from a negative particle and a root meaning 'continent,' suggesting a lack of restraint. The term appears in several New Testament passages, including Mark 7:22 and Romans 13:13. Some lexicographers offer differing views on its etymology, but the general consensus is that it denotes unbridled lust and shameless behavior.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** ἀσέλγεια, -ας, ἡ

(< ἀσελγής, licentious; v. MM, s.v.),

[in LXX: Wi 14:26, III Mac 2:26*;]

licentiousness, wantonness, excess: Mk 7:22, Ro 13:13, II Co 12:21, Ga 5:19 (Lft., in l.), Eph 4:19, I Pe 4:3, II Pe 2:2, 7, 18, Ju 4.†

SYN.: ἀσωτία, profligacy, prodigality (v. Tr., Syn., § xvi; DB, iii, 46).

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

ἀσέλγεια, -as, 7, the conduct and character of one who is ἀσελγής (a word which some suppose to be compounded of a priv. and Σέλγη, the name of a city in Pisidia whose citizens excelled in strictness of morals [so Etym. Magn. 152, 38; per contra ef. Suidas 603 d.]; others of a intens. and σαλαγεῖν to disturb, raise a din; others, and now the majority, of a priv. and σέλγω i. q. θέλγω. not affecting pleasantly, exciting disgust), wnbridled lust, excess, licentiousnéss, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence: Mk. vii. 22 (where it is uncertain what particular vice is spoken of); of gluttony and venery, Jude 4; plur., 1 Pet. iv. 3; 2 Pet. ii. 2 (for Rec. ἀπωλείαις), 18; of carnality, lasciviousness: 2 Co. xii. 21; Gal. v.19; Eph.iv. 19; 2 Pet. ii. 7; plur. “wanton (acts or) manners, as filthy words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males and…

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἀσέλγεια appeared in P Magd 245 according to the original reading, but has been corrected in the new edition. The adj. appears among a number of technical epithets of ζῴδια in Vettius Valens p. 3355". -Ὦ χερσαῖα ἢ ἀσελγῆ ἢ λατρευτικὰ καὶ τὰ λοιπά. An obscure and badly-spelt document of iv/v A.D., BGU IV. 1024 ¥: 2", seems to contain this noun in the form ἀθελγία- -ἀλλὰ ᾿ναντία Kal ταύτης ὑπὸ σοῦ γενόμενον ἀθελγία ἐλενλέχ[ο]υσα τὰ πεπραγμένα, which the editor understands as = ἀλλ᾽ ἐναντία ταύτῃ ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ γενομένη ἀθελγία ἐλέγχουσα κτλ. But we mention this passage only to note how early the popular etymology was current connecting it with @€Ayw. It is dubious at best, and the history of the word is really unknown ; but cf. Havers in /zdogerm. Forschungen xxviii (1911) p. 194 ff., who, adopting the foregoing etymology, understands ἀσελγής as = “‘ geschlagen,” then ‘‘ wahnsinnig,” and then…

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀσέλγεια (aselgeia) — debauchery.

ἀσέλγ-εια, ἡ,

licentiousness, wanton violence, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; insolence, opposed to κολακεία, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. licentiousness, περὶ τὰς σωματικὰς ἐπιθυμίας[Refs 2nd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀσέλγεια

aselgeia

from a compound of 1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed

selges (of uncertain derivation, but apparently meaning

continent); licentiousness (sometimes including other

vices):--filthy, lasciviousness, wantonness.

see GREEK for 1

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀσέλγεια, ας, ἡ

n.f.

wantonness, lewdness

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀσέλγεια aselgeia 10x

intemperance; licentiousness, lasciviousness, Rom. 13:13; insolence, outrageous behavior, Mk. 7:22

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀσέλγεια ἀσελγής licentiousness, Plat., Dem.

