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Matthew 27:66 — Word Study

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N1904Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

BSA<the>ho Andde having goneporeuō [to the tomb, and made the sepulchre sure] they made secureasphalizō [made safe, firmly fastened, grave, place of burial] theho tombtaphos having sealedsphragizō [stamping, marking for security] theho stonelithos [rock, barrier] withmeta [setting, placing on watch] theho guard.koustōdia [Roman sentry, watchmen]

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 27
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 66 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 (koustōdia) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 27:66quick helps
In a sentenceThe guards went to the tomb to secure it by sealing the stone and posting a watch.
Who is speakingThe chief priests and Pharisees, addressing Pilate.
Where we areThe final preparations to secure Jesus' tomb after His crucifixion.
The hard wordἠσφαλίσαντο
Take awayThe tomb is secured to prevent any tampering with Jesus' body.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subject verbπορεύομαι 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 27:66

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 — Securing the Tombgenerated

63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
64So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”
65“You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
66So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 27:66 describes the actions taken by the chief priests and Pharisees to ensure that Jesus' tomb was secure. They were concerned that His disciples might steal the body and claim He had risen from the dead. To prevent this, they went to Pilate, who authorized them to secure the tomb. This verse captures the moment when they took measures to seal the tomb and post a guard, reflecting their determination to thwart any resurrection claims.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Daniel 6:17A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.
22 Timothy 2:19Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

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


The Key Word ἠσφαλίσαντο, asphalizōgenerated

The verb ἠσφαλίζω is a middle deponent verb meaning to make secure or to safeguard. It is used in the aorist tense, indicating a completed action, and is in the third person plural, referring to the guards who took action to secure the tomb.

This term emphasizes the act of ensuring safety and protection, particularly in the context of guarding the tomb of Jesus. The action was taken to prevent any possible theft or disturbance, highlighting the seriousness of the situation.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses secured for ἠσφαλίσαντο. The KJV and ASV also use made sure, reflecting similar meanings.

Where the translations differ is in their rendering of the Greek words. For example, τάφον is rendered as tomb in the BSB and grave in the LSV. The word κουστωδίας is translated as guard in most versions, while the BBE uses watchmen.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main clause is governed by the verb ἠσφαλίσαντο, they made secure, with two participial phrases attached: one describing the action of sealing the stone and the other indicating the posting of the guard. This structure emphasizes the sequential actions taken to secure the tomb.

The subject οἱ (the) identifies the chief priests and Pharisees, while the participles πορευθέντες and σφραγίσαντες provide additional details about their actions, creating a clear picture of the events.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

τάφος is used in the Septuagint to refer to a grave or tomb, similar to its use in the New Testament. It translates the Hebrew word קֶ֫בֶר, which also means grave or sepulchre, indicating a consistent understanding of burial places.

σφραγίζω is also present in the Septuagint, used in contexts that involve sealing or marking for security, derived from the Hebrew חָתַם, which carries similar meanings.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 27:66 shows how the chief priests and Pharisees took action to secure Jesus' tomb after His death. They were worried that His disciples might steal His body and claim He had risen, so they went to Pilate for permission to seal the tomb and post a guard to prevent this.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

Why did the chief priests and Pharisees want to secure the tomb?

They wanted to prevent Jesus' disciples from stealing His body and claiming that He had risen from the dead, which they feared would lead to greater deception.

What does it mean to seal the tomb?

Sealing the tomb involved marking it in a way that indicated it was secure and protected from tampering, ensuring that no one could access it without breaking the seal.

What role did the guard play?

The guard was stationed to watch over the tomb, ensuring that no one could approach it without being noticed, thereby reinforcing the security measures taken.

How does this passage relate to the resurrection of Jesus?

This passage highlights the lengths to which the authorities went to prevent any claims of resurrection, setting the stage for the miraculous event that would later occur.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What does this passage teach us about the lengths people will go to in order to protect their beliefs?
  2. How can we ensure that we are not like the chief priests and Pharisees, who were resistant to the truth?
  3. What does the act of sealing the tomb symbolize in terms of authority and control?
  4. How can we respond to the truth of the resurrection in our own lives?

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

Theophylact of Ohrid reflects on this passage, discussing the actions of the chief priests and Pharisees in relation to their understanding of the Sabbath.

Theophylact of Ohrid c. 1055–1107
. The evangelist did not call the sabbath "the sabbath," for it was not the sabbath as far as the Jews in their malice were concerned.

Theophylact notes that the evangelist did not refer to the Sabbath as 'the Sabbath' because it was not considered such by the Jews in their malice.

