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Luke 8:53 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

BSAAndkai [also, in addition] they were laughingkatagelaō [to scorn, ridiculed] at Him,autos knowingeidō thathoti she was dead.apothnēskō [had become, lifeless, deceased, having passed away]

Word
Listen & take awayLuke 8
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 53 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 (apothnēskō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Luke 8:53quick helps
In a sentenceThe crowd laughed at Jesus because they believed the girl was dead.
Who is speakingThe crowd, responding to Jesus' words.
Where we areThis moment occurs after Jesus tells the mourners that the girl is not dead but asleep.
The hard wordκατεγέλων
Take awayThe crowd's disbelief contrasts sharply with Jesus' authority.
5 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them › clause subjectειδοτες verbκαταγελάω 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 8:53

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — The Healing of Jairus' Daughtergenerated

52Meanwhile, everyone was weeping and mourning for her. But Jesus said, “Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep.”
53And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.
54But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”
55Her spirit returned, and at once she got up. And He directed that she be given something to eat.

Luke 8:53 describes a moment of mockery directed at Jesus by those who believed a girl had died. This follows His assertion that she was merely asleep, highlighting the stark difference between human perception and divine truth. The crowd's laughter reflects their lack of faith in Jesus' power over life and death, a theme echoed in other miracles He performed, such as in Luke 7:14.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Luke 16:14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
2Job 12:4I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
3Job 17:2Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
4Psalm 22:7All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
5Isaiah 53:3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 8 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word κατεγέλων, katagelaōgenerated

The verb καταγελάω is an imperfect active indicative form, indicating ongoing action. It conveys a sense of scornful laughter, emphasizing the crowd's derision towards Jesus' claim about the girl's condition.

This word is derived from the prefix κατα- (down) and the root γελάω (to laugh), suggesting a mocking or contemptuous laughter. The use of this term in the New Testament, particularly in Matthew 9:24 and Mark 5:40, reinforces its connotation of ridicule.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.' The KJV and ASV similarly use 'laughed him to scorn,' maintaining the mocking tone of the original.

The Young's Literal Translation opts for 'they were deriding him,' while the World English Bible uses 'They were ridiculing him,' both emphasizing the scornful nature of the crowd's laughter.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is κατεγέλων, they were laughing, which governs the action of the sentence. The structure includes a participial clause εἰδότες, knowing, that provides context for their laughter.

The sentence can be broken down into two main clauses: the action of laughing and the knowledge of the girl's condition. The second clause, introduced by ὅτι, that, explains the reason for their scorn.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

καταγελάω does not have a direct equivalent in the Septuagint, but it relates to the Hebrew words for laughter and mockery, such as שָׂחַק (sachaq), which conveys similar meanings of derision.

The concept of mocking the divine or the righteous appears throughout the Old Testament, often in contexts where faith is challenged, similar to the situation in Psalm 22:7.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Luke 8:53 tells us that the crowd laughed at Jesus because they thought the girl was dead. This moment highlights their disbelief in His power to heal and raise the dead, contrasting with Jesus' assertion that she was merely asleep.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

Why did the crowd laugh at Jesus?

The crowd laughed because they believed the girl was dead and could not understand how Jesus could claim she was merely asleep.

What does it mean that the girl was 'asleep'?

When Jesus referred to the girl as 'asleep,' He indicated that her death was temporary and that He had the power to restore her to life.

How does this event relate to other miracles of Jesus?

This event parallels other miracles where Jesus demonstrated His authority over life and death, such as raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11:43.

What can we learn from the crowd's reaction?

The crowd's reaction serves as a reminder of the challenge of faith and the tendency to mock what we do not understand, highlighting the importance of believing in Jesus' power.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what areas of my life do I struggle to believe in Jesus' power?
  2. How can I respond to doubt and mockery when sharing my faith with others?
  3. What does it mean to me that Jesus can bring life from death?
  4. How can I cultivate a deeper faith in the face of skepticism?

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

Bede comments on this verse, noting the crowd's mockery of Jesus and their exclusion from witnessing the miracle due to their disbelief.

