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Ephesians 5:4 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

BSAandkai filthinessaischrotēs [filthiness, shameful language] andkai foolish talkingmōrologia [silly or absurd conversation] orē crude jokingeutrapelia [vulgar jesting, off-color humor] whichho notou were fitanēkō [not fitting, improper] butalla rathermallon thanksgiving.eucharistia [giving of thanks, grateful praise]

Word
Listen & take awayEphesians 5
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 4 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (eucharistia) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Ephesians 5:4quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs the Ephesians to avoid inappropriate speech and instead focus on gratitude.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the church in Ephesus.
Where we areIn a section about proper conduct among believers, specifically regarding speech.
The hard wordαἰσχρότης
Take awayBelievers are called to speak in ways that reflect their faith.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectαἰσχρότης verbἀνήκω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

3 of 12 occur nowhere else in the New Testament — words chosen on purpose.

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 5:4

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 — Instructions on Christian Conductgenerated

3But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.
5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

Ephesians 5:4 emphasizes the need for believers to refrain from vulgarity and to instead express gratitude. This instruction is part of a broader exhortation in Ephesians that encourages moral living and proper behavior, aligning with the character of the saints. The surrounding verses discuss the importance of purity and the consequences of immoral behavior, reinforcing the call to live in a manner worthy of one's calling in Christ.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Ephesians 4:29Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
2Proverbs 12:23A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself, but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.
3Proverbs 15:2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
4Ecclesiastes 10:13The beginning of his talk is folly, and the end of his speech is evil madness.
5Matthew 12:34–37You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The Key Word αἰσχρότης, aischrotēsgenerated

The Greek word αἰσχρότης (aischrotēs) refers to shamefulness or obscenity, particularly in speech. It is derived from αἰσχρός, meaning disgraceful or base. In this context, it highlights the type of language that is inappropriate for believers.

This term is used only once in the New Testament, specifically in Ephesians 5:4, where it underscores the need for speech that reflects Christian values rather than worldly standards.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as: 'Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.' This aligns closely with the KJV and ASV, which also emphasize the avoidance of inappropriate speech.

Where translations diverge is in the rendering of ἀνῆκεν. The ASV and RVA use 'befitting,' while the KJV opts for 'not convenient.' The term μᾶλλον is consistently rendered as 'rather' in most versions, but some versions like FBV and ULB use 'instead.' Lastly, εὐχαριστία is translated as 'thanksgiving' in several versions, while others like ASV and KJV use 'giving of thanks.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in the verse is ἀνῆκεν, were fit, which governs the entire sentence. The structure includes several phrases: a list of inappropriate behaviors followed by a contrasting phrase that introduces thanksgiving as the appropriate response.

The sentence is constructed with a series of noun phrases and clauses, where the inappropriate behaviors are listed, and the final clause emphasizes the positive alternative of gratitude.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In Ephesians 5:4, the Greek word (ē), meaning 'or', is used similarly to the Hebrew אוֹ (ʾō), which also conveys an alternative or choice. This connection highlights the contrast between inappropriate speech and thanksgiving.

The word μᾶλλον (mallon), translated as 'rather', aligns with the Hebrew usage found in the Septuagint, emphasizing a preference for thanksgiving over the negative behaviors mentioned. This choice reinforces the call for a more positive and constructive manner of speaking.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Ephesians 5:4 warns believers against using vulgar or foolish language and encourages them to express gratitude instead. This reflects a broader theme in the letter about living a life that honors God and aligns with the values of the Christian faith.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What types of speech are considered inappropriate according to this verse?

The verse identifies obscenity, foolish talk, and crude joking as inappropriate forms of speech for believers.

What is the significance of thanksgiving in this context?

Thanksgiving is presented as the appropriate response and focus for believers, contrasting with the negative speech that should be avoided.

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

This verse fits within the broader context of Ephesians, which calls believers to live in a manner worthy of their calling, emphasizing moral conduct and the importance of community.

Why should believers avoid crude joking?

Crude joking is seen as out of character for believers and not fitting for those who are called to reflect Christ's values in their speech and actions.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I ensure my speech reflects my faith and values?
  2. How can I practice gratitude in my daily conversations?
  3. What are some examples of speech that might be considered inappropriate in today's context?
  4. How can I encourage others to speak in a way that honors God?

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

Early church writers reference this verse to discuss the importance of proper speech and behavior among believers, highlighting the need for words that reflect faith.

IrenaeusIrenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 c. 130–202
For as, in the New Testament, that faith of men to be placed in God has been increased, receiving in addition to what was already revealed the Son of God, that man too might be a partaker of God;
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 5 →
Clement of AlexandriaThe Instructor Book 2 c. 150–215
Whence I admire the apostle, who, in reference to this, exhorts us not to utter "scurrilous nor unsuitable words."
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 5 →
CyprianTreatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews c. 200–258
That we must not speak foolishly and offensively. In Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians: "Foolish speaking and scurrility, which are not fitting for the occasion, let them not be even named among you."
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 5 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Ephesians 5:4 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,.... The former of these may include all filthy gestures and behaviour, every indecent habit and attire, and all actions which have a tendency to

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

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Filthiness - in act or gesture. Foolish talking - the talk of fools: folly and sin together.

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Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Neither filthiness; obscenity in discourse, filthy communication, . Nor foolish talking; affectation of foolish, vain speech, (whether jocose or serious), unprofitable, to the hearers. Nor jesting; either the same as the former, as may seem by the disjunctive particle nor, which may be by way of explication; or (which is of kin to it) scurrility in discourse, which is many times, by them that are addicted to it, called by the name of urbanity, or jesting: for all that jesting is not here condemned appears by . Which are not convenient; viz. for saints. But rather giving of thanks; i.e. to God for mercies received, which will better cheer up and recreate the mind than foolish talking and…

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John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Ver. 4. Neither filthiness] Borborology (rumblings?), ribaldry, the language of hell. Some men as ducks have their noses always guzzling in the gutter of obscene talk. Of Eckius’ last book concerning priests’ marriages, Melancthon saith, Non fuit Cygnea cantio, sed ultimus crepitus: Et sicut felis fugiens pedit, sic ille moriens hunc crepitum cecinit. Legi librum, subinde accipiens partem ad cloacam; alioqui non legissem. These filthy speakers make podicem ex ore, excrement from their mouth, as one phraseth it. Nor jesting] Salt jests, scurrility, jocularity, dicacity, to the just…

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Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting.—The word “filthiness” (unlike the “filthy communication” of the parallel passage in Colossians 3:8) is in itself a general word. But the connection with the words following, and the distinction from those going before, appear to show that St. Paul here uses it for “filthy talking.” He is passing from impurity of the inward soul to impurity in outward expression. Of such foul speaking he appears to distinguish two forms. There is, first of all, “foolish talking,” or the talk of “the fool,” in the worst sense in which that word is used in Scripture (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 23:17), as implying something worse than mere emptiness or…

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

Verse 4. Neither filthiness] αισχροτης. Any thing base or vile in words or acts. Foolish talking] μωρολογια. Scurrility, buffoonery, ridicule, or what tends to expose another to contempt. Nor jesting] ευτραπελια. Artfully turned discourses or words, from ευ, well or easily, and τρεπω, I turn; words that can be easily turned to other meanings; double entendres; chaste words which, from their connection, and the manner in which they are used, convey an obscene or offensive meaning. It also means jests, puns, witty sayings, and mountebank repartees of all kinds. Which are not convenient] ουκανηκοντα. They do not come up to the proper standard; they are utterly improper in themselves, and…

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CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. filthiness] Lit. “ugliness, deformity”; vice in its aspect as morally hideous. The Gr. word occurs here only in N.T. In the classics some cognate words bear a special connexion with forms of gross sensuality.foolish talking] Talk about sin, in the spirit of the “fool” who gloats and jests over his own or his neighbour’s undoing. The word occurs here only in N.T. It and its cognates occur in the classics, but not in grave moral connexions.jesting] Obviously, by context, in the sense of immoral pleasantry, such as defiles some of the most brilliant pages of pagan literature, not to speak of Christian, so called; and such as terribly impregnates common talk in many strata and circles of…

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Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Neither filthiness - That is, obscene, or indecent conversation. Literally, that which is shameful, or deformed - αἰσχρότης aischrotēs. The word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament.

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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

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks.

RVARevised Version, American1894

nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Neither filthinesse, neither foolish talking, neither iesting, which are things not comely, but rather giuing of thankes.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

and filthiness and foolish talking, or jesting, which are not convenient; but rather thanksgiving.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

also filthiness, and foolish talking, or jesting, — the things not fit — but rather thanksgiving;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

also filthiness, and foolish talking, or jesting—the things not fit—but rather thanksgiving;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Let there be no filthiness, no foolish talk, and no crude jokes—all of which are improper. Instead there should be thanksgiving.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose; but rather giving of thanks.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Obscene talk, stupid chatter, and coarse jokes are totally inappropriate—instead you should be thanking God.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And let there be no low behaviour, or foolish talk, or words said in sport, which are not right, but in place of them the giving of praise.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἀνῆκενanēkō were fit G433 3 different renderings
befittingASV RVA
fitLSV YLT
improperULB
μᾶλλονmallon rather G3123 2 different renderings
ratherASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA WEB YLT
insteadFBV ULB
εὐχαριστία.eucharistia thanksgiving. G2169 2 different renderings
thanksgivingBSB DBY LSV MSB NETB ULB YLT
giving of thanksASV DRA KJV NWB RVA WEB

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.

clauseδὲhoweverclauseclauseclausenoun phrase · subjectΠορνείαSexual immoralityκαὶandnoun phraseἀκαθαρσίαimpurityπᾶσαallorπλεονεξίαcovetousnessadverbialμηδὲnot evenverbὀνομαζέσθωlet be namedprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνamongὑμῖνyouclauseκαθὼςas alsoclauseverbπρέπειis properadverbialἁγίοιςto saintsκαὶandclausenoun phrase · subjectnoun phraseαἰσχρότηςfilthinessκαὶandμωρολογίαfoolish talkingorεὐτραπελίαcrude jokingclausesubjectwhichadverbialοὐκnotverbἀνῆκενare fittingἀλλὰbutclauseadverbialμᾶλλονrathersubjectεὐχαριστίαthanksgiving

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

aut turpitudo, aut stultiloquium, aut scurrilitas, quæ ad rem non pertinet : sed magis gratiarum actio.

