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Matthew 20:16 — Word Study

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N1904οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι πολλοὶ γὰρ εἰσιν κλητοί ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.¶

BSAThusohutō, ohutōs will beeimi theho lasteschatos [farthest, most distant] firstprōtos [foremost, of highest priority] andkai theho firstprōtos [most prominent, of highest rank] lasteschatos [least important, of lowest position] manypolus forgar areeimi calledklētos fewoligos nowde chosen.eklektos

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 20
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 16 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 (eklektos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 20:16quick helps
In a sentenceJesus teaches that the order of priority in God's kingdom is different from human expectations.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing His disciples.
Where we areThis statement concludes a parable about laborers in a vineyard, emphasizing God's generosity.
The hard wordἔσχατος
Take awayGod's economy reverses worldly standards of success and importance.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subject verbεἰμί The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

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

Deep Study — Matthew 20:16

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 Parable of the Workers in the Vineyardgenerated

15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
17As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said,
18“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death

Matthew 20:16 concludes a parable where Jesus illustrates the nature of God's kingdom through the story of laborers hired at different times throughout the day. The landowner's actions highlight His grace and generosity, challenging the disciples' understanding of merit and reward. This teaching aligns with the broader themes found in the Gospels where Jesus often subverts societal norms and expectations regarding status and worth.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Matthew 8:11–12I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
2Matthew 19:30But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
3Matthew 21:31Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first, ” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
4Mark 10:31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
5Luke 7:47Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

The Key Word ἔσχατος, eschatosgenerated

The Greek word ἔσχατοι (i.e., eschatoi) is an adjective meaning 'last' or 'utmost.' It can refer to the final position in space or time, as well as the lowest rank or degree. In this verse, it emphasizes those who are considered least in the world's eyes but are given priority in God's kingdom.

In contrast, πρῶτοι (i.e., prōtoi) means 'first' or 'foremost,' highlighting the reversal of expectations where those who seem most important may find themselves last. This reversal serves as a reminder of God's grace and the unexpected nature of His kingdom.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In this verse, the Berean Standard Bible states, 'So the last will be first, and the first will be last.' The KJV and ASV agree, using similar phrasing.

However, the YLT and WEB include the phrase 'for many are called, but few are chosen,' which adds an important context about divine selection. The BBE maintains a similar structure but does not include the latter phrase.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The verse is structured around two main clauses connected by a conjunction: the first clause presents the idea of the last being first, while the second clause presents the first being last. The finite verb ἔσονται (i.e., will be) governs both clauses, indicating the future state of these subjects.

The subject of both clauses, represented by the noun phrases ἔσχατοι and πρῶτοι, highlights the contrasting roles in God's kingdom. This structure emphasizes the reversal of expectations regarding position and priority.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The word ἔσχατος appears in the Septuagint, where it translates Hebrew terms that convey the idea of the last or end, such as אַחֲרִית (i.e., *acharit*), meaning 'after-part' or 'end'. This connection enriches the understanding of the term as it relates to finality and God's ultimate plan.

In contexts where πρῶτος appears, it often translates Hebrew words like רִאשׁוֹן (i.e., *rishon*), which means 'first' or 'chief.' This usage in the LXX reinforces the contrast between first and last in the biblical narrative.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 20:16 teaches that in God's kingdom, the order of importance is reversed. Those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last. This reflects God's generosity and challenges our human expectations about worth and reward.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that 'the last will be first'?

This phrase indicates that those who are considered least or last in society will be honored and prioritized in God's kingdom.

Why does Jesus say 'many are called, but few chosen'?

This statement emphasizes that while many are invited to follow God, only a few respond and are selected for a special purpose or relationship with Him.

How does this teaching relate to the parable of the workers?

The parable illustrates God's grace in giving equal reward to all workers, regardless of when they were hired, highlighting the theme of divine generosity.

What can we learn from the reversal of roles in this verse?

We learn that God's values differ from worldly values, and that humility and service are valued over status and rank.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways have I seen God elevate those who are often overlooked or marginalized?
  2. How can I practice humility and service in my own life, reflecting the values of God's kingdom?
  3. What does it mean for me to be 'called' by God, and how can I respond to that call?
  4. How can I encourage others who feel 'last' in their lives to recognize their worth in God's eyes?

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

Early church Fathers like Tertullian and Jerome reference this verse to discuss themes of divine selection and reversal of worldly values.

TertullianThe Prescription Against Heretics c. 155–220
"The Lord (beholdeth and) knoweth them that are His; " and "the plant which (my heavenly Father) hath not planted, He rooteth up; " and "the first shall," as He shows, "be last;
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 20 →
TertullianOn Baptism c. 155–220
We have indeed, likewise, a second font, (itself withal one with the former, ) of blood, to wit; concerning which the Lord said, "I have to be baptized with a baptism," when He had been baptized already.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 20 →
JeromeVerse 16. c. 347–420
Is your eye evil because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 20 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 20:16 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

So the last shall be first, and the first last,.... As he had asserted in Matthew 19:30 and which is clearly illustrated by this parable, as it may be applied to Jews or Gentiles, or to nominal and

Read John Gill on Matthew 20 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Read Robert Jamieson on Matthew 20 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 1-16. We find this parable only recorded by St. Matthew; nor have any thing to guide us in understanding the scope of our Saviour in it, but , So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Some here by first understand such as are of greatest repute and estimation in the world, or who have the highest opinion of themselves. By last they understand persons who are of meaner note and reckoning in the world, and have lowest opinion of themselves. The former shall be last as to the love and favour of God, and any reward from him; and the other shall be first. Others by the first understand the Jews, who were the first people God had in the world, and…

Read Matthew Poole on Matthew 20 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Ver. 16. So the last shall be first, &c.] This is the purport of the preceding parable. Application is the life of preaching. Few are chosen] It is a strange speech of Chrysostom, in his fourth sermon to the people of Antioch, where he was much beloved and did much good. How many, think you, shall be saved in this city? It will be a hard speech to you, but I will speak it: though there be so many thousand of you, yet there cannot be found a hundred that shall be saved, and I doubt about them too; for what villany is there in youth! what sloth in old men! and so he goes on. Non arbitror inter sacerdotes…

Read John Trapp on Matthew 20 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) So the last shall be first.—This, then, is the great lesson of the parable, and it answers at once the question whether we are to see in it the doctrine of an absolute equality in the blessedness of the life to come. There also there will be some first, some last, but the difference of degree will depend, not on the duration of service, nor even on the amount of work done, but on the temper and character of the worker. Looking to the incident which gave rise to the parable, we can scarcely help tracing a latent reference to the “young ruler” whom the disciples had hastily condemned, but in whom the Lord, who “loved” him (Mark 10:21), saw the possibility of a form of holiness higher…

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 20 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 16. So the last shall be first, and the first last] The GENTILES, who have been long without the true God, shall now enjoy all the privileges of the new covenant; and the Jews, who have enjoyed these from the beginning, shall now be dispossessed of them; for, because they here rejected the Lord, he also hath rejected them. Many are called, c.] This clause is wanting in BL, one other, and in the Coptic and Sahidic versions. Bishop PEARCE thinks it is an interpolation from Matthew 22:14. The simple meaning seems to be: As those who did not come at the invitation of the householder to work in the vineyard did not receive the denarius, or wages, so those who do not obey the call of the…

Read AdamClarke on Matthew 20 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. for many be called, but few chosen] This verse which occurs in a natural connection ch. Matthew 19:30, but is difficult to explain here, is omitted in the best MSS. The words are probably interpolated.

Read Cambridge on Matthew 20 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

So the last shall be first ... - This is the moral or scope of the parable. “To teach this it was spoken.” Many that, in the order of time, are brought last into the kingdom, shall be first in the rewards.

Read Albert Barnes on Matthew 20 →

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

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

WEBWorld English Bible2000

So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

So the last will be first, and the first will be last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

NETBNew English Translation2006

So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

So the last shall be first, and the first last.

RVARevised Version, American1894

So the last shall be first, and the first last.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

So the last shalbe first, and the first last: for many are called, but fewe chosen.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, and few chosen.'

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, and few chosen.”

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

So the last will be first, and the first last.”

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

In this way the last shall be first and the first shall be last.”

BBEBible in Basic English1949

So the last will be first, and the first last.

Word by word, the decisions they made

οὕτωςohutō, ohutōs Thus G3779 2 different renderings
thusDBY
this wayFBV
ἔσονταιeimi will be G1510 2 different renderings
will beBBE BSB LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
areDBY DRA GNV NWB YLT
εἰσινeimi are G1510 2 different renderings
will beBBE BSB LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
areDBY DRA GNV NWB YLT

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.

clauseclauseadverbialΟὕτωςThuslinking verbἔσονταιwill benoun phrase · subjectοἱtheἔσχατοιlastpredicateπρῶτοιfirstκαὶandclausenoun phrase · subjectοἱtheπρῶτοιfirstpredicateἔσχατοιlast

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

Sic erunt novissimi primi, et primi novissimi. Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.

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

ܗܟܢܐ ܢܗܘܘܢ ܐܚܪܝܐ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܘܩܕܡܝܐ ܐܚܪܝܐ ܣܓܝܐܝܢ ܐܢܘܢ ܓܝܪ ܩܪܝܐ ܘܙܥܘܪܝܢ ܓܒܝܐ

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

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι πολλοὶ γὰρ εἰσιν κλητοί ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι πολλοὶ γὰρ εἰσιν κλητοί ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

οὕτως ἔσονται οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι πολλοὶ γὰρ εἰσιν κλητοί ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.¶

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
πολλοὶ manyTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
γὰρ forTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
εἰσιν areTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
κλητοί calledTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
ὀλίγοι fewTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
δὲ nowTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
ἐκλεκτοί.¶ chosen.Treg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn

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 20:16οὕτωThusThusοὕτωεἰμίwill bewill beεἰμίthetheἔσχατοςlastlastἔσχατοςπρῶτοςfirstfirstπρῶτοςκαίandandκαίthetheπρῶτοςfirstfirstπρῶτοςἔσχατοςlastlastἔσχατοςπολύςmanymanyπολύςγάρforforγάρεἰμίareareεἰμίκλητόςcalledcalledκλητόςὀλίγοςfewfewὀλίγοςδέnownowδέἐκλεκτόςchosen.chosen.ἐκλεκτόςἔχωv. I have,v. I have, holdἔχωοὗτοςDem.pr. thDem.pr. this, hοὗτοςπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόἐκλέγωv. I choosv. I choose, elἐκλέγωκλῆσιςn.f. a caln.f. a calling,κλῆσιςχείρωνAdj worseAdj worseχείρωνἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςπρῶτοςAdj first,Adj first, befoπρῶτοςἔσχατοςAdj last, Adj last, at thἔσχατοςἀμφιέννυμιv. I put ov. I put on, clἀμφιέννυμιλάμπωv. I shinev. I shineλάμπωπλῆθοςn.n. a muln.n. a multitudπλῆθοςπάσχωv. I am acv. I am acted uπάσχωὥσπερAdv just aAdv just as, asὥσπερτοιοῦτοςDem.pr. ofDem.pr. of suchτοιοῦτοςἐκλεκτόςAdj chosenAdj chosen, eleἐκλεκτόςἀπόστολοςn.m. an apn.m. an apostleἀπόστολοςἰχθύδιονn.n. a litn.n. a little fἰχθύδιον
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 20:16

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.

