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Matthew 23:29 — Word Study

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N1904Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

BSAWoeouai [alas, a cry of sorrow] to you,su scribesgrammateus [scholars of the law] andkai PhariseesPharisaios [strict religious sect] hypocrites!hupokritēs [insincere, pretending to be something you are not] Forhoti you buildoikodomeō [construct, erect] theho tombstaphos [graves, monuments] of theho prophetsprophētēs [messengers of God, spokesmen] andkai adornkosmeō [adorn, garnish] theho monumentsmnēmeion [memorials, sepulchres] of theho righteousdikaios [just, upright, innocent]

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 23
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 29 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 (dikaios) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 23:29quick helps
In a sentenceJesus pronounces a woe on the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy in honoring the prophets while being complicit in their deaths.
Who is speakingJesus is addressing the scribes and Pharisees directly, calling them hypocrites.
Where we areThis verse is part of a series of denunciations against the religious leaders, highlighting their outward piety contrasted with their inner corruption.
The hard wordὑποκριτής
Take awayOutward actions do not reflect true inner righteousness.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause verbοἰκοδομέω 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 23:29

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 — Woes Against the Religious Leadersgenerated

28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.
30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Matthew 23:29 is part of a larger discourse where Jesus criticizes the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. He points out that while they honor the prophets by building tombs and monuments, their actions reveal a deeper truth: they are the descendants of those who killed these prophets. This passage serves as a stark reminder of the difference between outward appearances and true righteousness, as seen in the verses surrounding it, particularly in Matthew 23:28.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Luke 11:47–48Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them.
2Acts 2:29Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word ὑποκριτής, hupokritēsgenerated

The Greek word ὑποκριταί is a plural noun meaning 'hypocrites.' It is derived from the verb ὑποκρίνομαι, which means 'to answer' or 'to interpret.' In biblical contexts, it refers to those who pretend to be something they are not, particularly in moral or religious matters.

This term emphasizes insincerity and the act of performing a role rather than embodying true character. In the New Testament, it often describes the religious leaders of Jesus' time, who were criticized for their outward displays of piety that masked their inner corruption.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!, which is consistent with the KJV and ASV, emphasizing the condemnation of the religious leaders.

Where translations differ is in the rendering of specific words. The term οἰκοδομεῖτε is translated as you build in the BSB, while the KJV uses build. The word μνημεῖα is translated as monuments in the BSB, while other versions like the ASV and YLT use sepulchres.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the sentence is οἰκοδομεῖτε, you build, which governs two noun phrases: τάφους, tombs, and μνημεῖα, monuments. The structure is straightforward, with a clear subject and actions that highlight the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.

The sentence includes multiple clauses that detail their actions and the consequences of their hypocrisy, emphasizing the contrast between their outward actions and their true nature.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

μνημεῖα appears in the Septuagint as קֶ֫בֶר, which means grave or sepulchre, indicating a place of remembrance or burial. This connection underscores the significance of the monuments built for the prophets.

The term δικαίων corresponds to צַדִּיק in Hebrew, meaning righteous, which highlights the moral character of those honored by the scribes and Pharisees.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 23:29 shows Jesus calling out the scribes and Pharisees for being hypocrites. They build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, yet they are the descendants of those who killed these prophets. This highlights the difference between their outward actions and their true intentions.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Jesus mean by 'woe'?

The term 'woe' expresses a strong warning or lament, indicating impending judgment or sorrow for the actions of the scribes and Pharisees.

Why does Jesus call the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites?

He calls them hypocrites because they honor the prophets outwardly while being complicit in their deaths, showing a disconnect between their actions and true character.

What is the significance of building tombs for the prophets?

Building tombs for the prophets signifies an outward show of respect, but it reveals their insincerity as they fail to acknowledge their ancestors' wrongdoing.

How does this verse relate to the surrounding verses?

This verse is part of a series of woes where Jesus denounces the religious leaders for their hypocrisy, contrasting their outward piety with their inner corruption.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways do I show outward piety without true sincerity in my faith?
  2. How can I ensure that my actions reflect my true beliefs and values?
  3. What can I learn from the example of the scribes and Pharisees about the dangers of hypocrisy?
  4. How can I honor the legacy of those who have spoken God's truth without falling into the same traps of insincerity?

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

The early church Fathers comment on this verse to highlight the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and the implications of their actions.

Origen of AlexandriaCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 185–253
Without just cause He seems to utter denunciations against those who build the sepulchres of the Prophets; for so far what they did was praiseworthy;
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →
JeromeCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 347–420
By a most subtle syllogism He proves them to be the sons of murderers, while to gain good character and reputation with the people, they build the sepulchres of the Prophets whom their fathers put to death.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →
JeromeVerse 29 onwards c. 347–420
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers,
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 23:29 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... This is the seventh and last time, in which these words are delivered in this exact form by our Lord, in this chapter; and expresses the certainty,

Read John Gill on Matthew 23 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, Woe unto you ... hypocrites!

Read Robert Jamieson on Matthew 23 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, Ver. 29. Ye build the tombs, &c.] And lost their cost, because they received not their doctrine. So do the Papists to this day in their pretended honouring the ancient saints and martyrs, whose religion and practices they persecute in the true professors. How much better Rabus Crispen, the French chronicler, Knox, Foxe, and others, who have raised the martyrs, as so many Phoenixes, out of their ashes again, by recording their holy lives and Christian deaths! And how shall Cope and Kemp stink for ever in the nostrils of all good people! The former for…

Read John Trapp on Matthew 23 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(29) Ye build the tombs . . .—Four conspicuous monuments of this kind are seen to the present day at the base of the Mount of Olives, in the so-called Valley of Jehoshaphat, the architecture of which, with its mixture of debased Doric and Egyptian, leads archæologists to assign them to the period of the Herodian dynasty. These may, therefore, well have been the very sepulchres of which our Lord spoke, and to which, it may be, He pointed. They bear at present the names of Zechariah, Absalom, Jehoshaphat, and St. James; but there is no evidence that these were given to them when they were built, and the narratives of earlier travellers vary in reporting them. It may be noticed, however, that…

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 23 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 29. Ye build the tombs of the prophets] It appears that, through respect to their memory, they often repaired, and sometimes beautified, the tombs of the prophets. M. De la Valle, in his Journey to the Holy Land, says, that when he visited the cave of Machpelah, he saw some Jews honouring a sepulchre, for which they have a great veneration, with lighting at it wax candles and burning perfumes. See Harmer, vol. iii. p. 416. And in ditto, p. 424, we are informed that building tombs over those reputed saints, or beautifying those already built, is a frequent custom among the Mohammedans.

Read AdamClarke on Matthew 23 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

29. build the tombs of the prophets, &c.] Luke 11:47-48. A portion of the Temple-offerings was devoted to this purpose. See Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. ad loc.

Read Cambridge on Matthew 23 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye build the tombs of the prophets - That is, you build sepulchres or tombs ever the prophets that have been slain. This they did professedly from veneration and respect for their character.

Read Albert Barnes on Matthew 23 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

29. Build the tombs of the prophets — The EIGHTH WOE is pronounced upon their ancestral hypocrisy.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Matthew 23 →

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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

NETBNew English Translation2006

“Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous,

RVARevised Version, American1894

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous,

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Wo be vnto you, Scribes and Pharises, hypocrites: for ye build the tombes of the Prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the just,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the graves of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just,

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

What a disaster is coming on you religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs as memorials to the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the good,

BBEBible in Basic English1949

A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you put up buildings for housing the dead bodies of the prophets, and make fair the last resting-places of good men, and say,

Word by word, the decisions they made

οἰκοδομεῖτεoikodomeō you build G3618 2 different renderings
buildASV DBY DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA YLT
you buildBSB FBV LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
τάφουςtaphos tombs G5028 3 different renderings
tombsASV DBY FBV KJV NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
monumentsBSB DRA MSB
gravesLSV NETB
κοσμεῖτεkosmeō adorn G2885 2 different renderings
garnishASV GNV KJV NWB RVA
adornDBY DRA LSV YLT
μνημεῖαmnēmeion monuments G3419 5 different renderings
sepulchresASV DBY DRA GNV KJV RVA YLT
tombsNWB ULB WEB
gravesLSV NETB
monumentsBSB MSB
memorialsFBV
δικαίωνdikaios righteous G1342 2 different renderings
righteousASV BSB GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
justDBY DRA

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.

clauseclausesubjectΟὐαὶWoeindirect objectὑμῖνto youclausenoun phrasenoun phraseγραμματεῖςscribesκαὶandΦαρισαῖοιPhariseesὑποκριταίhypocritesclauseὅτιForclauseclauseclauseverbοἰκοδομεῖτεyou buildnoun phrase · objectτοὺςthenoun phraseτάφουςtombsnoun phraseτῶνof theπροφητῶνprophetsκαὶandclauseverbκοσμεῖτεadornnoun phrase · objectτὰthenoun phraseμνημεῖαmonumentsnoun phraseτῶνof theδικαίωνrighteousκαὶandclauseverbλέγετεyou sayclauseΕἰIfclauselinking verbἤμεθαwe had livedprepositional phrase · predicateἐνinnoun phraseταῖςthenoun phraseἡμέραιςdaysnoun phraseτῶνof thenoun phraseπατέρωνfathersἡμῶνof usclauseἂν-clauseadverbialοὐκnotlinking verbἤμεθαwe would have beennoun phrase · predicateαὐτῶνwith themκοινωνοὶpartakersprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseτῷthenoun phraseαἵματιbloodnoun phraseτῶνof theπροφητῶνprophets

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

Væ vobis scribæ et pharisæi hypocritæ, qui ædificatis sepulchra prophetarum, et ornatis monumenta justorum,

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

ܘܝ ܠܟܘܢ ܣܦܪܐ ܘܦܪܝܫܐ ܢܣܒܝ ܒܐܦܐ ܕܒܢܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܩܒܪܐ ܕܢܒܝܐ ܘܡܨܒܬܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܒܝܬ ܩܒܘܪܐ ܕܙܕܝܩܐ

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

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

Matthew 23:29οὐαίWoeWoeοὐαίσύto you,to you,σύγραμματεύςscribesscribesγραμματεύςκαίandandκαίΦαρισαῖοςPhariseesPhariseesΦαρισαῖοςὑποκριτήςhypocrites!hypocrites!ὑποκριτήςὅτιForForὅτιοἰκοδομέωyou buildyou buildοἰκοδομέωthetheτάφοςtombstombsτάφοςof theof theπροφήτηςprophetsprophetsπροφήτηςκαίandandκαίκοσμέωadornadornκοσμέωthetheμνημεῖονmonumentsmonumentsμνημεῖονof theof theδίκαιοςrighteousrighteousδίκαιοςγράμμαn.n. a letn.n. a letter, γράμμαὑποκρίνομαιv. I act tv. I act the paὑποκρίνομαιθάπτωv. I buryv. I buryθάπτωκόσμοςn.m. the wn.m. the world,κόσμοςμνήμηn.f. memorn.f. memory, reμνήμηδίκηn.f. justin.f. justice, jδίκηὅστιςRel.pr. whRel.pr. whosoevὅστιςπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίὑποκριτήςn.m. a hypn.m. a hypocritὑποκριτήςΦαρισαῖοςn.m. a Phan.m. a PhariseeΦαρισαῖοςΧοραζίνProp.n. ChProp.n. ChoraziΧοραζίνἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνΣαδδουκαῖοςn.m. a Sadn.m. a SadduceeΣαδδουκαῖοςγραμματεύςn.m. a scrn.m. a scribe, γραμματεύςοἶδαv. I know,v. I know, remeοἶδαγινώσκωv. I come v. I come to knγινώσκωπύργοςn.m. a town.m. a tower, fπύργος
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 23:29

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.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
Οὐαὶouai Woe G3759 Interj
46× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'woe' or 'alas', expressing grief or sorrow, used by Jesus in Matthew 11:21 and Revelation 18:10. It's a strong warning of impending judgment. In the Bible, it's often used to lament or denounce someone's actions.
Amplified meaning
alas, a cry of sorrow
Tyndale gloss
woe!
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

οὐαί is an interjection expressing grief or denunciation, often translated as 'woe' or 'alas.' It appears frequently in the New Testament, particularly in contexts of warning or lamentation, such as in Matthew 11:21 and Revelation 9:12. The term can also function as a noun, referring to calamity, as seen in 1 Corinthians 9:16.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† οὐαί,

interj. of grief or denunciation,

[in LXX for הוֹי, אוֹי etc.;]

alas! woe! most freq. c. dat. pers.. Mt 11:21 23:14, Mk 13:17 14:21, Lk 6:24-26, Ju 11, al.; c. vocat. (nom.), Re 18:10, 16, 19 (cf. Is 1:24, al.); c. acc., Re 12:12, seq. ἐκ, 8:13; c. dat. seq. ἀπό (v. M, Pr., 246), Mt 18:7. As subst., I Co 9:16 (cf. Je 6:4); ἡ οὐ., Re…

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

οὐαί (ouai) — woe!.

