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Ephesians 2:11 — Word Study

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N1904Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

BSAThereforedio [for this reason, in light of this] do remembermnēmoneuō thathoti formerlypote [in the past, once] you yourselves theho Gentilesethnos [non-Jews, nations] inen [the] flesh,sarx [physical body, human nature] the onesho being namedlegō [labeled, referred to as] [the] uncircumcisionakrobustia [without the Jewish rite of circumcision] byhupo whichho is being namedlegō [self-proclaimed, supposed] [the] circumcisionperitomē [Jewish ritual, physical cutting] inen [performed, carried out] [the] fleshsarx [physical flesh] made by hands —cheiropoiētos [human effort, not divine]

Word
Listen & take awayEphesians 2
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 11 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 (cheiropoiētos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Ephesians 2:11quick helps
In a sentencePaul reminds the Gentiles of their previous status before Christ and the distinction made by the Jewish people.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Gentile believers in Ephesus.
Where we areThe second chapter of Ephesians, focusing on the unity of believers in Christ.
The hard wordἀκροβυστία
Take awayGentiles were once considered outside the covenant community, but now they are included through Christ.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subject verbμνημονεύω 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 — Ephesians 2:11

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 — Remembering the Pastgenerated

10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
11Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11 calls the Gentiles to remember their former state, highlighting the distinction between them and the Jews, who were known as the circumcised. Paul emphasizes that this division was based on physical rites rather than spiritual standing. This context helps to set the stage for understanding how Christ has broken down these barriers, as elaborated in the following verses, particularly in Ephesians 2:12 and Ephesians 2:13.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Ephesians 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
2Deuteronomy 5:15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
3Deuteronomy 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
4Deuteronomy 9:7Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebelling against the LORD.
5Deuteronomy 15:15Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

The Key Word ἀκροβυστία, akrobustiagenerated

The term ἀκροβυστία refers to the state of being uncircumcised, often used to describe Gentiles in contrast to Jews. It is derived from the word for foreskin and emphasizes the absence of the Jewish rite of circumcision.

In this verse, it highlights the identity of the Gentiles as those who were labeled as outsiders by the Jewish community, reflecting a significant cultural and religious divide.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The translations generally agree on the meaning of ἀκροβυστία as 'uncircumcision' or 'the uncircumcision'. The BSB, KJV, and ASV all use 'uncircumcised', while YLT and WEB also maintain this terminology.

Where they differ is in the rendering of ἔθνη. The BSB, KJV, and WEB use 'Gentiles', while the ASV and BBE opt for 'the Gentiles'.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is μνημονεύετε, do remember, which governs the entire sentence. It is followed by a subordinate clause that explains what they are to remember: their former status as Gentiles.

The structure includes several noun phrases, such as ὑμεῖς (you), and ἔθνη (Gentiles), which serve as subjects and objects throughout the verse, emphasizing the identity and condition of the Gentiles.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἀκροβυστία is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for foreskin, indicating a physical state of being uncircumcised. It appears in contexts that highlight the distinction between the circumcised and uncircumcised peoples.

The word ἔθνη corresponds to the Hebrew term for nations, often used to refer to non-Jewish peoples in the Old Testament.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Ephesians 2:11 reminds the Gentiles to recall their past identity as non-Jews who were considered uncircumcised by the Jewish community. This verse emphasizes the division that existed before Christ brought unity.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be called uncircumcised?

Being called uncircumcised refers to not having undergone the Jewish rite of circumcision, which was a significant marker of identity for the Jewish people.

Why does Paul emphasize the Gentiles' past?

Paul emphasizes the Gentiles' past to highlight the grace of God in bringing them into the family of believers, despite their previous status as outsiders.

How does this verse relate to the overall message of Ephesians?

This verse sets the stage for understanding the unity of all believers in Christ, regardless of their backgrounds, which is a central theme in Ephesians.

What is the significance of the phrase 'made by hands'?

The phrase 'made by hands' indicates that the circumcision referred to is a human act, contrasting it with the spiritual transformation that comes from God.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I remember my past and how it has shaped my faith journey?
  2. How does understanding my identity in Christ change my view of others who are different from me?
  3. What barriers do I see in my community that need to be addressed for unity in Christ?
  4. How can I actively participate in breaking down divisions among believers today?

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

Early church Fathers comment on this verse to explain the significance of circumcision and the inclusion of Gentiles in the faith.

Clement of AlexandriaThe Stromata Book 7 c. 150–215
To illustrate: the noble apostle circumcised Timothy, though loudly declaring and writing that circumcision made with hands profits nothing.
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 2 →
TertullianAgainst Marcion Book V c. 155–220
Look also at what follows in connection with these words: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh,
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 2 →
Epiphanius of SalamisPANARION 42.12.3, THIRTY-SIXTH REFUTATION OF MARCION c. 310–403
The phrase “Gentiles in the flesh” contrasts types of realities. The type in the flesh was awaiting the time of the spirit. The less perfect fulfillment of the circumcision is expressed in relation to its more perfect fulfillment.
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 2 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Ephesians 2:11 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Wherefore remember, that ye be in time past Gentiles in the flesh,.... This, with what follows in the next verse, the apostle puts the converted Ephesians in mind of, in order to magnify the grace of

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

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; Wherefore - since God has

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

In the flesh; either: 1. Carnal, unregenerate, as ,9. Or rather: 2. Uncircumcised in the flesh, as well as in heart, ; such as neither had the grace signified, nor the sign representing it. Who are called Uncircumcision, by way of reproach; to be uncircumcised being the badge of them that were not Israelites, and so were not in the number of God’ s people. By that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; i.e. by those that are circumcised; the abstract here, as in the former clause, being put for the concrete. He means the carnal Jews, who had the circumcision of the flesh which was made with hands, but not that of the heart, , made without hands, .

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

11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; Ver. 11. Who are called uncircumcision] In great scorn and reproach, as 1 Samuel 17:26. Howbeit unregenerate Israel was to God as Ethiopia, Amos 9:7. And Jether, by nature an Ishmaelite, 1 Chronicles 7:17, was for his faith and religion called an Israelite, 2 Samuel 17:25.

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

(11) Gentiles in the flesh—i.e., not having the bodily impress of circumcision, sealing the Jewish covenant. Who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision.—The use of the phrase “called”—with a touch of the contempt implied in our phrase “the so-called”—simply implies that now Circumcision and Uncircumcision were mere names, virtually “nothing.” The declaration of the nullity of circumcision as a religious distinction is often repeated, yet takes various forms. Thus, in 1 Corinthians 7:19, it is contrasted with the practical reality of obedience to God’s commandments; in Galatians 5:6, with the inner reality of “faith working by love “; in Galatians 6:15, with the…

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

Verse 11. Wherefore remember] That ye may ever see and feel your obligations to live a pure and holy life, and be unfeignedly thankful to God for your salvation, remember that ye were once heathens in the flesh-without the pure doctrine, and under the influence of your corrupt nature; such as by the Jew's (who gloried, in consequence of their circumcision, to be in covenant with God) were called uncircumcision; i.e. persons out of the Divine covenant, and having no right or title to any blessing of God.

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

11–22. Regeneration of the Ephesians, an instance of the equal welcome of Gentiles to the Covenant Church, the true Temple11. Wherefore remember] Here first the Apostle deals with the special fact of the previous Gentilism of his converts. Hitherto he has spoken of their regeneration, and incorporation into Christ, with regard to the state of fallen humanity in general; “when we were dead … He quickened us,” &c. The further element in the phenomenon now appears, that the recipients of the Epistle had been “outsiders” as regarded any explicit covenant of redemption. In itself, spiritual regeneration was equally gracious and sovereign for Jew and for Gentile. But as to any previous…

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

Wherefore remember - The design of this evidently is, to excite a sense of gratitude in their bosoms for that mercy which had called them from the errors and sins of their former lives, to the privileges of Christians.

Read Albert Barnes on Ephesians 2 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands),

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—

NETBNew English Translation2006

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands –

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

RVARevised Version, American1894

Wherefore remember, that aforetime ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, and called vncircumcision of them, which are called circumcision in the flesh, made with hands,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Wherefore remember that ye, once nations in [the] flesh, who [are] called uncircumcision by that called circumcision in [the] flesh done with the hand;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Wherefore, remember, that ye [were] once the nations in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

For this reason, remember, that you [were] once the nations in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Therefore remember that once you were Gentiles in the flesh. You are called “uncircumcision” by what is called the “circumcision” in the flesh made by human hands.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

For which cause be mindful that you, being heretofore Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands;

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

So you who are “foreigners” humanly-speaking, called “uncircumcised” by those who are “circumcised” (which is only a procedure carried out by human beings), you need to remember

BBEBible in Basic English1949

For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἔθνηethnos Gentiles G1484 3 different renderings
gentilesBSB DRA GNV KJV MSB NWB ULB
the gentilesASV BBE NETB RVA WEB
nationsDBY LSV YLT
χειροποιήτου,cheiropoiētos made by hands — G5499 2 different renderings
made by handsASV BBE DRA KJV LSV NWB RVA WEB YLT
made with handsGNV

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.

clauseΔιὸThereforeclauseverbμνημονεύετεrememberclauseὅτιthatclauseadverbialποτὲformerlynoun phrase · subjectnoun phraseὑμεῖςyounoun phrasenoun phraseτὰtheἔθνηGentilesprepositional phraseἐνinσαρκί[the] fleshnoun phraseοἱthe onesclauselinking verbλεγόμενοιbeing calledpredicateἀκροβυστία[the] uncircumcisionprepositional phrase · adverbialὑπὸbynoun phraseτῆςthatclauselinking verbλεγομένηςbeing callednoun phrase · predicatenoun phraseπεριτομῆς[the] circumcisionprepositional phraseἐνinσαρκὶ[the] fleshχειροποιήτουmade by handsclauseὅτιthatclauselinking verbἦτεyou werenoun phrase · adverbialnoun phraseτῷat theκαιρῷtimeἐκείνῳthatprepositional phrase · adverbialχωρὶςseparate fromΧριστοῦChristadjective phrase · predicateadjective phraseadjective phraseclauseverbἀπηλλοτριωμένοιalienated fromnoun phrase · adverbialτῆςthenoun phraseπολιτείαςcommonwealthnoun phraseτοῦ-Ἰσραὴλof Israelκαὶandadjective phraseξένοιstrangersnoun phraseτῶνto thenoun phraseδιαθηκῶνcovenantsnoun phraseτῆςof theἐπαγγελίαςpromiseadjective phraseadjective phraseclauseobjectἐλπίδαhopeadverbialμὴnotverbἔχοντεςhavingκαὶandadjective phraseἄθεοιwithout Godprepositional phraseἐνinnoun phraseτῷtheκόσμῳworld

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

Propter quod memores estote quod aliquando vos gentes in carne, qui dicimini præputium ab ea quæ dicitur circumcisio in carne, manu facta :

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

ܡܛܠ ܗܕܐ ܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܥܗܕܝܢ ܕܐܢܬܘܢ ܥܡܡܐ ܡܢ ܩܕܝܡ ܕܒܣܪ ܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܘܡܬܩܪܝܢ ܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܥܘܪܠܘܬܐ ܡܢ ܗܝ ܕܡܬܩܪܝܐ ܓܙܘܪܬܐ ܘܐܝܬܝܗ ܥܒܕ ܐܝܕܝܐ ܒܒܣܪܐ

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

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
ποτὲ formerlyNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

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

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

Ephesians 2:11διόThereforeThereforeδιόμνημονεύωdo rememberdo rememberμνημονεύωὅτιthatthatὅτιποτέformerlyformerlyποτέσύyou yourselyou yourselvesσύthetheἔθνοςGentilesGentilesἔθνοςἐνininἐνσάρξ[the] flesh[the] flesh,σάρξthe onesthe onesλέγωbeing namedbeing namedλέγωἀκροβυστία[the] uncir[the] uncircumcἀκροβυστίαὑπόbybyὑπόwhichwhichλέγωis being nais being namedλέγωπεριτομή[the] circu[the] circumcisπεριτομήἐνininἐνσάρξ[the] flesh[the] fleshσάρξχειροποίητοςmade by hanmade by hands —χειροποίητοςδιάPrep. throPrep. through, διάεἴωθαv. I am acv. I am accustoεἴωθαεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκσαρόωv. I sweepv. I sweepσαρόωφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίἄκρονn.n. the en.n. the end, eἄκρονπεριτέμνωv. I circuv. I circumciseπεριτέμνωχείρn.f. a hann.f. a handχείρμνήμηn.f. memorn.f. memory, reμνήμηὅστιςRel.pr. whRel.pr. whosoevὅστιςπούAdv somewhAdv somewhereπούτέDisj.prt. Disj.prt. and, τέἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςἐπιθυμίαn.f. desirn.f. desire, eaἐπιθυμίαδιδάσκαλοςn.m. a tean.m. a teacherδιδάσκαλος
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 Ephesians 2:11

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.