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

ܘܠܐ ܨܘܚܝܬܐ ܘܠܐ ܡܠܐ ܕܫܛܝܘܬܐ ܐܘ ܕܒܙܚܐ ܐܘ ܕܫܥܝܐ ܗܠܝܢ ܕܠܐ ܡܬܒܥܝܢ ܐܠܐ ܚܠܦ ܗܠܝܢ ܬܘܕܝܬܐ

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

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία εὐτραπελία οὐκ ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐχαριστία.

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
whichNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
ἀνῆκεν were fitNA28, 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 5:4καίandandκαίαἰσχρότηςfilthinessfilthinessαἰσχρότηςκαίandandκαίμωρολογίαfoolish talfoolish talkingμωρολογίαororεὐτραπελίαcrude jokincrude jokingεὐτραπελίαὅςwhichwhichὅςοὐnotnotοὐἀνήκωwere fitwere fitἀνήκωἀλλάbutbutἀλλάμᾶλλονratherratherμᾶλλονεὐχαριστίαthanksgivinthanksgiving.εὐχαριστίααἰσχρόςAdj base, Adj base, disgrαἰσχρόςἀνάPrep. and,Prep. and, apieἀνάεὐχάριστοςAdj thankfAdj thankful, gεὐχάριστοςμωρόςAdj stupidAdj stupid, fooμωρόςλέγωv. I say, v. I say, speakλέγωἤδηAdv now, aAdv now, alreadἤδηἤπερDisj.prt. Disj.prt. thanἤπερεὖAdv well, Adv well, well εὖτροπήn.f. a turn.f. a turningτροπήArticle thArticle theοὗAdv where,Adv where, whitοὗμήNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. not, lμήἄλλοςAdj other,Adj other, anotἄλλοςμάλισταSup.adv. mSup.adv. most oμάλισταμόνοςAdv alone,Adv alone, but,μόνοςπερισσεύωv. I exceev. I exceed, amπερισσεύωἀδελφήn.f. a sisn.f. a sisterἀδελφήἄνDisj.prt. Disj.prt. an unἄν
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 5:4

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.

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× 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
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

καί (kai) is a conjunction meaning 'and,' used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. It serves various functions, including copulative and adjunctive uses, and can express cumulative ideas like 'also' or 'even.' The New Testament frequently employs it to link terms and sentences, as seen in verses like Matthew 2:18 and John 10:3. Abbott-Smith notes its use in both simple and complex structures, while Thayer emphasizes its role as the most common particle in the New Testament.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

in general: Mt 2:18 16:1, Mk 2:15, Lk 8:15, He 1:1, al. mult.; repeated before each of the terms in a series, Mt 23:23, Lk 14:21, Ro 7:12 9:4, al.;

connecting numerals (WM, § 37, 4): Jo 2:20, Ac 13:20;

joining terms which are not mutually exclusive, as the part with the whole: Mt 8:33 26:59, Mk 16:17,

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

καί, a conj., and; the most freq. by far of all the particles in the N. T. [On its uses see W. § 53, 3sqq.; B. 361 (310) sqq., and ef. Ellicott on Phil. iv. 12; on the difference between it and τέ see 8. v. τέ ad init. ] I. It serves as a copulative i.e. to connect (Lat. et, atque, Germ. und) ; 1. it connects single words or terms: a. univ., as of Φαρισαῖοι καὶ Σαδδουκαῖοι, Mt. xvi. 1; ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατήρ, he who is God and Father (see θεός, 3); ἐν καρδίᾳ καλῇ καὶ ἀγαθῇ, Lk. viii. 15; πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως, ΗΘ}. 1. 1; it is repeated before single terms, to each of which its own force and weight is thus given: ἡ υἱοθεσία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ ai διαθῆκαι καὶ ἡ νομοθεσία καὶ ἡ λατρεία καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι, Ro. ix. 4 ; ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή, Ro. vii. 12; add, Mt. xxiii. 23; Lk. xiv. 21; Jn. xvi. 8; Acts xv. 20, 29; xxi. 25; Heb. ix. 10; Rey. v. 12; xviii. 12 sq.; ef. W. 519 sq. (484). b. it…

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

και. In LAE p. 129 ff. Deissmann discusses the thoroughly popular character of the Johannine style with its short paratactic sentences, introduced by kal. . . καί. To illustrate this, he cites amongst other exx. a Dream from the Serapeum, P Par 51 (B.C. 160) (= Selections, p. 18 ff. : see especially the amended readings in Archiv vi. p. 204), which runs—** ὦμ[ην] βατί -- δ)ίζειν pe [ἀπ]ὸ λειβὸς ἕως ἀ[ πηλι]ώτου, καὶ ἀναπίπτομαι ἐπ᾿ ἄχυρον" καὶ [ἄν]θρωπ[ος9] ἀπὸ λιβός μου, ἐχόμενός μου’ ἀναπίπτει καὶ αὐτός, καὶ ὥσπερ κεκλειμμ[évot] μου ἦσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, καὶ ἐξαί[φνης] ἀνύγω τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς pov, καὶ ὁρῶ kTA., “ I dreamed that I was going from West to East, and I lie down upon chaff. And there | αὐτὸ (deleted in the original) Σεμφθεῖ. | ἐκ καινῆς ἐν Σομολ(ῶ)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

__A and; also adverb, even, also, just, frequently expressing emphatic assertion or assent, corresponding as positive to the negative οὐ (μή) or οὐδέ (μηδέ). copulative, and,

__A.I joining words or sentences to those preceding, ἦ, καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπ᾽ ὀφρύσινεῦσε Κρονίων [Refs 8th c.BC+]: repeated with two or more Nouns, αἱ δὲ ἔλαφοι κ. δορκάδες κ. οἱ ἄγριοι οἶες κ. οἱ ὄνοι οἱ ἄγριοι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; joining only the last pair, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὁ ὄχλος πλείων κ. πλείων ἐπέρρει more and more, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to add epithets after πολύς, πολλὰ κ. ἐσθλά [Refs 8th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also

a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in

connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:--and,

also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when,

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

(1) and, Mt. 2:2, 3, 11; 4:22; (2) καί ... καί, both ... and; (3) as a cumulative particle, also, too, Mt. 5:39; Jn. 8:19; 1 Cor. 11:6; (4) emphatic, even, also, Mt. 10:30; 1 Cor. 2:10; in NT adversative, but, Mt. 11:19; also introductory of the apodosis of a sentence, Gal. 3:28; Jas. 2:4

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
89%and
and89% · 8448×also8% · 714×other renderings2% · 191×other renderings1% · 124×

9,477 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 42 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%subject13%object10%predicate3%verb2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 8,978 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίand8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceκαί · 8,978× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Revelation Acts Mark John 1 Corinthians Romans Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

3 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 Ignatius of Antioch
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

ἡ 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 4th c. AD 1st c. AD 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 καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

1 ἔτους ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
αἰσχρότηςaischrotēs filthiness G151 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
1× 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
Shamefulness or obscenity, like filthy language, as warned against in Ephesians 5:4.
Amplified meaning
filthiness, shameful language
Tyndale gloss
obscenity
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word αἰσχρότης (i.e., aischrotēs) is derived from αἰσχρός and encompasses meanings related to baseness, obscenity, and indecency. It appears in the New Testament, specifically in Ephesians 5:4. Some lexicons note its euphemistic use for certain sexual conduct, while others focus on its general implications of dishonor and filthiness.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* αἰσχρότης, -τητος, ἡ

(< αἰσχρός),

baseness: Eph 5:4.†

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

αἰσχρότης, -ητος, 7, baseness, dishonor: Eph. y. 4 ΓΑ. V. filthiness]. (Plat. Gorg. 525 a.)

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αἰσχρότης (aischrotēs) — obscenity.

αἰσχρότης, ητος, ἡ,

ugliness, deformity, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. filthy conduct, [NT]; euphemistic for fellatio, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:— αἰσχροσύνη, ἡ, [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

αἰσχρότης

aischrotes

from 150; shamefulness, i.e. obscenity:--filthiness.

see GREEK for 150

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αἰσχρότης, τητος, ἡ

n.f.

obscenity, indecency, baseness

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αἰσχρότης aischrotēs 1x

obscenity, indecency, Eph. 5:4*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

αἰσχρότης from αἰσχρός ugliness, deformity, Plat.

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%filthiness
filthiness100% · 1×

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

Concordanceαἰσχρότης · 1× in the New Testament
Ephesians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× 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
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

καί (kai) is a conjunction meaning 'and,' used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. It serves various functions, including copulative and adjunctive uses, and can express cumulative ideas like 'also' or 'even.' The New Testament frequently employs it to link terms and sentences, as seen in verses like Matthew 2:18 and John 10:3. Abbott-Smith notes its use in both simple and complex structures, while Thayer emphasizes its role as the most common particle in the New Testament.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

in general: Mt 2:18 16:1, Mk 2:15, Lk 8:15, He 1:1, al. mult.; repeated before each of the terms in a series, Mt 23:23, Lk 14:21, Ro 7:12 9:4, al.;

connecting numerals (WM, § 37, 4): Jo 2:20, Ac 13:20;

joining terms which are not mutually exclusive, as the part with the whole: Mt 8:33 26:59, Mk 16:17,

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

καί, a conj., and; the most freq. by far of all the particles in the N. T. [On its uses see W. § 53, 3sqq.; B. 361 (310) sqq., and ef. Ellicott on Phil. iv. 12; on the difference between it and τέ see 8. v. τέ ad init. ] I. It serves as a copulative i.e. to connect (Lat. et, atque, Germ. und) ; 1. it connects single words or terms: a. univ., as of Φαρισαῖοι καὶ Σαδδουκαῖοι, Mt. xvi. 1; ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατήρ, he who is God and Father (see θεός, 3); ἐν καρδίᾳ καλῇ καὶ ἀγαθῇ, Lk. viii. 15; πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως, ΗΘ}. 1. 1; it is repeated before single terms, to each of which its own force and weight is thus given: ἡ υἱοθεσία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ ai διαθῆκαι καὶ ἡ νομοθεσία καὶ ἡ λατρεία καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι, Ro. ix. 4 ; ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή, Ro. vii. 12; add, Mt. xxiii. 23; Lk. xiv. 21; Jn. xvi. 8; Acts xv. 20, 29; xxi. 25; Heb. ix. 10; Rey. v. 12; xviii. 12 sq.; ef. W. 519 sq. (484). b. it…

