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John 18:40 — Word Study

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N1904ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν πάντες λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

BSAThey cried outkraugazō [cried out, gave a loud cry] thenoun againpalin allpas saying;legō Not [certainly not, by no means] this oneohutos butalla [instead, on the other hand] <the>ho Barabbas!Barabbas [a rebel, an insurrectionist] Waseimi [existed as, was known to be] nowde [at that time, then] <the>ho BarabbasBarabbas [the robber, a lawless man] an insurrectionist.lēstēs [a, one, a revolutionary, one who rises up against authority]

Word
Listen & take awayJohn 18
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 40 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 (lēstēs) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
John 18:40quick helps
In a sentenceThe crowd demands the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus, highlighting their choice of a known insurrectionist.
Who is speakingThe crowd is shouting their preference for Barabbas over Jesus.
Where we areThis moment occurs during Jesus' trial before Pilate, where the crowd is given a choice.
The hard wordλῃστής
Take awayThe choice made by the crowd reflects their rejection of Jesus.
7 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectπᾶς verbκραυγάζω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — John 18:40

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 — The Choice of Barabbasgenerated

37“Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”
38“What is truth?” Pilate asked. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.
39But it is your custom that I release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So then, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
40“Not this man,” they shouted, “but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.)

John 18:40 depicts a pivotal moment during the trial of Jesus when the crowd is given the option to choose between Him and Barabbas, a notorious insurrectionist. This choice illustrates the rejection of Jesus by the very people He came to save. The context of this passage is crucial as it highlights the intense emotions and political pressures surrounding Jesus' trial, as seen in the preceding verses where Pilate seeks to release Jesus but is met with resistance from the crowd.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Matthew 27:16–26At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.
2Mark 15:7–15And a man named Barabbas was imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection.
3Luke 23:18–19But they all cried out in unison: “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
4Acts 3:13–14The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to

Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.Matthew 27:16–26 Mark 15:7–15 Luke 23:18–19 Acts 3:13–14

The Key Word λῃστής, lēstēsgenerated

The word λῃστής (lēstēs) refers to a robber or rebel, someone who takes by force. It emphasizes the violent nature of Barabbas, contrasting sharply with the innocence of Jesus.

In this context, Barabbas is described as an insurrectionist, which indicates he was involved in rebellion against authority. The choice of Barabbas over Jesus highlights the crowd's preference for a revolutionary figure over the peaceful Messiah.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In comparing translations, the Berean Standard Bible uses the term insurrectionist to describe Barabbas, while the KJV and ASV refer to him as a robber.

The translations diverge on the description of Barabbas: insurrectionist (BSB, MSB) versus robber (KJV, ASV, WEB), reflecting different interpretations of his actions.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main clause is governed by the verb ἐκραύγασαν, they cried out, with several phrases attached: an adverbial phrase indicating repetition, a participial phrase describing what they were saying, and a noun phrase identifying the object of their shout.

The structure emphasizes the crowd's unified voice in their choice, with the finite verb at the center and the participial phrase λέγοντες, saying, detailing their demand.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The word λῃστής does not appear in the Septuagint, but its Hebrew equivalent can be found in contexts referring to robbers or rebels. This connection enriches the understanding of Barabbas as a lawless figure.

The absence of a direct LXX equivalent suggests that the term was specific to the New Testament context, highlighting the unique situation of Jesus' trial.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

John 18:40 shows the crowd shouting for Barabbas, a known insurrectionist, instead of Jesus. This moment highlights their choice and rejection of Jesus during His trial.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

Who was Barabbas?

Barabbas was a prisoner known for his insurrection against the Roman authorities, released instead of Jesus during the Passover.

What does the crowd's choice signify?

The crowd's choice to release Barabbas instead of Jesus signifies their rejection of Jesus and preference for a revolutionary figure.

How does this event relate to the concept of justice?

This event raises questions about justice, as the innocent Jesus is condemned while a known criminal is set free.

What can we learn from this choice?

This choice reflects the human tendency to choose rebellion over righteousness, prompting reflection on our own choices.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What does the choice of Barabbas reveal about human nature in times of crisis?
  2. How can I discern between choices that align with God's will and those that lead away from it?
  3. In what ways do I see parallels between Barabbas' rebellion and the struggles in my own life?
  4. How can I better understand and appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus in light of this event?

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

Early church Fathers have commented on the significance of Barabbas in relation to Jesus, highlighting themes of choice and rebellion.

Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON Matthew 121 c. 185–253
There is a likeness between the names of Barabbas and Jesus that is nothing short of a true mystery. Barabbas is appointed for making sedition and wars and murders in the souls of people,
Early Church Fathers on John 18 →
Origen of AlexandriaAGAINST CELSUS 2.44 c. 185–253
Celsus’s comparison of Christ to a robber or murderer … is anticipated in the Gospels since God was numbered with the transgressors by wicked people who wanted a murderer (one who had been cast into prison for sedition and murder) to be…
Early Church Fathers on John 18 →
John ChrysostomLETTERS TO OLYMPIAS, TO MY LADY 4 c. 347–407
How many were offended … when they made that dreadful and monstrous assertion that the robber and housebreaker, the man laden with the crime of murder, deserved to be released rather than Jesus.
Early Church Fathers on John 18 →

Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on John 18:40 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Then cried they all again,.... For it seems that Pilate had made this proposal once before, and that this was the second time, though not mentioned; yet some copies, and the Syriac, Arabic, Persic,

Read John Gill on John 18 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

Read Robert Jamieson on John 18 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

But such was the malice of his adversaries, that though Barabbas was one that had committed murder in an insurrection, yet they choose him rather than Christ. See Poole on "", and following verses to .

Read Matthew Poole on John 18 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Ver. 40. Now Barabbas was a robber] And a murderer too, Acts 3:14, yet preferred before Christ, who was also crucified in the midst of two thieves, as the worst of the three. Thus he was peccatorum maximus, greatest of sinners, both by imputation, for he bore our sins, which were all made to meet upon him, Isaiah 53:6, and by reputation, for he was "numbered with the transgressors," Isaiah 53:12, and made "his grave with the wicked," Isaiah 53:9.

Read John Trapp on John 18 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(40) Then cried they all again.—St. John has not recorded any clamour before, but implies that of Mar 15:8, and Luke 23:5-10. Now Barabbas was a robber.—Comp. Note on John 10:1. The word includes the meaning of unrestrained violence, which often leads to bloodshed (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19), and is thus used in a striking parallel in Sophocles:— “And him, so rumour runs, a robber band Of aliens slew.”— (Œdipus Rex., 724. Plumptre’s Translation.) There is a solemn emphasis given to the context by the abrupt brevity of the sentence. (Comp. John 11:35; John 13:30; see also Acts 3:14.)

Read Charles John Ellicott on John 18 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 40. Barabbas was a robber] See Matthew 27:16. The later Syriac has in the margin, αρχιληστης, a chief robber, a captain of banditti, and it is probable that this was the case. He was not only a person who lived by plunder, but shed the blood of many of those whom he and his gang robbed, and rose up against the Roman government, as we learn from Lu 23:19. There never existed a more perfidious, cruel, and murderous people than these Jews; and no wonder they preferred a murderer to the Prince of peace. Christ himself had said, If ye were of the world, the world would love its own. Like cleaves to like: hence we need not be surprised to find the vilest things still preferred to Christ…

Read AdamClarke on John 18 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

40. Then cried they all again] Better, They cried out therefore (John 18:3) again all of them. S. John has not mentioned any previous shout of the multitude; he once more assumes that his readers know the chief facts. See on John 19:6.Barabbas] Or, Bar-Abbas, son of Abba (father). The innocent Son of the Father is rejected for the blood-stained son of a father. In Matthew 27:16-17 some inferior authorities read ‘Jesus Barabbas’ as his name, and Pilate asks ‘Which do ye wish that I release to you, Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus Who is called Christ?’ The reading is remarkable, but it is supported by no good MS.Now Barabbas was a robber] There is a tragic impressiveness in this brief remark. Comp.…

Read Cambridge on John 18 →

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

“Not this man,” they shouted, “but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.)

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Then they all shouted again, saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

“Not this man,” they all shouted, “but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.)

NETBNew English Translation2006

Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. )

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

They cried out therefore again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

RVARevised Version, American1894

They cried out therefore again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Then they all cried again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Then cried they all againe, saying, Not him, but Barabbas: nowe this Barabbas was a murtherer.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

They cried therefore again all, saying, Not this [man], but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

therefore they all cried out again, saying, 'Not this one — but Barabbas;' and Barabbas was a robber.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Therefore they all cried out again, saying, “Not this One—but Barabbas”; and Barabbas was a robber.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Then they cried out again and said, “Not this man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Then cried they all again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

“No, not him! We want Barabbas instead!” they shouted back. Barabbas was a rebel.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Then again they gave a loud cry, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was an outlaw.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἐκραύγασανkraugazō They cried out G2905 3 different renderings
they cried outASV RVA ULB
cried outLSV YLT
gave a loud cryBBE
Βαραββᾶν·Barabbas Barabbas! G912 2 different renderings
barabbasASV BBE DBY DRA FBV GNV KJV LSV NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
an insurrectionistBSB MSB
λῃστής.¶lēstēs an insurrectionist. G3027 3 different renderings
robberASV DBY DRA KJV LSV NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
insurrectionistBSB MSB
a revolutionaryNETB

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.

clauseοὖνthenclauseverbἐκραύγασανThey cried outadverbialπάλινagainclause · adverbialclauseverbλέγοντεςsayingclauseΜὴNotclauseobjectτοῦτονthis oneἀλλὰbutclausenoun phrase · objectτὸν-ΒαραββᾶνBarabbasclauseδὲnowclauselinking verbἦνWasnoun phrase · subject-ΒαραββᾶςBarabbaspredicateλῃστήςan insurrectionist

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

Clamaverunt ergo rursum omnes, dicentes : Non hunc, sed Barabbam. Erat autem Barabbas latro.

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

ܘܩܥܘ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܘܐܡܪܝܢ ܠܐ ܠܗܢܐ ܐܠܐ ܠܒܪ-ܐܒܐ ܐܝܬܘܗܝ ܗܘܐ ܕܝܢ ܗܢܐ ܒܪ-ܐܒܐ ܓܝܣܐ

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

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν πάντες λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν πάντες λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἐκραύγασαν οὖν πάλιν πάντες λέγοντες· μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν· ἦν δὲ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.¶

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
πάντες allTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn

Apparatus — SBL Greek New Testament, CC BY 4.0


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.

