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Matthew 17:6 — Word Study

Depth

N1904καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

BSAAndkai having heard [it]akouō theho disciplesmathētēs [learners, pupils] fellpiptō [collapsed, prostrate] uponepi [upon their face, in reverence] faceprosōpon of themautos andkai were terrifiedphobeō [sore afraid, exceedingly fearful, very much afraid] greatly.sphodra

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 17
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 6 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 (sphodra) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 17:6quick helps
In a sentenceThe disciples, upon hearing the voice from the cloud, were overwhelmed and fell down in fear.
Who is speakingThe disciples, who are learners and followers of Jesus.
Where we areThis moment occurs during the Transfiguration of Jesus, a pivotal event in His ministry.
The hard wordφοβέω
Take awayThe disciples' reaction shows the profound impact of divine revelation.
7 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subjectἀκούω verbἀκούω 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 — Matthew 17:6

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 Transfiguration of Jesusgenerated

5While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.
7Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Do not be afraid.”
8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Matthew 17:6 describes the moment when the disciples heard the voice of God from a bright cloud declaring Jesus as His beloved Son. This event left them terrified, leading them to fall facedown. The context highlights the divine authority of Jesus and the disciples' response to His glory, similar to the reactions of others in the presence of God, as seen in Isaiah 6:5 and Ezekiel 1:28.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Leviticus 9:24Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
2Judges 13:20–22When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.
31 Chronicles 21:16When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
4Ezekiel 3:23So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.
5Ezekiel 43:3The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 11 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word φοβέω, phobeōgenerated

The verb ἐφοβήθησαν is aorist passive, indicating that the disciples were acted upon by fear. It means to be terrified or greatly afraid, reflecting a deep sense of alarm in response to a divine revelation.

This word is derived from φόβος, meaning fear, and it encompasses both the sense of dread and reverential awe. The passive form suggests that the fear was not self-generated but a response to the overwhelming presence of God.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In this study, we reference the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which states, 'they fell facedown in terror.' The KJV and ASV use similar phrases, emphasizing the disciples' prostration and fear.

The translations diverge slightly in their renderings of specific terms. For instance, face is rendered as faces in the BBE and WEB, while the phrase were terrified appears as sore afraid in the KJV and ASV.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb is ἔπεσαν, they fell, which governs the action of the disciples. The structure includes a participial phrase, ἀκούσαντες, having heard, that describes the disciples' action before falling.

The sentence includes additional phrases: a prepositional phrase ἐπὶ πρόσωπον indicating the position of their fall, and a clause that describes their emotional state, ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα, were terrified greatly.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἐφοβήθησαν corresponds to the Hebrew יָרֵא, meaning to fear. This connection highlights the continuity of the theme of fear in the presence of God, as seen in the Septuagint's usage.

πρόσωπον is also found in the Septuagint, translating the Hebrew פָּנֶה, which signifies the face or presence, emphasizing the personal encounter with the divine.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 17:6 describes how the disciples reacted when they heard God's voice from the cloud. They fell facedown in fear, overwhelmed by the divine presence. This moment shows their deep respect and awe for God and His Son, Jesus.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What caused the disciples to fall facedown?

The disciples fell facedown because they heard the voice of God declaring Jesus as His beloved Son, which filled them with fear and awe.

Is the fear the disciples experienced a common reaction in the Bible?

Yes, fear in the presence of God is a common reaction throughout the Bible, as seen in other instances like Isaiah 6:5 and Ezekiel 1:28.

What does this event reveal about Jesus?

This event reveals Jesus' divine nature and authority as the Son of God, affirming His unique relationship with the Father.

How can we respond to the divine presence today?

We can respond with reverence and awe, recognizing God's power and holiness, much like the disciples did in this moment.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How do I react when I sense God's presence in my life?
  2. What does it mean to me that Jesus is called the beloved Son of God?
  3. In what ways can I cultivate a deeper reverence for God in my daily life?
  4. How can I share the significance of this moment with others?

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

Early church Fathers comment on this moment, discussing the disciples' fear and the significance of God's voice.

TertullianAgainst Praxeas c. 155–220
A like danger to which also befell Peter, and John, and James, (who confronted not the same light) without risking the loss of their reason and mind;
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 17 →
JeromeVerse 6. c. 347–420
And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were exceedingly afraid. They were terrified for three reasons: either because they realized they had made a mistake, or because a shining cloud had covered them,
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 17 →
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 56 c. 347–407
"And when they heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 17 →

Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 17:6 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And when the disciples heard it,.... The voice out of the cloud, and which they apprehended came from God, and was uttered with so much majesty: they fell on their face: not so much out of reverence,

Read John Gill on Matthew 17 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, For the exposition, see the notes at Luke 9:28-36.

Read Robert Jamieson on Matthew 17 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. Ver. 6. They fell on their faces] As amazed and amated with that stupendous voice that came from the excellent glory, as St Peter phraseth it, 2 Peter 1:17. So Moses and Elias hid their faces when God spake unto them, as not able to bear his brightness; rottenness entered into their bones. The very angels cover their faces before him with two of their wings, as with a double scarf, or as one claps his hands upon his face when it lighteneth and flasheth suddenly upon him. What a mercy it is then to us, that we are taught by men like ourselves; that we have this treasure in earthen vessels, this pearl of price…

Read John Trapp on Matthew 17 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) When the disciples heard it.—At this point St. Matthew’s narrative is the fullest. The three disciples shrink in fear, like that of the Israelites at the brightness of Moses’ face (Exodus 34:30), like that of the priests in the Temple who could not stand to minister because of the cloud (1 Kings 8:11), and lie prostrate on the ground in speechless terror. They have seen the glory of the Lord: can they hear His voice and live?

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 17 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 6. Fell on their face] Dismayed by the voice, and dazzled by the glory of the cloud. So Daniel, Daniel 8:17, and Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:4.

Read AdamClarke on Matthew 17 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They fell on their face - They entered into the cloud, or the cloud enveloped them, Luke 9:34.

Read Albert Barnes on Matthew 17 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

6. They fell on their face — The lustre of the Saviour’s presence had only made them happy; but the splendour of the Shekinah, and the voice from its excellent glory, filled them with tremor.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Matthew 17 →

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

When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.

NETBNew English Translation2006

When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And when the disciples heard it , they fell on their face, and were in great fear.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And when the disciples heard that, they fell on their faces, and were sore afraide.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And the disciples hearing [it] fell upon their faces, and were greatly terrified.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And the disciples having heard, did fall upon their face, and were exceedingly afraid,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And the disciples having heard, fell on their face, and were exceedingly afraid,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

When the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were very afraid.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

When they heard this, the disciples fell down on their faces, absolutely terrified.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And at these words the disciples went down on their faces in great fear.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἀκούσαντεςakouō having heard [it] G191 3 different renderings
heardASV BSB FBV GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
hearingDBY DRA
having heardLSV YLT
ἔπεσανpiptō fell G4098 2 different renderings
fellASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NWB RVA ULB WEB
fell downFBV
πρόσωπονprosōpon face G4383 2 different renderings
faceASV DRA KJV LSV NWB RVA ULB YLT
facesBBE DBY FBV GNV NETB WEB
ἐφοβήθησανphobeō were terrified G5399 3 different renderings
afraidLSV ULB WEB YLT
sore afraidASV KJV RVA
very much afraidDRA
σφόδρα.sphodra greatly. G4970 2 different renderings
exceedinglyLSV YLT
greatlyDBY

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseclauseadverbialἀκούσαντεςhaving heard [it]noun phrase · subjectοἱtheμαθηταὶdisciplesverbἔπεσανfellprepositional phrase · adverbialἐπὶuponnoun phraseπρόσωπονfaceαὐτῶνof themκαὶandclauseverbἐφοβήθησανwere terrifiedadverbialσφόδραgreatly

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 audientes discipuli ceciderunt in faciem suam, et timuerunt valde.

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

ܘܟܕ ܫܡܥܘ ܬܠܡܝܕܐ ܢܦܠܘ ܥܠ ܐܦܝܗܘܢ ܘܕܚܠܘ ܛܒ

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 ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.

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.

Matthew 17:6καίAndAndκαίἀκούωhaving hearhaving heard [iἀκούωthetheμαθητήςdisciplesdisciplesμαθητήςπίπτωfellfellπίπτωἐπίuponuponἐπίπρόσωπονfacefaceπρόσωποναὐτόςof themof themαὐτόςκαίandandκαίφοβέωwere terrifwere terrifiedφοβέωσφόδραgreatly.greatly.σφόδραφόβοςn.m. fear,n.m. fear, terrφόβοςμανθάνωv. I learnv. I learn, ascμανθάνωπέτομαιv. I flyv. I flyπέτομαιπρόςPrep. to, Prep. to, towarπρόςὀπτάνομαιv. I appeav. I appear, amὀπτάνομαιἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦοὖςn.n. the en.n. the earοὖςφωνήn.f. a soun.f. a sound, nφωνήνηστεύωv. I fastv. I fastνηστεύωἐπιτιμάωv. I rebukv. I rebuke, chἐπιτιμάωπροσκυνέωv. I worshv. I worshipπροσκυνέωπρόσωπονn.n. the fn.n. the face, πρόσωπονκάθημαιv. I sit, v. I sit, am seκάθημαιθρόνοςn.m. a thrn.m. a throne, θρόνοςπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωἀποκτείνωv. I put tv. I put to deaἀποκτείνω
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 Matthew 17:6

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 having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
καὶkai And G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew 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…

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 having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
ἀκούσαντεςakouō having heard [it] G191 Verb · aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
428× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To hear or listen, not just with our ears but also to understand and obey, as Jesus says in Mark 4:3 and Matthew 11:15. It involves paying attention to what is being said and responding accordingly.
Tyndale gloss
to hear
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀκούω, transliterated as akouo, means 'to hear' or 'to listen.' It covers a range of meanings from simply hearing sounds to understanding and obeying what is said. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, including commands to listen (e.g., Mk 4:3) and references to understanding (e.g., 1 Cor 14:2). The lexicons do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀκούω,

[in LXX chiefly for שׁמע;]

to hear, listen, attend, perceive by hearing, comprehend by hearing.