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
Διὸdio Therefore G1352 Conjunction
53× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Therefore is a word that shows a consequence or a reason, like in Matthew 27:8 and Romans 1:24. It explains why something happens.
Amplified meaning
for this reason, in light of this
Tyndale gloss
therefore
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word διό (dio) is a conjunction meaning 'wherefore' or 'on which account.' It is derived from the combination of two words meaning 'through' and 'which thing.' The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including Matthew 27:8 and Romans 1:24. The entries generally agree on its meaning and usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

διό

conjunct. for δι᾽ ὅ,

wherefore, on which account: Mt 27:8, Lk 7:7, Ac 15:19, Ro 1:24, al.; δ. καί, Lk 1:35, Ac 10:29 24:26, Ro 4:22 15:22, II Co 1:20 4:13 5:9, Phl 2:9, He 11:12 13:12 (v. Ellic. on Ga 4:31).

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

διό, conjunction i. q. d¢ 6, [fr. Thue. and Plato down], wherefore, on which account: Mt. xxvii. 8; Lk. i. 35; vil. 7; Acts x. 29; Ro. i. 24; ii. 1; 1 Co. xii. 3; 2 Co. vi. 17; Heb. iii. 7; Jas. i. 21; 1 Pet. i. 13, and often. [Cf. W. 445 (414); B. 233 (200); on Paul’s use, see Ellic. on Gal. iv. 31.]

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

διό comes out in OG/S 4098 (ii/A.D.) τῶν ἐκλέκτων ἐν Ῥώμῃ δικαστῶν, 5257 διϊκαστὴν ἐν Ῥώμῃ. On the ἀρχιδικαστής, who seems to have occupied the position of a permanent judge at Alexandria, before whom parties in civil cases could elect to have their disputes tried, see Milne, Roman Foyt, Ρ- 196 ff. P Lond 908" (a.p. 139) (= III. p. 132) mentions an ἀ., and also (1..5) Ev8al?Jpovos δι[έπ]οντος τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχιδικάστειαν. The abstract figures without ἀρχι- in Michel 477} (mid. ii/B.c.) ἀπ[ολυθείς τε ἀπὸ τῆς δικαστείας ἐπεδήμησεν κτλ. For the δικαστήριον, as the Praefect’s tribunal or court, see P Strass I. 517,19. (a.p. 262), P Oxy I. 5911 (a.p. 292), P Amh II. 824 19 (iii/iv avp.), ete. MGr δικαστῆς survives…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

διό (dio) — therefore.

διό,

conjunction, for δι᾽ ὅ, wherefore, on which account, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; διὸ καί, διὸ δὴ καί, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

διό

dio

from 1223 and 3739; through which thing, i.e. consequently:--for which

cause, therefore, wherefore.

see GREEK for 1223

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

διό

Cj.

wherefore

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

διό dio 53x

inferential conj., on which account, wherefore, therefore, Mt. 27:8; 1 Cor. 12:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

διό dio/conjConjunct., for δι᾽ ὅ wherefore, on which account, Lat. quapropter, quocirca, quare, Thuc., Plat., etc.

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
96%therefore
therefore96% · 51×other renderings4% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 53 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
πιστεύωI believe, have fait
γράφωI writeἐγώ
σύ
ἐπισκιάζωI overshadow, en
ΠαῦλοςPaul
Article the
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
οὐNeg
ζήτημαa question, dispute
καίand, even, also,
διόTherefore53×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἀναντιρρήτωςwithout contradiπυκνόςfrequent, often
παρακαλέωI summon, entreat, a
σύἀλλήλων
λέγωI say, speak
ἀναβαίνωI go up, mount, ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, Article the
Article the
λαλέωI speak, sayπαρίημιI neglect, omit,
οὐNeg
ἐγκακέωI am faint, am wἐπαισχύνομαιI am ashamed

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

Concordanceδιό · 53× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Hebrews Acts Romans Ephesians 2 Peter 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians James Luke 1 Peter Galatians
Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 8 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 38c. AD 40

διὸ φλέβας μαστοῖς ἐοικυίας ἐπλημμύρει, αἳ στομωθεῖσαι ποταμοὺς καὶ πηγὰς ἔμελλον ἀναχεῖν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.163c. AD 75–95

διὸ καὶ Φαραώθης ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οὐ τοῖς περὶ αὐτῆς λεγομένοις ἀρκεσθεὶς ἀλλὰ καὶ θεάσασθαι σπουδάσας οἷός τε ἦν ἅψασθαι τῆς Σάρρας.

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

διὸ καὶ μᾶλλον συγχαίρω ἐμαυτῷ ἐλπίζων σωθῆναι.

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

τῶν ὑπογεγραμμένων μοι ἐγγαίων Ἐσθλάδαν Δρύτωνος διαγράφειν τοῖς ἀνδράσι· τὰ δὲ νῦν ἐποικονομ … διὸ ἀξιῶ, ἐὰν φαίνηται, συντάξαι ἐγδοθῆναι αὐτῶι τὴν καθήκουσαν διαγραφήν. οὗ καὶ γενομένου, ἔσομαι πεφιλανθρωπημένος.

P. Amh. Gr. 2 36138 BC–131 BC

τῶι Παθυρίτηι ἐγγαιδίων, διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν, λείπω τε τὴν ὑπερβολὴν, διοδεύων κινδυνεύω παρʼ ἕκαστον. Διὸ ἀξιῶ

ἡμᾶς εἶναι καὶ ἑτέρωι τόπωι κατοικούσας μὴ εὐχερῶς δύνασθαι ἐπιβαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν σημαινομένην κτῆσιν. Διὸ καταπεφευγυῖαι ἐπὶ σὲ, ἀξιοῦμεν, ἐὰν φαίνηται, μεταπεμψάμενον αὐτὸν ἐπισκέψασθαι καὶ ἐὰν ἦι οἷα γράφομεν

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
μνημονεύετεmnēmoneuō do remember G3421 Verb · present · active · imperative · second person · plural
21× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To remember means to recall or bring to mind, as seen in Luke 17:32 and Colossians 4:18. It's about exercising your memory to think about someone or something.
Tyndale gloss
to remember
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μνημονεύω (mnemoneuo) means to remember or call to mind. It can be used absolutely or with various constructions, such as a genitive or accusative object. The New Testament uses it in several contexts, including Mark 8:18 and Hebrews 11:15. The term is derived from μνήμων, meaning 'mindful,' and has a range of meanings from simple recollection to making mention of something.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μνημονεύω

(< μνήμων, mindful),

[in LXX for זכר;]

to call to mind, remember: absol., Mk 8:18; c. gen. pers., Lk 17:32, Col 4:18, I Th 1:3, He 11:15 (but v. infr.) 13:7; τ. πτωχῶν, Ga 2:20; c. gen. rei, Jo 15:20 16:4, 21, Ac 20:35; c. acc. obj. (as more freq. in cl.), of persons, II Ti 2:8; of things, Mt 16:9, I Th 2:9, Re 18:5; seq. ὅτι, Ac 20:31, Eph 2:11,

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

μνημονεύω ; impf. 3 pers. plur. ἐμνημόνευον ; 1 aor. ἐμνημόνευσα ; (μνήμων mindful); fr. Hdt. down; Sept. for 431; 1. to be mindful of, to remember, to call to snind: absol. Mk. viii. 18; τινός, Lk. xvii. 32; Jn. xv. 20; xvi. 4,21; Actsxx. 35; 1 ΤῊ. 1. 8; [Heb. xiii. 7]; contextually i. q. to think of and feel for a person or thing: w. gen. of the thing, Col. iv. 18; τῶν πτωχῶν, Gal ii. 10 inschriften ἃ. s. w. p. 143], Arab. ee Syr. a seé(see μιμνήσκω, ἢ.) ; w. an ace. of the obj. to hold in memory, keep in mind: τινά, 2 Tim. ii. 8; ri, Mt. xvi. 9; 1 Th. ii. 9; τὰ ἀδικήματα, of God as punishing them, Rev. xviii. 5 (see μιμνήσκω). Cf. Matthiae § 347 Anm. 2; W. p- 205 (198); [B. § 132, 14]. foll. by ὅτι, Acts xx. 31; Eph. ii. 11; 2 Th.ii. 5; foll. by an indir. question, Rev. TOs ui 3: 2. to make mention of: τινός, Heb. xi. 15 [but al. refer this to 1 above] (Plut. Them. 32; τί, Plat. de…

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

μνημονεύω. For μνημονεύω, ““ remember,” c. gen., as in 1 Thess 13 (see Milligan ad /.), cf. PSI VI. 651? (iii/B.c.) καλῶς ἂ]ν ποιοῖς (cf. Mayser Gy. p. 326) μνημονεύων ἡμῶν. We should have expected the same construction in the Christian letter

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μνημονεύω (mnēmoneuō) — to remember.

μνημον-εύω,

perfect ἐμνημόνευκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, future μνημονευθήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also μνημονεύσομαι in passive sense (see. infr. B): aorist ἐμνημονεύθην[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle, aorist ἐμνημονευσάμην [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: (μνήμων):— call to mind, remember, think of, with accusative, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, remember to do, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μ. ὅτι.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εἰ.. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὡς.. [LXX]

2. absolutely, μ. γὰρ καλῶς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to ἀναμιμνήσκεσθαι, as animal instinct from human faculty, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. call to another's mind, mention, say, with accusative, ἀληθῆ -εύεις [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μ. τινί τινος make mention of a thing to another, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μνημονεύω

mnemoneuo

from a derivative of 3420; to exercise memory, i.e. recollect; by

implication, to punish; also to rehearse:--make mention; be mindful,

remember.

see GREEK for 3420

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μνημονεύω

v.

I remember, make mention of

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μνημονεύω mnēmoneuō 21x

to remember, recollect, call to mind, Mt. 16:9; Lk. 17:32; Acts 20:31; to be mindful of, to fix the thoughts upon, Heb. 11:15; to make mention, mention, speak of, Heb. 11:22

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μνημονεύω μνήμων to call to mind, remember, c. acc., Hdt., Trag.; c. gen., Plat.

to call to another's mind, mention, Lat. memorare, c. acc., id. Plat.

Pass. to be remembered, had in memory, μνημονεύσεται χάρις Eur.; μνημονευθήσεται 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
38%do remember
do remember38% · 8×remembering10% · 2×remember10% · 2×we may remember5% · 1×you remember5% · 1×you do remember5% · 1×they were remembering5% · 1×made mention5% · 1×other renderings19% · 4×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 21 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,
οὐδέNeg
νοέωI understand, co
αὐτός
ὥραan hour, season
οὐκέτιNeg
παιδίονa little child,
γρηγορέωI am awake, am vigil
διόwherefore
μνημονεύωdo remember21×
what comes after →
Article the
πέντεIndecγυνήa woman, wife, mλόγοςa word, speech,
ὅτιthat, since, because
τριετίαa space of threeποτέDisjἔτιstill, yet, even
οὖνtherefore, then
πόθενIrgπῶς
αὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, bec
τέDisj
Article the

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

Concordanceμνημονεύω · 21× in the New Testament
Hebrews John Revelation 1 Thessalonians Acts 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy Colossians Ephesians Galatians Luke Matthew
Across the New Testament13 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 8 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.55c. AD 40

ὁ δὲ πλαστὸς νοῦς οὔτε μνημονεύει τὰ καλὰ οὔτε ἐργάζεται, μόνον δὲ εὔθικτός ἐστι·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.119c. AD 75–95

περὶ δὲ τοῦ πεδίου τοῦ λεγομένου Σεναὰρ ἐν τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ χώρᾳ μνημονεύει Ἑστιαῖος λέγων οὕτως·

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
ZPE 209 (2019), p. 208-210Oxyrhynchites ?AD 101–AD 300

στειαν μνείαν ποιούμενος παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς οὐ διαλείπων. καλῶς δὲ ποιήσειςσοῦ βίου ἀριστείαν μνημονεύω ἡμερησίως πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς. καλῶς οὖν ποιήσεις κοτ … ετον … χρησιμεύσας ἡμῖν. πᾶν

SB 28 17112MaximianonAD 176–AD 225

ὦ `ὑπὲρ σοῦ´ ἐν ὀργῇ ἐξερχομένης ἀπὸ Μαξιμιανοῦ. εἴρηκά σοι· μή μοι γράψῃς ἐπιστόλιον. μνημονεύω σου τὰ καλὰ ῥήματα ἐξελθούσης σου ἀπὸ Μαξιμιανοῦ. δέκα ἡμέρας ἐδυνήθην δέξαι· οὐκ εἶδές

P.Berl.Bibl. 20 VoMemphisAD 201–AD 250

ἐν τοῖς τέ τ ταρσιν … … τῇ λείτῃ Ἀλεξανδρ … … μεν καὶ μνημονεύει … … ιτιστων συσσιτῶν … … περ σήμερον οὗτοι λεγο … … κατὰ γῆν

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ὅτιhoti that G3754 Conjunction
1,293× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Ephesians than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'that' or 'because', used to introduce a reason or explanation. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Romans 8:38. It helps to show cause and effect in sentences.
Tyndale gloss
that/since: that
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὅτι (hoti) is a conjunction primarily meaning 'that' or 'because.' It introduces objective clauses, often following verbs of perception or declaration, and can also serve as a causal particle. The New Testament frequently employs it in this way, such as in Matthew 5:4-12. There is some variation in how lexicons describe its usage, particularly regarding its pleonastic function in direct discourse.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅτι,

conjc. (prop. neut. of ὅστις).