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
Nave's Topical Bible

→ General scriptures concerning Ec 2:24; 8:15; 11:9; Isa 22:13; 56:12; Lu 12:19,20; 16:25; 1Co 15:32,33; Jas 5:5; Jude 1:18,19

→ See ADULTERY

→ See DRUNKENNESS

→ See FORNICATION

→ See GLUTTONY

→ See LASCIVIOUSNESS

→ See SELF-INDULGENCE

→ See SODOMY

→ Also see ABSTINENCE, TOTAL

→ See CONTINENCE

→ See SELF-DENIAL

→ See TEMPERANCE

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%sensuality
sensuality100% · 10×

10 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.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial70%predicate10%object10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 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
κοίτηa bed, marriage πορνείαfornication, ido
Article the
παραδίδωμιI hand over, delαὐτός
ἐν
πορεύομαιI travel, journeἄθεσμοςlawless
δόλοςdeceit, guile, treac
πονηρίαwickedness, iniq
ἀκαθαρσίαuncleanness, impurit
πορνείαfornication, ido
ἀσέλγειαto sensuality10×
what comes after →
ὀφθαλμόςthe eye
πονηρόςevil, bad, wicke
μήNeg
ἔριςcontention, stri
ὅς
πράσσωI do, fare, requ
εἰς
ἐργασίαworking, activit
ἐπιθυμίαdesire, eagerness fo
οἰνοφλυγίαdrunkenness

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

Concordanceἀσέλγεια · 10× in the New Testament
2 Peter 1 Peter 2 Corinthians Ephesians Galatians Jude Mark Romans
Across the New Testament8 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Special Laws 3.23c. AD 40

ὁ δὲ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων χλεύην θέμενος τὴν ἑκατέρων εὐλάβειαν ὡς ἡμίεργα διαταταττομένων εὐφόρησεν εἰς ἀσέλγειαν, ἐπιδαψιλευόμενος δυσθεράπευτον κακὸν σώμασι καὶ ψυχαῖς ἀκρασίαν καὶ παρασχὼν ἄδειαν ἁπάσας ἀδελφὰς ἄγεσθαι, τάς τε ἰδίας τοῦ ἑτέρου τῶν…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.318c. AD 75–95

ἦν δὲ τὸ γύναιον δραστήριόν τε καὶ τολμηρόν, εἰς τοσαύτην δὲ ἀσέλγειαν καὶ μανίαν προύπεσεν, ὥστε καὶ ναὸν τῷ Τυρίων θεῷ ὃν Βελίαν προσαγορεύουσιν ᾠκοδόμησε καὶ ἄλσος παντοίων δένδρων κατεφύτευσε·

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 26.15.3c. AD 140

αἱ δὲ ἀκόλουθοι αὐτῶν καλοῦνται Λύπη, Πονηρία, Ἀσέλγεια, Ὀξυχολία, Ψεῦδος, Ἀφροσύνη, Καταλαλιά, Μῖσος.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 6th c. AD
BGU 7 1578Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 212

ἡ δὲ ἴσως ἂν ἀπαίδευτος οὖσα … καὶ ἀχθομένη τῷ ὑποχειρίαν μοι εἶναι πᾶσαν ἀσέλγειαν … ἀμνηστίαν ποιησαμένη ἧς τε μετὰ καμάτου … … αὐτῇ παρέσχον τὴν ἐλπίδα εχ

ἐχρεώστουν τὴν δόσιν ὑπὲρ σοῦ τῷ σῷ δανειστῇ, καὶ μηδαμῶς δυνησομένου δυσπραγίᾳ χρήσασθαι ἢ ἀσελγείᾳ καὶ ἀσωτίας ἔργοις καὶ ὑπερθέσει χρήσεσθαι καθʼ οἱανοῦν δήποτε πρόφασιν περὶ τὴν ἀπόδοσιν τῶν

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
τοὺςho those G3588 Article · accusative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

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

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

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

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-APM — Article · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-APM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
those19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ὀλίγωςontōs scarcely G6067 Adverb
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
really
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%scarcely
scarcely100% · 1×

1 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.

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ἀποφεύγονταςapopheugō escaping G668 Verb · second aorist · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To escape something means to get away from it, like fleeing from danger, as seen in 2 Peter 2:18 and 2:20. This word is about avoiding or evading something. In the Bible, it can also refer to escaping sin or its consequences.
Amplified meaning
recently freed, turning away
Tyndale gloss
to escape
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀποφεύγω (i.e., *apopheugo*) means to flee from or escape. It is built from the prefix ἀπο- (away from) and the root φεύγω (to flee). The term appears in contexts involving physical or metaphorical escape, notably in 2 Peter 1:4 and 2:18, 20. The lexicons agree on its basic meaning and usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** ἀπο-φεύγω,

[in LXX: Si 22:22*;]

to flee from, escape: c. acc., II Pe 2:18, 20; c. gen., II Pe 1:4.†

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

ἀπο-φεύγω [ptcp. in 2 Pet. ii. 18 LT Tr WH; W. 342 (321)]; 2 aor. ἀπέφυγον; [fr. (Hom.) batrach. 42, 47 down]; to flee from, escape; with acc., 2 Pet. ii. 18 (where L T wrongly put a comma after ἀποφ. [W. 529 (492)]), 20; with gen., by virtue of the prep. [B. 158 (138); W. § 52, 4, 1 ¢.], 2 Pet. i. 4.