BedeOn the Gospel of Luke c. 673–735
And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. Because they preferred to mock the word of the one raising than to believe, they were deservedly excluded outside, unworthy to see the miracle of the resurrection.
Early Church Fathers on Luke 8 →

Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Luke 8:53 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And they laughed him to scorn,.... The servants, neighbours, and relations, the pipers, and mourning women: these, from weeping for the dead, fell to laughing at Christ, having him and his words in

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

And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him. For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 5:21-43.

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

(41-56) And, behold, there came a man named Jairus.—See Notes on Matthew 9:18-26, and Mark 5:21-43. St. Luke’s narrative agrees with St. Mark’s more closely than with St. Matthew’s.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Luke 8 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

53. laughed him to scorn] Literally, “were utterly deriding Him” ‘To laugh to scorn’ is used by Shakespeare, e.g.“Our castle’s strengthWill laugh a siege to scorn.”Macbeth, v. 5.

Read Cambridge on Luke 8 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

53. They laughed him to scorn—It was the crowd of “minstrels and people making a great noise,” and whom Jesus put forth from the room, who laughed; suddenly changing their hired hypocritical mourning to scorn.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Luke 8 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was dead.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.

NETBNew English Translation2006

And they began making fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And they derided him, knowing that she was dead.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And they laught him to scorne, knowing that she was dead.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And they derided him, knowing that she had died.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and they were deriding him, knowing that she did die;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and they were deriding Him, knowing that she died;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

But they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

They laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And they were laughing at him, being certain that she was dead.

Word by word, the decisions they made

κατεγέλωνkatagelaō they were laughing G2606 2 different renderings
to scornASV DRA KJV RVA
they were laughing atBBE
ἀπέθανεν.apothnēskō she was dead. G599 3 different renderings
deadASV BBE BSB DRA FBV GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
diedDBY LSV
dieYLT

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseverbκατεγέλωνthey were laughing atobjectαὐτοῦHimclause · adverbialclauseverbεἰδότεςknowingclauseὅτιthatclauseverbἀπέθανενshe was dead

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

Et deridebant eum, scientes quod mortua esset.

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

ܘܓܚܟܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܥܠܘܗܝ ܕܝܕܥܝܢ ܕܡܝܬܬ ܠܗ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.

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 8:53καίAndAndκαίκαταγελάωthey were lthey were laughκαταγελάωαὐτόςat Him,at Him,αὐτόςειδοτεςknowingknowingειδοτεςὅτιthatthatὅτιἀποθνῄσκωshe was deashe was dead.ἀποθνῄσκωἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦὅστιςRel.pr. whRel.pr. whosoevὅστιςαὐτόςPers.pr. hPers.pr. he, shαὐτόςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωοἶδαv. I know,v. I know, remeοἶδαγινώσκωv. I come v. I come to knγινώσκωὑπέρPrep. in bPrep. in behalfὑπέρζάωv. I livev. I liveζάω
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 8:53

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

And they were laughing at Him, knowing that she was dead.
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.
Amplified meaning
also, in addition
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…

Read the full entry →
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)…

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίAnd8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And they were laughing at Him, knowing that she was dead.
κατεγέλωνkatagelaō they were laughing G2606 Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · plural
3× 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 mock means to laugh at or scorn someone, like the people who ridiculed Jesus in Matthew 9:24. It involves treating someone with contempt or disdain, as seen in Mark 5:40 and Luke 8:53. This word describes a strong sense of ridicule.
Amplified meaning
to scorn, ridiculed
Tyndale gloss
to mock
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word καταγελάω (katagelao) is built from the prefix κατα- and the root γελάω, meaning to laugh. It encompasses the meanings of deriding or mocking someone, often used in the context of laughing scornfully. The New Testament references include Matthew 9:24, Mark 5:40, and Luke 8:53, where it is used to describe scornful laughter.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κατα-γελάω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for שׁחק, Jb 5:22, Pr 29:9, al.;]

to deride, laugh scornfully at: c. gen. pers., Mt 9:24, Mk 5:40, Lk 8:53.†

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

κατα-γελάω, -@: impf. 3 pers. plur. κατεγέλων; to deride, [A. V. laugh to scorn]: τινός, any one [cf. B. § 182, 15], Mt. ix. 24; Mk. v.40; Lk. viii. 53. (From [Aeschyl. and] Hdt. down; Sept.)