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

και. In LAE p. 129 ff. Deissmann discusses the thoroughly popular character of the Johannine style with its short paratactic sentences, introduced by kal. . . καί. To illustrate this, he cites amongst other exx. a Dream from the Serapeum, P Par 51 (B.C. 160) (= Selections, p. 18 ff. : see especially the amended readings in Archiv vi. p. 204), which runs—** ὦμ[ην] βατί -- δ)ίζειν pe [ἀπ]ὸ λειβὸς ἕως ἀ[ πηλι]ώτου, καὶ ἀναπίπτομαι ἐπ᾿ ἄχυρον" καὶ [ἄν]θρωπ[ος9] ἀπὸ λιβός μου, ἐχόμενός μου’ ἀναπίπτει καὶ αὐτός, καὶ ὥσπερ κεκλειμμ[évot] μου ἦσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, καὶ ἐξαί[φνης] ἀνύγω τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς pov, καὶ ὁρῶ kTA., “ I dreamed that I was going from West to East, and I lie down upon chaff. And there | αὐτὸ (deleted in the original) Σεμφθεῖ. | ἐκ καινῆς ἐν Σομολ(ῶ)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

__A and; also adverb, even, also, just, frequently expressing emphatic assertion or assent, corresponding as positive to the negative οὐ (μή) or οὐδέ (μηδέ). copulative, and,

__A.I joining words or sentences to those preceding, ἦ, καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπ᾽ ὀφρύσινεῦσε Κρονίων [Refs 8th c.BC+]: repeated with two or more Nouns, αἱ δὲ ἔλαφοι κ. δορκάδες κ. οἱ ἄγριοι οἶες κ. οἱ ὄνοι οἱ ἄγριοι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; joining only the last pair, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὁ ὄχλος πλείων κ. πλείων ἐπέρρει more and more, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to add epithets after πολύς, πολλὰ κ. ἐσθλά [Refs 8th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also

a cumulative force; and, also, even, so then, too, etc.; often used in

connection (or composition) with other particles or small words:--and,

also, both, but, even, for, if, or, so, that, then, therefore, when,

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

(1) and, Mt. 2:2, 3, 11; 4:22; (2) καί ... καί, both ... and; (3) as a cumulative particle, also, too, Mt. 5:39; Jn. 8:19; 1 Cor. 11:6; (4) emphatic, even, also, Mt. 10:30; 1 Cor. 2:10; in NT adversative, but, Mt. 11:19; also introductory of the apodosis of a sentence, Gal. 3:28; Jas. 2:4

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
89%and
and89% · 8448×also8% · 714×other renderings2% · 191×other renderings1% · 124×

9,477 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 42 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%subject13%object10%predicate3%verb2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 8,978 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίand8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceκαί · 8,978× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Revelation Acts Mark John 1 Corinthians Romans Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

3 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 Ignatius of Antioch
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

ἡ 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 4th c. AD 1st c. AD 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 καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

1 ἔτους ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
μωρολογίαmōrologia foolish talking G3473 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
1× 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
Foolish talk refers to silly or absurd conversation, like the kind that is condemned in the New Testament. It describes speech that is ridiculous or lacking in seriousness.
Amplified meaning
silly or absurd conversation
Tyndale gloss
foolish talk
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μωρολογία (morologia) means 'foolish talking' or 'silly talk.' It is derived from a combination of terms meaning 'fool' and 'to speak.' The New Testament references this term in Ephesians 5:4, where it denotes speech lacking wisdom or substance. Various lexicons emphasize its ethical implications, suggesting that such talk reflects a deeper moral failing.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — μωρολογία, αἰσχρολογία, εὐτραπελία from a scan

Aut these designate sins of the tongue, but with a difference. Mwpodoyia, employed by Aristotle (Hist. Anim. i. 11), but of rare use till the later Greek, is rendered well in the Vulgate, on the one occasion of its occurrence (Ephes. v. 4), by ‘stultiloquium,’ a word which Plautus may have coined (Mil. Glor. 11. 8. 25) ; although one which did not find more favour and currency in the after language of Rome, than did the ‘ stultiloquy’ which Jeremy Taylor sought to introduce among ourselves. Not merely the πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργόν of our Lord (Matt. xii. 36), but in good part also the πᾶς λόγος campos of his Apostle (Ephes. iv. 29), will be included in it; discourse, as everything else in the Christian, needing to be seasoned with the salt of grace, and being in danger of growing first insipid, and then corrupt, without it. Those who stop short with the ἀργὰ ῥήματα, as though μωρολογία reached no…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* μωρολογία, -ας, ἡ,

foolish talking: Eph 5:4.†

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

μωρολογία, -as, 7, (uwpodsyos), (stultiloquium, Plaut., Vulg.), foolish talking: Eph.v.4. (Aristot. h. a. 1, 11; Plut. mor. p.504b.) [Cf. Trench, N. T. Syn. ὃ xxxiv.]

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

μωρολογία, “ foolish talking’ (Eph 54): cf. Plut. Aor. 504 B οὕτως οὐ ψέγεται τὸ πίνειν, εἰ προσείη τῷ πίνειν τὸ σιωπᾶν᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μωρολογία μέθην ποιεῖ τὴν οἴνωσιν.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μωρολογία (mōrologia) — foolish talk.

μωρολογ-ία, ἡ,

silly talk, [NT+4th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

μωρολογία

morologia

from a compound of 3474 and 3004; silly talk, i.e.

buffoonery:--foolish talking.

see GREEK for 3474

see GREEK for 3004

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μωρολογία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

foolish talking

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μωρολογία mōrologia 1x

foolish talk, Eph. 5:4*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μωρολογία μωρολογία, ἡ, silly talking, NTest.

from μωρολόγος

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

→ With God

See COMMUNION

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%foolish talking
foolish talking100% · 1×

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

Concordanceμωρολογία · 1× in the New Testament
Ephesians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
ē or G2228 Particle
343× 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
Or is a word used to show a choice between two things, like in Matthew 5:17 where it's either obey God's law or not. It's also used to compare things, like in Romans 1:21 where it's one thing or another.
Tyndale gloss
or
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word (ē) is a particle used to indicate distinction, functioning as a disjunctive 'or' and a comparative 'than.' It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in phrases like 'either...or' and in disjunctive questions. Notably, it can also express comparisons after comparative terms, such as in Matthew 10:15. The entries do not show any significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἤ, disjunctive and comparative particle (Bl., §36, 12; 77, 11);

disjunctive, or;

between single words: Mt 5:17, Mk 6:56, Lk 2:24, Jo 6:19, Ro 1:21, al.;

before a sentence expressing a variation, denial or refutation of a previous statement, freq. in interrog. form: Mt 7:4, 9, Mk 12:14, Lk 13:4, Ro 3:29 6:3 9:21, I Co 6:9, 16 9:6, II Co 11:7; ἢ . . . ἤ…

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

ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ (NVWT ΒΗ Targ. Jonath. ad ᾿ς lili. 10), the kingdom of the Messiah, which will be founded by God through the Messiah and over which the Messiah will preside as God’s vicegerent; ἡ Bac. τῶν οὐρανῶν, only in Matthew, but very frequently [some 33 times], the kingdom of heaven, i. e. the kingdom which is of heavenly or divine origin and nature (in rabbin. writ. nown mao is the rule of God, the theocracy viewed universally, not the Messianic kingdom); sometimes simply ἡ βασιλεία : Mt. iv. 23, ete.; Jas. ii. 5; once ἡ Bac. τοῦ Δαυείδ, because it was supposed the Messiah would be one of David’s descendants and a king very like David, Mk. xi. 10; once also ἡ Bac. τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ, Eph. ν. 5. Relying principally on the prophecies of Daniel — who had declared it to be the purpose of God that, after four vast and mighty kingdoms had succeeded one another and the last of…

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

ἢ μή. The general distinction between οὐ and μή is that οὐ is objective, dealing only with facts, while μή is sudjectize, involving will and thought. But in late Greek μή has encroached very largely upon οὐ, with the result that in the NT οὐ is almost entirely confined to the indicative, while μή monopolizes the other moods (but see I. 5). A few exx. of some of the many uses of μή will make this clear. I. Μή negatives (1) the conjunctive (a) after ἐάν (4v)—P Oxy II. 294%? (A.D. 22) (= Selections, p. 36), where certain men are confined to prison, ἐὰν μή τι πίσωσι τὸν ἀρχιστάτορα δο[ῦν]αι etk(= ἱκ)ανόν, ‘* unless indeed they shall persuade the chief usher to give security,’’ BGU II. 5301” \i/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 61) alav (/. ἐὰν) μὴ ἔλθῃς, κινδυνεύω ἐκστῆvat od ἔχω [κλή]ρου, “if you do not come I run the risk of losing the lot (of land) which I possess ”—a father writes to Selections…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἤ (ē) — or.

ἤ,

Epic dialect also ἠέ (in signification [Refs 4th c.BC+], conjunction with two chief senses, Disj. (or) and comparative (than).

__A DISJUNCTIVE, or, ἐγὼ.. ἢ ἄλλος Ἀχαιῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; θεόσυτος ἢ βρότειος ἢ κεκραμένη [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__A.2 ἢ.. ἤ either.. or, ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ᾽ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα [Refs 8th c.BC+], etc.; so ἢ.. ἤτοι.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] is emphasized, later no distinction is implied, [NT+2nd c.BC+]; ἤ repeated any number of times, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι ἢ τεὸν ἢ Αἴαντος ἰὼν γέρας ἢ Ὀδυσῆος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἤ is probably wrongly accented in codices of [Refs 8th c.BC+] adverb [Refs 4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

e

a primary particle of distinction between two connected terms;

disjunctive, or; comparative, than:--and, but (either), (n-)either,

except it be, (n-)or (else), rather, save, than, that, what, yea.