As conjc, introducing an objective clause, that;

after verbs of seeing, knowing, thinking, saying, feeling: Mt 3:9 6:32 11:25, Mk 3:28, Lk 2:49, Jo 2:22, Ac 4:13, Ro 1:13 8:38 10:9, Phl 4:15, Ja 2:24, al.; elliptically, Jo 6:46, Phl 3:12, al.

After εἶναι (γίνεσθαι): defining a demonstr. or pers. pron., Jo 3:19 16:19, Ro 9:6, I Jo 3:16 al.; c. pron. interrog., Mt 8:27, Mk 4:41,

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

ὅτι [properly neut. of ὅστις], a conjunction [fr. Hom. down], (Lat. quod [ef. W. § 53,8 b.; B. § 139, 51; § 149, 87), marking I. the substance or contents (of a statement), that; 1. joined to verbs of saying and declaring (where the ace. and infin. is used in Lat.) : ἀναγγέλλειν, Acts xiv. 27; διηγεῖσθαι, Acts ix. 273; εἰπεῖν, Mt. xvi. 20; xxviii. 7,13; Jn. vii. 42; xvi. 15; 1Co.i.15; λέγειν, Mt. iii. 9; vill. 11; Mk. iii. 28; Lk. xv.7; Jn. xvi. 20; Ro. iv. 9 [T Tr WH om. L br. ὅτι}; ix. 2, and very often; προεἰρηκέναι, 2 Co. vii. 3; before the ὅτι in Acts xiv. 22 supply λέγοντες, contained in the preceding παρακαλοῦντες [ef. B. §151, 11]; ὅτι after γράφειν, 1 Co. ix.10; 1 Jn. 11. 12-14; μαρτυρεῖν, Mt. xxiii. 31; Jn. i. 34; iii. 28; iv. 44; ὁμολογεῖν, Heb. xi. 13; δεικνύειν, Mt. xvi. 21; δηλοῦν, 1 Co. i. 11; διδάσκειν, 1 Co. xi. 14. after ἐμφανίζειν. Heb. xi. 14; δῆλον (ἐστίν), 1 Co.…

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

οτι. (1) For ὅτι, ‘‘that,” introducing an objective clause after verbs of knowing, saying, etc., cf. P Tebt II. 4098 (A.D. 5) εἰδὼ[ς ὅ]τι ἐξίι)ουσίαν αὐτῶν ἔχει kal Λυσίμαχος kal σύ, ΚΕ knew that both you and Lysimachus had plenty of them” (Edd.), P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) νομίσας ὅτι (cf. Mt 517) κιχρᾷς por αὐτούς, ““ consider that you are lending them (sc. staters) to me’’ (Edd.), BGU III. 8464* (ii/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 93) γεινώσκειν σαι θέλω, ὅτι οὐχ [HA] Lov, ὅτι ἀναβένις (1. ἀναβαίνεις) els τὴν μητρόπολιν, “1 wish you to know that I had no hope that you were coming up to the metropolis,” 74.9 αἴγραψά σοι, ὅτι γυμνός εἰμει, “1 wrote you that I am naked,” and P Tebt II. 420+ (iii/A.D.) οἴδατε ὅτι ἀπὸ ζημίας ἠμί, ‘‘ You know that I am blameless.” Ὅτι, however, is frequently omitted, e.g. BGU IIL. 8153(ii/a.p.) γεινόσκιν σε θέλω [τὴ]ν ἐπιστολήν σου ἔλαβε (corrected by another hand…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅτι (hoti) — that/since: that.

ὅτῐ,

Epic dialect ὅττῐ (both in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: conjunction, to introduce an objective clause, that, after Verbs of seeing or knowing, thinking or saying; in [Refs 8th c.BC+] —Usage:

I. when ὅτι introduces a statement of fact:

I. a in [Refs 8th c.BC+] always with indicative, the tense following the same rules as in English, ἤγγειλ᾽ ὅττι ῥά οἱ πόσις ἔκτοθι μίμνε πυλάων [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I. b in Attic dialect, ὅτι takes indicative after primary tenses, indicative or optative after secondary tenses, e.g. ἐνδείκνυμαι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι σοφός [Refs 5th c.BC+] news came that Megara had (literal has) revolted, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: sometimes optative and indicative are found in the same sentence, ἔλεγον, ὅτι Κῦρος μὲν τέθνηκεν, Ἀριαῖος δὲ πεφευγὼς.. εἴη [Refs 5th c.BC+].. and the accusative with infinitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅτι

hoti

neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes

redundant); causative, because:--as concerning that, as though,

because (that), for (that), how (that), (in) that, though, why.

see GREEK for 3748

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅτι

Cj.

that, since, because

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅτι hoti 1x

originally was the neuter of ὅστις, that, Mt. 2:16, 22, 23; 6:5, 16; often used pleonastically in reciting another’s words, Mt. 9:18; Lk. 19:42; Acts 5:23; as a causal particle, for that, for, because, Mt. 2:18; 5:3, 4, 5; 13:13; because, seeing that, since, Lk. 23:40; Acts 1:17

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%that
that64% · 856×because19% · 252×for16% · 209×other renderings1% · 12×

1,329 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 8 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial16%object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,293 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγάρforδέbut, on the othe
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςσύδέbut, on the othe
οἶδαI know, remember
οὐNegκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakμαθητήςa learner, disciπερί
γινώσκωI come to know, lear
οὗτοςκαίand, even, also,αὐτός
ὅτιthat1293×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπατήρfather, Father,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existοἶδαI know, rememberδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐγώ
εἰμίI am, existοὐNegArticle the
οὗτος
εἰμίI am, existArticle theποιέωI do, make
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theῥῆμαa thing spokenζητέωI seek, search f

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

Concordanceὅτι · 1,293× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 John Revelation 1 Corinthians Romans 2 Corinthians Galatians Philippians

2 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
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 8c. AD 40

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

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
C.Erbstreit14Diospolis Magna (Theben)187 BC

καὶ τὴν εἰκοστὴν τοῦ ἐγκυκλίου καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ καθήκοντα. … ται Προῖτος, καθʼ ὅτι πρόκειται … ἑξήκοντα ἓξ τετρωβόλου καὶ τῆς … … τοπογραμματέως τοῦ Παθυρίτου … ἀρουρῶν

P.Grenf. 1 10 p. 24Hermonthis149 BC

ι τοῖς ἐνκαλουμένοις τὸ ἀντίγραφον τῆς ἐντεύξεως λαβεῖν παρ … τ … … πίστιν ὅτι ἀπαντησα … ἐπὶ τὸ ἐν τῆι αὐλῆι κριτήριον ἐν ἡμέραις λ οὐκ ο

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

δʼ ἐπιχειροῦντας μὴ ὑπακούειν σου … υτέραι στάσει ἐχομένους ἀσφαλισάμενος μέχρι τοῦ καὶ ἡμᾶς ὅτι τάχος ἐπιβαλεῖν πρὸς σέ. ἔρρωσοἔρρωσο ἔτους κϛ Φαμενὼθ ιϛ

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ποτὲpote formerly G4218 Particle
31× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means once or when, referring to a time in the past or future. Paul used it in Romans 7:9 and Galatians 1:13 to talk about his life before meeting Jesus. It can also mean ever or at some point.
Amplified meaning
in the past, once
Tyndale gloss
once/when
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ποτέ is an enclitic particle meaning 'once' or 'at some time.' It can refer to both past and future events and is often used in negative constructions or questions. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, such as John 9:13 and Luke 22:32. Some lexicons note its use in hypothetical clauses and questions, while others emphasize its indefinite temporal nature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ποτέ,

enclitic particle,

once, formerly, sometime: of the past, Jo 9:13, Ro 7:9 11:30, Ga 1:13, 23 2:6 (Lft., in l.), Eph 2:2, 3, 11, 13 5:8, Col 1:21 3:7, I Th 2:5, Tit 3:3, Phm 11, I Pe 2:10 3:5, 20; ἤδη ποτέ, now at length, Phl 4:10; of the fut., Lk 22:32; εἴ πως ἤδη ποτέ, if sometime soon at length, Ro 1:10.

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

ποτέ, an enclitic particle, fr. Hom. down; 1. once, i. e. at some time or other, formerly, aforetime ; a. of the Past: Jn. ix. 13; Ro. vii. 9; xi. 30; Gal. i. 13, 23 [ef. W. § 45, 7]; Eph. ii. 2 sq. 11,13; v. 8; Col. i. 21; iii. 7; 1 Th. ii. 5; Tit. iii. 3; Philem. 11; 1 Pet. ii. 10; iii. 5, 20; ἤδη ποτέ, now at length, Phil. iv. 10. b. of the Future: Lk. xxii. 32; ἤδη ποτέ, now at length, Ro. i. 10. 2. ever: after a negative, οὐδείς ποτε, Eph. v. 29 [B. 202 (175)]; ov... ποτέ, 2 Pet. i. 21; μή more (see μήποτε); after ov μή with the aor. subjunc. 2 Pet. i. 10; ina question, τίς ποτε, 1 Co. ix. 7; Heb.i. 5, 13; ὁποῖοί ποτε, whatsoever, Gal. ii. 6 [but some would render ποτέ here formerly, once; cf. Bp. Lghtft. ad loc. ].

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

ποτέ, an indefinite temporal particle = ‘fat any time, at some time,” ‘‘once,” ‘‘formerly”’: cf. PSI V. 484? (B.c. 258-7) ὥς ποτε αὐτῶι ἐδόκει, P Oxy IV. 7457 (c. A.D. 1) οὐκ οἶδας yap πῶς μοι ἐχρήσατο ἐν ᾿Οξυρύγχοις οὐχ ὡς λύσα v>TL ἀλλ᾽ ὥς τινί ποτε ἀποστερητῆι μὴ ἀποδεδωκότι, “*you don’t know how he treated me at Oxyrhynchus (?), not like a man who had paid but like a defrauder and a debtor” (Edd.), P Fay 11076 (A.D. 94) “Hpwva τόν ποτε ἡγούμί(ενον), ‘ Heron the former president,” P Ryl IL. 243° (ii/A.D.) ὅσα ποτὲ οὖν ἐὰν ἀναίναγλώσῃς ls τὴν τοῦ κλήρου κατεργασίαν, ἡμεῖν ἐνλόγησον ἐπὶ λόγου. ““υυΐ down to our account everything you expend on the cultivation of the > ες μοί ποτε περὶ τούτου, ‘“‘you once had a conversation with me on this subject” (Edd.), P Par 57414 (iii/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 113) ἐξορκίζω σε, δαῖμον, ὅστις ποτ᾽ οὖν εἶ, and P Oxy XIV. τόϑ8ο1" (iii/iv a.p.)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ποτέ (pote) — once/when.

Included with: πότε,

Ionic dialect κότε, Doric dialect πόκα [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—interrogative Particle used in direct and indirect questions, when? at what time? [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πότ᾽ ἆρ; ={πότε} with ἆρα [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. indefinite ποτε (Attic dialect, also [Refs 4th c.BC+], Ionic dialect κοτε, Doric dialect ποκα, Aeolic dialect ποτα [Refs 7th c.BC+]

II.1. at some time or other, at some time, τάχ᾽ ἄν ποτε θυμὸν ὀλέσσῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; π. καὶ ἄλλοτε at certain other times, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. in hypothetical clauses, questions, etc., at any time, ever, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; compare εἴ ποτε: also with relatives (compare δήποτε), Ζεὺς ὅστις ποτ᾽ ἐστίν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὅποι ποτέ, ὅπου π., etc., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; after πω, πη, see at {πώποτε, πήποκα}: very frequently…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ποτέ

pote

from the base of 4225 and 5037; indefinite adverb, at some time,

ever:--afore-(any, some-)time(-s), at length (the last), (+ n- )ever,

in the old time, in time past, once, when.

see GREEK for 4225

see GREEK for 5037

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ποτέ

Disj.prt.

at one time or other

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ποτε pote 29x

enclitic particle, once, some time or other, either past or future; formerly, Jn. 9:13; at length, Lk. 22:32; at any time, ever, Eph. 5:29; Heb. 2:1; intensive after interrogatives, ever, 1 Cor. 9:7; Heb. 1:5

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ποτέ enclit. Particle:

at some time or other, at some time, Hom., etc.

at any time, ever, Soph., etc.; often after relat. words, ὅστις ποτέ, ὅστις δήποτε, ὅστις δηποτοῦν, v. δήποτε; also after πω, v. πώποτε; and after negatives, when it often becomes one word with the negat., οὔποτε, μήποτε, οὐδέποτε, μηδέποτε.

in correl. clauses it stands first, with accent, ποτὲ μέν . . , ποτὲ δέ . . , at one time . . , at another . . , Lat. modo . . , modo . . , Plat.

of some unknown point of time,

the past, once, erst, Il., Trag.; in telling a story, once upon a time, Ar.

the future, at some time, Il., etc.:—with imperat., Lat. tandem aliquando, Soph.

in questions, τίς ποτε; Lat. qui tandem? who in the world? Aesch., etc.; v. τίποτε; τίπτε.