οὐαί,

exclamation of pain and anger, ah! woe! with nominative, [LXX], woe is me! woe to thee![LXX+2nd c.AD+]

II. οὐαί· φυλαί [Refs 5th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὐαί

ouai

a primary exclamation of grief; "woe":--alas, woe.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὐαί

Ij. & n.indcl.

woe!, alas!

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὐαί ouai 46x

Wo! Alas! Mt. 11:21; 18:7; 23:13, 14, 15, 16; ἡ οὐαί, subst., a woe, calamity, Rev. 9:12; 11:14

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὐαί exclam., Lat. vae! ah! οὐαί σοι woe to thee! NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Interj — Interj
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Is sometimes used in our Bibles where a softer expression would be at least equally proper: "Woe to such a one!" is in our language a threat or imprecation of some calamity, natural or judicial, to befall a person; but this is not always the meaning of the word in Scripture. We find the expression, "Woe is me!" that is, Alas for my sufferings! And, "Woe to the women with child, and those who give suck!" that is, Alas for their redoubled sufferings in times of distress! If in the denunciatory language of Christ, we should read, "Alas for thee, Chorazin! Alas for thee, Bethsaida!" we should do not injustice to the general sentiments of the passage.

Yet in many cases the word woe is used in a fuller and more awful sense, expressing an inspired denunciation and foreshadowing of God’s wrath upon sinners; as when we read, "Woe to those who build houses by unrighteousness, and cities by blood;"…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
89%woe
woe89% · 42×woes2% · 1×woe to2% · 1×woe to you2% · 1×woe!2% · 1×but woe2% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject83%adverbial13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 46 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
οὐαίindcl
λέγωI say, speakμέγαςοὐαίindcl
πλήνhowever, nevertheles
σκάνδαλονa snare, stumbliπορεύομαιI travel, journe
Article the
ὁράωI see, look upon
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςπενθέωI mourn, lament
ΧοραζίνProp
σύ
οὐαίWoe46×
what comes after →
σύ
γραμματεύςa scribe, town-cArticle theΧοραζίνProp
Article the
πόλιςa cityἄνθρωποςa man, one of thκόσμοςthe world, unive
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theσύδιά
οὐαίindcl
Article theοὐαίindcl
ὅτανwhen, whensoever
καλῶςwell, nobly, rig

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

Concordanceοὐαί · 46× in the New Testament
Luke Revelation Matthew Mark 1 Corinthians Jude
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 49 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 Epistle of Barnabas Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.11c. AD 100

λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή: Οὐαὶ οἱ συνετοὶ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐνώπιαν ἑαυτῶν ἐπιστήμονες.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 46.8c. AD 96

εἶπεν γάρ: Οὐαὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκείνῳ: καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ, εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη, ἦ ἕνα τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν μου σκανδαλίσαι κρεῖττον ἢν αὐτῷ περιτεθῆναι μύλον καὶ καταπον τισθῆναι εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ἢ ἕνα τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν μου διαστρέψαι.

The DidacheThe Didache 1.5c. AD 100

οὐαὶ τῷ λαμβάνονται: εἰ μὲν γὰρ χρείαν ἔχων λαμβάνει τις, ἀθῷος ἔσται: ὁ δὲ μὴ χρείαν ἔχων δώσει δίκην, ἱνατί ἔλαβε καὶ εἰς τί: ἐν συνοχῇ δὲ γενόμενος ἐξετασθήσεται περὶ ὧν ἔπραξε, καὶ οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται ἐκεῖθεν, μέχρις οὗ ἀποδῷ τὸν ἔσχατον κοδράντην.

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
O.Claud. 1 126Mons ClaudianusAD 107

εἶπε ἐκεῖνος εἰληφέναι καὶ πάλι Καστορᾶτι αὐτοὺς παραδεδωκέναι. ἰδὼν Ἀρτειμᾶς ἃ ἔπεμψας ἐγόγγυσε λέγων οὐαί μοι τῷ ἐλειδίῳ χορηγεῖν οὐκ ἔχω. ἀσπάζου Σαβεῖνον τὸν ἀδελφόν μου καὶ πάντας. ἐρρῶσθαι

O.Trim. 2 495Trimithis (Oasis Magna)AD 350–AD 370

Πετοσῖρις Οὐαι κριθῆς ἀρτάβας β εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ κυρίου μου Σερήνου.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
ὑμῖν,su to you, G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · dative · plural
2,892× 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 Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2DP — Personal pronoun · second person · dative · plural
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2DP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Dative Number: Plural

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύto you,2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
γραμματεῖςgrammateus scribes G1122 Noun · vocative · plural · masculine
63× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A scribe is a scholar or teacher of the law, often referring to Jewish leaders who studied and taught the scriptures, as seen in Acts 19:35 and Luke 5:17. They were experts in biblical knowledge.
Amplified meaning
scholars of the law
Tyndale gloss
scribe
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γραμματεύς is derived from γράμμα and refers to a scribe or secretary, often a public official or a learned person skilled in the law. Its usage spans various contexts, including military and religious roles, particularly in the New Testament where it denotes teachers of the law (e.g., Matthew 2:4). The lexicons show some variation in emphasizing its role as a scholar or a public clerk.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γραμματεύς, -έως (acc. pl., -εῖς, v. Bl., §8, 2), ὁ

(< γράμμα),

[in LXX always for שׁטר in Hex., elsewhere chiefly for ספר;]

a secretary; γ. τ. πόλεως, a state-clerk: Ac 19:35.

In π., of a military officer (Deiss., BS, 110f.). So Jg 5:14, IV Ki 25:19 (ספר), al.

a scribe, a biblical scholar, teacher of the law (so first in I Es 8:3, II Es 7:6; in Lk 5:17, νομοδιδάσκαλος; in Lk 10:25, νομικός): Mt 7:29, Mk 1:22, and freq. in Gosp. γ. καὶ ἀρχιερεῖς,

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

γραμματεύς, -έως, (acc. plur. -eis, W. 8.9, 2; [Β. 14 (13)]), 6, (γράμμα), Sept. for 35 and "δῷ; 1. in prof. auth. and here and there in the O. T. [e. g. 2S. vill. 17; xx. 25; 2 K. xix. 2; xxv. 19; Ps. xliv. (xlv.) 2], a clerk, scribe, esp. a public scribe, secretary, recorder, whose office and influence differed in different states: Acts xix. 35, (Sir. x. 5); [ef. Lghtfl. in The Contemp. Rey. for 1878, p. 294; Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus, App. Inserr. fr. the Great Theatre, p. 49 n.]. 2. in the Bible, a man learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher: Mt. xxiii. 34; 1 Co. i. 20, (called also vopixds in Lk. x. 25, and νομοδιδάσκαλος in Lk. v.17; [Meyer (on Mt. xxii. 35), while denying any essential diff. betw. γραμματεύς and νομικύς (cf. Lk. xi. 52, 53 — yet see crit. txts.), regards the latter name as the more specific (a jurisconsult) and Classic…

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

γραμματεύς may illustrate emphasis as the cause of the πηλίκοις γράμμασιν of Gal 64. It is possible, however, that the words may only call attention to the big sprawling letters of the autograph in contrast to the neat scribe’s hand of the amanuensis. The contrast may be met in the case of many signatures to legal and other documents, e.g. Rainer Pap. 215 in Fuhrer durch die Ausstellung Tafel 9: see Milligan Documents, p- 24, for a discussion of the bearing of this on Gal /.c., Deissmann S¢# Pail, p. 51. But it is highly precarious to to draw the inference to which Deissmann inclines: artisans are not the only people who may write a big and clumsy hand ! When γράμμα becomes collective, its primary meaning is ‘“a letter,’’ just as Lat. /ztfera produced “itterae. Thus P Grenf I. 30° (B.c. 103)(= Witkowski 5 p. 107) διὰ ypappaτῶν ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι, and P Amh II. 143} (iv/a.p.) καὶ τούτω…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γραμματεύς (grammateus) — scribe.

γραμμᾰτ-εύς, έως, ὁ,

secretary, registrar, title of officials at Athens and elsewhere, [NT+5th c.BC+]; γ. τοῦ θεοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also of subordinate officials, clerk, sometimes a term of contempt, ὄλεθρος γ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἡ γ., in joke, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. metaphorically, recorder, of memory, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. scholar, γ. σαφής [Refs 4th c.BC+]

4. one who traces or marks out, of Egyptian embalmers, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

γραμματεύς

grammateus

from 1121. a writer, i.e. (professionally) scribe or

secretary:--scribe, town-clerk.

see GREEK for 1121

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γραμματεύς, έως, ὁ

n.m.

a scribe, town-clerk, man of learning

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γραμματεύς grammateus 63x

a scribe; a clerk, town-clerk, registrar, recorder, Acts 19:35; one skilled in the Jewish law, a teacher or interpreter of the law, Mt. 2:4; 5:20, et al. freq.; genr. a religious teacher, Mt. 13:52; by synec. any one distinguished for learning or wisdom, 1 Cor. 1:20

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γραμματεύς γράμμα a secretary, clerk, Lat. scriba, Thuc., etc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-VPM — Noun · vocative · plural · masculine
vocative — the one being addressed.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-VPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Vocative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

skribz: The existence of law leads necessarily to a profession whose business is the study and knowledge of the law; at any rate, if the law is extensive and complicated. At the time of Ezra and probably for some time after, this was chiefly the business of the priests. Ezra was both priest and scholar (copher). It was chiefly in the interest of the priestly cult that the most important part of the Pentateuch was written. The priests were therefore also in the first instance the scholars and the guardians of the Law; but in the course of time this was changed. The more highly esteemed the Law became in the eyes of the people, the more its study and interpretation became a lifework by itself, and thus there developed a class of scholars who, though not priests, devoted themselves assiduously to the Law. These became known as the scribes, that is, the professional students of the Law.…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Scribes

Anciently held various important offices in the public affairs of the nation. The Hebrew word so rendered (sopher) is first used to designate the holder of some military office (Judg. 5:14; A.V., “pen of the writer;” R.V., “the marshal’s staff;” marg., “the staff of the scribe”). The scribes acted as secretaries of state, whose business it was to prepare and issue decrees in the name of the king (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 1 Chr. 18:16; 24:6; 1 Kings 4:3; 2 Kings 12:9-11; 18:18-37, etc.). They discharged various other important public duties as men of high authority and influence in the affairs of state.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(Heb.sopherim), I. Name . -- (1) Three meanings are connected with the verb saphar , the root of sopherim -- (a) to write, (b) to set in order, (c) to count. The explanation of the word has been referred to each of these. The sopherim were so called because they wrote out the law, or because they classified and arranged its precepts, or because they counted with scrupulous minuteness every elapse and letter It contained. (2) The name of Kirjath-sepher, (Joshua 15:15; Judges 1:12) may possibly connect itself with some early use of the title, and appears to point to military functions of some kind. (Judges 5:14) The men are mentioned as filling the office of scribe under David and Solomon. (

