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Luke 12:35 — Word Study

Depth

N1904Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

BSAshould beeimi [ready, prepared] yoursu [as for a journey, with your work clothes on] <the>ho waistosphus girdedperizōnnumi andkai theho lampsluchnos [lights, sources of spiritual guidance] burning,kaiō [kindled, lit]

Word
Listen & take awayLuke 12
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 35 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 (kaiō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Luke 12:35quick helps
In a sentenceJesus instructs His followers to be prepared for His return, symbolized by being dressed for service and keeping their lamps lit.
Who is speakingJesus is speaking directly to His disciples.
Where we areThis verse is part of a teaching on vigilance and readiness for the coming of the Son of Man.
The hard wordπεριζώννυμι
Take awayReadiness is essential; both action and illumination are required.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subject verbεἰμί 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 — Luke 12:35

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 — Teaching on Vigilancegenerated

34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
36Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
37Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.

Luke 12:35 is part of a larger discourse where Jesus emphasizes the importance of being watchful and prepared for His return. He uses the imagery of servants waiting for their master, illustrating that readiness should be a constant state for His followers. This teaching aligns with the broader theme of vigilance found throughout the Gospels, as seen in Matthew 25:1-13 and Mark 13:33.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
11 Kings 18:46And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
2Proverbs 31:17She girds herself with strength and shows that her arms are strong.
3Isaiah 5:27None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.
4Isaiah 11:5Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist.
5Ephesians 6:14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 9 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word περιζώννυμι, perizōnnumigenerated

The word περιεζωσμέναι is a perfect passive participle of περιζώννυμι, meaning 'to gird or fasten around oneself.' It conveys a sense of readiness and preparation, indicating that one is equipped for action.

In this context, being girded implies being ready for service, as one would do before embarking on a journey. The passive form emphasizes that this state of readiness is not just a personal effort but also involves a divine enabling.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse in the Berean Standard Bible reads, 'Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.' This is echoed in the New King James Version and American Standard Version, which both emphasize the readiness theme with 'Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning.'

The translations diverge with the use of 'waist' (WEB) versus 'loins' (KJV, ASV) for ὀσφύες, and 'burning' (BSB, KJV) versus 'lit' (FBV) for καιόμενοι, showing different nuances in the concept of illumination.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The verse contains a main clause with the finite verb Ἔστωσαν, should be, governing two participial phrases: περιεζωσμέναι (girded) and καιόμενοι (burning). This structure emphasizes the dual aspects of readiness and illumination.

The participial phrases serve as predicates describing the state of the subjects, which are implied to be the listeners, thus creating a vivid image of active preparation.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ὀσφύες corresponds to the Hebrew word for 'loins' used in the Septuagint, often associated with readiness for action, as seen in Exodus 12:11.

περιζώννυμι also appears in the Septuagint, reflecting the same concept of girding oneself, indicating a readiness for service or journey.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Luke 12:35 teaches that followers of Jesus should be ready for His return, symbolized by being dressed for service and keeping their lamps lit. This readiness is vital as it reflects their anticipation and vigilance in their spiritual lives.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to have your loins girded?

To have your loins girded means to be prepared for action, as one would do by fastening a belt or garment securely.

Why is it important to keep your lamps burning?

Keeping your lamps burning symbolizes maintaining spiritual readiness and guidance, essential for following Jesus.

How can I be spiritually prepared like this verse suggests?

Being spiritually prepared involves regular prayer, studying the Scriptures, and living in a way that reflects your faith.

What does this verse teach about waiting for Jesus?

This verse teaches that waiting for Jesus requires active preparation and vigilance, not passive expectation.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what areas of my life do I need to be more prepared for Jesus' return?
  2. How can I ensure that my spiritual 'lamp' remains lit?
  3. What practical steps can I take to be more vigilant in my faith?
  4. How does being prepared for Jesus' return affect my daily life?

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

Early church writings reference this verse to emphasize the importance of readiness for the Lord's return, illustrating the urgency of being spiritually prepared.

DidacheThe Didache, Chapter 16 c. 100
Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh.
Early Church Fathers on Luke 12 →
IrenaeusAgainst Heresies Book IV c. 130–202
"Let your loins, therefore, be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding." And, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning,
Early Church Fathers on Luke 12 →
Clement of AlexandriaThe Instructor Book 2 c. 150–215
For it is said, "Let your loins be girt about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves like to men that watch for their lord, that when he returns from the marriage, and comes and knocks, they may straightway open to him.
Early Church Fathers on Luke 12 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Luke 12:35 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Let your loins be girded about,.... With the girdle of truth, Ephesians 6:14 keeping close to the doctrines of the Gospel, abiding faithfully by them, even unto death: the allusion is either to the

Read John Gill on Luke 12 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; Let your loins be girded about - to fasten up the long outer garment, which was always done before travel and before work (See 2 Kings 4:29;