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

PRT PaRTicle, disjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
45%once
once45% · 13×formerly14% · 4×at any time14% · 4×at last7% · 2×ever7% · 2×at any time?3% · 1×former3% · 1×at one time3% · 1×other renderings3% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial94%object6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 54 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
γάρfor
εἰμίI am, existοὐδείςno one, none, noοὔτεNeg
σύ
καίand, even, also,γάρfor
Article the
Φαρισαῖοςa Phariseeσύ
ὅς
πίστιςfaith, belief, tἐν
μήNeg
λέγωI say, speakἐπείafter, for, sinc
ποτέformerly31×
what comes after →
ἐν
Article theλόγοςa word, speech,
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐδείςno one, none, noμακράνfar awayἀπαλλοτριόωI estrange, alie
οὐNeg
μήNegλαόςa people, the cr
σύ
Article theἄχρηστοςunprofitable, us
Article the
ἑαυτοῦἄγγελοςan angel, messen

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

Concordanceποτέ · 31× in the New Testament
Ephesians Galatians 1 Peter Hebrews Romans 2 Peter Colossians 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians John Luke Matthew
Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 16c. AD 40

προλαβὼν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἅτε θεὸς ὅτι μίμημα καλὸν οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο δίχα καλοῦ παραδείγματος οὐδέ τι τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀνυπαίτιον, ὃ μὴ πρὸς ἀρχέτυπον καὶ νοητὴν ἰδέαν ἀπεικονίσθη, βουληθεὶς τὸν ὁρατὸν κόσμον τουτονὶ δημιουργῆσαι προεξετύπου τὸν νοητόν,…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

εἰ δʼ ἐπὶ πλέον ποτὲ χειμάσαιμι, μὴ δείσητε τῶν ὄμβρων τὸ μέγεθος·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.19c. AD 100

εἰ οὖν οὐ γίνεται τοῦτο νῦν, ἄρα ἡμῖν εἴρηκεν, πότε: ὅταν καὶ αὐτοὶ τελειωθῶμεν κληρονόμοι τῆς διαθήκης κυρίου γενέσθαι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. BC 1st c. AD

φροντιεῖ σου. ἀπέσταλκα δέ σοι καὶ ἐρίων μνᾶς τρεισήμισυ , καθαρὸν δὲ ὅσον ἄν ποτε ἀποβῆι. τοῦτο ἀνοίσουσίν σοι οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι. ἀπέσταλκα δέ σοι καὶ τὸ καταλειφθὲν στρούθειον ἔρρωσο.

ἔπιπλα τάς τε προκτήσεις τῶν ἐγγαιδίων ἐξιδιασάμενοι ἀπηνέγκαντο καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου διὰ παρευρέσεως ἀεί ποτε ἀντιποιούμενοι τῶν ἡμετέρων παρʼ ἕκαστον καταβλάπτοντες διασείουσιν. ἐνήλικοι δὲ γενόμεναι κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον κληρονομήσασαι

P.Amh. 2 82ArsinoitesAD 306–AD 337

πόλεως τινὲς ἀπόντα εἵλαντο εἰς λογογραφίαν ἀνεπιτήδειον ὄντα καὶ γράμματα σχεδὸν ἐπιστάμενον οὐδὲ πολιτευσάμενόν ποτε. καὶ μετὰ ἡμέρας … ἀνελθὼν ἐπὶ τῆς μητροπόλεως καὶ τοῦτο μαθὼν οὐδὲ ἔκκλητον ποιεῖσθαι

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ὑμεῖς you yourselves G4771
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σύ is the second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you' in Greek. It has various forms: genitive σοῦ, dative σοί, and accusative σέ. The word can be used for emphasis or contrast, particularly in the New Testament, as seen in verses like Matthew 26:64. It also appears in various dialects and has enclitic forms.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

thou, you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, pl., ὑμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς (enclitic in oblique cases sing., except after prep. (BL, §48, 3), though πρὸς σέ occurs in Mt 25:39). Nom. for emphasis or contrast: Jo 1:30, 42 4:10 5:33, 39, 44, Ac 4:7, Eph 5:32; so also perhaps σὺ εἶπας, Mt 26:64, al. (M, Pr., 86); before voc., Mt 2:6, Lk 1:76, Jo 17:5, al.; sometimes without emphasis (M, Pr., 85f.), as also

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

σύ, pron. of the second pers. (Dor. and Aeol. τύ, Boeot. Tov), gen. σοῦ, dat. σοί, ace. σέ (which oblique cases are enclitic, unless a preposition precede; yet πρός σε is written [uniformly in Ree. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18), in Grsb. (exe. Jn. xxi. 22, 23), in Treg. (exc. Mt. xxvi. 18; Acts xxiii. 30), in Lchm. (exe. Mt. xxvi.18; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; xxi. 22, 23; Acts xxiii. 30), in Tdf. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18; Lk. i. 19; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; Jn. xxi. 22; Acts xxiii. 18, 30; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Tit. iii. 12); also by WH in Mt. xxv. 39], see ἐγώ, 2; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 62 sq. [W. §6, 3; B. 31 (27)]); plur. ὑμεῖς, εἴς. : Lat. tu, ete., vos, ete.; thou, ete., ye,ete. The nominatives ov and ὑμεῖς are expressed for emphasis — before a vocative, as σὺ Βηθλεέμ, Mt. ii. 6; σὺ παιδίον (Leian. dial. deor. 2, 1), Lk. i. 76; add, Jn. xvii. 5; Acts i. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 11, etc.; ὑμεῖς of Φαρισαῖοι, Lk. xi. 39…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

thou: pronoun of the second person:—Epic dialect nominative τύνη [ῡ] [Refs 8th c.BC+] (Laconian dialect τούνη [Refs 5th c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect σύ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τύ [ῠ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τού [short syllable] [Refs 6th c.BC+] (also τούν [Refs]σύ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]—Gen. σοῦ, [Refs], elsewhere only Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; enclitic σου, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (also in Lyric poetry, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (which also occurs in Lyric poetry, [Refs 7th c.BC+], and as enclitic σευ, [Refs 8th c.BC+], σεο (enclitic) [Refs] σευ (enclitic) [Refs]:—Doric dialect τεῦ, τευ, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; rarely τέο, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τεῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τεοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοι variant in [Refs]; enclitic τεος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; other Doric dialect forms are τίω, τίως, both [Refs 3rd c.BC+]—Dat. σοί, [Refs 8th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

the person pronoun of the second person singular; thou:-- thou. See

also 4571, 4671, 4675; and for the plural 5209, 5210, 5213, 5216.

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, Mt. 1:20; 2:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 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
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 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
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyou yourselves2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

Concordanceσύ · 2,892× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Acts Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans 1 Thessalonians Revelation Hebrews Colossians

16 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
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 450 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.48c. AD 40

„οὐ φυτεύσεις σεαυτῷ ἄλσος, πᾶν ξύλον παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ“ (Deuter.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

παύσομαι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ μετὰ τοσαύτης ὀργῆς τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν εἰσπραττόμενος καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον σοῦ παρακαλοῦντος.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

τοῦ ἀποδοθῆι τὸν ἐπεσταλμένον ἡμῖν κατὰ μῆνα πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Πηλουσίωι θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

παρὰ Πετεύριος διεθέντος μου ὑπάρξει σοι εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δεκάπεντε, τάλαντα ιε. εὐτύχει .

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
τὰho the G3588 Article · nominative · plural · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians 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-NPN — Article · nominative · plural · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-NPN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ἔθνηethnos Gentiles G1484 Noun · nominative · plural · neuter
162× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means a nation or people, often referring to non-Jewish people. In Matthew 21:43 and Acts 10:35, it describes the Gentiles or nations.
Amplified meaning
non-Jews, nations
Tyndale gloss
Gentiles
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἔθνος (i.e., *ethnos*) refers to a multitude or a nation, often distinguished from the Jewish people. It can denote a company of individuals or animals and is frequently used in the New Testament to refer to Gentiles or non-Jews. The term appears in various contexts, including Acts and Matthew, where it highlights the distinction between Jews and other nations.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔθνος, -ους, τό,

[in LXX chiefly for עַם ,גּוֹי ;]

a multitude, a company, whether of beasts or men (Hom.).

a nation, people: Mt 21:43 24:7, Mk 13:8, Lk 22:25, Ac 10:35, al.; in sing., of the Jewish people, Lk 7:5 23:2, Jo 11:48, 50-53 18:35, Ac 10:22 24:3, 10 26:4 28:19.

In pl., as in OT, τὰ ἔ. (like Heb. הַגּוֹיִם), the nations, as distinct from Israel, Gentiles: Mt 4:15 6:32, Ac 26:17, Ro…

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

ἔθνος, -ους, τό; 1. a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together ; a company, troop, swarm: ἔθνος ἑταίρων, ἔθνος ᾿Αχαιῶν, ἔθνος λαῶν, Hom. 1]. ; ἔθνος μελισσάων, 2,87; μυιάων ἔθνεα, ib. 469. 2. α multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus, (τὸ ἔθνος τὸ θῆλυ ἢ τὸ ἄρρεν, Xen. oec. 7, 26): πᾶν ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων, the human race, Acts xvii. 26 [but this seems to belong under the next head]. 3. race, nation: Mt. xxi. 43; Acts x. 35, ete.; ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος, Mt. xxiv. 7; ΜΚ. xiii. 8; οἱ ἄρχοντες, of βασιλεῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν, Mt. xx. 25; Lk. xxii. 25; used [in the sing.] of the Jewish people, Lk. vii. δ; xxiii. 2; Jn. xi. 48, 50-53; xviii. 35; Acts x. 22; xxiv. 2 (3), 10; xxvi. 4; xxviii. 19. 4. (ra) ἔθνη, like 0127 in the O. T., foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles, [ οἴ. Trench § xeviii.]: Mt. iv. 15 (Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν), vi. 32; [3 Jn. 7…

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

ἔθνος. Hicks in CR i. p. 42f. has shown that ‘‘ Hellenic life found its normal type in the πόλις, and barbarians who lived κατὰ κώμας or in some less organised form were ἔθνη,᾽᾿ and that similarly in the LXX and NT ἔθνος ‘‘ describes the pagan world, outside the Jewish Church,’’ but occasionally stands for the λαός itself, as in Ac 107%, 2477 α΄. In an Impenial rescript of a.p. 198-201 we have a good example of the word = ‘‘ province’ —P Oxy VII. 1020° ᾧ ἡγούplevos] τοῦ ἔθνους τὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς ἀφέσεως ἐκδικ[ήσει, “the praefect of the province shall decide the suit for release” (Ed.): cf. P Strass I. 2219 (iii/A.p.) διατάξεις εἰσὶν τῶν κυρίων περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν οἰκούντων, where the editor understands by ἔθνη, ‘“‘provinctae populé Romani,” and the exx. from Greek writers of this usage in Magie p. 59, dA7chzv i. p. 66: see also Deissmann Pax/, p. 100. In the edict regarding the aurum…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔθνος (ethnos) — Gentiles.