John 18:40κραυγάζωThey cried They cried outκραυγάζωοὖνthenthenοὖνπάλινagainagainπάλινπᾶςallallπᾶςλέγωsaying;saying;λέγωμήNotNotμήοὗτοςthis onethis oneοὗτοςἀλλάbutbutἀλλά<the><the>ΒαραββᾶςBarabbas!Barabbas!ΒαραββᾶςεἰμίWasWasεἰμίδέnownowδέ<the><the>ΒαραββᾶςBarabbasBarabbasΒαραββᾶςλῃστήςan insurrecan insurrectionλῃστήςκραυγήn.f. a shon.f. a shout, cκραυγήπάληn.f. a wren.f. a wrestlinπάληφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐἄλλοςAdj other,Adj other, anotἄλλοςἀπολύωv. I releav. I release, lἀπολύωἸησοῦςn.m. Jesusn.m. JesusἸησοῦςσταυρόωv. I cruciv. I crucifyσταυρόωοὐδέNeg.cj. neNeg.cj. neitherοὐδέἄραDisj.prt. Disj.prt. then,ἄραμένDisj.prt. Disj.prt. trulyμένδεύτεροςAdj & Adv.Adj & Adv. secoδεύτεροςμικρόςAdj littleAdj little, smaμικρόςὑποτάσσωv. I placev. I place undeὑποτάσσωκατοικέωv. I dwellv. I dwell in, κατοικέωἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνδιδάσκαλοςn.m. a tean.m. a teacherδιδάσκαλοςπότεIrg.prt. wIrg.prt. when, πότε
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 John 18:40

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.

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
ἐκραύγασανkraugazō They cried out G2905 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
9× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To shout or cry out loudly, as in Matthew 12:19 and John 12:13. This word is used to describe a strong emotional outburst, whether of joy or urgency.
Amplified meaning
cried out, gave a loud cry
Tyndale gloss
to shout
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κραυγάζω (kraugazō) means to cry out or shout, often used for both animals and humans. It is derived from the related word κράζω and appears in several New Testament verses, including Matthew 12:19 and Acts 22:23. The entries consistently describe its usage in the context of loud vocal expressions.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κραυγάζω (< κραυγή),

[in LXX: II Es 3:13 (רוּעַ hi.)*;] = κράζω,

of animals, to bay, to croak, etc.

Of men, to cry out, shout: Mt 12:19, Jo 12:13 19:15, Ac 22:23; seq. λέγων, Jo 18:40 19:6, 12; καὶ λέγων, Lk 4:41 (WH, κράζ -); φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, Jo 11:43 (cf. Abbott, JV, 269 f.).†

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κραυγάζω (kraugazō) — to shout.

κραυγ-άζω,

={κράζω}, of dogs, bay, [Refs]; of ravens, croak, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of men, cry aloud, shout, [NT+4th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

κραυγάζω

kraugazo

from 2906; to clamor:--cry out.

see GREEK for 2906

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κραυγάζω

v.

I cry aloud, shout

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κραυγάζω kraugazō 9x

to cry out, exclaim, shout, Mt. 12:19; Acts 22:23

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κραυγάζω κραυγάζω, φυτ. -σω κραυγή to bay, of dogs, Poeta ap. Plat.; of men, to cry aloud, scream, Dem., NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAI-3P — Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
aorist active indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%they cried out
they cried out33% · 3×while shouting out11% · 1×will he cry out11% · 1×shouting out11% · 1×he cried out11% · 1×shouting11% · 1×cried out11% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐδέNeg
ἐρίζωI contend, dispu
πολύςmuch, many, often
ἀπό
μέγας
φωνήa sound, noise,
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτός
ὑπηρέτηςa servant, an attend
Article the
κραυγάζωThey cried out
what comes after →
οὖνtherefore, then
πάλινagain, further, ἐκεῖνος
λέγωI say, speak
σταυρόωI crucifyἐάνCond
οὐδέNeg
ἀκούωI hear, listen
καίand, even, also, nam
λέγωI say, speak
ΛάζαροςLazarus, Eliezer
δεῦρο

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

Concordanceκραυγάζω · 9× in the New Testament
John Acts Luke Matthew
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
οὖνoun then G3767 Conjunction
496× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means therefore or then, showing a consequence. It appears in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9 to connect ideas and events.
Tyndale gloss
therefore/then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὖν (oun) is a particle used to express consequence, sequence, or to resume a narrative. It translates to 'therefore,' 'then,' or 'accordingly,' and appears frequently in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9. It can also serve in exhortations and questions, indicating what follows logically from previous statements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὖν,

particle expressing consequence or simple sequence (never standing first in a sentence),

wherefore, therefore, then: Mt 3:10, Lk 3:9, Jo 8:38, Ac 1:21, Ro 5:9, al.; in exhortations, Mt 3:8, Lk 11:35, Ac 3:19, Ro 6:12, al.; in questions, Mt 13:28, Mk 15:12, Jo 8:[5], Ro 6:1, al.; continuing a…

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

οὖν ἃ conj. indicating that something follows from another necessarily; [al. regard the primary force of the particle as confirmatory or continuative, rather than illative; cf. Passow, or L.andS.s. v.; Kiihner § 508, 1 ii. p- 707 sqq.; Biiumlein p. 173 sqq.; Kriiger § 69, 52; Donaldson p. 571; Rost in a program “ Ueber Ableitung ” u.s.w. p.2; Klotz p. 717; Hartung ii. 4]. Hence it is used in drawing a conclusion and in connecting sentences together logically, then, therefore, accordingly, consequently, these things being so, [ (Klotz, Rost, al., have wished to derive the word fr. the neut. ptep. ὄν (cf. ὄντως) ; but see Baumlein or Kiihner u.s.); ef. W. § 53, 8]: Mt. iii. 10; x. 32 (since persecutions are not to be dreaded, and consequently furnish no excuse for denying me [οἵ. W. 455 (424)]); Mt. xviii. 4; Lk. iii.9; xvi. 27; In. viii. 38 (καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν, and ye accordingly, i. e.…

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

οὖν. This common particle, which occurs in the NT nearly 500 times, is used in our sources in a variety of connexions, the exact shade of meaning being determined by the context. (1) For the causal meaning ‘‘therefore” we may cite BGU II. 423" (ii/aA.p.) (= Sevectzons, p. 91) Kal καλῶς pol ἐστιν. ἐρωτῶ ce οὖν, κύριέ pou πατήρ, γράψον μοι ἐπιστόλιον πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας σου... , “it is well with me. I beg you, therefore, my lord father, write me a letter, first regarding your health ... ,” and P Oxy XIV. 16651 (iii/A.D.), where a son in urgent need of oil writes to his father—dvayxalws οὖν, ἐὰν ἔτι παρὰ σεαυτῷ χρ[ἴ]ον ἔχῃς, δήλωσον ἢ τῷ vie σου ἢ ᾧ ἐὰν σὺ βούλῃ τούτους μοι ἐν τάχει παρα[σ]χεῖν, ‘perforce, therefore, if you have still with you any unguent, instruct your son or any one else you wish to supply me with them speedily ” (Edd.). (2) Οὖν is very common in a looser…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὖν (oun) — therefore/then.

οὖν,

Ionic dialect and Doric dialect ὦν (the latter in [Refs 8th c.BC+], adverb certainly, in fact, confirming something, frequently in contrast with something which is not confirmed, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] only in combination with γε (see. γοῦν), γάρ, οὔτε or μήτε, ὡς, ἐπεί, μέν, etc.:

1. really, φημὶ γὰρ οὖν κατανεῦσαι.. Κρονίωνα for I declare that Zeus did really promise.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τόφρα γὰρ οὖν ἑπόμεσθα.., ὄφρ᾽ for we followed them up to the very point, where.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Θηβαῖοι μὲν ταῦτα λέγουσι.., Πλαταιῆς δ᾽ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι.., ἐκ δ᾽ οὖν τῆς γῆς ἀνεχώρησαν at all events they did return, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so δ᾽ οὖν after a parenthesis; εἰ δή τις ὑμῶν οὕτως ἔχει,—οὐκ ἀξιῶ μὲν γὰρ ἔγωγε,—εἰ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὖν

oun

apparently a primary word; (adverbially) certainly, or

(conjunctionally) accordingly:--and (so, truly), but, now (then), so

(likewise then), then, therefore, verily, wherefore.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὖν

Cj.

therefore, then

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὖν oun 499x

then, now then, Mt. 13:18; Jn. 19:29; then, thereupon, Lk. 15:28; Jn. 6:14; therefore, consequently, Mt. 5:48: Mk. 10:9; it also serves to mark the resumption of discourse after an interruption by a parenthesis, 1 Cor. 8:4. Sometimes it is not translated.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὖν really, at all events, used like γοῦν to dismiss a perplexing subject, οὔτ᾽ οὖν ἀγγελίῃς ἔτι πείθομαι, οὔτε θεοπροπίης ἐμπάζομαι Od.; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, Hdt.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν, εἴτε μὴ γενήσεται whether it shall be really so, or no, Eur.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν ἀληθὲς εἴτ᾽ οὖν ψεῦδος Plat.; εἰ δ᾽ ἔστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἔστι, θεός if he is, as he surely is, a god, id. Plat.

added to indef. Pronouns and Advs., like Lat. cunque, ὅστις whoever, ὁστισοῦν whosoever; ὅπως how, ὁπωσοῦν howsoever; ἄλλος ὁστισοὖν another, be he who he may; so, ὁποιοσοῦν, ὁποσοσοῦν, ὁπωσοῦν, ὁποθενοῦν…

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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
79%therefore
therefore79% · 428×then19% · 104×other renderings1% · 7×

539 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 5 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 496 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
διακονέωI wait at table,ἔχωI have, hold, poΣατανᾶςan adversary, Sa
μένDisj
Article theεἰCondπολύςmuch, many, ofte
τίςIrg
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakδιά
Article the
ἸακώβPropὕδωρwater
σύ
καίand, even, also,δεῖit is necessary,ἐρωτάωI ask, question,
οὖνthen496×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusἸουδαῖοςJewishμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgἸησοῦςJesus
καίand, even, also, nam
νίπτωI washἕτεροςanother, differeὁράωI see, look upon
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύοὗτος
σύ
πονηρόςevil, bad, wickeτέλειοςperfect, full-grἨλίαςElijah

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

Concordanceοὖν · 496× in the New Testament
John Acts Matthew Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter Galatians Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 110 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

τὸ μὲν οὖν κάλλος τῶν νοημάτων τῆς κοσμοποιίας οὐδεὶς οὔτε ποιητὴς οὔτε λογογράφος ἀξίως ἂν ὑμνῆσαι δύναιτο·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.6c. AD 75–95

ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερον διενοήθην, ὅτε τὸν πόλεμον συνέγραφον, δηλῶσαι τίνες ὄντες ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τίσι χρησάμενοι τύχαις ὑφʼ οἵῳ τε παιδευθέντες νομοθέτῃ τὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἄσκησιν ἀρετῆς πόσους τε πολέμους ἐν μακροῖς…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 2 23Latopolites109 BC

χαίρειν. τοῦ παρʼ Ἑρμώνακτος τῶν ὁμοτίμων τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ὑποδιοικητοῦ χρηματισμοῦ ἀντίγραφον ὑπόκειται. κατακολουθήσας οὖν τοῖς διʼ αὐτοῦ σημαινομένοις χρημάτισον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Παθύρει τραπέζης, συνυπογράφοντος Φίβιος τοῦ…

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος βεα … ρων … δια … στρατιωτῶν

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς Θηβαίδος. ὅπως οὖν εἰδότες εὐθαρσεῖς ὑπάρχητε ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι. ἔρρωσθε ἔτους λ Φαῶφι ιθ

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
πάλινpalin again G3825 Adverb
141× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Again or once more is what this word means. It is used in many places in the Bible, like Matthew 4:8 and John 1:35, to indicate that something is happening again or that something should be done again.
Tyndale gloss
again
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πάλιν (*palin*) is an adverb meaning 'again' or 'back.' It encompasses both spatial and temporal contexts, indicating a return to a previous position or the repetition of an action. In the New Testament, it appears in various verses, such as Matthew 4:8 and John 1:35. The lexicons note its use for both literal and rhetorical purposes, but there is no significant disagreement among them.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πάλιν, adv.,

[in LXX for שׁוּב, etc.;]

of place, back, backwards (LS, s.v.).

