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Colossians 4:2 — Word Study

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N1904Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

BSA<the>ho In prayerproseuchē [to God, in worship and supplication] do continue steadfastlyproskartereō [continue steadfastly, be instant in] watchinggrēgoreō [watchfully, with diligence, alert, awake, and vigilant] inen itautos withen thanksgiving;eucharistia [with gratitude, in thanksgiving, for the good things God does]

Word
Listen & take awayColossians 4
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 2 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (eucharistia) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Colossians 4:2quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs the Colossians to commit themselves to prayer with vigilance and gratitude.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the church in Colossae.
Where we areIn the closing instructions of Paul's letter, emphasizing the importance of prayer.
The hard wordπροσκαρτερέω
Take awayPrayer is to be a persistent and thankful practice.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectγρηγορέω verbπροσκαρτερέω 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 — Colossians 4:2

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

Context — Final Instructions to the Colossiansgenerated

1Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
3as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
4Pray that I may declare it clearly, as I should.

Colossians 4:2 emphasizes the necessity of steadfastness in prayer, urging believers to remain alert and grateful as they communicate with God. This instruction is part of a broader section where Paul gives practical advice for living out the Christian faith, similar to his exhortations in Philippians 4:6 about not being anxious but instead presenting requests to God in prayer.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Colossians 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.
2Colossians 1:9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
31 Samuel 12:23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
4Job 15:4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
5Job 27:8–10For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

The Key Word προσκαρτερέω, proskartereōgenerated

The verb προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite) is a present active imperative, meaning 'to continue steadfastly' or 'to persist.' This form indicates an ongoing action, calling for diligence and commitment in prayer.

It is built from the prefix προς (toward) and the root καρτερός (strong, steadfast). This word encourages believers to adhere closely to prayer, highlighting its importance in the life of a Christian.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The Berean Standard Bible translates the verse as 'Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,' while the KJV uses 'Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;'. Both emphasize the act of prayer but differ slightly in phrasing.

The ASV and YLT also maintain a similar focus on steadfastness in prayer, but the BBE phrases it as 'Give yourselves to prayer at all times, keeping watch with praise,' introducing a different nuance with 'praise.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in the verse is προσκαρτερεῖτε, do continue steadfastly, which governs the actions of being watchful and thankful. The structure emphasizes the imperative nature of prayer as a continual practice.

The verse contains an adverbial clause describing how to pray (being watchful and thankful), indicating that these qualities accompany the act of prayer, creating a rich context for understanding the believer's attitude in prayer.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek word προσευχή (proseuchē) is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for prayer, תְּפִלָּה (tefillah), found in various contexts emphasizing communication with God, such as in Psalm 55:17.

This connection underscores the continuity of prayer as a vital aspect of worship in both the Old and New Testaments, reinforcing the call to prayer in Colossians 4:2.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Colossians 4:2 encourages believers to be devoted to prayer, emphasizing the importance of being watchful and thankful while praying. This reflects a commitment to maintaining a strong connection with God through consistent prayer.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to devote oneself to prayer?

To devote oneself to prayer means to commit time and focus to communicating with God, making it a priority in one's life.

How can I be watchful in my prayers?

Being watchful in prayer involves being alert and aware of one's spiritual surroundings, as well as being attentive to God's guidance and responses.

What is the significance of being thankful in prayer?

Thankfulness in prayer acknowledges God's blessings and goodness, fostering a positive attitude and deepening one's relationship with Him.

How can I incorporate thanksgiving into my prayer life?

Incorporating thanksgiving into prayer can be done by regularly expressing gratitude for specific blessings and recognizing God's work in your life.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I be more devoted to prayer in my daily life?
  2. How does being watchful enhance my prayer experience?
  3. What are some specific things I can thank God for in my prayers?
  4. How can I encourage others to be steadfast in prayer?

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

Early church Fathers provide insights on the importance of prayer and vigilance as taught by Paul in this verse.

Clement of AlexandriaThe Instructor Book 3 c. 150–215
Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.". "Continue in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving."
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 4 →
TertullianOn Fasting c. 155–220
Further: since in the self-same commentary of Luke the third hour is demonstrated as an hour of prayer, about which hour it was that they who had received the initiatory gift of the Holy Spirit were held for drunkards;
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 4 →
CyprianEpistle VII c. 200–258
Let us urgently pray and groan with continual petitions. For know, beloved brethren, that I was not long ago reproached with this also in a vision, that we were sleepy in our prayers, and did not pray with watchfulness;
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 4 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Colossians 4:2 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Continue in prayer,.... This is not said particularly to masters, as in the foregoing verse, but to all the members of the church in general; for the apostle having taken notice of some special

Read John Gill on Colossians 4 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Continue , [ proskartereite (G4342)] - 'Continue perseveringly' (Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18). In (your: tee (G3588)) prayer (1 Peter 4:7).

Read Robert Jamieson on Colossians 4 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Continue in prayer; persevere or hold on strongly in prayer with fervency: we are apt to grow sluggish and indisposed, and therefore have need of quickening to this duty, . And watch in the same; endeavouring to keep the heart in all fit seasons unto this, as a help to the precedent and subsequent duties, , &c.; . With thanksgiving; with acknowledgment of thanks for what we have already received, ,13 .

Read Matthew Poole on Colossians 4 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Ver. 2. Continue in prayer] Constant and instant in it, wait upon it, lay all aside for it (as the word προσκταρερειτε signifieth, Acts 6:2); while prayar stands still, the trade of godliness stands still. And watch in the same] Against dulness of spirit, drowsiness of body, Satanic suggestions, secular distractions, &c. With thanksgiving] Have your thanks ready, for you are sure to speed.

Read John Trapp on Colossians 4 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

[7. Conclusion of the Epistle.(1) FINAL to prayer (especially for St. Paul himself), and to wisdom towards those without, both in deed and in word (Colossians 4:2-6). (2) of Tychicus and Onesimus (Colossians 4:7-9). (3) from Aristarchus, Marcus, Justus, Epaphras, Luke, Demas (Colossians 4:10-14). (4) CHARGE to this Church to exchange greetings and letters with the Laodicean Church, and special charge to Archippus (Colossians 4:15-17). (5) FINAL (Colossians 4:18).]