- Antiquity of

Jud 5:14

- Wore an inkhorn at their girdles

Eze 9:2,3

- FAMILIES CELEBRATED FOR FURNISHING

. Kenites

1Ch 2:55

. Zebulun

Jud 5:14

. Levi

1Ch 24:6; 2Ch 34:13

- Generally men of great wisdom

1Ch 27:32

- Often learned in the law

Ezr 7:6

- Were ready writers

Ps 45:1

- ACTED AS

. Secretaries to kings

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
93%scribes
scribes93% · 62×scribe4% · 3×other renderings3% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject67%adverbial16%object5%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 63 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,τὶςὡςas, like as, how
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀρχιερεύςhigh priest, chiΦαρισαῖοςa Phariseeσοφόςwise
σύ
οὐαίindclδέbut, on the othe
εἷςone
προσέρχομαιI come near, con
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
οὗτος
γραμματεύςscribes63×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theΦαρισαῖοςa PhariseeἀποκτείνωI put to death,
Article the
θέλωI will, wish, deλαόςa people, the crθαυμάσιοςwonderful
λέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, becαὐτόςἐν
αὐτός
πρός
ὅτιthat, since, because
ἨλίαςElijahArticle the

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

Concordanceγραμματεύς · 63× in the New Testament
Matthew Mark Luke Acts 1 Corinthians John
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 37 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
Philo of AlexandriaOn Husbandry 148c. AD 40

ἡ δὲ πρόσταξις διὰ τῶν τῆς στρατιᾶς γραμματέων γίνεται, ὅταν ὁ πόλεμος ἐγγὺς καὶ ἐπὶ θύραις ὢν ἤδη τυγχάνῃ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.120c. AD 75–95

ἀπαγγέλλεται δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπὸ τῶν γραμματέων, ὅτι τὸ πλῆθος εἰς τὸν θεὸν ἐξαμαρτάνει θῦσαν καὶ πρὶν ἢ τὸ αἷμα καλῶς ἀποπλῦναι καὶ τὰς σάρκας ποιῆσαι καθαρὰς ἐσθίον.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
BGU 3 992Pathyris187 BC

προσόδων διαγραφὴν τὴν γραφεῖσαν ἔτους ιε Φαῶφι κθ, ὑφʼ ἣν ὑπογράφει Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς τῆς Θηβαίδος Προῖτος Σωσικράτους τιμὴν γῆς ἠπείρου, ἧς διασαφεῖ Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς ἀνειλῆφθαι

C.Erbstreit14Diospolis Magna (Theben)187 BC

Θηβαίδα διαγραφὴν τὴν γραφεῖσαν ἔτους ιε, Φαῶφι κθ, ὑφʼ ἣν ὑπογράφει Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς τῆς Θηβαίδος, Προῖτος Σωσικράτους τιμὴν γῆς ἠπείρου, ἧς διασαφεῖ Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς ἀνειλῆφθαι

κριθῆς β ἐμβαδικὸν δραχμὰς λ … … δ … · διʼ Ἀλύκιος ὡς ἐπηγγείλατο γραμματεὺς κριθῆς ζ, αἳ πρὸς Ἀνδρείαν κατὰ συνγραφὴν πυροῦ ξ καὶ ἁμάξης μισθὸς κριθῆς ι

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisaios Pharisees G5330 Noun · vocative · plural · masculine
98× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A Pharisee was a member of a Jewish sect that followed strict religious rules, often mentioned in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 23:26 and Philippians 3:5.
Amplified meaning
strict religious sect
Tyndale gloss
Pharisee
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

Φαρισαῖος refers to a Pharisee, a member of a Jewish sect known for its strict adherence to the law and traditions, often seen as self-righteous. The term is derived from a root meaning 'to separate,' indicating their distinct religious practices. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, highlighting their opposition to Jesus and their emphasis on external piety over genuine faith, notably in Matthew 23:26 and Philippians 3:5.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

Φαρισαῖος, -ου, ὁ (Aram. פְּרִישָׁא; v. Dalman, Gr., 157n, Words, 2n),

a Pharisee: Mt 23:26, Phl 3:5; usually in pl., Mt 9:11, Mk 2:18, al.; Φ. κ. γραμματεῖς, Mt 5:20, Mk 2:16, Lk 5:21, al.; Φ. κ. Σαδδυκαῖοι, Mt 16:1, Ac 23:6, 7 al.; ἀρχιερεῖς, Mt 21:45, Jo 7:32, al. (v. DB, iii, 826b).

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

Φαρισαῖος, -ov, 6, a Pharisee, a member of the sect or party of the Pharisees (Syr. Laszs, rabbinic 7 319, fr. #15 ‘to separate’, because deviating in their life from the general usage; Suidas s.v. quotes Cedrenus as follows, Φαρισαῖοι, of ἑρμηνευόμενοι ἀφωρισμένοι" παρὰ τὸ μερί(ew κ΄ ἀφορίζειν ἑαυτοὺς τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων εἴς τε τὸ καθαρώτατον τοῦ βίου καὶ ἀκριβέστατον, καὶ εἰς τὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐντάλματα). The first and feeble beginnings of this sect seem to be traceable to the age immediately succeeding the return from exile. In addition to the books of the O. T. the Pharisees recognized in oral traditior (see παράδοσις, 2) a standard of belief and life (Joseph. antt. 13,10, 6; Mt.xv.1; Mk. vii. 3). They sought for distinction and praise by the observance of external rites and by the outward forms of piety, such as ablutions, fastings, prayers, and alms-giving; and, comparatively negligent…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaios) — Pharisee.

a Pharisee, Separatist (from pharash, to distinguish) , one of a sect who separated themselves from other Jews as affecting superior holiness. (from Middle LSJ)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Φαρισαῖος

Pharisaios

of Hebrew origin (compare 6567); a separatist, i.e. exclusively

religious; a Pharisean, i.e. Jewish sectary:--Pharisee.

see HEBREW for 06567

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Φαρισαῖος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a Pharisee

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Φαρισαῖος Pharisaios 98x

a Pharisee, a follower of the sect of the Pharisees, a numerous and powerful sect of the Jews, distinguished for their ceremonial observances, and apparent sanctity of life, and for being rigid interpreters of the Mosaic law; but who frequently violated its spirit by their traditional interpretations and precepts, to which they ascribed nearly an equal authority with the OT Scriptures, Mt. 5:20; 12:2; 23:14

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

Φαρισαῖος Φαρισαῖος, ου, a Pharisee, Separatist (from pharash, to distinguish), one of a sect who separated themselves from other Jews as affecting superior holiness.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-VPM — Noun · vocative · plural · masculine
vocative — the one being addressed.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-VPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Vocative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

far'-i-sez (perushim; Pharisaioi):

1. Name and General Character

2. Authorities--Josephus--New Testament--Talmud

I. HISTORY OF THE SECT

1. Associated at First with Hasmoneans, but Later Abandon Them

2. Change of Name

3. Later Fortunes of the Sect

4. In New Testament Times

5. In Post-apostolic Times

II. DOCTRINES OF THE PHARISEES

1. Josephus's Statements Colored by Greek Ideas

2. Conditional Reincarnation

3. New Testament Presentation of Pharisaic Doctrines--Angels and Spirits--Resurrection

4. Traditions Added to the Law

5. Traditional Interpretations of the Law by Pharisees (Sabbath, etc.)

6. Close Students of the Text of Scripture

(1) Messianic Hopes

(2) Almsgiving

III. ORGANIZATION OF THE PHARISAIC PARTY

The Chabherim--Pharisaic Brotherhoods

IV. CHARACTER OF THE PHARISEES

1. Pharisees and People of the Land

2. Arrogance toward Other Jews

3. Regulations for the Chabher

4. The New Testament Account

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Pharisees

Separatists (Heb. persahin, from parash, “to separate”). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the “pious”), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (B.C. 145). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord they were the popular party (John 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters appertaining to the law of Moses (Matt. 9:14; 23:15; Luke 11:39; 18:12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A numerous and dominant sect of the Jews, agreeing on some main points of doctrine and practice, but divided into different parties or schools on minor points; as for instance, the schools or followers of Hillel and Shammai, who were celebrated rabbins or teachers. The name is commonly derived from the Hebrew purash, to separate, as though they were distinguished form the rest of the nation by their superior wisdom and sanctity. They first appeared as a sect after the return of the Jews from captivity. In respect to their tenets, although they esteemed the written books of the old Testament as the sources of the Jewish religion, yet they also attributed great and equal authority to traditional precepts relating principally to external rites: as ablutions, fasting, long prayers, the distribution of alms, the avoiding of all intercourse with Gentiles and publicans, etc. See

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
87%pharisees
pharisees87% · 88×pharisee12% · 12×other renderings1% · 1×

101 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
subject65%adverbial16%predicate6%object3%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 98 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,ἐκαὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
γραμματεύςa scribe, town-cνομικόςabout law, one lἀρχιερεύςhigh priest, chi
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
αὐτός
προσέρχομαιI come near, conἐρωτάωI ask, question,
ἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem
ἀπό
ΦαρισαῖοςPharisees98×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theΣαδδουκαῖοςa SadduceeλέγωI say, speak
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgArticle the
Article the
παραβολήa parable, compaδέbut, on the otheκαλέωI call, invite,
ὑποκριτήςa hypocrite, dissemb
ὅτιthat, since, bec
νηστεύωI fast
Article theκαίand, 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

ConcordanceΦαρισαῖος · 98× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Mark Acts Philippians
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 13.171c. AD 75–95

Κατὰ δὲ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον τρεῖς αἱρέσεις τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἦσαν, αἳ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων διαφόρως ὑπελάμβανον, ὧν ἡ μὲν Φαρισαίων ἐλέγετο, ἡ δὲ Σαδδουκαίων, ἡ τρίτη δὲ Ἐσσηνῶν.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
ὑποκριταί,hupokritēs hypocrites! G5273 Noun · vocative · plural · masculine
17× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something they are not, like in Matthew 6:2. It is about being insincere. In the Bible, Jesus warns against being a hypocrite, saying that people should be honest and genuine in their words and actions.
Amplified meaning
insincere, pretending to be something you are not
Tyndale gloss
hypocrite
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὑποκριτής (hupokritēs) is derived from ὑποκρίνομαι, meaning 'to answer' or 'to interpret.' It primarily refers to an actor or stage player, but metaphorically denotes a hypocrite or dissembler, particularly in biblical contexts. The New Testament uses it to describe those who pretend to be what they are not, appearing in several passages.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὑπο-κριτής, -οῦ, ὁ

(< ὑποκρίνομαι, q.v.)

[in LXX Jb 34:30 36:13 (חָנֵף) * ;]

one who answers, an interpreter (Plat.).

a stage player, actor (Plut., Xen., al.). Metaph. (in LXX and NT), a pretender, dissembler, hypocrite: Mt 6:2, 5, 16 7:5 15:7 22:18 23:13-15 24:51, Mk 7:6 Lk 6:42 12:56 13:15.†

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

ὑπο-κριτής, -0v, 6, (ὑποκρίνομαι, q. V.) ; 1. one who answers, an interpreter, (Plat., Leian.). 2. an actor, stage-player, (Arstph., Xen., Plat., Ael., Hdian.). 3. in bibl. Grk. a dissembler, pretender, hypocrite: Mt. vi. 2, 5,16; vii.5; xv.7; xvi. 3 Rec.; xxii. 18; xxiii. 13 Rec., 14 (13 Tdf.), 15, 23, 25, 27, 29; xxiv. 51; Mk. vii. 6; Lk. vi. 42; xi. 44 R Linbr.; xii.56; xiii.15. (Job xxxiv. 30; xxxvi. 13, for 41M profane, impious.) [Mention is made of Heimsoeth, De voce ὑποκριτής comment. (Bonnae, 1874, 4to.).]