Of time, again, once more: Mt 4:8, Mk 2:13, Lk 23:20, Jo 1:35 (and freq.), Ac 17:32, Ro 11:23, Ga 1:9, He 1:6, al; pleonastically, π. ἀνακάμπτειν, Ac 18:21; ὑποστρέφειν, Ga 1:17; εἰς τὸ π., II Co 13:2; π. ἐκ τρίτου (Bl., § 81, 4),

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

πάλιν, adv.,fr. Hom. down; 1. anew, again, [but the primary meaning seems to be back; cf. (among others) Ellendt, Lex. Soph. 8. v. ii. p. 485]; a. joined to verbs of all sorts, it denotes renewal or repetition of the action: Mt. ἵν. 8; xx.5; xxi. 36; xxii.1,4; Mk. ii. 13; iii. 20; Lk. xxiii. 20; Jn. i. 35; iv. 13 ; viii. 2, 8, 12, 21; ix. 15,17; x.19; Acts xvii. 32; xxvii. 28; Ro. xi. 23; 1 Co. vii. 5; 2Co. xi.16; Gal.i.9; 11.18; iv. 19; 2 Pet. ii. 20; Phil. ii. 28; iv.4; Heb.i. 6 (where πάλιν is tacitly opposed to the time when God first brought his Son into the world, i. e. to the time of Jesus’ former life on earth) ; Heb. v.12; vi.1,6; Jas. v.18; Rev. x. 8, 11; πάλιν μικρόν se. ἔσται, Jn. xvi. 16 sq. 19; εἰς τὸ πάλιν, again (cf. Germ. zum wiederholten Male; [see eis, A. II. 2 fin.]), 2 Co. xiii. 2; with verbs of going, coming, departing, returning, where again combines with the…

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

πάλιν, an adverbial acc. like δίκην, μάτην, χάριν, originally meaning ‘‘back,’’ return to a previous position, in later Greek came to be used rather in the sense of ‘‘ again,” repetition of a previous action. Exx. are P Tebt I. 58°? (B.C. 111) πάλιν προσεντέλλομαί σοι προσεδρεῦσαι, “1 again bid you be in attendance”’ (Edd.), P Fay 122! (¢. A.D. 100) ἕως ἀπολαβὼν τὸ λοιπὸν THs τιμ[ἢ]ς πάλιν σοι γράψω, “until I get the remainder of the price and write to you again” (Edd.), PSI IV. 299! (ili/A.D. εὔχομαι τ]ῷ θεῷ ἕως οὗ ἄν pe πάλιν πρὸς ὑμᾶς εὐοδώσῃ, “1 pray God until he again gives me a prosperous return to you,” P Oxy παλινγενεσία 4 XII. 1490° (late iii/a.p.) εἰ οὖν πάλιν δύνῃ ἐκπλέξαι παρὰ σεαυτῷ, τύχῃ τῇ ἀγαθῇ, “if then you can again get him off by yourself (Ὁ), good luck to you” (Edd.), and P Gen I. 532° (iv/A.D.) ἐγὼ πάλιν σὸς δοῦλος εἰμεὶ καὶ οὐκ ἀποστατίσωμαί (= ἡσομαί) σου ὡς…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πάλιν (palin) — again.

πάλῐν [ᾰ],

poetry also πάλι (q.see), adverb

1. of Place, back, backwards (the usual sense in early Epic dialect), mostly joined with Verbs of going, coming, etc.; π. χώρει [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἐλεύσεται, κατελθεῖν, ἐπανέλθωμεν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δεῦρο σωθήσῃ π. [Refs]; δόμεναι π. give back, restore, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; π. ἀγκαλέσαι to call back, [Refs 4th c.BC+] she turned back from her son, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: coupled with other adverbs, π. αὖτις ἔβαινον νηὸς ἐπὶ γλαφυρῆς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; αὖ π. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἄψορρον π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. οἴκαδε, π. οἴκαδ᾽ αὖ, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with the Article, ἡ π. ὁδός [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πάλιν

palin

probably from the same as 3823 (through the idea of oscillatory

repetition); (adverbially) anew, i.e. (of place) back, (of time) once

more, or (conjunctionally) furthermore or on the other hand:--again.

see GREEK for 3823

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πάλιν

Adv

again, further, on the other hand

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πάλιν palin 141x

pr. back; again, back again, Jn. 10:17; Acts 10:16; 11:10; again by repetition, Mt. 26:43; again in continuation, further, Mt. 5:33; 13:44, 45, 47, 18:19; again, on the other hand, 1 Jn. 2:8

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πάλιν of Place, back, backwards, Hom., Hes., etc.; π. χωρέειν Hdt.; π. ἔρχεσθαι Aesch., etc.; also, πάλιν δοῦναι to give back, restore, Il.:—c. gen., πάλιν τράπεθ᾽ υἷος ἑοῖο she turned back from her son, id. Il.; πάλιν κίε θυγατέρος ἧς id. Il.;—also πάλιν αὖτις back again, αὖτε πάλιν, ἂψ π., π. ὀπίσσω, etc.

with a notion of contradiction, πάλιν ἐρεῖν to gain say (i. e. say against), Il.; but, μῦθον πάλιν λάζεσθαι to take back one's word, unsay it, id. Il.; opp. to ἀληθέα εἰπεῖν, Od.: in Prose, contrariwise, Plat.: —c. gen., τὸ πάλιν νεότητος youth's opposite, Pind.; χρόνου τὸ πάλιν the change of time, Eur.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-gen': Advb. denoting repetition; in New Testament, generally for palin, "back," "once more." Occasionally, it has the force of a connective, synonymous with "moreover," as in Ro 15:10 ff; 1Co 3:20, etc. The expression "born again" of the King James Version, Joh 3:3,7; 1Pe 1:23, translating the Greek "anothen" and "ana" in composition, becomes in the Revised Version (British and American) "anew," i.e. "over again." As these particles mean "from above" and "up," their use as indicating repetition is sometimes disputed, but without further foundation than that "again" does not exhaust the meaning.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
99%again
again99% · 144×other renderings1% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 141 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
ἐγώἸουδαῖοςJewishδοξάζωI glorify, honor
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςὄρθροςearly dawn, day-
οὖνtherefore, then
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goἸησοῦςJesus
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the othe
αὐτός
ἀφίημιI send away, relοὖνtherefore, thenλέγωI say, speak
πάλινagain141×
what comes after →
λέγωI say, speak
μήNegἐνArticle the
εἰς
Article theΚαφαρναούμPropσυναγωγήan assembly, con
Article the
ὄχλοςa crowdμαθητήςa learner, disciδώδεκαIndec
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἐξέρχομαιI go out, come oArticle the
οὖνtherefore, then
αὐτόςἐρωτάωI ask, question,ἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q

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

Concordanceπάλιν · 141× in the New Testament
John Mark Matthew Hebrews Galatians 2 Corinthians Acts Romans 1 Corinthians Luke Philippians Revelation

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 35 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

εἶθ’ ὕδατος ἀσώματον οὐσίαν καὶ πνεύματος καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἑβδόμου φωτός, ὃ πάλιν ἀσώματον ἦν καὶ νοητὸν ἡλίου παράδειγμα καὶ πάντων ὅσα φωσφόρα ἄστρα κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔμελλε συνίστασθαι.

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

Ἰακώβου φυγὴ εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν καὶ τὸν ἐκ τἀδελφοῦ φόβον, καὶ ὡς γήμας ἐκεῖ καὶ δώδεκα γεννήσας παῖδας πάλιν εἰς τὴν Χαναναίαν ἐπανῆλθεν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.7c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ πάλιν πρὸς αὐτούς: Μὴ ἐγὼ ἐνετειλάμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, προσενέγκαι μοι ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίας;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC
PSI 6 575Alexandria252 BC

ἐμνήσθην σοι καὶ πρότερον ἐν πόλει ὑπὲρ Ἑρμογένους τινὸς τῶν κληρούχων, ᾤμην δὲ δεῖν πάλιν ὑπομνῆσαί σε. καλῶς ἂν οὖν ποιήσαις, ὡς ἄν σοι ἀποδῶι τὴν ἐπιστολήν, γνωριμώτερόν σε

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59442Alexandria (?)276 BC–227 BC

ς σοι παραδῶι μετὰ φιλίας κα … μαν παρʼ αὐτοῦ παῖδα πάλιν ἀνακεχωρηκέναι … πράγματα ἔχων ὅπως καταγάγω αὐτόν· οὐ γὰρ … καὶ Αἰνησίδημον ἀξιώσω τοῦ

P.Cair. Zen. 4 59621Arsinoites (?)249 BC–240 BC

παρασχέσθαι μαρτυροῦντας αὐτῆι εναμ … … ἐρημοῦμαι δὲ καὶ ἐγὼ μαρτυρίας περὶ τούτων, ὅπως πάλιν διακούσας … … ους, ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἐνδείξηται, εἶναι τὴν οἰκίαν ἐμήν , ἵνα

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
πάντεςpas all G3956 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
1,242× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in John than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means all or every, as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 7:8, where it refers to everything or all people, emphasizing the universal nature of God's message.
Tyndale gloss
all
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πᾶς (i.e., *pas*) means 'all' or 'every' and appears in various forms, including masculine, feminine, and neuter. It is used in the New Testament to denote totality, as in 'all things' or 'every kind,' and can function as an adjective or pronoun. Notably, it can also imply 'the whole' when used with definite articles, as seen in verses like Matthew 28:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, gen., παντός, πάσης, παντός,

[in LXX chiefly for כֹּל;]

all, every.