Early Church Fathers on Matthew 27 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 27:66 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

So they went,.... From Pilate's palace, to the garden of Joseph, and to the sepulchre there; which whether more than a sabbath day's journey, or two thousand cubits, may be inquired; and if so, then

Read John Gill on Matthew 27 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone - which Mark (Mark 16:4) says was "very great," And setting a watch - to guard it.

Read Robert Jamieson on Matthew 27 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 62-66. This part of the history is recorded by no other evangelist: the recording it by Matthew contributes yet further to evidence the truth of Christ’ s resurrection; for here was all imaginable care taken to prevent a cheat in the case. The next day, that followed the day of the preparation, must be the sabbath day, . These superstitious hypocrites, that quarrelled with our Saviour for his disciples (being hungry) plucking ears of corn on the sabbath day, and for his healing him that had a withered hand, , can now themselves go to Pilate, to set him on work to command that the sepulchre should be made fast to the third day. They allege that Christ, whom they impiously call that…

Read Matthew Poole on Matthew 27 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. Ver. 66. So they went and made the sepulchre sure] And now they seemed to dance upon Christ’ s grave, as thinking themselves cock sure of him. So did those bloody tyrants of the primitive times (who proudly engraved upon pillars of marble, Nomine Christianorum deleto, qui Remp. evertebant) I destroyed the name of Christians who turned the state upside down, make no other reckoning, but to raze out the name of Christ from under heaven. Therefore also they did not only constitute laws and proclamations against Christians, but did engrave the same laws in tables of brass, meaning to make all things firm for…

Read John Trapp on Matthew 27 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(66) Sealing the stone.—The opening of the tomb had been already closed by the stone which had been rolled so as to fill, or nearly fill, it. The sealing was probably effected by drawing one or more ropes across the stone and fastening either end to the rock with wax or cement of some kind. And setting a watch.—Better, with the guard. What is meant is that the priests were not content to leave the work to the soldiers, but actually took part in it themselves.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 27 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 66. Made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.] Or rather, made the tomb secure by the guard, and by sealing the stone. I follow Kypke, in construing μετατηςκουστωδιας, with ησφαλισαντο. The guard was to take care that the disciples should not steal him away; and the seal, which was probably the seal of the governor, was to prevent the guards from being corrupted so as to permit the theft. So every thing was done which human policy and prudence could, to prevent a resurrection, which these very precautions had the most direct tendency to authenticate and establish. How wonderful are the wisdom and goodness of God! - and how true is it, that there is neither might…

Read AdamClarke on Matthew 27 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

57–66. The Entombment Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42 Matthew 27:62-66 are peculiar to St Matthew. St Mark notes the wonder of Pilate that Jesus was already dead, and the evidence of the centurion to the fact. St John mentions the co-operation of Nicodemus—like Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, who “consented not to the deed of them;” who brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight.”

Read Cambridge on Matthew 27 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Sealing the stone - The sepulchre was made sure by affixing the large stone to the entrance in such a way that it could not be removed without detection. It was sealed. In what way this was done cannot now be certainly told.

Read Albert Barnes on Matthew 27 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

NETBNew English Translation2006

So they went with the soldiers of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them.

RVARevised Version, American1894

So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

So they went, and having sealed the stone, made the sepulcher secure with a watch.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And they went, and made the sepulchre sure with the watch, and sealed the stone.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And they went and secured the sepulchre, having sealed the stone, with the watch [besides].

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and they, having gone, did make the sepulchre secure, having sealed the stone, together with the watch.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and they, having gone, made the grave secure, having sealed the stone, together with the guard.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and placing the guard.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting guards.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the entrance stone and posting soldiers as guards.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.

Word by word, the decisions they made

πορευθέντεςporeuō having gone G4198 2 different renderings
and made the sepulchre sureASV GNV KJV RVA
having goneLSV YLT
ἠσφαλίσαντοasphalizō they made secure G805 2 different renderings
graveLSV
made safeBBE
τάφονtaphos tomb G5028 2 different renderings
tombBSB FBV MSB NETB ULB WEB
graveLSV
σφραγίσαντεςsphragizō having sealed G4972 2 different renderings
having sealedDBY LSV NWB YLT
sealedGNV
κουστωδίας.¶koustōdia guard. G2892 2 different renderings
guardASV BSB LSV MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB
watchmenBBE

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.

clauseδὲAndclausesubjectοἱ-adverbialπορευθέντεςhaving goneverbἠσφαλίσαντοthey made securenoun phrase · objectτὸνtheτάφονtombclause · adverbialverbσφραγίσαντεςhaving sealednoun phrase · objectτὸνtheλίθονstoneprepositional phrase · adverbialμετὰwithnoun phraseτῆςtheκουστωδίαςguard

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

Illi autem abeuntes, munierunt sepulchrum, signantes lapidem, cum custodibus.

