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John 8:33 — Word Study

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N1904ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

BSAThey answeredapokrinō unto Him;autos Seedsperma [seed, offspring] of AbrahamAbraam we areeimi andkai to no [one]oudeis [at any time, ever] have we been under bondagedouleuō [bondservants] ever;pōpote Howpōs You yourselfsu saylegō thathoti Freeeleutheros [from spiritual bondage, liberated] you will become’?ginomai [completely, utterly]

Word
Listen & take awayJohn 8
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 33 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 (ginomai) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
John 8:33quick helps
In a sentenceThe people assert their identity as descendants of Abraham, claiming they have never been enslaved.
Who is speakingThe Jews respond to Jesus, emphasizing their heritage.
Where we areThis exchange occurs during a discussion about spiritual freedom.
The hard wordσπέρμα
Take awayThey misunderstand the nature of true freedom.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectσπέρμα verbἀποκρίνομαι 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 8:33

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 Discourse on Freedomgenerated

32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”
34Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
35A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever.

John 8:33 captures a moment where Jesus speaks of spiritual freedom, and the Jews respond by asserting their lineage from Abraham. They believe their heritage grants them a status of freedom, unaware of their spiritual bondage. This dialogue highlights the contrast between physical lineage and spiritual truth, a theme prevalent in the Gospel of John.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1John 8:39“Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.
2Leviticus 25:42Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
3Matthew 3:9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
4Luke 16:24–26So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’
5John 19:25Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.

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


The Key Word σπέρμα, spermagenerated

The word σπέρμα (sperma) is a neuter noun meaning 'seed' and can refer to both literal seeds and metaphorical offspring or descendants. In this context, it emphasizes the Jews' claim to be the descendants of Abraham.

The use of σπέρμα here signifies their identity and heritage, which they believe protects them from bondage. The parsing indicates it is in the nominative case, singular, emphasizing their collective identity as Abraham's seed.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as: 'We are Abraham’s descendants.' This is echoed in the KJV and ASV, which also use 'seed' to refer to their lineage.

However, the BSB and others like the WEB and BBE use 'offspring' or 'descendants,' indicating a broader understanding of their identity. The translations agree on the assertion of their heritage but differ in how they express it.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἀπεκρίθησαν, meaning 'they answered.' This verb governs the response of the Jews, with multiple clauses providing their assertion of identity and questioning Jesus.

The structure includes a main clause stating their identity, followed by subordinate clauses that detail their claim of never having been enslaved and their inquiry into Jesus' statement about freedom.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

σπέρμα appears in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew word for 'seed' or 'offspring,' often used in the context of lineage and covenant promises, such as in Genesis. This reinforces the importance of their claim to Abraham's lineage.

The connection to the Hebrew scriptures highlights the continuity of God's promises to Abraham and his descendants, which the Jews in this verse are invoking.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

John 8:33 shows the Jews asserting their identity as Abraham's descendants, claiming they have never been enslaved. They question Jesus' statement about being set free, indicating a misunderstanding of the spiritual freedom He offers.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be Abraham's seed?

Being Abraham's seed signifies a claim to heritage and identity as part of God's chosen people, which the Jews believed granted them special status.

Why do the Jews claim they have never been slaves?

They refer to their historical lineage and the belief that as descendants of Abraham, they have always been free, overlooking their current spiritual bondage.

What does Jesus mean by saying they can be set free?

Jesus speaks of spiritual freedom from sin and the law, contrasting their physical lineage with the need for spiritual liberation.

How does this verse relate to the theme of freedom in the Gospel of John?

This verse illustrates the misunderstanding of true freedom, a recurring theme in John's Gospel, where Jesus emphasizes spiritual over physical liberation.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways do I identify with my heritage, and how does that shape my understanding of freedom?
  2. How can I better understand the difference between physical and spiritual freedom in my life?
  3. What does it mean to me to be a part of God's family, as opposed to relying on my ancestry?
  4. How can I share the message of true freedom with others who may misunderstand it?

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

Early church Fathers comment on this verse, discussing the misunderstanding of the Jews regarding their freedom and identity.

Theodore of MopsuestiaCOMMENTARY ON John 3.8.33 c. 350–428
They did not speak the truth. They had been freed from the bondage of the Egyptians, who were their neighbors, and from that of the Babylonians. And now, when they were speaking these words, they were subjects to the Romans.
Early Church Fathers on John 8 →
Augustine of HippoTr. xli. 2 354–430
Or it was not those who believed, but the unbelieving multitude that made this answer. But how could they say with truth, taking only secular bondage into account,
Early Church Fathers on John 8 →
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 5 c. 376–444
They laugh at the promise of our Saviour, rather they even take it ill, as though they were insulted. For that which has no share at all of bondage, how will it need (he says) of One Who calls us unto freedom,
Early Church Fathers on John 8 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on John 8:33 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

They answered him,.... Not the believing Jews, whom he peculiarly addressed, but the unbelieving Jews, who were present, and heard these things: we be Abraham's seed; this the Jews always valued

Read John Gill on John 8 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

Read Robert Jamieson on John 8 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

How carnally doth a carnal heart understand spiritual mysteries! Thus Nicodemus, hearing of being born again, grossly dreamed of entering into his mother’ s womb, and being born again. The woman of Samaria, hearing of living water, dreamed of water that should so satisfy her thirst, as that she should never come again to the well to draw. The Jews here hearing of being made free, dream of a freedom from human bondage and slavery. To what our Saviour had said, that if they knew the truth, the truth should make them free; they reply, We are Abraham’ s seed, and were never in bondage to any. Admitting that they were Abraham’ s seed, that is, Jews, were not the Jews in bondage, first to…

Read Matthew Poole on John 8 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

33 They answered him, We be Abraham’ s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Ver. 33. Were never in bondage] When yet they were scarcely ever out of bondage to one enemy or another. At this time they were vassals to the Romans. But brag is a good dog. Pride will bud, Ezekiel 7:10. Spaniards are said to be impudent braggers and extremely proud, in the lowest ebb of fortune. There is not a more vain glorious people this day under heaven than the Jews (saith Alsted). Antiquum obtinent, old stubborn men, they are no changelings, they fill up the measure of their fathers’ sins.

Read John Trapp on John 8 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(33) They answered him—i.e., the Jews who had believed in Him (John 8:31). There is no indication that this answer was made by others standing near, nor would this supposition have been made but for the difficulty of applying some of the words which follow (John 8:40; John 8:44) to those who had ever professedly been believers; but the explanation is to be found in our Lord’s own warning words in John 8:31. He has tested their faith, and they fail in the first steps of discipleship. We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man.—Their pride misinterprets His words, and expresses itself in a boast which passes the limits of historical truth. It had been promised to Abraham, “I…

Read Charles John Ellicott on John 8 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 33. They answered] That is, the other Jews who had not believed-the carping, cavilling Pharisees already mentioned; for the words cannot be spoken of the simple people who had already believed. See John 8:30. Were never in bondage to any man] This assertion was not only false, but it was ridiculous in the extreme; seeing their whole history, sacred and profane, is full of recitals of their servitude in Egypt, in Chaldea, under the Persians, under the Macedonians, and under the Romans. But those who are not under the influence of the truth of God will speak and act according to the influence of the spirit of falsehood and error. If the words are to be restrained to themselves alone…

Read AdamClarke on John 8 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

33. They answered him] Or, unto Him, according to the best MSS. ‘They’ must mean ‘the Jews who had believed Him’ (John 8:31): it is quite arbitrary to suppose any one else. The severe words which follow (John 8:44) are addressed to them, for turning back, after their momentary belief, as well as to those who had never believed at all.Abraham’s seed] Comp. ‘kings of peoples shall be of her’ (Sarah), and ‘thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies’ (Genesis 17:16; Genesis 22:17). On texts like these they build the proud belief that Jews have never yet been in bondage to any man. But passion once more blinds them to historical facts (see on John 7:52). The bondage in Egypt, the oppressions…

Read Cambridge on John 8 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They answered him - Not those who believed on him, but some who stood by and heard him. We be Abraham’s seed - We are the children or descendants of Abraham.

Read Albert Barnes on John 8 →

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

“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”

WEBWorld English Bible2000

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’ ?”

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”

NETBNew English Translation2006

“We are descendants of Abraham,” they replied, “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

¶ They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

They answered unto him, We are Abraham’s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

RVARevised Version, American1894

They answered unto him, We be Abraham’s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

NWBWebster's Bible1833

They answered him, We are Abraham's offspring, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

GNVGeneva Bible1599

They answered him, Wee be Abrahams seede, and were neuer bonde to any man: why sayest thou then, Ye shalbe made free?

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

They answered him, We are Abraham's seed, and have never been under bondage to any one; how sayest thou, Ye shall become free?

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

They answered him, 'Seed of Abraham we are; and to no one have we been servants at any time; how dost thou say — Ye shall become free?'

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

They answered Him, “We are seed of Abraham; and we have been servants to no one at any time; how do You say—You will become free?”

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone; how can you say, 'You will be set free'?”

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

They answered him: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to any man: how sayest thou: you shall be free?

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

“We're descendants of Abraham! We've never been anyone's slaves,” they answered. “How can you say that we'll be set free?”

BBEBible in Basic English1949

They said to him in answer, We are Abraham's seed and have never been any man's servant: why do you say, You will become free?

Word by word, the decisions they made

σπέρμαsperma Seed G4690 3 different renderings
seedASV BBE DBY DRA KJV LSV RVA
descendantsBSB FBV MSB NETB ULB
offspringNWB WEB
ἈβραάμAbraam of Abraham G11 2 different renderings
abrahamASV BSB KJV MSB RVA WEB
of abrahamDRA FBV LSV NETB ULB YLT
ἐσμενeimi we are G1510 3 different renderings
we areASV BBE DBY DRA LSV NETB NWB YLT
will beBSB MSB ULB WEB
wereGNV KJV

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.

clauseclauseverbἀπεκρίθησανThey answeredprepositional phrase · adverbialπρὸςuntoαὐτόνHimclauseclausenoun phrase · predicateΣπέρμαSeedἈβραάμof Abrahamlinking verbἐσμενwe areκαὶandclauseobjectοὐδενὶto no oneverbδεδουλεύκαμενhave we been under bondageadverbialπώποτεeverclauseadverbialπῶςHowsubjectσὺYouverbλέγειςsayclauseὅτι-clausepredicateἘλεύθεροιFreelinking verbγενήσεσθεyou will become

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

Responderunt ei : Semen Abrahæ sumus, et nemini servivimus umquam : quomodo tu dicis : Liberi eritis ?