Intrans.: Mk 4:3 7:37, Ja 2:5, Re 2:7, al.; τ. ὠσίν, Mt 13:15(LXX); c. cogn. dat., ακοῇ ἀ. (v.s. ἀκοή), Mt 13:14, Ac 28:26(LXX); ὁ ἔχων ὦτα (οὖς) ἀκούειν, ἀκουσάτω, Mt 11:15, Mk 4:23, Re 2:7, al.

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

ἀκούω [on the use of the pres. in a pf. sense ef. W. 274 sq. (258); B. 203 (176)]; impf. ἤκουον ; fut. (in best Grk. usage) ἀκούσομαι, Jn. v. 25 RGL, 28 RGL; Acts iii. 22; vii. 37 RG; xvii. 32; [xxi. 22]; xxv. 22; xxviii. 28; [Ro. x. 14 Tdf.], and (a later form) ἀκούσω. Mt. xii. 19; xiii. 14, (both fr. the Sept.) ; [Jn. x. 16; xvi. 13 Tr WH mrg.; Acts xxviii. 26]; Ro. x. 14 ΓΒ 617; and T Tr WH in Jn. v. 25, 28, (ef. W.82 (79); B. 53 (46) [Veitch 5. v.]); [1 aor. ἤκουσα; Jn. iii. 32, ete.]; pf. ἀκήκοα; Pass.,[ pres. ἀκούομαι; 1 fut.axovaOncopar]; 1 aor. ἠκούσθην ; [fr. Hom. down]; tohear. I. absol. 1. tobe endowed with the faculty of hearing (not deaf): Mk. vii. 37; Lk. vii. 22; Mt.xi.5. 2. to attend to (use the faculty of hearing), consider what is or has been said. So in exhortations: ἀκούετε, Mk. iv. 3; ἀκούσατε, Jas. ii. 5; ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω, Mt. xi. 15; xiii. 9, [in both T…

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

ἀκούω. The verb is of course common enough, and needs little or no illustration, having few peculiarities. Its use for a judicial hearing (as Ac 2523) may be paralleled with P Tand οἷ (ii/A.p.) Kal [pé]x [pr] τούτου οὔπο ἠκούσθ[ημ]εν, and P Oxy VII. 1032 (A.p. 162), where the epistrategus endorses a petition with ἀκουσθήσεται. So in BGU IL. 511i? (= Chrest. 1. p. 26), an account written about A.D. 200 of a trial before Claudius, we have ἀκούει Κλαύδιος Καῖσα[ρ Σέβαστος ᾿Ισιδώρου] γυμνασιάρχου πόλεως ᾿Α[λεξανδρέων] κατὰ ᾿Αγρίππου βασιλέω[ς]. The last example will illustrate ἀκούειν with normal gen. of person: P Par 485 (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski*® p. 91) ἀκούσαντες . . τὰ περὶ σοῦ συνβεβηκότα will serve for accus. vez, and will also illustrate the common use with περί, since the phrase is a mixture of ἀκ. περὶ σοῦ and ἀκ. τά σοι συνβεβηκότα (Witk.).…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀκούω (akouō) — to hear.

ἀκούω:

Epic dialect imperfect ᾰκουον[Refs 8th c.BC+]future ἀκούσομαι (active ἀκούσω first in [NT+4th c.BC+]aorist ἤκουσα, Epic dialect ᾰκουσα[Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect ἀκήκοα, Laconian dialect ἄκουκα[Refs 1st c.AD+]; ἤκουκα is a late form, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; later Ionic dialect ἀκήκουκα[Refs 3rd c.BC+]: pluperfect ἀκηκόειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]; old Attic dialect ἠκηκόη[Refs 5th c.BC+] —rare in middle, present (see. below [Refs]: Epic dialect imperfect ἀκούετο[Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist ἠκουσάμην[Refs 2nd c.BC+]:—passive, future ἀκουσθήσομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἠκούσθην[Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἤκουσμαι[Refs 1st c.BC+]; ἀκήκουσμαι is uncertain in [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: pluperfect ἤκουστο[Refs 4th c.BC+], (παρ-) [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—hear, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: properly with accusative of thing heard, genitive of person from whom it is heard, ταῦτα Καλυψοῦς ἤκουσα[Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀκούω

akouo

a primary verb; to hear (in various senses):--give (in the) audience

(of), come (to the ears), (shall) hear(-er, -ken), be noised, be

reported, understand.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀκούω

v.

I hear, listen

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀκούω akouō 428x

some list the future active as a middle deponent, ἀκούσομαι, to hear; to hearken, listen to, Mk. 4:3; Lk. 19:48; to heed, obey, Mt. 18:15; Acts 4:19; to understand, 1 Cor. 14:2; to take in or admit to mental acceptance, Mk. 4:33; Jn. 8:43, 47

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀκούω Root ΑΚΟϜ to hear, Hom., etc. —Construct., properly, c. acc. of thing heard, gen. of pers. from whom it is heard, ταῦτα Καλυψοῦς ἤκουσα Od.; the gen. pers. may be omitted, ἀκήκοας λόγον Soph., or the acc. rei, ἄκουε τοῦ θανόντος id. Soph.:—often however c. gen. rei, to have hearing of a thing.

c. gen. objecti, to hear of, hear tell of, ἀκ. πατρός Od.; so c. acc., Od.:—so, ἀκ. περί τινος.

the pers. from whom the thing is heard takes a prep., ἀκούειν τι ἀπό, ἔκ, παρά, πρός τινος, Il., attic

to know by hearsay, εἴ που ἀκούεις Od.; so Plat., etc.

absol. to hearken, give ear, to begin a proclamation, ἀκούετε λεώι hear, O people.

to listen to, give ear to, Il.

to obey, c. gen., or more rarely c. dat., id. Il.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAP-NPM — Verb · aorist · 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-AAP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%having heard
having heard20% · 88×hearing10% · 45×hear9% · 39×i heard7% · 31×heard6% · 28×you have heard4% · 18×he should hear4% · 16×you hear2% · 9×other renderings37% · 161×

435 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 90 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
verb89%adverbial11%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 428 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
ὁράωI see, look uponαὐτόςβλέπωI look, see
Article the
πᾶςall, the whole, καίand, even, also,εἰμίI am, exist
ὅς
ἀκούωI hear, listenπᾶςall, the whole, λόγοςa word, speech,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theὅτανwhen, whensoeverὡςas, like as, how
οὖςthe ear
ἔχωI have, hold, poArticle the
ἀκούωhaving heard [it]428×
what comes after →
Article the
λόγοςa word, speech, μαθητήςa learner, disciπερί
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegβλέπωI look, see
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςὅτιthat, since, bec
ὅτιthat, since, because
εἶπονI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,πολύςmuch, many, ofteσυζητέωI seek together,

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

Concordanceἀκούω · 428× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew John Revelation Mark 1 John Hebrews Ephesians Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Timothy

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 515 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.16c. AD 40

ὅταν οὖν λέγῃ „ἰδεῖν τί καλέσει", ἄκουε ἴσον τῷ, διὰ τί καλέσει καὶ προσκαλέσεται καὶ ἀσπάσεται τούτων ἕκαστον ὁ νοῦς·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.184c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὁ μὲν ταῦτʼ ἀκούσας θυσίαν προσφέρει τῷ θεῷ κελευσθεὶς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 7.3c. AD 100

ἀκούσατε, πῶς περὶ τούτου πεφανέρωκαν οἱ ἱερεῖς τοῦ ναοῦ.