Read Charles John Ellicott on Colossians 4 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 2. Continue in prayer] This was the apostle's general advice to all; without this, neither wives, husbands, children, parents, servants, nor masters, could fulfil the duties which God, in their respective stations, required of them. All might, power, and life come from God; his creatures are continually dependent upon him for all these: to earnest, persevering prayer, he has promised every supply; but he who prays not has no promise. How few wives feel it their duty to pray to God to give them grace to behave as wives! How few husbands pray for the grace suited to their situation, that they may be able to fulfill its duties! The like may be said of children, parents, servants, and…

Read AdamClarke on Colossians 4 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2–6. Prayer: Intercourse with non-Christians2. Continue in prayer] Persevere at prayer. Cp. Ephesians 6:18, where the like precept is prefaced by the elaborated thought of the spiritual combat and armour. Cp. for the phrase Romans 12:12.—Here as there he returns from the details of life to the great spiritual requisites to any true life for God.“Continue”:—it is implied that prayer is no mere spiritual luxury or interlude; it is sacred business, with its difficulties and its labour. Cp. Luke 21:36; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:17.“Prayer”:—“the Christian’s vital breath.” The word includes all the elements of adoring converse with God—confession, petition, thanksgiving…

Read Cambridge on Colossians 4 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Continue in prayer - That is, do not neglect it; observe it at all stated times; maintain the spirit of prayer, and embrace all proper occasions to engage in it; compare the Luke 18:1 note; Ephesians

Read Albert Barnes on Colossians 4 →

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

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,

NETBNew English Translation2006

Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;

RVARevised Version, American1894

Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Continue in prayer, and watch in the fame with thankesgiuing,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

In the prayer continue ye, watching in it in thanksgiving;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Continue in the prayer, watching in it in thanksgiving,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Continue steadfastly in prayer. Stay alert in it in thanksgiving.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Be instant in prayer; watching in it with thanksgiving:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Remember to keep on praying, with an alert and thankful mind!

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Give yourselves to prayer at all times, keeping watch with praise;

Word by word, the decisions they made

προσευχῇproseuchē In prayer G4335 2 different renderings
in prayerASV DBY DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA ULB WEB
prayerBBE BSB LSV MSB NETB YLT
προσκαρτερεῖτεproskartereō do continue steadfastly G4342 2 different renderings
continue steadfastlyULB WEB
be instant inDRA
γρηγοροῦντεςgrēgoreō watching G1127 3 different renderings
watchingASV DBY DRA LSV RVA WEB YLT
watchBBE GNV KJV NWB
alertFBV NETB ULB
εὐχαριστίᾳ·eucharistia thanksgiving; G2169 2 different renderings
thanksgivingASV DBY DRA KJV NETB NWB RVA WEB
in thanksgivingLSV ULB YLT

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.

clausenoun phrase · objectΤῇ-προσευχῇIn prayerverbπροσκαρτερεῖτεcontinue steadfastlyclause · adverbialverbγρηγοροῦντεςwatchingprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinαὐτῇitprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνwithεὐχαριστίᾳthanksgivingclause · adverbialclauseverbπροσευχόμενοιprayingadverbialἅμαat the same timeprepositional phrase · adverbialκαὶalsoprepositional phraseπερὶforἡμῶνusclauseἵναthatclausenoun phrase · subject-ΘεὸςGodverbἀνοίξῃmay openadverbialἡμῖνto usnoun phrase · objectθύρανa doornoun phraseτοῦfor theλόγουwordclause · adverbialverbλαλῆσαιto declarenoun phrase · objectnoun phraseτὸthenoun phraseμυστήριονmysterynoun phraseτοῦ-Χριστοῦof Christclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialδι’on account ofwhichadverbialκαὶalsoverbδέδεμαιI have been boundclauseἵναso thatclauseverbφανερώσωI should make clearobjectαὐτὸitclauseὡςasclauseverbδεῖit behoovesnoun phrase · subjectclausesubjectμεmeverbλαλῆσαιto speak

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

Orationi instate, vigilantes in ea in gratiarum actione :

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

ܒܨܠܘܬܐ ܐܬܐܡܢܘ ܘܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܥܝܪܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܒܗ ܘܡܘܕܝܢ

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

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ·

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

Colossians 4:2<the><the>προσευχήIn prayerIn prayerπροσευχήπροσκαρτερέωdo continuedo continue steπροσκαρτερέωγρηγορέωwatchingwatchingγρηγορέωἐνininἐναὐτόςititαὐτόςἐνwithwithἐνεὐχαριστίαthanksgivinthanksgiving;εὐχαριστίαπροσεύχομαιv. I pray,v. I pray, prayπροσεύχομαιπρόςPrep. to, Prep. to, towarπρόςἐγείρωv. I wake,v. I wake, arouἐγείρωεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκεὐχάριστοςAdj thankfAdj thankful, gεὐχάριστοςἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦδέησιςn.f. suppln.f. supplicatiδέησιςσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςπροσκαρτερέωv. I persiv. I persistπροσκαρτερέωὁμοθυμαδόνAdv with oAdv with one miὁμοθυμαδόνπροσευχήn.f. prayen.f. prayer, a προσευχήκλέπτηςn.m. a thin.m. a thiefκλέπτηςἰσχύωv. I am stv. I am strong,ἰσχύωἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωπερισσεύωv. I exceev. I exceed, amπερισσεύω
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 Colossians 4:2

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.

<the> In prayer do continue steadfastly watching in it with thanksgiving;
Τῇho <the> G3588 Article · dative · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-DSF — Article · 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

T-DSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> In prayer do continue steadfastly watching in it with thanksgiving;
προσευχῇproseuchē In prayer G4335 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
36× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Prayer to God, like in Matthew 21:22 and Acts 3:1, or a place for prayer, as in Matthew 21:13
Amplified meaning
to God, in worship and supplication
Tyndale gloss
prayer
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

προσευχή (proseuchē) means prayer, particularly a prayer directed to God. It can also refer to a place of prayer, such as a synagogue or chapel. The New Testament uses this term in various contexts, including specific verses like Matthew 17:21 and Acts 16:13. Some lexicons note a distinction between προσευχή and related terms, but the differences are not universally agreed upon.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — εὐχή, προσευχή, δέησις, ἔντευξις, εὐχαριστία, αἴτημα, ἱκετηρία from a scan

αἴτημα, ἱκετηρία. Four of these words occur together at 1 Tim. 11. 1 ; on which Flacius Illyricus (Clavis, 5. v. Oratio) justly observes: ‘Quem vocum acervum procul dubio Paulus non temere congessit.’ I propose to consider not these only, but the larger group of which they form a portion. Εὐχή is found only once in the N. T. in the sense of a prayer (Jam. v. 15); twice besides in that of a vow (Acts XViii. 18; xxi. 23); compare Plato (Legg. vii. 801 a), εὐχαὶ παρὰ θεῶν αἰτήσεις εἰσί. On the distinction between it and προσευχή, between εὔχεσθαι and προσεύχεσθαι, there is a long discussion in Origen (De Orat. ὃ 2, 8, 4), but of no great value, and not bringing out more than the obvious fact that in εὐχή and εὔχεσθαι the notion of the vow, of the dedicated thing, is more commonly found than that of prayer. A more interesting treatment of the words, and the difference between them, may be…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† προσ-ευχή, -ῆς, ἡ

(< προσεύχομαι),

[in LXX chiefly for תְּפִלָּה;]

prayer to God: Mt 17:21 (WH, R, txt., om.) 21:22, Mk 9:29, Lk 22:45, Ac 3:1 6:4 10:31, Ro 12:12, I Co 7:5, Col 4:2; pl., Ac 2:42 10:4, Ro 1:10, Eph 1:16, Col 4:12, I Th 1:2, Phm 4, 22, I Pe 3:7 4:7, Re 5:8 8:3, 4; οἶκος προσευχῆς,