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

ܐܡܪܝܢ ܠܗ ܙܪܥܗ ܚܢܢ ܕܐܒܪܗܡ ܘܡܢ ܡܬܘܡ ܥܒܕܘܬܐ ܠܐܢܫ ܠܐ ܦܠܝܚܐ ܠܢ ܐܝܟܢܐ ܐܡܪ ܐܢܬ ܕܬܗܘܘܢ ܒܢܝ ܚܐܪܐ

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

ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἀπεκρίθησαν πρὸς αὐτόν· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἀπεκρίθησαν σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἀπεκρίθησαν σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐδενὶ δεδουλεύκαμεν πώποτε· πῶς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε;

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
πρὸς untoNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
αὐτόν· Him;NA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

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 8:33ἀποκρίνομαιThey answerThey answeredἀποκρίνομαιπρόςuntountoπρόςαὐτόςHim;Him;αὐτόςσπέρμαSeedSeedσπέρμαἈβραάμof Abrahamof AbrahamἈβραάμεἰμίwe arewe areεἰμίκαίandandκαίοὐδείςto no [one]to no [one]οὐδείςδουλεύωhave we beehave we been unδουλεύωπώποτεever;ever;πώποτεπῶςHowHowπῶςσύYou yourselYou yourselfσύλέγωsaysayλέγωὅτιthatthatὅτιἐλεύθεροςFreeFreeἐλεύθεροςγίνομαιyou will beyou will becomeγίνομαιδοῦλος (II)Adj. & n.mAdj. & n.m. a mδοῦλος (II)ἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόσπείρωv. I sow, v. I sow, spreaσπείρωοὐδέNeg.cj. neNeg.cj. neitherοὐδέπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦποῦIrg.adv. wIrg.adv. where,ποῦφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίὅστιςRel.pr. whRel.pr. whosoevὅστιςἔρχομαιv. I come,v. I come, goἔρχομαιδύναμαιv. I am pov. I am powerfuδύναμαιἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνΠέτροςn.m. Petern.m. PeterΠέτροςἸησοῦςn.m. Jesusn.m. JesusἸησοῦςἀλλήλωνRecip.pr. Recip.pr. one aἀλλήλωνἐπιστρέφωv. I turn v. I turn back ἐπιστρέφωἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάω
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 8:33

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 answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
ἀπεκρίθησανapokrinō They answered G611 Verb · aorist · middle deponent · indicative · third person · plural
231× 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 answer or respond, as in Matthew 27:12 and Mark 14:61, where Jesus answers the high priest. It can also mean to begin speaking or to give a reply. The KJV translates it as 'answer'.
Tyndale gloss
to answer
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀποκρίνομαι (apokrinomai) is built from the prefix ἀπο- and the root κρίνω, meaning to separate or distinguish. It primarily means to answer or reply, often in a context where a response is expected. In the New Testament, it appears in various forms, particularly in legal or conversational contexts, such as in Matthew 3:15 and John 1:49.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπο-κρίνω,

[in LXX chiefly for ענה;]

in cl.,

to separate, distinguish.

to choose. Mid., to answer: Mt 27:12, Mk 14:61, Lk 3:16 23:9, Jo 5:17, 19, Ac 3:12. In late Gk. the pass, also is used in this sense, and pass. forms are the more freq. in NT (M, Pr., 39, 161; MM, s.v.);

in general sense: absol., Mk 12:34; c. acc. rei, Mt 22:46; c. dat. pers., Mt 12:38; seq. πρός, Ac 25:16;

Hebraistically

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

ἀποκρίνομαι. Syil 928°? (Magnesia, early 11,8.6.) περὶ ταύτης τῆς] χώρας τῆς παρὰ IIpinvéwy ἀποκεκριμένης οὔσης shows the old ἀποκρίνω in passive. For the combination of pf. partic. and ὦν, cf. Col 12. In P Ryl II. 122" (a.p. 127) εἰς τὸ κἀμὲ δύνασθαι ἀποκριθῆναι τῶι δημοσίωι, ‘enabling me thus to fulfil my duties towards the Treasury” (Edd.), we have an , ἀποκρίνομαι isolated ex. of the passive aor. not meaning ‘‘answer.” This latter, so overwhelmingly predominant in NT, is rather surprisingly uncommon in the non-literary Kow#. Early inscriptional instances are Sy// 328" (8.6. 84) ἀπεκρίθην κα]λῶς [αὐτ]όν [τε δεδωἸκέναι kal KrA., 24. 307%! (B.C. 150-47) ἔδοξεν... τούτοις φιλανθρώπως ἀποκριθῆναι, 25. 9305: (B.C. 112), same phrase: the last two are senatus consulta, starting in Latin. Similarly the dialectic Sy// 654° (Ὁ ii/B.c.) ἀποκριθῆμεν τοῖς πρεσβευταῖς διότι KTA. Mayser, p. 379…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀποκρίνω (apokrinō) — to answer.

ἀποκρίνω [ῑ],

future -κρῐνῶ, set apart, probably in [Refs 7th c.BC+]:—passive, to be parted or separated, ἀποκρινθέντε parted from the throng (of two πρόμαχοι), [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of the elements in cosmogony, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀποκεκρίσθαι εἰς ἓν ὄνομα to be separated and brought under one name, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐ βεβαίως ἀπεκρίθησαν, of combatants, separated without decisive result, [Refs]

2. in Medicine texts in passive, to be distinctly formed, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the embryo, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὰ ἐν τῷ σώματι -όμενα bodily secretions, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but ἐς τοῦτο πάντα ἀπεκρίθη all illnesses determined or ended in this alone, [Refs 5th c.BC+]are voided, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀποκρίνομαι

apokrinomai

from 575 and krino; to conclude for oneself, i.e. (by implication) to

respond; by Hebraism (compare 6030) to begin to speak (where an

address is expected):--answer.

see GREEK for 575

see HEBREW for 06030

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀποκρίνομαι

v.

I answer, reply

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀποκρίνομαι apokrinomai 231x

to answer, Mt. 3:15; in NT to respond to certain present circumstances, to avow, Mt. 11:25

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

V-ADI-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
47%answering
answering47% · 115×answered36% · 89×he answered4% · 9×they answered3% · 8×other renderings9% · 23×other renderings1% · 3×

247 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
verb59%adverbial41%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 231 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
λόγοςa word, speech, ἐγώσύ
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theΠέτροςPeterὅς
τότεthen
θεόςGod, a god
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the othe
οὐδείςno one, none, nothin
αὐτόςπρεσβύτεροςelderοὐκέτιNeg
ἀποκρίνομαιThey answered231×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theοὐNeg
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeterἄγγελοςan angel, messen
ἸησοῦςJesus
καίand, even, also,οὔτεNegArticle the

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

Concordanceἀποκρίνομαι · 231× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke Mark Acts Colossians Revelation

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 118 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.46c. AD 40

ὁ δὲ ἀποκρίνεται ὅτι, ὦ ψευδοδοξοῦσα, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ νοῦς αἴτιον οὐδενός, ἀλλ’ ὁ πρὸ τοῦ νοῦ θεός·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.174c. AD 75–95

ἐκ μέντοι τῶν κλάδων ἀνίησι κάλυκα προσεχῆ τῷ κλωνί, περίεισι δʼ αὐτὴν ἔλυτρον, ὅπερ ἀποκρίνεται κατʼ αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸν καρπὸν μεταβαλεῖν ἠργμένης·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 12.4c. AD 96

ἐπισταθέντων δὲ τῶν παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ λεγόντων: Πρὸς σὲ εἰσῆλθον οἱ κατάσκοποι τῆς γῆς ἡμῶν: ἐξάγαγε αὐτούς, ὁ γὰρ βασιλεὺς οὕτως κελεύει, ἥδε ἀπεκρίθη: Εἰσῆλθον μὲν οἱ ἄνδρες, οὓς ζητεῖτε, πρός με, ἀλλ̓ εὐθέως ἀπῆλθον καὶ πορεύονται τῇ ὁδῷ:…

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 1st c. AD
P.Amh. 2 65 RoHermopolisAD 117–AD 127

Δίδυμος· ὅλως ἀμφοδογραμματεὺς οὐ καθίστησιν σιτολόγον. ἐκεῖνος· σὺ αὐτοὺς εἰσέδωκας ἐργολαβῆσαι θέλων. Πομπήιος Πλάντας ἀποκρίνεται· Ἑρμαῖος ὁ ἀδελφὸς … πράγματι ε … … … … ματι εἰργολάβησεν … Πομπήιος

P.Fay. 203 descr.Bakchias (Arsinoites)AD 148–AD 150

γὰρ επ … … ἁπλῆς πράσεως … τ … … εἶπεν· τί πρὸς ταῦτα ἀποκρίνῃ; … … αι καὶ μηδε … … … η τοῖς ονη … … βοηθῆσαι

PSI 10 1100ArsinoitesAD 161

περιγραφῇ τῇ ἐμῇ ταῦτα βασταχθῇ καὶ παραπόληται τῷ ταμίῳ. Φαῦστος ἐπύθετο· ὑπὸ τίνος βασταχθῇ; ἀπεκρίνατο· ὑπὸ τῶν σιτολόγων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων. ἐὰν οὖν σοι δοκῆι, κατάστησόν τινας ἐπακολουθοῦντας. Φαῦστος

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
πρὸς unto G4314
700× 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
A preposition showing direction or relationship, like towards or with something, as seen in Mark 5:11 and John 18:16. This means indicating movement or direction. It's about showing proximity or connection.
Tyndale gloss
to/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρός is a preposition that indicates direction, proximity, or relation. It can be used with the genitive to denote motion from a place, with the dative for local proximity, and with the accusative to express motion towards a place or object. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as Acts 27:34 for benefit and Mark 5:11 for proximity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρός,

prep. c. gen., dat., acc.

C. gen., of motion from a place, from the side of, hence metaph., in the interests of, Ac 27:34 (cf. Page, in l.).

C. dat., of local proximity, hard by, near, at: Mk 5:11, Lk 19:37, Jo 18:16 20:11, 12, Re 1:13.

C. acc., of motion or direction towards a place or object, to, towards.

Of place,

after verbs of motion or of speaking and other words with the idea of direction: ἔρχομαι, ἀναβαίνω, πορεύομαι, λέγω, ἐπιστολή, etc., Mt 3:14, Mk 6:51, Lk 11:5, Jo 2:3,

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

πρός, a preposition, i.q. Epic mpori, from πρό and the adverbial suffix τι, (cf. the German vor . . . hin [Curtius § 381]); it is joined I. with the AccusaTIvE, to, towards, Lat. ad, denoting direction towards athing, or position and state looking towards a thing (W. § 49h. p. 404 (378)): it is used 1. of the goal or limit towards which a movement is directed: πρός twa or τι, a. prop. after verbs of going, departing, running, coming, ete.: ἄγω, Jn. xi. 15; ἀναβαίνω, Mk. vi. 51; Jn. xx. 17; Acts xv. 2; ἀνακάμπτω, Mt. ii. 12; Acts xvili. 21; ἀνέρχομαι, Gal. i. 17 [1]. Tr mrg. arépy.]; ἀπέρχομαι, Mt. » xiv. 25 [Rec.]; Mk. iii. 13, etc.; πρὸς ἑαυτόν, to his house, Lk. xxiv. 12 [T om. L Trbr. WH reject the ys.; Tr reads mp. αὐτόν ; some connect the phrase w. θαυμάζων (see 2 Ὁ. below) ]; Jn. xx. 10 [Ὁ Tr αὐτούς, WH air. (cf. s. v. αὑτοῦ sub fin.)]; γίνεσθαι πρός τινα, to come to one, 1 Co.…

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

πρός reference to place PSI IV. 31178 (iv/A.D.?) πρ]ὸς τὴν Aavitk.ay τῆς κοίλης Dupials. Headlam (on Herodas VII. 123) holds that τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν in Mk 2? ‘‘is surely idiomatic (not vulgar as Moulton thinks) ‘spots which commanded the door’”: cf. Mt 310, Lk 35. For πρός, ‘‘with,” as in Jn ΤΡ, Heb 41%, cf. Epict. iv. 9. 13 πρὸς ὃν οὐδείς ἐστί σου πιθανώτερος (see Sharp Ξε, p. 92). And for the possibility that the difficult πρός in Mk 63, οἷ", 14%, Jn 1}, 1 Jn 1?, is to be explained as an Aramaism, see Rendel Harris Prologue to S. John’s Gospel p. 8f., and Burney Avamaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel p. 28 f. (6) of time = ‘‘for’’ (a time) and no longer—BGU I. 1131? (A.D. 143) βουλόμενος παρεπιδημεῖν πρὸς καιρόν (cf. Lk 818), P Oxy I. 6714 (A.D. 338) πρὸς ὀλίγον εἰσχύει, ‘‘withstands but for a short time” (cf. Jas 4), and P Flor III. 282° (A.D. 520) πρὸς ὅλον χρόνον. (c) of mental…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρός (pros) — to/with.