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 5th c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. AD
P.Lond. 7 2011Pharbaithos (Arsinoites)244 BC

r Παταικίων Ζήνωνι χαίρειν. ἀκηκόαμεν παρὰ Πύρρου τοὺς αἰπόλους ἀναχωρεῖν. τὸν μὲν οὖν Λιμναῖον ἔφη ἤδη ἀπεληλυθέναι, Δημήτριον δὲ

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

ϛ ἔτους τινὰ δὲ ἐν τῶι Μεμφίτηι, ἃ εἶχεν Παμῆς καὶ Ἀμεννεύς, οὓς νῦν ἀκούομεν μεταγηγοχέναι εἰς τὸν Ἡρακλεοπολίτην ἄνευ ἡμῶν, Ἀμμώνιος δʼ ὁ οἰκονόμος ἀπαγήοχεν αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰ

P.Grenf. 2 36Pathyris96 BC

ἡμῖν κακὸν ἐποίησεν ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐπιμεμέληται, περὶ ὧν, ἐὰν αἱρῆτε, γράψατέ μοι. ἠκούσαμεν τὸν μῦν καταβεβρωκέναι τὸν σπόρον. καλῶς ἡμῖν ὦδε, ἢ ἐν Διοσπόλει ἐὰν αἱρῆσθε, πυρὸν

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
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 Matthew 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

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
μαθηταὶmathētēs disciples G3101 Noun · nominative · plural · masculine
261× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A disciple is a learner or pupil, like the twelve who followed Jesus, as mentioned in Matthew 10:1 and Luke 8:9. This word is used to describe someone who follows a teacher or leader. It is often used in the context of Jesus' teachings.
Amplified meaning
learners, pupils
Tyndale gloss
disciple
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μαθητής (i.e., *mathetes*) means a learner or disciple, derived from the verb for learning, μανθάνω (*manthanō*). It refers primarily to a follower of a teacher, especially in the context of Jesus and his twelve apostles, but also applies to early Christians generally. The term appears frequently in the New Testament, notably in Matthew and Acts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μαθητής, -οῦ, ὁ (μανθάνω),

[in LXX only as v.l. (A) in Je 13:21 20:11 26 (46):9*;]

a disciple: opp. to διδάσκαλος, Mt 10:24, Lk 6:40; Ἰωάννου, Mt 9:14, Lk 7:18, Jo 3:25; τ. Φαρισαίων, Mt 22:16, Mk 2:18, Lk 5:33; Μωυσέως, Jo 9:28; Ἰησοῦ, Lk 6:17 7:11 19:37, Jo 6:66 7:3 19:38; esp. the twelve, Mt 10:1 11:1, Read the full entry →

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

μαθητής, -οῦ, 6, (μανθάνω), a learner, pupil, disciple: univ., opp. to διδάσκαλος, Mt. x. 24; Lk. vi. 40; τινός. one who follows one’s teaching: ᾿Ιωάννου, Mt. ix. 14; Lk. vii. 18 (19); Jn. iii. 25; τῶν Φαρισ., Mt. xxii. 16; Mk. ii. 18; Lk. v.33; Moicéas, Jn. ix. 28; of Jesus,— in a wide sense, in the Gospels, those among the Jews who favored him, joined his party, became his adherents: Jn. vi. 663; νἱῖ. 8; xix. 38; ὄχλος μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, Lk. vi. 17; of p. αὐτοῦ ἱκανοί, Lk. vii. 11; ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν pad. Lk. xix. 37; but especially the twelve apostles : Mt. x. 1; xi. 1; xii. 1; Mk. viii. 27; Lk. viii. 9; Jn. ii. 2; iii. 22, and very often; also simply of μαθηταί, Mt. xiii. 10; xiv. 19; Mk. x. 24; Lk. ix. 16; Jn. vi. 11 [Rec.], etc.; in the Acts of μαθηταί are all those who confess Jesus as the Messiah, Christians: Acts vi. 1 sq. 7; ix. 19; xi. 26, and often; with τοῦ κυρίου added…

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

μαθητής. In a return of hieroglyphic inscribers, P Oxy VII. 1029%5 (A.D. 107), the tepdyAvdor declare on oath that the list is Part V. exhaustive, and that there were no apprentices or strangers versed in their art—opvvopev . . . μηδὲ ἔχει[ν] μαθητὰς ἢ ἐπιξένους χρωωμένους (/. χρωμ-) τῇ τέχνῃ εἰς τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἡμέραν. The word is probably to be read in BGU I. 3281. 84 (ii/A.D.). The distinction between μάθημα and μάθησις is well seen in PSI I. 948% (ii/a.D.) προσεδρεύει is τὰ μαθήpara: ζηλοῖ yap τὴν μάθησιν, ‘he is regular in attendance at his studies, for he is eager in acquiring knowledge”: cf. also P Oxy X. 12968 (iii/A.D.) ἀμερίμνη οὖν, πάτερ, χάριν τῶν μαθημάτων ἡμῶν, ‘do not be anxious, father, about my studies” (Edd.), 26. IV. 724° (A.D. 155) πρὸς μάθησιν σημείων --α contract of apprenticeship to a shorthand-writer, and from the inserr. /Mfde VII. 4497 πᾶσαν μάθησιν ὑμνοποιὸν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μαθητής (mathētēs) — disciple.

μᾰθητ-ής, οῦ, ὁ,

learner, pupil, τῆς Ἑλλάδος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of dancing, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: frequently in Attic dialect of the pupils of philosophers and rhetoricians, οὐ θέμις πλὴν τοῖς μ. λέγειν [Refs 5th c.BC+] with genitive _of things_, τούτου τοῦ μαθήματος μ. a studentofit, [Refs]; μ. ἰατρικῆς a student of medicine,[Refs]; apprentice, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

μαθητής

mathetes

from 3129; a learner, i.e. pupil:--disciple.

see GREEK for 3129

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μαθητής, οῦ, ὁ

n.m.

a learner, disciple, pupil

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μαθητής mathētēs 261x

a disciple, Mt. 10:24, 42, et al.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μαθητής μα^θητής, οῦ, μανθάνω a learner, pupil, Lat. discipulus, Hdt., Plat., etc.

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%disciples
disciples90% · 241×disciple10% · 26×other renderings1% · 2×

269 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
subject54%adverbial15%indirect object14%object11%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 261 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
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
ἄλλοςother, another, diff
Article theκαίand, even, also,δέbut, on the othe
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegΜωϋσῆςMosesἈριμαθαίαArimathea
δώδεκαIndec
Article the
μαθητήςdisciples261×
what comes after →
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,ὅτιthat, since, bec
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusὄχλοςa crowdδέbut, on the othe
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςἔρημοςdeserted, desolaτίςIrg
σύ
ἵναin order that, sοὐNegποιέωI do, make
καίand, even, also, nam
ἔρχομαιI come, goποιέωI do, makeεὑρίσκωI find

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

Concordanceμαθητής · 261× in the New Testament
John Matthew Mark Luke Acts

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 7c. AD 40

οἱ δὲ ἀνθρώπων μὲν ὑφηγήσεις ἀπολελοιπότες, μαθηταὶ δὲ εὐφυεῖς θεοῦ γεγονότες, τὴν ἄπονον ἐπιστήμην ἀνειληφότες, εἰς τὸ ἄφθαρτον καὶ τελεώτατον γένος μετανίστανται κλῆρον ἀμείνω τῶν προτέρων ἐνδεδεγμένοι, ὧν ὁ Ἰσαὰκ θιασώτης ἀνωμολόγηται.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.200c. AD 75–95

λίαν γὰρ ἦν περὶ τοὺς ξένους φιλάνθρωπος καὶ μαθητὴς τῆς Ἁβράμου χρηστότητος.

Ignatius of AntiochThe Letters of Ignatius 1.1.2c. AD 110

ἀκούσαντες γὰρ δεδεμένον ἀπὸ Συρίας ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ ὀνόματος καὶ ἐλπίδος, ἐλπίζοντα τῇ προσευχῇ ὑμῶν ἐπιτυχεῖν ἐν Ῥώμῃ θηριομαχῆσαι, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ ἐπιτυχεῖν δυνηθῶ μαθητὴς εἶναι, ἰδεῖν ἐσπουδάσατε:

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. BC
P.Mich. 3 170OxyrhynchosAD 49

λαύρας τῆς αὐτῆς Παρεμβολῆς· διὸ ἀξιῶ ἀναγράψεσθαι τὸν υἱὸν ἐν τοῖς τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔτους μαθηταῖς ὡς καθήκει. εὐτυχεῖτε. Δίδυμος σεσημείωμαι. ἔτους δεκάτου Τιβερίου Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ Αὐτοκράτορος μηνὸς

P.Oxy. 2 310 descr.OxyrhynchosAD 56

Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ Αὐτοκράτορος, Παῦνι κ Σεβαστῆι. διαγεγράφηκεν ὑπὲρ γερδιακοῦ α ἔτους Τευμενούθεως Ἀπίων Τρύφωνος μαθητής, α ἔτους διὰ Θέωνος δραχμὰς δέκα πέντε, γίνονται ιε. Ἐπὶφ ι ὁ αὐτὸς Ἀπίων

P.Mich. 3 171OxyrhynchosAD 58

Ἀμμωνίου λαύρας Ἱππέων Κάμπου· διὸ ἀξιῶ ἀναγράψασθαι τὸν Ἀμοιτᾶν ἐν τοῖς τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔτους μαθηταῖς ὡς καθήκει. εὐτυχεῖτε. Ἰσχυριον σεσημείωμαι. ἔτους ε Νέρωνος Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ Αὐτοκράτορος μηνὸς

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
ἔπεσανpiptō fell G4098 Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
91× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To fall or collapse can be literal, like falling down, or figurative, as in failing or stumbling, as seen in Matthew 10:29 and Revelation 8:10.
Amplified meaning
collapsed, prostrate
Tyndale gloss
to collapse
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πίπτω is a Greek verb meaning 'to fall' and can refer to both literal and metaphorical falling. It encompasses various usages, including falling down, descending, and prostrating oneself in worship or supplication. The New Testament uses it in contexts like falling under judgment (James 5:12) and physical prostration (John 18:6). The lexicons show some variation in the nuances of its meanings, particularly in metaphorical applications.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πίπτω,