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

προσ-ευχή, -ῆς, 9, (προσεύχομαι), Sept. for ΤΙ 311, i. 4. εὐχὴ πρὸς τὸν θεόν [cf. πρός, IV. 1]; 1. prayer addressed to God: Mt. xvii. 21 [T WH om. Tr br. the vs.]; xxi. 22; Mk. ix. 29; Lk. xxii. 45; Acts iii.1; vi. 4; x. 31; Ro. xii. 12; 1 Co. vii. 5; Col. iv. 2; plur., Acts ii. 42; x.4; Ro.i. 10 (9); Eph.i.16; Col. iv.12; 1 Th. i. 2; Philem. 4, 22; 1 Pet. iii. 7; iv. 7; Rev.v. 83 viii. 3,4 (where rais mpocevyais is a dat. commodi, for, in aid of, the prayers [W. § 31, 6c.; cf. Green p. 101 sq.}); οἶκος προσευχῆς, a house devoted to the offering of prayer to God, Mt. xxi. 13; Mk. xi. 17; Lk. xix. 46, (Is. lvi.7; 1 Mace. vii. 37); προσευχὴ καὶ δέησις, Acts 1. 14 Ree.; Eph. vi. 18; Phil. iv. 6, (1 K. viii. 38; 2 Chr. vi. 29; 1 Mace. vii. 37; on the distinction between the two words see δέησις) ; plur., 1 Tim. ii. 1; v. 5; ἡ πρ. τοῦ θεοῦ, prayer to God, Lk. vi. 12 (εὐχαριστία θεοῦ, Sap.…

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

προσευχή. For a pagan instance οἵ προσευχή in the general sense of ‘‘ prayer,” ‘‘ supplication,” we can now cite the interesting letter, BGU IV. τοϑοῦ (iii/A.p.) (= Chrest. I. p. 564), in which a father congratulates his son on his marriage kata τὰς κοινὰς ἡμῶν εὐχὰς Kal προσευχάς. Exx. of προσευχή as a Jewish “‘ place of prayer,” as in Ac 1618 (cf. 3 Macc 72°), are readily forthcoming from both the papyri and the inscrr. Thus as early as B.C. 217 we have a petition from a village of the Fayiim, P Magd 35 (= Chrest. I. p. 80), regarding a garment deposited ὃ ἐν τῆι προσευχῆι τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων, to await a judicial decision as to the rightful owner. And in P Tebt I. 8615 (late ii/B.c.) we read of a προσευχὴ Ιουδαίων with a Διὸς παρά(δεισος) near at hand. From Roman times comes aseries of accounts from the waterworks of the metropolis (? Hermopolis), P Lond 117757 (A.D. 113) (=III. p. 183)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

προσευχή (proseuchē) — prayer.

προσευχή, ἡ,

prayer, οἶκος προσευχῆς, of the Temple, [LXX+3rd c.AD+]

II. place of prayer, sanctuary, chapel, [Refs]; especially among the Jews. synagogue, [NT+3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

προσευχή

proseuche

from 4336; prayer (worship); by implication, an oratory (chapel):--X

pray earnestly, prayer.

see GREEK for 4336

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

προσευχή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

prayer, a place for prayer

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

προσευχή proseuchē 36x

prayer, Mt. 17:21; 21:13, 22; Lk. 6:12; Acts 1:14; meton. a place where prayer is offered, an oratory, perhaps, Acts 16:13, 16

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

προσευχή προσ-ευχή, ἡ, prayer, οἶκος προσευχῆς, of the Temple, NTest.

a place of prayer, an oratory or chapel, id. NTest., Juven.

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

prar (deesis, proseuche, (enteuxis; for an excellent discussion of the meaning of these see Thayer's Lexicon, p. 126, under the word deesis; the chief verbs are euchomai, proseuchomai, and deomai, especially in Luke and Acts; aiteo, "to ask a favor" distinguished from erotao, "to ask a question," is found occasionally): In the Bible "prayer" is used in a simpler and a more complex a narrower and a wider signification. In the former case it is supplication for benefits either for one's self (petition) or for others (intercession). In the latter it is an act of worship which covers all soul in its approach to God. Supplication is at the heart of it, for prayer always springs out of a sense of need and a belief that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6). But adoration and confession and thanksgiving also find a…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Prayer

Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a “beseeching the Lord” (Ex. 32:11); “pouring out the soul before the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:15); “praying and crying to heaven” (2 Chr. 32:20); “seeking unto God and making supplication” (Job 8:5); “drawing near to God” (Ps. 73:28); “bowing the knees” (Eph. 3:14).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The object of this article will be to touch briefly on -- The doctrine of Scripture as to the nature and efficacy of prayer; Its directions as to time, place and manner of prayer; Its types and examples of prayer. Scripture does not give any theoretical explanation of the mystery which attaches to prayer. The difficulty of understanding real efficacy arises chiefly from two sources: from the belief that man lives under general laws, which in all cases must be fulfilled unalterably; and the opposing belief that he is master of his own destiny, and need pray for no external blessing. Now, Scripture, while, by the doctrine of spiritual influence it entirely disposes of the latter difficulty, does not so entirely solve that part of the mystery which depends on the nature of God. It places it clearly before us, and emphasizes most strongly those doctrines on which the difficulty turns. Yet…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Is the offering of the emotions and desires of the soul to God, in the name and through the mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the communion of the heart with God through the aid of the Holy Spirit, and is to the Christian the very life of the soul. Without this filial spirit, no one can be a Christian, Job 21:15 Ps 10:4.

In all ages God has delighted in the prayers of his saints. From the promulgation of the law, the Hebrews did not intermit public worship daily in the tabernacle or the temple. It consisted in offering the evening and morning sacrifices, every day, accompanied with prayers by the priests and Levites in that holy edifice. Every day also the priests offered sacrifices, incense, offerings, and first fruits for individuals; they performed ceremonies…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
53%prayer
prayer53% · 19×prayers42% · 15×fervent prayer3% · 1×prayer’3% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial58%subject17%object14%predicate11%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 36 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
ἐνἐπίκαίand, even, also,
οἶκοςa house, household
ἐγώ
ἐν
μήNeg
φυλακήa watching, guard, p
Article the
νομίζωI think, suppose
οὗwhere, whither,
προσευχήIn prayer36×
what comes after →
Article the
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,θεόςGod, a godἔνατοςninth
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπάλινagain, further, δέησιςsupplication, pr
σύ
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,χαρίζομαιI show favor to,
ἐγώ
δέομαιI request, begἀδιαλείπτωςunceasingly
καλέωI call, invite, name
σύπᾶςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceπροσευχή · 36× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Revelation Romans 1 Peter 1 Timothy Colossians Ephesians Matthew Mark Philemon 1 Corinthians
Across the New Testament15 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
Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaAgainst Flaccus 45c. AD 40

οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἄδηλον, ὅτι ἡ περὶ τὴν κατάλυσιν τῶν προσευχῶν φήμη λαβοῦσα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας διαδοθήσεται μὲν εὐθὺς εἰς τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ νομούς, δραμεῖται δ’ ἀπὸ μὲν Αἰγύπτου πρὸς ἀνατολὰς καὶ ἔθνη τὰ ἑῷα, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ὑποταινίου καὶ Μαρείας,…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 14.258c. AD 75–95

δεδόχθαι καὶ ἡμῖν Ἰουδαίων τοὺς βουλομένους ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας τά τε σάββατα ἄγειν καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ συντελεῖν κατὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίων νόμους καὶ τὰς προσευχὰς ποιεῖσθαι πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ κατὰ τὸ πάτριον ἔθος.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 19.12c. AD 100

οὐ προσήξεις ἐπὶ προσευχὴν ἐν συνειδήσει πονηρᾷ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC
BGU 4 1080AD 201–AD 300

τῇ ὑπαρχθείσῃ σοι ἀγαθῇ εὐσεβεῖ καὶ εὐτυχεῖ συμβιώσει κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς ἡμῶν εὐχὰς καὶ προσευχάς, ἐφʼ αἷς οἱ θεοὶ τέλειον ἐπακούσαντες παρέσχον. καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀκοῇ ἀπόντες ὡς παρόντες

P.Lond. 6 1917Herakleopolites bzw. KynopolitesAD 330–AD 340

εἰδέναι, ὅπως ὁ θεὸς ἀκυρώσῃ τὸ χειρόγραφον τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου διὰ τῶν βεβαιοτάτων ὑμῶν προσευχῶν ἁγιωτάτων. γνῶναί σε οὖν θέλω, γνησιώτατε καὶ μακαριώτατε, ὅτι ὅτε ἦμεν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ

P.Lond. 6 1926AD 326–AD 375

ἴασιν λαμβάνω. δέομαι τῷ θεῷ δέομαι καὶ σοι μνήσθητί μου ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ σου προσευχῇ. εἰ καὶ ἐν σώματι οὐκ ἧκα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας σου ἐν πνεύματι ἧκα πρὸς

<the> In prayer do continue steadfastly watching in it with thanksgiving;
προσκαρτερεῖτεproskartereō do continue steadfastly G4342 Verb · present · active · imperative · second person · plural
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To continue in or with something means to persevere or be diligent, as seen in Acts 1:14 and Romans 12:12. It involves adhering closely to a person, place, or thing, often requiring patience and dedication.
Amplified meaning
continue steadfastly, be instant in
Tyndale gloss
to continue in/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word προσκαρτερέω (i.e., proskartereo) is built from the prefix προς (toward) and the root καρτερός (strong, steadfast). It covers a range of meanings including to persist, adhere closely, and attend constantly to someone or something. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts emphasizing steadfastness in prayer and community activities.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

προσ-καρτερέω, -ῶ

(< καρτερός, strong, stedfast),

[in LXX: Nu 13:21 (חזק hith.), To 5:8 א, Da Th Su 6*;]

to attend constantly, continue stedfastly, adhere to, wait on: c. dat. pers., Mk 3:9, Ac 8:13 10:7; c. dat. rei, Ac 1:14 2:42 6:4, Ro 12:12, Col 4:2; seq. ἐν, Ac 2:46; εἰς, Ro 13:6.†

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

προσ-καρτερέω, -ὦὥ ; fut. προσκαρτερήσω ; (καρτερέω, fr. καρτερός [‘strong,’ ‘steadfast ᾽], of which the root is (τὸ) κάρτος for κράτος [‘strength’; ef. Curtius § 72]) ; to persevere [‘ continue steadfastly’ in any thing [cf. πρός, IV. 4]: of persons, with the dat. of a thing, to give constant attention to a thing, Acts ii. 42 [here Lchm. adds ἐν (once) inbr.]; τῇ προσευχῇ, Acts i. 14; vi. 4; Ro. xii. 12; Col. iv. 2, (ταῖς θήραις, Diod. 3, 17; τῇ πολιορκίᾳ, Polyb. 1, 55, 4; Diod. 14, 87; τῇ καθέδρᾳ, persist in the siege, Joseph. antt. 5, 2,6); with the dat. of a person, to adhere to one, be his adherent; to be devoted or constant to one: Acts viii. 13; x. 7, (Dem. p. 1386, 6; Polyb. 24, 5, 3; Diog. Laért. 8, 1,14); εἴς τι, to be steadfastly attentive unto, to give unremitting care to a thing, Ro. xiii. 6 [ef. Meyer ad loc.]; ἐν with a dat. of place, to continue all the time in a place…

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

προσκαρτερέω. For προσκαρτερέω, ‘‘continue steadfastly” in a certain course of action, as in Ac 64, Rom 1212, cf. the oath of a strategus on taking office, P Oxy I. 825 (iii/A.D.) mpookapτερῶν τῇ στρατηγίᾳ ἀδιαλίπτως els τὸ ἐν μηδενὶ μεμφθῆναι. Similarly P Lond 90457 (A.D. 104) (ΞΞ III. p. 125, Se/ectzons, p- 73), an order to certain persons to return home, in order that they may carry out the census and τῇ προσ[ηκού]σῃ αὐτοῖς γεωργίαι προσκαρτερήσωϊσιν, ‘‘and continue steadfastly in the husbandry that belongs to them,’’ and P Amh II. 653 (early ii/A.D.) a petition of two brothers, who had been chosen as cultivators of the royal domains, that one of them should be released ἵνα δυνηθῶμεν kal τῇ ἑαυτῶν γεωργίᾳ προσκαρτερεῖν, ‘‘in order that we may be able to attend to our own cultivation as well” (Edd.). Other exx. c. dat. rei are P Oxy ILI. 5309 (ii/a.p.) ἐπὶ μάτη[ν] δὲ τῶι τοῦ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

προσκαρτερέω (proskartereō) — to continue in/with.

προσκαρτερ-έω,

Doric dialect ποτι- [Refs 2nd c.BC+]:— persist obstinately in, τῇ πολιορκίᾳ [NT+5th c.BC+]; καίπερ ἀχθόμενοι τῇ καθέδρᾳ π. [Refs 1st c.AD+]

2. adhere firmly to a man, be faithful to him, τινι [NT+2nd c.BC+]; of servants, remain in one's service, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of a κοσμητής, [Refs]

2. b remain in attendance at a law-court, τῷ βήματι, τῷ κριτηρίῳ, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

2. c devote oneself to an office or occupation, τῇ στρατηγίᾳ [Refs 3rd c.AD+]; τῇ ἑαυτῶν γεωργίᾳ [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

3. passive, ὁ προσκαρτερούμενος χρόνος time diligently employed, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

4. wait for a person, Φιλέᾳ [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

προσκαρτερέω

proskartereo

from 4314 and 2594; to be earnest towards, i.e. (to a thing) to

persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place) to attend

assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) to adhere closely to

(as a servitor):--attend (give self) continually (upon), continue (in,

instant in, with), wait on (continually).

see GREEK for 4314

see GREEK for 2594

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

προσκαρτερέω

v.