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

ὑποκριτὴς [ΑἹρᾳβικὰ λευκὰ δύο... men, bringing two horses, two white Arabian asses .. «ἢ (Deissmann), and P Hib I. 34%5 (B.c. 243-2), and 739 (same date), where ὑποζύγιον and évosare interchanged. See also P Petr IIT. 26° (iii/B.c,) Bots ἢ ὑποζύγιον ἢ πρόβατον, and other exx. in Mayser Gy. IT. i. p. 31. The reference may be more general in such passages as PSI IV. 359° (B.c. 252-1) ὑποζύγια καὶ σάκκους, P Lille 1. 135 (BC. 244-3) ὑποζυγίων πεντήκοντα ἐφεστηκότων, and P Tebt II. 9215 (late 1i/B.c.) ἐντ[εῦθ]εν κατάγεται δι᾽ ὑποζυγίων, “(the corn) is thence transported by beasts of burden” (Eda.). -» “1 have sent ΝΌΟΝ, one of our

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὑποκριτής (hupokritēs) — hypocrite.

ὑπο-κρῐτής, οῦ, ὁ,

one who answers:

I. interpreter or expounder, τῆς δι᾽ αἰνιγμῶν φήμης [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. in Attic dialect, one who plays a part on the stage, actor, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. of an orator, ποικίλος ὑ. καὶ περιττός (of Dem.) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; one who delivers, recites, declaimer, ἐπῶν [Refs] see at {ῥαψῳδοί}; rhapsodist, [Refs 1st c.BC+]; this sense or sense [Refs] is possible in [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

II.3. metaphorically, pretender, dissembler, hypocrite, [LXX+NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὑποκριτής

hupokrites

from 5271; an actor under an assumed character (stage-player), i.e.

(figuratively) a dissembler ("hypocrite":--hypocrite.

see GREEK for 5271

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὑποκριτής, οῦ, ὁ

n.m.

a hypocrite, dissembler

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὑποκριτής hypokritēs 17x

the giver of an answer or response; a stageplayer, actor; in NT a moral or religious counterfeit, a hypocrite, Mt. 6:2, 5, 16; 7:5

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὑποκριτής ὑποκρι^τής, οῦ, ὁ, ὑποκρίνομαι an interpreter or expounder, Plat., Luc.

one who plays a part on the stage, a player, actor, Ar., Plat., etc.

metaph. a pretender, dissembler, hypocrite, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-VPM — Noun · vocative · plural · masculine
vocative — the one being addressed.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-VPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Vocative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- God knows and detects

Isa 29:15,16

- Christ knew and detected

Mt 22:18

- God has no pleasure in

Isa 9:17

- Shall not come before God

Job 13:16

- DESCRIBED AS

. Wilfully blind

Mt 23:17,19,26

. Vile

Isa 32:6

. Self-righteous

Isa 65:5; Lu 18:11

. Covetous

Eze 33:31; 2Pe 2:3

. Ostentatious

Mt 5:2,5,16; 23:5

. Censorious

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
45%hypocrites!
hypocrites!45% · 9×hypocrites40% · 8×hypocrite!5% · 1×hypocrites?5% · 1×hypocrite5% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject12%adverbial12%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 17 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
Φαρισαῖοςa Pharisee
καίand, even, also,
Article the
ὡςas, like as, howὥσπερjust as, asμετά
πειράζωI try, tempt, test
ἐγώ
βλέπωI look, see
οὐNeg
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,
ὑποκριτήςhypocrites!17×
what comes after →
ὅτιthat, since, because
φιλέωI love, kissκλείωI shut, shut upπεριάγωI lead about, go
ἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, put o
πρῶτοςSup
ποιέωI do, make
ἐν
σκυθρωπόςgloomy, sad-countena
ἀφανίζωI cause to disap
καλῶςwell, nobly, rightly
προφητεύωI foretell, prop

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

Concordanceὑποκριτής · 17× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Mark
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Didache The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaEvery Good Man is Free 141c. AD 40

πρῴην ὑποκριτῶν τραγῳδίαν ἐπιδεικνυμένων καὶ τὰ παρ’ Εὐριπίδῃ τρίμετρα διεξιόντων ἐκεῖνα „τοὐλεύθερον γὰρ ὄνομα παντὸς ἄξιον, κἂν σμίκρ’ ἔχῃ τις, μεγάλ’ ἔχειν νομιζέτω“, τοὺς θεατὰς ἅπαντας εἶδον ἐπ’ ἄκρων ποδῶν ὑπ’ ἐκπλήξεως ἀναστάντας καὶ φωναῖς…

JosephusThe Jewish War 2.586c. AD 75–95

ἕτοιμος μὲν ψεύσασθαι, δεινὸς δʼ ἐπιθεῖναι πίστιν τοῖς ἐψευσμένοις, ἀρετὴν ἡγούμενος τὴν ἀπάτην καὶ ταύτῃ κατὰ τῶν φιλτάτων χρώμενος, ὑποκριτὴς φιλανθρωπίας καὶ διʼ ἐλπίδα κέρδους φονικώτατος,

The DidacheThe Didache 2.6c. AD 100

οὐκ ἔσῃ πλεονέκτης οὐδὲ ἅρπαξ οὐδὲ ὑποκριτὴς οὐδὲ κακοήθης οὐδὲ ὑπερήφανος.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
ὅτιhoti For G3754 Conjunction
1,293× 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 Greek word means 'that' or 'because', used to introduce a reason or explanation. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Romans 8:38. It helps to show cause and effect in sentences.
Tyndale gloss
that/since: that
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅτι,

conjc. (prop. neut. of ὅστις).

As conjc, introducing an objective clause, that;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅτι (hoti) — that/since: that.

ὅτῐ,

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

I. when ὅτι introduces a statement of fact:

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅτι

hoti

neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes

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

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

see GREEK for 3748

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅτι

Cj.

that, since, because

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅτι hoti 1x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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
64%that
that64% · 856×because19% · 252×for16% · 209×other renderings1% · 12×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγάρforδέbut, on the othe
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςσύδέbut, on the othe
οἶδαI know, remember
οὐNegκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakμαθητήςa learner, disciπερί
γινώσκωI come to know, lear
οὗτοςκαίand, even, also,αὐτός
ὅτιFor1293×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπατήρfather, Father,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existοἶδαI know, rememberδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐγώ
εἰμίI am, existοὐNegArticle the
οὗτος
εἰμίI am, existArticle theποιέωI do, make
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theῥῆμαa thing spokenζητέωI seek, search f

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

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

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

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

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

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 10 p. 24Hermonthis149 BC

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

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
οἰκοδομεῖτεoikodomeō you build G3618 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
41× 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 build or construct something, like a house, is the meaning of this word. In Luke 11:48 and 1 Peter 2:7, it refers to building or confirming something, whether physical or spiritual.
Amplified meaning
construct, erect
Tyndale gloss
to build
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οἰκοδομέω (i.e., *oikodomeō*) means 'to build' and is derived from the noun for 'builder.' It encompasses both literal construction, such as building houses or cities, and metaphorical senses, like building up Christian character or faith. The New Testament uses it in contexts like building the church (Matthew 16:18) and edifying others (1 Corinthians 14:4).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οἰκοδομέω, -ῶ

(< οἰκοδόμος),

[in LXX chiefly for בּנה;]

to build a house, to build: absol., Lk 11:48 14:30 17:28; οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, the builders (as Ps 117 (118):22, הַבּוֹנִים), Mt 21:42, Mk 12:10, Lk 20:17, I Pe 2:7(LXX); ἐπ’ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰ., proverb., Ro 15:20; c. acc. rei, Ga 2:18; πύργον, Mt 21:33, Mk 12:1, Lk 14:28; ἀποθήκας,

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

οἰκοδομέω, τῶ: impf. ὠκοδόμουν ; fut. οἰκοδομήσω ; 1 aor. φκοδόμησα [οἷκ. Tr WH in Acts vii. 47; see Tdf. ad loc. ; Proleg. p. 120; WH. App. p. 161; Lob. ad Phryn. p. 153; W. § 12, 4; B. 34 (30)]; Pass., [pres. οἰκοδομοῦμαι (inf. -μεῖσθαι, Lk. vi. 48 Treg.); pf. inf. οἰκοδομῆσθαι (Lk. vi. 48 T WH)]; plupf. 3 pers. sing. ὠκοδόμητο ; 1 aor. dxodoμήθην [οἰκ. T WH in Jn. ii. 20]; 1 fut. οἰκοδομηθήσομαι ; (οἰκοδόμος, q- ν.) ; fr. Hdt. down; Sept. for 733; to build a house, erect a building; a. prop. a. to build (up from the foundation): absol., Lk. xi.48 GT WH Trtxt.; xiv. 30; xvii. 28; of οἰκοδομοῦντες, subst., the builders [οἵ. W. § 45,7; Β. § 144, 11]. Mt. xxi.42; Mk. xii. 10; Lk. xx. 17; Acts iv. 11 Rec.; 1 Pet. ii. 7, fr. Ps. exvii. (exviii-) 22; ἐπ᾿ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον, to build upon a foundation laid by others, i. 6. (without a fig.) to carry on instruction begun by others, Ro: xv. 20…

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

οἴκοδομέω in the literal sense of ‘“‘build” is seen in such passages as—P Magd 27% (B.c. 218) θεμέλιον σκάπτων ὥστε οἰκοSopetv, P Ryl II. 2483 (B.c. 162) τῆς ἐν αὐτῆι οἰκίας ὠικοδομημένης, P Grenf IT. 35° (B.c. 98) παστοφόριον (cf. Jerem 42! al.) ὠκοδομημένον καὶ δεδοκωμένην, ‘a priest’s chamber built and furnished with beams,” P Ryl II. 13338 (A.D. 33) ἔμβλημ(α) οἰκοδομημένον pera δαπάνης οὐκ ὀλίγων κεφαλαίων ἀργυρικῶν, ““4 dam (Ὁ) built at the expense of no small sums of money” (Edd.), and the interesting P Giss I. 201° (beg. ii/A.D.) (= Chrest. I. p. 224) with its reference to a private shrine, built in honour of the Dioscuri—wkoSepnrar αὐτῶν ὁ τόπος. See also Logion 7 (= P Oxy I. 11°) λέγει *Incots, πόλις ὠκοδομημένη ἐπ᾽ ἄκρον [d]pous ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐστηριγμένη οὔτε πείσ]εῖν δύναται οὔτε κρυ[β]ῆναι. the augment see Moulton 677. ii. p. 191. The metaphorical use of the verb, with which…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οἰκοδομέω (oikodomeō) — to build.

οἰκοδομ-έω,

future -ήσω: aorist ᾠκοδόμησα (not οἰκ- in Attic dialect): perfect ᾠκοδόμηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: but later Attic dialect perfect passive οἰκοδομημένοι [Refs]:—build a house: generally, build, νεὼν καὶ βωμόν [Refs]; νηόν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; γέφυραν[Refs 5th c.BC+] —also in middle, οἰκοδομέεσθαι οἴκημα build oneself a house, have it built, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: —passive, to be built, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ -ούμενα[Refs 4th c.BC+]

__b generally, fashion, καταπέτασμα [LXX]

2. metaphorically, build or found upon, ἔργα ἐπί τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. metaphorically, build up, edify, [NT]; οἰ. εἰς τὸν ἕνα [NT] will be emboldened, [NT]; compare ἀνοικοδομέω.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οἰκοδομέω

v.