[in LXX chiefly for נפל;]

to fall;

of descent, to fall, fall down or from: seq. ἐπί, c. acc. loc., Mt 10:29, al.; εἰς, Mt 15:14, al.; ἐς μέσῳ, c. gen., Lk 8:7; παρὰ τ. ὁδόν, Mt 13:4, Mk 4:4, Lk 8:5; seq. ἀπό, Mt 15:27, al.; ἐκ, Mk 13:25, Lk 10:18, Re 8:10 9:1. Metaph.: ὁ ἥλιος, seq. ἐπί, Re…

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

πίπτω ; [impf. ἔπιπτον (Mk. xiv. 35 Τ' Trmrg. WH)]; fut. πεσοῦμαι; 2 aor. ἔπεσον and ace. to the Alex. form (received everywhere by Lchm. [exe. Lk. xxiii. 30], Tdf. [exe. Rev. vi. 16], Tr [exe. ibid.], WH; and also used by R Gin Rev. i. 17; v.14; vi. 18; xi. 165; xvii. 10) ἔπεσα (cf. [ WH. App. p.164; Tdf. Proleg. p. 123]; Lob. ad Phryn. p. 724sq.; Béitm. Ausf. Spr. ii. p. 277 sq., and see ἀπέρχομαι init.) ; pf. πέπτωκα, 2 pers. sing. -xes (Rev. ii. 5 T WH); see κοπιάω), 3 pers. plur. τκαν (Rev. xviii. 3, Led. ster. Tr txt. WH txt.; see γίνομαι) ; (fr. ΠΕΤΩ, as τίκτω fr. TEKQ [ef. Curtius, Etymol. § 214; Verbum, ii. p. 398]); fr. Hom. down; Sept. chiefly for 55); to fall; used 1. of descent from a higher place to a lower; a. prop. to fall (either from or upon, i.q. Lat. incido, decido): ἐπί w. ace. of place, Mt. x. 29; xiii. 5, [7], 8; xxi. 44 [T om. L WH Tr mrg. br. the vs.]; Mk. iv.…

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

πίπτω, “fall down,” (1) of things—P Petr II. 13(3)? (B.c. 258-3) τὸ πρὸς νότον [τ]οῦ ὀχυρώματος τεῖχος μέρος μέν TL αὐτοῦ πεπτωκός ἐστιν, ‘the wall to the south of the prison, part of it has fallen” (Ed.) ; (2) of persons—P Oxy III. 475 (A.D. 182) ἔπεσεν kal ἐτελε[ύ]τησεν, “he fell and was killed,” the report of an accident. Tlérrwxev is common=“ paid” in documents of iii—1i B.C. : cf. P Lond 12002 (B.c. 192 or 168) (=III. p. 2) πέπτωκεν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐν Διοσπόλει τῆι μεγαλῆι τράπεζαν, ‘paid into the bank at Diospolis Magna,” and P Fay 17} (B.c. 121), P Tebt I. ror! (B.c. 120) with the editors’ notes. See also P Hib I. 662 (B.c. 228) (= Witkowski*, p. 38) πίπτει [σοι] (‘‘tibi solvitur”) ἐν τοῖς κατὰ σὲ τόποις εἰκοστή, and Wilcken Os/y. i. p. 64. For a somewhat similar use of πέπτωκεν in dockets attached to contracts etc. cf. Ρ Tebt 11. 279! (B.c. 231) πέπτωκεν εἰς κιβωτὸν τὸ συνάλλαγμα ἐν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πίπτω (piptō) — to collapse.

πίπτω,

Aeolic dialect πίσσω, accusative to Grammars in Hilgard Exc. ex libris Herodiani p.28 (cf. Hdn.Gr.2.377 note); poetry subjunctive πίπτῃσι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: Epic dialect imperfect πῖπτον [Refs 8th c.BC+] (for the quantity of ι[Refs 2nd c.AD+]; Ionic dialect πίπτεσκον (συμ-) [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future πεσοῦμαι [Refs 4th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect3rd.pers. plural πεσέονται [Refs 8th c.BC+], 3rd.pers. singular πεσέεται [Refs 5th c.BC+]aorist ἔπεσον, infinitive πεσεῖν, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 2nd pers. singular optative πεσοίης [Refs 1st c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect and Doric dialect ἔπετον [Refs 7th c.BC+]; in later writers ἔπεσα, [LXX+5th c.BC+] (προς-): perfect πέπτωκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect participle πεπτεώς, εῶτος (the εω forming one syllable by synizesis), [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also πεπτηώς, ηυῖα, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Trag. participle πεπτώς [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πίπτω

pipto

peto pet'-o; (which occurs only as an alternate in certain

tenses);

probably akin to 4072 through the idea of alighting; to fall

(literally or figuratively):--fail, fall (down), light on.

see GREEK for 4072

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πίπτω

v.

I fall, fall under

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πίπτω to fall, fall down, Hom., etc.; πίπτειν ἐν κονίηισιν to fall in the dust, i. e. to fall and lie there, Il.; π. ἐν δεμνίοις Eur., etc.; or without ἐν, πεδίωι πίπτειν Il.; π. δεμνίοις Eur.; also, π. ἐπὶ χθονί Od.; ἐπὶ γᾶι Soph.; πρὸς πέδωι Eur.; with a Prep. of motion, π. ἐς πόντον Hes.; ἐπὶ γᾶν Aesch.; πρὸς οὖδας Eur.

Special usages:

πίπτειν ἔν τισι to fall violently upon, attack, ἐνὶ νήεσσι πέσωμεν Il.; πρὸς μῆλα καὶ ποίμνας Soph.

to throw oneself down, fall down, πρὸς βρέτη θεῶν Aesch.; ἀμφὶ γόνυ τινός Eur.

to fall in battle, πίπτε δὲ λαός Il., etc.; οἱ πεπτωκότες the fallen, Xen.; π. δορί by the spear, Eur.; —π. ὑπό τινος to fall by another's hand…

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%fell
fell26% · 23×having fallen14% · 13×having fallen down4% · 4×will fall4% · 4×falling4% · 4×he fell3% · 3×i fell3% · 3×falls3% · 3×other renderings37% · 33×

90 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 30 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
verb95%adverbial6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 91 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
αὐτόςἐκεῖνοςὑπάρχωI am, exist, am
Article the
ψιχίονa crumbκαίand, even, also,ἀπό
δέbut, on the other ha
ἄλλοςother, another, παραχρῆμαinstantly, immed
αὐτός
ὁράωI see, look uponθρόνοςa throne, seat
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaven
Article the
πίπτωfell91×
what comes after →
ἐπί
Article theπρόσωπονthe face, counteἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
εἰς
Article the
Article the
πύργοςa tower, fortifiκλῆροςa lot, portionἀπείθειαwillful unbelief
παρά
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

Concordanceπίπτω · 91× in the New Testament
Revelation Matthew Luke Acts Mark 1 Corinthians Hebrews John Romans James
Across the New Testament10 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 189 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 Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.94c. AD 40

„Δὰν κρινεῖ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαόν, ὡσεὶ καὶ μία φυλὴ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ γενέσθω Δὰν ὄφις ἐφ’ ὁδοῦ, ἐγκαθήμενος ἐπὶ τρίβου, δάκνων πτέρναν ἵππου, καὶ πεσεῖται ὁ ἱππεὺς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, τὴν σωτηρίαν περιμένων κυρίου“ (Gen.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.219c. AD 75–95

ἔπειτα δὲ δείσας Ἀμαράμης, μὴ κατάφωρος γένηται καὶ πεσὼν ὑπὸ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ὀργὴν αὐτός τε ἀπόληται μετὰ τοῦ παιδίου καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἀφανίσειεν, ἔγνω μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τούτῳ ποιήσασθαι τὴν τοῦ παιδὸς σωτηρίαν καὶ πρόνοιαν ἢ τῷ λήσεσθαι…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 4.3c. AD 96

καὶ ἐλυπήθη Κάϊν λίαν καὶ συνέπεσεν τῷ προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD undated 2nd c. BC 2nd c. AD
P. Tor. 11Theben113 BC–112 BC

ὄντων ἱκανῶν καὶ κτηνῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς καθʼ αὑτούς πατρικῆς χρείας πιπτόντων

ων αὐτοῖς δι … … οντων … … … τοῖς ἀφήλιξι π … πεσεῖν … … ἕτερος αὐτῶν ἀδελφὸς … … … εν χαλκώματά τινα … … τὸν

P.Oxy. 3 475OxyrhynchosAD 182

ἐτῶν η βουληθεὶς ἀπὸ τοῦ δώματος τῆς αὐτῆς οἰκίας παρακύψαι καὶ θεάσασθαι τὰς κροταλιστρίδας ἔπεσεν καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν. οὗ χάριν ἐπιδιδοὺς τὸ βιβλίδιον ἀξιῶ ἐὰν δόξῃ σοι ἀποτάξαι ἕνα τῶν

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
ἐπὶepi upon G1909 Preposition
886× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A preposition meaning upon, to, or against, often used to show location or direction, like in Matthew 6:10 where Jesus teaches us to pray for God's will to be done on earth. It can also indicate a sense of time or order.
Amplified meaning
upon their face, in reverence
Tyndale gloss
upon/to/against
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπί (epi) is a preposition that indicates a relationship of superposition, often translated as 'on,' 'upon,' or 'over.' It can govern the genitive, dative, or accusative cases, covering meanings related to place, time, authority, and various figurative uses. In the New Testament, it frequently appears with the accusative case, especially in contexts of motion or direction, such as in Matthew 14:28.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπί (before a smooth breathing ἐπ’, before a rough breathing ἐφ’),

prep. c. gen., dat., acc. (acc. most freq. in NT),

with primary sense of superposition, on, upon.