ἔθνος, εος, τό:

(ϝέθνος,[Refs 8th c.BC+]: - number of people living together, company, body of men, ἑτάρων ἔ., ἔ. ἑταίρων, band of comrades, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἔθνος λαῶν host of men, [Refs]; of particular tribes, Αυκίων μέγα ἔ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of animals, ἔ. μελισσάων, ὀρνίθων, μυιάων, swarms, flocks, etc., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἔ. ἀνέρων, γυναικῶν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔ. βρότεον, θνατόν, [Refs]; ἔ. τόδε, of the Erinyes, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. after [Refs 8th c.BC+], nation, people, τὸ Μηδικὸν ἔ. (γένος being a subdivision of ἔθνος) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔ. ἠπειρογενές, μαχαιροφόρον, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔθνος

ethnos

probably from 1486; a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe;

specially, a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually, by implication,

pagan):--Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

see GREEK for 1486

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔθνος, ους, τό

n.n.

a race, people, the Gentiles

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔθνος ethnos 162x

a multitude, company, Acts 17:26; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 21:24; a nation, people, Mt. 20:25; 21:43; pl. ἔθνη, from the Hebrew, nations or people as distinguished from the Jews, the heathen, Gentiles, Mt. 4:15; 10:5; Lk. 2:32

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔθνος ἔθνος, εος, ἔθω a number of people accustomed to live together, a company, body of men, Il., etc.; ἔθνος λαῶν a host of men, id. Il.; also of animals, swarms, flocks, id. Il., Soph.

after Hom., a nation, people, Hdt., etc.:—in NTest. τὰ ἔθνη the nations, Gentiles, i. e. all but Jews and Christians.

a special class of men, a caste, tribe, Plat., Xen.

sex, id. Xen.

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

N-NPN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jen'-tilz (goy, plural goyim; ethnos, "people," "nation"): Goy (or Goi) is rendered "Gentiles" in the King James Version in some 30 passages, but much more frequently "heathen," and oftener still, "nation," which latter is the usual rendering in the Revised Version (British and American), but it, is commonly used for a non-Israelitish people, and thus corresponds to the meaning of Gentiles." It occurs, however, in passages referring to the Israelites, as in Ge 12:2; De 32:28; Jos 3:17; 4:1; 10:13; 2Sa 7:23; Isa 1:4; Ze 2:9, but the word (`am) is the term commonly used for the people of God. In the New Testament ethnos is…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Gentiles

(Heb., usually in plural, goyim), meaning in general all nations except the Jews. In course of time, as the Jews began more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges, it acquired unpleasant associations, and was used as a term of contempt.

In the New Testament the Greek word Hellenes, meaning literally Greek (as in Acts 16:1, 3; 18:17; Rom. 1:14), generally denotes any non-Jewish nation.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(nations). All the people who were not Jews were so called by them, being aliens from the worship, rites and privileges of Israel. The word was used contemptuously by them. In the New Testament it is used as equivalent to Greek. This use of the word seems to have arisen from the almost universal adaption of the Greek language.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A name given by the Hebrews to all those that had not received the Law of Moses. Foreigners who embraced Judaism, they called proselytes. Since the promulgation of the gospel, the true religion has been extended to all nations; God, who had promised by his prophets to call the Gentiles to the faith, with a superabundance of grace, having fulfilled his promise; so that the Christian church is composed principally of Gentile converts, the Jews being too proud of their privileges to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Redeemer. In the writings of Paul, the Gentiles are generally called Greeks, Ro 1:14,16 1Co 1:22,24 Ga 3:28. So also in those of Luke, in the Ac 6:1

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
55%gentiles
gentiles55% · 91×nations20% · 33×nation18% · 30×other renderings4% · 6×other renderings2% · 4×

164 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
adverbial36%subject27%object15%indirect object11%predicate9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 162 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
πᾶςall, the whole, καίand, even, also,ἐν
καίand, even, also, nam
λαόςa people, the crγλῶσσαthe tongue, a laοὐχίIrg
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἀπόἐνεἷςone
ἐκ
λαμβάνωI receive, takeArticle theκαίand, even, also,
ἐπί
ἔθνοςa race, people,
ἔθνοςGentiles162×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
βασιλείαkingship, sovereArticle theλαόςa people, the cr
Article the
μήNegθεόςGod, a godκόσμοςthe world, unive
ἐπί
ἔθνοςa race, people, ὅςὅσος
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,ἐπιστέλλωI write, send byπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
εἰς
Article theὅςαὐτός

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

Concordanceἔθνος · 162× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Revelation Matthew Luke Galatians Mark Ephesians John 1 Corinthians 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament16 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 509 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.88c. AD 40

ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πορεύεται ἡ ὑπομονητικὴ ψυχὴ Ῥεβέκκα πυθέσθαι παρὰ θεοῦ, ἀποκρίνεται αὐτῇ, ὅτι „δύο ἔθνη ἐν τῇ γαστρί σού ἐστι, καὶ δύο λαοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας σου διασταλήσονται, καὶ λαὸς λαοῦ ὑπερέξει, καὶ ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι“ (Gen.

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 9.5c. AD 100

λάβε πάλιν: Ἰδού, λέγει κύριος, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀπερίτμητα ἀκροβυστίαν, ὁ δὲ λαὸς οὗτος ἀπερίτμητος καρδίας.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Diog. 23AD 185–AD 186

ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν … τοῦτο τὸ ἔθνος … λομενον πυ … εισθαι πρ … … ἐντολῆς … … εἰδῶσι ἔτους κϛ

P.Sijp. 58AD 101–AD 300

ἀδελφῇ … χαίρειν. … μικρὸν παιδίον … ς φοινίκων … αν αὐτὸν ὡς … ἔθνη κoινὰν … μηχανῶν ἢ ἐρι… ἐπεὶ γὰρ χρείαν σου ἔχω … ἀσπάσασθαι. ἀπο

P.Col. 6 123Tebtynis? (Arsinoites)AD 200

ἀπολαβεῖν σε τὴν νομὴν τῶν χωρὶς συνβάσεως κατεχομένων πρὸς βίαν χωρίων ὁ ἡγούμενος τοῦ ἔθνους κελεύσει … … θαλγη Ἀμβρήλου διὰ Ἀβδομάνχου υἱοῦ. ἀργύριον γυναῖκες δανίζεσθαι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄλλων

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians 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
Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
σαρκί,sarx [the] flesh, G4561 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
147× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Flesh refers to the physical body, like the meat of an animal or the human body, as seen in 1 Corinthians 15:39 and Luke 24:39.
Amplified meaning
physical body, human nature
Tyndale gloss
flesh
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for בָּשָׂר ;]

flesh;

as in cl. generally,

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σάρξ (sarx) — flesh.

σάρξ,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σάρξ

sarx

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

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

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

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

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

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

flesh(-ly).

see GREEK for 4563

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

n.f.

flesh, body

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σάρξ sarx 147x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-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

@basar, she'er):

1. Etymology:

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

Flesh

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.120c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
οἱho the ones G3588 Article · nominative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians 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-NPM — Article · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-NPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the ones19783×
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

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
λεγόμενοιlegō being named G3004 Verb · present · passive · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
2,255× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Ephesians than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means to say or speak, and it is used by Jesus and others in the New Testament to share teachings and tell stories. It appears in Matthew 9:34 and John 1:29.
Amplified meaning
labeled, referred to as
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λέγω (legō) is a primary Greek verb meaning 'to say' or 'to speak.' It encompasses a range of uses, including expressing thoughts, making declarations, and narrating events. The New Testament frequently employs it in direct speech and as a way to convey meaning, such as in Matthew 27:11. Abbott-Smith notes its distinction from similar verbs like λαλέω.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — λαλέω, λέγω, λαλιά, λόγος from a scan

In dealing with synonyms of the N. T. we plainly need not concern ourselves with such earlier, or even contemporary, uses of the words which we are discriminating, as lie altogether outside of the N. T. sphere, when these uses do not illustrate, and have not affected, their Scriptural employment. It follows from this that all those contemptuous uses of λαλεῖν as to talk at random, as one ἀθυρόστομος, or with no door to his lips, might do; of λαλιά, as chatter («Kpacia λόγου ἄλογος, Plato, Defin. 416)—for I cannot believe that we are to find this at John iv. 42—may be dismissed and set aside. The antithesis in the line of Eupolis (Meineke, /ragm. Com. Gr. p. 174), Λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν, does little or nothing to illustrate the matter in hand. The distinction which indeed exists between the words may in this way be made clear. There are two leading aspects under which speech…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

[in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Ge 22:16, al.;]

in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.

In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Ac 13:15 24:10; seq. orat. dir., Mt 9:34, Mk 3:11, Jo 1:29, al.; seq. ὅτι recit., Mk 3:21, Lk 1:24, Jo 6:14, al.; acc. et. inf., Lk 11:18, Jo 12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mt 11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman…

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

λέγω (in the N. T. only the pres. and impf. act. and pres. pass. are in use; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἔλεγαν, Jn. xi. 56 Tdf. [ef. ἔχω, init.]): I. in its earliest use in Hom. to lay (like Lat. lego, Germ. legen; οἵ. J. G. Miiller in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. for 1835, p. 127 sqq.; Curtius § 538) ; to cause to lie down, put to sleep; 1. to collect, gather; to pick out. 2. lo lay with, count with; to enumerate, recount, narrate, describe; [οἷ. Eng. tale, Germ. ztihlen). II. to put word to word in speaking, join words together, i. e. to say (how it differs fr. λαλεῖν, see under that word ad init.) ; once so by Hom. in 1]. 2, 222 [yet ef. Schmidt, Syn. i. ch. 1, §§ 20; 48, 2; L. and S. s. vy. B. II. 2]; often in Pind., and by far the most com. use in Attic; Sept. more than thirteen hundred times for 728; often also for D8} (saying, dictum); very rarely for 1393; and soin N.T. 1. univ. a. absol. to…

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

λέγω. (1). “‘I say, speak”: see e.g. P Par 47 {= Selections, Ῥ- 21 ff.), ¢. B.C. 153, which is addressed on the verso—mpds τοὺς τὴν ἀλήθεαν λέγοντες (—-as), P Fay 12378 (c. A.D. 100) γνώσομαι yap εἰ ἀληθῶς λέγι, “1 will find out whether he is speaking the truth,” P Ryl 11. 7615 (late li/A.D.) ἃ καὶ ἀναγνώσομαι λεγομένου τοῦ [π]ράγματος, “1 will read them when the case is argued” (Edd.), P Flor II. 1327 (A.D. 257) ἔλεζξ]αν πεποιηκέναι ταῦτα ἀγνοίᾳ, ‘they said they had done this in ignorance,” and the magical P Par 5741238 (iii/A.D.) (= Selectzons, p. 113) λόγος λεγόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, ‘ invocation to be uttered over the head (of the possessed one).”” For the phrase τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, cf. I Cor 11°, Weiss (Meyer 15 ad 1) cites a sepulchral inscr. of husband and wife from Rhodes, /J/Ae 149 (ii/B.c.) ταὐτὰ λέγοντες ταὐτὰ φρονοῦντες ἤλθομεν τὰν ἀμέτρητον ὁδὸν εἰς ᾿Αἴδαν. (2). Closely…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λέγω (legō) — to say.

λέγω,

__B pick up, etc.: tenses for signification 1 and 11, future λέξω [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist ἔλεξα [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—middle, future in passive sense λέξομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐλεξάμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect ἐλέγμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, aorist ἐλέχθην [Refs 8th c.BC+]-; post-[Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect εἴλοχα (κατ-, συν-), passive εἴλεγμαι, in these senses rarely λέλεγμαι (see. the compounds); also future λεγήσομαι (συλ-): aorist 2 ἐλέγην (κατ-, συν-):—gather, pick up, ὀστέα.. λέγωμεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; αἱμασιάς τε λέγων picking out stones for building walls, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—middle, gather for oneself, ἐπὶ δὲ ξύλα πολλὰ λέγεσθε [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

lego

a primary verb; properly, to "lay" forth, i.e. (figuratively) relate

(in words (usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas 2036 and

5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech

respectively; while 4483 is properly to break silence merely, and 2980

means an extended or random harangue)); by implication, to mean:--ask,

bid, boast, call, describe, give out, name, put forth, say(-ing, on),

shew, speak, tell, utter.

see GREEK for 2036

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 2980

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λέγω

v.

I say, speak

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

to lay, to arrange, to gather; to say, Mt. 1:20; to speak, make an address or speech, Acts 26:1; to say mentally, in thought, Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8; to say in written language, Mk. 15:28; Lk. 1:63; Jn. 19:37; to say, as distinguished from acting, Mt. 23:3; to mention, speak of, Mk. 14:71; Lk. 9:31; Read the full entry →

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
35%saying
saying35% · 480×says13% · 175×i say12% · 164×he says9% · 122×say5% · 70×he was saying3% · 42×they say2% · 31×other renderings17% · 225×other renderings4% · 48×

1,357 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 107 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,255 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
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
αὐτός
πρόςμαθητήςa learner, disciἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the otheγόνυa knee
ἀμήνHebr
ἀμήνHebrαὐτόςλέγωI say, speak
λέγωbeing named2255×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeter
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNegἐάνCond
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπρόςαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὗτοςσύ

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

Concordanceλέγω · 2,255× in the New Testament
Luke John Matthew Mark Acts Revelation Hebrews Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians James Galatians

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

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

Counted over the 1,290 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 5c. AD 40

οὐ μὴν διὰ τοῦθ’ ἡσυχαστέον, ἀλλ’ ἕνεκα τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς καὶ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἐπιτολμητέον λέγειν, οἴκοθεν μὲν οὐδέν, ὀλίγα δ’ ἀντὶ πολλῶν, ἐφ’ ἃ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην διάνοιαν φθάνειν εἰκὸς ἔρωτι καὶ πόθῳ σοφίας κατεσχημένην.