Read Robert Jamieson on Luke 12 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 35,36. The first words of , Be ye therefore ready also, expound . In this sense we find the phrase used, 9:1 40:7 . In those Eastern countries both masters and servants were wont to wear long garments, which they were wont to gird up, either when they went to fight, or when they were to travel, ; or when they went about any service; see : this was a piece of their preparation. We read of the girding about of the loins of the mind with truth, , and with habits of grace and virtue; , Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end. The other phrase, and your lights burning, is of the same import, relating to the Lord’ s coming from the wedding, mentioned ; for in…

Read Matthew Poole on Luke 12 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; Ver. 35. Let your loins be girded] It implies, 1. readiness; 2. nimbleness, handiness, and handsomeness. A loose, discinct, and diffluent mind is unfit to serve God. Here it is ungirt, unblest.

Read John Trapp on Luke 12 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(35) Let your loins be girded . . .—To “gird up the loins” was, in Eastern habits and with Eastern garments, the received symbol of readiness for active service (Luke 12:37; Luke 17:8; 1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 1:8; John 13:4; 1 Peter 1:13). The “lights” are the lamps (as in Matthew 5:15) which the watchful hold in their hands. What follows has the interest of presenting the germ of the thought which was afterwards developed into the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. (See Notes on Matthew 25:1-13.)

Read Charles John Ellicott on Luke 12 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 35. Let your loins] Be active, diligent, determined ready; let all hinderances be removed out of the way; and let the candle of the Lord be always found burning brightly in your hand. See Clarke on Lu 12:37.

Read AdamClarke on Luke 12 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

35. Let your loins be girded] Without which active service is impossible in the loose flowing dress of the East (Exodus 12:11; 1 Kings 18:46); and spiritually, for the Christian amid worldly entanglements, 1 Peter 1:13; Ephesians 6:14.your lights burning] The germ of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:1

Read Cambridge on Luke 12 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let your loins ... - This alludes to the ancient manner of dress. They wore a long flowing robe as their outer garment. See the notes at Matthew 5:38-41.

Read Albert Barnes on Luke 12 →

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

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

“Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.

NETBNew English Translation2006

“Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning;

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;

RVARevised Version, American1894

Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Let your loins be girt, and your lights burning;

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Let your loynes be gird about and your lights burning,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Let your loins be girded about, and lamps burning;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

'Let your loins be girded, and the lamps burning,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Let your loins be girded, and the lamps burning,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Let your long clothing be tucked in at your belt, and let your lamps be kept burning,

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Be dressed and ready, and keep your lamps lit,

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Be ready, dressed as for a journey, with your lights burning.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ὀσφύεςosphus waist G3751 2 different renderings
loinsASV DBY DRA KJV LSV NWB RVA YLT
waistWEB
λύχνοιluchnos lamps G3088 2 different renderings
lampsASV BSB DBY DRA FBV LSV MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB YLT
lightsBBE GNV KJV NWB
καιόμενοι,kaiō burning, G2545 2 different renderings
burningASV BBE BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
litFBV

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.

clauseclauseclauseclauselinking verbἜστωσανLet benoun phrase · subjectὑμῶνyournoun phraseαἱ-ὀσφύεςwaistpredicateπεριεζωσμέναιgirded aboutκαὶandclausenoun phrase · subjectοἱtheλύχνοιlampspredicateκαιόμενοιburningκαὶandclausesubjectὑμεῖςyoupredicateὅμοιοιlikenoun phrase · adverbialἀνθρώποιςto menadjective phraseclauseverbπροσδεχομένοιςwaiting fornoun phrase · objectτὸνthenoun phraseκύριονmasterἑαυτῶνof themselvesclauseadverbialπότεwheneververbἀναλύσῃhe shall returnprepositional phrase · adverbialἐκfromnoun phraseτῶνtheγάμωνwedding feastsclauseἵναthatclauseclauseverbἐλθόντοςhaving comeκαὶandclauseverbκρούσαντοςhaving knockedclauseadverbialεὐθέωςimmediatelyverbἀνοίξωσινthey might openindirect objectαὐτῷto him

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

Sint lumbi vestri præcincti, et lucernæ ardentes in manibus vestris,

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

ܢܗܘܘܢ ܐܣܝܪܝܢ ܚܨܝܟܘܢ ܘܡܢܗܪܝܢ ܫܪܓܝܟܘܢ

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

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι,

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

Luke 12:35εἰμίshould beshould beεἰμίσύyouryourσύ<the><the>ὀσφῦςwaistwaistὀσφῦςπεριζώννυμιgirdedgirdedπεριζώννυμικαίandandκαίthetheλύχνοςlampslampsλύχνοςκαίωburning,burning,καίωπερίPrep. abouPrep. about, coπερίλευκόςAdj white,Adj white, brigλευκόςἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνδερμάτινοςAdj made oAdj made of hidδερμάτινοςπεριζώννυμιv. I gird v. I gird roundπεριζώννυμιὀσφῦςn.f. the ln.f. the loinsὀσφῦςἅπτωv. I kindlv. I kindle, liἅπτωκαίωv. I ignitv. I ignite, liκαίωθεῖονn.n. brimsn.n. brimstone,θεῖονλαμπάςn.f. a torn.f. a torch, lλαμπάς
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 Luke 12:35

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.