C. gen.,

of place, answering the question, where?

of the place on which, on, upon: ἐπὶ (τ.) γῆς, Mt 6:10, 19, al.; τ. κεφαλῆς, I Co 11:10; τ. νεφελῶν, Mt 24:30, al.; like ἐν, in constr. praegn. after verbs of motion: βάλλειν, Mk 4:26; σπείρειν, ib. 31; ἔρχεσθαι, He 6:7, al.; fig., ἐπ’ ἀληθείας (MM, s.v. ἀ.); of the subject of thought or speech, Ga 3:16; of power or authority, over, πάντων,

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

ἐπί, [before a rough breathing ἐφ᾽ (occasionally in Mss. én’; see 6. g. Ps. exly. (exlvi.) 3), and also in some instances before a smooth breathing (as ἐφ᾽ ἐλπίδι, Acts ii. 26 L; Ro. viii. 20 (21) Tdf.); 566 ἀφεῖδον. It neglects elision before proper names beginning with a vowel (exe. Αἴγυπτον Acts vii. 10, 18) and (at least in Tdf.’s txt.) before some other words, see the Proleg. p. 94 sq.; cf. W. §5,1a.; B. p. 10], a preposition [fr. the Skr. local prefix dpi; Curtius $335], joined to the gen., the dat., and the ace. ; its primary signification is upon (Lat. super; [cf. W. 374 (350) note). A. with the Genitive [cf. W. § 47, g.; B. 336 (289)]; I. of Place; and 1. of the place on which; a. upon the surface of (Lat. in or super with the abl., Germ. auf with the dat.); after verbs of abiding, remaining, standing, going, coming, etc.; of doing anything: ἐπὶ κλίνης, Mt. ix. 2; Lk. xvii. 34…

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

ἐπὶ ξένης εἶναι, and P Giss I. 2115 μένε ἐπὶ ἑαυτοῦ, “stay at home.” The sense of ‘‘near,’’ “‘in the vicinity of”’ appears in P Ryl II. 127° (A.D. 29) κοιμωμένον μον ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας: cf. Ac 5°% and see Jn 6᾽", 211 ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, where the rendering ‘“‘ near the sea,’ or, as we should say, “fon the shore,” is to be preferred (cf. Abbott /ok. Gr. p- 261). In P Lond 11688 (a.p. 18) (= III. p. 136) ἐν τοῖς ἀπὸ A(Bos μέρεσι ἐπὶ ταῖς οὔσαις γειτνίαις, ἐπί is almost = ἐν." The local force still underlies the meaning of such a phrase as ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας (cf. Mk 1214) in the census paper P Oxy II. 255}5 (A.D. 48) (= Selections, p. 47), where it is stated that the return is ‘“‘sound”’ and rests “on a true basis "᾿-ἐ]ξ [ὑ]γιοῦς kal ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας. Cf. also P Lille I. 264 (iii/B.c.) τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν γ[ῆν ἑτο]ιμάζω, εἰ μὴ ἀκολουθεῖς ἅπαντα καθὼς ἐπὶ τῆς διαγραφῆς τ[ο]ῦ [εἰς τὸ] τε ἔτος σπόρου μεμισθῶσϑαι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπί (epi) — upon/to/against.

ἐπί,

Thess. (before τ) [Refs 3rd c.BC+], to denote the being upon or supported upon a surface or point.

__A WITH GEN.:

__A.I of Place,

__A.I.1 with Verbs of Rest, upon, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: without a Verb expressed, ἔγχεα ὄρθ᾽ ἐ. σαυρωτῆρος (i.e. σταθέντα) [Refs]; ἔκλαγξαν ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων the arrows on his shoulders, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with Verbs of Motion, where the subject rests upon something, as on a chariot, a horse, a ship, φεύγωμεν ἐφ᾽ ἵππων on our chariot, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὴν κλεῖδα περιφέρειν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ to carry the key about on his person, [Refs 5th c.BC+] walk on tiptoe, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of places, upon, if the place is an actual support, [Refs]; ἐ. τοῦ εὐωνύμον on the left, ἐ. τῶν πλευρῶν on the flanks, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but most frequently, in, rarely in [Refs 8th c.BC+] in the country. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐπ᾽ οἰκήματος κατίσαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπί

epi

a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time,

place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive

case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on,

etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon,

etc.:--about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as

(touching), at, beside, X have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a

place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf

of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward),

with. In compounds it retains essentially the same import, at, upon,

etc. (literally or figuratively).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπί

Prep.

on, to, against, on the basis of, at

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπί epi 890x

(1) with the gen., upon, on, Mt. 4:6; 9:2; 27:19; in, of locality, Mk. 8:4; near upon, by, at, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 21:1; upon, over, of authority, Mt. 2:22; Acts 8:27; in the presence of, especially in a judicial sense, 2 Cor. 7:14; Acts 25:9; in the case of, in respect of, Jn. 6:2; Gal. 3:16; in the time of, at the time of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπί

on, upon with gen., dat., and acc.

prep. with gen., dat., and acc.: Radic. signf. upon.

WITH GEN.:

of Place,

with Verbs of Rest, upon or on, κεῖσθαι ἐπὶ χθονός Il.; ἐφ᾽ ἵππου on horse-back, etc.; ἐπὶ γῆς upon earth, Soph.; ἐπ᾽ ἀγροῦ in the country, Od.; also at or near, ἐπὶ Λήμνου off Lemnos, Hdt., etc.:—with Verbs of motion, the sense is pregnant, ἐπ᾽ ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν drew the ship upon the land and left it there, Il., etc.; ἀναβῆναι ἐπὶ τῶν πύργων Xen.

not strictly of Place, μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς to remain in the command, id. Xen.; ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων engaged in business, Dem.: —of ships, ὁρμεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἀγκύρας to ride at (i. e. in dependence on an) anchor, Hdt.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Prep — Preposition
preposition — its sense depends on the case of the word it governs.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
28%upon
upon28% · 258×on22% · 203×to8% · 77×in7% · 62×over7% · 59×at6% · 57×against4% · 38×for4% · 37×other renderings13% · 116×

907 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 46 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
adverbial91%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 886 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
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaαὐτόςλευκόςwhite, bright
αὐτός
δέbut, on the otheφιάληa shallow and flκεφαλήthe head
κάθημαιI sit, am seated
Article theκαίand, even, also,γυνήa woman, wife, m
πίπτωI fall, fall under
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,Article the
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ὁδόςa way, road, jouγάρforκαίand, even, also,
ἐπίupon886×
what comes after →
Article the
γῆthe earth, soil,κεφαλήthe headθρόνοςa throne, seat
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theὅτιthat, since, bec
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theὅςκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,Article theπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theὅς

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

Concordanceἐπί · 886× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Revelation Matthew Mark John Romans Hebrews 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

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

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

ὡς Ἅβραμος ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους ἐκστρατεύσας ἐνίκησε καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Σοδομιτῶν ἔσωσε καὶ τὴν λείαν ἣν ἔλαβον ἀφείλετο.

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 2nd c. BC 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐωνήσατο παρὰ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Τοτόηους ἐν τῷ ιε ἔτει Παῦνι γ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀρχείου, μιᾶς μὲν ἐν τῷ ἀπὸ λιβὸς πεδίωι, γείτονες· νότου γῆ Πατοῦτος τοῦ

P.Lond. 3 p. 18 no. 678Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC–99 BC

καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν μηνὸς Χοιὰκ … ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἐπὶ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου τῆς ἄνω τοπαρχίας τοῦ Παθυρίτου. ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Σχώτου ἱερεὺς Σούχου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα. ἔτους ιϛ Τῦβι λ. τέτακται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει τράπεζαν ἐφʼ ἧς Παγκράτης δεκάτης ἐνκυκλίου διʼ Ἀπολλωνίου τελώνου Πακοῖβις

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
πρόσωπονprosōpon face G4383 Noun · accusative · singular · neuter
76× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The face or countenance, as seen in Matthew 6:16-17 and 2 Corinthians 3:7, representing a person's presence or appearance. It can also refer to someone's presence or personality. In the Bible, the face is often used to describe a person's emotions or character.
Tyndale gloss
face
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρόσωπον (prosōpon) means 'face' or 'countenance,' and can also refer to a person's presence or outward appearance. It is derived from the components meaning 'toward' and 'view.' The term appears frequently in the New Testament, often in contexts relating to personal encounters or appearances, such as in Matthew 6:16 and 2 Corinthians 2:10. It can also imply judgment based on external conditions.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρόσωπον, -ου, τό

(< πρός, ὤψ),

[in LXX chiefly and very freq. for פָּנִים;]

prop., of persons (so always in cl.);

the face, countenance: Mt 6:16, 17, Mk 14:65, Lk 9:29, II Co 3:7, Re 4:7, al.; τὸ π. τῆς γενέσεως (EV, natural face), Ja 1:23; πίπτειν ἐπὶ (τὰ) π., Mt 17:6, Lk 5:12, Re 7:11, al.; ἀγνοούμενος τῷ π., Ga 1:22; π., οὐ καρδίᾳ, I Th…