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

καταγελάω. BGU III. 814% (iii/A.p.) πάντες καταγελῷσί μοι---50 a soldier writes complainingly to his mother, because his father had visited him, but given him no gifts. Sy// 8021* (iii/B.C.) αἰσχυνόμενος δὲ ἅτε] katayeAdpevos ὑπ[ὸ] τῶν ἄλλων ἐνε[κάθε]υδε --- τ! [ἢ reference to a man who, having no hair on his head, sought healing in the temple of Aesculapius at Epidaurus: cf. 24.°° διεγέλα, which is perfective like kateγέλων in Mk 5%.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καταγελάω (katagelaō) — to mock.

καταγελάω,

future -άσομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+], late -γελάσω [Refs 5th c.AD+] see at {κατακριδεύσει}:— passive, future -γελασθήσομαι[Refs 1st c.AD+]: perfect -γεγέλασμαι[Refs 2nd c.AD+]: pluperfect κατεγεγέλαστο [Refs]:—laugh, jeer at, with genitive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: absolutely, laugh scornfully, mock, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. with accusative, laugh down, deride, [LXX+5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be derided, ὑπό τινος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; καταγελάμενος (Doric dialectpresent participle passive) ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

καταγελάω

katagelao

to laugh down, i.e. deride:--laugh to scorn.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καταγελάω

v.

I laugh at, ridicule

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καταγελάω katagelaō 3x

to deride, laugh at, jeer, Mt. 9:24; Mk. 5:40; Lk. 8:53*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

καταγελάω fut. άσομαι Pass., perf. -γεγέλασμαι to laugh at, jeer or mock at, c. gen., Hdt., Ar., etc.; also c. dat., Hdt.:—absol. to laugh scornfully, Eur., Ar., etc.

c. acc. to laugh down, deride, Eur.: —Pass. to be derided, Aesch., Ar., etc.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%they were mocking
they were mocking33% · 1×they were laughing at33% · 1×they were laughing33% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
καθεύδωI sleep, am slee
καταγελάωthey were laughing
what comes after →
αὐτός
αὐτόςοἶδαI know, remember

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

Concordanceκαταγελάω · 3× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Mark
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 14 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
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 5.144c. AD 75–95

συγγενῆ δὲ λέγοντος καὶ Λευῖτιν τοῦ πρεσβύτου καὶ δράσειν αὐτοὺς δεινὰ ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς εἰς τοὺς νόμους ἐξαμαρτάνοντας ὠλιγώρουν τοῦ δικαίου καὶ κατεγέλων, ἠπείλουν δὲ ἀποκτείνειν αὐτὸν ἐμποδίζοντα ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτῶν.

And they were laughing at Him, knowing that she was dead.
αὐτοῦ,autos at Him, G846 Personal pronoun · genitive · singular · masculine
5,550× 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 pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-GSM — Personal pronoun · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-GSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And they were laughing at Him, knowing that she was dead.
εἰδότεςeidō knowing G6063 Verb · perfect · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
295× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
to perceive: see
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-RAP-NPM — Verb · perfect · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%you know
you know20% · 58×knowing17% · 49×i know16% · 46×know14% · 39×we know12% · 34×knows6% · 18×know you2% · 6×other renderings7% · 21×other renderings5% · 14×

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

And they were laughing at Him, knowing that she was dead.
ὅτιhoti that G3754 Conjunction
1,293× 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 'that' or 'because', used to introduce a reason or explanation. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Romans 8:38. It helps to show cause and effect in sentences.
Tyndale gloss
that/since: that
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅτι,

conjc. (prop. neut. of ὅστις).

As conjc, introducing an objective clause, that;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅτι (hoti) — that/since: that.