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
Ἔστωσανeimi should be G1510 Verb · present · active · imperative · third person · plural
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Amplified meaning
ready, prepared
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-PAM-3P — Verb · present · active · imperative · third person · plural
present active imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAM-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: iMperative Person: third 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
εἰμίshould be2457×
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

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
ὑμῶνsu your G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke 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'.
Amplified meaning
as for a journey, with your work clothes on
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2GP — Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2GP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Genitive Number: Plural

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
σύyour2892×
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 .

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
αἱho <the> G3588 Article · nominative · plural · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-NPF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
ὀσφύεςosphus waist G3751 Noun · nominative · plural · feminine
8× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The loins refer to the hip area, but also symbolize procreative power, as seen in Hebrews 7:5 and 10, where it is associated with generative ability.
Tyndale gloss
loins
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὀσφῦς (i.e., *osphus*) means 'loins' or 'hip.' It refers to the lower part of the back and is associated with procreative power. The New Testament uses it in several metaphoric phrases, particularly in contexts of girding up one's loins, as seen in Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6. The lexicons note its use in both literal and metaphorical senses, but there is no significant disagreement among them.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὀσφύς, -ύος, ἡ,

[in LXX chiefly for מָתְנַיִם, also for חָלָץ, etc.;]

the loin: Mt 3:4, Mk 1:6; metaph., περιζώννυσθαι (ἀναζ-) τ. ὀσφύας, Lk 12:35, Eph 6:14, I Pe 1:13; regarded, as by the Hebrews, as the seat of generative power, He 7:5, 10; metaph., καρπὸς τ. ὀσφύος, Ac 2:30.

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

ὀσφύς [or -φῦς, so R Tr in Eph. vi. 14; Gin Mt. iii. 4; cf. Chandler 88 658, 659; Tdf. Proleg. p. 101], -vos, ἡ, fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down ; 1. the hip (loin), as that part of the body where the ζώνη was worn (Sept. for pm): Mt. iii. 4; Mk. i. 6; hence περιζώννυσθαι τὰς ὀσφύας, to gird, gird about, the loins, Lk. xii. 395; Eph. vi. 14; and ἀναζώνν. ras ὀσφ. [to gird up the loins], 1 Pet. i. 13; on the meaning of these metaph. phrases see dvaζώννυμι. 2. a loin, Sept. several times for oon,

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

ὀσφύς, “loin” (cognate with ὀστέον), is found in the fragment or a i/B.C. treatise on physiology, P Ryl I. 21 Fr. 3%" εἰ[ς] τόπον τῆς ὀσφύος, and in the mantic 76. 281: (iv/A.D.) ὀσφύος δεξιὸν μέρος ἐὰν ἅλληται μεγάλως εὐπορήσει Kall] δοῦλος καὶ πένης ἐκ κόπων, ““1{ the right part of the loin quiver, a slave or poor man will prosper greatly after distress” (Edd.): cf. also the astronomical 26. II. 63° (iii/A.D. ) ΠΠαρθένου σιαγὼν ὀσφύες, ‘the cheek and loins to Virgo.”’

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὀσφῦς (osphus) — loins.

ὀσφῦς, ἡ,

genitive ὀσφύος: accusative ὀσφῦν, also ὀσφύα [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: —lion or loins, lower part of the back, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to κῶλα, ὦμοι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; loin of a victim, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of wasps, ἔχουσι κέντρον ἐκ τῆς ὀ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of a horse, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of a fish, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. Hellenist., metaphorically, ὁ καρπὸς τῆς ὀ., of a son, [LXX+NT]

3. περιζώννυσθαι or ἀναζώννυσθαι τὴν ὀσφύν gird up one's loins,[LXX]; βυσσίνῳ[LXX+NT]; ὀσφύς, -ύν frequently in codices, and this may be admitted for late writers: compare ὀφρῦς.]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὀσφῦς

osphus

of uncertain affinity; the loin (externally), i.e. the hip; internally

(by extension) procreative power:--loin.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὀσφύς, ύος, ἡ

n.f.

the loins

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὀσφῦς osphys 8x

the loins, Mt. 3:4; Mk. 1:6. On the accent see BDF, 13.