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

πρόσωπον, -ov, τό, (fr. πρός and ὦψ, cf. μέτωπον), fr. Hom. down; Sept. hundreds of times for 0°33, also for DDN, ete. ; 1. a. the face, i. 6. the anterior part of the human head: Mt. vi. 16, 17; xvii. 2; xxvi. 67; Mk. xiv. 65; Lk. [ix. 29]; xxii. 64 [Τ Tr WH om. Lehm. br. the cl.]; Acts vi. 15; 2 Co. iii. 7,13, 18; [xi. 20]; Rev. iv. 7; ix. 7; x.1; τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως, the face with which one is born [A. V. his natural face], Jas. i. 23; πίπτειν emt πρόσ. [cf. W. § 27, 1n.; 122 (116)]and ἐπὶ τὸ mpoo., Mt. xvii. 6; xxvi. 39; Lk. v. 12; xvii. 16; 1 Co. xiv. 25; [Rev. vii. 11 Rec.; πίπτ. ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσ., Rev. xi. 16; vii. 11GLT Tr WH]; ἀγνοούμενός τινι τῷ προσώπῳ, unknown to one by face, i.e. personally unknown, Gal. i. 22; bereaved of one προσώπῳ, οὐ καρδίᾳ [ A. V. in presence, not in heart], 1 Th. ii. 17; κατὰ πρόσωπον, in or towards (i. e. so as to look into) the face, i.e. before…

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

πρόσωπον, *“facew:)cl. ΒΒ Εν 47 (5.6: 052-1) (ΞΞ GPZ 1. p. 332, Selections p. 22) lt μὴ μικρόν τι ἐντρέπομαι, οὐκ ἄν pe ἴδες τὸ πόρσωπον, ‘but for the fact that I am a little ashamed, Part VI. 3 , Tpo Τασσω you would never again have seen my face,” and 7. 51906 (B.C. 159) (= UPZ i. p. 360) εἶχον πρόσοπον καλὸν «εἶχον ) καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον οὐθενεὶ δῖξαί μου τὸ πόρσωπον διὰ τὸ καλὸν αὐτὸν ely[a]t, where also note the form πόρσωπον by melathests (Mayser Gr. p. 189). From this literal meaning it is an easy transition to the more general sense of *‘outward appearance,” and thence to the frequent use of the word in the Kow# as practically equivalent to our “person "᾿ξ see e.g. P Oxy XIV. 16724 (a.D. 37-41) ξένοις προσώποις, “‘to strangers,” 76. II. 237vii3 (ap. 186) ὁμοίας ὑποθέσεως :ἀκούσαντα [ἐξ] Αἰγυπτιακῶν προσώπων, ““having heard a similar plea advanced by Egyptian witnesses ” (Edd.), P Ryl…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρόσωπον (prosōpon) — face.

πρόσωπον, τό:

plural πρόσωπα, Epic dialect (Aeolic dialect accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+] προσώπατα [Refs 8th c.BC+]:— face, countenance (compare μέτωπον), [Refs 8th c.BC+] always in plural, even of a single person, [Refs 8th c.BC+], and usually in later writers; π. κλιθὲν προσώπῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐς π. τινὸς ἀφικέσθαι come before him,[LXX+2nd c.BC+]; κατὰ πρόσωπον in front, facing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατὰ π. Αἰγύπτου facing, fronting Egypt, [LXX]; opposed to κατὰ νώτου, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; κατὰ π. ἄγειν, opposed to κατὰ κέρας ὑπεραίρειν, [Refs]; κατὰ π. in person, ἡ κατὰ π. ἔντευξις [Refs 1st c.AD+]; κατὰ π. παραμυθήσασθαι, opposed to διὰ τοῦ ψαφίσματος, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; also πρὸς τὸ π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπὶ προσώπου Ἰεριχώ in front of Jericho, [LXX+3rd c.BC+]; βλέπειν εἰς π. τινός regard his countenance, [LXX+NT]: of the ibis, [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρόσωπον

prosopon

from 4314 and ops (the visage, from 3700); the front (as being towards

view), i.e. the countenance, aspect, appearance, surface; by

implication, presence, person:--(outward) appearance, X before,

countenance, face, fashion, (men's) person, presence.

see GREEK for 4314

see GREEK for 3700

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρόσωπον, ου, τό

n.n.

the face, countenance, surface

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρόσωπον prosōpon 76x

the face, countenance, visage, Mt. 6:16, 17; 17:2, 6; according to late usage, a person, individual, 2 Cor. 1:11; hence, a personal presence, 1 Thess. 2:17; from the Hebrew, πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον, face to face, clearly, perfectly, 1 Cor. 13:12; face, surface, external form, figure, appearance, Mt. 16:3; Lk. 12:56; external circumstances, or condition of any one, Mt. 22:16; Mk. 12:14; πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, to have respect to the…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρόσωπον ὤψ the face, visage, countenance, mostly in pl., even of a single person, Hom., Soph., etc.; βλέπειν τινὰ εἰς πρ. Eur.; ἐς πρ. τινὸς ἀφικέσθαι to come before him, id. Eur.:— κατὰ πρ. in front, facing, Thuc., etc.; ἡ κατὰ πρ. ἔντευξις a tete-a-tete, Plut.; also, πρὸς τὸ πρ. Xen.; λαμβάνειν πρ. τινος, ῀ προσωποληπτεῖν τινα, NTest.:—metaph., ἀρχομένου πρ. ἔργου Pind.

one's look, countenance, Lat. vultus Aesch., etc.; οὐ τὸ σὸν δείσας πρ., cf. Hor. vultus instantis tyranni, Soph.

= προσωπεῖον, a mask, Dem., Arist.

outward appearance, beauty, Pind.

a person, NTest., etc.; πρόσωπον in bodily presence, id. NTest.

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

N-ASN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fas: In Hebrew the translation of three expressions:

(1) panim

(2) `ayin, literally, "eye" and

(3) 'aph, literally, "nose," "nostril," already noted under the word COUNTENANCE, which see.

The first and second of these words are used synonymously, even in metaphorical expressions, as, for example in the phrase "the face of the earth," where panim is used (De 6:15 et passim) and `ayin (Nu 22:5 et passim). The third expression preserves more clearly its original meaning. It is generally used in the phrases "to bow one's self to the earth," "to fall on one's face," where the nose actually touched the ground. Often "my face," "thy face" is mere oriental circumlocution for the personal pronoun "I," "me," "thou," "thee." "In thy face" means "in thy presence;" and is often so translated. A…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Face

Means simply presence, as when it is recorded that Adam and Eve hid themselves from the “face [R.V., ‘presence’] of the Lord God” (Gen. 3:8; comp. Ex. 33:14, 15, where the same Hebrew word is rendered “presence”). The “light of God’s countenance” is his favour (Ps. 44:3; Dan. 9:17). “Face” signifies also anger, justice, severity (Gen. 16:6, 8; Ex. 2:15; Ps. 68:1; Rev. 6:16). To “provoke God to his face” (Isa.…

Face and presence, expressed by the same word in Hebrew, are often put for the person himself, Ge 48:11 Ex 33:14 Isa 63:9. No man has seen the face of God, that is, had a full revelation of his glory, Ex 33:20 Joh 1:18 1Ti 6:16. To see him "face to face," is to enjoy his presence, Ge 32:30 Nu 14:14 De 5:4, and have a clear manifestation of his nature and grace,

→ Covering of Isa 6:2

→ Disfiguring of, in fasting Mt 6:16

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
69%face
face69% · 53×appearance12% · 9×presence8% · 6×faces8% · 6×other renderings4% · 3×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial59%object30%subject9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 76 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
ὁράωI see, look uponκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
πρό
ἐγώἄγγελοςan angel, messenδύο
ἐπί
πίπτωI fall, fall undκάθημαιI sit, am seated
κατά
ἑτοιμάζωI make ready, prἀρνέομαιI deny, repudiatκατηγορέωI accuse, charge
ἀπό
ἀνάψυξιςrefreshing, refrχαίρωI rejoice, am glθεόςGod, a god
πρόσωπονface76×
what comes after →
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,ὡςas, like as, howὅπωςhow, in order th
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, γῆthe earth, soil,κύριοςlord, Lord, mast
σύ
ὅςνίπτωI washδέρωI flay, flog, sc
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of the hu
ἀλλάbut, except
καίand, even, also, nam
κολαφίζωI strike with thκαταρτίζωI fit together,

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

Concordanceπρόσωπον · 76× in the New Testament
Luke 2 Corinthians Acts Matthew Revelation 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians Galatians Mark James 1 Peter 2 Thessalonians
Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 614 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 Epistle of Barnabas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 131c. AD 40

"πηγὴ δ’ ἀνέβαινεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπότιζε πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς“ (Gen.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.334c. AD 75–95

ἡσθεὶς δὲ τούτοις Ἰάκωβος Φανουῆλον ὀνομάζει τὸν τόπον, ὃ σημαίνει θεοῦ πρόσωπον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.14c. AD 100

τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου ἔθηκα ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 4th c. AD 5th c. AD 2nd c. AD
P.Mich. 5 241Tebtynis (ArsinoitesAD 16

ἐπελεύσεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον. ὑπογραφεῖς τῶν ὁμολογούντων Λυσίμαχος Λυσιμάχου ὡς ἐτῶν κβ οὐλὴ προσώπῳ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν καὶ τῆς Τατιθίγξιος Διόδωρος Ψενοβάστεως ὡς ἐτῶν κζ οὐλὴ δακτύλῳ πρώτῳ ἀριστερᾶς

P.Mich. 5 243ArsinoitesAD 14–AD 37

μεσόφρυον. Ὀρσῆς Κρονίδου ὡς ἐτῶν με οὐλὴ ὀφρύει. Μιεῦς Ἁρμιύσιος ὡς ἐτῶν μϛ οὐλὴ προσώπῳ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν Ἁρμιῦσις Φασῶτος ὡς ἐτῶν νε οὐλὴ … δεξι . Ἥρων Ὀρσεῦτος εὐδοκῶ

P.Berl.Leihg. 2 44Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 157–AD 158

κυριακὰς ψήφους. Ἡρακλείδης ὡς ἐτῶν μ οὐλὴ ἀστραγάλῳ δεξιῷ Ὡρίων ὡς ἐτῶν λε οὐλὴ προσώπῳ μέσῳ Ἀρητίων ὡς ἐτῶν λε οὐλὴ δακτύλῳ χειρὸς ἀριστερᾶς Ἥρων ὡς ἐτῶν ν οὐλὴ

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
αὐτῶνautos of them G846 Personal pronoun · genitive · plural · masculine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew 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-GPM — Personal pronoun · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-GPM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Genitive Number: Plural 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
αὐτόςof them5550×
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 having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
ἐφοβήθησανphobeō were terrified G5399 Verb · aorist · passive deponent · indicative · third person · plural
95× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To fear means to be alarmed or in awe of something, like God's power. In the New Testament, it often means to reverence or respect, as in Matthew 10:31.
Amplified meaning
sore afraid, exceedingly fearful, very much afraid
Tyndale gloss
to fear
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

φοβέω is derived from φόβος and primarily means to frighten or to be alarmed. It covers a range of meanings from being terrified to having reverential fear, as seen in various New Testament passages like Matthew 10:31 and Luke 1:50. The word is used in both active and passive forms, but in the New Testament, it appears only in the passive sense.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

φοβέω, ῶ

(< φόβος)

[in LXX chiefly for ירא ;]

in Hom., to put to flight. Pass., to be put to flight, to flee affrighted

to terrify, frighten (Wis 179; Hdt. and Att..). Pass. (so always in NT; cf. M, Pr., 162), to be seized with fear, be affrighted, fear: Mt 10:31 14:27, Mk 5:33 6:50, Lk 1:13 8:50, Jo 6:19 12:15, Ac 16:38, al.; opp. to ὑψηλοφρονεῖν, Ro 11:20; σφόδρα, Mt 17:6 27:54; c. cogn. acc., φόβον μέγαν, Mk 4:41, Lk 2:9 (I Mac 10:8); φόβον αὐτῶν…

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

φοβέομαι (act. obsolete): (1) ‘‘fear,’”’ ‘‘dread,’’ (a) absol., P Lips I. 40% (iv/y A.D.) κἀγὼ αὐτὸς φοβοῦμαι, ἐπειδὴ ἀπών ἐστιν ὁ ἑταῖρός μου, OG/S 6659 (i/A.D.) ὅσοι μὲν γὰρ ἐφοβήθησαν ἀκούσαντες περὶ... ; (b) ς. acc., P Oxy II. 237-1 (ap. 186) φοβηθέντας τὸν κίνδυνον, “through fear of the danger’’ (Edd.), P Flor III. 33232 (ii/a.p.) οὔτε προσεκύνησα θεοὺς φοβουμένη σου Td μετέωρον, P Grenf II, 84% (v/vi A.D.) τοὺς νόμους φοβηθεὶς ἔφυγεν εἰς ἐρημίαν (said of a patricide) ; (c) c. μή and conj., P Magd 9® (ili/B.C.) φοβουμένη μὴ συμπέσηι (of a sanctuary in a dangerous state), BGU IV. 10974 (time of Claudius or Nero) (= Olsson, p. 113) φοβοῦμαι yap μὴ σχάσῃ. velv]αυσίακε [γ]άρ, ‘for I am afraid that he will give up, for he has become sick,’’ P Tebt II. 31818 (a.p. 166) φο[βουἹμένη δ[ὲ] μὴ λάθω [κατὰ] τὸ εἴς pe δίκαι[ον] οἰκονομεί[ας, ‘tas I am afraid that my right of procedure may escape…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φοβέω (phobeō) — to fear.

φοβέω,

3rd.pers. plural imperative φοβεόντων [Refs 5th c.BC+]: Ionic dialect imperfect φοβέεσκον [Refs 8th c.BC+]: future -ήσω[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐφόβησα [Refs 8th c.BC+] —passive and middle, Ionic dialect [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect imperative φοβεῦ or φοβέο, [Refs]: Epic dialect 3rd.pers. plural imperfect φοβέοντο [Refs 8th c.BC+]: future φοβήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist passive ἐφοβήθην [Refs 8th c.BC+]; aorist middle ἐφοβησάμην only [Refs]: perfect πεφόβημαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]: pluperfect 3rd.pers. plural ἐπεφόβηντο [Refs 5th c.BC+], Epic dialect πεφοβήατο [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A active, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] always in the sense put to flight, [ἴρηξ] ἐφόβησε κολοιούς [Refs 8th c.BC+]; [Ζεὺς] καὶ ἄλκιμον ἄνδρα φοβεῖ[Refs 8th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

φοβέω

phobeo

from 5401; to frighten, i.e. (passively) to be alarmed; by analogy, to

be in awe of, i.e. revere:--be (+ sore) afraid, fear (exceedingly),

reverence.

see GREEK for 5401

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φοβέομαι

v.

I fear, am terrified

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φοβέομαι phobeomai 95x

has an active form, φοβέω (G5828), but only occurs as a passive (deponent) in our literature, to fear, dread, Mt. 10:26; 14:5; to fear reverentially, to reverence, Mk. 6:20; Lk. 1:50; Acts 10:2; Eph. 5:33; Rev. 11:18; to be afraid to do a thing, Mt. 2:22; Mk. 9:32; to be reluctant, to scruple, Mt. 1:20; to fear, be apprehensive, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

φοβέω φόβος Act. to put to flight, Lat. fugo, Il.

to strike with fear, to terrify, frighten, alarm, Lat. terreo, Hdt., attic; πόνος ὁ μὴ φοβῶν free from alarm, Soph.; φοβήσαντες κατεστήσαντο τὴν πολιτείαν they established it by terror, Plat.

Pass. and Mid. to be put to flight, to flee affrighted, flee, Hom.; φοβηθείς in flight, Il.; ὑπό τινος φοβέεσθαι to flee before him, id. Il.

to be seized with fear, be affrighted, fear, Hdt., attic; φοβεῖσθαι εἴς or πρός τι to be alarmed at a thing, Soph.; ἀμφί τινι to fear about a thing, Hdt.; περί τινος Xen.; περί τινι Thuc., etc.:— φοβεῖσθαι μὴ . . to fear lest a thing will be, Lat. vereri ne . . , Eur., etc.; so, φ. ὅπως μὴ . . Thuc.; so, φοβ. ὅτι . . , ὡς . . to fear that . . , not like Lat. vereri ut . . , id. Thuc., etc.:— φοβ. c. inf. to fear to do, be afraid…

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

V-AOI-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: passive depOnent Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%do fear
do fear26% · 25×fearing15% · 14×they were afraid8% · 8×they feared6% · 6×do be afraid5% · 5×they were afraid of3% · 3×i fear3% · 3×he was afraid3% · 3×other renderings29% · 28×

95 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 31 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb98%adverbial2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 95 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
μήNeg
καίand, even, also,εἰμίI am, existαὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςλεγιώνa legion, very lῥῆμαa thing spoken
Article the
καίand, even, also,γενεάa generationἔθνοςa race, people,
οὐNeg
θεόςGod, a godκαίand, even, also,βοηθόςa helper
ἩρῴδηςHerod
αὐτόςγάρfor
φοβέωwere terrified95×
what comes after →
Article the
ὄχλοςa crowdθεόςGod, a godἸωάννηςJohn
αὐτός
οὐδείςno one, none, noἐπερωτάωI interrogate, qμήNeg
γάρfor
Article theαὐτόςσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
δοξάζωI glorify, honorἄρχωI beginτρέμωI tremble, am af
δέbut, on the other ha
μᾶλλονmore, ratherθαυμάζωI wonder, admireἐν

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

Concordanceφοβέω · 95× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Acts Mark Revelation John Hebrews 1 Peter Romans 2 Corinthians Galatians 1 John
Across the New Testament14 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 189 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 142c. AD 40

ἦν γὰρ οἶκος αὐτῷ καὶ πόλις ὁ κόσμος, μηδεμιᾶς χειροποιήτου κατασκευῆς δεδημιουργημένης ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων ὕλης, ᾧ καθάπερ ἐν πατρίδι μετὰ πάσης ἀσφαλείας ἐνδιῃτᾶτο φόβου μὲν ἐκτὸς ὤν, ἅτε τῆς τῶν περιγείων ἡγεμονίας ἀξιωθεὶς καὶ πάντων ὅσα θνητὰ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.96c. AD 75–95