As adj.,

c. subst. anarth., all, every, of every kind: Mt 3:10 4:23, Mk 9:49, Lk 4:37, Jo 2:10, Ac 27:20, Ro 7:8, Re 18:17, al. mult.; pl., all, Ac 22:15, Ro 5:12, He 1:6, al.; of the highest degree, π. ἐξουσία (προθυμία, χαρά), Mt 28:18,

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

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, en. παντός, πάσης, παντός, [dat. plur. Lchm. πᾶσι ten times, -σιν seventy-two times; Tdf. -σι five times (see Proleg. p. 98 sq.), -ow seventy-seven times; Treg. -ow eighty-two times; WH -ox fourteen times, -ow sixty-eight times; see N, v (ἐφελκυστικόν)], Hebr. 75, [fr. Hom. down], all, every; it is used I. adjectively, and 1. with anarthrous nouns; a. any, every one (86. of the class denoted by the noun annexed to mas); with the Singular: as πᾶν δένδρον, Mt. iii. 10; πᾶσα θυσία, Mk. ix. 49 [T WH Tr mrg. om. Tr txt. br. the cl.]; add, Mt. v.11; xv. 13; Lk. iv. 37; Jn.ii. 10; xv.2; Acts ii.43; v.42; Ro. xiv. 11; 1 Co. iv. 17; Rev. xviii. 17, and very often; πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἀνθρώπου, Ro. ii. 9 (πᾶσα ἀνθρ. ψυχή, Plat. Phaedr. p- 249e.); πᾶσα συνείδησις ἀνθρώπων, 2 Co. iv. 2; mas λεγόμενος θεός, 2 Th. ii. 4; πᾶς ἅγιος ἐν Χριστῷ, Phil. iv. 21sqq. with the Plural, all or any that are…

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

παῖς. In Gnomon 41 (¢. A.D. 150) it is laid down—éav Αἰγύπτιος ἐκ κοπρίας [ἀν]έληται παῖδα καὶ τοῦτον υἱοποιήσηται, μετὰ θάνατον τεταρτολο[ γεῖτ]αι, ““1Γ an Egyptian shall take up a child from the dungheap, and adopt him as a son, he shall be mulcted after his death to the extent of one fourth of his property.” For παῖς applied to a female child see P Strass I. 41° (A.D. 250) ἐκδικῆσαι τὰ τῆς παιδός, and P Oxy 1 5215 (A.D. 325) εΠδαμὲν τὴν παῖδα ἔχουσαν κατὰ τῶν εἰσχίων ἀμυχὰς μετὰ πελιωμάτων (see 76. II. p. 319), ““νγῈ saw that the girl had wounds on her hips with livid spots”: cf. Lk 8° (for voc. of address see Pro/eg. pp. 70, 235). The word is commonly applied to slaves, as in Lk 77 a/., e.g. P Lille 27 (iii/B.c.), where 11 male slaves are enumerated under the heading παῖδες, then 2 female slaves, and then again 3 male slaves: cf. P Strass I. 405 (a. p. 569) Κολλοῦθος Βίκτορος…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πᾶς (pas) — all.

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν,

__AAeolic dialect παῖς, παῖσα [Refs 7th c.BC+] feminine πάνσα [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Delph. πάντεσσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also Locrian dialect πάντεσιν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πάντοις [Refs 2nd c.BC+] as accusative masculine in [LXX+7th c.BC+], etc. (but in compounds sometimes long in Attic dialect, [Refs].]—Coll. pronoun, when used of a number, all; when of one only, the whole; of the several persons in a number, every.

__A.I in plural, all, πάντες τε θεοὶ πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντες ὅσοι.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντας ᾧ ἂνπεριτυγχάνῃ, for ὅσοις ἄν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with the Article, see.below [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πᾶς

pas

including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all,

any, every, the whole:--all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one),

X daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X

thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν

Adj

all, the whole, every kind of

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πᾶς pas 1x

all; in the sg. the whole, entire, usually when the substantive has the article, Mt. 6:29; 8:32; Acts 19:26; every, only with an anarthrous subst., Mt. 3:10; 4:4; pl. all, Mt. 1:17, et al. freq.; πάντα, in all respects, Acts 20:35; 1 Cor. 9:25; 10:33; 11:2; by a Hebraism, a negative with πᾶς is sometimes equivalent to οὐδείς or μηδείς, Mt. 24:22; Lk. 1:37; Acts 10:14; Read the full entry →

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

A-NPM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ol: Used in various combinations, and with different meanings.

(1) All along, "Weeping all along as he went" (Jer 41:6), i.e. throughout the whole way he went, feigning equal concern with the men from Shiloh, etc., for the destruction of the Temple, so as to put them off their guard.

(2) All in all, "That God may be all in all" (1Co 15:28, Greek: panta en pasin, "all things in all (persons and) things"). "The universe, with all it comprises, will wholly answer to God's will and reflect His mind" (Dummelow).

(3) All one, "It is all one" (Job 9:22), "it makes no difference whether I live or die."

(4) At all, "If thy father miss me at all" (1Sa 20:6), "in any way," "in the least."

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
62%all
all62% · 789×all things12% · 156×every12% · 150×everyone6% · 76×everything3% · 34×other renderings3% · 40×other renderings2% · 19×

1,264 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 28 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject40%adverbial30%object21%predicate5%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,242 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
αὐτόςσύλόγοςa word, speech,
ἐν
καίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, exceptἐγώ
Article the
αὐτόςὅςArticle the
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδείκνυμιI point out, shoπροσφέρωI bring to, offe
ἐπί
καίand, even, also,ἐγώεἰμίI am, exist
πᾶςall1242×
what comes after →
Article the
ἔθνοςa race, people, λαόςa people, the crπιστεύωI believe, have
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theχορτάζωI feed, satisfyδιά
σύ
εἰμίI am, existἐνκαίand, even, also,
γάρfor
Article theσύοὗτος
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςὅς

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

Concordanceπᾶς · 1,242× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians Romans Mark John Revelation Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 10c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ πατὴρ ἐκγόνων καὶ δημιουργὸς τῶν δημιουργηθέντων στοχάζεται τῆς διαμονῆς καὶ ὅσα μὲν ἐπιζήμια καὶ βλαβερὰ μηχανῇ πάσῃ διωθεῖται, τὰ δὲ ὅσα ὠφέλιμα καὶ λυσιτελῆ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ἐκπορίζειν ἐπιποθεῖ·

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

ὡς οἱ Νώχου ἔγγονοι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπῴκησαν.

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

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

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

γῆ Σενπελαίας, βορρᾶ γῆ Πανᾶτος ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς Ἀραμείους, ἢ οἳ ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντων πάντοθεν. ἐπρίατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς Πανοβχούνιος ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐτῶν λ χαλκοῦ δραχμῶν τρισχιλίων . προπωληταὶ καὶ βεβαιωταὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Νεχούτης καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
λέγοντες·legō saying; G3004 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
2,255× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means to say or speak, and it is used by Jesus and others in the New Testament to share teachings and tell stories. It appears in Matthew 9:34 and John 1:29.
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

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

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

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λέγω (legō) — to say.

λέγω,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

lego

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

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

5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech

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

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

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

shew, speak, tell, utter.

see GREEK for 2036

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 2980

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λέγω

v.

I say, speak

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,255 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
αὐτός
πρόςμαθητήςa learner, disciἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the otheγόνυa knee
ἀμήνHebr
ἀμήνHebrαὐτόςλέγωI say, speak
λέγωsaying;2255×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeter
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNegἐάνCond
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπρόςαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὗτοςσύ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

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

P.Adl. 16Pathyris100 BC

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

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
μὴ Not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Amplified meaning
certainly not, by no means
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μή () is a Greek negative particle used to express subjective negation, often in conditional or hypothetical contexts. It contrasts with οὐ (ou), which indicates absolute denial. μή can function as an adverb meaning 'not' or as a conjunction meaning 'lest.' It appears in various grammatical constructions, including prohibitions and deliberative questions, and is referenced in verses like Matthew 5:29 and John 3:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

used where the negation depends on a condition or hypothesis, expressed or understood, as distinct from οὐ, which denies absolutely. μή is used where one thinks a thing is not, as distinct from an absolute negation. As a general rule, οὐ negatives the indic., μή the other moods, incl, ptcp. [In LXX for אֵין, אַיִן, אַל.]

As a neg. adv., not;

with ref. to thought or opinion: Jo 3:18, Tit 1:11, II Pe 1:9.

In delib. questions, c. subjc. (M, Pr., 185): Mk 12:14, Ro 3:8.

In conditional and final sentences, after εἰ, ἐάν, ἄν, ἵνα, ὅπως: Mt 10:14,

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

μή, Sept. for Ox, |X, PN, ἃ particle of negation, which differs from οὐ (which is always an adverb) in that ov denies the thing itself (orto speak technically, denies simply, absolutely, categorically, directly, objectively). but μή denies the thought of the thing, or the thing according to the judgment, opinion, will, purpose, preference, of some one (hence, as we say technically, indirectly, hypothetically, subjectively). This distinction holds also of the compounds οὐδείς, μηδείς, οὐκέτι, μηκέτι, ete. But pris either an ad verb of negation, not (Lat. non, ne); or aconjunction, that... not, lest, (Lat. ne); or an interrogative particle, (Lat. num) [i. e. (generally) implying aneg. ans.; in indir. quest. whether nol (suggesting apprehension) ]. Cf. Herm. ad Vig. § 267 p- 802 sqq-; Matthiae § 608; Bitm. Gram. § 148 (cf. Alex. Bttm. N. T. Gr. p. 344 (296) sqq.); Kiihner ii. §§ 512 sq. p.…

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

μή Grenf II. 384 (mid. 1.8.6.) καλῶς οὖ]ν ποιήσις μὴ ἀμελήσ[α]ς α[. . ἀγο]ράσαι. .. , P Oxy I. 3815 (a.p. 49--50) (= Selections, p. 53) τοῦ δὲ Σύρου μὴ βουλομένου ἐνμεῖναι τοῖς κεκριμένοις, “45 Syrus does not wish to abide by what has been decided,” 2d. II. 2755 (A.D. 66) (= Selections, p. 58) ἔγραψα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἰδότος γράμματα, “1 wrote for him seeing that he was unlettered,” BGU I. 22° (a.p. 114) (= Selections, p. 74) TappovOios . . . τὸ παρὸν μὴ ἔχουσα κύριον, ‘ Tarmuthis at present without a guardian,’ and P Grenf II. 779 (iii/iv A.D.) (= Sedections, p. 120) θαυμάζω πάνυ [ὅτι] ἀλόγως ἀπέστητε μὴ ἄραντες [τὸ σ]ῶμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ὑμῶν, “1 wonder exceedingly that you went off so unreasonably, without taking the body of your brother”; cf. P Tor 1. 1¥8-4 (νον 116) εἰ δὲ kal τις θείηι τὸ μὴ ὄν (cf. 1 Cor 1°8)—acc. and inf. follow, P Ryl II. 144°? (Α.Ὁ. 38) ἐπαγαγεῖν αἰτίας τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ‘‘…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

Elean μά [ᾱ] [Refs 6th c.BC+]. (Cf. Sanskrit mā´, Armenian mi [from I.-[Refs 5th c.BC+] mē´], negative used in prohibitions):—not, the negative of the will and thought, as οὐ of fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. (A few examples of μηδέ and μηδείς have been included.)