I build, build up, edify

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οἰκοδομέω οἰκοδόμος to build a house: generally, to build, οἰκίαν, γέφυραν, τεῖχος Hdt.:—Mid., οἰκοδομεῖσθαι οἴκημα to build oneself a house, have it built, id. Hdt.:—Pass. to be built, id. Hdt.

metaph. to build or found upon, ἔργα ἐπί τι Xen.; οἰκ. τέχνην ἔπεσιν Ar.

metaph., also, to build up, edify, NTest.:—Pass., οἰκοδομηθήσεται εἰς τὸ ἐσθίειν will be emboldened to eat, id. Ar.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-2P — Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
18%building
building18% · 7×built15% · 6×build10% · 4×edifies5% · 2×i will build5% · 2×you build5% · 2×will you build3% · 1×being edified3% · 1×other renderings38% · 15×

40 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 23 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb93%adverbial5%object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 41 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
ἀποδοκιμάζωI reject after tσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
ληνόςa winepressὑπολήνιονa pit under the ναόςa temple, shrine
ὅστις
φρόνιμοςintelligent, pruμωρόςstupid, foolish
ὅτιthat, since, because
ὑποκριτήςa hypocrite, disσύ
ἡμέραa day
τρεῖςthree
οἰκοδομέωyou build41×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theὥστεso that, therefoοἶκοςa house, househo
Article the
τάφοςa tomb, burial-pμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulcheναόςa temple, shrine
οὗτος
γίνομαιI come into bein
καίand, even, also, nam
συνάγωI gather togetheοὐNegπορεύομαιI travel, journe
ἐγώ
Article theλέγωI say, speak

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

Concordanceοἰκοδομέω · 41× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians Acts Mark 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians Galatians John Romans
Across the New Testament10 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 176 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
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.48c. AD 40

ὅτι πρέπει τῷ θεῷ φυτεύειν καὶ οἰκοδομεῖν ἐν ψυχῇ τὰς ἀρετάς.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.115c. AD 75–95

Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος πρόθυμον ἦν τοῖς Ναβρώδου ἕπεσθαι δόγμασι δουλείαν ἡγούμενοι τὸ εἴκειν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ τὸν πύργον ᾠκοδόμουν οὐδὲν ἀπολείποντες σπουδῆς οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸ ἔργον ὀκνηρῶς ἔχοντες·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.4c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ πάλιν ὁ προφήτης: Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 7th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Tebt. 2 488 descr.Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 121–AD 122

ϛ Ἁδριανοῦ Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου. Ναωμσᾶτι Ταπιεσιῆς Ὥρου Ἰούλιος Κυαδρᾶτος· ἠξίου πρὸ πόσου χρόνου οἰκοδομῆσαι; Ἱέραξ· πρὸ τριετίας. Ἰούλιος Κυαδρᾶτος χιλίαρχος· ἔδει σε τότε κεκωλυκέναι ὅτε ᾠκοδόμει, ἐπὶ δὲ

P.Mil.Vogl. 3 188Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 125

Π … εσιω τιμῆς οἴνου κεραμίων ν δραχμαὶ σ ἐπισκευῆς θυρίδων ὀβολοὶ ϛ ζύτου οἰκοδόμῳ ὀβολοὶ δ ἄρτοι β ὀβολοὶ β λαχανίων καὶ βαλανείου ὀβολὸς α ι τυμπανιστῇ ὀβολοὶ

P.Tebt. 2 402Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 172

Σαραπίωνος γενομένου ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων. ἔστι δέ· Ἐπεὶφ κϛ, μετεβλήθη ἀπὸ τοῦ πλινθουργίου καὶ οἰκοδομήθη πλίνθου Βσ. κθ, μετηνέχθη καὶ οἰκοδομήθη πλίνθου Βσ. Μεσορὴ α, μετηνέχθη καὶ οἰκοδομήθη πλίνθου

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
τοὺςho the G3588 Article · accusative · 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-APM — Article · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-APM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative 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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
τάφουςtaphos tombs G5028 Noun · accusative · plural · masculine
7× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Means a grave or tomb, like the one mentioned in Matthew 23:27 and 27:61. It is the physical place where a person is buried.
Amplified meaning
graves, monuments
Tyndale gloss
grave
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

τάφος (taphos) is a masculine noun meaning a grave or tomb, derived from the verb θάπτω (to bury). It appears in various contexts, including burial rites and metaphorical uses, such as in Romans 3:13. The word is used in the New Testament to refer specifically to burial places, with multiple references in Matthew.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

τάφος, -ου, ὁ

(< θάπτω),

[in LXX chiefly for קֶבֶר ;]

a burial (Hom., al.).

a grave, tomb (Hes., Hdt., al.): Mt 23:27, 29 27:61, 64, 66 28:1, Ro 3:13 (LXX).†

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

τάφος, -ov, 6, (θάπτω) ; 1. burial (so from Hom. down). 2. a grave, sepulchre, (so fr. Hes. down) : Mt. xxiii. 27, 29; xxvii. 61, 64,66; xxviii. 1; in a comparison: τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, their speech threatens destruction to others, it is death to some one whenever they open their mouth, Ro. iii. 13. Sept. for 0: and sometimes for 1}33)?.

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

τάφος, “a tomb’”’: P Ryl 11. 1535 (a Will—a.p. 138-161) εἰς τὸν τάφον pov Toy ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον τοῦ Σαραϊ[πιείου, a bequest payable on condition that the recipient goes ‘‘to my tomb in the sand of the Serapeum.’’ In P Oxy III. 49474 (A.D. 156) a testator makes provision for a feast (εἰς εὐωχίαν), which his slaves and freedmen are to observe yearly on his birthday πλησίον tod τάφου μου: see J. G. Frazer, Golden Bough® i. Ὁ. 105. From the inscrr. we may cite OG/S 33518 (ii/i B.c.) ἕως [τοῦ] τάφου τοῦ πρὸς τῆι ὁδῶι [τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου ᾿ἘΠπικράτου, Chrest. I. 701 (B.C. 57-6) μέχρι τῶν προσόντων ἀπὸ βορρᾶ τάφων τῶν ἀποθειουμένων ἱερῶν ζῴων, and Sy// 399 (= 3858) (after A.D. 161), where a memorial is described as οὐ τάφος, seeing that the body is laid elsewhere. Taya is used of time in P Fay 117! (A.D. 108) τοὺς θιώτας πέμψις ἐπὶ "Epago[s] ta ᾿Αρποχράτια ὧδε τάχα τὸ πυ[ήσῆι, “send the . . . since…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

τάφος (taphos) — grave.

τάφος [ᾰ], ὁ,

(θάπτω)

__A funeral-rites, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δαινύναι τάφον to give a funeral-feast, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τελέσαι τάφον Ἕκτορι δίῳ to perform the funeral-rites, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so ὃν πόλις στυγεῖ, σὺ τιμήσεις τάφ; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τάφου τυχεῖν obtain the rites of burial, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: plural of a single funeral, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so of cremation, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

__A.2 the act of performing the funeral-rites, τοῦδε τοῦ τ. φήσεις μετασχεῖν [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.II grave, tomb, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: plural of a single grave, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὄντες ἐν τάφοις dead and buried, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; μέγας γ᾽ ὀφθαλμὸς οἱ πατρὸς τάφοι his being dead and buried, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

τάφος

taphos

masculine from 2290; a grave (the place of interment):--sepulchre,

tomb.

see GREEK for 2290

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

τάφος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a tomb, burial-place

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

τάφος taphos 7x

a sepulchre, grave, tomb, Mt. 23:27, 29; 27:61, 64, 66; 28:1; met. Rom. 3:13*

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

N-APM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Tombs

Of the Hebrews were generally excavated in the solid rock, or were natural caves. Mention is made of such tombs in Judg. 8:32; 2 Sam. 2:32; 2 Kings 9:28; 23:30. They were sometimes made in gardens (2 Kings 21:26; 23:16; Matt. 27:60). They are found in great numbers in and around Jerusalem and all over the land. They were sometimes whitewashed (Matt. 23:27, 29). The body of Jesus was laid in Joseph’s new rock-hewn tomb, in a garden near to Calvary. All evidence is in favour of the opinion that this tomb was somewhere near the Damascus gate, and outside the city…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
57%tomb
tomb57% · 4×tombs29% · 2×grave14% · 1×

7 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
object43%adverbial29%subject14%predicate14%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 7 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
ἀσφαλίζωI make safeοἰκοδομέωI build, build uἀπέναντιover against, op
παρομοιάζωI resemble
ὅτιthat, since, bec
τάφοςtombs
what comes after →
κονιάωI whitewash
ὅστις
Article the
προφήτηςa prophet, poet
ἕωςuntil, as far as
Article the
σφραγίζωI set a seal upon
Article the
ἀνοίγωI open
Article the

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

Concordanceτάφος · 7× in the New Testament
Matthew Romans
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 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
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn Abraham 139c. AD 40

ἐπαύλεις δὲ καὶ οἰκίαι καὶ τείχη καὶ ὅσα ἐν οἰκοδομαῖς ἰδιωτικὰ καὶ δημόσια πάντα συγκατεπίμπραντο καὶ ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ αἱ μὲν εὐανδροῦσαι πόλεις τάφος τῶν οἰκητόρων ἐγεγένηντο, αἱ δ’ ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων κατασκευαὶ τέφρα καὶ λεπτὴ κόνις.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.151c. AD 75–95

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

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 38.3c. AD 96

ἀναλογισώμεθα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἐκ ποίας ὕλης ἐγενήθημεν, ποῖοι καὶ τίνες εἰσήλθαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἐκ ποίου τάφου καὶ σκότους ὁ πλάσας ἡμᾶς καὶ δημιουργήσας εἰσήγαγεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ, προετοιμάσας τὰς εὐεργεσίας αὐτοῦ, πρὶν ἡμᾶς γεννηθῆναι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD
P.Mich. 5 243ArsinoitesAD 14–AD 37

ξυρησάμενος ζημιούσθω δραχμὰς δ. ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων μὴ μιανθεὶς μηδὲ στέμμα καταστήσας ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον ζημιούσθω δραχμὰς δ. τὰ δʼ ἄλλα ἃ ἐὰν τῶι κοινῶι δόξῃ. κύριος ἔστω ὁ

P.Oxy. 2 274OxyrhynchosAD 97

προκειμένης ὑποθήκης. ὑπάρχει δὲ αὐτῶι ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ λιβὸς μέρους τοῦ ὄρους ἥμισυ μέρος τάφου κοινωνικοῦ πρὸς τὴν αὐτὴν πρὸς πατρὸς αὐτοῦ θείαν Δημητροῦν. α ἔτους Νέρουα τοῦ κυρίου,

vestiges Ἐξω Ψεῦρ Γάιος Οὐαλέριος Πάτρων ο … εἰς ἀνοικοδομὴν τάφου ἀρούρης ιϛ λβ … οἱ ὑπογεγραμμένοι Δίων Ε … … καὶ … ἔτους

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
τῶνho of the G3588 Article · genitive · 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-GPM — Article · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

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
of 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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
προφητῶνprophētēs prophets G4396 Noun · genitive · plural · masculine
144× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A prophet is someone who acts as an interpreter of God's will, as seen in Matthew 5:12 and Romans 11:3. They speak forth God's message to others.
Amplified meaning
messengers of God, spokesmen
Tyndale gloss
prophet
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word προφήτης (i.e., *prophētēs*) means 'prophet' and is derived from roots meaning 'to speak forth.' It refers to someone who interprets the divine will, often predicting future events. In the New Testament, it encompasses Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, and Christian prophets, highlighting their role as inspired teachers and speakers of God's messages.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

προφήτης, -ου, ὁ [< πρόφημι, to speak forth),

[in LXX chiefly for נָבִיא;]

one who acts as an interpreter or forth-teller of the Divine will (v. Lft., Notes, 83 f.; Tr., Syn., § vi), a prophet;

in cl. (Æsch., Hdt., Plat., al.), of the interpreters of oracles.