Νῶχος δὲ φοβούμενος, μὴ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος ἐπικλύζῃ τὴν γῆν ὁ θεὸς φθορὰν ἀνθρώπων καταψηφισάμενος, ἱερὰ καύσας ἐδεῖτο τὸν θεὸν τοῦ λοιποῦ ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης μένειν εὐταξίας καὶ μηδὲν ἔτι τοιοῦτον ἐπενεγκεῖν πάθος, ὑφʼ οὗ κινδυνεύσει πᾶν ἀπολέσθαι τὸ τῶν…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 10.10c. AD 100

λαμβάνει δὲ τῶν αὐτῶν τριῶν δογμάτων γνῶσιν Δαυείδ καὶ λέγει: Μακάριος ἀνήρ, ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν, καθὼς καὶ οἱ ἰχθύες πορεύονται ἐν σκότει εἰς τὰ βάθη: καὶ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐκ ἔστη, καθὼς οἱ δοκοῦντες φοβεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον ἁμαρτάνουσιν…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD

σιος Δωριεὺς Φλελεμούθι πλεῖστα χαίρειν καὶ ὑγιαίνειν. μὴ φοβοῦ περὶ τῶν σκευῶν ὧν ἔχεις ἀλλὰ ἀσφάλισαι, ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ μεταλλάρχης ἔλθῃ ἐρωτῶν‧

P.Tebt. 2 335Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 165

καλ … ν τὴν … τελείαν ἀπόφασιν εἰς τὴν ἐξέτασιν τῶν βιβλίων Ἑρμαίσκου φοβούμενος μὴ ἄρα εὑρεθείη ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπίληψις ἕνεκα τῆς τοῦ ἐποικίου οἰκειότητος πρὸς τὸν Ἑρμαίσκον.

C.Clergé 4 172Narmuthis (Arsinoites)AD 190

παρόντος δὲ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ μετεπέμψατο τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ ἐπερώτησεν ὅτι ποῦ ἐστιν. καὶ φοβούμενος μὴ ἐντυχῶ κατὰ αὐτοῦ τῷ ἡγεμόνι ὑπεμνηματίσατο οὕτως β … ἔτους Φαμενὼτ ϛ ἀπαιτῶν

And having heard [it] the disciples fell upon face of them and were terrified greatly.
σφόδρα.sphodra greatly. G4970 Adverb
11× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The word very is used to emphasize a high degree or much of something, as in Matthew 17:6 and Acts 6:7. It is an adverb that shows a strong or excessive level of something. It is often translated as exceeding or greatly.
Tyndale gloss
very
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word σφόδρα (transliterated as sphodra) is an adverb meaning 'very much' or 'exceedingly.' It is derived from the adjective σφοδρός (violent, excessive) and is used with verbs and adjectives in various contexts, including several New Testament verses. The word emphasizes intensity or degree, appearing in passages like Matthew and Acts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σφόδρα adv. (prop. neut. of σφοδρός, excessive, violent)

[in LXX chiefly for מְאֹד ;]

very, very much, exceedingly: with verbs, Mt 17:6, 23 18:31 19:25 26:22 27:54, Ac 6:7; with adjectives, Mt 2:10, Mk 16:4, Lk 18:23, Re 16:21.†

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

σφόδρα (properly neut. plur. of σφοδρός, vehement, violent), fr. Pind. and Hdt. down, exceedingly, greatly : placed after adjectives, Mt.ii.10; Mk. xvi.4; Lk. xviii. 23; Rev. xvi. 21; with verbs, Mt. xvii. 6, 23; xviii. $1; xix. 25; xxvi. 22; xxvii. 54; Acts vi. 7.

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

σφόδρα, ‘‘creatly,’’ ‘exceedingly ᾿᾿: (a) with verbs—P Oxy IV. 70571 (A.D. 200-2) κῶμαί τινες. . . σφ[ό]δρα ἐξησθένησαν, “certain villages are utterly exhausted,” owing to public burdens, 24. I. 4117 (iii/iv A.D.) ἐπὶ τούτῳ σφόδρα χαίρω, 76. XIV. 1680! (iii/iv A.D.) ἀκούω ὅτι σφόδρα ᾿Ἡράκλειος © viv ἐπίτροπος ἵητεῖ oe, “1 hear that Heraclius the present overseer is vigorously searching for you’’ (Edd.), and PSI VII. 82724 (iv/a.p.) σφόδρα Θεῶνα φιλῶ : (b) with adjective—P Cairo Zen I. 590608 (B.c. 257) σφόδρα ὀλίγου χρόνου. For the adj. σφοδρός see P Tebt II. 2727 (late ii/A.D.) ϑί[ψο]ς . . . σφοδρόν, BGU IV. 10241 19 (iv/v A.D.) σφοδρὰν (/. σφοδρὸν) ἔρωτα.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σφόδρα (sphodra) — very.

σφόδρ-ᾰ,

adverb, properly neuter plural of σφοδρός, very much, exceedingly:

I. with Verbs, ἐμήδιζον γὰρ σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; καὶ σ. πείθει persuades them too well, [Refs]; σ. λέγειν with vehemence, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. κολάζειν severely, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. ὁρίσασθαι exactly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. χαίρω I am exceedingly glad, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

I.2. with adjectives, σ. ὑπέρτεροι far superior, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μισόδημον σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἁλμυρὸν σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; κακοδαίμων σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; πολλοῦ σ. at a very high price, very dear, [Refs]; πολλοὶ σ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; χαρὰ μεγάλη σ. [NT]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σφόδρα

sphodra

neuter plural of sphodros (violent; of uncertain derivation) as

adverb; vehemently, i.e. in a high degree, much:-- exceeding(-ly),

greatly, sore, very.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σφόδρα

Adv

exceedingly, greatly

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σφόδρα sphodra 11x

much, greatly, exceedingly, Mt. 2:10; 17:6; Mk. 16:4; Lk. 18:23; Acts 6:7

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σφόδρα very, very much, exceedingly, violently, Hdt., Soph., etc.: with Adjs., σφ. ὑπέρτεροι far superior, Pind.; σφ. ἄδικος Plat.:—with a Subst., τὴν σφόδρα φιλίαν id. Plat.

σφόδρα γε, καὶ σφ. γε, in answers, most certainly, id. Plat.

from σφοδρός

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

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
45%exceedingly
exceedingly45% · 5×greatly18% · 2×deeply18% · 2×extremely18% · 2×

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
adverbial91%predicate9%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λυπέωI pain, grieve, vex
καίand, even, also,γίνομαιI come into bein
μέγας
χαράjoy, gladnessγάρfor
φοβέωI fear, am terrified
καίand, even, also,γίνομαιI come into bein
ἐκπλήσσωI am thunderstruck,
μαθητήςa learner, disci
πλούσιοςrich
γάρfor
σφόδραgreatly.11×
what comes after →
λέγωI say, speak
τίςIrgἀληθῶςtruly, really, c
καίand, even, also, nam
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ἄρχωI begin
λέγωI say, speak
πολύςmuch, many, often
τέDisj

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

Concordanceσφόδρα · 11× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke Mark Revelation
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 156 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
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.40c. AD 40

ὁ δὲ θεασάμενος ἣν πρότερον εἶχε δύναμιν καὶ καθ’ ἕξιν ἠρεμοῦσαν νῦν ἀποτέλεσμα καὶ ἐνέργειαν γεγενημένην καὶ κινουμένην, θαυμάζει τε καὶ ἀναφθέγγεται φάσκων ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλοτρία αὑτοῦ, ἀλλὰ σφόδρα οἰκεία·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.109c. AD 75–95

Οἱ δὲ Νώχου παῖδες τρεῖς ὄντες Σημᾶς καὶ Ἰαφθᾶς καὶ Χαμᾶς ἔτεσιν ἑκατὸν ἔμπροσθεν τῆς ἐπομβρίας γεγονότες, πρῶτοι κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν εἰς τὰ πεδία τὴν ἐν τούτοις οἴκησιν ἐποιήσαντο, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους σφόδρα δεδιότας διὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν τὰ πεδία…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD 2nd c. AD
P.Brem. 55Hermopolis (?)AD 113–AD 120

τη … … … … … … ἀλλήλοις. σὺ γὰρ οὖν σφόδρα … ν … ὑπό τε τῶν ἐν χερσὶ πραγμάτων καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὴν ὑποστροφὴν

P.Oxy. 34 2711OxyrhynchosAD 271

μου Ἀνικήτου τοῦ καὶ Ῥεμμίου Αὐρηλίους Α … … καὶ Ῥέμμιον καὶ Αὐρηλίαν Εὐδαιμονίδα σφόδρα κομιδῇ ἀπόρους ἀπολελειμμένους τὴν ἀξίωσιν ποιοῦμαι ᾗ σύνψηφος γένοιτο ἀναγκαιοτάτῃ τυγχανούσῃ καὶ ἡ σὴ

P.Oxy. 46 3303OxyrhynchosAD 300–AD 301

Κλεόπατρος ὁ διασημότατος ἔπαρχος Αἰγύπτου λέγει. τοὺς τὰ πλοῖα κεκτημένους τῆς χρείας αὐτῶν μὴ σφόδρα μετέχειν πυνθάνομαι. διὰ τὸ πρὸς καιρόν τινα … ρεσίας αὐτῶν νομισθείσης α … τοὺς

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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