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

ἀποφεύγω. P Ryl IL. γγ39 (a.p. 192) ἀναδεξάμενος τὴν μείζονα ἀρχὴν οὐκ ὀφείλει τὴν ἐλάττον᾽ ἀποφεύγειν.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀποφεύγω (apopheugō) — to escape.

ἀπο-φεύγω,

future -φεύξομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+] -οῦμαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect -πέφευγα[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—flee from, escape, c.accusative, [NT+6th c.BC+]: with infinitive, auoid, λέγειν[Refs 6th c.AD+]: absolutely, get safe away, escape, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; go free, of manumitted slaves, [Refs]

II. as law-term, ἀ. πολλὸν τοὺς διώκοντας[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. absolutely, get clear off, be acquitted, opposed to ἁλίσκομαι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.3. of a woman in child-birth, bring to birth, ἀ. τὸ παιδίον ἐν τῷ τόκῳ[Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀποφεύγω

apopheugo

from 575 and 5343; (figuratively) to escape:--escape.

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 5343

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀποφεύγω

v.

I flee from, escape

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀποφεύγω apopheugō 3x

to flee from, escape; met. to be rid, be freed from, 2 Pet. 1:4; 2:18, 20*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀποφεύγω to flee from, escape, c. acc., Hdt., etc.:—absol. to get safe away, escape, id. Hdt.

as law-term, to escape from, τοὺς διώκοντας id. Hdt., attic; also, ἀπ. δίκην Ar., Dem.: —absol. to get clear off, be acquitted, Hdt.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAP-APM — Verb · second aorist · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAP-APM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%having escaped
having escaped67% · 2×escaping33% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 3 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
φύσιςnature, inherent nat
κοινωνόςa sharer, partne
ὀλίγος& Adv
Article the
γάρfor
εἰCond
ἀποφεύγωescaping
what comes after →
Article the
ἐνμίασμαpollution, defil

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

Concordanceἀποφεύγω · 3× in the New Testament
2 Peter
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
τοὺςho from those G3588 Article · accusative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

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

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

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

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-APM — Article · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-APM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
from those19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter 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)…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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.

Read the full entry →
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
Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
πλάνῃplanē error G4106 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Error or deceit, as in Matthew 27:64 where the Pharisees were worried about Jesus' disciples stealing his body. This word refers to straying from what is right or true.
Amplified meaning
deceit, wrong beliefs, spiritual darkness
Tyndale gloss
error
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πλάνη (*planē*) means a wandering or straying, often used metaphorically to denote error, particularly in moral or religious contexts. It appears in the New Testament in verses such as Matthew 27:64 and Romans 1:27, where it conveys notions of deceit and wrong opinion. The lexicons agree on its general meaning, but some entries emphasize its use in relation to deceit more than others.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πλάνη, -ης, ἡ,

[in LXX: Pr 14:8 (מִרְמָה), Wi 1:12, al;]

a wandering. Metaph., a going astray, an error (in NT always with respect to morals or religion): Mt 27:64, Ro 1:27, Eph 4:14, I Th 2:3, II Th 2:11, Ja 5:20, II Pe 2:18 3:17, I Jo 4:6, Ju 11.†

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

πλάνη, -ns, 7, α wandering, a straying about, whereby one, led astray from the right way, roams hither and thither (Aeschyl., [Hdt.], Eur., Plat., Dem.,al.). In the N. T. metaph. mental straying, i.e. error, wrong opinion relative to morals or religion: Eph. iv. 14; 1 Th. ii. 3; 2 Th. ii. 11; 2 Pet. ii. 18; iii. 17; 1 Jn. iv. 6; Jude 11 (on which [cf. W. 189 (177) and] see ἐκχέω, b. fin.) ; er ror which shows itself in action, a wrong mode of acting: Ro. i. 27; πλάνη ὁδοῦ τινος, [R. V. error of one’s way i. 6.7 the wrong manner of life which one follows, Jas. v. 20 (πλάνη ζωῆς, Sap. i. 12); as sometimes the Lat. error, iq. that which leads into error, deceit, fraud: Mt. XXVii. 64.* [πλάνης, -nTos, 6, see πλανήτης. |