In NT,

of the OT prophets: Mt 5:12, Mk 6:15, Lk 4:27, Jo 8:52, Ro 11:3, al.;

of prophets in general: Mt 10:41 13:57 21:46, Mk 6:4, Lk 13:33, al.;

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

προφήτης, -ov, 6, (πρόφημι, to speak forth, speak out; hence prop. ‘one who speaks forth’; see πρό, ἃ. a.), Sept. - = . for w2) (which comes fr. the same root as (Gs: ‘to divulge,’ ‘make known,’ ‘announce’ [ef. Fleischer in Delitzsch, Com. τι. d. Gen., 4te Aufl. p. 551 sq.], therefore prop. i. q. interpreter, Ex. vii. 1, ef. iv. 16; hence an inlerpreter or spokesman for God; one through whom God speaks; cf. esp. Bleek, Einl. in ἃ. A. T. 4te Aufl. p. 309 [Β. Ὁ. s. v. Prophet and reff. there; esp. also Day’s note on Oehler’s O. T. Theol. § 161, and W. Robertson Smith, Prophets of Israel, p. 389 (note on Lect. ii.)]), one who speaks forth by divine inspiration; I. In Grk. writ. fr. Aeschyl., Hdt., and Pind. down 1. an interpreter of oracles (whether uttered by the gods or the μάντεις), or of other hidden things. 2. a foreteller, soothsayer, seer. II. In the N. T. 1. one who, moved by the…

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

προφήτης. OGIS 11118 shows us a προφήτης in Upper Egypt in ii/B.c. ; and in Sy/J 790 (=*1157)* (c. B.C. 100?), a procession is ordered in honour of the oracle of Apollo Coropaeus (Corope in the Pagasaean Gulf). The procession is formed of an elected ἱερεύς of Apollo, one each from the colleges of στρατηγοί and νομοφύλακες, one of the πρυτάνεις and a ταμίας, preceding τὸν γραμματέα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸν προφήτην. The prophet is the interpreter of the oracle—‘‘ the composer’’ would come nearer to fact—and the γραμματεύς takes down the response he dictates. See also the list of religious officials in the Canopic Decree OGIS 56% (B.c. 238) (cf. the Rosetta stone 72. 90°—B.c. 196) οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς Kal προφῆται καὶ οἱ εἰς τὸ ἄδυτον εἰσπορευόμένοι πρὸς τὸν στολισμὸν τῶν θεῶν καὶ οἱ πτεροφόραι καὶ ἱερογραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἱερεῖς. Dittenberger notes adl. that the προφῆται are ‘‘interpretes oraculorum…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

προφήτης (prophētēs) — prophet.

προφήτ-ης, ου,

Doric dialect and Boeotian dialect προφάτας [ᾱ], α, [Refs 6th c.BC+] (πρό, φημί):— properly one who speaks for a god and interprets his will to man, Διὸς π. interpreter, expounder of the will of Zeus, of Tiresias, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Βάκχου π., perhaps of Orpheus, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; [Διονύσου] π., of the Bacchae, [Refs]; Νηρέως π., of Glaucus, [Refs]; especially of the Delphic Apollo, Διὸς π. ἐστὶ Λοξίας πατρός [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of the minister and interpreter at Delphi, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; at the Ptoön,[Refs 2nd c.BC+]; compare προφῆτις.

2. title of official keepers of the oracle at Branchidae, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; elsewhere, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

προφήτης

prophetes

from a compound of 4253 and 5346; a foreteller ("prophet"); by

analogy, an inspired speaker; by extension, a poet:--prophet.

see GREEK for 4253

see GREEK for 5346

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

προφήτης, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a prophet, poet

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

προφήτης prophētēs 144x

pr. a spokesman for another; spc. a spokesman or interpreter for a deity; a prophet, seer, Tit. 1:12; in NT a prophet, a divinely commissioned and inspired person, Mt. 14:5; Lk. 7:16, 39; Jn. 9:17; a prophet in the Christian church, a person gifted for the exposition of divine truth, 1 Cor. 12:28, 29; a prophet, a foreteller of the future, Mt. 1:22, et al. freq.; οἱ προφῆται, the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament, Lk. 16:29

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

προφήτης πρόφημι one who speaks for a God and interprets his will to man, a prophet; so Teiresias is πρ. Διός, Jove's interpreter, Pind.; and of Apollo, Διὸς προφήτης ἐστὶ Λοξίας πατρός Aesch.; while the Pythia, in turn, became the προφῆτις of Apollo, Hdt.; so Poets are called οἱ τῶν Μουσῶν προφῆται interpreters of the Muses, Plat.

generally, an interpreter, declarer, ἐγὼ πρ. σοι λόγων γενήσομαι Eur.; so, the bowl is called κώμου προφάτης, Pind.

in NTest.,

one who possesses the gift of προφητεία, an inspired preacher and teacher.

the revealer of God's counsel for the future, a prophet (in the modern sense of the word), a predicter of future events.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-GPM — Noun · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-GPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A class of men of God, especially in the Old Testament dispensation, inspired to foretell future and secret events; and who also revealed he will of God as to current events and duties, and were his ambassadors to men. But the word is sometimes used in a wider sense; thus Aaron was Moses; prophet, Ex 7:1, appointed to deliver to the people the messages that Moses received from God; the sacred musicians are said to prophecy, 1Ch 25:1; and Paul gives the name, according to the custom of the Greeks, to the poet Aratus, "a prophet of their own," Tit 1:12. Scripture does not withhold the name of prophet from impostors, although they falsely boasted of inspiration. As true prophets, when filled y the energy of God’s Spirit, were…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Called SEERS 1Sa 9:19; 2Sa 15:27; 24:11; 2Ki 17:13; 1Ch 9:22; 29:29; 2Ch 9:29; 12:15; 29:30; Isa 30:10; Mic 3:7

→ Schools of 1Ki 20:35; 2Ki 2:3-15; 4:1,38; 9:1

→ Kept the chronicles 1Ch 29:29; 2Ch 9:29; 12:15

→ Counselors to kings Isa 37:2,3

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- God spoke of old by

Ho 12:10; Heb 1:1

- The messengers of God

2Ch 36:15; Isa 44:26

- The servants of God

Jer 35:15

- The watchmen of Israel

Eze 3:17

- WERE CALLED

. Men of God

1Sa 9:6

. Prophets of God

Ezr 5:2

. Holy prophets

Lu 1:70; Re 18:20; 22:6

. Holy men of God

2Pe 1:21

. Seers

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
51%prophets
prophets51% · 76×prophet43% · 64×prophet?2% · 3×other renderings4% · 6×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial28%subject28%object24%predicate16%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 144 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,ἨσαΐαςIsaiahδιά
ὅτιthat, since, because
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheὄντωςreally, truly
αὐτός
εἰςαἰώνan age, a cycle καίand, even, also,
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegεἰCond
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀπόστολοςan apostle, a meαὐτόςἅγιοςset apart, holy,
προφήτηςprophets144×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλιθοβολέωI stone, cast stδίκαιοςjust, righteous,
λέγωI say, speak
ἐκφωνήa sound, noise, αὐτός
Article the
δέbut, on the otheπρόπατήρfather, Father,
εἰμίI am, exist
σύδιάDisj
οὐNeg
ἔρχομαιI come, goἀκούωI hear, listenἐγείρωI wake, arouse,

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

Concordanceπροφήτης · 144× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Revelation 1 Corinthians Mark Ephesians Romans 2 Peter Hebrews 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 155 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas The Didache The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.103c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ ὅτε Ἀαρὼν ὁ λόγος καὶ Μαριὰμ ἡ αἴσθησις ἐπανίστανται, ῥητῶς ἀκούουσιν ὅτι, „ἐὰν γένηται προφήτης κυρίῳ, ἐν ὁράματι αὐτῷ γνωσθήσεται“ καὶ ἐν σκιᾷ ὁ θεός, οὐκ ἐναργῶς, Μωυσεῖ δέ, ὅστις „πιστὸς ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ, στόμα κατὰ στόμα λαλήσει, ἐν εἴδει…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.240c. AD 75–95

Κλεόδημος δέ φησιν ὁ προφήτης ὁ καὶ Μάλχος ἱστορῶν τὰ περὶ Ἰουδαίων, καθὼς καὶ Μωυσῆς ἱστόρησεν ὁ νομοθέτης αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἐκ τῆς Κατούρας Ἁβράμῳ ἐγένοντο παῖδες ἱκανοί.

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
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. BC 2nd c. BC
SB 1 5232Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 15

αἴθριον καὶ τόπους ψιλοὺς ἀπὸ νότου τῆς οἰκίας πατρικοὺς αὐτοῦ παρὰ Χαιρήμονος τοῦ Ἡρώδου προφήτου Σούχου θεοῦ μεγάλου Ἀρσινοείτου νομοῦ εὐδοκούσης τῆς τούτου γυναικὸς Τομσάιος, καὶ ἐθέμην διὰ Σωκράτους

P.Lond. 2 p. 178 no. 355Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 16

ψιλῶν τόπων τοῦ προφήτου καθοριζομένου τοὺς πεπραμένους ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τόπους ἐπικεκρατῆσθαι ὑπὸ τε τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν

SB 1 5240Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 17

νεωτέρου τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Σοκνοπαίου Νήσου ἀγοράσαντα τῶι μα ἔτει οἰκίαν ἀδέσποτον παρὰ τοῦ προφήτου προσανειληφέναι τῶι μγ ἔτει Καίσαρος ἑτέρους ψιλοὺς τόπους ἀδεσπότους. τὸν αὐτὸν εἰσέδωκεν Νεστνῆφις. σημανθέντος

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
κοσμεῖτεkosmeō adorn G2885 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To arrange or decorate something means to put it in order or make it look nice. In the Bible, this word is used to describe preparing a room or trimming a wick in Matthew 25:7 and Luke 11:25.
Amplified meaning
adorn, garnish
Tyndale gloss
to arrange
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word κοσμέω (i.e., *kosmeo*) means to arrange, order, or adorn. It encompasses both literal and metaphorical uses, such as preparing a feast or embellishing one's character. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts like decorating homes or honoring others. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κοσμέω, -ῶ

(< κόσμος),

[in LXX for עדה, תּקן, etc.;]

to order, arrange, prepare (in Hom. esp. of marshalling armies): Mt 25:7 (cf. Si 50:9, al.).

to adorn, furnish: οἶκον, pass., Mt 12:44, Lk 11:25; μνημεῖα, Mt 23:29; τὸ ἱερόν, pass., Lk 21:5; θεμέλιοι, Re 21:19; νύμφην, pass., Re 21:2; ἑαυτάς, seq. ἐν, I Ti 2:9. Metaph., c. acc. pers., I Pe 3:5; c. acc. rei, Tit…

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

κοσμέω, -ῶ; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἐκόσμουν; 1 aor. ἐκόσμησα; pf. pass. κεκόσμημαι; (κόσμος) ; 1. to put in order, arrange, make ready, prepare: τὰς λαμπάδας, put in order [A. V. trim], Mt. xxv. 7 (δόρπον, Hom. Od. 7, 13; τράπεζαν, Xen. Cyr. 8, 2,6; 6,11; Sept. Ezek. xxiii. 41 for 31, Sir. xxix. 26; προσφοράν, Sir. 1. 14, and other exx. elsewhere). 2. to ornament, adorn, (so in Grk. writ. fr. Hesiod down; Sept. several times for KOT LOS 7773!) ; prop.: οἶκον, in pass., Mt. xii. 44; Lk. xi. 25; τὰ μνημεῖα, to decorate [A.V. garnish], Mt. xxiii. 29 (τάφους, Xen. mem. 2, 2,13); τὸ ἱερὸν λίθοις καὶ ἀναθέμασι, in pass. Lk. xxi. 5; τοὺς θεμελίους τοὺ τείχους λίθῳ τιμίῳ, Rev. xxi. 19; τινά (with garments), νύμφην, pass. Rev. xxi. 2; ἑαυτὰς ἔν τινι, 1 Tim. ii. 9 (on this pass. see καταστολή, 2). metaph. i. 4. to embellish with honor, gain honor, (Pind. nem. 6, 78; Thue. 2, 42; κεκοσμ. τῇ ἀρετῇ…

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

κοσμέω. In P Oxy XII. 1467° (A.D. 263) reference is made to certain laws which entitle women ‘‘ who are honoured with the right of three children” —rtats γυναιξὶν ταῖς τῶν τριῶν τέκνων δικαίῳ Kekoopnpéeva[t]s—to act without a guardian. The metaphorical use of the verb, as in Tit 219. is seen in Cagnat IV. 288° (ii/B.c.) κ[εκ]όσμηκε τὸν αὑτοῦ [β]ίον THe καλλίστηι παρρησίαι, and in the important Pyzene 105°6 (B.C. 9), where Augustus is described as ‘‘ having made war to cease, and established order everywhere "--τὸν παύσαντα piv πόλεμον, κοσμήσοντα [δὲ πάντα. Epict. iii. 1. 2 τὸ λογικὸν ἔχεις ἐξαίρετον" τοῦτο «κόσμει καὶ καλλώπιζε" τὴν κόμην δ᾽ ἄφες τῷ πλάσαντι ὡς αὐτὸς ἠθέλησεν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κοσμέω (kosmeō) — to arrange.