πρός,

preposition, expressing direction,

__A on the side of, in the direction of, hence with genitive, dative, and accusative, from, at, to: Epic dialect also προτί and ποτί, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] usually with accusative, more rarely with dative, and each only once with genitive, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—dialectal forms: Doric dialectποτί (which see) and ποί, but Cretan dialect πορτί [Refs], Argive προτ(ί) [Refs 7th c.BC+] πός [Refs 4th c.BC+]., also sometimes in Asia Minor in compounds, see at {ποσάγω},{ποσφέρω}; Aeolic dialect πρός [Refs 7th c.BC+]; πρές [Refs 6th c.AD+]; Pamphylian περτ (ί) [Refs] (With προτί, πρός cf. Sanskrit práti 'towards, near to, against, back, etc.', Slavonic protiv[ucaron], Lett. pret 'against', Latin pretium: ποτί (which see) and πός are not cognate) [Refs 4th c.BC+] refers to that from which something…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρός

pros

a strengthened form of 4253; a preposition of direction; forward to,

i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to;

with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the

accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the

destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is

predicated):--about, according to , against, among, at, because of,

before, between, (where-)by, for, X at thy house, in, for intent, nigh

unto, of, which pertain to, that, to (the end that), X together, to

(you) -ward, unto, with(-in). In the comparative case, it denotes

essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession

to, or nearness at.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρός

Prep.

to, towards, with

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρός pros 700x

from; met. for the benefit of, Acts 27:34; with a dative, near, by, at, by the side of, in the vicinity of, Mk. 5:11; Lk. 19:37; with an accusative, used of the place to which anything tends, to, unto, towards, Mt. 2:12; 3:5, 13; at, close upon, Mt. 3:10; Mk. 5:22; near to, in the vicinity of, Mk. 6:45; after verbs of speaking, praying, answering to a charge, etc., to, Mt. 3:15; 27:14; of place where, with, in, among, by, at, etc., Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρός prep. with gen., implying motion from a place; with dat., abiding at a place; with acc., motion to a place

WITH GEN.,

of Place, from, from forth, Hom., Soph.

on the side or quarter of, νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος islands looking (as it were) from Elis, i. e. towards Elis, Od.; πρὸς τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἵδρυται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ Στρύμονος lies more towards (i. e. nearer) the Hellespont than the Strymon, Hdt.; ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο πρὸς Ὀλύνθου Thuc., etc.:—often with words denoting the points of the compass, δύω θύραι εἰσίν, αἱ μὲν πρὸς βορέαο, αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς νότου one looking north wards, the other south wards, Od.; so, οἰκέουσι πρὸς νότου ἀνέμου Hdt., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Into Englishhow translators actually render it
69%to
to69% · 506×with7% · 48×for6% · 42×toward4% · 30×against3% · 21×at3% · 20×unto2% · 18×other renderings5% · 37×other renderings1% · 10×

732 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 32 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
adverbial93%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 700 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
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,Article theνύξthe night, night
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
αὐτός
ἄγωI leadφέρωI carry, bear, bμαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
ὑπέρσῶμαbody, fleshυἱόςa son, descenden
πρόςunto700×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἐνἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theοὐNeg
ἀλλήλων
τίςIrgλέγωI say, speakμήNeg

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

Concordanceπρός · 700× in the New Testament
Luke Acts John Mark Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Hebrews Romans Ephesians 1 Thessalonians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 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 3c. AD 40

ἡ δ’ ἀρχή, καθάπερ ἔφην, ἐστὶ θαυμασιωτάτη κοσμοποιίαν περιέχουσα, ὡς καὶ τοῦ κόσμου τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῦ νόμου τῷ κόσμῳ συνᾴδοντος καὶ τοῦ νομίμου ἀνδρὸς εὐθὺς ὄντος κοσμοπολίτου πρὸς τὸ βούλημα τῆς φύσεως τὰς πράξεις ἀπευθύνοντος, καθ’ ἣν καὶ ὁ σύμπας…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.4c. AD 75–95

τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον ἡμῖν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γενόμενον καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ πράξεις καὶ τὸ τέλος οἷον ἀπέβη πείρᾳ μαθὼν ἐβιάσθην ἐκδιηγήσασθαι διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῷ γράφειν λυμαινομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.3c. AD 100

τούτων οὖν μενόντων τὰ πρὸς κύριον ἁγνῶς, συνευφραίνονται αὐτοῖς σοφία, σύνεσις, ἐπιστήμη, γνῶσις.

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.Grenf. 1 28Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)109 BC

r … πυρὸν νέον καθαρὸν ἄδολον μέτρωι ὧι καὶ παρείληφεν καὶ ἀποκαθεστάμενον εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδίοις ἀνηλώμασιν. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῶι ἐν τῶι ὡρισμένωι χρόνωι ἢ μὴ ποιῆ

P.Amh. 2 48Pathyris107 BC

παρεχέτω τὸν οἶνον μόνιμον ἕως Ἁθὺρ λ τοῦ δεκάτου ἔτους, καὶ ἀποκαταστησάτω εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῖς ἰδίοις. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῷ ἐν τῷ ὡρισμένῳ χρόνῳ ἀποτεισάτω ἑκάστου κεραμίου

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

πᾶσι χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διὰ παντὸς εὐημερεῖν. ὑγιαίνομεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
αὐτόν·autos Him; G846 Personal pronoun · dative · singular · masculine
5,550× 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 pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P-DSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

5,861 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 92 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object33%adverbial28%indirect object19%subject18%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 5,561 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςHim;5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
σπέρμαsperma Seed G4690 Noun · nominative · singular · neuter
44× 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 seed or offspring, used in Matthew 13:24 and Romans 9:29 to describe a remnant or descendants. It can also refer to the male sperm or a plant's seed.
Amplified meaning
seed, offspring
Tyndale gloss
seed: offspring
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σπέρμα is a neuter noun meaning 'seed' and is derived from the verb σπείρω. It primarily refers to the seed of plants but also extends metaphorically to offspring, descendants, and spiritual progeny. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including references to literal seeds in parables (e.g., Mt 13:24) and as a metaphor for a remnant of people (e.g., Ro 9:29).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σπέρμα, -τος, τό

(< σπείρω)

[in LXX chiefly for זֶרַע ;]

seed;

of plants: Mt 13:24, 27 37, 38, II Co 9:10; pl., Mt 13:32, Mk 4:31, I Co 15:33; metaph., of an escaping remnant (שָׂרִיד, Is 1:9; cf. Wi 14:6; Plat., Tim., 23 c; FlJ, Ant., xi, 5, 3), Ro 9:29;

of men (as γονή; Lat. semen genitale; so in cl.; cf. in LXX, Le 15:16, al.): He 11:11; metaph., of the divine influence, I Jo 3:9; by meton. (as freq. in poets), seed, offspring, posterity: Mt 22:24, 25, Mk 12:19-22,

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

σπέρμα, -τος, τό, (σπείρω, q. ν.), fr. Hom. down, Hebr. yu, the seed (fr. which anything springs) ; a. from which a plant germinates; a. prop. the seed i.e. the grain or kernel which contains within itself the germ of the future plant: plur., Mt. xiii. 32; Mk. iv. 31; 1 Co. xv. 38, (Ex. xvi. 31; 1S. viii. 15); the sing. is used collectively of the grains or kernels sown: Mt. xiii. 24, 27, 37 sq.; 2 Co. ix. 10 [here L Tr σπόρος]. β. metaph. a seed i.e. a residue, or a few survivors reserved as the germ of a new race (just as seed is kept from the harvest for the sowing), Ro. ix. 29 after Is. i. 9, where Sept. for ὙΠ, (so also Sap. xiv. 6; 1 Esdr. viii. 85 (87) ; Joseph. antt. 11, 5,3; 12, 7,3; Plat. Tim. p. 23 c.). b. the semen virile; a. prop.: Lev. xv. 16-18; xviii. 20 sq., ete.; [prob. also Heb. xi. 11, cf. καταβολή 1, and see below]; often in prof. writ. By meton. the product of this…

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

σπέρμα, “seed”: P Cairo Zen I. 59097}9 (x.c. 257) χόρτου σπέρμα, P Par 631° (B.c. 165) (= P Petr III. p- 28) τὰ σπέρματα κατενεγκεῖν εἰς τοὺς ἀγρούς, ‘to carry the seed to the fields,’’ BGU II. 59724 (a.p. 75) ἀλλαξέτω σε αὐτὸν (sc. σάκκον) ἸΤασίων καλοῖς σπέρμασει( -- σι), P Tebt II. 341° (A.D. 140-1) δεήσι ἐπισταλῆναι εἰς δάνε[ι]α σπέρματα (. σπερμάτων) κατασπίο]ρᾶς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ὃ (ἔτους) ᾿Αντωνίνου Καίσαρος. . ., “it will be necessary to send on account of loans of seed-corn for the sowing of the present ΑΒ year of Antoninus Caesar . . .” (Edd.), and P Oxy I. Part VII. omtAas 117" (ii/iii A.D.) σπέρματα σικυδίων σπουδαῖα ἔπεμψα ὑμεῖν, “1 send you some good melon seeds ’’ (Edd. ). For σπέρμα in the singular in Gal 31%, see Milligan Documents, Ὁ. 105 ; and for the subst. σπερματισμός see P Lond 604° (A.D. 47) (ΞΞ 111. p. 71). We may note the proverb Kazbel 1038° eig] πέλαγος σπέρμα…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σπέρμα (sperma) — seed: offspring.

σπέρμ-α, ατος, τό,

(σπείρω) seed, only once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I. mostly, seed of plants, σ. ἀνιέναι, κρύπτειν, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σ. τῇ γῇ διδόναι, ἐμβαλεῖν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of fruit, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τοῖς γαίης σπέρμασι with the products of earth, of corn-stalks, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

I.2. metaphorically, germ, origin of anything, σ. πυρός [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σπέρματα, ={στοιχεῖα}, elements, [Refs 5th c.BC+]Ep.2p.38 U., [Refs 4th c.BC+]

I.3. seed-time, sowing, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

II. of animals, seed, semen, φέροισα σ. θεοῦ pregnant by the god, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but σ. φέρειν Ἡρακλέους to be pregnant of Heracles, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σπέρμα

sperma

from 4687; something sown, i.e. seed (including the male "sperm"); by

implication, offspring; specially, a remnant (figuratively, as if kept

over for planting):--issue, seed.

see GREEK for 4687

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σπέρμα, ατος, τό

n.n.

seed, offspring

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σπέρμα sperma 43x

seed, Mt. 13:24, 27, 37, 38; semen virile, Heb. 11:11; offspring, posterity, Mt. 22:24, 25; Jn. 7:42; a seed of future generations, Rom. 9:29; in NT met. a seed or principle of spiritual life, 1 Jn. 3:9

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σπέρμα σπέρμα, ατος, τό, σπείρω that which is sown:

the seed of plants, Hes., Hdt., attic:—also of animals, Pind., Eur.

metaph. of the germ, origin, element of anything, σπ. πυρός Od.; φλογός Pind.; κακῶν Dem.

seed, offspring, issue, Trag., etc.

race, origin, descent, id. Trag.

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

N-NSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sed (Old Testament always for zera`, Aramaic (Da 2:43) zera`, except in Joe 1:17 for perudhoth (plural, the Revised Version (British and American) "seeds," the King James Version "seed"), and Le 19:19 (the King James Version "mingled seed") and De 22:9 (the King James Version "divers seeds") for kil'ayim, literally, "two kinds," the Revised Version (British and American) "two kinds of seed." Invariably in Greek Apocrypha and usually in the New Testament for sperma, but Mr 4:26,27; Lu 8:5,11; 2Co 9:10 for sporos, and…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Ge 1:11; often used figuratively in Scripture, Da 9:1 1Pe 1:23 1Jo 3:9. There was an injunction in the Mosaic Law against sowing a field with mingled seed of diverse kinds, Le 19:19. The "precious seed" is often committed to the ground with many fears; but the harvest, at least in spiritual things, shall be a season of joy, Ps 126:5,6.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Every herb, tree, and grass, yields its own Ge 1:11,12,29

→ Each kind has its own body 1Co 15:38

→ Not to be mingled in sowing Le 19:19; De 22:9

→ Parables concerning Mt 13; Lu 8

→ Illustrative Ec 11:6; Ho 10:12; 2Co 9:6; Ga 6:7,8

→ Sowing of, type of burial of the body 1Co 15:36-38

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Every herb, tree and grass yields its own

Ge 1:11,12,29

- Each kind of, has its own body

1Co 15:38

- SOWING OF

. Time for, called seed time

Ge 8:22

. Necessary to its productiveness

Joh 12:24; 1Co 15:36

. Required constant diligence

Ec 11:4,6

. Often attended with great waste

Mt 13:4,5,7

. Often attended with danger

Ps 126:5,6

- Yearly return of time of sowing, secured by covenant

Ge 8:21,22

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
63%seed
seed63% · 27×offspring14% · 6×descendants12% · 5×seeds9% · 4×children2% · 1×