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
οὕτωςohutō, ohutōs Thus G3779 Adverb
209× 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
Thus means in this way or like this, as when Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 5:16 and Luke 1:25.
Tyndale gloss
thus(-ly)
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὕτω (i.e., houto) is an adverb meaning 'in this way' or 'thus.' It is derived from the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος and is used in various contexts to refer to what precedes or follows in a statement. The New Testament employs it frequently, particularly in the Gospels and Acts, to clarify or emphasize descriptions and comparisons.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὕτως, rarely (Bl., § 5, 4; WH, App., 146 f.) οὕτω, adv.

(< οὗτος),

[in LXX chiefly for כֵּן;]

in this way, so, thus;

referring to what precedes: Mt 5:16 6:30, Mk 10:43 14:59, Lk 1:25 2:48 15:7, Jo 3:8, Ro 1:15, I Co 8:12, al.; οὕτως καί, Mt 17:12, Mk 13:29, al.; pleonastically, resuming a ptcp. (cl.; v. Bl., § 74, 6), Ac 20:11 27:17.

Referring to what follows: Mt 1:18 6:9, Lk 19:31, Jo 21:1,

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

οὕτω and οὕτως (formerly in printed editions οὕτω appeared before a consonant, οὕτως before a vowel; but [recent critical editors, following the best Mss. (“cod. Sin. has -ro but fourteen times in the N. T.” Scrivener, Collation ete. p. liv.; οἵ. his Introduction ete. p. 561), have restored οὕτως; viz. Treg. uniformly, 205 times; Taf. 203 times, 4 times + ; Lchm. 196 times, 7 times +w (all before a consonant); WH 196 times, 10 times -ro (all before a consonant); cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 97; WH. App. p- 146 54.7; ef. W. § 5, 1b.; B. 9; [Lob. Pathol. Elementa ii. 213 sqq.]; ef. Kriiger § 11, 12, 1; Kiihner §72, 3 a.), adv., (fr. οὗτος), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for 13, in this manner, thus, 80; 1. by virtue of its native demonstrative force it refers to what precedes; in the manner spoken of; in the way described; in the way it was done; in this manner; in such a manner; thus, so: Mt. vi. 30…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὕτως (ohutō, ohutōs) — thus(-ly).

οὕτως,

and before a consonant οὕτω (but sometimes οὕτως before a consonant, [Refs 5th c.BC+], and οὕτω before a vowel is found in Epic dialect Poets and _Ionic dialect_ Prose, see near the end); in Attic dialect strengthened

__A οὑτωσί [Refs 5th c.BC+]; see at {οὗτος Α}:— adverb of οὗτος, in this way or manner, so, thus: οὕτως is antecedent to ὡς, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Attic dialect also οὕτως ὥσπερ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὥσπερ.., οὕτω καὶ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὡσαύτως, ὥσπερ.., οὕτω καὶ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also οὕτως, ὅπως.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; poetry also ὥστε.., οὕτω δὲ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] is frequently left out after ὡς, ὡς ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐποίουν ταῦτα [Refs 5th c.BC+] —Sts. οὕτω or -ως refers to what follows, thus, as follows, οὕτω χρὴ ποιεῖν: ἐὰν.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] followed by a quotation, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; καὶ οὕτως even…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὕτω οὕτως

houto

houtos hoo'-toce

adverb from 3778; in this way (referring to what precedes or

follows):--after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all

that, like(-wise), no more, on this fashion(-wise), so (in like

manner), thus, what.

see GREEK for 3778

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὕτως

Adv

thus, so, in this manner

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὕτως houtōs 208x

thus, in this way, Mt. 1:18; 2:5; 5:16; et al. freq.; ὁς μὲν οὕτως, ὁς δὲ οὕτως, one so, and another so, one in one way, and another in another, 1 Cor. 7:7; so, Mt. 7:12; 12:40; 24:27, 37, et al. freq.; thus, under such circumstances, Acts 20:11; in such a condition, viz., one previously mentioned, Acts 27:17; 1 Cor. 7:26, 40; and, perhaps, Jn. 4:6; in an ordinary way, at ease, like Latin sic, perhaps, Jn. 4:6

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
48%thus
thus48% · 104×so39% · 83×this way4% · 9×other renderings4% · 9×other renderings5% · 10×

215 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 13 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
adverbial88%predicate12%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 209 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
περιτομήcircumcisionπλοῖονa ship, vesselἑπτάIndec
ὅτιthat, since, because
πατήρfather, Father, αὐτόςσύ
οὗτος
τίςIrgεἰCondἔχωI have, hold, po
δέbut, on the other ha
φανερόωI make clear, viλαλέωI speak, sayποιέωI do, make
οὐNeg
δέbut, on the othe
οὕτωThus209×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theσύἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
γάρfor
γράφωI writeπρέπωit becomes, is fδιώκωI pursue, persec
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθησαυρίζωI store up, trea
λαλέωI speak, say
βλασφημέωI speak evil agaοὐNegκαίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceοὕτω · 209× in the New Testament
Matthew 1 Corinthians Acts Luke Romans John Mark Hebrews 2 Corinthians James Revelation 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament21 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 419 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 6c. AD 40

ὡς γὰρ τῶν κολοσσιαίων μεγεθῶν τὰς ἐμφάσεις καὶ ἡ βραχυτάτη σφραγὶς τυπωθεῖσα δέχεται, οὕτως τάχα που καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναγραφείσης ἐν τοῖς νόμοις κοσμοποιίας ὑπερβάλλοντα κάλλη καὶ ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ψυχὰς ἐπισκιάζοντα βραχυτέροις…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.19c. AD 75–95

ἰστέον οὖν, ὅτι πάντων ἐκεῖνος ἀναγκαιότατον ἡγήσατο τῷ καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μέλλοντι βίον οἰκονομήσειν καλῶς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νομοθετεῖν θεοῦ πρῶτον φύσιν κατανοῆσαι καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἐκείνου θεατὴν τῷ νῷ γενόμενον οὕτως παράδειγμα τὸ πάντων ἄριστον…

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
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD

καὶ συνγραφὴν πατρικῆς … ὑπογράφει ἐν τοῖς μάρτυσι ὁ Πατοῦς συνορῶν … τὴν ὑπογραφήν. οὕτως ἑκουσίως ὁ Καλλιμήδης … α διὰ μονογράφου Θορταίου ἔφεσιν λαβόν… τοῦ λδ ἔτους

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

r … ς οὕτως ὑπὸ γε… ς δεομένων δὲ τῶν … ντων ὑμῶν διαλήψεως … καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

καλῶς ποιήσετε συνγεινόμενοι εἰς τοῦτον τόπον ἐν ἀσφαλείαι ὑπάρχοντα συντηρηθῆναι τοῦτον τῶι κυρίωι βασιλεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ πράσσοντες καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν διατηροῦντες … ε … παρὰ τῶν

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
ἔσονταιeimi will be G1510 Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · third person · plural
2,457× 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 be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

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

As substantive verb.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-FDI-3P — Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · third person · plural
future middle deponent indicative — an action still to come.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

See TESTAMENT.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ THE MENTAL FACULTY

Freedom of, recognized by God Ge 4:6-10; De 5:29; 1Ki 20:42; Isa 1:18-20; 43:26; Jer 36:3,7; Joh 7:17

See BLESSINGS, CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE

See CHOICE

See CONTINGENCY

→ OF GOD, THE SUPREME RULE OF DUTY Mt 6:10; 12:50; 26:39,42; Mr 3:35; 14:36; Lu 11:2; 22:42; Joh 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; Ac…

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
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

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
ἔσχατοιeschatos last G2078 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
53× 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 word means 'last' or 'farthest' and is used to describe something that is final or extreme. It appears in Matthew 20:12 and Acts 1:8, describing the last or utmost things.
Amplified meaning
farthest, most distant
Tyndale gloss
last/least
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἔσχατος (i.e., *eschatos*) means 'last' or 'utmost.' It can refer to the final position in space or time, as well as the lowest rank or degree. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts discussing the end times and the last days, such as in Matthew 12:45 and 1 Peter 1:20. The lexicons generally agree on its meanings and applications.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔσχατος, -η, -ον

[in LXX chiefly for אַחֲרִית אַחֲרוֹן ;]

last, utmost, extreme;

of place: of the lowest or least honoured place, Lk 14:9, 10; τ. ἔσχατον, c. gen. part., Ac 1:8 13:47;

of time: Mt 20:12, 14, Mk 12:6, 22, opp. to πρῶτος, Mt 20:8, I Co 15:45, Re 2:19, al.; τὰ ἔ. καὶ τ. πρῶτα, Mt 12:45, Lk 11:26, II Pe 2:20

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

ἔσχατος, -7, -ov, (ἔτ. ἔχω, ἔσχον adhering, clinging close; [ace. to al. (Curtius § 583 b.) superl. fr. ἐξ, the outermost]), Sept. for }i7N8, MINN; [fr. Hom. down]; eztreme, last in time or in place; 1. joined to nouns:

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

ἔσχατος. For ἔ. with reference to ¢ime cf. P Oxy II. 280% (a.p. 88-9) ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐσχάτῳ ἐνιαυτῷ, P Tebt IT. 375° (A.D. 140) τῷ δὲ πέμπτο (1. τῷ) ἔτι (1. ἔτει) ὅ ἐστιν ἔσχατον eros τῆς μισθώσεως. See also BGU IV. ro24iv-8 (iv/y A.D.) τῆς ἐσχάτης ἐλπίδας (/-—os) ἀποστε[ρ]ῆσαι, and from the inscrr. Michel 326? (ii/B.C.) τῆς ἐσχάτης τοῦ βίου τε[λ]ευτῆς. With τὰ ἔσχατα in Mt 1245 a/., cf. P Vat At (B.c. 168) (= Witkowski, p. 65) τοῦ παιδίου cov els τὰ ἔσχατα ἐληλυθότος. AZiche/ 39434 (mid. 1.8.6.) τῆς πόλ[ε]ως ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ὑπαρχούσης κινδύνοις supports Hort’s rendering of ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ in I Pet 1° ‘in a season of extremity,” ‘““when things are at their worst,’’ for which he adduces various classical exx. For the adverbial ἔσχατον, as in 1 Cor 158, see P Oxy VI. 88674 (iii/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 112) τὸ δὲ ὑπολιπό[μ]εννον ἔσχατον ἀνάγνωτι (/.—6), Syil 879" (end of iii/B.c.) ἐπιτελεῖν δὲ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔσχατος (eschatos) — last/least.