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

N-NPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
38%loins
loins38% · 3×waist38% · 3×loin25% · 2×

8 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
adverbial50%object25%subject13%predicate13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 8 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
περίσύκαρπόςfruit, result, g
ὀσφῦςwaist
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,καθίζωI set, make to s
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, διάνοιαunderstanding, i
περιζώννυμιI gird round
καίand, even, also,
σύ
ἐν
ἈβραάμProp

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

Concordanceὀσφῦς · 8× in the New Testament
Hebrews 1 Peter Acts Ephesians Luke Matthew Mark
Across the New Testament7 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 42 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 Polycarp The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.154c. AD 40

διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς διαβάσεως αὐτῶν, ὃ καλεῖται Πάσχα, προστάττει τὰς "ὀσφῦς περιεζῶσθαι“ (Exod.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.217c. AD 75–95

τὰ δέ, οὔτε γὰρ ἡ νεότης οὔτε ὁ θεὸς ἠφίει νοεῖν τὰ κρείττω, παρῄνεσαν ἀποκρίνασθαι τῷ λαῷ τὸν βραχύτατον αὐτοῦ δάκτυλον τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ὀσφύος εἶναι παχύτερον καί, εἰ σκληροῦ λίαν ἐπειράθησαν ἐκείνου, πολὺ μᾶλλον αὐτοῦ λήψεσθαι πεῖραν δυσκόλου·

The DidacheThe Didache 16.1c. AD 100

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

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
περιεζωσμέναιperizōnnumi girded G4024 Verb · perfect · passive · participle · nominative · plural · feminine
6× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Luke than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To gird or fasten a belt around oneself, like in Luke 12:35 and Revelation 1:13. It can be literal or figurative, and is used to describe preparing oneself for action or service.
Tyndale gloss
to gird
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word περιζώννυμι (i.e., *perizōnnumi*) means to gird or fasten around oneself, often in preparation for action. It appears in various forms, including passive and middle voice, and is used in the New Testament to describe actions like girding oneself for service (e.g., Lk 12:37). The term is built from the prefix περί (around) and the root ζώννυμι (to gird).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

περι-ζώννυμι and -ύω

(v. Veitch, s.v.)

[in LXX chiefly for חגר, also for אזר, etc.;]

to gird (c. dupl. acc., as ὁ περιζωννύων με δύναμιν, Ps 17 (18):32): pass., αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι, Lk 12:35; π. ζώνην χρυσῆν, Re 1:13 15:6 (but v. infr.). Mid., to gird oneself: Lk 12:37 17:8 (and so perh. Re 1:13 15:6 supr., cf. I Ki 2:4); c. acc. rei (fig.), τ. ὀσφύν, Eph 6:14 (seq. ἐν, cf. I Ch 15:27).†

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

περιζώννυμι, “gird round,” is found in the pass., as in Rev 113} TG 1Π' the magic charm P Lond 461%? (iv/A.D.) (=I. p. 70) ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ χάρις τοῦ αἰῶνος ὄνομά μοι καρδία περιεζωσμένη ὄφιν : cf. Diod. Sic. 1. 72. 2 περιεζωσμένοι. For the subst. περίζωμα, “girdle,” cf. P Par 101 (B.c. 145) περὶ τὸ σῶμα χλαμύδα καὶ περίζωμα, and P Oxy VI. 921° (iii/A.D.) περίζωμα a, ‘one girdle,” in an inventory of property.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

περιζώννυμι (perizōnnumi) — to gird.

περι-ζώννυμι,

gird upon a person, π. τὸ ξίφος [τινί] [Refs 1st c.AD+]; gird, τὸ παιδίον probably in [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—more frequently in middle with perfect passive, gird oneself with, ᾤαν λουτρίδα Theopomp. Comedy texts [Refs]; ἐσθῆτα, τήβεννον, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; γυμνὸς ὢν τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα περιεζώσατο put him on as a defence, παρ᾽ ὑπόνοιαν for ἐπίτροπον ἐποιήσατο, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; περιεζῶσθαι τὴν φορβειάν to have their halter girded round them. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of a cook, περιεζωσμένος with his apron on, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of athletes, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of a dancer, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

περιζώννυμι

perizonnumi

from 4012 and 2224; to gird all around, i.e. (middle voice or passive)

to fasten on one's belt (literally or figuratively):--gird (about,

self).

see GREEK for 4012

see GREEK for 2224

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

περιζώννυμι

v.

I gird round

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

περιζώννυμι perizōnnymi 6x

also spelled περιζωννύω, to bind around with a girdle, gird; in NT mid. to gird one’s self in preparation for bodily motion and exertion, Lk. 12:37; 17:8; to wear a girdle, Rev. 1:13; 15:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-RPP-NPF — Verb · perfect · passive · participle · nominative · plural · feminine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-RPP-NPF Part of Speech: Verb Tense: peRfect Voice: Passive Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
17%having girded
having girded17% · 1×having girded himself about17% · 1×having girded themselves with17% · 1×girded17% · 1×he will gird himself17% · 1×having girded yourself about17% · 1×

6 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 6 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
verb67%predicate17%adverbial17%