ὅτῐ,

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

I. when ὅτι introduces a statement of fact:

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅτι

hoti

neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes

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

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

see GREEK for 3748

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅτι

Cj.

that, since, because

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅτι hoti 1x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 10 p. 24Hermonthis149 BC

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

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

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

And they were laughing at Him, knowing that she was dead.
ἀπέθανεν.apothnēskō she was dead. G599 Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
112× 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 stop living, or pass away, as seen in John 6:50 and Romans 8:13. It can be a natural death or a spiritual one.
Amplified meaning
had become, lifeless, deceased, having passed away
Tyndale gloss
to die
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀποθνῄσκω is a verb meaning 'to die,' used for both natural and violent deaths, including Christ's death. It can also refer to spiritual death and metaphorical uses, such as dying to sin. The word is built from the prefix ἀπό and the root θνῄσκω. It appears frequently in the New Testament, notably in contexts discussing mortality and spiritual separation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπο-θνῄσκω,

[in LXX chiefly for מוּת;]

to die: of natural death, Mk 5:35, al.; of violent death (pass. of ἀποκτείνω), esp. of Christ, Mt 26:35, Jo 12:33, He 10:28, al.; of spiritual death, Jo 6:50, Ro 8:13, al.; c. dat. ref., Ro 6:2, 10 14:7, 8, Ga 2:19; acc., ὅ, Ro 6:10; seq. ἐν, Mt 8:32, Jo 8:21, 24, I Co 15:22, He 11:37, Read the full entry →

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

ἀποθνήσκω, impf. ἀπέθνησκον (Lk. viii. 42); 2 aor. ἀπέθανον ; fut. ἀποθανοῦμαι, Ro. ν. 7; Jn. viii. 21, 24, (see θνήσκω) ; found in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down; to die (ἀπό, so as to be no more; [cf. Lat. emorior; Eng. die of f or out, pass away]; Germ. ab sterben, ver sterben) ; I. used properly 1. of the natural death of men: Mt. ix. 24; xxii. 24; Lk. xvi. 22; Jn. iv.47; Ro. vii. 2, and very often; ἀποθνήσκοντες ἄνθρωποι subject to death, mortal, Heb. vii. 8 [B. 206 (178) }. 2. of the violent death — both of animals, Mt. viii. 32, and of men, Mt. xxvi. 35; Acts xxi. 13 ete.; 1 Pet. iii. 18 L T Tr WH txt.; ev φόνῳ μαχαίρας, Heb. xi. 37; of the punishment of death, Heb. x. 28; often of the violent death which Christ suffered, as Jn. xii. 33; Ro. v. 6, ete. 3. Phrases: ἀποθνήσκ. ἔκ twos to perish by means of something, [ef. Eng. to die of], Rev. viii. 11; ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις…

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

ἀποθνήσκω. On the reason why the perfect of this verb was τέθνηκα, hot ἀποτέθνηκα, see Pro/eg. p. 114. Marcus Aurelius, it is true, uses ἀποτέθνηκα, a natural result of levelling when the simplex had become obsolete ; but the editor of P Iand 09> (ii/A.D.) is not thereby justified in restoring ἀπο]τεθνῶτ[ος. No other part of the simplex survives, and no other compound. An interesting instance of the word occurs in P Par 477® (c. B.C. 153) (= Selections, p. 22) οἱ παρὰ σὲ θεοὶ. . . ὅτι ἐνβέβληκαν ὑμᾶς εἰς ὕλην μεγάλην Kal od δυνάμεθα ἀποθανεῖν, “your gods (are false) because they have cast us into a great forest, where we may possibly die.” As a parallel to the Pauline usage in 1 Cor 15% may be noted the touching letter P Giss I. 179 (time of Hadrian), where a slave writes to her absent master, ἀποθνήσκομεν ὅτι οὐ βλέπομέν σε καθ᾽ ἡμέραν. The use of the present tense justifies one more…

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

ἀποθνήσκω (apothnēskō) — to die.

ἀποθνήσκω,

future -θᾰνοῦμαι, Ionic dialect -θανέομαι or -εῦμαι[Refs 5th c.BC+] —strengthened for θνῄσκω, die, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Comedy texts and Prose the usual form of the present; σεῦ ἀποτεθνηῶτος[Refs 8th c.BC+]; νόσῳ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; to be ready to die, of laughter, etc., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. serving as passive of ἀποκτείνω, to be put to death, slain, ὑπό τινος[Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially by judicial sentence, ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως[Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. renounce, νόμῳ[NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀποθνῄσκω

apothnesko

from 575 and 2348; to die off (literally or figuratively):--be dead,

death, die, lie a-dying, be slain (X with).