ἔσχᾰτος, η, ον,

also ος, ον [Refs 4th c.BC+(probably from ἐκ, ἐξ, perhaps eĝhzκατος (compare ἐχθός) like{ἔγ-κατα}):

I. of Space, as always in [Refs 8th c.BC+], farthest, uttermost, extreme, θάλαμος ἔ. the hindmost chamber, [Refs 8th c.BC+]at the end of the lines, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν, of the Aethiopians, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τάξις ἐ. the farthest part of the army, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐξ ἐσχάτων ἐς ἔσχατα ἀπικέσθαι from end to end, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—in various senses, uppermost, ἐ. πυρά [Refs 5th c.BC+]; lowest, deepest, ἀΐδας [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; innermost, σάρκες [Refs 5th c.BC+]; last, hindmost, ἤλαυνε δ᾽ ἔ. [Refs]; ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτῳ at the close of a document, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔσχατος

eschatos

a superlative probably from 2192 (in the sense of contiguity);

farthest, final (of place or time):--ends of, last, latter end,

lowest, uttermost.

see GREEK for 2192

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔσχατος, η, ον

Adj

last, at the last, finally

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔσχατος eschatos 52x

farthest; last, latest, Mt. 12:45; Mk. 12:6; lowest, Mt. 19:30; 20:16; in the lowest plight, 1 Cor. 4:9

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔσχατος ἔσχα^τος, η, ον prob. from ἐκ, ἐξ, as if ἔξατος, outermost

of Space, as always in Hom. the furthest, uttermost, extreme, id. Hom., Hdt., attic; ἔσχατοι ἄλλων, of the Thracians who were the last in the Trojan lines, Il.; ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν, of the Aethiopians, Od.: ἔσχατα, τά, extremities, ἐσχ. γαίης Hes.; τὰ ἔσχ. τοῦ στρατοπέδου Thuc.

the furthest in each direction.

the uppermost, Soph.

lowest, deepest, Lat. imus, ἀΐδας Theocr.

innermost, Lat. intimus, Soph.

the last, hindmost, id. Soph.

of Degree, the uttermost, utmost, last, worst, πόνος, κίνδυνος Plat.:—as Subst., τὸ ἔσχατον, τὰ ἔσχατα, the utmost, Hdt.; of suffering, pain, etc., id. Hdt., attic; ἐπ᾽ ἔσχατα βαίνεις Soph.; ἔσχατ᾽ ἐσχάτων κακά worst of possible evils, id. Soph.; so in Sup., τὰ πάντων ἐσχατώτατα the extremest of all…

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
94%last
last94% · 51×uttermost part4% · 2×other renderings2% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial43%subject25%predicate21%object9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 53 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
ἐνκαίand, even, also,γίνομαιI come into bein
ἐπί
δέbut, on the otheἔρχομαιI come, goσύ
πρῶτοςfirst, before
εἰμίI am, existArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
ὁράωI see, look uponὅς
ἕωςuntil, as far as
καίand, even, also,σωτηρίαdeliverance, sal
ἔσχατοςlast53×
what comes after →
ἡμέραa day
Article theλέγωI say, speakἐνίστημιI place in or up
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thγῆthe earth, soil,ἡμέραa day
καίand, even, also, nam
ἔσχατοςlast, at the lasπᾶςall, the whole, Article the
πρῶτοςfirst, before
καίand, even, also,
ὅς
εἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein

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

Concordanceἔσχατος · 53× in the New Testament
Matthew John Luke Revelation 1 Corinthians Mark Acts 1 John 1 Peter 2 Peter 2 Timothy Hebrews
Across the New Testament14 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 82 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 88c. AD 40

οἱ δ’ αὖ κυβερνῆται πρὸς τὸ τῆς νεὼς ἔσχατον χωρίον πρύμναν παρελθόντες πάντων ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν εἰσιν ἄριστοι τῶν ἐμπλεόντων, ἅτε τῆς νεὼς καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐν χερσὶ ταῖς αὑτῶν ἔχοντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.1c. AD 75–95

Παραδόξου δὲ τῆς σωτηρίας τοῖς Ἑβραίοις οὕτως γενομένης δεινῶς ἐλύπει πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἀγομένους ἐπὶ τὸ Σιναῖον ὄρος ἡ χώρα τελέως οὖσα ἔρημος καὶ τῶν τε πρὸς τροφὴν αὐτοῖς ἄπορος, σπανίζουσα δὲ καὶ ὕδατος εἰς τὸ ἔσχατον, καὶ μὴ μόνον ἀνθρώποις τι…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 1st c. BC 2nd c. BC
P.Mert. 1 10Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 21

ὁ μεμισθωμένος σπερμάτων κριθῆς ἀρτάβαις τρισὶ κριθῆς ἀρταβῶν τριάκοντα τὸ δὲ τρίτον ὅ ἐστιν ἔσχατον ἔτος τῆς μισθώσεως εἰς σπορὰν χόρτου εἰς κατάβρωμα καὶ κοιτασμὸν προβάτων ἀσπερμὶ πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν

P.Athen.. 14Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 22

πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν πεντήκοντα τριῶν τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἔτος πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν τεσσαράκοντα τριῶν τὸ δὲ ἔσχατον ἔτος πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν εἴκοσι πέντε , πάσας δὲ μέτρῳ τετάρτῳ ἐκ πόρων καὶ θαλλοῦ

P.IFAO 1 1Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 27

ἔτη τρία ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτου ἔτους Τιβερίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ, τοῦ μὲν πρώτου καὶ ἐσχάτου ἔτους εἰς πυροῦ σπορὰν ἐκφορίου τοῦ παντὸς καθʼ ἔτος σὺν σπέρμασι αἷς λήμψεται ὁ

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
πρῶτοιprōtos first G4413 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
98× 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 first or foremost, used in Luke 14:18 and 1 Corinthians 14:30. It can refer to the first in a sequence, like the first day of the week, or the most important thing, like the first commandment.
Amplified meaning
foremost, of highest priority
Tyndale gloss
first
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρῶτος (protos) is an adjective meaning 'first' in terms of time, order, or importance. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, often denoting rank or precedence, such as in Matthew 20:27 and Luke 14:18. The word can also function adverbially, as seen in John 1:42. Notably, it is sometimes used interchangeably with the comparative form πρότερος.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

B. Superl., πρῶτος, -η, -ον,

[in LXX chiefly for רִאשׁוֹן, also for אֶחַד, etc.;]

first,

of Time or Place;

absol., as subst., ὁ π.., Lk 14:18, Jo 19:32, I Co 14:30; ὁ π. καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, Re 1:17 2:8 22:13; neut., τὸ π., opp. to τ. δεύτερον, He 10:9; τὰ π., opp. to τ. ἔσχατα, Mt 12:45, Lk 11:26, II Pe 2:20; anarth., Mt 10:2; pl., Mt 19:30,

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

πρῶτος, -7, -ov, (super. of πρό, contr. fr. πρόατος, whence the Doric πρᾶτος ; the compar. πρότερος see in its place), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for }}W8 and often for ἽΝ and wer, first; 1. either in time or place, in any succession of things or of persons; a. absolutely (i. e. without a noun) and substantively ; a. with the article: ὁ πρῶτος καὶ 6 ἔσχατος, i. 6. the eternal One, Rev. i. 17; ii. 8; xxii. 13; ὁ πρῶτος, sc. τῶν κεκλημένων, Lk. xiv. 18; the first of two (cf. W. § 35, 4 Ν. 1: [B. 32 (28}7), Jn. xix. 32; 1 Co. xiv. 30; plur. opp. to οἱ ἔσχαtot, Mt. xx. 16, on which see ἔσχατος. 3 ἃ. Neut. τὸ πρῶτον, opp. to τὸ δεύτερον, Heb. x. 9; τὰ πρῶτα, opp. to τὰ ἔσχατα, one’s first state, Mt. xii. 45; Lk. xi. 26; 2 Pet. ii. 20; the first order of things, Rey. xxi. 4. B. without the article: Mt. x. 2 (πρῶτος, sc. of the apostles to be mentioned); plur., Mt. xix. 80; Mk. x. 31; Lk. xiii.…

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

πρῶτος. In the LXX regularly (Thackeray Gr. i. p. 183) and in the Kow7y frequently, especially in the Ptolemaic period, πρῶτος stands for πρότερος, so reversing the usual Hellenistic rule that the comparative does duty for both degrees of comparison. For an ex. almost contemporary with the NT we may cite P Oxy II. 2979 (A.D. 54), where a man asks for information for a supplementary return of lambs born since the first or former return for the year had been made— παρὰ τὴν πρώτην ἀπογραφήν. No stress can, therefore, be laid on the use of πρῶτος in Ac 1, as if Luke meant to write a third treatise (cf. Ramsay Paz/, p. 28). To illustrate Jn 125, 1518, we may quote P Leid W*# 49 τερον ἀντέστη αὐτῷ, λέγων᾽ σοῦ πρῶτός εἶμι, “‘ prior sum quam tu.” Abbott (ολ. Gr. p. 510f.) suggests that the Leiden papyrus may have been dependent on Jn 1, and translates the latter passage ‘‘my Chief” (76. p. 11…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first: previous.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first: chief.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first: best.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρῶτος

protos

contracted superlative of 4253; foremost (in time, place, order or

importance):--before, beginning, best, chief(-est), first (of all),

former.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρῶτος, η, ον

Adj

first, before

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρῶτος prōtos 95x

first in time, order, etc., Mt. 10:2; 26:17; first in dignity, importance, etc., chief, principal, most important, Mk. 6:21; Lk. 19:47; Acts 13:50; 16:12; as an equivalent to the compar. πρότερος (G4754), prior, Jn. 1:5, 30; 15:18; Mt. 27:64; adverbially, first, Jn. 1:42; 5:4; 8:7

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

furst ('echadh, ri'shon; proton, to proton, protos):

Of these words, which are those most frequently used for "first," ri'shon is from rosh, "the head, and is used for the highest, chief, etc.; also of time, the beginning, e.g. Ge 8:13, in the first month"; in Isa 44:6; 48:12, it is used of Yahweh as Eternal and solely Supreme--the First and the Last (compare Isa 41:4). Special usages are in connection with "firstborn," "first- fruit," etc.; proton is used of that which is first in order; but also of that which is first or chief in importance, etc. (Mt 6:33; Jas 3:17). In

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

Counted over the 121 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 13c. AD 40

τῶν τε γὰρ ἀπὸ μονάδος πρῶτος τέλειός ἐστιν ἰσούμενος τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μέρεσι καὶ συμπληρούμενος ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἡμίσους μὲν τριάδος, τρίτου δὲ δυάδος, ἕκτου δὲ μονάδος, καὶ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἄρρην τε καὶ θῆλυς εἶναι πέφυκε κἀκ τῆς ἑκατέρου δυνάμεως ἥρμοσται·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.19c. AD 75–95

ἰστέον οὖν, ὅτι πάντων ἐκεῖνος ἀναγκαιότατον ἡγήσατο τῷ καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μέλλοντι βίον οἰκονομήσειν καλῶς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νομοθετεῖν θεοῦ πρῶτον φύσιν κατανοῆσαι καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἐκείνου θεατὴν τῷ νῷ γενόμενον οὕτως παράδειγμα τὸ πάντων ἄριστον…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.13c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ κύριος: Ἰδού, ποιῶ τὰ ἔσχατα ὡς τὰ πρῶτα.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Cair. Zen. 3 59346Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)247 BC

Ἐφάρμοστος δέλφακας β οὓς Ἰναρῶς ἀπήγαγεν αὐτῶι εἰς Φιλάδελφον καὶ τούτων α ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης λογείας καὶ ἄλλος τῆς ἐσχάτης … δέλφακες β οὓς ἀπήνεγκε παρʼ Ἰμούθου εἰς Φιλάδελφον

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ πρώτου λεπτοῦ χ … καὶ … σοῦχος ἡγεμὼν καὶ … υχος οὐραγὸς καὶ Πανεχῶτις