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

πλάνη has apparently the act. sense of ‘‘ deceit’? in BGU IV. 12088 (B.c. 27-6) δι᾿ οὗ [μοι] ἱστορεῖς τὴν [Καλατύ]τεως πλ[άν7γην, ‘‘by means of which (sc. a writing-tablet) you are acquainting me with the deceit of Kalatytis.”” Cf. Aazde/ 351° πάσα[ι]σ [1] mwAavy[s τ]έχν[αι]ς, where the editor understands the word as denoting the craft and stratagem which hunters use against wild beasts. See further s.v. πλανάω. In the NT πλάνη is generally, if not always, used in the pass. sense of ‘‘error”’: cf. Armitage Robinson ad Eph 4}4.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πλάνη (planē) — error.

πλᾰν-η, ἡ,

wandering, roaming, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. discursive treatment, ἡ διὰ παντὸς διέξοδος καὶ π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. metaphorically, going astray, βίοτος ἀνθρώπων π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἡ περὶ τὰ χρώματα π. τῆς ὄψεως the illusion, [Refs]; πολλὴν ἔχει.. πλάνην irregularity, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; πολλὰς ἀπορίας ἔχει καὶ π. [Refs]; ἡ κατὰ τὰς αἰσθήσεις π. [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II.2. deceit, imposture, [LXX+NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

πλάνη

plane

feminine of 4108 (as abstractly); objectively, fraudulence;

subjectively, a straying from orthodoxy or piety:--deceit, to deceive,

delusion, error.

see GREEK for 4108

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πλάνη, ης, ἡ

n.f.

a wandering, error

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πλάνη planē 10x

a wandering; deceit, deception, delusion, imposture, fraud, Mt. 27:64; 1 Thess. 2:3; seduction, deceiving, Eph. 4:14; 2 Thess. 2:11; 1 Jn. 4:6; error, false opinion, 2 Pet. 3:17; wandering from the path of truth and virtue, perverseness, wickedness, sin, Rom. 1:27; Jas. 5:20; 2 Pet. 2:18; Jude 11*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πλάνη πλά^νη, ἡ, like ἄλη, a wandering, roaming, Hdt., Aesch.

a digression, Plat.

metaph. a going astray, error, id. Plat., etc.

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

N-DSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%error
error60% · 6×deceit10% · 1×delusion10% · 1×falsehood10% · 1×deception10% · 1×

10 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
adverbial50%object30%subject10%predicate10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 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
δεῖit is necessary,μεθοδείαscheming, craftiπνεῦμαwind, breath, sp
ἐκ
οὐNegἁμαρτωλόςsinning, sinful,
ἔσχατοςlast, at the last, f
Article the
ἐνέργειαworking, activity
θεόςGod, a god
ἐν
Article the
πλάνηerror10×
what comes after →
χείρωνworse
Article the
αὐτός
ἐν
οὐδέNeg
ἐκ
εἰς
Article the
ὁδόςa way, road, journey
αὐτός

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

Concordanceπλάνη · 10× in the New Testament
2 Peter 1 John 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians Ephesians James Jude Matthew Romans
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Cherubim 116c. AD 40

ὁ ψευδῶν εἰκαστικός, ὁ πλάνης, ὁ οἰητικός, ὁ παρανοῶν, ὁ μωραίνων, ὁ εὑρισκόμενος ἄνους ἐν ἐκστάσει καὶ μελαγχολίᾳ καὶ μακρῷ γήρᾳ;

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.276c. AD 75–95

Μηνύειν δὲ καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι, καὶ μὴ γέλωτα θηρωμένους αὑτοῖς ἐμποδίζειν πλάνῃ τὴν ἑτέρου χρείαν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.10c. AD 100

ἀκριβεύεσθαι οὖν ὀφείλομεν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν, ἵνα μὴ ὁ πονηρὸς παρείσδυσιν πλάνης ποιήσας ἐν ἡμῖν ἐκσφενδονήσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD
P. Murabba'ât 2 113MurabaatAD 126–AD 175