43 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
object32%adverbial23%predicate14%subject14%indirect object11%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 44 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,πᾶςall, the whole, εἰμίI am, exist
καλόςbeautiful, good, wor
σπείρωI sow, spread, sοὐχίIrgArticle the
ἐκ
γίνομαιI come into beinεἰμίI am, existνεκρόςdead, a corpse
ἐξανίστημιI raise up, rise up
καίand, even, also,
ἀφίημιI send away, release
οὐNeg
σπέρμαSeed44×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theεἰςμετά
ἈβραάμProp
εἰμίI am, existπᾶςall, the whole, φυλήa tribe, race
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherἐπίσπείρωI sow, spread, s
ΔαυίδProp
κατάκαίand, even, also,
σύ
ἐνευλογέωI blessὅς

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

Concordanceσπέρμα · 44× in the New Testament
Romans Matthew Galatians Mark Acts Hebrews John 2 Corinthians Luke 1 Corinthians 1 John 2 Timothy
Across the New Testament13 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 155 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 Clement of Rome Josephus Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 44c. AD 40

ἔκ τε γὰρ φυτῶν ὁ καρπός, ὡς ἂν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τέλος, καὶ ἐκ καρποῦ τὸ σπέρμα περιέχοντος ἐν ἑαυτῷ πάλιν τὸ φυτόν, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τέλους ἀρχή.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.28c. AD 75–95

μέλιτι γὰρ ἦν τὴν γλυκύτητα καὶ τὴν ἡδονὴν ἐμφερές, ὅμοιον δὲ τῇ τῶν ἀρωμάτων βδέλλῃ, τὸ δὲ μέγεθος τῷ κοριάννου σπέρματι·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 3.3c. AD 100

διάθρυπτε πεινῶσιν τὸν ἄρτον σου, καὶ γυμνὸν ἐὰν ἴδῃς περίβαλε: ἀστέγους εἴσαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκον σου, καὶ ἐὰν ἴδῃς ταπεινόν, οὐχ ὑπερόψῃ αὐτόν, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων τοῦ σπέρματός σου.

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. BC 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Cair. Zen. 3 59414Arsinoites276 BC–227 BC

r Δᾶμις Ζήνωνι χαίρειν. δὸς ἡμῖν σκόρδου ἀρτάβας εἰς σπέρμα πεντήκοντα · ἀποδώσομεν δέ σοι ἐκ νέων ἡμιόλιον.

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59494Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)276 BC–227 BC

ἀπεσταλμένοι. ὕστερον οὖν ἐλθὼν ἡμᾶς ἐκάλει λέγων διότι, οὐκ ἔχω τοὺς καθαροῦντάς μοι τὸ σπέρμα τῆς λινοκαλάμης καὶ τοῦ σησάμου τὸ σκύβαλον. ἀποστείλας οὖν τοὺς ἡμίσεις, εἰργάσαντο. εἰ οὖν

P.Col. 3 54Arsinoites (?)251 BC

ἀρτάβας ζ η ἀκίνδυνον καὶ ἀνυπόλογον παντὸς ὑπολόγου. δοθήσεται δὲ εἰς μὲν τὴν πυροφόρον σπέρμα τῆι ἀρούρᾳ ἀρτάβης 𐅵, εἰς δὲ τὴν κριθοφόρον κατὰ λόγον καὶ εἰς ἀνήλωμα ἑκάστηι

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
ἈβραάμAbraam of Abraham G11 Noun · proper name, indeclinable
73× 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
Abraham was a Hebrew patriarch, mentioned in Matthew 1:1 and other passages. He is considered the father of the Jewish nation and is an important figure in the Bible. Abraham's story is told in the book of Genesis.
Tyndale gloss
Abraham
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word Ἀβραάμ (i.e., Abraam) is an indeclinable proper noun meaning 'Abraham,' the Hebrew patriarch. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, notably in Matthew 1:1 and Acts 7:16, where some manuscripts may refer to Jacob instead. The entries consistently identify it as a name of Hebrew origin.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

Ἀβραάμ (Heb. אַבְרָהָם), ὁ, indecl. (in FlJ, Ἄβραμος, -ου; MM, VGT, s.v.),

Abraham (Ge 17:5 al.): Mt 1:1, 2 al.

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

᾿Αβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν, Jn. vill. 56; Ro. iv. 1; ᾿Ιάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ ᾿Ιωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, Mt. iv. 21; Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή, Mt. xxvii. 56, ete.; Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστῆς, Mt. iii. 1; Ἡρώδης ὃ τετράρχης, Lk. ix. 7; "Ingots ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός, Mt. i. 16; Σαῦλος δὲ ὁ καὶ Παῦλος sc. καλούμενος, Acts xiii. 9; Σίμωνος τοῦ λεπροῦ, Mk. xiv. 3; Βαρτίμαιος ὁ τυφλός, Mk. χ. 40 [RG]; Ζαχαρίου τοῦ ἀπολομένου, Lk. xi.51. But there are excep. tions also to this usage: ὁ δὲ Ηρώδης ὁ τετράρχης, Lk. 111, 19; τὸν Σαούλ, υἱὸν Kis, Acts xiii. 21; in the opening of the Epistles: Παῦλος ἀπόστολος, Ro. i. 1; 1 Co. i. 1, ete. B. Proper names of countries and regions have the article far more frequently than those of cities and towns, for the reason that most names of countries, being derived from adjectives, get the force of substantives only by the addition of the article, as ἡ ᾿Αχαΐα (but ef. 2 Co.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Ἀβραάμ (Abraam) — Abraham.

Ἀβραάμ (Heb. אַבְרָהָם), ὁ, indecl. (in FlJ, Ἄβραμος, -ου; MM, VGT, see word),

Abraham (Gen.17:5 al.): Mat.1:1, 2 al.

(From Abbott-Smith. LSJ has no entry)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Ἀβραάμ

Abraam

of Hebrew origin (85); Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch:--Abraham. (In

Acts 7:16 the text should probably read Jacob.)

see HEBREW for 085

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Ἀβραάμ, ὁ

Prop.n.

Abraham

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Ἀβραάμ Abraam 73x

Abraham, pr. name indecl.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-PRI — Noun · proper name, indeclinable
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-PRI Indeclinable PRoper Noun

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a'-bra-ham:

I. NAME 1. Various Forms 2. Etymology 3. Association II. KINDRED III. CAREER 1. Period of Wandering 2. Period of Residence at Hebron 3. Period of Residence in the Negeb IV. CONDITIONS OF LIFE 1. Economic Conditions 2. Social Conditions 3. Political Conditions 4. Cultural Conditions V. CHARACTER 1. Religious Beliefs 2. Morality 3. Personal Traits VI. SIGNIFICANCE IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGION 1. In the Old Testament 2. In the New Testament 3. In Jewish Tradition 4. In the Koran VII. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE STORY OTHER THAN HISTORICAL 1. The Allegorical Interpretation 2. The Personification Theory 3. The Mythical Theory 4. The "Saga" Theory

I. Name.

1. Various Forms:

In the Old Testament, when applied, to the patriarch, the name appears as 'abhram, up to Ge 17:5; thereafter always as 'abhraham. Two other persons are named 'abhiram.…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Abraham

Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred in his native country of Chaldea. He then, with his father and his family and household, quitted the city of Ur, in which he had hitherto dwelt, and went some 300 miles north to Haran, where he abode fifteen years. The cause of his migration was a call from God (Acts 7:2-4). There is no mention of this first call in the Old Testament; it is implied, however, in Gen. 12. While they tarried at Haran, Terah died at the age of 205 years. Abram now received a second and more definite call, accompanied by a promise from God (Gen.…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Father of a multitude, Ge 17:4,5; the great founder of the Jewish nation. He was a son of Terah, a descendant of Shem, and born in Ur, a city of Chaldea, A.M. 2008, B. C. 1996, Ge 11:27,28. Here he lived seventy years, when at the call of God he left his idolatrous kindred, and removed to Haran, in Mesopotamia, Ac 7:2-4, accompanied by his father, his wife Sarai, his brother Nahor, and his nephew Lot. A few years after, having buried his father, he again removed at the call of God, with his wife and nephew, and entered the land of promise as a nomad or wandering shepherd. Sojourning for a time at Shechem, he built here, as was his custom, an alter to the Lord, who appeared to him, and promised that land to his seed. Removing…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%abraham
abraham97% · 71×other renderings3% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject30%predicate21%indirect object15%adverbial15%object12%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 73 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
τέκνονa child, descendἔχωI have, hold, poἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπιστεύωI believe, have Article the
σπέρμαseed, offspring
αὐτόςὅτιthat, since, becεἰμίI am, exist
θεόςGod, a god
Article the
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father,
Ἀβραάμof Abraham73×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ἸσαάκPropArticle theθεόςGod, a god
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godΘάραProp
εἰμίI am, exist
ὅςκαίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, except
λέγωI say, speak
γάρfor
ἀποθνῄσκωI am dying, am about
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,

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

ConcordanceἈβραάμ · 73× in the New Testament
Luke John Hebrews Galatians Romans Acts Matthew James 1 Peter 2 Corinthians Mark
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 158 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 The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.9c. AD 40

οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι ὁ Ἀβραὰμ „ἔτι ἦν ἑστηκὼς ἐνώπιον κυρίου καὶ ἐγγίσας εἶπε Μὴ συναπολέσῃς δίκαιον μετὰ ἀσεβοῦς“ (Gen.

JosephusThe Jewish War 5.380c. AD 75–95

τί οὖν ὁ ταύτης ἀνὴρ Ἁβραάμ, προπάτωρ δὲ ἡμέτερος;

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.8c. AD 100

Ἰδού, τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός: Εἰσέλθατε εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσεν κύριος τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ κατακληρονομήσατε αὐτήν, γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 6th c. AD 5th c. AD 7th c. AD 8th c. AD
PSI 8 951AD 388

λαμπροτάτου ἡγεμόνος Φλαυίου Εὐτολμίου Ἀρσενίου … ᾐτιασάμην … τὸν δεῖνα καὶ Χίωνα Πετεσίριος καὶ Ἀβραὰμ βοηθ Σερήνου καὶ Ἱέρακα Ὥρου ὑπ … … … … … καὶ Εὐλόγιον Ὥρου

Pap. Congr. XXVI (Geneva 2010) p. 195Bir Shawish (Oasis Parva)AD 394–AD 395

Ἰωσὴφ Ἀβραὰμ χαίρειν. ἔσχον παρὰ σοῦ ὄρνεον α ᾠὰ ι η ἰνδικτίωνος.