P.Amh. 2 112Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 128

Νήσῳ τῆς Ἡρακλείδου μερίδος τοῦ Ἀρσινοείτου νομοῦ. ὁμολογεῖ Πακῦσις Στοτοήτεως πρεσβυτέρου τοῦ Πανεφρίμεως ἱερεὺς πρώτης φυλῆς Σοκνοπαίου θεοῦ μεγάλου μεγάλου ὡς ἐτῶν μα οὐλὴ βραχίωνι ἀριστερῶι τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ὁμοπατρίωι

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
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

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
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

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
πρῶτοιprōtos first G4413 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
98× 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 first or foremost, used in Luke 14:18 and 1 Corinthians 14:30. It can refer to the first in a sequence, like the first day of the week, or the most important thing, like the first commandment.
Amplified meaning
most prominent, of highest rank
Tyndale gloss
first
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρῶτος (protos) is an adjective meaning 'first' in terms of time, order, or importance. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, often denoting rank or precedence, such as in Matthew 20:27 and Luke 14:18. The word can also function adverbially, as seen in John 1:42. Notably, it is sometimes used interchangeably with the comparative form πρότερος.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

B. Superl., πρῶτος, -η, -ον,

[in LXX chiefly for רִאשׁוֹן, also for אֶחַד, etc.;]

first,

of Time or Place;

absol., as subst., ὁ π.., Lk 14:18, Jo 19:32, I Co 14:30; ὁ π. καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, Re 1:17 2:8 22:13; neut., τὸ π., opp. to τ. δεύτερον, He 10:9; τὰ π., opp. to τ. ἔσχατα, Mt 12:45, Lk 11:26, II Pe 2:20; anarth., Mt 10:2; pl., Mt 19:30,

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

πρῶτος, -7, -ov, (super. of πρό, contr. fr. πρόατος, whence the Doric πρᾶτος ; the compar. πρότερος see in its place), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for }}W8 and often for ἽΝ and wer, first; 1. either in time or place, in any succession of things or of persons; a. absolutely (i. e. without a noun) and substantively ; a. with the article: ὁ πρῶτος καὶ 6 ἔσχατος, i. 6. the eternal One, Rev. i. 17; ii. 8; xxii. 13; ὁ πρῶτος, sc. τῶν κεκλημένων, Lk. xiv. 18; the first of two (cf. W. § 35, 4 Ν. 1: [B. 32 (28}7), Jn. xix. 32; 1 Co. xiv. 30; plur. opp. to οἱ ἔσχαtot, Mt. xx. 16, on which see ἔσχατος. 3 ἃ. Neut. τὸ πρῶτον, opp. to τὸ δεύτερον, Heb. x. 9; τὰ πρῶτα, opp. to τὰ ἔσχατα, one’s first state, Mt. xii. 45; Lk. xi. 26; 2 Pet. ii. 20; the first order of things, Rey. xxi. 4. B. without the article: Mt. x. 2 (πρῶτος, sc. of the apostles to be mentioned); plur., Mt. xix. 80; Mk. x. 31; Lk. xiii.…

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

πρῶτος. In the LXX regularly (Thackeray Gr. i. p. 183) and in the Kow7y frequently, especially in the Ptolemaic period, πρῶτος stands for πρότερος, so reversing the usual Hellenistic rule that the comparative does duty for both degrees of comparison. For an ex. almost contemporary with the NT we may cite P Oxy II. 2979 (A.D. 54), where a man asks for information for a supplementary return of lambs born since the first or former return for the year had been made— παρὰ τὴν πρώτην ἀπογραφήν. No stress can, therefore, be laid on the use of πρῶτος in Ac 1, as if Luke meant to write a third treatise (cf. Ramsay Paz/, p. 28). To illustrate Jn 125, 1518, we may quote P Leid W*# 49 τερον ἀντέστη αὐτῷ, λέγων᾽ σοῦ πρῶτός εἶμι, “‘ prior sum quam tu.” Abbott (ολ. Gr. p. 510f.) suggests that the Leiden papyrus may have been dependent on Jn 1, and translates the latter passage ‘‘my Chief” (76. p. 11…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first: previous.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first: chief.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

πρῶτος (prōtos) — first: best.

πρῶτος, η, ον,

see at {πρότερος} [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρῶτος

protos

contracted superlative of 4253; foremost (in time, place, order or

importance):--before, beginning, best, chief(-est), first (of all),

former.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρῶτος, η, ον

Adj

first, before

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρῶτος prōtos 95x

first in time, order, etc., Mt. 10:2; 26:17; first in dignity, importance, etc., chief, principal, most important, Mk. 6:21; Lk. 19:47; Acts 13:50; 16:12; as an equivalent to the compar. πρότερος (G4754), prior, Jn. 1:5, 30; 15:18; Mt. 27:64; adverbially, first, Jn. 1:42; 5:4; 8:7

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

furst ('echadh, ri'shon; proton, to proton, protos):

Of these words, which are those most frequently used for "first," ri'shon is from rosh, "the head, and is used for the highest, chief, etc.; also of time, the beginning, e.g. Ge 8:13, in the first month"; in Isa 44:6; 48:12, it is used of Yahweh as Eternal and solely Supreme--the First and the Last (compare Isa 41:4). Special usages are in connection with "firstborn," "first- fruit," etc.; proton is used of that which is first in order; but also of that which is first or chief in importance, etc. (Mt 6:33; Jas 3:17). In

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

Counted over the 121 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 13c. AD 40

τῶν τε γὰρ ἀπὸ μονάδος πρῶτος τέλειός ἐστιν ἰσούμενος τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μέρεσι καὶ συμπληρούμενος ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἡμίσους μὲν τριάδος, τρίτου δὲ δυάδος, ἕκτου δὲ μονάδος, καὶ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἄρρην τε καὶ θῆλυς εἶναι πέφυκε κἀκ τῆς ἑκατέρου δυνάμεως ἥρμοσται·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.19c. AD 75–95

ἰστέον οὖν, ὅτι πάντων ἐκεῖνος ἀναγκαιότατον ἡγήσατο τῷ καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μέλλοντι βίον οἰκονομήσειν καλῶς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νομοθετεῖν θεοῦ πρῶτον φύσιν κατανοῆσαι καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἐκείνου θεατὴν τῷ νῷ γενόμενον οὕτως παράδειγμα τὸ πάντων ἄριστον…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.13c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ κύριος: Ἰδού, ποιῶ τὰ ἔσχατα ὡς τὰ πρῶτα.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Cair. Zen. 3 59346Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)247 BC

Ἐφάρμοστος δέλφακας β οὓς Ἰναρῶς ἀπήγαγεν αὐτῶι εἰς Φιλάδελφον καὶ τούτων α ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης λογείας καὶ ἄλλος τῆς ἐσχάτης … δέλφακες β οὓς ἀπήνεγκε παρʼ Ἰμούθου εἰς Φιλάδελφον

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ πρώτου λεπτοῦ χ … καὶ … σοῦχος ἡγεμὼν καὶ … υχος οὐραγὸς καὶ Πανεχῶτις

P.Amh. 2 112Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 128

Νήσῳ τῆς Ἡρακλείδου μερίδος τοῦ Ἀρσινοείτου νομοῦ. ὁμολογεῖ Πακῦσις Στοτοήτεως πρεσβυτέρου τοῦ Πανεφρίμεως ἱερεὺς πρώτης φυλῆς Σοκνοπαίου θεοῦ μεγάλου μεγάλου ὡς ἐτῶν μα οὐλὴ βραχίωνι ἀριστερῶι τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ὁμοπατρίωι

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
ἔσχατοιeschatos last G2078 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
53× 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 word means 'last' or 'farthest' and is used to describe something that is final or extreme. It appears in Matthew 20:12 and Acts 1:8, describing the last or utmost things.
Amplified meaning
least important, of lowest position
Tyndale gloss
last/least
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἔσχατος (i.e., *eschatos*) means 'last' or 'utmost.' It can refer to the final position in space or time, as well as the lowest rank or degree. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts discussing the end times and the last days, such as in Matthew 12:45 and 1 Peter 1:20. The lexicons generally agree on its meanings and applications.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔσχατος, -η, -ον

[in LXX chiefly for אַחֲרִית אַחֲרוֹן ;]

last, utmost, extreme;

of place: of the lowest or least honoured place, Lk 14:9, 10; τ. ἔσχατον, c. gen. part., Ac 1:8 13:47;

of time: Mt 20:12, 14, Mk 12:6, 22, opp. to πρῶτος, Mt 20:8, I Co 15:45, Re 2:19, al.; τὰ ἔ. καὶ τ. πρῶτα, Mt 12:45, Lk 11:26, II Pe 2:20

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

ἔσχατος, -7, -ov, (ἔτ. ἔχω, ἔσχον adhering, clinging close; [ace. to al. (Curtius § 583 b.) superl. fr. ἐξ, the outermost]), Sept. for }i7N8, MINN; [fr. Hom. down]; eztreme, last in time or in place; 1. joined to nouns:

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

ἔσχατος. For ἔ. with reference to ¢ime cf. P Oxy II. 280% (a.p. 88-9) ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐσχάτῳ ἐνιαυτῷ, P Tebt IT. 375° (A.D. 140) τῷ δὲ πέμπτο (1. τῷ) ἔτι (1. ἔτει) ὅ ἐστιν ἔσχατον eros τῆς μισθώσεως. See also BGU IV. ro24iv-8 (iv/y A.D.) τῆς ἐσχάτης ἐλπίδας (/-—os) ἀποστε[ρ]ῆσαι, and from the inscrr. Michel 326? (ii/B.C.) τῆς ἐσχάτης τοῦ βίου τε[λ]ευτῆς. With τὰ ἔσχατα in Mt 1245 a/., cf. P Vat At (B.c. 168) (= Witkowski, p. 65) τοῦ παιδίου cov els τὰ ἔσχατα ἐληλυθότος. AZiche/ 39434 (mid. 1.8.6.) τῆς πόλ[ε]ως ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ὑπαρχούσης κινδύνοις supports Hort’s rendering of ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ in I Pet 1° ‘in a season of extremity,” ‘““when things are at their worst,’’ for which he adduces various classical exx. For the adverbial ἔσχατον, as in 1 Cor 158, see P Oxy VI. 88674 (iii/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 112) τὸ δὲ ὑπολιπό[μ]εννον ἔσχατον ἀνάγνωτι (/.—6), Syil 879" (end of iii/B.c.) ἐπιτελεῖν δὲ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔσχατος (eschatos) — last/least.