κοσμ-έω,

order, arrange, especially set an army in array, marshal it, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, ἐπεὶ κόσμηθεν ἅμ᾽ ἡγεμόνεσσιν ἕκαστοι [Refs]; πένταχα κοσμηθέντες marshalled in five bodies, [Refs]; of a population, διὰ τρίχα κοσμηθέντες [Refs 8th c.BC+] —middle, κοσμησάμενος πολιήτας having arranged his men, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so after Homer, κ. στρατόν (variant for{κοιμήσων}) [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. generally, arrange, prepare, δόρπον ἐκόσμει [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, δεῖπνον κεκόσμηται [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δεῖ οὕτω κοσμηθῆναι ὅκως.. [Refs 3rd c.AD+]; τὸ κοσμηθὲν αἷμα, ={τὸνοἰκεῖον κόσμον κτησάμενον}, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κοσμέω

kosmeo

from 2889; to put in proper order, i.e. decorate (literally or

figuratively); specially, to snuff (a wick):--adorn, garnish, trim.

see GREEK for 2889

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κοσμέω

v.

I put into order, adorn

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κοσμέω kosmeō 10x

pluperfect, ἐκεκόσμητο (3 sg), to arrange, set in order; to adorn, decorate, embellish, Mt. 12:44; 23:29; to prepare, put in readiness, trim, Mt. 25:7; met. to honor, dignify, Tit. 2:10

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κοσμέω κοσμός to order, arrange, Hom., etc.: esp. to set an army in array, marshal it, Il.:— Mid., κοσμησάμενος πολιήτας having arranged his men, id. Il.

generally, to arrange, prepare, δόρπον Od.; ἔργα Hes., etc.

to dispose, order, rule, govern, Hdt., Soph., etc.; τὰ κοσμούμενα orderly institutions, set order, Soph.

in Crete, to be Cosmos (κόσμος ΙΙΙ), rule as such, Arist.

to deck, adorn, equip, furnish, dress, esp. of women, Hhymn., Hes., etc.: Mid., κοσμέεσθαι τὰς κεφαλάς to adorn their heads, Hdt., etc.

metaph. to adorn, embellish, Eur., Thuc., etc.

to honour, pay honour to, Soph., Eur., etc.

in Pass. to be assigned or ascribed to, ἐς τὸν Αἰγύπτιον νόμον αὗται [αἱ πόλεις] ἐκεκοσμέατο Hdt.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-2P — Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-dorn' (kosmeo): Has as its primary meaning "to arrange," "to put In order," "to decorate." It is used with reference to the manner in which Christian women were urged to dress. This was a vital question in the early church, and both Paul and Peter give advice on the subject (1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:3).

See DRESS.

Figurative: In Mt 12:44 the King James Version the word is translated "garnish" and is used in a figurative sense. It describes accurately the condition of the Jewish nation. Even though they have swept out idolatry and have adorned the life with much ceremony and endless religious prescriptions yet the evil spirit can say, "I will return to my house." This same thing has repeatedly been done by individuals and nations when…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%adorning
adorning20% · 2×adorned20% · 2×ordered20% · 2×they may adorn10% · 1×adorn10% · 1×trimmed10% · 1×it has been adorned10% · 1×

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

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

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
καίand, even, also, nam
σαρόωI sweepπροφήτηςa prophet, poetἐκεῖνος
θεόςGod, a god
ἐγώεἰς
ἀνάθημαan offering dedicate
καίand, even, also,
σωφροσύνηsanity, sobriety
καίand, even, also,
νύμφηa bride, daughter-in
ὡςas, like as, how
κοσμέωadorn10×
what comes after →
Article the
μνημεῖονa tomb, sepulcheλαμπάςa torch, lamp, lἀνήρa male human bei
ἑαυτοῦ
μήNegὑποτάσσωI place under, s
λέγωI say, speak
ἐν
πᾶςall, 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

Concordanceκοσμέω · 10× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Revelation 1 Peter 1 Timothy Titus
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 7 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaThat the Worse Attacks the Better 42c. AD 40

εἰ δέ τις τὴν μὲν ψυχὴν ἀρεταῖς ἁπάσαις κεκόσμηται, τέχνας δὲ λόγων οὐκ ἐμελέτησεν, ἡσυχίᾳ χρώμενος ἀσφάλειαν γέρας ἀκίνδυνον εὑρήσεται, παρελθὼν δ’ ὡς Ἄβελ εἰς σοφιστικὸν ἀγῶνα πρὶν διερηρεῖσθαι πεσεῖται.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 9.93c. AD 75–95

τὴν δʼ ἀρχὴν αὐτὸς παρέλαβε δραστήριός τε ὢν ἀνὴρ καὶ πολλὴν ἔχων παρὰ τῶν Σύρων εὔνοιαν καὶ τοῦ δήμου τῶν Δαμασκηνῶν, ὑφʼ οὗ μέχρι νῦν αὐτός τε ὁ Ἄδερ καὶ Ἀζάηλος ὁ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἄρξας ὡς θεοὶ τιμῶνται διὰ τὰς εὐεργεσίας καὶ τῶν ναῶν οἰκοδομίας, οἷς…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 2.8c. AD 96

τῇ παναρέτῳ καὶ σεβασμίῳ πολιτείᾳ κεκοσμημένοι πάντα ἐν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ ἐπετελεῖτε: τὰ προστάγματα καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ κυρίου ἐπὶ τὰ πλάτη τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν ἐγέγραπτο.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 5th c. AD
P.Oxy. 43 3088OxyrhynchosAD 128

Σεβαστοῦ, Φαμενὼθ κε. ἀντίγραφον. Φλάυιος Τιτιανὸς Ὀξυρυγχειτῶν τῇ πόλει χαίρειν. ἀποδέχομαι ὑμᾶς τὴν πατρίδα κοσμεῖν προῃρημένους καὶ ἐπιτρέπω κατασκευάζειν τὸ βαλανεῖον ἔκ τε τῶν ἤδη συνειλεγμένων χρημάτων, ὥς φατε,

ZPE 171 (2009), p. 175-180OxyrhynchitesAD 437

Ἐπίμαχον υἱὸν … ης ἱκανὸν ὄντα καὶ ἐπιτήδειον, δυνάμενον … … ντα καὶ σώφρονα, κεκοσμημένον … σ … ην παρὰ πάντων αὐτῷ ἐπενηνε … τοῦ ἁγίου τόπου οἰκονομ

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
τὰho the G3588 Article · accusative · plural · neuter
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-APN — Article · accusative · plural · neuter
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-APN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
μνημεῖαmnēmeion monuments G3419 Noun · accusative · plural · neuter
38× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A grave is a place of remembrance or interment. In Matthew 23:29 and Luke 11:47, it refers to a monument or tomb. It's a sepulchre or burial place.
Amplified meaning
memorials, sepulchres
Tyndale gloss
grave
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μνημεῖον (*mnemeion*) refers to a memorial or tomb, derived from a root meaning 'to remember.' It encompasses meanings such as a grave, sepulchre, or monument, often used in biblical contexts, particularly in the Gospels (e.g., Mt 23:29, Mk 5:2). The lexicons consistently describe it as a visible object for preserving memory, with no significant disagreements noted.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μνημεῖον, -ου, τό,

[in LXX for קֶבֶר, קְבוּרָה;]

a memorial, record (cl., cf. Wi 10:7).

(cl.) a monument: Lk 11:47;

a sepulchre, tomb (Ge 23:6, 9, Is 22:16, al.): Mt 23:29, Mk 5:2, Lk 11:44, Jo 5:28, and freq. in Gospels, Ac 13:29.

SYN.: μνῆμα.

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

μνημεῖον, -ov, τό; 1. any visible object for preserving or recalling the memory of any person or thing ; a memorial, monument, (Aeschyl., Pind., Soph., sqq.) ; in bibl. Grk. so in Sap. x. 7; specifically, a sepulchral monument : οἰκοδομεῖν μνημεῖα, Lk. xi. 47; Joseph. antt. 13, 6,5. 2. in the Scriptures a sepulchre, tomb: Mt. xxiii. 29; xxvii. 52,60; xxviii. 8; ΜΚ. v.2; vi.29; Lk. xi.44; Jn. Vv. 28; xi. 17, 31, and often in the Gospels; Acts xiii. 29; Sept. for 3p, Gen. xxiii. 6, 9, 1.5; Is. xxii. 16, ete.

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

μνημεῖον αὐτοῦ, and Aarée/ 821 (iv/B.c.) εἰκὼν μνῆμα χρόνου (ἐστί) (ze. ‘‘ fragile est”’). Lyn μεῖον is by no means so common in the papyri as we might have expected, but see P Flor I. 91° (a.p. 225) φθάσαντός μου πρὸς τοῖς μναιμίοις (/. μνημείοις) τῆς αὐτῆς κώμης. Vitelli ad ἡ. cites also P Casati 19, 5 p. 139. An interesting ex. may be cited from Sy// 399 (=% 858) (after A.D. 161), a stone originally found in Rome, and afterwards transferred to Britain, but now destroyed—HpéSns μνημεῖον kal τοῦτο εἶναι τῆς αὑτοῦ συμφορᾶς καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς τῆς γυναικός" ἔστιν δὲ οὐ τάφος: τὸ γὰρ σῶμα ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ νῦν παρὰ τῷ ἀνδρί ἐστίν : cf. also Cagnat 1V. 6607 μ[η]δενὶ ἐξέσται μήϊτε πωλῆσαι μήτε ἀγοράσαι μήτ[ε] τὸ μνημεῖον . προν[οηθῆναι]…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μνημεῖον (mnēmeion) — grave.

μνημ-εῖον,

Doric dialect μνᾱμεῖον, Ionic dialect μνημήϊον, τό, memorial, remembrance, record of a person or thing, μνημήϊα καταλιπέσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μνημεῖα ὅρκων a record of the oaths, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μνημεῖα τῆς δαπάνης visible memorials, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ παίδων μαθήματα θαυμαστὸν ἔχει τι μ. the lessons of childhood cling strangely to the memory, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μνημεῖα καταλειφθῆναι τῶν μελλόντων ἔσεσθαι to be left behind as reminders of things to come, [Refs]

2. of one dead, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of an urn containing the ashes of the dead,[Refs 5th c.BC+]; tomb, [LXX+NT]: generally, monument, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

μνημεῖον

mnemeion

from 3420; a remembrance, i.e. cenotaph (place of interment):--grave,

sepulchre, tomb.

see GREEK for 3420

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μνημεῖον, ου, τό

n.n.

a tomb, sepulcher

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μνημεῖον mnēmeion 40x

monument, memorial, Lk. 11:47; grave, tomb, Mt. 23:39; Mk. 5:2; Lk. 11:44; Jn. 11:17, 31, 38; Acts 13:29

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μνημεῖον μνημεῖον, doric μνα_μεῖον, ionic μνημήιον, ου, τό, like μνῆμα Lat. monimentum, any memorial, remembrance, record of a person or thing, Hdt., attic

of one dead, a monument, Soph., etc.