λων Σαλώμη … … ὑμῶν Μαριάμη ἡ εἰποῦσα … οὐετρανός. εἰ δέ τις πλανη … … … … ς ἀπόκριμα

P.Oxy. 85 5502OxyrhynchosAD 186

ἑωρῶμεν αὐτὸν χρόνου προκόπτοντος οὔτε τοὺς καμήλους συνωνούμενον οὔτε τὸ ἀργύριον ἡμῖν ἀποδιδόντος ἀλλὰ πλάνῃ πολλῇ ἡμᾶς περιάγοντος, ἀντικατέστημεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐκεῖσε τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ἐπιτρόπου Κ

P.Cair. Masp. 1 67089Aphrodites Kome (Antaiopolites)AD 501–AD 525

ὡς τὴν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐκ φύσεως προσκυρωθεῖσαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐλευθερίαν οὐδὲ χρόνος πολὺς οὐδὲ πλάνη παρακολουθήσασα μειῶσαι δυνήσεται. Ἰακὼβ γὰρ, ἐκ τῆς Ἀνταιοπολιτῶν ὁρμώμενος, καὶ διάξας μετὰ τοῦ ἐν

Arrogant for of vanity speaking words they entice with [the] passions of [the] flesh to sensuality those scarcely escaping from those in error living,
ἀναστρεφομένους,anastrephō living, G390 Verb · present · passive · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
9× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To live, return, or overturn something. It can mean to stay in a place, like in Matthew 17:22, or to behave oneself, like in 2 Corinthians 1:12.
Tyndale gloss
to live/return
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀναστρέφω (anastrepho) is built from the prefix ἀνα- and the root στρέφω, meaning to turn or overturn. It covers a range of meanings including to turn back, return, dwell, and to conduct oneself or live. In the New Testament, it appears in verses such as Acts 5:22 and 2 Peter 2:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀνα-στρέφω,

[in LXX chiefly for שׁוּב;]

to overturn: Jo 2:15.

to turn back, return: Ac 5:22 15:16.

to turn hither and thither; pass., to turn oneself about, sojourn, dwell: Mt 17:22 Rec.; metaph. (like Heb. הלךְ, in κοινή writers and in π.; v. Deiss., LAE, 315; BS, 88, 194; MM, VGT, s.v.), to conduct oneself, behave, live: II Co 1:12, Eph 2:3, I Ti 3:15, He 10:33 13:18, I Pe 1:17, II Pe 2:18.†

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἀνα-στρέφω: fut. ἀναστρέψω; [1 aor. ἀνέστρεψα; Pass., pres. ἀναστρέφομαι]; 2 aor. ἀνεστράφην; 1. to turn upside down, overturn: τὰς τραπέζας, Jn. ii. 15, (δίφρους, Hom. Il. 23, 436). 2. to turn back; intrans. [W. 251 (236)] to return, like the Lat. reverto i. q. revertor, (as in Grk. writ.; in Sept. i. q. 33%): Acts v. 22; xv. 16 (here ἀναστρέψω καί has not like the Hebr. 23¥ the force of an adverb, again, but God in the Messiah’s advent returns to his people, whom he is conceived of as having previously abandoned; ef. W. 469 (437)). 3. to turn hither and thither; pass. reflexively, to turn one’s self about, sojourn, dwell, év in a place ; a. literally: Mt. xvii. 22, where L TWH Tr txt. συστρεφομένων, cf. Keim ii. p. 581 [Eng. trans. iv. p. 303]. (Josh. v. ὃ: Ezek. xix. 6, and in Grk. writ.) b. like the Hebr. ya to walk, of the manner of life and moral character, to conduct one’s self…

Read the full entry →
Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀναστρέφω (anastrephō) — to live/return.

ἀναστρέφω,

poetry ἀνστρέφω, perfect ἀνέστροφα variant in [Refs], 3rd.pers.plural ἀνέστροφαν[Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—turn upside down, μήπως.. δίφρους ἀνστρέψειαν might upset them, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὴν ζοήν Cerc.[same place]; ἀ. καρδίαν upset the stomach, i.e. cause sickness, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; reverse, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, future ἀναστραφήσεσθαι τὰ τῆς Ἑλλάδος πράγματα[Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἀνεστράφθαι τῆς πολιτείας[Refs]; ὄρος ἀνεστραμμένον ἐν τῇ ζητήσει turned up by digging, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. invert order of words or statements, [Refs 4th c.BC+] —also in passive, with reference to ἐπαναστροφή[Refs]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀναστρέφω

anastrepho

from 303 and 4762; to overturn; also to return; by implication, to

busy oneself, i.e. remain, live:--abide, behave self, have

conversation, live, overthrow, pass, return, be used.

see GREEK for 303

see GREEK for 4762

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀναστρέφω

v.