__A in INDEPENDENT sentences, used in expressions of will or wish, command, entreaty, warning,

__A.1 with present imperative, 2 person, μή μ᾽ ἐρέθιζε [Refs 8th c.BC+]: rarely with aorist imperative, μὴ.. ἔνθεο τιμῇ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Attic dialect, μὴ ψεῦσον, ὦ Ζεῦ, τῆς.. ἐλπίδος [Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect imperative [Refs 8th c.BC+] person when perfect = present, μὴ κεκράγετε [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

absolute denial); (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

affirmative one)) whether:--any but (that), X forbear, + God forbid, +

lack, lest, neither, never, no (X wise in), none, nor, (can-)not,

nothing, that not, un(-taken), without. Often used in compounds in

substantially the same relations. See also 3362, 3363, 3364, 3372,

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

a negative particle, can function as a conj, not, for the particulars of its usage, especially as distinguished from that of οὐ, consult a grammar; as a conj., lest, that not, Mt. 5:29, 30; 18:10; 24:6; Mk. 13:36; μή, or μήτι, or μήποτε, when prefixed to an interrogative clause, it expresses an intimation either of the reality of the matters respecting which the question is asked, Mt. 12:23; or the contrary, Jn. 4:12

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
71%not
not71% · 772×except9% · 95×unless5% · 58×surely not4% · 41×lest3% · 32×otherwise2% · 23×other renderings4% · 48×other renderings1% · 16×

1,085 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 23 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
adverbial84%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,060 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,σύἐγώ
ἵναin order that, so th
αὐτόςσύπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώαὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
εἰCond
αὐτόςυἱόςa son, descendenκαίand, even, also,
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰςδιά
μήNot1060×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenσημεῖονa sign, miracle,
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
καίand, even, also,ποιμήνa shepherdβάθοςdepth, a depth,
εἰμίI am, exist
δίδωμιI offer, giveἐνμετά
τὶς
σύὑστερέωI am lacking, faγεννάωI beget, bring f
φοβέωI fear, am terrified
ἀπόArticle theμόνοςalone, but, only

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

Concordanceμή · 1,060× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John 1 Corinthians Romans Mark Acts Revelation 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 Timothy Galatians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,321 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.

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
τοῦτονohutos this one G3778 Demonstrative pronoun · accusative · singular · masculine
1,388× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This refers to a specific person or thing, like when Jesus says 'this is my body' in Matthew 26:26 and Mark 14:22.
Tyndale gloss
this/he/she/it
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὗτος (i.e., *houtos*) is a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this' or 'this one.' It is used to refer to something nearby or recently mentioned, often with a connotation of contempt in certain contexts. In the New Testament, it appears in various forms, such as in Matthew 3:17 and John 1:15, and can also serve to emphasize or clarify a subject.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο, gen., τούτου, ταύτης, τούτου,

[in LXX chiefly for זֶה, זֹאת;]

demonstr. pron. (related to ἐκεῖνος as hic to ille),

this;

as subst., this one, he;

absol.: Mt 3:17, Mk 9:7, Lk 7:44, 45, Jo 1:15, Ac 2:15, al.; expressing contempt (cl.), Mt 13:55, 56, Mk 6:2, 3, Jo 6:42, al.; εἰς τοῦτο, Mk 1:38, Ro 14:9; μετὰ τοῦτο (ταῦτα; V. Westc. on Jo 5:1), Jo 2:12 11:7, al.;

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

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο, demonstrative pron. [ef. Curtius p. 543], Hebr. 71, ΠΝ, this; used I. absolutely. 1. a. this one, visibly present here: Mt. iii. 17; xvii.5; Mk. ix. 7; Lk. vii. 44 sq.; ix. 35; 2 Pet.i.17. Mt.ix.3; xxi. 38; Mk. xiv. 69; Lk. 11. 34; xxiii. 2; Jn. i. 15, 30; vii. 25; ix. 8 54. 19; xviii. 21,50; xxi. 21; Actsii. 15; iv. 10; ix. 21; according to the nature and character of the person or thing mentioned, it is used with a suggestion —either of contempt, as Mt. xiii. 55 sq.; Mk. vi. 2 sq.: Lk. v. 21; vii. 39,49; Jn. vi. 42,52; vii. 15; or of admiration, Mt. xxi. 11; Actsix.21; οἵ, Wahl, Clavis apocryphor. V. T. p- 370% b. it refers to a subject immediately preceding, the one just named: Lk. i. 32; ii. 37 [RGL]; Jn. i. 2; vi. 71; 2 Tim. iii. 6,8, ete.; at the beginning of a narrative about one already mentioned, Mt. iii. 3; Lk. xvi. 1; Jn. i. 41 (42); ili. 2; xii. 21; xxi.…

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

οὗτος. A few of the prepositional phrases with this common demonstrative pron. may be illustrated διὰ τοῦτο, ‘on this account,” cf. P Ryl IT. 845 (a.p. 146) τὴν ἄνεσιν τὴν διὰ τοῦτο γενομένην τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, “the ensuing remission “ OUT@S, O’.TO@ of the lands’ (Edd.): ἐκ τούτου, ‘for this reason,’’ Jn 6° cf. 26. 81°4 (c, A.D, 104) ἐκ τούτου δὲ [φανεῖρόν ἐστιν [καὶ] μηδένα χρῇζειν, “‘it is evident from this that nobody wants it’’ (Edd.), BGU 11. 423!7 (ason to his father—ii/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 91) με ἐπαίδευσας καλῶς, Kal ἐκ τούτου ἐλπίζω ταχὺ προκόσί-- par τῶν θε[ῶ]ν θελόντων, “you have brought me up well, and for this reason I hope to be quickly promoted, if the gods will”: τούτου ἕνεκα, ‘‘ for this purpose,” cf. P Oxy I. 1138 (ii/a.p.) ἐὰν δ᾽ dpa μή, ; ἅμα τῷ vide μου ἐξέρχομαι τούτου ἕνεκα, “otherwise I and my son will come for this purpose’’ (Edd.): ἐπὶ τούτων, ““upon this,” ‘in…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὗτος (ohutos) — this/he/she/it.

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο,

genitive τούτου, ταύτης, τούτου, etc.: the dual feminine never in Attic dialect, see ὁ, ἡ, τό, [near the start]:—demonstrative pronoun, this, common from [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A ORIGIN and FORMS: οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο probably arose from a reduplication of the demonstrative ὁ, ἡ, τό with insertion of -υ- (= Sanskrit Particle u), e.g. ταῦτα from τα-υ-τα: Doric dialect genitive singular feminine τούτας [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc., the latter is uncertain in [Refs 5th c.BC+], as genitive singular neuter οὕτω [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; accusative singular feminine οὕταν [Refs 6th c.BC+] —In _Attic dialect_ οὗτος was frequently strengthened by the _demonstrative_ -ί, οὑτοσί, αὑτηί, τουτί, _genitive_ τουτουί, _dative_ τουτῳί, _accusative_ τουτονί; plural nominative οὑτοιί, neuter ταυτί, etc., this man here…

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο

Dem.pr.

this, he, she, it

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὗτος houtos 1x

this, this person or thing, Mt. 3:3, 9, 17; 8:9; 10:2; 24:34, et al. freq.; used by way of contempt, this fellow, Mt. 13:55; 27:47; αὐτὸ τοῦτο, this very thing, this same thing, 2 Cor. 2:3; 7:11; εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο, and elliptically, αὐτὸ τοῦτο, for this same purpose, on this account, Eph. 6:18, 22; 2 Pet. 1:5; καὶ οὗτος, and moreover, Lk. 7:12; 16:1; 20:30; καὶ τοῦτο, and that too, 1 Cor. 6:6, 8; tοῦτο μὲν ... τοῦτο δέ, partly ... partly, Heb.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὗτος demonstr. Pron. this, Lat. hic, to designate the nearer of two things, opp. to ἐκεῖνος, the more remote (cf. ὅδε), Hom., etc.

when, of two things, one precedes and the other follows, ὅδε generally refers to what follows, οὗτος to what precedes, Soph., etc.

so also, οὗτος is used emphat., generally in contempt, while ἐκεῖνος (like Lat. ille) denotes praise, ὁ πάντ᾽ ἄναλκις οὗτος, i. e. Aegisthus, id. Soph.; οὗτος ἀνήρ Plat.; τούτους τοὺς συκοφάντας id. Plat.

in attic law-language, οὗτος is commonly applied to the opponent, whether plaintiff or defendant, whereas in Lat. hic was the client, iste the opponent, Dem.

often much like an adv., in local sense (cf. ὅδε init.), τίς δ᾽ οὗτος κατὰ νῆας ἔρχεαι; who art thou here that comest . . ? Il.; often in attic, τίς οὑτοσί; who's this…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Dem-ASM — Demonstrative pronoun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

D-ASM Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

wun.

See NUMBER.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
55%this
this55% · 781×these things16% · 231×these14% · 196×he3% · 49×other renderings5% · 73×other renderings7% · 94×

1,424 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 49 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
subject36%object32%adverbial26%predicate4%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,388 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
αὐτόςδέbut, on the otheλέγωI say, speak
διά
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
ἐν
καίand, even, also,γάρforοὔτεNeg
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakεἰςγάρfor
ὅτιthat, since, because
λέγωI say, speakοἶδαI know, rememberγράφωI write
οὗτοςthis one1388×
what comes after →
Article the
λόγοςa word, speech, θεόςGod, a godἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ὅς
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theκατακρίνωI condemnεἰμίI am, exist
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakεἰμίI am, existαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
σύArticle theαὐτός

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

Concordanceοὗτος · 1,388× in the New Testament
John Acts Luke Matthew Mark 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation Hebrews 2 Corinthians 1 John 2 Peter

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 2,054 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 12c. AD 40

ἀλλ’ ὅ γε μέγας Μωυσῆς ἀλλοτριώτατον τοῦ ὁρατοῦ νομίσας εἶναι τὸ ἀγένητον — πᾶν γὰρ τὸ αἰσθητὸν ἐν γενέσει καὶ μεταβολαῖς οὐδέποτε κατὰ ταὐτὰ ὄν — τῷ μὲν ἀοράτῳ καὶ νοητῷ προσένειμεν ὡς ἀδελφὸν καὶ συγγενὲς ἀιδιότητα, τῷ δ’ αἰσθητῷ γένεσιν οἰκεῖον…

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

ὡς πύργος, ὃν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμησαν, καὶ ὡς τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν μετέβαλε καὶ ὁ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ τοῦτο γέγονε, Βαβυλὼν ἐκλήθη.