Often used in connection with other particles. Compare especially

2235, 2260, 2273.

see GREEK for 2235

see GREEK for 2260

see GREEK for 2273

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Disj.prt.

or, than

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἤ ē 343x

can function as a conj (298x), either, or, Mt. 6:24; after comparatives, and ἄλλος, ἕτερος, expressed or implied, than, Mt. 10:15; 18:8; Acts 17:21; 24:21; intensive after ἀλλά and πρίν, Lk. 12:51; Mt. 1:18; it also serves to point an interrogation, Rom. 3:29

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

or: The word is used once for either (1Sa 26:10), and is still in poetic use in this sense; as in, "Without or wave or wind" (Coleridge); "Or the bakke or some bone he breketh in his dzouthe" (Piers Plowman (B), VII, 93; compare Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 65). It is also used with "ever" for before (Ps 90:2; Ecclesiasticus 18:19), which the American Standard Revised Version substitutes in Ec 12:6 (compare 12:1,2); So 6:12; Da 6:24.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
84%or
or84% · 304×than13% · 47×other renderings4% · 13×

364 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
adverbial20%object18%subject12%predicate7%verb4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 343 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
πρόςχείρa handἁμαρτίαa sin
πατήρfather, Father, ance
Article theκακολογέωI speak evil of,Disj
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaἀνεκτόςendurable, tolerθεόςGod, a god
αὐτός
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenβοῦςan ox
ἀδελφόςa brother
DisjArticle theἐάνCond
or343×
what comes after →
Article the
μήτηρa motherπόλιςa cityδύο
τίςIrg
πίνωI drink, imbibeεἰμίI am, existλαλέωI speak, say
οὐNeg
οἶδαI know, rememberἀναγινώσκωI readδίδωμιI offer, give
ἐν
φυλακήa watching, guarτίςIrgποῖοςIrg
καίand, even, also, nam
ἰχθύςa fishαἰτέωI ask, request, πρός

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 · 343× in the New Testament
Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Acts Mark Romans 2 Corinthians John 1 Peter Galatians James Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament24 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 457 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.

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
εὐτραπελίαeutrapelia crude joking G2160 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
1× 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 refers to vulgar or off-color joking, warned against in Ephesians 5:4, where Paul encourages believers to avoid coarse language.
Amplified meaning
vulgar jesting, off-color humor
Tyndale gloss
vulgar jesting
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εὐτραπελία (eutrapelia) is derived from components meaning 'well-turned' and 'to turn.' It encompasses meanings like wit, liveliness, and facetiousness, but can also refer to coarse jesting or ribaldry, particularly in a negative context. The term appears in Ephesians 5:4, where it is associated with inappropriate speech. Various lexicons note its use in both positive and negative senses, with some emphasizing its vulgar implications.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — μωρολογία, αἰσχρολογία, εὐτραπελία from a scan

Aut these designate sins of the tongue, but with a difference. Mwpodoyia, employed by Aristotle (Hist. Anim. i. 11), but of rare use till the later Greek, is rendered well in the Vulgate, on the one occasion of its occurrence (Ephes. v. 4), by ‘stultiloquium,’ a word which Plautus may have coined (Mil. Glor. 11. 8. 25) ; although one which did not find more favour and currency in the after language of Rome, than did the ‘ stultiloquy’ which Jeremy Taylor sought to introduce among ourselves. Not merely the πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργόν of our Lord (Matt. xii. 36), but in good part also the πᾶς λόγος campos of his Apostle (Ephes. iv. 29), will be included in it; discourse, as everything else in the Christian, needing to be seasoned with the salt of grace, and being in danger of growing first insipid, and then corrupt, without it. Those who stop short with the ἀργὰ ῥήματα, as though μωρολογία reached no…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* εὐτραπελία, -ας, ἡ

(< εὖ, τρέπω),

versatility, wit, facetiousness (Hippocr., Plat., al.).

= βωμολογία, coarse jesting, ribaldry (Abbott, Essays, 93): Eph 5:4.†

SYN.: μωρολογία, v. Tr., Syn., § xxxiv

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

εὐτραπελία, -as, 7, (fr. εὐτράπελος, fr. ed, and τρέπω to turn: easily turning; nimble-witted, witty, sharp), pleasantry, humor, facetiousness, ({Hippocr.], Plat. rep. 8 p. 563a.; Diod. 15, 6; 20, 63; Joseph. antt. 12, 4, 3; Plut., al.) ; in a bad sense, seurrility, ribaldry, low jesting (in which there is some acuteness) : Eph. v. 4; in a milder sense, Arist. eth. 2, 7, 13; [ἡ εὐτραπελία πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις ἐστίν, rhet. 2, 12, 16 (ef. Cope in loc.) ; ef. Trench 8 xxxiv.; Matt. Arnold, Irish Essays ete. p. 187 sqq. (Speech at Eton) 1882].

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

εὐτραπελία. For this word in a good sense we may cite Demetr. de Elocut. 177 (ed. Roberts) ἡ yap ᾿Αττικὴ γλῶσσα συνεστραμμένον τι ἔχει καὶ δημοτικὸν καὶ ταῖς τοιαύταις εὐτραπελίαις πρέπον, ‘the Attic dialect has about it something terse, and popular, and so lends itself naturally to the pleasantries of the stage”: cf. the adj. 7. 172 ἢ yap ἀντίθεσις εὐτράπos, ‘there being wit in a play on words.” The simplex *tpdmedos is not found, but is vouched for by the Lat. torcudus also = ‘‘turning,’”’ but applied in a different way : see Brugmann-Thumb, p. 231.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐτραπελία (eutrapelia) — vulgar jesting.

εὐτρᾰπελ-ία, ἡ,

ready wit, liveliness, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: plural, pleasantries, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἡ περὶ τὰς παιδιὰς καὶ τὰς ὁμιλίας εὐ. [Refs 1st c.AD+]

2. rarely in bad sense, ={βωμολοχία}, [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐτραπελία

eutrapelia

from a compound of 2095 and a derivative of the base of 5157 (meaning

well-turned, i.e. ready at repartee, jocose); witticism, i.e. (in a

vulgar sense) ribaldry:--jesting.

see GREEK for 2095

see GREEK for 5157

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐτραπελία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

low jesting, ribaldry

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐτραπελία eutrapelia 1x

facetiousness, pleasantry; hence, buffoonery, coarse laughter, Eph. 5:4*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εὐτραπελία εὐτρα^πελία, ἡ, wit, liveliness, Lat. urbanitas, Arist., Plut.

in bad sense, jesting, ribaldry, 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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%crude joking
crude joking100% · 1×

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

Concordanceεὐτραπελία · 1× in the New Testament
Ephesians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Embassy to Gaius 361c. AD 40

„διὰ τί χοιρείων κρεῶν ἀπέχεσθε;“ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν γέλως ἐκ τῶν ἀντιδίκων κατερράγη τοσοῦτος, τῇ μὲν ἡδομένων τῇ δὲ καὶ ἐπιτηδευόντων ἕνεκα κολακείας ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸ λεχθὲν δοκεῖν σὺν εὐτραπελίᾳ καὶ χάριτι εἰρῆσθαι, ὥς τινα τῶν ἑπομένων αὐτῷ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 12.173c. AD 75–95

ἡσθεὶς δʼ ἐπὶ τῇ χάριτι καὶ τῇ εὐτραπελίᾳ τοῦ νεανίσκου μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ὡς ἤδη καὶ πεπειραμένος ἀγαπᾶν ἤρξατο, ὡς ἔν τε τοῖς βασιλείοις αὐτὸν κελεῦσαι διαιτᾶσθαι καὶ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τῆς ἑστιάσεως τῆς ἰδίας ἔχειν.

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
ho which G3739 Article · nominative · plural · neuter
1,407× 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 word which is a pronoun used to ask for or identify something, as seen in John 5:11. It can also be used to describe a person or thing, such as in Mark 15:23. This word helps to clarify or specify what is being talked about.
Tyndale gloss
which
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ὅς is a pronoun meaning 'who,' 'which,' 'what,' or 'that.' It serves as both a demonstrative and a relative pronoun, agreeing in gender with its antecedent. The New Testament uses it in various constructions, including phrases like ὃς μὲν... ὃς δέ to indicate contrasting subjects. Notably, it can express purpose or cause in certain contexts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ,

the postpositive article (ἄρθρον ὑποτακτικόν).

As demonstr. pron. = οὗτος, ὅδε, this, that, also for αὐτός, chiefly in nom.: ὅς δέ, but he (cf. ἦ δὲ ὅς, freq. in Plat.), Mk 15:23, Jo 5:11; ὃς μὲν . . . ὃς δέ, the one . . . the other, Mt 21:35 22:5 25:15, Lk 23:33, Ac 27:14, Ro 14:5, I Co 11:21, II Co 2:16, Ju 22; neut., ὃ μὲν . . . ὃ δέ, the one . . . the other, some . . . some, Mt 13:8, 23, Read the full entry →

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

ὅς 455 ὅς iii. 5 [RG], 6; Heb. vi. 10; ix. 20; Jas. ii. 5; 1 In. iii. 24; Jude 15; for other exx. see below; ἐν ὥρᾳ 7 οὐ γινώoxet, Mt. xxiv. 50; τῇ παραδύσει 9 παρεδώκατε, Mk. vii. 13 ; add, Lk. ii. 20; v. 9; ix. 435 xii. 46; xxiv. 25; Jn. xvii. 5; Acts ii. 22; xvii. 31; xx. 38; 2 Co. xii. 21; 2Th.i. 4; Rev. xviii. 6; ef. W. § 24,1; [B. as above]. Rarely attraction oceurs where the verb governs the dative [but see below]: thus, κατέναντι οὗ ἐπίστευσε θεοῦ for xarévavre θεοῦ, ᾧ ἐπίστευσε (See κατέναντι). Ro. iv. 17; φωνῆς, ἧς ἔκραξα (for 7 (al. ἥν, οἴ. W. 164 (154 sq.) Β. 287 (217)}7), Acts xxiv. 21, οἵ. Is. vi. 4; (7γετο δὲ καὶ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ τε πιστῶν, οἷς ἥδετο καὶ ὧν ἠπίστει πολλούς, for καὶ πολλοὺς τούτων, οἷς ἠπίστει, Xen. Cyr. ὅ, 4, 39; ὧν ἐγὼ ἐντετύχηκα οὐδείς; for οὐδεὶς τούτων, οἷς ἐντετ. Plato, Gorg. p. 509 ἃ.; Protag. p. 361 6.; derep.7 p.531e.; παρ᾽ ὧν βοηθεῖς, οὐδεμίαν λήψει…