ἔσχᾰτος, η, ον,

also ος, ον [Refs 4th c.BC+(probably from ἐκ, ἐξ, perhaps eĝhzκατος (compare ἐχθός) like{ἔγ-κατα}):

I. of Space, as always in [Refs 8th c.BC+], farthest, uttermost, extreme, θάλαμος ἔ. the hindmost chamber, [Refs 8th c.BC+]at the end of the lines, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν, of the Aethiopians, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τάξις ἐ. the farthest part of the army, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐξ ἐσχάτων ἐς ἔσχατα ἀπικέσθαι from end to end, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—in various senses, uppermost, ἐ. πυρά [Refs 5th c.BC+]; lowest, deepest, ἀΐδας [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; innermost, σάρκες [Refs 5th c.BC+]; last, hindmost, ἤλαυνε δ᾽ ἔ. [Refs]; ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτῳ at the close of a document, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔσχατος

eschatos

a superlative probably from 2192 (in the sense of contiguity);

farthest, final (of place or time):--ends of, last, latter end,

lowest, uttermost.

see GREEK for 2192

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔσχατος, η, ον

Adj

last, at the last, finally

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔσχατος eschatos 52x

farthest; last, latest, Mt. 12:45; Mk. 12:6; lowest, Mt. 19:30; 20:16; in the lowest plight, 1 Cor. 4:9

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔσχατος ἔσχα^τος, η, ον prob. from ἐκ, ἐξ, as if ἔξατος, outermost

of Space, as always in Hom. the furthest, uttermost, extreme, id. Hom., Hdt., attic; ἔσχατοι ἄλλων, of the Thracians who were the last in the Trojan lines, Il.; ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν, of the Aethiopians, Od.: ἔσχατα, τά, extremities, ἐσχ. γαίης Hes.; τὰ ἔσχ. τοῦ στρατοπέδου Thuc.

the furthest in each direction.

the uppermost, Soph.

lowest, deepest, Lat. imus, ἀΐδας Theocr.

innermost, Lat. intimus, Soph.

the last, hindmost, id. Soph.

of Degree, the uttermost, utmost, last, worst, πόνος, κίνδυνος Plat.:—as Subst., τὸ ἔσχατον, τὰ ἔσχατα, the utmost, Hdt.; of suffering, pain, etc., id. Hdt., attic; ἐπ᾽ ἔσχατα βαίνεις Soph.; ἔσχατ᾽ ἐσχάτων κακά worst of possible evils, id. Soph.; so in Sup., τὰ πάντων ἐσχατώτατα the extremest of all…

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
94%last
last94% · 51×uttermost part4% · 2×other renderings2% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial43%subject25%predicate21%object9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 53 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
ἐνκαίand, even, also,γίνομαιI come into bein
ἐπί
δέbut, on the otheἔρχομαιI come, goσύ
πρῶτοςfirst, before
εἰμίI am, existArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
ὁράωI see, look uponὅς
ἕωςuntil, as far as
καίand, even, also,σωτηρίαdeliverance, sal
ἔσχατοςlast53×
what comes after →
ἡμέραa day
Article theλέγωI say, speakἐνίστημιI place in or up
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thγῆthe earth, soil,ἡμέραa day
καίand, even, also, nam
ἔσχατοςlast, at the lasπᾶςall, the whole, Article the
πρῶτοςfirst, before
καίand, even, also,
ὅς
εἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein

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

Concordanceἔσχατος · 53× in the New Testament
Matthew John Luke Revelation 1 Corinthians Mark Acts 1 John 1 Peter 2 Peter 2 Timothy Hebrews
Across the New Testament14 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 82 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 88c. AD 40

οἱ δ’ αὖ κυβερνῆται πρὸς τὸ τῆς νεὼς ἔσχατον χωρίον πρύμναν παρελθόντες πάντων ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν εἰσιν ἄριστοι τῶν ἐμπλεόντων, ἅτε τῆς νεὼς καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐν χερσὶ ταῖς αὑτῶν ἔχοντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.1c. AD 75–95

Παραδόξου δὲ τῆς σωτηρίας τοῖς Ἑβραίοις οὕτως γενομένης δεινῶς ἐλύπει πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἀγομένους ἐπὶ τὸ Σιναῖον ὄρος ἡ χώρα τελέως οὖσα ἔρημος καὶ τῶν τε πρὸς τροφὴν αὐτοῖς ἄπορος, σπανίζουσα δὲ καὶ ὕδατος εἰς τὸ ἔσχατον, καὶ μὴ μόνον ἀνθρώποις τι…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 1st c. BC 2nd c. BC
P.Mert. 1 10Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 21

ὁ μεμισθωμένος σπερμάτων κριθῆς ἀρτάβαις τρισὶ κριθῆς ἀρταβῶν τριάκοντα τὸ δὲ τρίτον ὅ ἐστιν ἔσχατον ἔτος τῆς μισθώσεως εἰς σπορὰν χόρτου εἰς κατάβρωμα καὶ κοιτασμὸν προβάτων ἀσπερμὶ πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν

P.Athen.. 14Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 22

πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν πεντήκοντα τριῶν τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἔτος πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν τεσσαράκοντα τριῶν τὸ δὲ ἔσχατον ἔτος πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν εἴκοσι πέντε , πάσας δὲ μέτρῳ τετάρτῳ ἐκ πόρων καὶ θαλλοῦ

P.IFAO 1 1Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 27

ἔτη τρία ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτου ἔτους Τιβερίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ, τοῦ μὲν πρώτου καὶ ἐσχάτου ἔτους εἰς πυροῦ σπορὰν ἐκφορίου τοῦ παντὸς καθʼ ἔτος σὺν σπέρμασι αἷς λήμψεται ὁ

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
πολλοὶpolus many G4183 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
413× 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 word means much or many, and is used to describe things like large crowds, as in Mark 5:24, or a great amount of time, as in Matthew 25:19. It emphasizes the magnitude of something.
Tyndale gloss
much
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πολύς (polus) means much or many, covering a range of contexts from quantity to degree and value. It appears as an adjective and can also function as a noun or adverb. In the New Testament, it is used to describe large numbers of people or things, as seen in verses like Matthew 9:37 and John 6:10. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ,

[in LXX chiefly for רַב and cognate forms;]

as adj., much, many, great, of number, space, degree, value, time, etc.: ἀριθμός, Ac 11:21; ὄχλος, Mk 5:24; θερισμός, Mt 9:37; χόρτος, Jo 6:10; χρόνος, Mt 25:19; γογγυσμός, Jo 7:12; πόνος, Col 4:13; δόξα, Mt 24:30; σιγή, Ac 21:40; pl., προφῆται, Mt 13:17; ὄχλοι, Mt 4:25; δαιμόνια, Read the full entry →

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

πολύς, πολλή (fr. an older form πολλός, found in Hom., Hes., Pind.), πολύ; [(cf. Curtius § 375)]; Sept. chiefly for 39; much; used a. of multitude, number, etc., many, numerous, great: ἀριθμός, Acts xi. 21; λαός, Acts xviii. 10; ὄχλος, Mk. v. 24; vi. 34; [viii.1 LT Tr WH]; Lk. vii. 11; viii. 4; Jn. vi. 2,5; Rev. vii. 9; xix. 6, etc.; πλῆθος, Mk. iii. 7sq.; Lk. v. 6; Acts xiv. 1, ete.; 1. q. abundant, plenteous [A. V. often much], καρπός, Jn. xii. 24; xv. 5,8; θερισμός, (the harvest to be gathered), Mt. ix. 37; Lk. x. 2; γῆ, Mt. xiii. 5; Mk. iv. 5; χόρτος, Jn. vi. 10; οἶνος, 1 Tim. iii. 8; plur. πολλοὶ τελῶναι, Mt. ix. 10; Mk. ii. 15; πολλοὶ προφῆται, Mt. xiii. 17; Lk. x. 24; σοφοί, 1 Co. i. 26; πατέρες, 1 Co. iv. 15; δυνάμεις, Mt. vii. 22; xiii. 58, ete.; ὄχλοι, Mt. iv. 25; viii. 1; xii. 15 [but here L TWH om. Trbr. ὄχ.7; Lk. v. 15, ete.; δαιμόνια, Mk.i. 34; and in many otherexx.; with…

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

πολύς, “much,” plur. ‘‘many’’: P Petr I. 2905 (iii/B.c.) χάρις τοῖς θεοῖς πολλὴ εἰ ὑγιαίνεις, ‘‘much thanks to the gods if you are well,” P Ryl II. 2435 (ii/A.D.) τοῦτο οὐ μόνον ἡμεῖν yevapevov ἀλλὰ Kal πολλοῖς, ‘this has happened not to us only but to many ” (Edd.), and 16. 238* (A.p. 262) διὰ πολλὰς χρείας, “for various needs’ (Edd.). The word is very conimon in epistolary greetings (πολλὰ χαίρειν : exx. from B.C. 118 to ili/iv A.D. in Exler Eprstolography p. 27 f.) and in rhetorical prefaces (Sirach proem.), and consequently, as Cadbury suggests (in Jackson and Lake Beginnings of Christianity Part I. Vol. ii. p. 492 f.), πολλοί must not be pressed to mean “ἡ Ac 243, 10, For the adverbial πολλά, which ‘‘ lies between πολύ and πολλάκις : it is ‘much’ with the idea of plurality and repetition introduced’’ (Hort ad Jas 32), cf. P Heid 622 (iv/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 127) πολλὰ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πολύς (polus) — much.

πολύς,

Attic dialect πολλή, πολ; genitive πολλοῦ, ῆς, ou=; dative πολλῷ, ῇ, ; accusative πολύν, πολλήν, πολύ:—Ionic dialect πολλός [Refs 6th c.BC+], πολλή, πολλόν [Refs 6th c.BC+]; also in Trag., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; accusative πολλόν, πολλήν, πολλόν: [Refs 5th c.BC+] uses the Ionic dialect forms, but codices have πολύν [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—both sets of forms are found in Epic dialect, also genitive singular πολέος [Refs 8th c.BC+], once contraction πολεῖς [Refs]; dative πολέσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; accusative πολέας (trisyllable) [Refs 8th c.BC+] (frequently with variant{πολεῖς} [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in later Epic dialect πολέες is used as feminine, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—Epic dialect also have πουλύς (once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; these forms are found in codices of [Refs 5th c.BC+] — Lyric poetry and Trag. (Lyric poetry) sometimes use Epic dialect forms, dative singular…

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ

Adj

much, many, often

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πολύς polys 416x

great in magnitude or quantity, much, large, Mt. 13:5; Jn. 3:23; 15:8; pl. many, Mt. 3:7; in time, long, Mt. 25:19; Mk. 6:35; Jn. 5:6; οἱ πολλοί, the many, the mass, Rom. 5:15; 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:33; τὸ πολύ, much, 2 Cor. 8:15; πολύ, as an adv., much, greatly, Mk. 12:27; Lk. 7:47; of…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πολύς the ionic declension πολλός, ή, όν is retained by the attic in all cases, except the nom. and acc. masc. and neut. Hom. uses both ionic and attic forms. of Number, many, opp. to ὀλίγος, Hom., etc.;— with nouns of multitude, πουλὺς ὅμιλος Od.; πολλὸν πλῆθος Hdt., etc.:—also of anything often repeated, πολλὸν ἦν τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος id. Hdt.; πολλὸς αἰνεόμενος id. Hdt.; τούτῳ πολλῷ χρήσεται τῷ λόγῳ often, Dem.

of Size, Degree, Force, much, mighty, great, Il., etc.; π. ὕπνος deep sleep, Od.; π. ὑμέναιος a loud song, Il., etc.:—rarely of a single person, μέγας καὶ πολλὸς ἐγένεο Hdt.; ἢν πολλῇ ῥυῇ if she flow with full stream, metaph. from a river, Eur.; πολλῷ ῥέοντι Dem.; from the wind, πολὺς ἔπνει was blowing strong, id. Dem.; often with a Partic., πολλὸς ἦν λισσόμενος…

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

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

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

MANY, adjective men'ny.

1. Numerous; comprising a great number of individuals.

Thou shalt be a father of many nations. Genesis 17:4.

Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 1 Corinthians 1:26.

MANY are the afflictions of the righteous. Psalms 34:12.