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

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

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

ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ὡς ἐτῶν λ χαλκοῦ δραχμῶν τρισχιλίων . προπωληταὶ καὶ βεβαιωταὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Νεχούτης καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

εὐθύριν χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
ἀλλὰalla but G235 Conjunction
638× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John 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.
Amplified meaning
instead, on the other hand
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

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
τὸνho <the> G3588 Article · accusative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-ASM — Article · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
Βαραββᾶν·Barabbas Barabbas! G912 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
11× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Barabbas was an Israelite prisoner, released by Pontius Pilate instead of Jesus, as told in Matthew 27:16 and Mark 15:7. His name means son of a father.
Amplified meaning
a rebel, an insurrectionist
Tyndale gloss
Barabbas
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word Βαραββᾶς (transliterated as Barabbas) means 'son of a father' and is derived from Aramaic origins. It refers to a notable figure in the New Testament, specifically a prisoner released by Pilate instead of Jesus. The word appears in several passages across the Gospels, with some manuscripts differing on its presentation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

Βαραββᾶς, -ᾶ, ὁ

(Aram. בַּר־אַבָּא, lit., son of a father, i.e. acc. to Jerome, filius magistri),

Barabbas: Mt 27:16, 17, 20, 21, 26, Mk 15:7, 11, 15, Lk 23:18, Jo 18:40. (In Mt 27:16, some MSS. read Ἰησοῦν Β.; v. WH, App., 19 f.).†

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

Βαραββᾶς, -a, 4, (fr. 13 son, and 838 father, hence son of a father i. 6. of a master [cf. Mt. xxiii. 97), a captive robber whom the Jews begged Pilate to release instead of Christ: Mt. xxvii. 16 sq. (where codd. mentioned by Origen, and some other authorities, place Ἰησοῦν before βαραββᾶν, approved by Fritzsche, De Wette, Meyer, Bieek, al.; [ef. WH. App. and Tdf.’s note ad loc.; also 5 Βαρθολομαῖος Treg. Printed Text, etc. p. 194 sq.]), 20 sq. 26; Mk. xv. 7,11,15; Lk. xxiii. 18; Jn. xviii. 40.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Βαραββᾶς (Barabbas) — Barabbas.

Βαραββᾶς, -ᾶ, ὁ (Aram. בַּר־אַבָּא, lit., son of a father, i.e. accusative to Jerome, filius magistri),

Barabbas: Mat.27:16, 17 20, 21, 26, Mrk.15:7, 11 15, Luk.23:18, Jhn.18:40. (In Mat.27:16, some MSS. read Ἰησοῦν Β.; see WH, App., 19f.).†

(From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Βαραββᾶς

Barabbas

of Chaldee origin (1347 and 5); son of Abba; Bar-abbas, an

Israelite:--Barabbas.

see HEBREW for 01347

see HEBREW for 05

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Βαραββᾶς, ᾶ, ὁ

n.m.

Barabbas

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Βαραββᾶς Barabbas 11x

Barabbas, pr. name

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-ASM — Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-ASM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ba-rab'-as (Barabbas): For Aramaic Bar-abba = literally, "son of the father," i.e. of the master or teacher. Abba in the time of Jesus was perhaps a title of honor (Mt 23:9), but became later a proper name. The variant Barrabban found in the 19- Harclean Syriac would mean "son of the rabbi or teacher." Origen knew and does not absolutely condemn a reading of Mt 27:16,17, which gave the name "Jesus Barabbas," but although it is also found in a few cursives and in the Aramaic and the Jerusalem Syriac versions in this place only, it is probably due to a scribe's error in transcription (Westcott-Hort, App., 20). If the name was simply Barabbas or Barrabban, it may still have meant that the man was a rabbi's son, or it may have been a purely conventional proper name, signifying…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Barabbas

I.e., son of Abba or of a father, a notorious robber whom Pilate proposed to condemn to death instead of Jesus, whom he wished to release, in accordance with the Roman custom (John 18:40; Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). But the Jews were so bent on the death of Jesus that they demanded that Barabbas should be pardoned (Matt. 27:16-26; Acts 3:14). This Pilate did.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(son of Abba), a robber, (John 18:40) who had committed murder in an insurrection, (Mark 15:7; Luke 28:18) in Jerusalem and was lying in prison the time of the trial of Jesus before Pilate.p

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A noted robber in Christ’s time, who was imprisoned and awaiting death for the crimes of sedition and murder. It was a custom of the Roman government, for the sake of conciliating the Jews, to release one Jewish prisoner, whom they might choose, at the yearly Passover. Pilate desired thus to release Jesus, but the Jews demanded Barabbas, Mt 27:16-26.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
91%barabbas
barabbas91% · 10×barabbas!9% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object73%predicate18%subject9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 11 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςαἰτέωI ask, request, λέγωI say, speak
λέγωI say, speak
ἐπίσημοςnotable, conspicArticle the
σύ
ἀπολύωI release, let g
ΒαραββᾶςBarabbas!11×
what comes after →
Article the
δέbut, on the othe
Disj
ἸησοῦςJesus
μετά
Article the
ἀπολύωI release, let go, s
αὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
παραδίδωμιI hand over, del

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

ConcordanceΒαραββᾶς · 11× in the New Testament
Matthew Mark John Luke
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
ἦνeimi Was G1510 Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · singular
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Amplified meaning
existed as, was known to be
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

εἰμί is a Greek verb meaning 'to be' or 'to exist.' It serves various functions, such as a substantive verb for persons and things, and as a copula linking subjects and predicates. The New Testament frequently uses it in passages like John 1:1 and Matthew 24:3. Notably, it can also express possibility, as seen in Hebrews 9:5.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

with various uses and significations, like the English verb to be.

As substantive verb.

Of persons and things, to be, exist: Ac 17:28, Jo 1:1 8:58 17:5, al; ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν (for past ptcp.), Re 1:4, 8 4:8 11:17 16:5 (v. Swete, Ap., 5; M, Pr., 228); τὰ (μὴ) ὄντα, Ro 4:17, I Co 1:28.

Of times, events, etc., to be, happen, take place: Mt 24:3, Mk 14:2 15:42, Lk 21:23, Jo 4:6, 23 5:10, al.

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

εἰμί (fr. ἔω, whence ἐμέ in inscriptions [7]; Aeol. ἐμμὲ (Curtius (yet ἔμμε, so G. Meyer) 8 564; Veitch p. 2287), impv. ἴσθι, ἔστω, less usual ἤτω, 1 Co. xvi. 22; Jas. v.12; Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 48,5; [1 Mace. x. 31; Ps. ciii. (civ.) 31]; Plat. rep. 2 p. 361 ¢. [here it has given place to ἔστω (or ἴτω), see Stallb. ad loc.; Veitch p. 200 sq.; 3 pers. plur. ἔστωσαν, Lk. xii. 35; 1 Tim. iii. 12], inf. εἶναι ; impf. —ace. to the more ancient and elegant form, ἦν, 2 pers. ἦσθα (Mt. xxvi. 69; Mk. xiv. 67), rarer form ἧς (Mt. RKV. 1235 dn ΧΙ: 9]. 92); xxI LS. Reyna 15 G@ ΕΣ Tr WH), 3 pers. ἦν, 1 pers. plur. jer, — ace. to the mid. form, com. in later Grk. [ef. Veitch p. 226], ἤμην (Mt. xxv. 35sq.; [on Acts xi. 11 ef. WH. Intr. § 404]; Gal.i.10, etc.), plur. ἤμεθα (Mt. xxiii. 30 G L T Tr WH; Acts xxvii. 37 L T Tr WH; [Gal. iv. 3 TWH Tr mrg.; Eph. ii. 3 T Tr WH; Bar. i. 19]); cf. Lob. ad Phryn.…

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

εἰμί. Middle forms in the flexion of εἰμί other than the present tense (cf. however MGr εἶμαι, -σαι, etc.) begin to appear very early in the dialects and are well established in the papyri. Thus the Ist sing. impf. ἤμην, which always takes the place of the class. ἢ in the NT (but see Ac 2018 D) may be illustrated from PSI IV. 36274 (B.c. 251-0) ἤμην δὲ πρὸς τῶι λαμβάνειν τὸν χαλκόν, P Magd 65 (B.c. 221) ἤμην γυμνός, P Par 57 (B.c. 129) ὧν ἤμην δι᾽ αὐτῶν [π]αραμε[μετ]ρηκ[υῖα, P Oxy IIT. 526% (ii/A.p.) οὐκ ἤμην ἀπαθὴς ἀλόγως σε καταλείπιν. For ist plur. ἤμεθα see P Petr IT. 4 (7)° (B.C. 255-4) τεθλιμμένοι ἤμεθα : cf. Ac 2737, Eph 23, as contrasted with the act. ἦμεν in Ac 111 (NB), 1612, Rom 7° a/.: the two forms are found together in Gal 4% (SDFG). The non-classical ἧς (Lob. Phryx. p. 149) is found sefzes in the NT as compared with ἦσθα (from an old perf. form ἤησθα), which is confined…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

(sum), Aeolic dialect ἔμμι [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Cretan dialect ἠμί [Refs]; 2nd pers. singular εἶ, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰς [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Doric dialect ἐσσί [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἐστί, Doric dialect ἐντί [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. dual ἐστόν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; 1st pers. plural ἐσμέν, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰμέν (also in [Refs 5th c.BC+], Doric dialect εἰμές [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural εἰσί (-ίν), Epic dialect and Ionic dialect ἔασι (-ιν) [Refs 8th c.BC+], Doric dialect ἐντί [Refs 5th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Lyric poetry also in middle form ἔσσο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔστω (ἤτω [LXX+5th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ἔστωσαν, but ἔστων [Refs 8th c.BC+], and early Attic dialect Inscrr., [Refs 2nd c.BC+]subjunctive ὦ, ᾖς, ᾖ, Epic dialect ἔω [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔῃ [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a

primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic):--am,

have been, X it is I, was. See also 1488, 1498, 1511, 1527, 2258,

2071, 2070, 2075, 2076, 2771, 2468, 5600.