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

ος is found as a demonstrative pronoun in P Ryl II. 14415 (complaint of assault—a.D. 38) ὃς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἄλογον ἀηδίαν μοι ἐπιχειρήσας παρεχρήσατό μοι πολλὰ καὶ ἄσχημα, ‘“whereupon he opposing me made a brutal and odious attack upon me and subjected me to much shameful mishandling” (Edd.): cf. Mk 15%, Jn 51. For ὃς μέν... ὃς δέ, “the one . . the other,” as in Mt 21° a/., see P Oxy IX. 1189? (c. A.D. 117) ἐπιστολὰς δύο ds ἔγραψα ἣν μὲν σοὶ ἣν δὲ Σαβείνῳ, and for ὃς δέ solétarium see PSI. IV. 313° (iii/iv A.D.) with the editor’s note. Ὃς ἄν (ἐάν) c. conj. = ‘‘ whosoever ” may be illustrated Ly P Par 4622 (B.c. 153) (= Witkowski*, p. 87), περὶ dv ἂν βούληι γράφε, P Grenf I. 30% (B.c. 103) ἐφ} οἷς ἂν οὖν ὑμῶν προσδέωνται, P Oxy IV. 743%% (B.C. 2) ἐν ols ἐὰν σοῦ προσδέηται, °° ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐὰν θέλῃς. For the comparative usage of ὃς ἄν and ὃς ἐάν, see Thackeray Gr. i. p. 68, cited s.v. ἄν.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅς (hos, hē) — which.

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ,

genitive οὗ, ἧς, οὗ, etc.; dative plural οἷς, αἷς, οἷς, etc.: Epic dialect forms, genitive ὅου (probably replacing Οο) in the phrases ὅου κλέος οὔ ποτ᾽ ὀλεῖται [Refs 8th c.BC+]; feminine ἕης [Refs 8th c.BC+]; elsewhere only ἧς [Refs]; dative plural οἷς, οἷσι, ᾗς, ᾗσι (never αἷς or αἷσι in [Refs 8th c.BC+] — _pronoun_ used,

__A as demonstrative by the side of οὗτος, ὅδε, and the Article ὁ, ἡ, τό: in post-Homeric Gr. this use survived only in a few special phrases.

__B as a Relat. by the side of the Article ὅ, ἥ, τό (see. ὁ, ἡ, τό, c):—this demonstrative and Relat. pronoun must not be confounded with the Possess. ὅς, ἥ, ὅν. (With Gr. Relat. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ cf. Sanskrit Relat. yas, yā, yad, Lithuanian jis, ji (he, she), Oslav. i, ja, je (he, she…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅς ἥ ὅ

hos

he hay, and neuter

ho ho

probably a primary word (or perhaps a form of the article 3588); the

relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what,

that:--one, (an-, the) other, some, that, what, which, who(-m, -se),

etc. See also 3757.

see GREEK for 3588

see GREEK for 3757

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ

Rel.pr.

who, which, what, that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅς hos 1x

who, which, what, that, Mt. 1:16, 23, 25; in NT interrog. ἐφ’ ὅ, wherefore, why, Mt. 26:50; in NT ὅς μὲν ... ὅς δέ, for ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, Mt. 21:35; 2 Cor. 2:16

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%which
which25% · 356×whom20% · 291×who17% · 238×that14% · 199×what8% · 117×whatever2% · 30×whose2% · 29×other renderings10% · 145×other renderings2% · 25×

1,430 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 60 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
object40%subject29%adverbial26%indirect object3%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,407 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
ἡμέραa dayαὐτόςἵναin order that, s
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἔχωI have, hold, poυἱόςa son, descenden
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,δοῦλος (II)
διά
ἐκεῖνοςΧριστόςanointed, the Meαὐτός
εἰς
καίand, even, also,ἐγώοἰκίαa house, househo
ὅςwhich1407×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theμεθερμηνεύωI translate, intκαίand, even, also,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existἔξεστι(ν)it is permitted,γινώσκωI come to know,
Article the
θεόςGod, a godυἱόςa son, descendenκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
καίand, even, also, nam
σύποιέωI do, makeαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
ἄνDisjἑξήκονταIndecτριάκονταIndec

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

Concordanceὅς · 1,407× in the New Testament
Acts Luke John Matthew Romans Mark Hebrews Revelation 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Colossians Ephesians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 33c. AD 40

ἵν’ οὖν μὴ αἰεὶ συμφερόμεναι στασιάζωσι καὶ πόλεμος ἀντ’ εἰρήνης ἐπικρατῇ τὴν ἀκοσμίαν ἐν κόσμῳ τιθείς, οὐ μόνον ἐχώρισε φῶς καὶ σκότος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅρους ἐν μέσοις ἔθετο διαστήμασιν, οἷς ἀνεῖρξε τῶν ἄκρων ἑκάτερον·

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

πῶς τὸ Σοδομιτῶν ἔθνος θεὸς κατεστρέψατο χολωθεὶς αὐτοῖς ἐφ' οἷς ἡμάρτανον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.8c. AD 100

Μωϋσῆ Μωϋσῆ, κατάβηθι τὸ τάχος, ὅτι ἠνόμησεν ὁ λαός σου, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ συνῆκεν Μωϋσῆς καὶ ἔριψεν τὰς δύο πλάκας ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ: καὶ συνετρίβη αὐτῶν ἡ διαθήκη, ἵνα ἡ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου Ἰησοῦ ἐγκατασφραγισθῇ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν…

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 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ Ψενανοῦπιν καὶ … … ελθεῖν ἐπὶ προ … ους καὶ γραψάτωσαν ἡμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐσπούδασας διὰ τὰς ἡμῶν παρακλήσεις καὶ ση

P.Adl. 15Pathyris (?)101 BC

ἐδάνεισεν Ὧρος Ὥρου Ὥρωι Νεχούτου ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος μελίχρως ὑποκλαστὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὖς ἀριστερὸν τετρημένον πυροῦ ἀρτάβας τεσσαράκοντα ἓξ κριθῆς ἑξήκοντα ἐννέα , ἴσους ἀτόκους, ὧν ἀπόδοσιν

P.Adl. 17Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC

τῆς ἐπιγονῆς τῶν ἐκ Παθύρεως ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος μελίχρως τετανὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὖς ἀριστερὸν τετρημένον χαλκοῦ ταλάντων πέντε . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
οὐκou not G3756 Particle · negative
1,622× 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 is a strong 'no', used to deny something completely. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 13:29 and John 1:21. It is a negative answer to a question.
Tyndale gloss
no
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὐ (transliterated as ou) is a primary negative particle meaning 'not' or 'no.' It is used to negate verbs or statements, often appearing in various forms depending on the following sound. In the New Testament, it frequently serves to deny facts and is distinct from another negative particle, μή (transliterated as ), which is used for prohibitions or wishes.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὐ, before a vowel with smooth breathing οὐκ, before one with rough breathing οὐχ (but improperly οὐχ ἰδού, Ac 2:7, WH, mg.; cf. WH, Intr., § 409; M, Pr., 44, 244),

[in LXX for לֹא, אַיִן, אֵין;]

neg. particle,

not, no, used generally c. indic. and for a denial of fact (cf . μή);

absol. (accented), οὔ, no: Mt 13:29, Jo 1:21 21:5; οὒ οὔ, Mt 5:37, Ja 5:12.

Most freq. negativing a verb or other word, Mt 1:25 10:26, 38, Mk 3:25 9:37, Jo 8:29, Ac 7:5, Ro 1:16, Phl 3:3, al.; in…

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

οὐ before a consonant, οὐκ before a vowel with a smooth breathing, and ody before an aspirated vowel ; but sometimes in the best codd. οὐχ occurs even before a smooth breathing; accordingly LT WH mrg. have adopted οὐχ ἰδού, Acts ii. 7; LT οὐχ ᾿Ιουδαϊκῶς, Gal. ii. 14 (see WH. Introd. § 409); L οὐχ ὀλίγος, Acts xix. 23; οὐχ ἠγάπησαν, Rev. xii. 11; and contrariwise οὐκ before an aspirate, as οὐκ ἕστηκεν, Jn. viii. 44 T; [οὐκ ἕνεκεν, 2 Co. vii. 12 T]; (οὐκ εὗρον, Lk. xxiv. 3; [οὐκ ὑπάρχει, Acts iii. 6] in cod. x [alsoC*; ef. cod. Alex. in 1 ἔβαν. iv. 2,12; Job xix. 16; xxxviiil. 11, 26]); cf. W. $5, 14d. 14; Β. τ; [A. v. Schiitz, Hist. Alphab. Att., Berol. 1875, pp: 54-58 ; Sophocles, Hist. of Grk. Alphab., 1st ed. 1848, p- 64 sq. (on the breathing); Tdf Sept., ed. 4, Proleg. pp: Xxxiii. xxxiv.; Scrivener, Collation ete., 2d ed., p. lv. no. 9; id. cod. Bezae p. xlvii. no. 11 (ef. p. xlii.…

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

ου to make the voyage” (Edd.), and P Amh II. 78?! (a.p. 184) τοιαύτης ο[ὖ]ν αὐθαδίας ἐν αὐτῷ οὔσης οὐ δυνάμενος [ἐν]καρτερεῖν ἐπιδίδωμι, ‘“ his audacity having reached this pitch I can endure no longer and present this petition.” See further Proleg. p. 231 f. In support of the translation ‘‘ I determined not to know” in 1 Cor 2, we may cite P Par 2657 (B.c. 163) (= UPZi. Ρ-. 248) οὐκ ἐκρίναμεν καταχωρῆσαι, ‘we determined not to record,” P Tebt I. 124° (c. B.c. 118) οὐκ (ἐκδρίναμεν ἐξαρ[ιθ]μεῖ[σθαι, “we determined not to be counted,” and the classical formula in P Hamb I. 27° (B.c. 250 (249)) οὐκ ἔφη εἰδέναι, ‘he said that he did not know.” The origin of the double negative οὐ μή is fully discussed by Moulton Pro/eg. p. 187 ff. When we pass to its actual occurrences in the NT, we find that these for the most part are found in passages derived from the OT and in the Sayings of our Lord…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὐ (ou) — no.