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
καίand, even, also, nam
δειπνέωI dineποδήρηςa long robeλαμπρόςshining, magnifi
ὀσφῦςthe loins
Article the
ὅτιthat, since, because
σύ
οὖνtherefore, then
ἵστημιI cause to stand
περιζώννυμιgirded
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἀνακλίνωI make to reclin
διακονέωI wait at table, ser
ἐγώ
Article the
ὀσφῦςthe loins
πρός
Article the
περί
Article the

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

Concordanceπεριζώννυμι · 6× in the New Testament
Luke Revelation Ephesians
Across the New Testament3 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 16 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 14.425c. AD 75–95

ὡς δὲ καθιμήθησαν αἱ λάρνακες, ἐτόλμα δʼ οὐδεὶς προσελθεῖν τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν στομίων, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ δέους ἠρέμουν, μάχαιράν τις περιζωσάμενος τῶν ὁπλοφόρων καὶ ταῖν χεροῖν ἀμφοτέραιν δραξάμενος ἁλύσεως, ἀφʼ ἧς ἤρτητο ἡ λάρναξ, κατῄει ἐπὶ τὰ στόμια δυσχεράνας…

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 25.4.2c. AD 140

ἰδὼν δέ με περιεζωσμένον καὶ ἕτοιμον ὄντα τοῦ διακονεῖν αὐτῷ, Κάλει, φησί, τοὺς ἄνδρας, ὧν εἰσὶν αἱ ῥάβδοι πεφυτευμέναι, κατὰ τὸ τάγμα, ὥς τις ἔδωκε τὰς ῥάβδους.

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke 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,

Read the full entry →
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

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
οἱho the G3588 Article · nominative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
λύχνοιluchnos lamps G3088 Noun · nominative · plural · masculine
14× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Luke than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A lamp is a portable light source, used in the Bible to symbolize spiritual guidance, as seen in Matthew 5:15 and Luke 11:36.
Amplified meaning
lights, sources of spiritual guidance
Tyndale gloss
lamp
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λύχνος (luchnos) refers to a portable lamp or light source, often placed on a stand. It appears in various New Testament contexts, such as in Matthew 5:15 and John 5:35, where it can symbolize enlightenment or guidance. The term is also used metaphorically for the eye and spiritual readiness. Some entries note its use in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word for lamp.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — φῶς, φέγγος, φωστήρ, λύχνος, λαμπάς from a scan

Ati these words are rendered, some occasionally, some always, in our Version, by ‘light’; thus, dos at Matt. iv. 16; Rom. xiii. 12, and often; φέγγος at Matt. xxiv. 29; Mark xiii. 24; Luke xi. 33 (it does not occur again) ; φωστήρ at Phil. ii. 15 ; Rev. xxi. 11 (where only it occurs) ; λύχνος at Matt. vi. 22; John v. 35; 2 Pet.i. 19, and elsewhere; though this often by ‘ candle’ (Matt. v. 15; Rev. Xxli. 5); and λαμπὰς at Acts xx. 8, though elsewhere rendered ‘lamp’ (Matt. xxv. 1; Rev. vill. 10), and ‘ torch’ (John xviii. 3). The old grammarians distinguish between φῶς and φέγγος (which are but different forms of one and the same word), that φῶς is the light of the sun or of the day, φέγγος the light or lustre of the moon. The Attic writers, to whom this distinction must belong, if to any, themselves only imperfectly observe it. Thus, in Sophocles φέγγος is three or four times ascribed…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λύχνος, -ου, ὁ,

[in LXX for נֵר (Ex 25:36 (37), al.);]

a lamp (portable, and usually set on a stand, λυχνία): Mt 5:15, Lk 11:36; ἔρχεται ὁ λ., Mk 4:21; λ. ἅπτειν, Lk 8:16 11:33 15:8; φῶς λύχνου, Re 18:23; id. opp. to φ. ἡλίου, Re 22:5; metaph., of the eye, Mt 6:22, Lk 11:34; of John the Baptist, Jo 5:35; of the Lamb, Re 21:23; of prophecy…

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

λύχνος, του, 6, Sept. for Ἢ), [fr. Hom. down]; a lamp, candle [?], that is placed on a stand or candlestick (Lat. candelabrum), [ οἴ. Trench, N. T. Syn. § xlvi.; Becker, Charicles, Se. ix. (Eng. trans. p- 156 n.5)]: Mt. v. 15; Mk. iv. 21; [Lk. xi. 36]; xii. 35; Rev. xxii. 5; φῶς λύχνου, Rev. xviii. 23; opp. to φῶς ἡλίου, xxii. 5 LT Tr WH; ἅπτειν λύχνον ((Lk. viii. 16; xi. 33; xv. 8], see ἅπτω, 1). Toa“lamp” are likened — the eye, 6 λύχνος τοῦ σώματος, i. 6. which shows the body which way to move and turn, Mt. vi. 22; Lk. xi. 34; the prophecies of the O. T., inasmuch as they afforded at least some knowledge relative to the glorious return of Jesus from heaven down even to the time when by the Holy Spirit that same light, like the day and the day-star, shone upon the hearts of men, the light by which the prophets themselves had been enlightened and which was necessary to the full…