It is often preceded by as or so, and followed by so, indicating an equal number.

As many books as you take, so many shall be charged to your account.

So many laws argue so many sins.

It is followed by as.

As many as were willing-hearted brought bracelets. Exodus 34:1.

It precedes an or a, before a noun in the singular number.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene.

2. In low language, preceded by too, it denotes powerful or much; as, they are too many for us.

MANY, noun men'ny. A multitude; a great number of individuals; the people.

O thou fond many

The vulgar and the many are fit only to be led or driven.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%many
many52% · 196×great17% · 66×much17% · 65×many things6% · 21×other renderings6% · 23×other renderings2% · 7×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject36%adverbial29%object22%predicate10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 354 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,ὅςεἰς
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἀπώλειαdestruction, ruiἀπέρχομαιI come or go awa
ὄχλοςa crowd
αὐτόςὁράωI see, look uponκαίand, even, also,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theὁράωI see, look uponμετά
αὐτός
παρακαλέωI summon, entreaἀκολουθέωI accompany, attλαλέωI speak, say
πολύςmany413×
what comes after →
Article the
δέbut, on the otheπρῶτοςfirst, beforeσυναναβαίνωI go up with
καίand, even, also, nam
ὡςas, like as, howθεραπεύωI care for, atteεὐθέωςimmediately, soo
δέbut, on the other ha
εἰμίI am, existἐκτέραςa wonder, porten
γάρfor
ἔρχομαιI come, goεἰμίI am, existπάσχωI am acted upon,
μᾶλλονmore, rather
Article theκράζωI cry aloud, shrσύ

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

Concordanceπολύς · 413× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Mark Matthew John 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation Hebrews 1 Timothy 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 335 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 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 1.1c. AD 75–95

Τοῖς τὰς ἱστορίας συγγράφειν βουλομένοις οὐ μίαν οὐδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁρῶ τῆς σπουδῆς γινομένην αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς καὶ πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων διαφερούσας.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.4c. 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 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 38Pathyrites171 BC

τῶι προγεγραμμένωι ἱερῶι, ὁ ἐνκεκλημένος προσπηδήσας μοι ἐνώπιόν τινων ἔτυπτεν ἧι εἶχεν ῥάβδωι πληγαῖς πλειόσιν εἰς τὸ τυχὸν μέρος τοῦ σώματός μου. ὅ τε περιεβλήμην, ὀθόνιον κατέρηξεν, περὶ ὦν

P.Grenf. 1 42Diospolis Parva170 BC–169 BC

νυνὶ παρεφεδρευόντων ἐν Διὸς πόλει τῆι μικρᾶι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῶι ἐν Πτολεμαίδι ὑπαίθρωι. πολλὰς χρείας μισθοφόρων ἱππέων παρεσχημένων ἡμῶν ἤδη πολλάκις κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον καὶ κινδύνους μεγάλους

μέρους ἡμίσους ἀπὸ ἐδάφους ἀμπελῶνος ἀρουρῶν β ἡμίσους ἢ ὅσαν ἂν ἦι ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον καὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ ἀπηλιώτου αὐτοῦ παραδείσου καὶ φρεάτων καὶ ἐποικίων καὶ ληνῶνος καὶ γῆς

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
γὰρgar for G1063 Conjunction
1,038× 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
For is a word used to explain or give a reason, often introducing a justification or clarification, as seen in Matthew 4:18 and Romans 7:1. It's a conjunction that connects ideas and provides additional information.
Tyndale gloss
for
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word γάρ (gar) is a coordinating particle primarily used to introduce reasons or explanations, similar to 'for' in English. It can serve various functions, including causal, explicative, and conclusive, and is often placed after the first word in a clause. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts that clarify or justify preceding statements, aligning with its classical usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γάρ,

co-ordinating particle, contr. of γε ἄρα,

verily then, hence, in truth, indeed, yea, then, why, and when giving a reason or explanation, for, the usage in NT being in general accord with that of cl.;

explicative and epexegetic: Mt 4:18 19:12, Mk 1:16 5:42 16:4, Lk 11:30, Ro 7:1, I Co 16:5, al.

Conclusive, in questions, answers and exclamations: Mt 9:5 27:23, Lk 9:25 22:27, Jo 9:30, Ac 8:31 16:37 19:35,

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

γάρ, a conjunction, which ace. to its composition, γέ and dpa (i. 4. ἄρ), is properly a particle of affirmation and conclusion, denoting truly therefore, verily as the case stands, “ the thing is first aflirmed by the particle yé, and then is referred to what precedes by the force of the particle dpa” (Klotz ad Devar. ii. 1, p. 232; οἵ. Kiihner ii. p. 724; [Jelf § 786; W. 445 (415) sq-]). Now since by a new affirmation not infrequently the reason and nature of something previously mentioned are set forth, it comes to pass that, by the use of this particle, either the reason and cause of a foregoing statement is added, whence arises the causal or argumentative force of the particle, for (Lat. nam, enim; Germ. denn) ; or some previous declaration is explained, whence γάρ takes on an ex plicative force: YP Sor, the fact is, namely (Lat. videlicet, Germ. ndmilich). Thus the force of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γάρ (gar) — for.

γάρ

(γε, ἄρα), causal conjunction, used alone or with other Particles.

I. introducing the reason or cause of what precedes, for, τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη· κήδετο γ. Δαναῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but frequently in explanation of that which is implied in the preceding clause, πολλάων πολίων κατέλυσε κάρηνα.. τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον [Refs]

I. b in simple explanations, especially after a Pronoun or demonstrative adjective, ἀλλὰ τόδ᾽ αἰνὸν ἄχος κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἱκάνει· Ἕκτωρ γ. ποτε φήσει [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὃ δὲ δεινότατον.. ὁ Ζεὺς γ... [Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently in introducing proofs or examples, μαρτύριον δέ· Δήλου γ. καθαιρομένης.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τεκμήριον δέ· οὔτε γ. Λακεδαιμόνιοι.. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; in full, τεκμήριον δὲ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γάρ

gar

a primary particle; properly, assigning a reason (used in argument,

explanation or intensification; often with other particles):--and, as,

because (that), but, even, for, indeed, no doubt, seeing, then,

therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γάρ

Cj.

for

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γάρ gar 1x

for; it is, however, frequently used with an ellipsis of the clause to which it has reference, and its force must then be variously expressed: Mt. 15:27; 27:23, et al.; it is also sometimes epexegetic, or introductory of an intimated detail of circumstances, now, then, Mt. 1:18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γάρ for, Lat. enim, and like it, regularly placed after the first word of a sentence: to introduce the reason:

ARGUMENTATIVE, to introduce the reason for a statement, which usually precedes:—when it precedes the statement, it may be rendered since, as, Ἀτρείδη, πολλοὶ γὰρ τεθνᾶσιν Ἀχαιοί, χρὴ πόλεμον παῦσαι Il.

the statement of which γάρ gives the reason may be omitted, οὐ γάρ τί μοι Ζεὺς ἦν ὁ κηρύξας τάδε [yes], for it was not Zeus, etc., Soph.; ἔστι γὰρ οὕτω [yes], for so it is, i. e. yes certainly, Plat.; οἵδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ εἰσί: τοῦτο γάρ σε δήξεται [I say this], for it will sting thee, Eur.: —in Conditional Propositions, where the Condition is omitted, it may be transl. for otherwise, else, οὐ γὰρ ἄν με ἔπεμπον πάλιν, (sc. εἰ μὴ ἐπίστευον)…

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

for (ki (conjunction), le, from 'el (preposition), and various other words. In the New Testament also the words are various, chiefly gar, kai gar, hoti (conjunctions); anti apo eis dia (accusative), epi (dative and accusative), peri (genitive), pros (genitive and accusative), huper (genitive) (prepositions)): the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version give in many cases more literal or more accurate renderings than those in the King James Version.

In the New Testament the most important preps. from a doctrinal point of view are anti, "face to face," "over against," "instead," "on behalf of," peri, "around," "about," "concerning," huper, "over," "on behalf of." The first has been claimed as stating the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice as contrasted with huper and peri, more frequently used of it. But, although anti in the New Testament often means…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%for
for97% · 1050×other renderings3% · 33×

1,083 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 11 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
adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,038 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
αὐτόςἐγώσύ
οὐNeg
οὐδείςno one, none, noαὐτόςλαλέωI speak, say
εἰμίI am, exist
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeλυπέωI pain, grieve, καθεύδωI sleep, am slee
οὗτος
εἰςαὐτόςδιά
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existκύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐγώ
γάρfor1038×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύἐν
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becἐνοὐNeg
αὐτός
Article theοὗτοςλέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theδιάἐν

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

Concordanceγάρ · 1,038× in the New Testament
Romans Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Hebrews Acts 2 Corinthians John Mark Galatians 1 Thessalonians Revelation

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ λόγον καὶ ἀκοὴν ὑπερβάλλει μείζω καὶ σεμνότερα ὄντα ἢ ὡς θνητοῦ τινος ὀργάνοις ἐναρμοσθῆναι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.7c. AD 100

ἐγνώρισεν γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ δεσπότης διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰ παρεληλυθότα καὶ τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων δοὺς ἀπαρχὰς ἡμῖν γεύσεως, ὧν τὰ καθ̓ ἕκαστα βλέποντες ἐνεργούμενα, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν, ὀφείλομεν πλουσιώτερον καὶ ὑψηλότερον προσάγειν τῷ φόβῳ 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 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD

ἀποκαταστῆναι , ἔτι καὶ νῦν καλῶς ποιήσεις παρακαλῶν σαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῶν· προσπέπτωκεν γὰρ Παῶν ἀναπλεῖν ἐν τῶι Τῦβι μηνὶ μετὰ δυνάμεων ἱκανῶν πρὸς τὸ καταστεῖλαι τοὺς ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

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

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

ποιήσετε συνγεινόμενοι εἰς τοῦτον τόπον ἐν ἀσφαλείαι ὑπάρχοντα συντηρηθῆναι τοῦτον τῶι κυρίωι βασιλεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ πράσσοντες καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν διατηροῦντες … ε … παρὰ τῶν ἐπάνω

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
εἰσινeimi are G1510 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · plural
2,457× 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 be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

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

As substantive verb.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-3P — Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

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

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
linking verb87%verb13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,457 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίare2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
κλητοίklētos called G2822 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
10× 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
In the New Testament, this word means being called or invited by God, often for a special purpose or to salvation, as seen in Romans 1:1 and 1 Corinthians 1:1. It describes those chosen by God, like apostles and saints. This call is a divine appointment, setting them apart for a greater mission.
Tyndale gloss
called
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word κλητός (klētos) means 'called' or 'invited,' derived from καλέω (kaleō). In the New Testament, it refers specifically to those divinely called to salvation or a particular office, such as apostles or saints. It is distinguished from ἐκλεκτός (eklektos), which also means 'chosen,' indicating a nuanced understanding of divine selection.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κλητός, -ή, -όν

(< καλέω),

[in LXX for קרא, מִקְרָא, Ex 12:16, al.;]

called, invited (as to a banquet, Æsch., I Ki 1:41, III Mac 5:14); in NT, always of the Divine call;

to some office: κ. ἀπόστολος, Ro 1:1, I Co 1:1;

to salvation: Ro 8:28, I Co 1:24, Ju 1; κ. καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ κ. πιστοί, Re 17:14; in gosp. (not in pl., v.s. καλέω) disting. fr.ἐκλεκτός, Mt 20:16 (WH, txt., R, omit), 22:14; κ. Ἰησοῦ Χρ., Ro 1:6; κ. ἅγιοι, saints by calling, Ro…