οὐ,

the negative of fact and statement, as μή of will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective. —The same differences hold for all compounds of οὐ and μή, and some examples of οὐδέ and οὐδείς are included below.—As to the Form, see infr. G. USAG[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I. as the negative of single words,

II. as the negative of the sentence.

I. οὐ adhering to single words so as to form a quasi-compound with them:—with Verbs: οὐ δίδωμι withhold, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐκ εἰῶ prevent, [Refs]; οὐκ ἐθέλω refuse, [Refs]; οὔ φημι deny, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; but sometimes οὐ is retained, εἰ δ᾽ ἂν.. οὐκ ἐθέλωσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐάντε.. οὐ (variant{μή}) φῆτε ἐάντε φῆτε [Refs 8th c.BC+] —On the use of οὐ in contrasts, see below [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὐ

ou

ouk ook, and (before an aspirate)

ouch ookh

a primary word; the absolute negative (compare 3361) adverb; no or

not:--+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, +

nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but. See also

3364, 3372.

see GREEK for 3361

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὐ

Neg.prt.

no, not

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὐ ou 1x

negative adverb, originally the gen. of ὅς, spelled οὐκ if followed by a word beginning with a vowel and a smooth breathing, οὐχ if followed by a vowel and rough breathing, not, no, Mt. 5:37; 12:43; 23:37; for the peculiarities of its usage (especially as distinct from μή) consult a grammar

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

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
82%not
not82% · 1383×certainly6% · 96×surely4% · 70×no longer3% · 50×no2% · 39×other renderings3% · 51×

1,689 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 17 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial82%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,622 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
εἰμίI am, existἐγώαὐτός
ὅς
ἐγώθερίζωI reap, gatherδέbut, on the othe
ὅτιthat, since, because
σύαὐτόςἐγώ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἐνἐπί
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγάρforὅς
οὐnot1622×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐκArticle theἐγώ
μήNeg
παρέρχομαιI pass byεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inπίνωI drink, imbibe
οἶδαI know, remember
ὅτιthat, since, becArticle theτίςIrg
γάρfor
εἰμίI am, existθέλωI will, wish, deArticle the
δύναμαιI am powerful, am ab
ἔρχομαιI come, goσῴζωI save, healArticle 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

Concordanceοὐ · 1,622× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke 1 Corinthians Romans Mark Acts 2 Corinthians Revelation Hebrews 1 John Galatians

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 6c. AD 40

ὡς γὰρ τῶν κολοσσιαίων μεγεθῶν τὰς ἐμφάσεις καὶ ἡ βραχυτάτη σφραγὶς τυπωθεῖσα δέχεται, οὕτως τάχα που καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναγραφείσης ἐν τοῖς νόμοις κοσμοποιίας ὑπερβάλλοντα κάλλη καὶ ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ψυχὰς ἐπισκιάζοντα βραχυτέροις…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.11c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν ἀρχιερέων οὐδενὸς ἀρετῇ δεύτερος Ἐλεάζαρος τῷ προειρημένῳ βασιλεῖ ταύτης ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς ὠφελείας οὐκ ἐφθόνησε πάντως ἀντειπὼν ἄν, εἰ μὴ πάτριον ἦν ἡμῖν τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν τῶν καλῶν ἀπόρρητον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.8c. AD 100

ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ὡς διδάσκαλος, ἀλλ̓ ὧς εἰς ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑποδείξω ὀλίγα, δἰ ὧν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν εὐφρανθήσεσθε.

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 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD

δὲ γενόμεναι κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον κληρονομήσασαι ταξάμεναι τὰ καθήκοντα τέλη θεᾶι Βερενίκηι κυριεύομεν. ὅθεν οὐκ ἀποδιδόντων τὰ ἡμέτερα ἐπεδώκαμεν ἐν τῶι λ ἔτει προσανγελίαν Ἡρακλείδει γενομένωι ἀρχιφυλακίτηι τοῦ Παθυρίτου

C.Erbstreit16Diospolis Magna (Theben)135 BC

ι ἀρουρῶν πρόκτησιν … ένου αὐτὸν ἐν συνεδρίωι καὶ συγχώρησιν … ειν, ἐν ἧι οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ὁ πατήρ. ὅθεν καταβεβραβευμένοι … ήρου συνεριου ἀξιοῦμεν, ἐὰν φαίνηται, συντάξαι γράψαι, οἷς

P.Adl. 2Pathyris125 BC

ὠνῆς ἐν πίστει διὰ τῶν περὶ τὸν Πανεβχοῦνιν ἐκτελειωθεῖσαν τῶι … ἔτει ἀντὶ ὀφειλημάτων, οὐκ ἐπελευσομένους τὸν Πανερέα καὶ τὴν Σενενοῦπιν περὶ ὀφειλημάτων μηδὲ περὶ ἄλλου μηδενός. ταῦτα δὲ

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
ἀνῆκενanēkō were fit G433 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · plural · neuter
3× 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 Greek word means something is fitting or proper, like in Ephesians 5:4 where it describes what kind of speech is suitable for believers. It's about what is due or befitting a situation. In the Bible, it's used to describe what is right or proper in relationships and behavior.
Amplified meaning
not fitting, improper
Tyndale gloss
be fitting
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀνήκω (i.e., *anēkō*) is built from the roots meaning 'to come up to' and 'to arrive at.' It covers a range of meanings including 'to pertain to,' 'to be fit,' or 'to be proper,' often used in ethical contexts. In the New Testament, it appears in passages like Ephesians 5:4 and Colossians 3:18, where it conveys notions of what is suitable or becoming.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀν-ήκω

(ἀνά, ἥκω),

[in LXX: Jos 23:14 (בּוֹא), I Ki 27:8, Si. prol. 10, I, II Mac6*;]

prop., to have come up to; in later writers, impers. it is due, it is befitting: in ethical sense (MM, VGT, s.v.), Eph 5:4, Col 3:18; τὸ ἀνῆκον, Phm 8.†

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

ἀν-ήκω ; [impf. ἀνῆκεν); in Grk. writ. to have come up to, arrived at, to reach to, pertain to, foll. generally by εἴς τε; hence in later writ. ἀνήκει τί τινι something appertains to one, is due to him se. to be rendered or performed by others (1 Mace. x. 42; xi. 35; 2 Mace. xiv. 8), and then ethically τὸ ἀνῆκον what is due, duty, [R. V. befitting], Philem. 8; τὰ οὐκ ἀνήκοντα unbecoming, discreditable, Eph. v. 4 (LT Tr WH ἃ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν. W. 486 (452); [B. 350 (301) ]); impers. ὡς ἀνῆκε as was fitting, sc. ever since ye were converted to Christ, Col. iii. 18, [W. 270 (254); ef. B. 217 (187) and Bp. Lghtft. ad loc.].

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

ἀνήκω. The ethical meaning of this word “το be due” is by no means confined to the Biblical literature, as the following citations will show. OGJ/S 53217 (B.c. 3), the Paphlagonians’ oath of allegiance to Augustus, has the undertaking παν]τὶ τρόπωι ὑπὲρ τῶ[ν] ἐκείνοις ἀνηκόϊντων] (for the rights of Augustus and his heirs) πάντα κίνδυνον ὑπομενεῖν. Other examples of this use, which is found in 1 and 2 Maccabees, are given in the index. From the Magnesian inscriptions we may quote 53°° (end of iii/B.c.) οὐθενὸς ἀποστήσεται (sc. 6 δῆμος) τῶν ἀνηκόντων τῇ πόλει τῶν Μαγνήτων πρὸς τιμὴν ἢ χάριτος ἀπόδοσιν, where Thieme (p. 15) renders, “ was man der Stadt der Magneten zu erweisen schuldig ist.” Similarly from the papyri: P Fay 94 (iii/a.D.) has twice περὶ τῶν [τῇ ἐπιτροπείᾳ] ἀνηκόντων, as the editors restore it, ‘his duties in the period of guardianship, functions pertaining to it.” In P Tebt…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀνήκω (anēkō) — be fitting.

ἀνήκω,

to have come up to a point, reach up to, of persons and things, ἐς μέτρον τινὸς ἀ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; φρενῶν ἐς τὰ ἐμεωυτοῦ πρῶτα οὔκω ἀ. have not yet reached the highest point I aim at, [Refs]; ἀ. εἰς τὸ ὀξύ to rise to a point, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; τοῦτο μὲν ἐς οὐδὲν ἀ. amounts to nothing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μεῖζον ἀ. ἢ κατ᾽ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν the matter has gone too far.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]have gone as far as.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. ἀ. ἐς σὲ ἔχειν it has come to you to have, has become yours to have, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. ἀ. εἴς τι refer to or be connected with.., [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὰ εἰς ἀργυρίου λόγον ἀ. ἀδικήματα which involve a money consideration, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀνήκω

aneko

from 303 and 2240; to attain to, i.e. (figuratively) be

proper:--convenient, be fit.

see GREEK for 303

see GREEK for 2240

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀνήκω

v.

is due, becoming, suitable, proper

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀνήκω anēkō 3x

to come up to, to pertain to; ἀνήκει, impers. it is fit, proper, becoming, Col. 3:18; Eph. 5:4; Phlm. 8*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀνήκω to have come up to a point, reach up to, of persons, αἱμασιὴν ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν a wall reaching up to a man's middle, Hdt.; ἀν. ἐς τὰ μέγιστα to reach up to the highest point, id. Hdt.

of things, τοῦτο ἐς οὐδὲν ἀν. amounts to nothing, id. Hdt.; αἱ πολλαὶ [ζημίαι] ἐς τὸν θάνατον ἀν. have gone as far as death, Thuc.; ἀν. ἔς σε ἔχειν it has come to you to have, has become yours to have, Hdt.