Pap. Congr. XXVI (Geneva 2010) p. 195-196Bir Shawish (Oasis Parva)AD 376–AD 425

Ἱλαρὸς Ἀβραὰμ Ἰακῶβ γεωργῷ δεσποίνης χαίρειν. ἔσχον παρὰ σοῦ ὑπὲρ … ἰνδικτίωνος ἐρεοξύλου … … ι

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
ἐσμενeimi we are G1510 Verb · present · active · indicative · first person · plural
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.
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-PAI-1P — Verb · present · active · indicative · first person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-1P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: first Number: Plural

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
εἰμίwe are2457×
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 answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× 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
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
89%and
and89% · 8448×also8% · 714×other renderings2% · 191×other renderings1% · 124×

9,477 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 42 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial16%subject13%object10%predicate3%verb2%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
οὐδενὶoudeis to no [one] G3762 Adjective · dative · singular · masculine
235× 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 'none' or 'nobody', used in Luke 4:24 and Romans 8:1 to emphasize the absence of something or someone. It's a strong way to say that nothing or no one is present or available.
Amplified meaning
at any time, ever
Tyndale gloss
none
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

οὐδείς is built from the negation οὐ (not) and εἷς (one), meaning no one or none. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, often emphasizing the absence of people or things, such as in Matthew 5:13 and John 1:18. The word can also be used adverbially to mean not at all or nothing.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὐδείς, -δεμία, -δέν (also in WH, txt., the Hellenistic forms -θείς, -θέν, Lk 22:35 23:14, Ac 15:9 19:27 26:26, I Co 13:2, II Co 11:8; cf. Bl., § 6, 7; M, Pr., 56n, Thackeray, Gr., 58), related to μηδείς as οὐ to μή,

no, no one, none: with nouns, Lk 4:24, Jo 10:41, Ro 8:1, al.; absol., Mt 6:24, Mk 3:27, Lk 1:61, Jo 1:18, Ac…

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

οὐδείς. P Alex 4° (iii/B.c.) (= Witkowski’, p. 52), οὐδείς σε ἀνθρώπων μὴ ὠφειλήσηι. For a similar use of οὐθείς, cf. P Petr 11. 13(19)!8 (B.c. 258-3) (= Witkowski?, p. 20) τοῦτο {δ᾽ ἔχε τῆι δια[νοία]ι, ὅτι οὐθέν σοι μὴ γενηθῆι λυπηρόν, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ἐμοὶ ἔστ]αι πεφροντισμένον τοῦ σε γενέσθαι ἄλυπον, ‘‘but hold this fact in your mind, that nothing vexatious may happen to you, but that I have used every forethought to keep you free from trouble’’ (Ed.). Another ex. of the neut. οὐδέν is the illiterate BGU II. 380" (ili/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 105) οὐδὲν περισότε[ρ]ον ext σε. οὐδ΄ ποτε “there is nothing so much the matter with you.’’ The stronger οὐδέν is sometimes used for οὐ : see Epict. iv. ro. 36 οὐδὲν κωλύονται ἀθλιώτατοι εἶναι Kal δυστυχέστατοι (cited by Radermacher G7. p. 26), and possible NT exx. in Ac 18! (but cf. Blass Gr. p. 104), Rev 377, The usual accumulation of negatives may be…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὐδείς (oudeis) — none.

οὐδείς,

feminine οὐδεμίᾰ (never nominative accusative -μίη, -μίην, since οὐδεμιῇ is probably in [Refs], rarely οὐδ᾽ ἴα [Refs 7th c.BC+], not one, i.e. no one, none, used by [Refs 8th c.BC+], except in the phrase τὸ ὃν μένος οὐδενὶ εἴκων [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐδείς is found in [Refs 5th c.BC+]: rare in plural, no set of persons or things, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐδένων εἰσὶ βελτίους, i.e. οὔ τινων ἄλλων, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —In _Ionic dialect_ the _plural_ is usually οὐδαμοί.

2. οὐ. ὅστις οὐ every one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὐ every, [Refs]; this came to be regarded as one word, so that οὐδείς passed into the same case as ὅστις, οὐδένα ὅντινα οὐ κατέκλασε [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὐδείς οὐθείς

oudeis

oudemia oo-dem-ee'-ah, and neuter

ouden oo-den'

from 3761 and 1520; not even one (man, woman or thing), i.e. none,

nobody, nothing:--any (man), aught, man, neither any (thing), never

(man), no (man), none (+ of these things), not (any, at all, -thing),

nought.

see GREEK for 3761

see GREEK for 1520

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὐδείς, οὐδεμία, οὐδέν

Adj

no one, none, nothing

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὐδείς oudeis 227x

latter form, οὐθείς (G4032), not one, no one, none, nothing, Mt. 5:13; 6:24; 19:17; met. οὐδέν, nothing, of no account, naught, Jn. 8:54; Acts 21:24

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὐδείς never οὐδεμίη and not one, i. e. no one, none, as Lat. nullus, for ne ullus, Hom., etc.:—rare in pl. (οὐδαμοί being used instead), Xen.; πρὸς οὐδένας τῶν Ἑλλήνων Dem.; v. infr. II. 3.

οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐ, Lat. nemo non, every one, Hdt., attic; οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὐ, Lat. nihil non, every, Hdt.; this came to be regarded as one word, so that οὐδείς passed into the same case as the relative, οὐδένα ὅντινα οὐ κατέκλασε Plat.

naught, good for naught, Ar.

in neut. of persons, οὐδέν εἰμι Hdt.; πρὸς τὸν οὐδένα Eur.; οὐδὲν εἶναι to be good for nothing, Ar.

in pl., οὐδένες ἐόντες being nobodies, Hdt.; ὄντες οὐδένες Eur.; ὁ μηδὲν ὢν κἀξ οὐδένων κεκλήσομαι id. Eur.

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

A-DSM-N Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine Negative

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

wun.

See NUMBER.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%no
no90% · 212×none5% · 12×other renderings3% · 7×other renderings2% · 4×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject46%object32%adverbial12%predicate8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 235 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
ἐγώαὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
ὅτιthat, since, because
σύαὐτόςΠιλᾶτοςPilate
αὐτός
ὀφθαλμόςthe eyeφοβέωI fear, am terriλέγωI say, speak
ὅς
ἐπίγράφωI writeαὐτός
σύ
λέγωI say, speakκατήγοροςa prosecutor, acχαράjoy, gladness
οὐδείςto no [one]235×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
ὅςἐκἀλλάbut, except
δύναμαιI am powerful, am ab
ἔρχομαιI come, goδύοἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
γάρfor
εἰμίI am, existδύναμαιI am powerful, aτὶς
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theεἰCondἀλλάbut, except
ἐγώ
μισθόωI hire out, hireδύναμαιI am powerful, aδιαφέρωI carry through,

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

Concordanceοὐδείς · 235× in the New Testament
John Luke Acts Mark 1 Corinthians Matthew Revelation 2 Corinthians Galatians Hebrews Romans 1 Timothy

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament19 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 113 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 Ignatius of Antioch
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 1.11c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.9c. AD 100

διὸ προσέχωμεν ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις: οὐδὲν γὰρ ὠφελήσει ἡμᾶς ὁ πᾶς χρόνος τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, ἐὰν μὴ νῦν ἐν τῷ ἀνόμῳ καιρῷ καὶ τοῖς μέλλουσιν σκανδάλοις, ὡς πρέπει υἱοῖς θεοῦ, ἀντιστῶμεν, ἵνα μὴ σχῇ παρείσδυσιν ὁ μέλας.

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 1st c. AD
P. Grenf. 1 12Latopolis151 BC

Φιλωτέρειον Δρύτωνι Παμφίλου ὄντα συγγενῆ, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ἐσθλάδου τοῦ Ἐσθλάδου. Ἀλλωι δὲ οὐθενὶ οὐθὲν καταλείπω οὐδε δίδωμι. Μαρτυρες … … … … δεξι … … μελίχρως τετανὸς

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

ς δεομένων δὲ τῶν … ντων ὑμῶν διαλήψεως … καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν οὐδενός … ς ἀξιοῦμεν … ἀνθρώπου ἀλόγως … ὀφείλει ἡμῖν διάφορα … θαι ἀλλʼ ἀποστερέσαι

P.Grenf. 2 36Pathyris96 BC

καὶ Φάφις καὶ οἱ παρʼ ἡμῖν πάντες. μὴ λυπεῖσθε ἐπὶ τοῖς χωρισθεῖσι. ὑπελάμβανον φονευθήσεσθαι. οὐθὲν ἡμῖν κακὸν ἐποίησεν ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐπιμεμέληται, περὶ ὧν, ἐὰν αἱρῆτε, γράψατέ μοι.

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
δεδουλεύκαμενdouleuō have we been under bondage G1398 Verb · perfect · active · indicative · first person · plural
25× 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
To be a slave means to serve or be subject to someone or something, as seen in Matthew 6:24 and Romans 7:6. It can be voluntary or involuntary, like serving God or being a slave to sin.
Amplified meaning
bondservants
Tyndale gloss
be a slave
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δουλεύω (douleuō) means to be a slave or to serve, derived from the word for slave, δοῦλος (doulos). It covers both literal and figurative senses of servitude, including obedience to God or other authorities. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as serving God (Mt 6:24) and being subject to sin (Ro 6:6). The lexicons do not present significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δουλεύω

(< δοῦλος),

[in LXX for עבד, as Ge 14:4, exc. Da TH 7:14, 27 (פְּלַח), Is 56:6 (שׁרת pi.)* ;]

to be a slave, be subject to, serve: absol., Ro 7:6, Ga 4:25, I Ti 6:2; c. dat pers., Mt 6:24, Lk 15:29 16:13, Ro 9:12 (LXX); of nations, Jo 8:33, Ac 7:7 (LXX); θεῷ, τ. κυρίῳ, Mt 6:24, Lk 16:13, Ac 20:19,

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

δουλεύω; fut. δουλεύσω; 1 aor. ἐδούλευσα; pf. δεδούλευκα; (δοῦλος) ; Sept. for 733; 1. prop. to be a slave, serve, do service: absol., Eph. vi.7; 1 Tim. vi. 2; τινί, Mt. vi. 24; Lk. xvi. 13; Ro. ix. 12; said of nations in subjection to other nations, Jn. viii. 33; Acts vii. 7; men are said δουλεύειν who bear the yoke of the Mosaic law, Gal. iv. 25 (see δουλεία). 2. metaph. to obey, submit to; a. in a good sense: absol. to yield obedience, Ro. Vil. 6; τινί. to obey one’s commands and render to him the services due, Lk. xv. 29; God: Mt. vi. 24; Lk. xvi. 13; 1 Th. 1. 9: κυρίῳ and τῷ κυρίῳ, Acts xx. 19; Ro. xii. 11 (not Ree.*, see below); Eph. vi. 7; Christ: Ro. xiv. 18; Col. iii. 24; νόμῳ θεοῦ, acc. to the context, feel myself bound to, Ro. vii. 25; τοῖς θεοῖς, to worship gods, Gal. iv. 8; τῷ καιρῷ (Anth. 9,441, 6), wisely adapt one’s self to, Ro. xii. 11 Ree." (see above), cf. Fritzsche…

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

δουλεύω. We can cite no example of δ. used in a religious sense from pagan literature, but the syncretistic occult P Leid W τῷ σῷ ἀγγέλῳ. Note also the mention of the ἱερόδουλοι in connexion with the Serapeum in P Leid Di 2 (p.c. 162) σοὶ δὲ γίνοιτο, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ὁσίως διάκ[ει)σαι καὶ τῶν ἱεροδούλων καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ πάντων ἀντιλαμβάνῃ, ἐπαφροδισία, χάρις κτλ., and in P Tebt I. 635 (B.c. 140--30) where reference is made to the revenues accruing to the priests from various sources including the ἱερόδουλοι. The mention immediately afterwards of *‘ the so-called ἀφροδίσια " leads the editors to believe that these ἱερόδουλοι were ἑταῖραι, like the votaries of Aphrodite at Corinth; but cf. Otto (Przester i, p. 118), who understands simply a ‘‘ lower ” order of priests in contrast to the tribal priests. See Grenfell-Hunt’s note on P Tebt Zc. Δουλεύω in MGr = *©work,’’…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δουλεύω (douleuō) — be a slave.

δουλ-εύω,

(δοῦλος) to be a slave, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. serve, be subject, τό τ᾽ ἄρχειν καὶ τὸ δ. δίχα [Refs 4th c.BC+]; δ. ζεύγλαις[Refs 5th c.BC+]; δ. γαστρί, ὕπνῳ, λαγνείᾳ, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῇ γῇ δ. make oneself a slave to one's land, i. e. give up rights that one may keep it, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δ. τῷ καιρῷ accommodate oneself to the occasion, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

3. render a service, τινά [Refs 6th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

δουλεύω

douleuo

from 1401; to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or

voluntary):--be in bondage, (do) serve(-ice).

see GREEK for 1401

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δουλεύω

v.

I am a slave, am subject to, obey

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δουλεύω douleuō 25x

to be a slave or servant; to be in slavery or subjection, Jn. 8:33; Acts 7:7; Rom. 9:12; to discharge the duties of a slave or servant, Eph. 6:7; 1 Tim. 6:2; to serve, be occupied in the service of, be devoted, subservient, Mt. 6:24; Lk. 15:29; Acts 20:19; Rom. 14:18; 16:18; met. to be enthralled, involved in a slavish service, spiritually or morally, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δουλεύω δοῦλος to be a slave, τινί to one, Plat., etc.; παρά τινι Dem.; c. acc. cogn., δουλείαν δ. Xen.

to serve or be subject to, opp. to ἄρχω, Hdt., etc.; τῆι γῆι δ. to be a slave to one's land, i. e. submit to indignities that one may keep it, Thuc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-RAI-1P — Verb · perfect · active · indicative · first person · plural
perfect active indicative — a past action whose result still stands.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-RAI-1P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: peRfect Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: first Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bon'-daj: Used in two senses in Scripture, a literal and a metaphorical sense.