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

ܗܢܘܢ ܕܝܢ ܐܙܠܘ ܐܙܕܗܪܘ ܒܩܒܪܐ ܘܚܬܡܘ ܟܐܦܐ ܗܝ ܥܡ ܩܣܛܘܢܪܐ

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

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Οἱ δὲ πορευθέντες ἠσφαλίσαντο τὸν τάφον σφραγίσαντες τὸν λίθον μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας.¶

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 27:66<the><the>δέAndAndδέπορεύομαιhaving gonehaving goneπορεύομαιἀσφαλίζωthey made sthey made securἀσφαλίζωthetheτάφοςtombtombτάφοςσφραγίζωhaving sealhaving sealedσφραγίζωthetheλίθοςstonestoneλίθοςμετάwithwithμετάthetheκουστωδίαguard.guard.κουστωδίαἀσφαλήςAdj safe, Adj safe, reliaἀσφαλήςθάπτωv. I buryv. I buryθάπτωσφραγίςn.f. a sign.f. a signet-rσφραγίςπεῖραn.f. a trin.f. a trial, eπεῖραπρόςPrep. to, Prep. to, towarπρόςἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόκώμηn.f. a viln.f. a villageκώμηἀνίστημιv. I raisev. I raise up, ἀνίστημιτάφοςn.m. a tomn.m. a tomb, buτάφοςἀσφαλίζωv. I make v. I make safeἀσφαλίζωὅτιCj. that, Cj. that, sinceὅτιχιλιάςn.f. a thon.f. a thousandχιλιάςτεσσεράκονταIndec.num.Indec.num. fortτεσσεράκονταἀποκυλίωv. I roll v. I roll awayἀποκυλίωτίμιοςAdj of greAdj of great prτίμιοςχαράn.f. joy, n.f. joy, gladnχαράνεφέληn.f. a clon.f. a cloudνεφέλη
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 27:66

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.

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
Οἱho <the> G3588 Article · nominative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
δὲde And G1161 Conjunction
2,787× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέAnd2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
πορευθέντεςporeuō having gone G4198 Verb · aorist · passive deponent · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
153× 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 travel means to go from one place to another, as in Matthew 2:20, or to journey through life, as in Luke 13:31.
Amplified meaning
to the tomb, and made the sepulchre sure
Tyndale gloss
to travel
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πορεύομαι is a middle voice verb meaning to go or travel, derived from a root associated with passage. It covers a range of meanings from literal travel to metaphorical uses, such as living a certain way or departing from life. The New Testament frequently uses it to describe journeys, both physical and spiritual, including references in Matthew and Luke.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πορεύω,

(< πόρος, a ford, a passage),

[in LXX chiefly for הלךְ;]

in cl. (the act. becomes obsolete in late Gk.; v. M, Pr., 162), to cause to go over, carry, convey. Mid. (always in LXX and NT), -ομαι, to go, proceed, go on one's way: c. acc., ὁδόν, Ac 8:39; seq. ἐκεῖθεν, Mt 19:15; ἐντεῦθεν, Lk 13:31; ἀπό, Mt 25:41, Lk 4:42; εἰς, Mt 2:20, Mk 16:12, Lk 1:39, Jo 7:35, al; εἰς εἰρήνην (cf. I Ki…

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

πορεύω : to lead over, carry over, transfer, (Pind., Soph., Thue., Plat., al.); Mid. (fr. Hdt. down), pres. πορεύομαι; impf. ἐπορευόμην ; fut. πορεύσομαι; pf. ptep. πεπορευμένος ; 1 aor. subjune. 1 pers. plur. πορευσώμεθα (Jas. iv. 13 Rec. Grsb.); 1 aor. pass. ἐπορεύθην ; (πόρος a ford, [cf. Eng. pore i. 6. passage through ; Curtius § 356; Vanitek p- 479]) ; Sept. often for 727, JAN, 12; prop. to lead one’s self across ; i. e. to take one’s way, betake one’s self, set out, depart ; a. prop.: τὴν ὁδόν μου, to pursue the journey on which one has entered, continue one’s journey, [A. V. go on one’s way], Acts viii. 39; πορ. foll. by ἀπό w. agen. of place, to depart from, Mt. xxiv. 1 [R G]; ἀπό w. a gen. of the pers., Mt. xxv. 41; Lk. iv. 42; ἐκεῖθεν, Mt. xix. 15; ἐντεῦθεν, Lk. xiii. 31; foll. by εἰς w. an ace. of place, to go, depart, to some place: Mt. ii. 20; xvii. 27; Mk. xvi.12; Lk.i.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πορεύω (poreuō) — to travel.