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 2348

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀποθνῄσκω

v.

I am dying, am about to die

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀποθνῄσκω apothnēskō 111x

to die, Mt. 8:32; to decay, rot, as seeds, Jn. 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:36; to wither, become dry, as a tree, Jude 12; met. to die the death of final condemnation and misery, Jn. 6:50; 8:21, 24; to die to a thing by renunciation or utter separation, Rom. 6:2; 1 Cor. 15:31; Gal. 2;19; Col. 3:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀποθνήσκω to die off, die, Hom., attic:— to be ready to die of laughter, Ar.

serving as Pass. of ἀποκτείνω, to be put to death, to be slain, ὑπό τινος Hdt., Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAI-3S — Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
second aorist active indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ded (muth; nekros): Used in several senses:

(1) as a substantive, denoting the body deprived of life, as when Abraham speaks of burying his dead (Ge 23);

(2) as a collective noun including all those that have passed away from life (as Re 20:12). In several passages dead in this sense is used in contrast to the quick or living (as Nu 16:48). This collective mode of expression is used when resurrection is described as "rising from the dead";

(3) as an adjective, coupled with body, carcass or man, as De 14:8 the King James Version;

(4) most frequently it is used as a complement of the verb "to be," referring to the condition of being deceased or the period of death, e. g. 2Sa…

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

Counted over the 273 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.101c. AD 40

ἐκεῖ μὲν γάρ φησιν „ἀπὸ παντὸς φάγῃ“, ἐνταῦθα δὲ „οὐ φάγεσθε“ καὶ „ᾗ δ’ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε“, οὐχὶ φάγῃς, καὶ „ἀποθανεῖσθε“, οὐχὶ ἀποθανῇ.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.151c. AD 75–95

τούτων Ἀράνης μὲν υἱὸν καταλιπὼν Λῶτον καὶ Σάρραν καὶ Μελχὰν θυγατέρας ἐν Χαλδαίοις ἀπέθανεν ἐν πόλει Οὐρῆ λεγομένῃ τῶν Χαλδαίων, καὶ τάφος αὐτοῦ μέχρι νῦν δείκνυται.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 25.2c. AD 96

ὄρνεον γάρ ἐστιν, ὃ προσονομάζεται φοῖνιξ: τοῦτο μονογενὲς ὑπάρχον ζῇ ἔτη πεντακόσια, γενόμενόν τε ἤδη πρὸς ἀπόλυσιν τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτό, σηκὸν ἑαυτῷ ποιεῖ ἐκ λιβάνου καὶ σμύρνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρωμάτων, εἰς ὃν πληρωθέντος τοῦ χρόνου εἰσέρχεται καὶ…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 7th c. AD 8th c. AD 2nd c. BC
SB 1 5761Arsinoites ?AD 89–AD 91

λυτον … ὀνόματι τῆς ἐπιτροπῆς ἃ μὲν διηρπακέναι προφάσει περιλύσεως δανείων τῶν τοῦ ἀποθανόντος πατρὸς αὐτῆς, ἃ δὲ καὶ πεπρακέναι Ἀπίαι τῆι ἀντιδίκωι ὑποβλήτωι οὔσηι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκ

P.Oxy. 22 2342OxyrhynchosAD 102

α τρισχιλίων καὶ ἄλλαι ἐπʼ οἴνωι πεντακισχιλίαι . ἰδὼν αὐτὴν ψευδομένην ᾔτησε τὴν τοῦ ἀποθανόντος ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς Πασίωνος ἐφημερίδα ἣν πολλάκις ἐπέφερεν αὐτὸς ὄντων παντὸς λόγου γραπτῶν ἀριθμῷ

P.Giss. 1 17Apollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 113–AD 120

ἀπρόσκοπον. παρακαλῶ σε, κύριε, ἐάν σοι δόξῃ, καὶ πέμψαι ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, εἰ δὲ μή, ἀποθνήσκομεν ὅτι οὐ βλέπομέν σε καθʼ ἡμέραν. ὤφελον εἰ ἐδυνάμεθα πετᾶσθαι καὶ ἐλθεῖν καὶ προσκυνῆσαί

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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