I persist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

προσκαρτερέω proskartereō 10x

to persist in adherence to a thing; to be intently engaged in, attend constantly to, Acts 1:14; 2:42; Rom. 13:6; to remain constantly in a place, Acts 2:46; to constantly attend upon, continue near to, be at hand, Mk. 3:9; Acts 8:13; 10:7

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

προσκαρτερέω fut. ήσω to persist obstinately in, Xen., etc.

to adhere firmly to a man, be faithful to him, τινί Dem.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%steadfastly continuing
steadfastly continuing40% · 4×will steadfastly continue10% · 1×attending10% · 1×being constant10% · 1×attending continually10% · 1×do continue steadfastly10% · 1×may wait upon10% · 1×

10 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 7 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

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
εἰμίI am, exist
πᾶςall, the whole, βαπτίζωI dip, submerge,
προσευχήprayer, a place for
Article the
πλοιάριονa little boat
ἵναin order that, s
δέbut, on the other ha
εἰμίI am, exist
τέDisj
ἡμέραa day
προσκαρτερέωdo continue steadfastly10×
what comes after →
αὐτός
διά
ὁμοθυμαδόνwith one mind, unani
Article theἐν
Article the
διδαχήteaching, doctriΦίλιπποςPhilip
γρηγορέωI am awake, am vigil
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

Concordanceπροσκαρτερέω · 10× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Colossians Mark
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Polycarp
PolycarpPolycarp to the Philippians 7.2c. AD 110

διὸ ἀπολιπόντες τὴν ματαιότητα τῶν πολλῶν καὶ τὰς ψευδοδιδασκαλίας ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμῖν παραδοθέντα λόγον ἐπιστρέψωμεν, νήφοντες πρὸς τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ προσκαρτεροῦντες νηστείαις, δεήσεσιν αἰτούμενοι τὸν παντεπόπτην θεὸν μὴ εἰσενεγκεῖν ἡμᾶς εἰς…

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
P.Brem. 16Hermopolis (?)AD 117

τοσαύτας ἡμέρας ὁ ἐπιτηρητὴς τῶι Βησαρίωνι ἀπετάξατο εἰπών· μὴ κατέχου. ἀρκετὸς γάρ ἐστιν Ἱερακίων προσκαρτερῶν καὶ ἐμοὶ κατω … ο

P.Ross.Georg. 2 31ArsinoitesAD 101–AD 200

ἐκάθητο τὸ λογιστήριον τοῦ αἰγιαλοφύλακος. περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ στατήρων γράφω σοι, ὅτι πολλὰ ἔκαμον προσκαρτερῶν τῷ Ἡραΐσκῳ καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι κδ δράχμας μοι δέδωκεν λέγων, ὅτι στατῆρα ἑνὰ ὑπελόγησεν

P.Amh. 2 124HermopolisAD 101–AD 200

γραφὴ τῶν συνμενόντων καὶ προσκαρτερούντων παλαιαστροφυλάκων. στρατηγῷ δ· Ἥρων Δίου, Διόσκορος Ἑρμαίου, Διόσκορος Θεαγένους, Ἡρᾶς Διοσκόρου. γυμνασιάρχῳ δ· Φιβίων

<the> In prayer do continue steadfastly watching in it with thanksgiving;
γρηγοροῦντεςgrēgoreō watching G1127 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
22× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This verb means to stay awake or watch, like in Matthew 24:43 and 1 Thessalonians 5:10. It can also be used figuratively to mean being spiritually alert, as seen in 1 Corinthians 16:13 and 1 Peter 5:8.
Amplified meaning
watchfully, with diligence, alert, awake, and vigilant
Tyndale gloss
to keep watch
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γρηγορέω is derived from the perfect form of ἐγείρω, meaning to be awake or to watch. It covers both literal and metaphorical senses of vigilance and attentiveness, appearing in various New Testament passages like Matthew 26:38 and 1 Thessalonians 5:10. While most entries agree on its meanings, Thayer emphasizes its metaphorical implications regarding spiritual alertness.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γρηγορέω, -ῶ, = Attic ἐργήγορα, pf. of ἐγείρω, q.v.,

[in LXX (later bks. only) chiefly for שׁקד ;]

to be awake; metaph., of being alive, I Th 5:10.

to watch: Mt 24:43 26:38, 40 Mk 13:34 14:34, 37 Lk 12:37, 39; metaph., Mt 24:42 25:13 26:41, Mk 13:35, 37 14:38, Ac 20:31, I Co 16:13, I Th 5:6, I Pe 5:8,

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

γρηγορέω, -ῶ; 1 aor. ἐγρηγόρησα; (fr. ἐγρήγορα, to have been roused from sleep, to be awake, pf. of ἐγείρω ; cf. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 118 sq.; Bttm. Ausf. Spr. ii. p. 158; [W. 26 (25); 92 (88)]); to watch; 1. prop.: Mt. xxiv. 43; xxvi. 88, 40; Mk. xiii. 34; xiv. 34,37; Lk. xii. 37, 39 RGL Trtxt. WH txt. As to sleep is often i. q. to die, so once, 1 Th. v. 10, ypny. means to live, be alive on earth. 2. Metaph. to watch i.e. give strict attention to, be cautious, active:— to take heed lest through remissness and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one, Mt. xxiv. 42; xxv. 13; Mk. xiii. 35, [37]; Rev. xvi. 15; or lest one be led to forsake Christ, Mt. xxvi. 41; Mk. xiv. 38; or lest one fall into sin, 1 Th. v. 6; 1 Co. xvi. 13; 1 Pet. v. 8; Rev. iii. 2 56. ; or be corrupted by errors, Acts xx. 31; ἔν τινι, to be watchful in, employ the most punctilious care in a thing: Col.…

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

γρηγορέω of the document referred to, e.g. P Par 13! (probably B.C. 157) ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ποήσῃ καθότι γέγραπται, ἀποτίνειν αὐτὸν τὴν φέρνην παραχρῆμα σὺν τῇ ἡμιολίᾳ, in connexion with a marriage contract, P Leid O18 (B.c. 89) ἐὰν δὲ μ[ὴ ἀποδῷ καθ[ότι] γέγραπται, ἀποτεισάτω Τ]ετειμούθης κτλ. To the examples from the inscriptions we may add Prvene 10588 (c. B.C. 9) ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Κορνελίωι νόμωι γέγραπται, and 127 (soon after B.C. 300) κατὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα of a preceding decree (cf. 2 Cor 413) : see Rouffiac, p. 49 f. For the authenticating autographic signatures to the Pauline letters, as 2 Th 317 6 ἀσπασμὸς τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου, ὅ ἐστιν σημεῖον ἐν πάσῃ ἐπιστολῇ" οὕτως γράφω, sce Deissmann LAZ, p. 153, Milligan Documents, p. 24f., and H. Erman in M/éanges Nicole, p. 130ff. The perf. γεγράφηκα occurs in P Hib I. 782 (B.c. 244-2), BGU IV. 1205} (B.c. 28), both in participle: γέγραφα is exceedingly…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γρηγορέω (grēgoreō) — to keep watch.