πορ-εύω,

future -σω[Refs 5th c.BC+]aorist ἐπόρευσα, poetry πόρευσα [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive and middle, future πορεύσομαι [LXX+5th c.BC+]aorist ἐπορευσάμην (only compounds ἐν-, προ-, [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.: perfect πεπόρευμαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]:(πόρος):

I. active, make to go, carry, convey, by land or water, τινα [Refs 6th c.BC+]: with doubleaccusative, carry or ferry over, [Νέσσος] ποταμὸν.. Βροτοὺς μισθοῦ 'πόρευε [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. of things, bring, carry, ἐπιστολὰς πατρί [Refs 5th c.BC+]; furnish, bestow, χρυσόν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; set in motion, κίνησις.. βραδυτῆτάς τε καὶ τάχη.. π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.3. absolutely, conduct a search, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πορεύομαι

poreuomai

middle voice from a derivative of the same as 3984; to traverse, i.e.

travel (literally or figuratively; especially to remove (figuratively,

die), live, etc.); --depart, go (away, forth, one's way, up), (make a,

take a) journey, walk.

see GREEK for 3984

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πορεύομαι

v.

I travel, journey, go

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πορεύω poreuō 153x

also listed as a deponent, πορεύομαι, to go, pass from one place to another, Mt. 17:27; 18:12; to go away, depart, Mt. 24:1; 25:41; Jn. 14:2, 3; trop. to go away, depart, from life, to die, Lk. 22:22; to go, pass on one’s way, journey, travel, Mt. 2:8, 9; Lk. 1:39; 2:41; πορεύομαι ὀπίσω, to go after, to become a follower or partisan, Lk. 21:8; or, to pursue after, be devoted to, 2 Pet. 2:10; from the Hebrew, to go or proceed in any way…

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

V-AOP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: passive depOnent Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
15%having gone
having gone15% · 23×do go14% · 21×go10% · 16×going6% · 9×he went3% · 5×i shall go3% · 4×other renderings37% · 57×other renderings12% · 18×

153 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 56 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
verb87%adverbial12%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 153 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
αὐτόςπορεύομαιI travel, journeὄροςa mountain
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἐπιθυμίαdesire, eagernesσκανδαλίζωI cause to stumb
δέbut, on the other ha
οὗτοςArticle theἸησοῦςJesus
ἐξέρχομαιI go out, come out
ἡμέραa dayκαίand, even, also,οὖνtherefore, then
ἀνίστημιI raise up, set up,
αὐτόςκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
πορεύομαιhaving gone153×
what comes after →
εἰς
Article theἹεροσόλυμαPropεἰρήνηpeace, peace of
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theὁράωI see, look uponπορεύομαιI travel, journe
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusΦαρισαῖοςa PhariseeArticle the
δέbut, on the other ha
αὐτόςμανθάνωI learn, ascertaμᾶλλονmore, rather
πρός
Article theαὐτός

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

Concordanceπορεύομαι · 153× in the New Testament
Luke Acts Matthew John 1 Corinthians 1 Peter Jude Mark 2 Peter Romans 1 Timothy 2 Timothy

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament13 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 443 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.69c. AD 40

„καὶ ὁ ποταμὸς ὁ τρίτος Τίγρις, οὗτος ὁ πορευόμενος κατέναντι Ἀσσυρίων.“ τρίτη ἐστὶν ἀρετὴ σωφροσύνη, ἀντιστατοῦσα τῇ κατευθύνειν δοκούσῃ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν ἡδονῇ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.278c. AD 75–95

Ἰάκωβος δὲ εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν στελλόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς κατὰ γάμον τῆς Λαβάνου θυγατρὸς τοῦ ἐκείνης ἀδελφοῦ, ἐπιτρέψαντος Ἰσάκου τὸν γάμον διὰ τὸ πείθεσθαι τοῖς βουλήμασι τῆς γυναικὸς διὰ τῆς Χαναναίας ἐπορεύετο καὶ διὰ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Cair. Zen. 2 59261Arsinoites (?)252 BC

ἔχεις ἔτους λδ Παχὼνς η ἃς Πᾶσις Ἰροβάστιος θρίσσας ρ δραχμῶν μ Θῶυθ γ πορευομένου σου πρὸς Ἀπολλώνιον θρίσσας σ δραχμῶν π Χοίαχ ζ κατὰ τὴν παρὰ Φιλίσκου ἐπιστολὴν

PSI 4 363Arsinoites251 BC

δὲ τὸν ὀνηλάτην εἰς Ἡρακλήους πόλιν δοὺς αὐτῶι ἐφόδιον δραχμὰς δ· οὐ γὰρ ἠβούλετο πορεύεσθαι, ἂν μὴ ἐφόδιον λάβηι.