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

ὅπως Ἅβραμος ὁ πρόγονος ἡμῶν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς κατέσχε τὴν τότε μὲν Χαναναίαν νῦν δὲ Ἰουδαίαν λεγομένην.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

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

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἑτερᾶς· νότου γῆ Τακοίμιος, βορρᾶ γῆ Χενσθώτου, ἀπηλιώτου Ἀείους, λιβὸς περίχωμα, τῆς δʼ ἄλλης λεγομένης Πκρώ· νότου γῆ Σενπελαίας, βορρᾶ γῆ Πανᾶτος ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς Ἀραμείους, ἢ οἳ ἂν

P.Adl. 16Pathyris100 BC

οἱ Φίβιος τοῦ Πανεχάτου υἱοί, ἀπηλιώτου ὁδὸς βασιλική, λιβὸς γῆ Ψεμμώνθου τοῦ Πανεχάτου, ἄλλης λεγομένης Φαμούνιος νότου γῆ Παθώτου τοῦ Πατοῦτος, βορρᾶ γῆ Πατσεοῦτος τοῦ Φίβιος, ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ἀκροβυστίαakrobustia [the] uncircumcision G203 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
20× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Uncircumcision refers to not being circumcised, often used to describe non-Jewish people. It appears in Romans 2:25-27 and Galatians 5:6.
Amplified meaning
without the Jewish rite of circumcision
Tyndale gloss
uncircumcision
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀκροβυστία refers to the foreskin and, by extension, the state of uncircumcision. It is derived from components related to the male anatomy and is used in the New Testament to denote both the physical condition and metaphorically to refer to Gentiles. Key references include Romans 2:25-27 and Galatians 5:6.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† ἀκροβυστία, -ας, ή

(perh. an Alexandrian form of cl. ἀκροποσθία; cf. MM, VGT, s.v.)

[in LXX for עׇרְלָה;]

the prepuce, foreskin (LXX), hence abstr., uncircumcision: Ac 11:3, Ro 2:25-27 3:30 4:10-12, I Co 7:18-19, Ga 5:6 6:15, Col 2:13 3:11. By meton., the uncircumcised: Ro 4:9, Ga 2:7, Eph 2:11.†

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

ἀκροβυστία, -as, 7, (a word unknown to the Greeks, who used ἡ ἀκροποσθία and τὸ ἀκροπόσθιον, fr. πόσθη i. 6. membrum virile. Accordingly it is likely that τὴν πόσθην of the Greeks was pronounced τὴν βύστην by the Alexandrians, and ἀκροβυστία said instead of ἀκροποσθία --i. 6. τὸ ἄκρον τῆς πόσθης ; cf. the acute remarks of Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. i. 136, together with the opinion which Winer prefers 99 (94), [and Cremer, 3te Aufl. s. v.]), in the Sept. the equiv. of mw the prepuce, the skin covering the glans penis; a. prop.: Acts xi. 8; Ro. ii. 25, 26°; 1 Co. vii. 19; Gal. v. δ: vi. 15; Col. iii. 11; (Judith xiv. 10; 1 Mace. i. 15); ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ ὧν having the foreskin ( Tertull. praeputiatus), uncircumcised i.e. Gentile, Ro. iv. 10; ἐν ἀκρ. sc. dv, 1 Co. vii. 18; equiv. to the same is δ ἀκροβυστίας, Ro. iv. 11; ἡ ἐν τῇ ἀκροβ. πίστις the faith which one has while he is…

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

ἀκροβυστία. We have (naturally enough) no citations to illustrate this technical word of Jewish ritual, but a note on its formation might be given (from J. H. Moulton’s forthcoming Grammar of NT Greek, vol. 11.}: ““᾿Ακροποσθϑία, a normal descriptive cpd. from ἄκρος and πόσθη with a fresh suffix, is found in Hippocrates, and is obviously the original of the LXX word. When a word containing a vox obscaena was taken from medical vocabulary into popular religious speech, it was natural to disguise it: a rare word βύστρα = βύσμα may supply the model.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀκροβυστία (akrobustia) — uncircumcision.

ἀκρο-βυστία, ἡ,

foreskin, [LXX+1st c.AD+]

II. state of having the foreskin, uncircumcision, [NT]

II.2. collective, the uncircumcised, [Refs]buśtu 'pudenda', Heb. bōsheth 'shame': wrongly derived from ἄκρος, βύω by [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀκροβυστία

akrobustia

from 206 and probably a modified form of posthe (the penis or male

sexual organ); the prepuce; by implication, an uncircumcised (i.e.

gentile, figuratively, unregenerate) state or person:--not

circumcised, uncircumcised (with 2192), uncircumcision.

see GREEK for 206

see GREEK for 2192

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀκροβυστία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

foreskin

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀκροβυστία akrobystia 20x

foreskin; uncircumcision, the state of being uncircumcised, Rom. 4:10; the abstract being put for the concrete, uncircumcised men, i.e., Gentiles, Rom. 4:9, et al

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀκροβυστία (Deriv. uncertain.) the foreskin, NTest.

circumcision, id. NTest.;—and as collect. the uncircumcision, i. e. the uncircumcised, id. NTest.

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

N-NSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Nave's Topical Bible

→ General scriptures concerning Eph 2:11

→ Uncircumcised heart (metaphorically) Eze 28:10; 44:7,9

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%uncircumcision
uncircumcision90% · 18×uncircumcision?10% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject35%predicate25%object20%adverbial20%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 20 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,οὖνtherefore, thenοὐNeg
ἐν
Disjἀλλάbut, exceptArticle the
καίand, even, also, nam
πίστιςfaith, belief, tπεριτομήcircumcision
οὔτεNeg
ἰσχύωI am strong, ablεἰμίI am, exist
ἀνήρa male human being,
πρός
ἀκροβυστία[the] uncircumcision20×
what comes after →
Article the
δικαίωμαa thing pronouncνόμοςa law, the Mosaiσάρξflesh, body
εἰς
Article the
ἀλλάbut, except
πίστιςfaith, belief, tκαινόςfresh, new
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
καίand, even, also,
γίνομαιI come into being, a

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

Concordanceἀκροβυστία · 20× in the New Testament
Romans Galatians 1 Corinthians Colossians Acts Ephesians
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 10 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Epistle of Barnabas
The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 9.5c. AD 100

λάβε πάλιν: Ἰδού, λέγει κύριος, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀπερίτμητα ἀκροβυστίαν, ὁ δὲ λαὸς οὗτος ἀπερίτμητος καρδίας.

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ὑπὸhupo by G5259 Preposition
219× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Under or by something, like under a person's authority, as in Matthew 8:9, or under a place, as in Luke 7:8.
Tyndale gloss
by/under: by
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὑπό (hupo) is a preposition meaning 'under' and can take the genitive, dative, or accusative case. Its primary uses include indicating physical position, agency, and subjection, as seen in various New Testament passages like Matthew 1:22 and Romans 6:14. The word can express both literal and metaphorical meanings, such as being under someone's influence or authority.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὑπό (before smooth breathing ὑπ’, Mt 8:9b, Lk 7:8b; before rough breathing ὑφ’, Ro 3:9; on the neglect of elision in Mt, Lk, ll. c.a, Ga 3:22, v. WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., iv),

prep. c. gen., dat. (not in NT), acc.

C. gen., primarily of place, under, hence, metaph., of the efficient cause, by: after passive verbs, c. gen. pers., Mt 1:22, Mk 1:5, Lk 2:18, Jo 14:21, Ac 4:11, I Co 1:11, Read the full entry →

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

ὑπό (i. 6. Lat. sub [Curtius § 393]), prep., under, in prof. auth. used with the gen. dat. and ace., but in the N. T. with the gen. and ace. only. [On the use and the omission of elision with it before words beginning with a vowel, see WH. App. p. 146°; Tdf. Proleg. p. iv. (addenda et emendanda).] I. with the Genitive (cf. W. 364 (342), 368 sq. (346) ; B. § 147, 29), it is used 1. prop. in a local sense, of situation or position under something higher, as ὑπὸ χθονός, often fr. Hom. down; ὁ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ὑπὸ γῆς χουσός, Plat. lege. 5 p. 728 a.; hence 2. metaph. of the efficient cause, as that under the power of which an event is conceived of as being; here the Lat. uses a or ab, and the Eng. by; thus a. after passive verbs,—with the gen. of a person: Mt. i. 22; ii. 15sq-; Mk.i.5; 11. 8; [viii. 31 LT Tr WH]; Lk.ii.18; [vi. 18 Ree.]; Jn.x. 14 RG; xiv. 21; Acts iv.11; xv. 4; [xxii. 30 LT Tr…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὑπό (hupo) — by/under: by.

ὑπό [ῠ],

preposition with genitive, dative, and accusative: Aeolic dialect ὐπά [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect ὑπά Ἀρχ.Δελτ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ηυπύ only in [Refs 5th c.BC+] ὁπύ [Refs 4th c.BC+]; in Epic dialect ὑπαί (also [Refs 5th c.BC+]: this is found in [Refs 8th c.BC+] only six times as a well-attested reading (ὑ. πόδα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; elsewhere (before λ ν ρ ϝ) it is weakly attested as see l. for ὑπὸ (?~X ¯), e.g. ποσσὶ δ᾽ ὑπὸ (variant{ὑπαὶ}) λιπαροῖσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but ὑπαὶ νεφέων is given by most codices in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; it is not frequently in Trag. Poets, [Refs 5th c.BC+] (ὕπο) cf. Sanskrit úpa 'towards, near to, etc.', Gothic uf 'under'.)

__A WITH GENITIVE,

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὑπό

hupo

a primary preposition; under, i.e. (with the genitive case) of place

(beneath), or with verbs (the agency or means, through); (with the

accusative case) of place (whither (underneath) or where (below) or

time (when (at)):--among, by, from, in, of, under, with. In the

comparative, it retains the same general applications, especially of

inferior position or condition, and specially, covertly or moderately.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὑπό

Prep.

by, under, about

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὑπό hypo 220x

(1) gen., under; hence, used to express influence, causation, agency; by, Mt. 1:22 freq.; by the agency of, at the hands of, 2 Cor. 11:24; Heb. 12:3. (2) acc., under, with the idea of motion associated, Mt. 5:15; under, Jn. 1:49; 1 Cor. 10:1; under subjection to, Rom. 6:14; 1 Tim. 6:1; of time, at, about, Acts 5:21

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὑπό epic ὑπαί before δ, π from under, by, c. gen. under, c. dat., towards c. acc.

Lat. sub, prep. with gen., dat. and acc.

WITH GEN.,

of Place, from under, ῥέει κρήνη ὑπὸ σπείους Od.: of rescuing from under another's power, after the Verbs ἐρύεσθαι, ἁρπάζειν, Il.; ἵππους λῦσαν ὑπὸ ζυγοῦ they loosed the horses from under the yoke, Hom.

under, beneath, μοχλὸν ὑπὸ σποδοῦ ἤλασα thrust the bar in under the embers, Od.; ὑπὸ στέρνοιο τυχήσας having hit him under the breast, Il.; ὑπὸ χθονός Hom., etc.

of the Agent, with pass. Verbs, by, Lat. a or ab, ὑπό τινος δαμῆναι Il.; ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ by one's own action, i.e. of oneself, Thuc.; so also, with neut. verbs, φεύγειν ὑπό τινος, i. e. to flee before him, Il.; ἔπαινον ἔχειν ὑπό τινος…

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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

In the sense of "against" which survives only in dialectal English (compare Wright, Dialect Dict., I, 470, for examples) is the King James Version rendering of the dative emauto of 1Co 4:4 (the American Standard Revised Version renders this "against"). In classical Greek the same idiom sunoida with dative = "be conscious" or "be cognizant of" a thing.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

By

In the expression “by myself” (A.V., 1 Cor. 4:4), means, as rendered in the Revised Version, “against myself.”