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

λύχνος. P Tebt I. 8813 (b.c. 115-4) εἴς τε τὰς θυσίας καὶ λύχνων ἁφῶν (1. adds), ‘for sacrifices and the lighting of lamps,” P Oxy XII. 1453}8 (B.C. 30-29) τὸ καθῆκον ἔλαιον εἰς τοὺς | καθ᾽ ἡμέραν λύχνους καομένους ἐν τοῖς σημαινομένοις ἱεροῖς, ‘*the proper oil for the daily lamps burning in the temples signified ” (Edd.), P Lond 193 verso * (ii/a.p.) (=II. p. 246) λύχνον διφανιν(όν), “ἃ lamp with a double light ’’ | (Ed.), 2. 117774 (A.D. 113) (= III. p. 183) ἐλαίου κα[ζύ]σεως | Ad ts διὰ ds ἐ é B "22 Δ (AEDs the clause—aAX’ ἵνα λυτρώσωμαι τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ θανάτου. IS OC OCS CAL ae be sae a) (= Selections, p. 76) ἄρας τὸν λύχνον μου ἀνέβη εἰς τὴν λύχνον καθαρόν, καινόν, ἔπιθες ἐπὶ τὸν λύχνον τὸν πόδα ἱπποποταμίου (1. --μου). For λυχναψία, an Egyptian lamp-festival, cf. P Amh II. 70110 (between A.D. 114 and 117) (= Chres¢. I. p. 776), and for λυχνάπτης (—Tos) cf. P Oxy XII. 1453* (B.C.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λύχνος (luchnos) — lamp.

λύχνος, ὁ,

plural λύχνοι [Refs 7th c.BC+]. (fragment λυκ-sno-, compare Λύκη):—portable light, lamp, χρύσεος λ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; λύχνα καίειν, ἀνάπτειν, light lamps, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; λύχνους ἅπτειν to have an illumination, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; λ. ἀπεσβήκει had been put out, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; περὶ λύχνων ἁφάς about lamp-lighting time, i. e. towards nightfall, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πάννυχος λ. παρακαίεται lamps are kept burning all night, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔλαιον ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔνεστ᾽ ἐν τῷ λύχνῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; compare κεράτινος.

2. in plural, οἱ λύχνοι or τὰ λύχνα the lamp-market, οὑκ τῶν λ. [Refs]

II. a fish, [Refs 1st c.BC+]; cf. Latin lucerna, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

λύχνος

luchnos

from the base of 3022; a portable lamp or other illuminator (literally

or figuratively):--candle, light.

see GREEK for 3022

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λύχνος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a lamp

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λύχνος lychnos 14x

a light, lamp, candle, etc., Mt. 5:15; Mk. 4:21; met. a lamp, as a figure of a distinguished teacher, Jn. 5:35

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

λύχνος λύχνος, ὁ, pl. λύχνοι and λύχνα: — a portable light, a lamp, carried in the hand or set on a lamp-stand (λυχνίον), Od., Hdt., attic; περὶ λύχνων ἁφάς about lamplighting time, Hdt.

in pl. the lamp-market, Ar.

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

N-NPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Design of

2Pe 1:19

- DESCRIBED AS

. Burning

Ge 15:17

. Shining

Joh 5:35

- Lighted with oil

Mt 25:3,8

- Oil for, carried in vessels

Mt 25:4

- Sometimes supplied with oil form a bowl through pipes

Zec 4:2

- Required to be constantly trimmed

Mt 25:7

- USED FOR LIGHTING

. The tabernacle

Ex 25:37

. Private apartments

Ac 20:8

. Chariots of war by night

Na 2:3,4

. Marriage processions

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
79%lamp
lamp79% · 11×a lamp14% · 2×lamps7% · 1×

14 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
subject50%object43%predicate7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 14 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,ἔρχομαιI come, goὅτανwhen, whensoever
φῶςlight, a source of l
καίand, even, also,χρείαneed, necessity,
καίωI ignite, light, bur
οὐδέNeg
δέbut, on the other ha
οὐδείςno one, none, no
οὐδείςno one, none, nothin
λύχνοςlamps14×
what comes after →
Article the
σῶμαbody, fleshἀστραπήa flash of lightκαίωI ignite, light,
καίand, even, also, nam
τίθημιI put, placeσαρόωI sweepφῶςlight, a source
ἅπτωI kindle, light
καλύπτωI veil, hide, coεἰς
ἵναin order that, so th
ὑπό
καίωI ignite, light, bur

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

Concordanceλύχνος · 14× in the New Testament
Luke Revelation Matthew 2 Peter John Mark
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 29 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Giants 33c. AD 40