γρηγορ-έω,

late present, formed from perfect ἐγρήγορα (which see), to be or become fully awake, watch, [LXX+NT+3rd c.AD+]; ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις[LXX]passive, ἐγρηγορήθη ἐπὶ τὰ ἀσεβήματά μου[LXX]; opposed to καθεύδω, of life opposed to death, [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

γρηγορέω

gregoreuo

from 1453; to keep awake, i.e. watch (literally or figuratively):--be

vigilant, wake, (be) watch(-ful).

see GREEK for 1453

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γρηγορέω

v.

I am awake, am vigilant, watch

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γρηγορέω grēgoreō 22x

to be awake, to watch, Mt. 26:38, 40, 41; Mk. 14:34; 37, 38; to be alive, 1 Thess. 5:10; met. to be watchful, attentive, vigilant, circumspect, Mt. 25:13; Mk. 13:35, et al.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Thompson Chain Reference topics

for men to entrap them

1Sa 18:9; Ps 37:32; Isa 29:20; Jer 20:10; Mr 3:2; Lu 14:1; 20:20

--SEE Net, NET

Plots Laid, PLOTTING

Snares Laid, SNARES LAID

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
43%do watch
do watch43% · 10×watching17% · 4×we may watch4% · 1×we shall watch4% · 1×you shall watch4% · 1×do keep watch4% · 1×he had watched4% · 1×watch4% · 1×other renderings13% · 3×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 22 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
ὧδεhere
ὥραan hour, season
εἷςone
ἔρχομαιI come, go
κλέπτηςa thief
ἵναin order that, so th
ἐντέλλομαιI give orders, c
λέγωI say, speak
πᾶςall, the whole,
γρηγορέωwatching22×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
προσεύχομαιI pray, pray forνήφωI am calm, vigilστηρίζωI fix firmly, st
οὖνtherefore, then
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNeg
μετά
ἐγώ
ἄνDisj
καίand, even, also,
ἀμήνHebr
λέγωI say, speak

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

Concordanceγρηγορέω · 22× in the New Testament
Matthew Mark Revelation 1 Thessalonians 1 Corinthians 1 Peter Acts Colossians Luke
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Didache
The DidacheThe Didache 16.1c. AD 100

Γρηγορεῖτε ὑπὲρ τῆς ζωῆς ὑμῶν: οἱ λύχνοι ὑμῶν μὴ σβεσθήτωσαν, καὶ αἱ ὀσφύες ὑμῶν μὴ ἐκλυέσθωσαν, ἀλλὰ γίνεσθε ἕτοιμοι: οὐ γὰρ οἴδατε τὴν ὤραν, ἐν ᾗ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ἔρχεται.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
undated
O.Frangé 751date unknown

ἀρχὴ μεγίστη το … τὰ γράμματα βίος βίου δεόμενος οὐκ ἔστιν βίος γρηγορεῖτε ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἡμέραν οὐδὲ τὴν ὥραν … δένδρον παλαιὸν … μεταφυτεύειν δύσκολον

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

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
<the> In prayer do continue steadfastly watching in it with thanksgiving;
αὐτῇautos it G846 Personal pronoun · dative · singular · feminine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

αὐτός is a pronoun meaning 'self' or 'the same,' used to emphasize distinction or opposition. It can function as a reflexive pronoun and appears frequently in the New Testament, often in contexts that highlight contrast or identity, such as in Luke 5:37 and John 2:25. The entries indicate that it can also be used in various grammatical constructions, including with articles to denote sameness.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

determinative pron., in late Gk. much more freq. than in cl. (WM, 178 f.; Jannaris, HGG, §1399).

Emphatic (so always in nom. exc. when preceded by the art., v. infr., iii);

self (ipse), expressing opposition, distinction, exclusion, etc., αὐ. ἐκχυθήσεται, Lk 5:37; αὐ. ἐγινώσκεν, Jo 2:25; αὐ. ὑμεῖς, Jo 3:28; καὶ αὐ. ἐγώ, Ro 15:14; αὐ. Ἰησοῦς, Jo 2:24; αὐ. καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ, Mk 2:25; ὑμεῖς αὐ., Mk 6:31; esp. (as freq in cl.) αὐ. ὁ, Mt 3:4, Mk 6:17, Jo 16:27, I Th 3:11, al.; in late Gk., sometimes…

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

αὐτός, -7, -d, pron. (“derived from the particle αὖ with the added force of a demonstrative pronoun. In itself it signifies nothing more than again, applied to what has either been previously mentioned or, when the whole discourse is looked at, must necessarily be .upplied.” Klotz ad Devar. ii. p. 219; [see Vaniéek p. 268]). It is used by the bibl. writ. both of the O. T. and of the N. T. far more frequently than the other pronouns; and in this very frequent and almost inordinate use of it, they deviate greatly from prof. auth.; cf. B. § 127, 9. [On classic usage ef. Hermann, Opusce. i. 308 sqq., of which dissertation a summary is given in his edition of Viger pp- 732-736.] I. self, as used (in all persons, genders, numbers) to distinguish a person or thing from or contrast it with another, or to give him (it) emphatic prominence. ik When used to express Opposition or Distinction, it is…

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

αὐτός. The weakening of the old distinction between αὐτὸς 6 and ὁ αὐτός, especially in Luke, is noted in Proleg. p. 91, and paralleled from Hellenistic. We may add (cf. Linleitung p. 145f.) Sy// 8071 (ii/A.D.) αὐταῖς ταῖς ἡμέραις, where Dittenberger remarks ‘‘expectaveris ταῖς αὐταῖς," OG/S 383! (Antiochus of Commagene, i/8.c.) τὴν αὐτήν τε κρίσιν, for which Ditt. desiderates ταύτην τὴν κρίσιν, P Iib I. 30° (B.c. 265) αὐτὸς Ὧρος “the said H.,’’ P Lille I. 238 (B.C, 221) οὗ μ[ισ]θωτὴς Ἡρώδ[ης] ὁ αὐτός “ce méme L.,”’ P Oxy VI. 892% (A.D. 338) τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως, 26. VIII. 1105 (A.D. 254) τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀμφοδογραμματέως “the said a.’’: all these seem to be practically identical, with αὐτός differing little from ἐκεῖνος. The combination αὐτὸ τοῦτο may be illustrated by P Grenf I. 114 (literary, ii/B.c.) “ for this reason ” (Ed.) as in 2 Pet 1°, P Ryl 11. 77°9 (a.p. 192) καὶ αὐτὰ ταῦτα ἀσφαλίσομαι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

(Cretan dialect ἀϝτός [Refs] (also αὐτόν[Refs], reflexive pronoun, self:—in oblique cases used for the personal pronoun, him, her, it:—with Article, ὁ αὐτός, ἡ αὐτή, τὸ αὐτό (also ταὐτόν), etc., the very one, the same.