I overturn, turn upside down, return, mid. and pass: I conduct myself, live

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀναστρέφω anastrephō 9x

to overturn, throw down, to turn back, return, Acts 5:22; 15:16; to live, to conduct one’s self, 2 Cor. 1:12; Eph. 2:3; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 13:18; 1 Pet. 1:17; 2 Pet. 2:18; to gaze, Heb. 10:33*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀναστρέφω to turn upside down, upset, Il., Eur., etc.; ἀν. καρδίαν to upset the stomach, i. e. cause sickness, Thuc.:—Pass., ὄρος ἀνεστραμμένον ἐν τῆι ζητήσει turned up by digging, Hdt.

to turn back, bring back, τινὰ ἐξ Ἅδιου Soph.; ὄμμ᾽ ἀν. κύκλωι to roll one's eye about, Eur.: to rally soldiers, Xen.

intr. to turn back, return, retire, Hdt., attic

Pass. to be or dwell in a place, Lat. versari, ἄλλην γαῖαν ἀν. to go to a place and dwell there, Od.; ἀν. ἐν Ἄργει Eur.:— to conduct oneself, ὡς δεσπότης Xen.

to revolve, of the sun, id. Xen.

of soldiers, to face about, rally, id. Xen.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
11%having returned
having returned11% · 1×i will return11% · 1×we have conducted ourselves11% · 1×lived11% · 1×conduct oneself11% · 1×passing through11% · 1×conduct ourselves11% · 1×do conduct yourselves11% · 1×other renderings11% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb89%adverbial11%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
θεόςGod, a god
χάριςgrace, favor, kiοἶκοςa house, househo
φυλακήa watching, guard, p
Article the
οὗτος
μετά
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἐγώ
οὕτωthus, so, in this ma
Article the
ἀναστρέφωliving,
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
ἀπαγγέλλωI report, bring
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀνοικοδομέωI rebuild, build
ἐν
Article the
ποτέDisj
ἐν
ὅστις
εἰμίI am, exist

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

Concordanceἀναστρέφω · 9× in the New Testament
Acts Hebrews 1 Peter 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Peter Ephesians
Across the New Testament7 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 33 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Clement of Rome Josephus
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.186c. AD 75–95

Αἰγυπτίοις γὰρ ἀπειρημένον ἦν περὶ νομὰς ἀναστρέφεσθαι.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 21.8c. AD 96

τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ παιδείας μεταλαμβανέτωσαν: μαθέτωσαν, τί ταπεινοφροσύνη παρὰ θεῷ ἰσχύει, τί ἀγάπη ἁγνὴ παρὰ θεῷ δύναται, πῶς ὁ φόβος αὐτοῦ καλὸς καὶ μέγας καὶ σώζων πάντας τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ ὁσίως ἀναστρεφομένους ἐν καθαρᾷ διανοίᾳ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 1st c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD
BGU 8 1769Herakleopolites48 BC

ἕως Τῦβι τοῦ ϛ ἔτους … λαβὼν ἐνβριθεῖς διαστολὰς ὑγιῶς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου ἀναστρέφεσθαι … μετὰ παν … των τοὺς παραχωρησίμους κλήρους δεόντως οἰκονομεῖν … … σ

BASP 56 (2019), p. 56-59 no. 1Philadelphia (Arsinoites, Ägypten); erworben: - 192476 BC–2 BC

τοῦ Μιθραδάτου ἱππάρχου. Ἀπολλώνιος καὶ Ἄπυγχις οἱ δύο Πνεφερῶτος τῶν οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου ἀναστρεφομένων ἐπιβαλόντες τῆι νυκτὶ τῇ φερούσηι εἰς τὴν … τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος μηνὸς … λῃστρικῶι τρόπωι

BGU 1 256Karanis (ArsinoitesAD 137–AD 142

τῆς στρατείας καὶ πά… … υ … … ι … ο … μ πρότερον ἀναστρέφεσθαι … … σὺν τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ Σαβείνῳ καὶ … κ

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.

Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.

Donate