(1) In the former sense it refers

(a) to the condition of the Hebrews ('abhodhah) in Egypt (Ex 1:14 the King James Version; Ex 2:23 and often) which is frequently called "the house of bondage" ("slaves," `abhadhim), Ex 13:3,14; 20:2; De 5:6 and often. It also refers to the condition of the Hebrews in Babylonia (Isa 14:3, the King James Version) and in Persia (Ezr 9:8 f), where a slightly different form of the same root (`abhedhuth) is used in the original. In both these cases the bondage was not…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Bondage

Of Israel in Egypt (Ex. 2:23, 25; 5), which is called the “house of bondage” (13:3; 20:2). This word is used also with reference to the captivity in Babylon (Isa. 14:3), and the oppression of the Persian king (Ezra 9:8, 9).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

[SLAVE]

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Of Israelites in Egypt Ex 1:14; 2:23; 6:6

→ In PERSIA Ezr 9:9

→ See EMANCIPATION

→ See SERVANT

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
32%serve
serve32% · 8×serving16% · 4×they will be in bondage4% · 1×being enslaved4% · 1×will serve4% · 1×you were enslaved4% · 1×be enslaved4% · 1×she is in slavery4% · 1×other renderings28% · 7×

25 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 25 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
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
δύοArticle the
θεόςGod, a god
δύναμαιI am powerful, aοἶδαI know, remember
ἔτοςa year
τοσοῦτος
οὐδείςno one, none, nothin
καίand, even, also,
ἐάνCond
ὅς
δουλεύωhave we been under bondage25×
what comes after →
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐλάσσωνless, smaller, iΧριστόςanointed, the Me
Disj
γάρfor
καίand, even, also, nam
μαμωνᾶςriches, money, p
ἐγώ
Article theἐν
σύ
καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceδουλεύω · 25× in the New Testament
Romans Galatians Luke Acts Matthew 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy Colossians Ephesians John Philippians Titus
Across the New Testament12 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 73 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 AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.88c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.173c. AD 75–95

δώδεκα μὲν οὖν ἔτη δουλεύοντες καὶ τοὺς ἐπιταχθέντας αὐτοῖς φόρους τελοῦντες ὑπέμειναν, τῷ δὲ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἀπέστησαν, καὶ διαβαίνει στρατὸς Ἀσσυρίων ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς στρατηγούντων Ἀμαραψίδου Ἀριόχου Χοδολαμόρου Θαδάλου.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 13.2c. AD 100

εἶτα ἐξῆλθεν Ῥεβέκκα πυθέσθαι παρὰ κυρίου, καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς αὐτήν: Δύο ἔθνη ἐν τῇ γαστρί σου καὶ δύο λαοὶ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ σου, καὶ ὑπερέξει λαὸς λαοῦ καὶ ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 5th c. AD

Μαξίμωι τῷ ἀδελφῷ πλεῖστα χαίρειν. πρὸ τῶν ὅλων ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχομαι. μετέλαβον, ὅτι βαρέως δουλεύετε τὴν κυρίαν ἡμῶν μητέρα. ἐρωτηθείς, ἄδελφε γλυκύτατε, ἐν μηδενὶ αὐτὴν λύπει. εἰ δέ τις

P.Stras. 4 180AD 301–AD 400

ταῦτα αὐτὰ αὐτῷ εἶπον τοῦ ἀνασχέσθαι ἕως ἂν ἐκβῶ τοῦ ἐργοῦ· οὐ γὰρ προθεσμία δουλεύει τὰ τῆς ἀποδόσεως παρ … … … … καὶ πάντως ἀπ

P.Fuad I Univ. 16HerakleopolisAD 365

ποκλεπτιν τὸν ἔλεγχον τῆς δουλίας … αιτει ἑαυτοῦ προνοήσασθαι πραγμάτων … ἀναγνωρίσαι τύχην δουλεύουσιν οὖν τὰ σὺν … … ουσιν κ … … … γὰρ ἴσασιν τὴν οἰκίας

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
πώποτε·pōpote ever; G4455 Adverb
6× 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 ever or at any time, and is used to describe something that has happened or will happen at some point. It appears in Luke 19:30 and John 1:18, and is used to emphasize the significance of an event or action.
Tyndale gloss
ever
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πώποτε (i.e., *pōpote*) is an adverb meaning 'ever' or 'at any time,' often used with a negative to mean 'never.' It is built from the components of 'ever' and 'at any time.' The New Testament uses it in several verses, including Luke 19:30 and John 1:18. The entries indicate that it is primarily used in contexts implying negation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πώ-ποτε,

adv.,

ever yet: Lk 19:30, Jo 1:18 5:37 6:35 8:33, I Jo 4:12.†

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

πώ-ποτε, adv., ever, at any time: Lk. xix. 30; Jn.i. 18; v.37; vi. 35; viii. 33; 1Jn.iv.12. [(From Hom. down.)]

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

πώποτε, “ever yet”: P Par 47° (B.C. 152-1) (= UPZ i. p. 332) οὐκ ἄν pe [Ses τὸ πόρσωπόν (/. πρόσωπόν) μου πόποτε (cf. Gen 432), 26. 5137 (B.c. 159) (= ΡΖ i. p. 360, Selections p- 21) ἐὰν μιανθῶσιν [οὐ μ]ὴ γένονται καθαραὶ πώποτε, ‘if they (women) are defiled, they shall never at all be pure.” In BGU IV. τ2οςῖ 11 (B.c. 28) πέπρακα, πέποτε [. . lov πεπράκαμεν, Olsson Pafyrusbriefe p. 30 proposes to read πώποτε [δ᾽] ov (Ὁ), “1 have sold, but we have not yet (?) sold.” For perfects with πώποτε, as in Jn 118, expressing “ἐᾷ close nexus with present time,” see Pro/eg. p. 144. For οὐδεπώποτε c. pres. cf. P Leid V τὶ. 30 (iji/iv a,b.) (= II. Pp: 37) λύσιν οὐκ ἔχει τοῦτο οὐδεπώποτε.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πώποτε (pōpote) — ever.

πώποτε,

(πω, ποτέ) ever yet, in early Epic dialect always with negative and best written divisim, οὐ γάρ πώ ποτέ μ᾽ ὧδέ γ᾽ ἔρως φρένας ἀμφεκάλυψεν [Refs 8th c.BC+] (referring to future, οὐκ ἄν πώ ποτ᾽ ἐγώ.. ἐλθοίμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]future in later Gr., κακία οὐχ εὑρεθήσεται ἐν σοὶ π[LXX]; οὐ μὴ διψήσει π. [NT]; also οὐ μὴ γένωνται καθαραὶ π. [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; μηδ᾽ ὄψον.. μετὰ τούτου π. δαίσῃ [Refs 4th c.BC+]: with present, [Refs]; compare οὐ π., μὴ π., οὐδεπώποτε, μηδεπώποτε.

II. sometimes, later, without a negative,

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πώποτε

popote

from 4452 and 4218; at any time, i.e. (with negative particle) at no

time:--at any time, + never (...to any man),

+ yet, never man.

see GREEK for 4452

see GREEK for 4218

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πώποτε

Adv

at any time, ever

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πώποτε pōpote 6x

ever yet, ever, at any time, Lk. 19:30; Jn. 1:18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πώποτε πω, ποτέ ever yet, mostly with negat., οὐ πώποτε, μὴ πώποτε, Hom., etc.

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

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%at any time
at any time50% · 3×ever yet33% · 2×ever17% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐδείςno one, none, nothin
ὅςθεόςGod, a god
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
οὐδείςno one, none, no
αὐτός
φωνήa sound, noise,
διψάωI thirst for, desire
μήNeg
δουλεύωI am a slave, am sub
οὐδείςno one, none, no
πώποτεever;
what comes after →
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of the hu
καθίζωI set, make to s
μονογενήςonly, only-begotten,
θεόςGod, a god
ἀκούωI hear, listen
οὔτεNeg
πῶς
σύ
θεάομαιI see, behold, conte
ἐάνCond

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

Concordanceπώποτε · 6× in the New Testament
John 1 John Luke
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Posterity of Cain 118c. AD 40

παιδείας δὲ καὶ ἀρετῆς χάριν, ἃ τοῦ κρατίστου τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀγαθὰ διανοίας ἐστίν, οὔτε ξενικὸς οὔτ’ ἐμφύλιος πώποτε κατέσχε πόλεμος·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 14.172c. AD 75–95

ἄνδρες σύνεδροι καὶ βασιλεῦ, εἰς δίκην μὲν οὔτʼ αὐτὸς οἶδά τινα τῶν πώποτε εἰς ὑμᾶς κεκλημένων οὕτω παραστάντα οὔτε ὑμᾶς ἔχειν εἰπεῖν ὑπολαμβάνω, ἀλλὰ πᾶς ὁστισδηποτοῦν ἀφῖκται εἰς τὸ συνέδριον τοῦτο κριθησόμενος ταπεινὸς παρίσταται καὶ σχήματι…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Iand. Zen. 21Philadelphia (Arsinoites)255 BC–253 BC

σώματος …μενος κατη …μων πρὸς το … παρὰ Φιλίσκου … πώποτε οὐθ … καμεν πορισα … ἐπιστολαὶ … Ἀμμώνιον … καὶ ἣν λαλεῖ … ἐπιβαληισημ

SB 5 7872AD 306–AD 337

δῴη ἔλεος ὁ κύριος τῷ Ὀνησιφόρου οἴκῳ, ὅτι πολλάκις με ἀνέψυξεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐδυνήθην πώποτε ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σέ. ὀφείλω γὰρ ποιῆσαι τὸ προσκύνημά σου πανσάββατον ?. ἀλλʼ οὐδεμία μοι

P.Hamb. 3 230AntinoopolisAD 565

γεγενημένον, ὑποκεῖσθαι τοῖς προσταττομένοις παρὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἐξουσίας. ὅτι γὰρ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτο ἢ ἐνεθυμήθην πώποτε ἢ διεπραξάμην, ἐξ οὗ παρήγγειλα εἰς ἄνδρας, οὔπω λέγω εἰς τὸν πρωτοκωμήτην, θαρρῶν ἐμαυτῷ

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
πῶςpōs How G4459 Adverb · interrogative
118× 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
How is a question about the way something is done, as in Matthew 12:29, or an exclamation of surprise, like how much something is.
Tyndale gloss
how?!
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πῶς (transliterated as pōs) is an interrogative adverb meaning 'how' or 'in what manner.' It appears in direct questions, indirect discourse, and exclamations, often seeking clarification or expressing astonishment. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including Matthew 12:29 and John 3:4. Notably, Liddell-Scott mentions its use to express displeasure or doubt.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πῶς, interrog. adv., correl. of ὅπως,

prop., in direct questions, how?: c. indic., Mt 12:29, Mk 3:23, Lk 11:18, Jo 3:4, al.; καὶ π., Mk 4:13, Lk 20:44; π. οὖν, Mt 12:26; π. οὐ, Mt 16:11, Lk 12:56; in deliberative questions (cf. Bl., § 64, 6), c. subjc., Mt 23:33 26:54; π. οὖν, Ro 10:14; π. δέ, Read the full entry →

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

πῶς, (fr. obsol. OS, whence ποῦ, ποῖ, etc. [ef. Curtius § 631]), adv., [fr. Hom. down] ; I. in interroga tion; how? in what way ?— in a direct question, foll. by a. the indicative, it is the expression a. of one seeking information and desiring to be taught: Lk. 1.84; x. 26; Jn.iii.9; ix. 26; 1 Co. xv. 35 [cf. W. 266 (250)]; πῶς οὖν, Jn. ix. 10 Tdf. (but L WH br. οὖν), 19; Ro. iv. 10. B. of one about to controvert another, and emphatically deny that the thing inquired about has happened or been done: Mt. xii. 29; Mk. iii. 23; Lk xi.18; Jn. iii. 4,12; v.44,47; vi.52; ix.16; 1 Jn. iii. 17; iv. 20; Ro. iii. 6; vi. 2; 1 Co. xiv. 7, 9,16; 1 Tim. iii. 5; Heb. ii. 3; καὶ πῶς, Mk. iv. 13; Jn. xiv. 5 [here L txt. Tr WHom. καί]; πῶς οὖν, Mt. xii. 26; Ro. x. 14 RG; mas δέ, Ro. x. 14