ὄντως γὰρ ὁ ἀληθινὸς οὗτός ἐστιν, ὃν καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν λύχνον τις μεσημβρίας ἁψάμενος πρὸς τοὺς πυνθανομένους ἄνθρωπον ἔφη ζητεῖν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.146c. AD 75–95

λύχνοι δʼ ἐπιφέρονται αὐταῖς ἑπτὰ κατὰ μίαν τῶν πλανητῶν τὸν ἀριθμὸν μεμιμημένοι, ὁρῶσι δὲ εἴς τε τὴν ἀνατολὴν καὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν λοξῶς αὐτῆς κειμένης.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 21.2c. AD 96

λέγει γάρ που: Πνεῦμα κυρίου λύχνος ἐρευνῶν τὰ ταμιεῖα τῆς γαστρός:

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 6th c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD
SB 12 10799AD 14–AD 41

ἡμέρας. θεῶν θελόντων, ἐν ταῖς τρισὶ ἡμέραις ἐσόμεθα ἐν πλοίωι. τὸ παιδίον ἐπέμβλεψον ὡς λύχνον, ἐπεὶ λίαν ἀγωνιῶ περὶ ὑμῶν. ἐὰν ὁ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἔλθῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς περὶ τοῦ

χαλκώματα δύο , ὧν ἓν ἁδρὸν καὶ ἄλλο μικρόν, καὶ ε … τέσσαρες καὶ λύχνον χαλκοῦν … ἀποσπάθιν καὶ ἔσοπτρον γυναικεῖον. ἔτους ιζ Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Νέρουα Τραιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ

P.Sarap. 72 RoHermopolitesAD 128

rColumn 1 … … … … … ρυς … … ἴδιοι Λύχνος … … ρις καὶ … … Μαγκλη … … υ … ζ

should be your <the> waist girded and the lamps burning,
καιόμενοι,kaiō burning, G2545 Verb · present · passive · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
12× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To kindle or burn is the meaning of this verb, used in Matthew 5:15 and Luke 12:35. It can also mean to light a fire or to burn something. This word is used literally and metaphorically in the Bible.
Amplified meaning
kindled, lit
Tyndale gloss
to kindle/burn
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word καίω (i.e., *kaio*) means to kindle or light, and can also refer to burning or consuming by fire. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, including Matthew 5:15, where it relates to lighting a lamp, and John 15:6, where it signifies destruction. The entries highlight its literal and metaphorical uses, such as burning with passion.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καίω,

[in LXX for בּער, יקד, שׂרף, etc.;]

to kindle, light: c. acc., λύχνον, Mt 5:15; pass., to be lighted, to burn: ptcp., Lk 12:35, Re 4:5 8:10 19:20; πυρί, He 12:18, Re 8:8 21:8; metaph., Lk 24:32, Jo 5:35.

to burn, destroy by fire: pass., Jo 15:6, I Co 13:3.†

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

καίω [ Vanitek p. 98]; Pass., pres. καίομαι ; pf. ptep. κεkavpévos; 1 fut. καυθήσομαι (1 Co. xiii. 3 Tdf., where R GLTr give the solecistie fut. subjunc. καυθήσωμαι, on which ef. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 720 sq-; W. § 13,1e.; B. 35 sq. (31)); [Soph. Lex., Intr. p.40; WH. App. p. 172; Tdf. Proleg. p. 122. WH txt. Lchm. ed. ster. read καυχήσωμαι (with ® A B ete.) ; on this reading see WH. App. ad loc.; A. W. Tyler in Bib. Sacr. for July 1873, p. 502 sq-; ef. Scrivener, Introd. etc. p. 629 sq.; Tregelles, Printed Text ete. p. 191 sq.; Tdf. ad loc.]; Sept. for 73, 4) ete. ; [fr. Hom. down]; 1. to set jire to, light: λύχνον, Mt. v.15; pass. ptep. καιόμενος, burning, Lk. xii. 35; Rev. iv. 5; viii. 10; xix. 20; with πυρί added, Heb. xii. 18; Rev. viii. 8; xxi. 8; in fig. dise. λύχνος καιόpevos, a light showing the right way, Jn. v. 35 (a comparison pointed at the Jews, to whom John the Baptist had…

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

καίω. P Oxy XII. 1453278 (B.c. 30-29) τὸ καθῆκον ἔλαιον εἰς τοὺς Kad’ ἡμέραν λύχνους καομένους ἐν τοῖς σημαινομένοις ἱεροῖς, ‘‘the proper oil for the daily lamps burning in the temples signified” (Edd.), P Tebt II. 273! (medical prepov καιόμενον, and the citation from the same papyrus s.v. κατακαίω. On the possibility of explaining the different renderings in this Lukan passage as due to a single Syriac original in three stages of corruption cf. W. C. Allen in JTS ii. p. 299. For flexions (e.g. 2 Pet 31°) see Moulton Gr. ii. 8.95. MGr καίω, katy, κάβω : for the metaphorical sense cf. καγμός, “longing,” ‘‘ desire,” ‘* pain.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καίω (kaiō) — to kindle/burn.