to appertain, be fit or proper, NTest.; τὸ ἀνῆκον what is fit and proper, id. NTest.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%fit
fit33% · 1×fitting33% · 1×befitting33% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 3 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
ὅς
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
ἀνήρa male human bei
Article the
σύ
ἀνήκωwere fit
what comes after →
ἀλλάbut, except
μᾶλλονmore, rather
ἐν
κύριοςlord, Lord, mast

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

Concordanceἀνήκω · 3× in the New Testament
Colossians Ephesians Philemon
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 137c. AD 40

ἀλλὰ μήποτε ὁσίως πάνυ κἀκ περισκέψεως ἀκριβοῦς αὐτὰ εἰς τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ βωμὸν οὐκ ἀνῆκεν, ὅτι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν κατὰ ἀμερῆ χρόνων διαστήματα πολλὰς πρὸς ἑκάτερον τό τε εὖ καὶ χεῖρον τροπὰς λαμβάνον καὶ διαλλάττοντας ἀεὶ τύπους δέχεται τοτὲ μὲν καθαροῦ καὶ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 14.97c. AD 75–95

τὰ μέντοι τέκνα αὐτοῦ ἀνῆκεν ἡ σύγκλητος Γαβινίου γράψαντος τοῦθʼ ὑπεσχῆσθαι τῇ μητρὶ παραδούσῃ τὰ ἐρύματα.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD

μερίδων παρὰ Πασίωνος κωμογραμματέως Βουκόλου τοῦ καὶ Τριστόμου καὶ Σαμαρείας δηλῶ μηδὲν σεσημάσθαι μοι ἀνῆκον τῇ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου ἐπιτροπῇ τῶν ἀπὸ Παῦνι α ἕως Μεσορὴ Ἐπαγομένων ε μηνῶν

P.Wisc. 2 56OxyrhynchosAD 209

τὸ ιδ ἔτος θεοῦ Μάρκου κατʼ οἰκίαν ἀπογραφῇ ἐτῶν λη ἄσημον ἧς ἐπικρίσεως τὸ ἀνῆκον … μέρος ἐκλαβὼν ὑπέταξα καὶ ἐπιδίδωμι τὸ βιβλίδιον ἀξιῶν ἐνταγῆναι τοῖς εἴδεσι καὶ ὀμνύω

P.Oxy. 45 3263Apollonos Polis (Arsinoites)AD 215

Αὐρηλίου Ἑρ … … … ο κωμογραμματέως Ἀπόλλωνος πόλεως καὶ Ψιντεώ. δηλῶ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἀνῆκον σημῆναι ταῖς τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου καὶ ἀρχιερέως ἐπιτροπαῖς τοῦ Μεσορὴ μηνὸς τοῦ διεληλυθότος κγ

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
ἀλλὰalla but G235 Conjunction
638× 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
But is a strong opposing word, used in Matthew 5:15 and John 7:16. It shows contrast or surprise, like in the phrase 'but God' in Romans 3:31.
Tyndale gloss
but
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀλλά (alla) is an adversative particle, meaning 'but' or 'otherwise.' It is derived from the neuter plural of ἄλλος and is used to introduce opposition or contrast in sentences. In the New Testament, it often appears in contexts that involve negation or exceptions, such as in Matthew 5:15 and John 16:2. The lexicons note its stronger adversative force compared to δέ.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀλλά (ἀλλ’ usually bef. α and υ, often bef. ε and η, rarely bef. ο and ω, never bef. ι; Tdf., Pr., 93 f.; WH, App., 146),

adversative particle,

stronger than δέ; prop. neuter pl. of ἄλλος, used adverbially, with changed accent; hence prop. otherwise, on the other hand (cf. Ro 3:31);

opposing a previous negation, but: οὐ (μὴ) . . . ἀ., Mt 5:15, 17 Mk 5:39, Jo 7:16, al.; rhetorically subordinating but not entirely negativing what precedes, οὐ . . . ἀ., not so much . . . as, Mk 9:37, Mt 10:20, Jo 12:44, al.; with ellipse of the negation, Mt 11:7-9

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

ἀλλά, an adversative particle, derived from ἄλλα, neut. of the adj. ἄλλος, which was originally pronounced ἀλλός (cf. Klotz ad Dévar. ii. p. 1 sq.), hence properly, other things se. than those just mentioned. It differs from δέ, as the Lat. at and sed from autem, [ef. W. 441 sq. (411)]. 1. But. So related to the preceding words that it serves to introduce 1. an opposition to concessions; nevertheless, notwithstanding: Mt. xxiv. 6; Mk. xiii. 20; xiv. 28; Jn. xvi. 7, 20; Acts iv. 17; vii. 48; Ro. v. 14 sq.; x. 16; 1 Co. iv. 4; 2 Co. vii. 6; Phil. ii. 27 (ἀλλ᾽ ὁ θεός etc.), ete. 2. an objection: Jn. vii. 27; Ro. x. 18 sq.; 1 Co. xv. 35; Jas. ii. 18. 3. an exception: Lk. xxii. 53; Ro. iv. 2; 1 Co. viii. 7; xe 29: 4. a restriction: Jn. xi. 42; Gal. iv. 8; Mk. xiv. 36. 5. an ascensive transition or gradation, nay rather, yea moreover: Jn. xvi. 2; 2 Co. i. 9; esp. with καί added, Lk. xii. 7…

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

ἀλλά. The closeness οἱ ἀλλά to πλήν appears in more uses than one. Armitage Robinson, Zp/estans, p. 205, has a note on a quasi-resumpltive use of ἀλλά in Eph 524 which is closely paralleled by that of πλήν in ver. 33. Then there are instances of ἀλλά = ‘‘except.” ‘This is clear where we have ἀλλ᾽ ἤ (as in 2 Cor 13%): thus P Petr 11. 9 (3)® (B.c. 24139) ὥστε μηθένα εἶναι ἐνταῦθα ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ἡμᾶς, ‘ There is no one left here except ourselves” (Ed.), 2d. 46 (α)" (B.C. 209) καὶ μὴ ὑποκεῖσθαι πρὸς ἄλλο μηδὲν add’ ἢ τὴν mpoyeypap[μέν]ην ἐγγύην, “has not been pledged for any other purpose than the aforesaid security” (1α.), P Lond 89738 (a.p. 84) (=TIII. p. 207) ὃ μέντοιγε οὐ θέλων. ἀλλὰ ἢ ἀνάγκηι. In P Tebt I. το 419 (B.c. 92) μὴ ἐξέστω Φιλίσκωι γυναῖκα ἄλλην. μ γυ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀλλά (alla) — but.

ἀλλά,

conjunction, originally neuter plural of ἄλλος, otheruise: used adversatively to limit or oppose words, sentences, or clauses, stronger than δέ:

I. in simple oppositions, but,

I.1. after negative clauses, οὐ κακός, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθός[Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.1. b after a simple negative, ἦ παραφρονεῖ; οὔκ, ἀλλ᾽ ὕπνος μ᾽ ἔχει[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.1. c frequently after οὐ μόνον, μὴ μόνον, with or without καί, οὐ μόνον ἅπαξ, ἀ. πολλάκις[Refs 5th c.BC+], either, not only.. but.., μὴ ὅτι ἰδιώτην τινά, ἀλλὰ τὸν μέγαν βασιλέα[Refs 5th c.BC+]; or, not only not.. but.., οὐχ ὅπως κωλυταὶ.. γενήσεσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ.. περιόψεσθε[Refs 5th c.BC+]; the negative form is ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέ, μὴ ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἄλλου, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ δίκην εἴρηκα[Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀλλά

alla

neuter plural of 243; properly, other things, i.e. (adverbially)

contrariwise (in many relations):--and, but (even), howbeit, indeed,

nay, nevertheless, no, notwithstanding, save, therefore, yea, yet.

see GREEK for 243

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀλλά

Cj.

but, except

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀλλά alla 638x

but; however; but still more; ἀλλάγε, at all events; ἀλλή, unless, except. Ἀλλά also serves to introduce a sentence with keenness and emphasis, Jn. 16:2; Rom. 6:5; 7:7; Phil. 3:8

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀλλά Conjunct., properly neut. pl. of ἄλλος (with changed accent) otherwise, but, stronger than δέ:

to oppose single clauses, but, Lat. autem, the preceding clause being negat., οὐ μόνον ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις Plat.; so, οὐχ (or μὴ) ὅτι, οὐχ (or μὴ) ὅπως, are followed by ἀλλά or ἀλλά καὶ . . . , not only . . . , but . . .

after a negative ἀλλά sometimes = ἀλλ᾽ ἤ, except, but, ἔπαισεν οὔτις ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώ Soph.

to oppose whole sentences, but, yet, Lat. at:— used by Hom., with imperat. or subj., to remonstrate, encourage, persuade, like Lat. tandem, ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι, ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε, ἀλλὰ ἴωμεν, Hom.

joined with other Particles, ἀλλ᾽ ἄρα, or, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν, but then, however, Hdt., etc.

ἀλλὰ γάρ, Lat. enimvero, but really, certainly, attic

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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
92%but
but92% · 591×instead2% · 15×other renderings4% · 25×other renderings2% · 12×

643 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 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
adverbial10%object6%predicate3%subject2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 638 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
οἶδαI know, rememberκατεργάζομαιI work out, prodἐπιγινώσκωI come to know,
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγράφωI writeἐν
ἐγώ
ἀπόκρατέωI lay hold of, oθέλημαwill, wish, desi
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegοὐδείςno one, none, noΜωϋσῆςMoses
θεόςGod, a god
Article theἄνομοςlawless, sinful,
ἀλλάbut638×
what comes after →
Article the
Article theπέμπωI sendθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ἐν
οὐNeg
πᾶςall, the whole, ἐνδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐν
πᾶςall, the whole, Article theδύναμιςmight, power, ma
ἵναin order that, so th
φανερόωI make clear, viπληρόωI fill, fulfill,σῴζωI save, heal

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

Concordanceἀλλά · 638× in the New Testament
John 1 Corinthians Romans 2 Corinthians Mark Matthew Luke Acts Galatians 1 Peter Hebrews Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 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 1.1c. AD 75–95

Τοῖς τὰς ἱστορίας συγγράφειν βουλομένοις οὐ μίαν οὐδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁρῶ τῆς σπουδῆς γινομένην αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς καὶ πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων διαφερούσας.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.8c. AD 100

ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ὡς διδάσκαλος, ἀλλ̓ ὧς εἰς ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑποδείξω ὀλίγα, δἰ ὧν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν εὐφρανθήσεσθε.