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

to be, to exist, Jn. 1:1; 17:5; Mt. 6:30; Lk. 4:25, freq.; ἐστί[ν], it is possible, proper, Heb. 9:5; a simple linking verb (“copula”) to the subject and predicate, and therefore in itself affecting the force of the sentence only by its tense, mood, etc., Jn. 1:1; 15:1, freq.; it also forms a frequent circumlocution with the participles of the present and perfect of other verbs, Mt. 19:22; Mk. 2:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εἰμί The whole of the pres. ind. (except 2nd sg. εἶ) may be enclitic when εἰμί is the Copula; but the 3rd sg. is written ἔστι in certain cases of emphasis, e. g. ἔστι μοι, I have: when used as Verb Subst., it retains the accent in all persons. as Substantive Verb, to be, to exist, οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ οὗτος ἀνήρ, οὐδ᾽ ἔσσεται Od.; τεθνηῶτος, μηδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἐόντος id. Od.; οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι he is no more, Eur.; θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες Il.; ἐσσόμενοι posterity, id. Il.; ζώντων καὶ ὄντων Ἀθηναίων Dem.:—so of cities, etc., ὄλωλεν, οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἔστι Τροία (cf. Troja fuit), Eur.

of things, to be, exist, εἰ ἔστιν ἀληθέως [ἡ τράπεζα] Hdt.; ἕως ἂν ὁ πόλεμος ἦι so long as it last, Thuc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-IAI-3S — Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · singular
imperfect active indicative — a continuing action in past time.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-IAI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Imperfect Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%is
is26% · 619×are9% · 228×was7% · 176×being6% · 138×it is5% · 112×will be4% · 87×am3% · 80×were3% · 67×other renderings37% · 901×

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 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
linking verb87%verb13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,457 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
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίWas2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

Concordanceεἰμί · 2,457× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation 1 John 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians

67 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 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 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν, μηνὸς Ἐπεὶφ κε. ἐν Παθύρει, ἐφʼ Ἑρμίου τοῦ παρὰ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν, μηνὸς Τῦβι ιη ἐν Παθύρει ἐφʼ Ἑρμίου τοῦ παρὰ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
δὲde now G1161 Conjunction
2,787× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Amplified meaning
at that time, then
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δέ (de) is a post-positive particle in Greek, primarily used as a conjunction to connect clauses. It can express contrast (but, on the other hand) or continuation (and, also), and is often used to transition between ideas or to add emphasis. In the New Testament, it appears frequently in various contexts, such as contrasting statements or resuming interrupted discourse, with notable examples in Matthew and 2 Corinthians.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δέ (before vowels δ’; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, v. WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96),

post-positive conjunctive particle;

copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mt 1:2ff., II Co 6:15, 16, II Pe 1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Ro 3:21, 22, 9:30, I Co 2:6, Ga 2:2, Phl 2:8; in transition to something new, Mt 1:18 2:19, Lk 13:1, Jo 7:14, Ac 6:1, Read the full entry →

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

δέ (related to δή, as μέν to μήν, ef. Klotz ad Devar. ii. 2 p. 355), a particle adversative, distinctive, disjunctive, but, moreover, (W.§ 53, 7 and 10, 2); it is much more freq. in the historical parts of the N. T. than in the other books, very rare in the Epp. of John and the Apocalypse. {On its general neglect of elision (when the next word begins with a vowel) cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 96; WH. App. Ῥ 146; W.§5,1a.; B. p.10sq.] It is used ἘΠ ΟἹ δὲ univ. by way of opposition and distinction; it is added to statements opp. to a preceding statement: ἐὰν yap ἀφῆτε... ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε, Mt. vi. 14 sq.; ἐὰν de ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς κτλ. Mt. vi. 23; ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι, Mk. ii. 20; it opposes persons to persons or things previously mentioned or thought of, —either with strong emphasis: ἐγὼ δέ, Mt. v. 22, 28, 32, 34, 39,44; ἡμεῖς de, 1 Co. i. 23; 2 Co. x. 13; σὺ δέ, Mt. vi. 6; ὑμεῖς δέ, Mk. viii. 29; of δὲ…

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

δεῖ. For the conjunctive, as in Mt 26%, cf. P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) ἐάν σε δῇ (for δέῃ) τὸ εἱμάτιόν σου θεῖναι ἐνέχυρον. “even if you have to pawn your cloak” (Edd.). In P Tebt I. 585° (B.c. 111) we have ἐάν followed by the indicative— ἐὰν δεῖ σε συνπεσεῖν τῶι ᾿Ανικήτωι, σύνπεσαι, ‘if you must meet Anicetus, meet him” (Edd.): cf. Mayser G7. p. 325. Other examples of the verb are l’ Par 461® (B.C. 153) διὸ Kal ἡγούμενος δεῖν ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου μὲν μηθενὸς αὐτῶι διακριθῆναι» P Lille I. 267 (iii.B.c.) περὶ (corr. from πεερὶ) δὲ τούτου τοῦ μέρους δεήσει ἐπισχεῖν, P Tebt 11. 3414 (A.p. 140-1) δεήσι ἐπισταλῆναι εἰς δάνε[ι]α σπέρματα κατασπίο]ρᾶς KTA., “ΕἼ will be necessary to send on account of loans of seedcorn for the sowing,” etc., AécheZ 1001" © (Theran Doric —c. B.C. 200) no one may bring forward a proposal ὡς δεείσῃ διαλῦσαι τὸ κοινὸν εἰ τὰς θυσίας, P Flor II. 133" (A.D. 257) ἔδι μὲν ὑμᾶς μηδὲ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

I. answering to μέν (which see), τὴν νῦν μὲν Βοιωτίαν, πρότερον δὲ Καδμηίδα γῆν καλουμένην [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. without preceding μέν,

II.1. adversative, expressing distinct opposition, αἰεί τοι τὰ κάκ᾽ ἐστὶ φίλα.. μαντεύεσθαι, ἐσθλὸν δ᾽ οὔτε τί πω εἶπας[Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in Prose, οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ, ἐλευθερώσει δέ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. copulative,

II.2. a in explanatory clauses, ξυνέβησαν.. τὰ μακρὰ τείχη ἑλεῖν (ἦν δὲ σταδίων μάλιστα ὀκτώ) [Refs 8th c.BC+]: when a substantive is followed by words in apposition, Ἀρισταγόρῃ τῷ Μιλησίῳ, δούλῳ δὲ ἡμετέρῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in answers, διπλᾶ λέγειν. —Answ. διπλᾶδ᾽ ὁρᾶν…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and,

etc.:--also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

a conjunctive particle, marking the superaddition of a clause, whether in opposition or in continuation, to what has preceded, and it may be variously rendered but, on the other hand, and, also, now, etc.; καὶ δέ, when there is a special superaddition in continuation, too, yea, etc. It sometimes is found at the commencement of the apodosis of a sentence, Acts 11:17. It serves also to mark the resumption of an interrupted discourse, 2 Cor. 2:10; Gal. 2:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δέ but: conjunctive Particle, with adversative force: it commonly answers to μέν, and may often be rendered by while, whereas, on the other hand, v. μέν:— but μέν is often omitted, δέ being used merely to pass on from one thing to another; ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς θάμβησεν, θάμβησαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι Il.; etc.; κινεῖ κραδίην κινεῖ δὲ χόλον Eur.

δέ is often redundant,

to introduce the apodosis, where it may be rendered by then, yet, εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώωσιν, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι if they will not give it, then I will take it, Il.; so at in Lat., si tu oblitus es, at Dii meminerint Catull.

to resume after interruption caused by a parenthesis, where it may be rendered by I say, now, so then, Hdt.

POSITION of δέ: properly second, being often put between the Art. and Subst., the prep. and case.

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
33%now
now33% · 974×however27% · 780×then21% · 620×and12% · 360×but5% · 154×other renderings2% · 49×

2,937 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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,787 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέnow2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

Concordanceδέ · 2,787× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John Mark Romans 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians James 1 Timothy

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
ho <the> G3588 Article · nominative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-NSM — Article · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-NSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
ΒαραββᾶςBarabbas Barabbas G912 Noun · nominative · singular · masculine
11× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Barabbas was an Israelite prisoner, released by Pontius Pilate instead of Jesus, as told in Matthew 27:16 and Mark 15:7. His name means son of a father.
Amplified meaning
the robber, a lawless man
Tyndale gloss
Barabbas
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word Βαραββᾶς (transliterated as Barabbas) means 'son of a father' and is derived from Aramaic origins. It refers to a notable figure in the New Testament, specifically a prisoner released by Pilate instead of Jesus. The word appears in several passages across the Gospels, with some manuscripts differing on its presentation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

Βαραββᾶς, -ᾶ, ὁ

(Aram. בַּר־אַבָּא, lit., son of a father, i.e. acc. to Jerome, filius magistri),

Barabbas: Mt 27:16, 17, 20, 21, 26, Mk 15:7, 11, 15, Lk 23:18, Jo 18:40. (In Mt 27:16, some MSS. read Ἰησοῦν Β.; v. WH, App., 19 f.).†

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

Βαραββᾶς, -a, 4, (fr. 13 son, and 838 father, hence son of a father i. 6. of a master [cf. Mt. xxiii. 97), a captive robber whom the Jews begged Pilate to release instead of Christ: Mt. xxvii. 16 sq. (where codd. mentioned by Origen, and some other authorities, place Ἰησοῦν before βαραββᾶν, approved by Fritzsche, De Wette, Meyer, Bieek, al.; [ef. WH. App. and Tdf.’s note ad loc.; also 5 Βαρθολομαῖος Treg. Printed Text, etc. p. 194 sq.]), 20 sq. 26; Mk. xv. 7,11,15; Lk. xxiii. 18; Jn. xviii. 40.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Βαραββᾶς (Barabbas) — Barabbas.

Βαραββᾶς, -ᾶ, ὁ (Aram. בַּר־אַבָּא, lit., son of a father, i.e. accusative to Jerome, filius magistri),

Barabbas: Mat.27:16, 17 20, 21, 26, Mrk.15:7, 11 15, Luk.23:18, Jhn.18:40. (In Mat.27:16, some MSS. read Ἰησοῦν Β.; see WH, App., 19f.).†

(From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Βαραββᾶς

Barabbas

of Chaldee origin (1347 and 5); son of Abba; Bar-abbas, an

Israelite:--Barabbas.

see HEBREW for 01347

see HEBREW for 05

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Βαραββᾶς, ᾶ, ὁ

n.m.