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

πῶς, “*how,” 2 “in what manner,” (a) in direct questions— P Oxy IV. 7441? (B.c. 1) (= Selections, Ὁ. 33) πῶς Sivapal oe ἐπιλαθεῖν : “how can I forget you?” Cf. Ac 85! πῶς yap ἂν δυναίμην; which Field (Vo/es, p. 117) renders, ““Why, how can I?” For the exclamatory πῶς, as in Mk 1074, cf. Philemon fy. 2 ὦ πῶς πονηρόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου φύσις | τὸ σύνολον, Epict. Aan. 24. 3 Opare ὑμεῖς, πῶς ἄνισοί ἐστε kal ἀγνώμονες ; see further K. Rupprecht in Philologus \xxx. (V. F. xxxiv.), 1924, p- 207. (6) in indirect discourse—P Oxy IV. 745° (c. A.D. 1) οὐκ οἶδας yap πῶς μοι ἐχρήσατο ἐν ᾿Οξυρύγχοις, ‘‘ you don't know how he treated me at Oxyrhynchus(?),” P Tebt II. 4o8* (A.D. 3) ἐπιστάμενος πῶς σε τίθεμαι Ke φιλῶ, “since you know how I esteem and love you”’ (Edd.) (cf. Ac 2018), P Oxy II. 29474 (A.p. 22) (= Selections, p. 36) γράψον μοι πῶς πάλιν ἄνω Aadaxeverat, “‘ write me how his hair is growing…

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

πῶς (pōs) — how?!.

πῶς,

Ionic dialect κῶς, interrogative adverb of Manner, how? [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes to express displeasure, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to express astonishment or doubt, π. εἶπα; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. λέγει; [Refs]; π. φῄ; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. τοῦτ᾽ ἔλεξα; [Refs 4th c.BC+]; π. τοῦτ᾽ εἶπες α; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also π. μὴ φῶμεν..; surely we must, [Refs]

__b in dialogue, to ask explanation, with a repetition of a word used by the previous speaker, δίκαια— Answ. π. δίκαι; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μὴ δίκαιος ὤν—Answ. π. μὴ δίκαιο; [Refs]; συμβολάς—Answ. π. συμβολά; [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; πῶς alone, how so, π., ὅς γε..; [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πῶς πώς

pos

adverb from the base of 4226; an interrogative particle of manner; in

what way? (sometimes the question is indirect, how?); also as

exclamation, how much!:--how, after (by) what manner (means), that.

(Occasionally unexpressed in English).

see GREEK for 4226

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πῶς

Adv. & Irg.adv.

how, in what manner

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

ADV-I ADVerb or adverb and particle combined Interrogative

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Represents various Hebrew and Greek words, interrogative, interjectional and relative. Its different uses refer to

(1) the manner or way, e.g. Ge 44:34, "How shall I go up to my father?" ('ekh); Mt 6:28, "how they grow" (pos); 1Co 15:35, "How are the dead raised?";

(2) degree, extent, frequently, "how great" (Da 4:3, mah; Mr 5:19, hosos, "how much"); "how many" (Mt 27:13, posos); "how much" (Ac 9:13, hosos); "how much more" (Mt 7:11, posos;

Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 65 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 The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 68c. AD 40

ἡνίκα γὰρ ζῷα διαπλάττειν ἔδοξε τῷ δημιουργῷ, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τῇ τάξει φαυλότερά πως ἦν, ἰχθύες, τὰ δ’ ὕστατα ἄριστα, ἄνθρωποι, τὰ δ’ ἄλλα μέσα τῶν ἄκρων, ἀμείνω μὲν τῶν προτέρων, χείρω δὲ τῶν ἑτέρων, χερσαῖα καὶ πτηνά.

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

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.9c. AD 100

αἰσθάνεσθαι οὖν ὀφείλομεν, μὴ ὄντες ἀσύνετοι, τὴν γνώμην τῆς ἀγαθωσύνης τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, ὅτ̓ ἡμῖν λέγει, θέλων ἡμᾶς μὴ ὁμοίως πλανωμένους ἐκείνοις ζητεῖν, πῶς προσάγωμεν αὐτῷ.

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

Ζήνωνι. νυκτὸς ἐκ τοῦ σιτοβολῶνος ἀπόλωλεν σήσαμον καὶ λελέανται τῆι χειρί. διὸ οὐ δυνάμεθά πως ἐπιμετρήσαντες ἰδεῖν τὸ ἀπολωλὸς ἕως ἂν ὑμεῖς ἴδητε καὶ ἐναντίον ὑμῶν ἐπιμετρηθῆι.

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59455Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)249 BC–248 BC

οὐκ ἔχομεν ὀψώνιον οὐδὲ διαλελογισμένοι εἰσὶν ἡμῖν, καὶ σιτομετρίαν διμήνου οὐκ ἔχομεν. συνεπισκέψει οὖν πῶς ζῶμεν. ἔδωκαν δὲ ἡμῖν ἑκάστωι κεράμιον οἴνου καὶ σίτου ἑκάστωι ἔδωκαν εἰς τὸ

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59368Memphis (?)242 BC

ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, ὅπως μὴ ἐκεῖ καταστασιασθῶμεν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐκ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς αἰσθήσει πῶς τοὺς λοιποὺς τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ νομοῦ διατίθησιν.

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
σὺsu You yourself G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · nominative · singular
2,892× 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 Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2NS — Personal pronoun · second person · nominative · singular
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2NS Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Nominative Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύYou yourself2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

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

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
λέγειςlegō say G3004 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · singular
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-PAI-2S — Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · singular
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-2S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: second Number: Singular

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
λέγωsay2255×
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 answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
ὅτιhoti that G3754 Conjunction
1,293× 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 Greek word means 'that' or 'because', used to introduce a reason or explanation. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Romans 8:38. It helps to show cause and effect in sentences.
Tyndale gloss
that/since: that
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅτι,

conjc. (prop. neut. of ὅστις).

As conjc, introducing an objective clause, that;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅτι (hoti) — that/since: that.

ὅτῐ,

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

I. when ὅτι introduces a statement of fact:

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅτι

hoti

neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes

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

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

see GREEK for 3748

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅτι

Cj.

that, since, because

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅτι hoti 1x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 8c. AD 40

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

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 10 p. 24Hermonthis149 BC

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

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

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

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
ἐλεύθεροιeleutheros Free G1658 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
23× 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 word means being free or unrestricted, like not being a slave to anything. In John 8:33 and 1 Corinthians 12:13, it talks about being free in Christ.
Amplified meaning
from spiritual bondage, liberated
Tyndale gloss
free/freedom
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἐλεύθερος (i.e., *eleutheros*) means 'free' and is used in various contexts, primarily to denote a person who is not a slave. It can also refer to being exempt from obligations or restrictions, as seen in passages like John 8:33 and 1 Corinthians 7:21-22. The term has a broader application, including freedom from sin and the law. Some entries highlight its use in civil contexts, while others emphasize its ethical implications.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐλεύθερος, -α, -ον

[in LXX chiefly for חׇפְשִׁי ;]

free;

in civil sense, not a slave: Jo 8:33, I Co 7:21, 22 12:13, Ga 3:28, Eph 6:8, Col 3:11, Re 6:15 13:16 19:18; fem., Ga 4:22, 23, 30;

as regards restraint and obligation in general: Mt 17:26, I Co 9:1; seq. ἐκ, I Co 9:19; ἀπό, Ro 7:3; c. inf.,

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

ἐλεύθερος, -Epa, -epov, (EAEY@Q@ i. q. ἔρχομαι [so Curtius, Ρ. 497, after Etym. Magn. 329, 43; Suid. col. 1202 a. ed: Gaisf.; but al. al., cf. Vaniéek p. 61]; hence, prop. one who can go whither he pleases), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for wan, free ; 1. freeborn; in a civil sense, one who is not a slave: Jn. viii. 33; 1 Co. vii. 22; xii. 13; Gal. iii. 28; Eph. vi. 8; Col. iii. 11; Rev. vi. 15; xiii. 16; xix. 18; fem., Gal. iv. 22 sq. 30 sq. (opp. to ἡ παιδίσκη): of one who ceases to be a slave, freed, manumitted : γίνεσθαι ἐλεύθερον, 1 Co. vii. 21. 2. free, exempt, unrestrained, not bound by an obligation: 1 Co. ix.1; ἐκ πάντων (see ἐκ, I. 6 fin.), 1 Co. ix. 19; ἀπότινος, free from i. e. no longer under obligation to, so that one may now do what was formerly forbidden by the person or thing to which he was bound, Ro. vii. 8 [ef. W. 196 sq. (185); B. 157 sq. (188), 269 (231)]; foll. by an…

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

ἐλεύθερος. For the spiritual significance of this term in the Pauline writings cf. the preceding article, and what is said s.v. ἀπελεύθερος. In the oldest Greek marriage contract we possess, P Eleph 1 (B.C. 311-0) (= Selections, p. 1 ff.), the contracting parties are described as ἐλεύθερος ἐλευθέρα, and in the curious law-suit, P Oxy I. 37118 (a.p. 49) (= Selections, p: 50), which recalls in various particulars the Judgment of Solomon, the nurse, who is charged with carrying off a foundling, defends herself on the ground that she did so ὀν[ό]ματι ἐλευθέρου, “‘in virtue of its being freeborn.” Other exx. of the adj. are P Ryl II. 117?® (a.p. 269) πρὸς τὸ ἔχειν pe τ[ὰ ἐ]μὰ ἐλεύθερον, ‘so that I may keep my property in freedom,” and P Oxy IX. 11868 (iv/A.p.), the edict of a Preses in which it is declared that for slaves punishment by scourging (διὰ τῶν ἱμάντων) is lamentable (ἀνιαρόν), but…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐλεύθερος (eleutheros) — free/freedom.

ἐλεύθερος, α, ον

(ος, ον [Refs 5th c.BC+]: later ἐλαύθερος [Refs]; Elean ἐλεύθαρος [Refs]:— free, [Refs 8th c.BC+] has the word only in [Refs 8th c.BC+] the day of freedom, i.e.freedom, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; and κρητὴρ ἐλεύθερος the cup drunk to freedom,[Refs 4th c.BC+]; of persons, [Refs 7th c.BC+]: comparative, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: superlative, [Refs]; τὸ ἐ. freedom, Hdt [Refs], etc.; τοὐλεύθερον [Refs 5th c.BC+]: c.genitive, free or freed from a thing, φόνου, πημάτων, φόβου, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔξω αἰτίας ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων independent, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__b ἐλευθέρα, ἡ, married woman, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; wife, [Refs 5th c.AD+]; but, freedwoman, [Refs]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐλεύθερος

eleutheros

probably from the alternate of 2064; unrestrained (to go at pleasure),

i.e. (as a citizen) not a slave (whether freeborn or manumitted), or

(genitive case) exempt (from obligation or liability):--free (man,

woman), at liberty.

see GREEK for 2064

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐλεύθερος, έρα, ερον

Adj

free, delivered from obligation

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐλεύθερος eleutheros 23x

free, in a state of freedom as opposed to slavery, 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28; free, exempt, Mt. 17:26; 1 Cor. 7:39; unrestricted, unfettered, 1 Cor. 9:1; free from the dominion of sin, etc., Jn. 8:36; Rom. 6:20; free in the possession of Gospel privileges, 1 Pet. 2:16

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐλεύθερος ἐλεύθερος = Lat. liber free, opp. to δοῦλος: ἐλεύθερον ἦμαρ the day of freedom, i. e. freedom, Il.; κρητὴρ ἐλεύθερος the cup drunk to freedom, id. Il.:—of persons, Hdt., attic: —τὸ ἐλ. freedom, Hdt.:—c. gen. free or freed from a thing, Trag.

of things, free, open to all, Xen.

like ἐλευθέριος, fit for a freeman, free, frank, Hdt., attic:—adv., ἐλευθέρως εἰπεῖν Hdt., Soph.