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
P. Grenf. 1 21Pathyris127 BC

ἐπὶ Διονυσίου ἀγορανόμου ἐν τῶι ϛ ἔτους ἐπὶ τοῦ Φιλομήτορος, ἣ διασαφεῖ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ

P.Grenf. 1 44Pathyris127 BC

ἐπὶ Διονυσίου ἀγορανόμου ἐν τῶι ϛ ἔτει ἐπὶ τοῦ Φιλομήτορος ἣ διασαφεῖ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

νῦν οὐδενός … ς ἀξιοῦμεν … ἀνθρώπου ἀλόγως … ὀφείλει ἡμῖν διάφορα … θαι ἀλλʼ ἀποστερέσαι … ησας ἀλλά … τας κατὰ κοινόν … ἐπίσκεψιν ποιησάσθαι. … τούτων γὰρ

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
μᾶλλονmallon rather G3123 Adverb
81× 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
The Greek word for more or rather, used to show a greater degree of something, as seen in Mark 10:48 and Romans 5:15. It means a higher amount or extent. Used in comparisons to show increase.
Tyndale gloss
more
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μᾶλλον is an adverb meaning 'more' or 'rather,' derived from μάλα. It indicates an increase in degree or preference, often used in comparisons. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as Mark 10:48 and Philippians 1:23. Notably, it can also function as a periphrasis for comparatives.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μάλα,

adv.,

[in LXX for אֲבָל, III Ki 1:43, Da LXX 10:21, al.; compar. for מ, Nu 13:32 (31), al.; μᾶλλον ἠ (מ), Ge 19:9, al.; superlat., II Mac 8:7, IV Mac 4:22 12:9 15:4;]

Pos., very, very much, exceedingly (cl.; LXX ut supr.; in NT its place is taken by λίαν, σφόδρα, etc.).

Compar., μᾶλλον.

Of increase, more; with qualifying words: πολλῷ, Mk 10:48, Lk 18:39, Ro 5:15, 17, Phl 2:12, al.; πόσῳ, Lk 12:24, Ro 11:12, al.; τοσούτῳ . . . ὅσῳ,

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

μᾶλλον (compar. of μάλα, very, very much), [fr. Hom. down], adv., more, to a greater degree; rather; ab added to verbs and adjectives, it denotes increase, a greater quantity, a larger measure, a higher degree, more, more fully, (Germ. in héherem Grade, Maasse); ἃ. words defining the measure or size are joined to it in the ablative (dat.): πολλῷ much, by far, Mk. x. 48; Lk. xviii. 39; Ro. v. 15, 17, (in both these verses the underlying thought is, the measure of salvation for which we are indebted to Christ is far greater than that of the ruin which came from Adam; for the difference between the consequences traceable to Adam and to Christ is not only one of quality, but of quantity also; cf. Riickert, Com. on Rom. vol. i. 281 sq. [4]. (fr. Chrys. to Meyer and Godet) content themselves here with a logical increase, far more certainly]); 2 Co. 111. 9,11; Phil. ii. 12; πόσῳ how much, Lk.…

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

μᾶλλον. P Oxy II. 47457 (a.p. 184?) ἀβουλίᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ πειθοῖ τῶν παρηγγελμένων, ‘in defiance of rather than in obedience tions, p. 128) ὡς ἐν ἄλ]λοις πλείστοις νῦν ἔτι μᾶλλον (cf. Phil 15), ‘‘as on many other occasions so now still

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μᾶλλον (mallon) — more.

Included with: μάλα [μᾰλᾰ;

but [Refs 8th c.BC+] sometimes uses the ultima long before λ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; before μ, [Refs] adverb very, exceedingly, prefixed or subjoined to Adjectives, Verbs, and Adverbs:

1. strengthening the word with which it stands,

1. a with adjectives, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] very many, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; μ. πᾶσα, μ. πάντα, every one, all together, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; μάλ᾽ ἀσκηθής all unhurt, [Refs]; ἀβληχρὸς μ. τοῖος quite gentle, [Refs]; σαρδάνιον μ. τοῖον a quite sardonic smile,[Refs]; ἐμέο πρότερος μ. actually before me, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later, μ. φιλόσοφοι, πλάτανος μάλ᾽ ἀμφιλαφής, etc., [Refs 5th c.BC+] very old, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μᾶλλον

mallon

neuter of the comparative of the same as 3122; (adverbially) more (in

a greater degree)) or rather:--+ better, X far, (the) more (and more),

(so) much (the more), rather.

see GREEK for 3122

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μᾶλλον

Adv

more, rather

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μᾶλλον mallon 81x

more, to a greater extent, in a higher degree, Mt. 18:13; 27:24; Jn. 5:18; 1 Cor. 14:18; rather, in preference, Mt. 10:6; Eph. 4:28; used in a periphrasis for the comparative, Acts 20:35; as an intensive with a comparative term, Mt. 6:26; Mk. 7:36; 2 Cor. 7:13; Phil. 1:23; μᾶλλον δέ, yea rather, or, more properly speaking, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μᾶλλον comp. of μάλα; v. μάλα II.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
48%more
more48% · 40×rather41% · 34×other renderings11% · 9×

83 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
adverbial100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 81 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
πολύςmuch, many, often
οὐNegδέbut, on the otheδόξαhonor, renown, g
πόσος
σύἐπικαλέωI call by an addαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
πορεύομαιI travel, journeφοβέωI fear, am terriδιέρχομαιI pass through,
αὐτός
ἐπίδιαστέλλωI give a commissεἰμίI am, exist
ἀλλάbut, except
ὠφελέωI help, benefit,ἀνήκωis due, becomingεἰμίI am, exist
μᾶλλονrather81×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, οἰκιακόςone of a familyδύναμαιI am powerful, a
δέbut, on the other ha
ἵναin order that, sπροστίθημιI put to, add, dἐγείρωI wake, arouse,
Disj
Article theἐπίἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
σύ
ὀλιγόπιστοςof little faithδιαφέρωI carry through,χαρίζομαιI show favor to,
πρός
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

Concordanceμᾶλλον · 81× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew 2 Corinthians Romans Acts Hebrews Philippians Luke Mark John Ephesians 1 Thessalonians
Across the New Testament17 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 18 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.44c. AD 75–95

φύλλοις οὖν ἑαυτοὺς συκῆς ἐσκέπασαν καὶ ταῦτα πρὸ τῆς αἰδοῦς προβαλόμενοι μᾶλλον ἐδόκουν εὐδαιμονεῖν ὡς ὧν πρότερον ἐσπάνιζον εὑρόντες.

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 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Oxy. 74 5019OxyrhynchosAD 101–AD 125

εἰ οἶδας ὅτι συμφέρει μᾶλλον ἀγοράσαι παιδίσκην καὶ οὐ συμφέρει οὕτως χρήσασθαι, τοῦτό μοι δός.

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

τότε καὶ ἐπιλαθόμενοι οἷοι ἦσαν παρʼ ἐμοὶ τότε καὶ νῦν οἷοί εἰσιν, ἐπεμβαίνουσί μοι μᾶλλον, ὡς καὶ ὁ ἰσχαρὸς ἱέραξ τότε ἐποίησεν πάλιν σὺν αὐτῷ. ὡς νῦν οὖν Δημήτριος

P.Phil. 10Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 139

καὶ οὗτοι ἕνεκα τῆς χρείας ἀφῃρέθησαν ἀφʼ ἡμῶν καὶ εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἐπορεύθησαν καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ὀλιγώτεροι ἐγενόμεθα, ἀναγκαίως ἐπὶ σὲ κατεφύγομεν καὶ ἀξιοῦμεν, ἐάν σοι δόξῃ ἐπιτρέψαι ἐαθῆναι ἡμᾶς

and filthiness and foolish talking or crude joking which not were fit but rather thanksgiving.
εὐχαριστία.eucharistia thanksgiving. G2169 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
15× 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 thankfulness or gratitude, and is often used to describe worshiping God through thankful language. It appears in the New Testament, such as in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. It is about being grateful to God.
Amplified meaning
giving of thanks, grateful praise
Tyndale gloss
thankfulness
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

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

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

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** εὐχαριστία, -ας, ἡ

(< εὐχάριστος),

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐχαριστία (eucharistia) — thankfulness.

εὐχᾰριστ-ία, ἡ,

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

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

Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐχαριστία

eucharistia

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

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

see GREEK for 2170

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐχαριστία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

thankfulness, gratitude

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐχαριστία eucharistia 15x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

a giving of thanks.

from εὐχάριστος

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-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

→ See PRAISE

→ See THANKFULNESS

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Christ set an example of

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

- The heavenly host engaged in

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

- Commanded

Ps 50:14; Php 4:6

- Is a good thing

Ps 92:1

- SHOULD BE OFFERED

. To God

Ps 50:14

. To Christ

1Ti 1:12

. Through Christ

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

. In the name of Christ

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

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 15 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
μετά
δέησιςsupplication, prμετάλημψιςparticipation, sἀπόβλητοςworthy to be cas
Article the
πολύςmuch, many, ofteκαίand, even, also,
ἐν
περισσεύωI exceed, am lefαὐτός
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
μετά
σός
Article the
εὐχαριστίαthanksgiving.15×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godαἴτημαa petition, requπιστόςtrustworthy, fai
ἐπειδήwhen, since
τίςIrg
περισσεύωI exceed, am left ov
εἰς
δύναμαιI am powerful, am ab
Article the
ὑπέρ
πᾶςall, the whole,

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.156c. AD 75–95

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

The DidacheThe Didache 9.1c. AD 100

Περὶ δὲ τῆς εὐχαριστίας, οὕτως εὐχαριστήσατε:

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

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

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

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

P.Sijp. 60 aOxyrhynchitesAD 326–AD 375

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

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

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