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
73%by
by73% · 165×under23% · 53×from4% · 8×other renderings0% · 1×

227 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
adverbial90%predicate8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 219 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
οὗτοςἵναin order that, sἐκ
αὐτός
τίθημιI put, placeνοσσίονa nestling, the κατηγορέωI accuse, charge
εἰμίI am, exist
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thοὐNegφωνέωI crow, shout, s
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀκούωI hear, listenσύδέbut, on the othe
καλέωI call, invite, name
καίand, even, also,Article theὅτανwhen, whensoever
ὑπόby219×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godπατήρfather, Father, ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
αὐτός
Article theἐξομολογέωI consent fully,ἐν
νόμοςa law, the Mosaic La
ἀλλάbut, exceptὡςas, like as, howμήNeg
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
διάArticle theἀνακρίνωI examine, inqui
σύ
προπέμπωI send forward, βαπτίζωI dip, submerge,Article the

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

Concordanceὑπό · 219× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians Galatians Romans 2 Corinthians Mark Hebrews James 2 Peter 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament23 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 174 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 9c. AD 40

τὸ δὲ παθητὸν ἄψυχον καὶ ἀκίνητον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ, κινηθὲν δὲ καὶ σχηματισθὲν καὶ ψυχωθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ μετέβαλεν εἰς τὸ τελειότατον ἔργον, τόνδε τὸν κόσμον·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.38c. AD 75–95

ἄρδεται δʼ οὗτος ὁ κῆπος ὑπὸ ἑνὸς ποταμοῦ πᾶσαν ἐν κύκλῳ τὴν γῆν περιρρέοντος, ὃς εἰς τέσσαρα μέρη σχίζεται.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 1st c. AD
P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

r … ς οὕτως ὑπὸ γε… ς δεομένων δὲ τῶν … ντων ὑμῶν διαλήψεως … καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ

P.Grenf. 2 28Pathyris104 BC

ἑαυτῆς οἰκείου Θοτσύτου Ἐριενούπιος ὡς ἐτῶν μ μέσος ὑποκόκκινος ἀπὸ τῆς ἐωνημένης παρʼ αὐτῆς ὑπὸ Πετεαρσεμθέως τοῦ Πανοβχούνιος τετάρτης μερίδος ἀμπελῶνος συνφύτου καὶ τῶν φυομένων δένδρων καὶ πέμπτον μερίδος

BGU 6 1260Pathyris102 BC

Νεχθανοῦπις Πατσεοῦτος Πέρσης ὡς ἐτῶν νε καὶ οἱ τούτου υἱοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πεπραμένης αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ Πετεαρσεμθεία Πανοβχούνιος γῆς σιτοφόρου ἐν τῷ περὶ Παθύρειν πεδίωι ἄρουρης μιᾶς , ἧς γείτονες

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
τῆςho which G3588 Article · genitive · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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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-GSF — Article · genitive · singular · feminine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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
which19783×
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

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
λεγομένηςlegō is being named G3004 Verb · present · passive · participle · genitive · singular · feminine
2,255× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Ephesians than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means to say or speak, and it is used by Jesus and others in the New Testament to share teachings and tell stories. It appears in Matthew 9:34 and John 1:29.
Amplified meaning
self-proclaimed, supposed
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λέγω (legō) is a primary Greek verb meaning 'to say' or 'to speak.' It encompasses a range of uses, including expressing thoughts, making declarations, and narrating events. The New Testament frequently employs it in direct speech and as a way to convey meaning, such as in Matthew 27:11. Abbott-Smith notes its distinction from similar verbs like λαλέω.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — λαλέω, λέγω, λαλιά, λόγος from a scan

In dealing with synonyms of the N. T. we plainly need not concern ourselves with such earlier, or even contemporary, uses of the words which we are discriminating, as lie altogether outside of the N. T. sphere, when these uses do not illustrate, and have not affected, their Scriptural employment. It follows from this that all those contemptuous uses of λαλεῖν as to talk at random, as one ἀθυρόστομος, or with no door to his lips, might do; of λαλιά, as chatter («Kpacia λόγου ἄλογος, Plato, Defin. 416)—for I cannot believe that we are to find this at John iv. 42—may be dismissed and set aside. The antithesis in the line of Eupolis (Meineke, /ragm. Com. Gr. p. 174), Λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν, does little or nothing to illustrate the matter in hand. The distinction which indeed exists between the words may in this way be made clear. There are two leading aspects under which speech…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

[in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Ge 22:16, al.;]

in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.

In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Ac 13:15 24:10; seq. orat. dir., Mt 9:34, Mk 3:11, Jo 1:29, al.; seq. ὅτι recit., Mk 3:21, Lk 1:24, Jo 6:14, al.; acc. et. inf., Lk 11:18, Jo 12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mt 11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman…

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

λέγω (in the N. T. only the pres. and impf. act. and pres. pass. are in use; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἔλεγαν, Jn. xi. 56 Tdf. [ef. ἔχω, init.]): I. in its earliest use in Hom. to lay (like Lat. lego, Germ. legen; οἵ. J. G. Miiller in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. for 1835, p. 127 sqq.; Curtius § 538) ; to cause to lie down, put to sleep; 1. to collect, gather; to pick out. 2. lo lay with, count with; to enumerate, recount, narrate, describe; [οἷ. Eng. tale, Germ. ztihlen). II. to put word to word in speaking, join words together, i. e. to say (how it differs fr. λαλεῖν, see under that word ad init.) ; once so by Hom. in 1]. 2, 222 [yet ef. Schmidt, Syn. i. ch. 1, §§ 20; 48, 2; L. and S. s. vy. B. II. 2]; often in Pind., and by far the most com. use in Attic; Sept. more than thirteen hundred times for 728; often also for D8} (saying, dictum); very rarely for 1393; and soin N.T. 1. univ. a. absol. to…

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

λέγω. (1). “‘I say, speak”: see e.g. P Par 47 {= Selections, Ῥ- 21 ff.), ¢. B.C. 153, which is addressed on the verso—mpds τοὺς τὴν ἀλήθεαν λέγοντες (—-as), P Fay 12378 (c. A.D. 100) γνώσομαι yap εἰ ἀληθῶς λέγι, “1 will find out whether he is speaking the truth,” P Ryl 11. 7615 (late li/A.D.) ἃ καὶ ἀναγνώσομαι λεγομένου τοῦ [π]ράγματος, “1 will read them when the case is argued” (Edd.), P Flor II. 1327 (A.D. 257) ἔλεζξ]αν πεποιηκέναι ταῦτα ἀγνοίᾳ, ‘they said they had done this in ignorance,” and the magical P Par 5741238 (iii/A.D.) (= Selectzons, p. 113) λόγος λεγόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, ‘ invocation to be uttered over the head (of the possessed one).”” For the phrase τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, cf. I Cor 11°, Weiss (Meyer 15 ad 1) cites a sepulchral inscr. of husband and wife from Rhodes, /J/Ae 149 (ii/B.c.) ταὐτὰ λέγοντες ταὐτὰ φρονοῦντες ἤλθομεν τὰν ἀμέτρητον ὁδὸν εἰς ᾿Αἴδαν. (2). Closely…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λέγω (legō) — to say.

λέγω,

__B pick up, etc.: tenses for signification 1 and 11, future λέξω [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist ἔλεξα [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—middle, future in passive sense λέξομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐλεξάμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect ἐλέγμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, aorist ἐλέχθην [Refs 8th c.BC+]-; post-[Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect εἴλοχα (κατ-, συν-), passive εἴλεγμαι, in these senses rarely λέλεγμαι (see. the compounds); also future λεγήσομαι (συλ-): aorist 2 ἐλέγην (κατ-, συν-):—gather, pick up, ὀστέα.. λέγωμεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; αἱμασιάς τε λέγων picking out stones for building walls, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—middle, gather for oneself, ἐπὶ δὲ ξύλα πολλὰ λέγεσθε [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

lego

a primary verb; properly, to "lay" forth, i.e. (figuratively) relate

(in words (usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas 2036 and

5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech

respectively; while 4483 is properly to break silence merely, and 2980

means an extended or random harangue)); by implication, to mean:--ask,

bid, boast, call, describe, give out, name, put forth, say(-ing, on),

shew, speak, tell, utter.

see GREEK for 2036

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 2980

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λέγω

v.

I say, speak

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

to lay, to arrange, to gather; to say, Mt. 1:20; to speak, make an address or speech, Acts 26:1; to say mentally, in thought, Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8; to say in written language, Mk. 15:28; Lk. 1:63; Jn. 19:37; to say, as distinguished from acting, Mt. 23:3; to mention, speak of, Mk. 14:71; Lk. 9:31; Read the full entry →

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

V-PPP-GSF Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Passive Mood: Participle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
35%saying
saying35% · 480×says13% · 175×i say12% · 164×he says9% · 122×say5% · 70×he was saying3% · 42×they say2% · 31×other renderings17% · 225×other renderings4% · 48×

1,357 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 107 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,255 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
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
αὐτός
πρόςμαθητήςa learner, disciἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the otheγόνυa knee
ἀμήνHebr
ἀμήνHebrαὐτόςλέγωI say, speak
λέγωis being named2255×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeter
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNegἐάνCond
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπρόςαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὗτοςσύ

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

Concordanceλέγω · 2,255× in the New Testament
Luke John Matthew Mark Acts Revelation Hebrews Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians James Galatians

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

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

Counted over the 1,290 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 5c. AD 40

οὐ μὴν διὰ τοῦθ’ ἡσυχαστέον, ἀλλ’ ἕνεκα τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς καὶ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἐπιτολμητέον λέγειν, οἴκοθεν μὲν οὐδέν, ὀλίγα δ’ ἀντὶ πολλῶν, ἐφ’ ἃ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην διάνοιαν φθάνειν εἰκὸς ἔρωτι καὶ πόθῳ σοφίας κατεσχημένην.

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

ὅπως Ἅβραμος ὁ πρόγονος ἡμῶν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς κατέσχε τὴν τότε μὲν Χαναναίαν νῦν δὲ Ἰουδαίαν λεγομένην.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

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

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἑτερᾶς· νότου γῆ Τακοίμιος, βορρᾶ γῆ Χενσθώτου, ἀπηλιώτου Ἀείους, λιβὸς περίχωμα, τῆς δʼ ἄλλης λεγομένης Πκρώ· νότου γῆ Σενπελαίας, βορρᾶ γῆ Πανᾶτος ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς Ἀραμείους, ἢ οἳ ἂν

P.Adl. 16Pathyris100 BC

οἱ Φίβιος τοῦ Πανεχάτου υἱοί, ἀπηλιώτου ὁδὸς βασιλική, λιβὸς γῆ Ψεμμώνθου τοῦ Πανεχάτου, ἄλλης λεγομένης Φαμούνιος νότου γῆ Παθώτου τοῦ Πατοῦτος, βορρᾶ γῆ Πατσεοῦτος τοῦ Φίβιος, ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
περιτομῆςperitomē [the] circumcision G4061 Noun · genitive · singular · feminine
36× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Circumcision refers to the Jewish rite of cutting, as seen in Romans 4:11 and Galatians 5:11. It can also mean the state of being circumcised or the circumcised people themselves.
Amplified meaning
Jewish ritual, physical cutting
Tyndale gloss
circumcision
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word περιτομή (i.e., *peritomē*) means 'circumcision' and is derived from the verb περιτέμνω (i.e., *peritemnō*). It encompasses the act or rite of circumcision, the state of being circumcised, and can refer to those who are circumcised, particularly Jews and Jewish Christians. The New Testament uses this term in various contexts, including both literal and metaphorical senses.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† περι-τομή, -ῆς, ἡ

(< περιτέμνω),

[in LXX: Ge 17:13, Ex 4:25, 26 (מוּל ni., מוּלָה), Je 11:16*;]

circumcision;

of the rite itself: Jo 7:22, 23, Ac 7:8, Ro 4:11, Ga 5:11, Phl 3:5;

of the state of circumcision: Ro 2:25-28 3:1, I Co 7:19, Ga 5:6 6:15, Col 3:11; ἐν π. ὤν, Ro 4:10;

by meton., ἡ π. = οἱ περιτμηθέντες, the circumcised: Ro 3:30 4:9, 12 15:8,

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

περι-τομή, -ῆς, ἡ, (περιτέμνω), circumcision (on which see περιτέμνωλ ; a. prop. a. the act or rite of circumcision : Jn. vii. 22 sq.; Acts vii. 8; Ro. iv. 11; Gal. v.11; Phil. iii. 5; of ἐκ τῆς reper. (see ἐκ, 11. 7), the circumcised, they of the circumcision, used of Jews, Ro. iv. 12; of Christians gathered from among the Jews, Acts xi. 2; Gal. ii. 12; Tit. i. 10; of ὄντες ἐκ περιτ. Col. iv. 11. B. the state of circumcision, the being circumcised: Ro. ii. 25-28; iii. 1; 1 Co. vii. 19; Gal. v. 6; vi. 15; Col. iii. 11; ἐν περιτομῇ dv, circumcised, Ro. iv. 10. y. by meton. ‘the circumcision’ for of περιτμηθέντες the circumcised, i.e. Jews: Ro. iii. 80; iv. 9, 12; xv. 8; Gal. ii. 7-9; Eph. ii. 11 ; of ἐκ περιτομῆς πιστοί, Christian converts from among the Jews, Jewish Christians, Acts x. 45. b. metaph. a. of Christians: (ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν) 7 περιτομή, separated from the unclean multitude and…

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

περιτομή. P Tebt 11. 3145 (ii/A.p.) πιστεύω σε μὴ ἀγνοεῖν ὅσον κάμ[α)τον ἤνεγκα ἕως τὴν [π]ερι[το]μὴν ἐκπλέξω ἐπιΐητοῦντος τοῦ [ἀ]ρχιερέως τὸν παῖδα ε[ἰ]δῖν, “I believe you are aware how much trouble I had in getting the circumcision through, owing to the high-priest’s desire to see the boy ig (Edd.). See s.v. περιτέμνω.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

περιτομή (peritomē) — circumcision.