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

κλητός, -ή, -dv, (καλέω), [fr. Hom. down], called, invited, (to a banquet, [1 K. i. 41,49]; 3 Mace. v.14; Aeschin. 50,1); in the N. T. a. invited (by God in the proclamation of the gospel) to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God through Christ (see καλέω, 1 b. B. [ef. W. 35 (34)]): Ro. viii. 28; 1 Co. i. 24; Jude 1; κλητοὶ k. ἐκλεκτοὶ κι πιστοί, Rey. xvii. 14; κλητοί and ἐκλεκτοί are distinguished (see ἐκλεκτός, 1 a.) in Mt. xx. 16 [T W Hom. Tr br. the el.]; xxii. 14, a distinction which does not agree with Paul’s view (see καλέω, τι. s.; [ Weiss, Bibl. Theol. ὃ 88; Bp. Lght/t. Com. on Col. iii. 12]) ; κλητοὶ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, gen. of possessor [W. 195 (183); B. § 132, 23], devoted to Christ and united to him, Ro.i. 6; κλητοὶ ἅγιοι, holy (or ‘ saints’) by the calling of God, Ro. i. 7; 1 Co. ie b. called to (the discharge of) some office: κλητὸς ἀπόστολος, i. 6. divinely selected…

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

κλητός is found in P Amh II. 79° (c. A.p. 186), but unfortunately in a much mutilated context. The way is prepared for the NT usage (see Lightfoot on Col 3135) by the mention of the “‘ouests ’ (ot κλητοί) of Adonijah in 1 Kings 14449. Slaten (Qualztative Nouns, p. 57) throws out the conjecture that κλητός was a cult term adopted by the Christians from the terminology of the Greek mysteries, but he offers no evidence. As bringing out that ot κλητοί, as distinguished from ot κεκλημένοι, denotes that the call has been obeyed, we may cite Cl. Alex. Strom. I. 89. 3 (p. 57, ed. Stahlin) πάντων τοίνυν ἀνθρώπων κεκλημένων οἱ ὑπακοῦσαι βουληθέντες ᾿ κλητοὶ ᾿ ὠνομάσθησαν.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κλητός (klētos) — called.

κλητ-ός, ή, όν,

invited, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; welcome, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

2. called out, chosen, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

3. invoked, [Refs]

4. summoned to court, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II. substantive κλητή (i.e. ἐκκλησία), ἡ, convocation, [LXX]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

κλητός

kletos

from the same as 2821; invited, i.e. appointed, or (specially), a

saint:--called.

see GREEK for 2821

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κλητός, ή, όν

Adj

called, summoned

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κλητός klētos 10x

called, invited, in NT called to privileges or function, Mt. 20:16; 22:14; Rom. 1:1, 6, 7; 8:28; 1 Cor. 1:1, 2, 24; Jude 1; Rev. 17:14

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κλητός κλητός, ή, όν καλέω called, invited, welcome, Od.

called out, chosen, Il.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%called
called100% · 12×

12 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 1 different way. 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
indirect object40%subject30%predicate30%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 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
ἸησοῦςJesus
Χριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
γάρfor
σύ
καίand, even, also,
θεόςGod, a god
ἀγαπητόςloved, beloved
πρόθεσιςthe show-bread, pred
κατά
κλητόςcalled10×
what comes after →
ἀπόστολοςan apostle, a messen
ἀφορίζωI rail off, sepaΧριστόςanointed, the Me
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
χάριςgrace, favor, kiσύν
ὀλίγος& Adv
δέbut, on the othe
ἸησοῦςJesus
Χριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist

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

Concordanceκλητός · 10× in the New Testament
Romans 1 Corinthians Jude Matthew Revelation
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 15 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.13c. AD 100

ἵνα μήποτε ἐπαναπαύομενοι ὡς κλητοὶ ἐπικαθυπνώσωμεν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν, καὶ ὁ πονηρὸς ἄρχων λαβὼν τὴν καθ̓ ἡμῶν ἐξουσίαν ἀπώσηται ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ κυρίου.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement preface.1c. AD 96

Ἡ ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ παροικοῦσα Ῥώμην τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ παροικούσῃ Κόρινθον, κλητοῖς ἡγιασμένοις ἐν θελήματι θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD
P. Princ. 3 118HermonthitesAD 201–AD 300

ἡγεμονεύσαντι … ς μὴ λεγομεν … ι τοῦτο ψεύδεται … ασιν πρω … … κλητὸς ἐν … … σει καὶ ἔτυχε ὑπογραφῆς τῆς δ … … … ονίας η

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
ὀλίγοιoligos few G3641 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
42× 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 word means something or someone is small or few in number. In the Bible, it appears in Matthew 9:37 and Luke 10:2, describing a small harvest of workers. It can also mean a short time or brief period.
Tyndale gloss
little/few
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ὀλίγος is an adjective meaning few, little, or small, often used in contrast to πολύς (many). It can refer to number, quantity, size, or duration, and appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as Matthew 9:37 and 1 Peter 5:12. The word can also function adverbially, indicating a brief time or small extent.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὀλίγος, -η, -ον

(on οὐχ ὁλ., v. infr.),

[in LXX chiefly for מְעַט;]

of number, quantity, size, few, little, small, slight: Mt 9:37 15:34, Mk 6:5 8:7, Lk 10:2 12:48 (sc. πληγάς, opp. to πολλάς), I Ti 5:23, He 12:10, Re 3:4 12:12; οὐκ ὀ. (in the best uncials written οὐκ ὀ.; v. WH, App., 143; M, Pr., 44; Thackeray, Gr., 126 f.), Ac 12:18 14:28 15:2 (c. gen. part.) Ac 17:4, 12 19:23, 24 27:20; pl., absol.,

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

ὀλίγος, τη, τον, [on its occasional aspiration (od.) see WH. App. p. 143; Tdf. Proleg. pp. 91,106; Scrivener, Introd. p. 565, and reff. 5. v. ov init.], Sept. for on, [fr. Hom. down], little, small, few, of number, multitude, quantity, or size: joined to nouns [ef. W. § 20, 1 b. note; B. § 125, 6], Mt. ix. 37; xv. 34; Mk. vi.5; viii. 7; Lk. X. 2; xii. 48 (ὀλίγας se. πληγάς [cf. B. § 134, 6; W. § 32, 5, esp. § 64,4], opp. to πολλαί, 47); Acts xix. 24; 1 Tim. vy. 23; Heb. xii.10; Jas. 111.5 RG; 1 Pet. iii. 20 RG; Rey. iii. 4; of time, short: χρόνος, Acts xiv. 28; καιρός, Rev. xii. 12; of degree or intensity, light, slight: τάραχος, Acts xii. 18; xix. 23; στάσις, xv. 2; χειμών, xxvii. 20. plur. w. a partitive gen.: γυναικῶν, Acts xvii. 4; ἀνδρῶν, ib. 12. ὀλίγοι, absol.: Mt. vii. 14; xx. 16; ΓΤ WH om. Tr br. the cl.]; xxii. 14; Lk. xiii. 23; 1 Pet. iii. 20 LT Tr WH; neut. sing.: Lk. vii.…

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

ὀλίγος. The following are exx. of the varied uses of this common adj. with reference to (1) ¢¢me, as in Ac 1428, P Petr II. 40(a)4 (iii/B.c.) (= Witkowski*, p. 41) ἀνδρίζεσθε, ὀλίγος yap χρόνος ὑμῖν ἐστιν, P Fay 1231 (c. A.D. 100) ἡμέρας ὀλίγας, (2) xumber, as in Mt 957, P Ryl 11. 130! (A.D. 31) οὐκ ὀλίγην ἐλᾶν, ‘Ca quantity of olives,” and (3) degree, as in

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὀλίγος (oligos) — little/few.

ὀλίγος [ῐ], η, ον,

later ὀλίος (which see), of Size, little, small, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὀλίγῃ ὀπί with small, low voice, [Refs]; of stature,[Refs 3rd c.BC+]; of Space, ὀ. χῶρος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of Time, χρόνος [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. sometimes in a sense between that of Size and Quantity, ὀ. δόσις [Refs 8th c.BC+]not copious, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὑποστάσιες ὀλίγαι slight sediments, [Refs]; ὀ. καὶ οὐδέν little or nothing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. of Degree, ὀ. καὶ μέγας of low and high degree, [Refs 7th c.BC+]

4. weak, ἀθυμοτέρη καὶ ὀλιγωτέρη φύσις [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. of Number, few, or of Quantity, little, not in [Refs 8th c.BC+], frequently in Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+], but rare in Trag., as ὀλίγα κακά [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὀλίγος

oligos

of uncertain affinity; puny (in extent, degree, number, duration or

value); especially neuter (adverbially) somewhat:--+ almost,

brief(-ly), few, (a) little, + long, a season, short, small, a while.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὀλίγος, η, ον

Adj & Adv.

small, brief, few, soon

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὀλίγος oligos 40x

little, small, in number, etc.; pl. few, Mt. 7:14; 9:37; 20:16; Lk. 13:23; δι’ ὀλίγων, i.e. λόγων, in a few words, briefly, 1 Pet. 5:12; little in time, short, brief, Acts 14:28; Rev. 12:12; πρὸς ὀλίγον, i.e. χρόνον, for a short time, for a little while, Jas. 4:14; little, small, light, etc., in magnitude, amount, etc., Lk. 7:47; Acts 12:18; 15:2; ἐν ὀλίγῳ, concisely, briefly, Eph.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὀλίγος ὀλί^γος, η, ον of Number or Quantity, few, little, scanty, small, opp. to πολύς, Hom., etc.; the governing body in Oligarchies was called οἱ ὀλίγοι, Thuc., etc.

c. inf. too few to do a thing, Hdt., Thuc.

of Size, little, small, opp. to μέγας, Hom.; ὀλίγον ἢ οὐδέν little or nothing, Plat.

neut. ὀλίγον as adv., little, a little, slightly, Hom., Eur.; with comp. Adjs., ὀλίγον προγενέστερος Il.; ὀλ. ἧσσον Od.; so, ὀλ. τι πρότερον Hdt.; but ὀλίγῳ is more common with the comp. in Prose, id. Hdt., etc.

special phrases:

ὀλίγου δεῖν almost, ὀλίγοῦ ἐδέησε καταλαβεῖν wanted but little of overtaking, id. Hdt.:—hence ὀλίγου alone, all but, almost, Od., attic; ὀλίγου ἐς χιλίους hard upon 1000, Thuc.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
39%few
few39% · 17×little27% · 12×small9% · 4×few things9% · 4×little while5% · 2×so little2% · 1×brief2% · 1×a little while2% · 1×other renderings5% · 2×