I. self, myself, thyself, etc., accusative to the person of the Verb: frequently joined with ἐγώ, σύ, etc. (see. below 10),

I.1. one's true self, the soul, not the body, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; reversely, body, not soul, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; oneself, as opposed to others who are less prominent, as king to subject, [Refs]; man to wife and children, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; warrior to horses, [Refs 8th c.BC+], or to weapons, [Refs]; shepherd to herd, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; seamen to ships, [Refs]: generally, whole to parts,[Refs 5th c.BC+]: absolutely, the Master, as in the [Refs 4th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

from the particle au (perhaps akin to the base of 109 through the idea

of a baffling wind) (backward); the reflexive pronoun self, used

(alone or in the comparative 1438) of the third person , and (with the

proper personal pronoun) of the other persons:--her, it(-self), one,

the other, (mine) own, said, (self-), the) same, ((him-, my-, thy-

)self, (your-)selves, she, that, their(-s), them(-selves), there(-at,

- by, -in, -into, -of, -on, -with), they, (these) things, this (man),

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

self, very; alone, Mk. 6:31; 2 Cor. 12:13; of one’s self, of one’s own motion, Jn. 16:27; used also in the oblique cases independently as a personal pron. of the third person; ὁ αὐτός, the same; unchangeable, Heb. 1:12; κατὰ τὸ αὐτό, at the same time, together, Acts 14:1; ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, in one and the same place, Mt. 22:34; at the same time, together, Acts 3:1

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

αὐτός self, Lat. ipse:— in the oblique cases simply for the personal Pron., him, her, it:— with the Artic. ὁ αὐτός, ἡ αὐτή, τὸ αὐτό (or ταὐτόν), etc., the very one, the same.

self, myself, thyself, etc., acc. to the person of the Verb., Hom., etc.:

oneself, one's true self, the soul, not the body, Od.; or opp. to others, as king to subjects, parent to children, man to wife, etc., Hom.; hence absol. for the master, τίς οὗτος;—Αὐτός, i. e. Socrates, Ar.; similarly in neut. αὐτὸ δείξει the result will shew, Eur.

of oneself, of one's own accord, Lat. sponte, Hom., Soph.

by oneself, alone, αὐτός περ ἐών although alone, Il.; αὐτοί ἐσμεν we are by ourselves, i. e. among friends, Ar.

in Plat., τὸ δίκαιον αὐτό right in itself, the idea of right, etc.; cf. αὐτοάνθρωπος.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-DSF — Personal pronoun · 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

P-DSF Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%him
him52% · 3025×them25% · 1488×it6% · 323×her4% · 250×other renderings10% · 587×other renderings3% · 188×

5,861 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 92 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
object33%adverbial28%indirect object19%subject18%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 5,561 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
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςit5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

Concordanceαὐτός · 5,550× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John Mark Acts Revelation Romans Hebrews 1 John 1 Corinthians Ephesians 2 Corinthians

19 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
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

περὶ τοῦ γένους Ἀδάμου καὶ τῶν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ δέκα γενεῶν τῶν μέχρι τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.4c. AD 100

πεπεισμένος οὖν τοῦτο καὶ συνειδὼς ἐμαυτῷ, ὅτι ἐν ὑμῖν λαλήσας πολλὰ ἐπίσταμαι, ὅτι ἐμοὶ συνώδευσεν ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης κύριος, καὶ πάντως ἀναγκάζομαι κἀγὼ εἰς τοῦτο, ἀγαπᾶν ὑμᾶς ὑπὲρ τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὅτι μεγάλη πίστις καὶ ἀγάπη ἐγκατοικεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν ἐπ’…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

Πακοίβιος ἱερεὺς Σούχου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης ὡς ἐτῶν μ εὐμεγέθης μελίχρως μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτῷ μερίδα γῆς σιτοφόρου ἐν τῷ περὶ Παθῦρειν πεδίωι σφραγίδων τεσσάρων , ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

1 ἔτους 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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ὡς ἐτῶν νε μέσος ἢ ἐλάσσων μελίχρως μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν ὑπόσκνιφος, καὶ Πετεαρσοῆρις Σχώτου τῶν αὐτῶν ἱερέων ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος ἢ ἐλασσων μελίχρως μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν ὑπόσκνιφος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑπάρχοντος

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

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

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
<the> In prayer do continue steadfastly watching in it with thanksgiving;
εὐχαριστίᾳ·eucharistia thanksgiving; G2169 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
15× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means thankfulness or gratitude, and is often used to describe worshiping God through thankful language. It appears in the New Testament, such as in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. It is about being grateful to God.
Amplified meaning
with gratitude, in thanksgiving, for the good things God does
Tyndale gloss
thankfulness
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εὐχαριστία (eucharistia) means thankfulness or gratitude. It is derived from εὐχάριστος and encompasses the act of giving thanks, especially in a religious context. The New Testament uses it in various passages, including Acts 24:3 and 1 Corinthians 14:16. Notably, Mounce mentions a distinction in the tone of conversation marked by gratitude compared to unseemly mirth.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — εὐχή, προσευχή, δέησις, ἔντευξις, εὐχαριστία, αἴτημα, ἱκετηρία from a scan

αἴτημα, ἱκετηρία. Four of these words occur together at 1 Tim. 11. 1 ; on which Flacius Illyricus (Clavis, 5. v. Oratio) justly observes: ‘Quem vocum acervum procul dubio Paulus non temere congessit.’ I propose to consider not these only, but the larger group of which they form a portion. Εὐχή is found only once in the N. T. in the sense of a prayer (Jam. v. 15); twice besides in that of a vow (Acts XViii. 18; xxi. 23); compare Plato (Legg. vii. 801 a), εὐχαὶ παρὰ θεῶν αἰτήσεις εἰσί. On the distinction between it and προσευχή, between εὔχεσθαι and προσεύχεσθαι, there is a long discussion in Origen (De Orat. ὃ 2, 8, 4), but of no great value, and not bringing out more than the obvious fact that in εὐχή and εὔχεσθαι the notion of the vow, of the dedicated thing, is more commonly found than that of prayer. A more interesting treatment of the words, and the difference between them, may be…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** εὐχαριστία, -ας, ἡ

(< εὐχάριστος),

[in LXX: Es 8:13, Wi 16:28, Si 37:11, II Mac 2:27 * ;]

thankfulness, gratitude (Polyb.; Es, Si, II Mac, ll. c.): Ac 24:3.

giving of thanks, thanksgiving (so in π. and Inscr.; M, Th., 41 f.): I Co 14:16, II Co 4:15, Eph 5:4, Phl 4:6, Col 2:7 4:2, I Th 3:9, I Ti 4:3, 4, Re 4:9 7:12; c. dat. pers., II Co 9:11 (cf. τ. θεοῦ, Wis, l.c.); pl.,

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

εὐχαριστία, -as, ἡ, (εὐχάριστος. q- V-) 5 1. thankfulness: decree of the Byzantines in Dem. p. 256, 19; Polyb. 8, 14, 8; Add. to Esth. vi. 4 ed. Fritz.; 2 Mace. ii. 27; Sir. xxxvii. 11; πρός τινα, Diod. 17, 59; Joseph. antt. 3, 3. 2. the giving of thanks: Acts xxiv. 3; for God’s blessings, 1 Co. xiv. 16; 2 Co. iv. 15; Eph. v. 4 (cf. 1 Th. v. 18); Phil. iv. 6; Col. ii. 7; iv. 2; 1 Th. iii. 9; 1 Tim. iv. 3 sq.; Rev. iv.9; vii.12; w. dat. of the pers. to whom thanks are given: τῷ θεῷ (cf. W. § 31, 3; [B. 180 (156) ]; Kithner § 424, 1), 2 Co. ix. 11 (τοῦ θεοῦ, Sap. xvi. 28); in plur., 2 Co. ix. 12; 1 Tim. ii. 1.