περιτομ-ή, ἡ,

circumcision, [LXX+2nd c.BC+]

II. section of a machine, ἡ κάτω π. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

III. circular incision, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

περιτομή

peritome

from 4059; circumcision (the rite, the condition or the people,

literally or figuratively):--X circumcised, circumcision.

see GREEK for 4059

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

περιτομή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

circumcision

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

περιτομή peritomē 36x

circumcision, the act or custom of circumcision, Jn. 7:22, 23; Acts 7:8; the state of being circumcised, the being circumcised, Rom. 2:25, 26, 27; 4:10; meton. the circumcision, those who are circumcised, Rom. 3:30; 4:9 met. spiritual circumcision of the heart and affection, Rom. 2:29; Col. 2:11; meton. persons spiritually circumcised, Phil. 3:3 See circumcision.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

περιτομή περιτομή, ἡ, περιτέμνω circumcision, NTest.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sur-kum-sizh'-un (mul, muloth; peritome): The removal of the foreskin is a custom that has prevailed, and prevails, among many races in different parts of the world--in America, Africa and Australia. It was in vogue among the western Semites--Hebrews, Arabians, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Egyptians, but was unknown among the Semites of the Euphrates. In Canaan the Philistines were an exception, for the term "uncircumcised" is constantly used in connection with them. Generally speaking, the rite of circumcision was a precondition of the enjoyment of certain political and religious privileges (Ex 12:48; Eze 44:9); and in view of the fact that in the ancient world religion played such an important role in life, it may be assumed that circumcision, like many other strange customs…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Circumcision

Cutting around. This rite, practised before, as some think, by divers races, was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people, an abiding sign of their consecration to him. It was established as a national ordinance (Gen. 17:10, 11). In compliance with the divine command, Abraham, though ninety-nine years of age, was circumcised on the same day with Ishmael, who was thirteen years old (17:24-27). Slaves, whether home-born or purchased, were circumcised (17:12, 13); and all foreigners must have their males circumcised before they could enjoy the privileges of Jewish citizenship (Ex. 12:48). During the journey through the wilderness, the practice of circumcision fell into disuse, but was resumed by the command of Joshua before they entered the Promised…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

was peculiarly, though not exclusively, a Jewish rite. It was enjoined upon Abraham, the father of the nation, by God, at the institution and as the token of the covenant, which assured to him and his descendants the promise of the Messiah. Gen. 17. It was thus made a necessary condition of Jewish nationality. Every male child was to be circumcised when eight days old, (Leviticus 12:3) on pain of death. The biblical notice of the rite describes it as distinctively Jewish; so that in the New Testament "the circumcision" and "the uncircumcision" are frequently used as synonyms for the Jews and the Gentiles. The rite has been found to prevail extensively in both ancient and modern times. Though Mohammed did not enjoin circumcision in the Koran, he was circumcised himself, according to the custom of his country; and circumcision is now…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A cutting around, because in this rite the foreskin was cut away. God commanded Abraham to use circumcision, as a sign of his covenant; and in obedience to this order, the patriarch, at ninety-nine years of age, was circumcised, as also his son Ishmael, and all the male of his household, Ge 17:10-12. God repeated the precept to Moses, and ordered that all who intended to partake of the paschal sacrifice should receive circumcision; and that this rite should be performed on children on the eighth day after their birth, Ex 12:44 Le 12:3 Joh 7:22. The Jews have always been very exact in observing this ceremony, and it appears that they did not neglect it when in Egypt,

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%circumcision
circumcision97% · 35×circumcision?3% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject31%predicate28%object25%adverbial17%

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
εἰμίI am, existσύὠφέλειαusefulness, prof
ἐκ
Article theοὐNegεἰμίI am, exist
εἰCond
ἀδελφόςa brother
καίand, even, also, nam
γράμμαa letter, writinἸουδαῖοςJewish
ἐν
λογίζομαιI reckon, count,οὐNeg
περιτομή[the] circumcision36×
what comes after →
Article the
οὐNegπνεῦμαwind, breath, spΧριστόςanointed, the Me
καίand, even, also, nam
οὕτωthus, so, in thiἀκροβυστίαforeskin
τὶς
ἰσχύωI am strong, ablεἰμίI am, exist
οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, bec
λαμβάνωI receive, take
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th

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

Concordanceπεριτομή · 36× in the New Testament
Romans Galatians Colossians Acts John Philippians 1 Corinthians Ephesians Titus
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Migration of Abraham 92c. AD 40

μηδ’ ὅτι τὸ περιτέμνεσθαι ἡδονῆς καὶ παθῶν πάντων ἐκτομὴν καὶ δόξης ἀναίρεσιν ἀσεβοῦς ἐμφαίνει, καθ’ ἣν ὑπέλαβεν ὁ νοῦς ἱκανὸς εἶναι γεννᾶν δι’ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀνέλωμεν τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ περιτομῇ τεθέντα νόμον·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.192c. AD 75–95

τὴν αἰτίαν δὲ τῆς περιτομῆς ἡμῶν ἐν ἄλλοις δηλώσω.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 9.4c. AD 100

ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ περιτομή, ἐφ̓ ᾗ πεποίθασιν, κατήργηται, περιτομὴν γὰρ εἴρηκεν οὐ σαρκὸς γενηθῆναι: ἀλλὰ παρέβησαν, ὅτι ἄγγελος πονηρὸς ἐσόφιζεν αὐτούς.

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.Tebt. 2 314Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 101–AD 200

τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ πλεῖστα χαίρειν. πιστεύω σε μὴ ἀγνοεῖν ὅσον κάματον ἤνεγκα ἕως τὴν περιτομὴν ἐκπλέξω ἐπιζητοῦντος τοῦ ἀρχιερέως τὸν παῖδα ἰδεῖν, τῆς δὲ τῶν φίλων σπουδῆς τυχόντος ἐπετύχαμεν.

PSI 9 1039Teis (Oxyrhynchites)AD 216–AD 217

ὑπομνηματισμῶν τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης μὴ ἔχειν υἱὸν ἄρρενα. πρὸς δὲ τὴν μὲν τῶν παίδων αὐτῶν περιτομήν, τοῦ μὲν Ἀμεννώθου Ὀννῶφριν ἐκ μητρὸς Διυν … ος τῆς ἀπὸ Ἰσίου Τρύφωνος παστοφορίσσης

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians 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.
Amplified meaning
performed, carried out
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
Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
σαρκὶsarx [the] flesh G4561 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
147× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Flesh refers to the physical body, like the meat of an animal or the human body, as seen in 1 Corinthians 15:39 and Luke 24:39.
Amplified meaning
physical flesh
Tyndale gloss
flesh
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for בָּשָׂר ;]

flesh;

as in cl. generally,

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σάρξ (sarx) — flesh.

σάρξ,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σάρξ

sarx

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

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

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

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

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

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

flesh(-ly).

see GREEK for 4563

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

n.f.

flesh, body

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σάρξ sarx 147x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-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

@basar, she'er):

1. Etymology:

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

Flesh

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.120c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Therefore do remember that formerly you yourselves the Gentiles in [the] flesh, the ones being named [the] uncircumcision by which is being named [the] circumcision in [the] flesh made by hands —
χειροποιήτου,cheiropoiētos made by hands — G5499 Adjective · genitive · singular · feminine
6× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Something made by human hands, like a temple or a statue, as in Mark 14:58 and Acts 7:48. This word emphasizes the human origin of something. It is used to contrast with things made by God.
Amplified meaning
human effort, not divine
Tyndale gloss
hand-made
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

χειροποίητος refers to something made by hand, emphasizing human craftsmanship as opposed to what is natural. It is used in the New Testament to describe temples and circumcision, highlighting their artificial nature (e.g., Mark 14:58, Acts 7:48). The term also appears in the Septuagint in relation to idols.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

χειρο-ποίητος, -ον

(< χείρ, ποιέω),

[in LXX (of idols) for אֱלִיל ;]

made by hand (i.e. of human handiwork): of temples, Mk 14:58, Ac 7:48 17:24, He 9:11, 24; of circumcision, Eph 2:11.†

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

χειρο-ποίητος, -ov, (χείρ and mrorew), made by the hand i. 6. the skill of man (see ἀχειροποίητος) : of temples, Mk. xiv. 58; Acts vil. 48; xvii. 24; Heb. ix. 11, 24; of circumcision, Eph. ii.11. (In Sept. of idols; of other things, occasionally in Hdt., Thue., Xen., Polyb., Diod.)

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

χειροποίητος, “made by hands,’’ in the LXX applied only to idols, but in the NT used of material temples (Ac 748, 1724): cf. Orac. Sib. xiv. 62 ναῶν ἱδρύματα χειροποιήτων. In the travel-letter, P Lond 8544 (i/ii a.p.) (=III. p. 205, Selections, p. 70), the writer remarks that many go by ship ἵνα τὰς χε[ι]ροπίοι]ήΐτους τέϊχνας ἱστορήσωσι, “in order that they may visit works of art made by hands,” on the banks of the Nile.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

χειροποίητος (cheiropoiētos) — hand-made.

χειρο-ποίητος, ον,

made by hand, artificial, opposed to αὐτοφυής (natural), σκῆπτρον [LXX+5th c.BC+]; φλὸξ χ. a fire intentionally kindled, opposed to ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so λιμός, opposed to αὐτόματος, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; ἀνάγκη, τέχνη, [Refs]. adverb χειρό-τως [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

χειροποίητος

cheiropoietos

from 5495 and a derivative of 4160; manufactured, i.e. of human

construction:--made by (make with) hands.

see GREEK for 5495

see GREEK for 4160

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

χειροποίητος, ον

Adj

done or made with hands

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

χειροποίητος cheiropoiētos 6x

made by hand, artificial, material, Mk. 14:58; Acts 7:48; 17:24; Eph. 2:11; Heb. 9:11, 24*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

χειροποίητος from χειροποιέω χειροποίητος, ον, made by hand, artificial, opp. to αὐτοφυής (natural), Hdt.; φλὸξ χ. a fire kindled by the hand of man, Thuc.

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

A-GSF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%made by hands
made by hands50% · 3×hand-made33% · 2×made with hands17% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial67%object17%predicate17%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 6 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἐν
ὕψιστοςhighest, most hiοὐNeg
Article the
οὗτος
σάρξflesh, body
ἐν
οὐNeg
σκηνήa tent, tabernac
εἰς
γάρfor
χειροποίητοςmade by hands —
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
διά
κατοικέωI dwell in, settle i
καθώςjust as, as
ναόςa temple, shrine
κατοικέωI dwell in, sett
οὗτος
εἰμίI am, exist
εἰσέρχομαιI go in, come in, en
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,

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

Concordanceχειροποίητος · 6× in the New Testament
Acts Hebrews Ephesians Mark
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 12 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 142c. AD 40

ἦν γὰρ οἶκος αὐτῷ καὶ πόλις ὁ κόσμος, μηδεμιᾶς χειροποιήτου κατασκευῆς δεδημιουργημένης ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων ὕλης, ᾧ καθάπερ ἐν πατρίδι μετὰ πάσης ἀσφαλείας ἐνδιῃτᾶτο φόβου μὲν ἐκτὸς ὤν, ἅτε τῆς τῶν περιγείων ἡγεμονίας ἀξιωθεὶς καὶ πάντων ὅσα θνητὰ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.55c. AD 75–95

ἐξέλαμψε δὲ πῦρ τοσοῦτον ὅσον οὔτε χειροποίητον ἱστόρησέ τις οὔτε γῆθεν ἀναδοθὲν κατὰ ὑποδρομὴν καύματος οὔτε κατὰ βίαν πνευμάτων ὕλης πρὸς αὐτὸ παρατριβείσης αὐτομάτως ἐξεκρούσθη, ἀλλʼ ὁποῖον θεοῦ κελεύσαντος ἁφθείη λαμπρὸν καὶ φλογωδέστατον·

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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