44 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 10 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
adverbial45%subject21%object19%predicate12%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 42 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
τάραχοςa disturbance, cχρόνοςtime, a particulζήτησιςa question, deba
ἐν
ΠαῦλοςPaulκαίand, even, also,προγράφωI write previous
πρός
γυμνασίαphysical exercisγάρforArticle the
καίand, even, also, nam
ζωήlifeἑπτάIndec
ἐργάτηςa field-laborer, wor
δέbut, on the othe
ὀλίγοςfew42×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
πιστόςtrustworthy, faiArticle theγάρfor
δέbut, on the other ha
ἐκλεκτόςchosen, elect, cεἰμίI am, exist
καίand, even, also, nam
εὐλογέωI blessἐν
Article the
σῴζωI save, healΠαῦλοςPaul
ἰχθύδιονa little fish

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

Concordanceὀλίγος · 42× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Peter Mark Revelation 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Peter Ephesians Hebrews James
Across the New Testament12 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.90c. AD 75–95

παυσαμένου δὲ τοῦ ὑετοῦ μόλις ἤρξατο ὑποβαίνειν τὸ ὕδωρ ἐφʼ ἡμέρας ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα, ὡς μηνὶ ἑβδόμῳ, ἱσταμένου δὲ ἦν ἑβδόμη, κατʼ ὀλίγον ὑπονοστεῖν ἀπολήγοντος.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.8c. AD 100

ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ὡς διδάσκαλος, ἀλλ̓ ὧς εἰς ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑποδείξω ὀλίγα, δἰ ὧν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν εὐφρανθήσεσθε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. BC
PSI 4 433Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)251 BC

ἐφυτεύθη οὖν ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας Ὀασιτικά· ἀλλʼ ὅσα ποτὲ ὕπηρχεν ἐν ταμιείωι, ἦν δʼ ὀλίγα, ἐγὼ αὐτὰ ἐφύτευσα, ἃ οὐκ ἦν ἄξια ἀποστολῆς. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα καὶ

PSI 4 436Philadelphia (Arsinoites)249 BC

μετὰ τοῦ … συνετάγη δοῦναι , τοῖς δὲ παρʼ ἐμοῦ τότε οὐδεὶς ἔδωκε· μετὰ ὀλίγας δὲ ἡμέρας τὸν διασυνεστημένον παῖδα Θράσωνα Λευκίππωι τῶι γραμματεῖ ὥστε ἐκκομίζεσθαι τὰ ὀψώνια καὶ

μετὰ φυλακῆς τόπον ἐκ τόπου μεταγειοχότων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου πρα … ησων ἀπʼ ὀλίγων … καὶ διαγεγραφὼς εἰς ταῦτα μέρος τι· τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν διασυνεσταμένος τοῖς ἀνδράσιν καὶ

Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
δὲde now G1161 Conjunction
2,787× 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 is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%now
now33% · 974×however27% · 780×then21% · 620×and12% · 360×but5% · 154×other renderings2% · 49×

2,937 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

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

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

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Thus will be the last first and the first last many for are called few now chosen.
ἐκλεκτοί.¶eklektos chosen. G1588 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
22× 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 word means select or favorite, often describing someone or something chosen by God. In Romans 16:13, it describes a chosen person, and in Luke 23:35, it refers to Jesus as the chosen one. It represents God's special selection and love.
Tyndale gloss
select
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐκλεκτός (*eklektos*) means 'chosen' or 'select.' It is derived from the verb ἐκλέγω (*eklegō*), which means to pick out. The term is used in the New Testament to refer to those chosen by God, including Christians and angels, and appears in verses like Romans 8:33 and 1 Peter 2:9. There is some variation in how lexicons describe its application, particularly regarding its use in distinguishing between the 'called' and the 'chosen.'

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐκ-λεκτός, -ή, -όν

(< ἐκλέγω),

[in LXX for בָּחַר (so prob. in Is 28:16, Pr 17:3, for MT בָּחַן), בָּרִיא, etc. ;]

choice, select (cl., rarely; Thuc., Plat., al.), hence, eminent: Ro 16:13 (cf. Ez 27:24).

As in Inscr. (MM, Exp., xii), chosen; esp. as in LXX, of Israel, elect, chosen of God (Is 65:9, Ps 105:43, al.); so in NT;

of Christ: Lk 23:35 (cf. Is 42:1); fig., λίθος, I Pe 2:4, 6 (LXX);

of holy angels: I Ti 5:21;

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

ἐκ-λεκτός, -7, -όν, (ἐκλέγω), picked out, chosen; rare in Grk. writ., as Thue. 6, 100; Plat. lege. 11 p. 938 b.; 12, 948 ἃ.» ete.; Sept. for 13n3 and "73; in the N. T. ΤΙΣ chosen by God, and a. to obtain salvation through Christ (see ἐκλέγω); hence Christians are called οἱ ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, the chosen or elect of God, [ef. W. 35 (34); 234 (219)], (AI "3, said of pious Israelites, Is. Ixv. 9, 15, 23; Ps. civ. (cv.) 43, cf. Sap. iv. 15): Lk. xviii. 7; Ro. viii. 33; Col. iii. 12; Tit.i.1; without the gen. θεοῦ, Mt. xxiv. 22,24; Mk. xiii. 20, 22; 1 Pet. 1.1; with the addition of rod Χριστοῦ, as gen. of possessor, Mt. xxiv. 31; Mk. xiii. 27 [Τ᾿ Trom.gen.]; κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ K. πιστοί, Rev. xvii. 14; γένος ἐκλεκτόν, 1 Pet. ii. 9 (fr. Is. xliii. 20, ef. Add. to Esth. viii. 40 [vi. 17, p. 64 ed. Fritz.]); ἐκλεκτοί, those who have become true partakers of the Christian salvation are…

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

ἐκλεκτός. In P Rein 43° (A.p. 102) a ‘‘choice” or “" beautiful ”’ lodging which is being let is described as ἐκλεκτὸν ἀντρῶνα (4. ἀνδρῶνα). For the distinctive Biblical use of the word, cf. farm-accounts—P Fay 1023, (c, A.D. 105) where ἐγλεκ(τοί) is applied to baskets ‘‘ ‘selected,’ 1.6. of a better quality than the rest ’’ (Edd.), and OGZS 499% (ii/A.D.) τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἐν Ρώμῃ δικαστῶν, with which Dittenberger compares 76, 56729 (ii/A.D.) ἐπίλεκτον κριτήν, the zudex selectus of the Latin inscriptions. The Avircius epitaph— late ii/A.p.—from MS. of Acta Sanctorum has ἐκλεκτῆς πόλεως ὁ πολείτης τοῦτ᾽ ἐποίησα. See also BGU II. 603% (ὦ. A.D. 167) ἐλαίας ἐγλεκτῆς.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐκλεκτός (eklektos) — select.

ἐκλεκτ-ός, ή, όν,

picked out, select, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἐ. δικασταί,=Latin iudices selecti, [Refs 2nd c.AD+] adverb -τῶς interpolated in Suid. see at {ἐπίλεκτος}.

2. choice, pure, σμύρνη [LXX+3rd c.BC+]; ἐκλεκτόν,= corn, [LXX+2nd c.AD+]

II. chosen of God, elect, [LXX+NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐκλεκτός

eklektos

from 1586; select; by implication, favorite:--chosen, elect.

see GREEK for 1586

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐκλεκτός, ή, όν

Adj

chosen, elect, choice, select

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐκλεκτός eklektos 22x

chosen out, selected; in NT chosen as a recipient of special privilege, elect, Col. 3:12; specially beloved, Lk. 23:35; possessed of prime excellence, exalted, 1 Tim. 5:21; choice, precious, 1 Pet. 2:4, 6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐκλεκτός ἐκλεκτός, ή, όν ἐκλέγω picked out, select, Thuc., Plat., etc.

οἱ ἐκλεκτοί, the elect, NTest.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

cho'-z'-n.

See CHOOSE.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Chosen

Spoken of warriors (Ex. 15:4; Judg. 20:16), of the Hebrew nation (Ps. 105:43; Deut. 7:7), of Jerusalem as the seat of the temple (1 Kings 11:13). Christ is the “chosen” of God (Isa. 42:1); and the apostles are “chosen” for their work (Acts 10:41). It is said with regard to those who do not profit by their opportunities that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 20:16). (See ELECTION.)

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
63%elect
elect63% · 15×chosen38% · 9×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial32%object32%predicate18%subject9%indirect object9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 22 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,ἐπισυνάγωI collect, gatheδιά
δέbut, on the other ha
ὀλίγος& Adv
κατά
ἐγκαλέωI bring a charge
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
οὖνtherefore, then
πίστιςfaith, belief, trust
κατά
ἐκλεκτόςchosen.22×
what comes after →
αὐτός
ἐκArticle the
θεόςGod, a god
θεόςGod, a godκαίand, even, also,
κολοβόωI cut short, shorten
Article the
ὅς
ἐκλέγωI choose, elect
ἐν
κύριοςlord, Lord, mast

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

Concordanceἐκλεκτός · 22× in the New Testament
1 Peter Matthew Mark 2 John Luke Romans 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Colossians Revelation Titus
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 56 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
Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Cherubim 7c. AD 40

ὅταν δὲ ἤδη ὁ μὲν Ἀβρὰμ ἀντὶ φυσιολόγου γένηται σοφὸς καὶ φιλόθεος μετονομασθεὶς Ἀβραάμ, ὃς ἑρμηνεύεται πατὴρ ἐκλεκτὸς ἠχοῦς — ἠχεῖ μὲν γὰρ ὁ γεγωνὸς λόγος, πατὴρ δὲ τούτου ὁ νοῦς ἐπειλημμένος τοῦ σπουδαίου —, Σάρα δὲ ἀντὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς μου γένηται…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 7.59c. AD 75–95

ἐκ δὲ τῆς Δανίτιδος φυλῆς ἐκλεκτοὶ δισμύριοι ἑπτακισχίλιοι ἑξακόσιοι.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.14c. AD 100

ἔτι δὲ κἀκεῖνο, ἀδελφοί μου, νοεῖτε: ὅταν βλέπετε μετὰ τηλικαῦτα σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα γεγονότα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ οὕτως ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι αὐτούς: προσέχωμεν, μήποτε, ὡς γέγραπται, πολλοὶ κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοὶ εὑρεθῶμεν.

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 7th c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD

ὀκτακοσίαις καὶ ἐξαιρέτων ἐλαίας ἐκλεκτῆς μελαίνης ἀρταβῶν δύο μέτρωι δρόμωι ἰδίωι τῶι τοῦ Μάρκου Ἀντωνίου Ἄπρου καὶ ἐλαίου ἐλαείνου

P.Rein. 1 43Ibion Tatkelmeos (Hermopolites)AD 102

Παρμοῦθι μηνὸς τοῦ εἰσιόντος ἕκτου ἔτους Τραιανοῦ Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου ὃ ἔχω κατάγαιον καὶ ἐκλεκτὸν ἀνδρῶνα ἐν κώμῃ Ἰβιώνι Ταυκελμεως, ἐνοικίου τοῦ συμπεφωνημένου τῶν προκειμένων μηνῶν ἀργυρίου δραχμῶν τεσσεράκοντα,

P.Oxy. 3 639 descr.OxyrhynchosAD 103

ἕτερα ἀκρόδρυα, φόρου τοῦ ἑσταμένου πρὸς ἀλλήλους κατʼ ἔτος ἀργυρίου δραχμῶν ἑκατὸν ἑξήκοντα καὶ ἐκλεκτῆς ἐλαίας μελαίνης ἀρταβῶν τριῶν ἀκίνδυνα παντὸς κινδύνου τῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ παραδείσου κατʼ ἔτος δημοσίων

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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