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

εὐχαριστία. For this subst. we can cite only one ex. from the papyri, P Lond 1178* (A.D. 194) (= III. p. 216) τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὐχαριστίας, in the copy of a letter written by the Emperor Claudius to a Gymnastic Club expressing his gratification at games performed in his honour. It is, however, common in the inscrr., e.g. OGZS 2278 (iii/B.c.) διὰ τὴν τοῦ δήμου εὐχαριστίαν, Sy/7 365° (c. A.D. 37) εἰς εὐχαριστίαν τηλικούτου θεοῦ εὑρεῖν ἴσας ἀμοιβάς, and OG/S 199% (i/A.D.) δι᾿ ἣν ἔχω πρὸς τὸν μέγιστον θεόν μουΑρην εὐχαριστίαν, where the editor notes that εὐχαριστία -- τὸ εὐχάριστον εἶναι, and that as the adj. denotes ‘‘non modo grati animi hominem . . sed etiam gratiosum, acceptum,” the meaning almost amounts to ‘‘ quia deus mihi favet.’’ On the Christian use of εὐχαριστία with the corresponding verb see a note by Hort in 7715 iii. p. 594 ff. In _/HS xxvii. p. 65 we hear of a εὐχαριστήριον…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐχαριστία (eucharistia) — thankfulness.

εὐχᾰριστ-ία, ἡ,

thankfulness, gratitude, Decrees cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+]; πρός τινα [Refs 1st c.BC+]; πρὸς τὸν θεόν [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. giving of thanks, εἰς εὐ. θεοῦ [NT+1st c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐχαριστία

eucharistia

from 2170; gratitude; actively, grateful language (to God, as an act

of worship):--thankfulness, (giving of) thanks(-giving).

see GREEK for 2170

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐχαριστία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

thankfulness, gratitude

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐχαριστία eucharistia 15x

gratitude, thankfulness, Acts 24:3; thanks, the act of giving thanks, thanksgiving, 1 Cor. 14:16; conversation marked by the gentle cheerfulness of a grateful heart, as contrasted with the unseemly mirth of εὐτραπελία, Eph. 5:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εὐχαριστία εὐχα^ριστία, ἡ, thankfulness, gratitude, Decret. ap. Dem.

a giving of thanks.

from εὐχάριστος

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Nave's Topical Bible

→ See PRAISE

→ See THANKFULNESS

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Christ set an example of

Mt 11:25; 26:27; Joh 6:11; 11:41

- The heavenly host engaged in

Re 4:9; 7:11,12; 11:16,17

- Commanded

Ps 50:14; Php 4:6

- Is a good thing

Ps 92:1

- SHOULD BE OFFERED

. To God

Ps 50:14

. To Christ

1Ti 1:12

. Through Christ

Ro 1:8; Col 3:17; Heb 13:15

. In the name of Christ

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
73%thanksgiving
thanksgiving73% · 11×thanksgivings13% · 2×thankfulness7% · 1×thanksgiving?7% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial53%object27%subject20%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 15 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
μετά
δέησιςsupplication, prμετάλημψιςparticipation, sἀπόβλητοςworthy to be cas
Article the
πολύςmuch, many, ofteκαίand, even, also,
ἐν
περισσεύωI exceed, am lefαὐτός
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
μετά
σός
Article the
εὐχαριστίαthanksgiving;15×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godαἴτημαa petition, requπιστόςtrustworthy, fai
ἐπειδήwhen, since
τίςIrg
περισσεύωI exceed, am left ov
εἰς
δύναμαιI am powerful, am ab
Article the
ὑπέρ
πᾶςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceεὐχαριστία · 15× in the New Testament
1 Timothy 2 Corinthians Colossians Revelation 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians Acts Ephesians Philippians
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Ignatius of Antioch The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.84c. AD 40

τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἐξομολογητικῷ οἰκεία χροιὰ ἡ τοῦ ἄνθρακος, πεπύρωται γὰρ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ θεοῦ καὶ μεθύει τὴν νήφουσαν μέθην, τῷ δὲ ἔτι πονοῦντι ἡ τοῦ πρασίνου λίθου, ὠχροὶ γὰρ οἱ ἐν ἀσκήσει διά τε τὸν τρύχοντα πόνον καὶ διὰ δέος τοῦ μὴ τυχεῖν ἂν ἴσως τοῦ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.156c. AD 75–95

δυνάμεως γὰρ αὐτοῖς παρούσης καὶ προνοῆσαι τῆς κατʼ αὐτοὺς εὐταξίας, ταύτης δʼ ὑστεροῦντας φανεροὺς γίνεσθαι μηδʼ ὅσα πρὸς τὸ χρησιμώτερον ἡμῖν συνεργοῦσι κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ κελεύοντος ἰσχὺν ὑπουργεῖν, ᾧ καλῶς ἔχει μόνῳ τὴν…

The DidacheThe Didache 9.1c. AD 100

Περὶ δὲ τῆς εὐχαριστίας, οὕτως εὐχαριστήσατε:

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 5th c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Mert. 1 12Oxyrhynchos oder Hermopolis (?)AD 59

ὄντως ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐγεγόνειν, ἄνευ γὰρ ταύτης οὐθέν ἐστιν. γράφειν δέ σοι μεγάλας εὐχαριστίας παρετέον· δεῖ γὰρ τοῖς μὴ φίλοις οὖσι διὰ λόγων εὐχαριστεῖν. πείθομαι δὲ ὅτι ἐν

Année épigraphique 2002 1607Deir el-HagarAD 201–AD 400

Ἴσιδι Δήμητρι θεᾶι μεγίστηι Αὐρήλιος Ὀφελλιανὸς ἄρξας προστάτης ἅμα συμβίωι καὶ τέκνοις εὐχαριστίαν ἕνεκεν ἀνέθηκαν ἐπ’ ἀγαθῶι

P.Sijp. 60 aOxyrhynchitesAD 326–AD 375

καὶ θεοφιλεστάτῳ καὶ ἐναρέτῳ Παφνουθίῳ Ἀννιανὸς ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν. μετὰ πολλῆς χαρᾶς καὶ μεγίστης εὐχαριστίας τὰ παρὰ σοῦ γράμματα ἐδεξάμην ἐν οἷς … … των με … ων τῶν

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

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