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

N-APN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
73%tomb
tomb73% · 30×tombs15% · 6×monuments5% · 2×grave2% · 1×tomb?2% · 1×graves2% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial79%subject11%object8%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 38 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
εἰςἐκἀπό
αὐτός
καινόςfresh, new
ἐν
αὐτός
κῆποςa garden
Article the
εἰς
τίθημιI put, place
μνημεῖονmonuments38×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ὡςas, like as, howπαρακύπτωI stoop, peer inεὑρίσκωI find
Article the
δίκαιοςjust, righteous,ἄδηλοςunseen, not obviπροφήτηςa prophet, poet
μετά
Article theφόβοςfear, terror, re
ἐξέρχομαιI go out, come out
χαλεπόςhard, harsh, fie
ἀνοίγωI open
καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceμνημεῖον · 38× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Mark Acts
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 9 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
Philo of AlexandriaWho is the Heir of Divine Things 29c. AD 40

καὶ τοῦτό μου τὸ πάθος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐστηλογράφησεν ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ μνημείῳ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος Μωυσῆς.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.237c. AD 75–95

καὶ τὰ μνημεῖα Ἅβραμός τε καὶ οἱ ἀπόγονοι αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ κατεσκευάσαντο.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
5th c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Flor. 3 310HermopolitesAD 425–AD 450

τε πατρῴας κληρονομίας … ου, ἔτι μὴν καὶ ἄλλο χώρημα ἐκ βορρᾶ … βορρᾶ μνημεῖον Λωεῦτος, ἀπηλιώτου … δεσποτικῶν δοκίμων εὐστάθμων … ὑφʼ ἡμῶν, ὡς πρόκειται, χωρήματος … χωρήματος

Année épigraphique 2005 1624 a-bOxyrhynchos (Oxyrhynchites)AD 401–AD 600

μνημεῖον Θεοδώρου δούλου θεοῦ υἱοῦ Δημητρίου Κυνοπολίτου ἀγάμου ϛ ἰνδικτίωνος Παχὼν ιζ ἐτῶν κβ

P.Gen. 4 187HermopolitesAD 501–AD 600

τρισὶ Ταυρίνῳ καὶ Ἐρυθρίῳ καὶ Φοιβάμμωνι ἕως τοῦ … τοῦ τε παλαιοῦ μνημείου καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ στάβλου … τῆς ὅλης πρώτης στέγης καὶ ἀπὸ … … κοινῆς

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
τῶνho of the G3588 Article · genitive · 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-GPM — Article · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

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
of 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

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous
δικαίωνdikaios righteous G1342 Adjective · genitive · plural · masculine
79× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Being just means being fair and innocent, as described in Matthew and Romans, where God's people are called to live righteous lives.
Amplified meaning
just, upright, innocent
Tyndale gloss
just
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δίκαιος is an adjective meaning 'righteous' or 'just,' derived from the concept of δίκη, which refers to justice or right. It describes individuals or things that align with divine standards of morality and duty. In the New Testament, it is used to refer to God, Christ, and various righteous individuals, as seen in passages like Romans 3:26 and Matthew 1:19. The term can also imply innocence or fairness.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δίκαιος, -α, -ον

(< δίκη),

[in LXX chiefly for צַדִּיק (for rendering of צַדִּיק in sense of correct, v. Deiss., BS, 115 f.); sometimes for נָקִי as Pr 1:11, al. ;]

in early Gk. writers

of persons, observant of δίκη, custom, rule, right, righteous in performing duties to gods and men ;

of things, righteous, in accordance with right.

In NT

righteous, chiefly in the broad sense, as above, of the person or thing corresponding to the Divine standard of right

of persons: of God, Ro 3:26, I Jo 2:29 3:7; of Christ, Ac 3:14 7:52 22:14, I Pe 3:18, I Jo 2:1; of men, Mt 1:19 (Abbott, Essays, 75 f.) 10:41…

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

δίκαιος, -aia, -αιον, (fr. δίκη right), [fr. Hom. down], prop. the Hebr. pas, observant of ἡ δίκη, righteous, observing divine and human laws; one who is such as he ought to be; (Germ. rechtbeschaffen; in the earlier laneuage, whence appropriated by Luther, gerecht in a broad sense; in Grk. writ. used even of physical things, as ἵππος, Xen. mem. 4, 4,5; γήδιον δικαιότατον, most fertile, Xen. Cyr. 8, 3, 38; [ἅρμα δίκαιον, ib. 2, 2, 26]); al in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God; a. univ.: Mt. i. 19 (the meaning is, it was not consistent with his uprightness to expose his betrothed to public reproach); Mt. x. 41; xiii. 43, 49; xxiii. 28; xxv. 37,46; Lk. i. 6,17; xiv. 145 xviii. 9; xx. 20; Ro. v. 7 [ef. W. 117 (111)]; 1 Tim.i. 9; Jas. v. 6, 16; 1 Pet. 111. 12; 1 Jn. iii. 7, [10 Lehm.]; Rev. xxii. 11; opp. to ἁμαρτωλοὶ καὶ ἀσεβεῖς, 1 Pet. iv. 18; δίκαιοι…

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

δίκαιος. Our sources have naturally little light to throw upon the deeper Christian significance of this important word, but we may give a few examples showing its general usage. The adjective is applied to a ‘‘just measure” (μετρήσει δ.) ΒΡ. Denn Si(p: cheno) atose4n (BiG 108) Εἴδι, anda “ust rule” (σκυτάλη δ.) P Rein 20% (p.c. 108). Then it would seem to have become a vox propria in connexion with the rise of the Nile, e.g. OG/S 666" (i/A.p.) viv μᾶλλον ἀπέλαυσε (sc. ἡ Αἴγυπτος) τῆς δικαίας ἀναβάσεως τοῦ θεοῦ : see Dittenberger’s note and cf. Deissmann BS, p. 116. In P Petr IL. 28 011. 6 (taxing account—iii/B.c.) we hear of a δικαίου νήσου. The neuter is very largely used substantially, for ‘‘ duty,” Thus in P Petr II. 1027 the royal gooseherds make petition that certain grievances be set right, ἵνα δυνώμεθα τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν τῶι βασιλεῖ, ‘in order that we may be able to do our duty to…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δίκαιος (dikaios) — just.

δίκαιος [ῐ], α, ον,

also ος, ον [Refs 5th c.BC+]: (δίκη):

__A in [Refs 8th c.BC+] and all writers, of persons, observant of custom or rule, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; especially of social rule, well-ordered, civilized, ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄγριοι οὐδὲ δ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δ. πολίτης a good citizen, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: metaphorically of the sea, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; δικαίη ζόη a civilized way of living, [Refs 5th c.BC+] adverb δικαίως, μνᾶσθαι woo in due form, decently, [Refs 8th c.BC+]loyally, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2 observant of duty to gods and men, righteous, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to δυσσεβής, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also of actions, etc., righteous, ἐπὶ ῥηθέντι δικαίῳ a thing rightly said, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δίκαιος

dikaios

from 1349; equitable (in character or act); by implication, innocent,

holy (absolutely or relatively):--just, meet, right(-eous).

see GREEK for 1349

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δίκαιος, ία, ιον

Adj

just, righteous, impartial

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δίκαιος dikaios 79x

just, equitable, fair, Mt. 20:4; Lk. 12:57; Jn. 5:30; Col. 4:1; of persons, just, righteous, absolutely, Jn. 17:25; Rom. 3:10, 26; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 Jn. 1:9; 2:1, 29; Rev. 16:5; righteous by account and acceptance, Rom. 2:13; 5:19; in ordinary usage, just, upright…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δίκαιος adjdi^kai os_h_on adjdi^kai os_on δίκη in Hom. and early writers,

of persons, observant of custom and social rule, well-ordered, civilised, Od.; so, δικαίη ζόη a regular way of living, Hdt.:—adv., δικαίως μνᾶσθαι to woo in due form, decently, Od.

observant of right, righteous, Hom., etc.:—so of actions, in accordance with right, righteous, id. Hom.

later usage:

of things, even, well-balanced, ἅρμα δίκαιον Xen.:— regular, exact, rigid, ὀργυιαὶ δίκαιαι Hdt.; τῷ δικαιοτάτῳ τῶν λόγων to speak quite exactly, id. Hdt.; πάντα δικαίως τετήρηται Dem.

right, lawful, just, τὸ δίκαιον right, opp. to τὸ ἄδικον, Hdt., etc.; also, a right, a lawful claim, Thuc., etc.:—adv. -ως, rightly, justly, Hdt., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-GPM — Adjective · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-GPM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Nave's Topical Bible

→ MISCELLANY OF MINOR SUB-TOPICS

Compared with

The sun Jud 5:31; Mt 13:43

Stars Da 12:3

Lights Mt 5:14; Php 2:15

Mount Zion Ps 125:1,2

Lebanon Ho 14:5-7

Treasure Ex 19:5; Ps 135:4

Jewels Mal 3:17

Gold Job 23:10; La 4:2

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%righteous
righteous74% · 60×right9% · 7×just5% · 4×a righteous5% · 4×righteous one4% · 3×other renderings4% · 3×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
predicate41%subject22%object19%adverbial15%second object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 79 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,τότεthenμέσοςmiddle, in the m
καίand, even, also, nam
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,ἀληθινόςtrue, real, genuπροφήτηςa prophet, poet
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐάνCondὅτιthat, since, becμέλλωI am about to
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theεἰμίI am, exist
αὐτός
ἀνήρa male human beiεἰμίI am, existἀδελφόςa brother
δίκαιοςrighteous79×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἄδικοςunjust, unrighteἅγιοςset apart, holy,
εἰμίI am, exist
καίand, even, also,ἵναin order that, sὅτιthat, since, bec
ἀλλάbut, except
ἁμαρτωλόςsinning, sinful,
εἰς
ὄνομαname, character,ζωήlife
κρίσιςjudging, divine judg
κρίνωI judge, decide,Article the

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

Concordanceδίκαιος · 79× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Romans 1 John Acts Revelation 2 Peter 1 Peter Hebrews John 2 Thessalonians James
Across the New Testament20 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 222 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 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 1.21c. AD 75–95

τοῦτο δὴ παιδεῦσαι βουληθεὶς Μωυσῆς τὸ παίδευμα τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ πολίτας τῆς τῶν νόμων θέσεως οὐκ ἀπὸ συμβολαίων καὶ τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους δικαίων ἤρξατο τοῖς ἄλλοις παραπλησίως, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου κατασκευὴν τὰς γνώμας αὐτῶν ἀναγαγὼν καὶ…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.9c. AD 100

ὅτε δὲ τοὺς ἰδίους ἀποστόλους τοὺς μέλλοντας κηρύσσειν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτοῦ ἐξελέξατο, ὄντας ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνομωτέρους, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθεν καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς, τότε ἐφανέρωσεν ἑαυτὸν εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ.

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

Τῆς δὲ σῆς δικαίας ἀντιλήψεως … τὴν ἐπὶ σὲ καταφυγὴν πεποιημέναι ἀξιοῦμεν σʼ ἐμβλέψαντʼ εἰς τὸν γεγονότα ὑπʼ

διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ Σαντοβίθυος τοῦ στρατηγοῦ … συνσχεθεὶς ἠξίωσεν ὡς μετὰ τὴν δίεσιν παντὶ δίκαιον … ου. Ὡσαύτως ἐπὶ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ Παθυρίτου … μων κληρονομίαν καὶ συνγραφὴν

C.Erbstreit16Diospolis Magna (Theben)135 BC

γράψαι, οἷς καθήκει ἐξαποστεῖλαι αὐτοὺς ἐπί σε, ἵνʼ, καθὼς ἂν δόξηι σοι, τύχωμεν τῶν δικαίων. εὐτύχει. ἀναγνωσθέντος καὶ δικαιολογηθέντων αὐτῶν ἔπεισεν ὁ Θορταῖος προσενεγκάμενος τὴν τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ μητέρα

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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