καίω,

Attic dialect κάω [ᾱ], imperfect ἔκαιον [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect καῖον [Refs 8th c.BC+]: future καύσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἔκαυσα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect ἔκηα (certain active and middle forms have κει- in codices of [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔκηε (ν) [Refs]; unaugm. κῆεν [Refs]; 3rd.pers. plural ἔκηαν (variant{ἔκειαν}) [Refs 8th c.BC+] codices; 1st pers. plural subjunctive κείομεν [Refs 8th c.BC+] (κατα-), [Refs]; infinitive κῆαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; participle κείαντες [Refs], Attic dialect κέαντες [Refs 5th c.BC+]perfect κέκαυκα [Refs 5th c.BC+] —middle, aorist 1 ἐκαυσάμην [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect κείαντο, κειάμενοι, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, future καυθήσομαι [NT+5th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἐκαύθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect and Ionic dialectaorist 2 ἐκάην [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; infinitive καήμεναι [Refs 8th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καίω

kaio

apparently a primary verb; to set on fire, i.e. kindle or (by

implication) consume:--burn, light.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καίω

v.

I ignite, light, burn

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καίω kaiō 11x

to cause to burn, kindle, light, Mt. 5:15; pass. to be kindled, burn, flame, Lk. 12:35; met. to be kindled into emotion, Lk. 24:32; to consume with fire, Jn. 15:6; 1 Cor. 13:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

καίω to light, kindle, πυρὰ πολλά Il.; πῦρ κῆαι Od.; Mid., πῦρ κήαντο they lighted them a fire, Hom.:—Pass. to be lighted, to burn, Il., Hdt., etc.

to set on fire, burn up, burn, Hom.

to burn, scorch, of the sun, Hdt.:—also of extreme cold (as Virg. penetrabile frigus adurit), Xen.

Pass., of fever-heat, to be burnt or parched up, Thuc.: metaph. of passion, Pind., etc.

to burn and destroy (in war), τέμνειν καὶ κ., κ. καὶ πορθεῖν to waste with fire and sword, Xen.

of surgeons, to cauterise, τέμνειν καὶ κάειν to use knife and cautery, Plat., Xen.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Nave's Topical Bible

→ As a punishment

→ See PUNISHMENT

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
73%burning
burning73% · 8×kindled9% · 1×do they light9% · 1×it is burned9% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb83%predicate8%adverbial8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 12 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
λύχνοςa lampπῦρfire, trialsλίμνηa lake
καίand, even, also, nam
βάλλωI cast, throw, rψηλαφάωI feel, touch, h
πῦρfire, trials
λαμπάςa torch, lamp, lμέγας
οὐδέNeg
λύχνοςa lamp
Article the
καίωburning,12×
what comes after →
πῦρfire, trials
καίand, even, also,
λύχνοςa lamp
καίand, even, also,
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐν
καίand, even, also, nam
φαίνωI shine, appear,
ἀγάπηlove
δέbut, on the othe

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

Concordanceκαίω · 12× in the New Testament
Revelation John Luke 1 Corinthians Hebrews Matthew
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 47 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn Flight and Finding 162c. AD 40

„τί, ὅτι ὁ βάτος καίεται καὶ οὐ κατακαίεται“ (Exod.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.80c. AD 75–95

ἔπειτα καιομένης ὡς εἶχεν ὅλης τῆς δαμάλιδος σὺν τῇ δορᾷ καὶ τοῖς ἐντὸς ξύλον κέδρινον εἰς μέσον ἐμβάλλουσι τὸ πῦρ καὶ ὕσσωπον καὶ φοινικτὸν ἔριον·

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 16.3c. AD 96

γινώσκετε δέ, ὅτι ἔρχεται ἤδη ἡ ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως ὡς κλίβανος καιόμενος, καὶ τακήσονταί τινες τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ ὡς μόλιβος ἐπὶ πυρὶ τηκόμενος: καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὰ κρύφια καὶ φανερὰ ἔργα τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

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 undated
BGU 1 246ArsinoitesAD 101–AD 300

r … εχρ … ἄχρι … καιω … κα … … προσ … κ … … … στ … παιδ

APF 45 (1999), p. 16-17 no. 2ArsinoitesAD 201–AD 225

καιω … … ἐπὶ λίθου … … Θουριήλ· … … … σελήνης οὔσης

P. Münch. 3 78date unknown

ἀποστόλου … . … μένου συλλέγειν τοὺς καρποὺς καίτοι … … ων ἀνθρώπους οὕτω καιομένη καὶ βασανιζομένους καὶ υ … … Φλαύιος Αἴλιος Γέσσιος λαμπρότατος ἡγεμὼν εἶπεν· ὑπὸ τίνος

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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