Barabbas

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Βαραββᾶς Barabbas 11x

Barabbas, pr. name

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

N-NSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ba-rab'-as (Barabbas): For Aramaic Bar-abba = literally, "son of the father," i.e. of the master or teacher. Abba in the time of Jesus was perhaps a title of honor (Mt 23:9), but became later a proper name. The variant Barrabban found in the 19- Harclean Syriac would mean "son of the rabbi or teacher." Origen knew and does not absolutely condemn a reading of Mt 27:16,17, which gave the name "Jesus Barabbas," but although it is also found in a few cursives and in the Aramaic and the Jerusalem Syriac versions in this place only, it is probably due to a scribe's error in transcription (Westcott-Hort, App., 20). If the name was simply Barabbas or Barrabban, it may still have meant that the man was a rabbi's son, or it may have been a purely conventional proper name, signifying…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Barabbas

I.e., son of Abba or of a father, a notorious robber whom Pilate proposed to condemn to death instead of Jesus, whom he wished to release, in accordance with the Roman custom (John 18:40; Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). But the Jews were so bent on the death of Jesus that they demanded that Barabbas should be pardoned (Matt. 27:16-26; Acts 3:14). This Pilate did.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(son of Abba), a robber, (John 18:40) who had committed murder in an insurrection, (Mark 15:7; Luke 28:18) in Jerusalem and was lying in prison the time of the trial of Jesus before Pilate.p

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A noted robber in Christ’s time, who was imprisoned and awaiting death for the crimes of sedition and murder. It was a custom of the Roman government, for the sake of conciliating the Jews, to release one Jewish prisoner, whom they might choose, at the yearly Passover. Pilate desired thus to release Jesus, but the Jews demanded Barabbas, Mt 27:16-26.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
91%barabbas
barabbas91% · 10×barabbas!9% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object73%predicate18%subject9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 11 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςαἰτέωI ask, request, λέγωI say, speak
λέγωI say, speak
ἐπίσημοςnotable, conspicArticle the
σύ
ἀπολύωI release, let g
ΒαραββᾶςBarabbas11×
what comes after →
Article the
δέbut, on the othe
Disj
ἸησοῦςJesus
μετά
Article the
ἀπολύωI release, let go, s
αὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
παραδίδωμιI hand over, del

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

ConcordanceΒαραββᾶς · 11× in the New Testament
Matthew Mark John Luke
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
They cried out then again all saying; Not this one but <the> Barabbas! Was now <the> Barabbas an insurrectionist.
λῃστής.¶lēstēs an insurrectionist. G3027 Noun · nominative · singular · masculine
15× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A robber or rebel is someone who takes things by force, as seen in Matthew 21:13 and 26:55. This word is also used to describe the thieves crucified with Jesus, highlighting the contrast between their actions and Jesus' innocence.
Amplified meaning
a, one, a revolutionary, one who rises up against authority
Tyndale gloss
robber/rebel
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λῃστής refers to a robber or brigand, often implying violence or plunder. It is derived from the verb ληΐζομαι, meaning to plunder. This term appears in various contexts in the New Testament, including Matthew and John, where it contrasts with κλέπτης, which denotes a thief who steals stealthily. The lexicons note that λῃστής can also refer to pirates or freebooters.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — κλέπτης, λῃστής from a scan

THESE words occur together John x. 1, 8; but do not constitute there! or elsewhere a tautology, or mere rhetorical amplification (cf. Obad. 5; Plato, Rep. i. 851 c). The κλέπτης and the λῃστής alike appropriate what is not theirs, but the κλέπτης by fraud and in secret (Matt. xxiv. 43; John xii. 6; ef. Exod. xxii. 2; Jer. 11. 26); the λῃστής by violence and openly (2 Cor. xi. 26 ; cf. Hos. vii. 1; Jer. vii. 11; Plutarch, De Superst. 8: οὐ φοβεῖται λῃστὰς 6 οἰκουρῶν) ; the one is the ‘thief’ and steals; the other is the ‘robber’ and plunders, as his name, from ληΐς or λεία (as our own ‘robber,’ from ‘Raub,’ booty), sufficiently declares. They are severally the ‘fur’ and ‘latro;’ ‘fures insidiantur et occulta fraude decipiunt ; datrones audacter aliena diripiunt’ (Jerome, In Osee, vii. 1). ‘Larron,’ however, in French, ‘voleur qui dérobe furtivement et par adresse,’ notwithstanding its…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λῃστής, -οῦ, ὁ

(< Ep. ληίς = λεία, booty),

[in LXX for גְּדוּד, etc.;]

a robber, brigand: Mt 21:13(LXX) 26:55 27:38, 44, Mk 11:17 14:48 15:27, Lk 10:30, 36 19:46 22:52, Jo 10:1, 8 18:40, II Co 11:26.†

SYN.: κλέπτης, q.v.

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

λῃστής, -οῦ, 6, (for ληϊστής fr. ληΐζομαι, to plunder, and this fr. Ion. and Epic Ayis, for which the Attics use λεία, booty), [fr. Soph. and Hdt. down], a robber; a plunderer, freebooter, brigand: Mt. xxvi. 55; Mk. xiv. 48; Lk. xxii. 52; Jn. x. 1; xviii. 40; plur., Mt. xxi. 13; xxvii. 38,44; Mk. xi.17; xv. 27; Lk. x. 30,36; xix. 46; Jn. x.8; 2Co.xi. 26. [Not to be confounded with κλέπτης thief, one who takes property by stealth, (although the distinction is obscured in A. V.); cf. Trench § xliv.]

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

λῃστής. P Petr III. 28 (ε) verso (α}} (iii/B.c.), memoranda relating to criminals, is headed—arrepl ér[LOéoJews ληιστῶν (for form, cf. Mayser Gr. p. 122): cf. P Par 467 (B.c. 153) (= Witkowski®, p. 86) ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτάτοις καιροῖς ληστῶν ἐπικειμένων, P Lips I. 3725 (a.p. 389) ἑτοιμότατα γὰρ ἔχω ἀπελένξαι ἐν τῷ ἀχρ[άϊντῳ αὐτοῦ δικαστηρίῳ τούτους ληστὰς ὁμολό[γ]ους καὶ ζῶα ἀπελακότας (/. ἀπεληλ.--Ὁ πολλάκις, and the late P Oxy I. 13958 (A.D. 612) ὑποδέξασθαι | ” λιστάς, ‘to have harboured robbers.” For λῃστήριον, “a band of robbers,” cf. P Petr III. 28 (¢)® (iii/B.c.) ἐπέθετο αὐτοῖς ληιστήρ[ιο]ν, P Hamb I. τοῦ (ii/a.p.) ἐπέβη pov ταῖς οἰκίαις. . λῃστήριον, and for the meaning ‘robbers’ lairs,”” cf. Cagnat IV. 2195 τὰ ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ ληστήρια. The adj. λῃστίρ)ικός is common, e.g. P Tebt I. 531} (B.c. 110) ἐπιθέμενοι λῃστικῶι τρόπωι, 16. II. 332° (A.D. 176) ἐπῆλθάν τινες λῃστρικῷ τρόπῳ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λῃστής (lēstēs) — robber/rebel.

λῃστ-ής, οῦ, ὁ,

Ionic dialect ληϊστής, Doric dialect λᾳστής, (ληΐς, ληΐζομαι) robber, pirate, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to κλέπτης, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially by sea, buccaneer, later πειρατής, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ληϊστὴς κατεστήκεε Καρχηδονίων he began a course of piracies upon them, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of irregular troops, [Refs]

II. metaphorically, λ. ἐναργὴς τῆς ἐμῆς τυραννίδος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; λῃστὰ λογισμοῦ, of love, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

λῃστής

lestes

from leizomai (to plunder); a brigand:--robber, thief.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λῃστής, οῦ, ὁ

n.m.

a robber, brigand, bandit

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λῃστής lēstēs 15x

a plunderer, robber, highwayman, Mt. 21:13; 26:55; Mk. 11:17; Lk. 10:30; 2 Cor. 11:26; a bandit, brigand, Mt. 27:38, 44; Mk. 15:27; Jn. 18:40; trop. a robber, rapacious imposter, Jn. 10:1, 8

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

λῃστής λῃστής, οῦ, ληίζομαι a robber, plunderer, Soph., Eur., Xen.; esp. by sea, a pirate, rover, buccaneer, Hdt., Thuc., etc.

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

N-NSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%robbers
robbers40% · 6×robber27% · 4×robbers.’20% · 3×robbers?7% · 1×insurrectionist7% · 1×

15 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 5 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial33%predicate27%second object20%subject13%object7%

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
σπήλαιονa cave, den
ποιέωI do, makeαὐτός
ἐπί
ὡςas, like as, how
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existἸεριχώProp
δύο
αὐτόςσταυρόωI crucify
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰς
λῃστήςan insurrectionist.15×
what comes after →
ἐξέρχομαιI go out, come out
μετά
εἷςone
ἐκ
Article the
συσταυρόωI crucify togeth
περιπίπτωI fall into the mids
ὅς
ἀλλάbut, except
οὐNeg

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

Concordanceλῃστής · 15× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John Mark 2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Special Laws 1.301c. AD 40

οὐκ ἄπλωτα πελάγη δεῖ περαιοῦσθαι καὶ μέσου χειμῶνος κλύδωνι καὶ βίαις ἐναντίων πνευμάτων κλονουμένους ἄνω καὶ κάτω θαλαττεύειν ἢ τραχείας καὶ ἀτριβεῖς πεζεύειν ἀνοδίας, οὐχ ὁδούς, λῃστῶν ἢ θηρίων ἐφόδους ἀεὶ κατεπτηχότας ἢ τειχοφυλακεῖν ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 9.183c. AD 75–95

συνέβη δὲ καὶ τότε, λῃστῶν τινων ῥιψάντων εἰς τὸν Ἐλισσαίου τάφον ὃν ἦσαν ἀνῃρηκότες, τὸν νεκρὸν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ προσκολληθέντα ἀναζωπυρῆσαι.

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 14.1c. AD 96

ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ποιήσωμεν τὸ θέλημα κυρίου, ἐσόμεθα ἐκ τῆς γραφῆς τῆς λεγούσης: Ἐγενήθη ὁ οἶκός μου σπήλαιον λῃστῶν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 7th c. AD 1st c. AD 1st c. BC
P.Köln 3 14731 BC–AD 15

γένηται κατὰ χειμῶνα ἢ πυρὸς ἀπὸ γῆς πάθῃ τὸ πλοῖον ἢ ὑπὸ πολεμίων ἢ λῃστῶν περισπασθῇ ὃ καὶ συμφανὲς καταστήσω. ἐὰν δέ τι τούτων παραβαίνω, ἐκτείσω σοι τά τε

P.Laur. 1 6AD 98–AD 103

ἐὰν μή τις κίνδυνος ἢ βλάβος γένηται ἤτοι ἀπὸ Διὸς βίας αλ … ἢ λῃστῶν ἐφόδου. ἡ ναύλωσις κυρία. ἔτους … Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Νερούα Τραιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ μηνὸς

JJP 18 (1974), p. 184 no. 5ArsinoitesAD 101–AD 300

πεδίῳ … … … ταζαν πλησίον. ὅτε δὲ η … … … ον οἱ λησταὶ … ἐπέβαλον ἡμῖν, οὐκ ἐπέβαλον … τῶν κοίτην, ἔνθεν ὑπενόησα λ … διὰ τοῦτο

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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