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
96%free
free96% · 22×free?4% · 1×

23 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
predicate56%subject26%object13%adverbial4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 23 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
ἐκὁμοίωςin like mannerυἱόςa son, descenden
ἀνήρa male human being,
Article the
εἴτεand if, whether
δοῦλος (II)
ἄραDisj
ἸησοῦςJesus
ὅτιthat, since, because
λέγωI say, speak
ἐλεύθεροςFree23×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theἀπόὅς
καίand, even, also, nam
πᾶςall, the whole, μήNegArticle the
γίνομαιI come into being, a
μᾶλλονmore, rather
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existἔνιthere is in, is
καλέωI call, invite, name
δοῦλος (II)

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

Concordanceἐλεύθερος · 23× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Galatians Revelation John Romans 1 Peter Colossians Ephesians Matthew
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 15 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 Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Posterity of Cain 138c. AD 40

τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶ τὸ δογματικώτατον, ὅτι ὁ σοφὸς μόνος ἐλεύθερός τε καὶ ἄρχων,

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.196c. AD 75–95

ἔφερον δὲ τὸ ἀργύριον τῶν ἐλευθέρων οἱ ἀπὸ εἴκοσι ἐτῶν ἄχρι πεντήκοντα γεγονότες.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 22.2.2c. AD 140

εἶχέ τις ἀγρὸν καὶ δούλους πολλοὺς καὶ μέρος τι τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα: καὶ ἐκλεξάμενος δοῦλόν τινα πιστὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον ἔντιμον, προσεκαλέσατο αὐτὸν καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ: Λάβε τὸν ἀμπελῶνα τοῦτον, ὃν ἐφύτευσα, καὶ χαράκωσον αὐτόν, ἕως ἔρχομαι, καὶ…

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 7th c. AD
O.Did. 394DidymoiAD 110–AD 115

οἶσθα ὅτι πόσα πέπονθα ἵνα ἐλευθέρα γένωμαι. οἶσθα ὅτι οὐκ εἰς ἀχρεῖον πρᾶγμα ὤφληκα, ἀλλὰ ἵνα ζήσωμεν οἱ δύο τὴν

P.Stras. 7 684AD 117–AD 138

τῇ μητροπόλει … … … ου Πλουτίωνος … … … … … … … ἐλευθέρα τ … … τοῦ Λυσιμάχου ἀπολειφθησόμενα … … … ευτικὰ καὶ πάντα καὶ ε

P.Wisc. 1 33ArsinoitesAD 147

Διοσκόρου τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀρσινοίτου. πάντων αἴσχιστόν ἐστιν τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ ἀδικημάτων τὸ ἐλευθέρους ἀνθρώπους ὕβρεως τυγχάνειν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προσφεύγω σοι, τῷ κυρίῳ, δηλῶν καὶ τὸν τῆς

They answered unto Him; Seed of Abraham we are and to no [one] have we been under bondage ever; How You yourself say that Free you will become’?
γενήσεσθε;ginomai you will become’? G1096 Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · second person · plural
668× 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
A versatile word meaning to be, become, or come into being, used in John 1:15 and 1 Corinthians 15:37.
Amplified meaning
completely, utterly
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γίνομαι (ginomai) is a versatile Greek verb meaning to come into being, be born, or arise. It covers a wide range of uses, from the creation of things to events occurring. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as birth (e.g., Romans 1:3), occurrences in nature (e.g., John 12:29), and actions being performed (e.g., Matthew 21:42). It can also express the idea of becoming or changing states.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γίνομαι, Ion. and κοινή for Att. γίγν- (M. Pr., 47; Bl., §6, 8 Mayser, 166 f.),

[in LXX chiefly for היה ;]

of persons, things occurrences, to come into being, be born, arise, come on: Jo 1:15 8:58, I Co 15:37; a first appearance in public, Mk 1:4, Jo 1:6, al.; seq. ἐκ (of birth), Ro 1:3, Ga 4:4; διά, Jo 1:3; βροντή, Jo 12:29; σεισμός, Re 6:12; γογγυσμός, Ac 6:1; χαρά, Ac 8:8, many other similar exx.; ἡμέρα, Lk 22:66, al.; ὀψέ, Read the full entry →

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

γίνομαι (in Ionic prose writ.and in com. Grk. fr. Aristot. on for Attic γίγνομαι) ; [impf. ἐγινόμην ; fut. γενήσομαι ; 2 aor. ἐγενόμην (often in 3 pers. sing. optat. γένοιτο ; [ptep. yevapevos, Lk. xxiv. 22 Tdf. ed. 7]), and, with no diff. in signif., 1 aor. pass. ἐγενήθην, rejected by the Atticists (cf. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 108 sq.; [Thom. Mag. ed. Ritschl p. 75, 6 sq.]), not rare in later Grk., common in Sept. (Acts iv. 4; 1 Th. ii. 14; 1 Co. xv. 10, etc.), impv. γενηθήτω (Mt. vi. 10; xv. 28, ete.) ; pf. γεγένημαι and γέγονα, 3 pers. plur. γέγοναν L T Tr WH in Ro. xvi. 7 and Rey. xxi. 6 (cf. [Tdf. Proleg. p. 124; WH. App. p. 166; Soph. Lex. p. 37 sq.; Curtius, Das Verbum, ii. 187]; W. 36 and 76 (73) sq-; Mullach p. 16; B. 43 (37 sq.)), [ptep. γεγονώς] ; plpf. 3 pers. sing. ἐγεγόνει (Jn. vi. 17 [not Tdf.];. Acts iv. 22 [where L T Tr WH γεγόνει, cf. W. § 12, 9; B. 33 (29); Tdf.’s note on…

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

γίνομαι {Ξ ΠῚ. p. 210) γενοῦ πρὸς "Ata τὸν ποιμένα καὶ δέξαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δραχμὰς διακοσίας, P Flor II. 180 (a.p. 253) ἐὰν γένηται πρός σε Διόσκορος, α΄. Γίνομαι sometimes supplies an aorist fir εἰμί : ἐγενόμην is normally ingressive (= became), but has to serve on occasion for summary (‘‘constative ’’) aorist as well—cf. Prolfeg. p. 109. Thus P. Flor III. 382% (cited ad 72.) might be translated ‘the son whom I neither have nor ever had,’’ as well as ‘‘ nor was ever born to me.” Lk 13? is an instance of this summary use. It appears in a very common technical usage, by which γενόμενος, with the tithe of an official, etc., denotes “ex-’’: where the title forms a verb, the aor, the perf.) partic. of this is used instead. arch” is γυμνασιαρχήσας. For the periphrasis cf. P Oxy I. 3811 (a.p. 49-50) (= Selections, p. 53) καθὰ π|ζα]ρῆλθον ἐπὶ τοῦ γενομένου τοῦ νομοῦ στρατηγοῦ Ilaciwyvos, “1…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γίνομαι (ginomai) — to be.

γίγνομαι,

Ionic dialect and after [Refs 4th c.BC+] γίνομαι [ῑ], (Attic dialect Inscrr. have γιγν- in fifth and fourth cententury,[Refs]; Thess. γίνυμαι [Refs]; Boeotian dialect γίνιουμαι [Refs]future γενήσομαι: aorist ἐγενόμην (ἐγενάμην [LXX] (προ-) Decrees Byzantine cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+], Ionic dialect 2nd pers. singular γένευ [Refs 8th c.BC+], 3rd.pers. singular γενέσκετο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect γέντο [Refs 8th c.BC+] (gṇ-το): perfect γέγονα [Refs 8th c.BC+]: 3rd.pers. plural γέγοναν [NT]: pluperfect ἐγεγόνει [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ἐγεγόνεε [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect forms (as if from perfect γέγᾰα), 2nd pers. plural γεγάᾱτε [Refs 8th c.BC+]pluperfect ἐκ-γεγάτην [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; infinitive γεγάμεν [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; participle γεγᾰώς -ᾰυῖα, plural -ᾰῶτες, -ᾰυῖαι [Refs 8th c.BC+], contraction γεγώς, -ῶσα [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γίνομαι

ginomai

a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be

("gen"-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used

with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.):--arise, be

assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be)

come (to pass), continue, be divided, draw, be ended, fall, be

finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled, + God forbid, grow, happen,

have, be kept, be made, be married, be ordained to be, partake, pass,

be performed, be published, require, seem, be showed, X soon as it

was, sound, be taken, be turned, use, wax, will, would, be wrought.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γίνομαι

v.

I come into being, am born

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γίνομαι ginomai 669x

pluperfect, ἐγενόει (3rd sg), to come into existence; to be created, exist by creation, Jn. 1:3, 10; Heb. 11:3; Jas. 3:9; to be born, produced, grow, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 8:58, et al.; to arise, come on, occur, as the phenomena of nature, etc.; Mt. 8:24, 26; 9:16, et al.; to come, approach, as morning or evening, Mt. 8:16; 14:15, 23; to be appointed, constituted, established, Mk. 2:27; Gal.…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-FDI-2P — Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · second person · plural
future middle deponent indicative — an action still to come.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-FDI-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Future Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Indicative Person: second Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

be-kum':

(1) Greek ginomai, used in New Testament for a change of state, corresponding to Hebrew hayah of Old Testament. Compare Mt 18:3 with De 27:9.

(2) For what is fitting, suitable, proper, in New Testament: "prepei" (Mt 3:15; Eph 5:3; 1Ti 2:10); in Old Testament, na'awah, na'ah, Ps 93:5: "Holiness becometh thy house." in this sense, the adverb "becomingly" must be interpreted: "Walk becomingly toward them that are without" (1Th 4:12), i.e. in a way that is consistent with your profession.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
9%it came to pass
it came to pass9% · 64×became4% · 28×there was3% · 23×do be3% · 22×came3% · 19×having become3% · 18×was3% · 18×having been3% · 17×other renderings69% · 468×

677 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 180 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
verb57%linking verb42%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 668 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
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeἐκεῖthere, yonder, tεἰμίI am, exist
Article the
δύναμιςmight, power, maεἰμίI am, existαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
ὄψιοςlateοὗτοςὡςas, like as, how
μήNeg
ἵναin order that, sοὐNegθεόςGod, a god
αὐτός
ἱμάτιονouter garmentδιάκλάδοςa branch
γίνομαιyou will become’?668×
what comes after →
Article the
δύναμιςmight, power, maθέλημαwill, wish, desiἔσχατοςlast, at the las
ἐν
Article theσύεἷςone
δέbut, on the other ha
ἐνArticle theἡμέραa day
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegἐκφύωI put forth, cau
εἰς
Article theκεφαλήthe headδένδρονa tree

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

Concordanceγίνομαι · 668× in the New Testament
Luke Acts Matthew Mark John 1 Corinthians Revelation Romans Hebrews 1 Thessalonians Galatians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 11c. AD 40

πρὸς δὲ τὸ μὴ γεγονὸς οἰκείωσις οὐδεμία τῷ μὴ πεποιηκότι.

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

ὡς ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐγένετο καὶ ὃν τρόπον Νῶχος σωθεὶς ἐν λάρνακι μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν κατῴκησεν ἐν τῷ Σινάρῳ πεδίῳ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.11c. AD 100

γενώμεθα πνευματικοί, γενώμεθα ναὸς τέλειος τῷ θεῷ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 22Thebais119 BC

ἔχω εἰς τὸν Ἑρμίου λόγον περὶ πῆς τοπογραμματείας τοῦ νγ ἔτους χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δέκα. γίνεται τάλαντα ι. καὶ περὶ τῆς κωμογραμματείας ὁμοίως χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δέκα. γίνεται τάλαντα ι. καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

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

P.Adl. 10Pathyris102 BC

λ εὐμεγέθης μελίχρως τετανὸς μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὐλὴ φαλάνθῳ ἀριστερῶι χαλκοῦ νομίσματος τάλαντα δέκα δύο, γίνεται τάλαντα ιβ, ἄτοκα, ἡμερῶν τριάκοντα ἀπὸ μηνὸς Παῦνι ιθ. τὸ δὲ δάνειον τοῦτο ἀποδότω

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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