1805Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)242 BC

προσάγγελμα Ὥρωι φυλακίτηι παρὰ Διοσκουρίδου. ἔτους ζ μηνὸς Θῶυθ β. πορευομένου μου ἐκ Κροκοδίλων πόλεως εἰς Φιλαδέλφειαν

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
ἠσφαλίσαντοasphalizō they made secure G805 Verb · aorist · middle deponent · indicative · third person · plural
4× 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 secure something means to make it safe or firm, and is used in Matthew 27:65-66 to describe making the tomb secure. It's about taking action to protect or guard something, and is also used in Acts 16:24 to describe making the prison more secure.
Amplified meaning
made safe, firmly fastened, grave, place of burial
Tyndale gloss
to secure
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀσφαλίζω (asphalizo) is built from the root ἀσφαλής and means to make secure or firm. It covers a range of meanings including to fortify, secure oneself, and to make fast. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as Matthew 27:64-66 and Acts 16:24, where it conveys the idea of securing or making safe.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† ἀσφαλίζω

(< ἀσφαλής),

[in LXX: Ne 3:15 (חזק hi.), Is 41:10 (תּמךְ), Wi 4:17 10:12 13:15*;]

to make firm, secure: mid., Mt 27:65, 66, Ac 16:24; pass., Mt 27:64 (MM, s.v.).†

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

ἀσφαλίζω : 1 aor. pass. inf. ἀσφαλισθῆναι; 1 aor. mid. ἠσφαλισάμην ; (ἀσφαλής) ; esp. freq. fr. Polyb. down; to make firm, to make secure against harm ; pass. to be made secure: Mt. xxvii. 64 (ὁ τάφος) [B. 52 (46)]; mid. prop. to make secure for one’s self or for one’s own advantage, (often in Polyb.): Mt. xxvii. 65 sq.; to make fast τοὺς πόδας εἰς τὸ ξύλον, Acts xvi. 24 [W. § 66, 2 d.3 B. § 147, 8].

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀσφαλίζω (asphalizō) — to secure.

ἀσφᾰλίζω

[Refs 2nd c.BC+]:—mostly in middle, future -ιοῦμαι[Refs 1st c.AD+] but -ίσομαι [Refs 1st c.BC+]: perfect ἠσφάλισμαι[Refs 2nd c.BC+]pluperfect ἠσφάλιστο[Refs]: aorist ἠσφαλισάμην[Refs 1st c.AD+]: some of these tenses are used in passive sense (see. below):—fortify, τὸν τόπον[Refs 2nd c.BC+]:—passive, [NT]

__b secure, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

2. more frequently in middle, secure, ἑαυτόν[Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὰς εἰσβολάς, τὴν χώραν, etc., [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; shut up, close, πύλην[LXX]; ὀφθαλμοὶ ἠσφαλισμένοι, opposed to ἀνεῳγμένοι, [Refs]; τοὺς πόδας ἠσφαλίσατο εἰς τὸ ξύλον made them fast, [NT]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀσφαλίζω

asphalizo

from 804; to render secure:--make fast (sure).

see GREEK for 804

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀσφαλίζω

v.

I make safe

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀσφαλίζω asphalizō 4x

mid: to make fast, safe, or secure, Mt. 27:64, 65, 66; Acts 16:24*

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%fastened
fastened25% · 1×be secured25% · 1×do make secure25% · 1×they made secure25% · 1×

4 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 4 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
οὖνtherefore, then
κελεύωI command, order
ὑπάγωI go away, depart
κουστωδίαa guard
πορεύομαιI travel, journey, g
δέbut, on the othe
πούςthe foot
Article the
ἀσφαλίζωthey made secure
what comes after →
Article the
τάφοςa tomb, burial-p
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
οἶδαI know, remember
αὐτός
εἰς

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

Concordanceἀσφαλίζω · 4× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 13.175c. AD 75–95

τῶν δὲ κατασκόπων πάντʼ αὐτῷ φρασάντων καί τινας συλλαβόντων νυκτός, οἳ αὐτοῖς μέλλειν ἐπιτίθεσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐμήνυον, προγνοὺς ἠσφαλίσατο,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Stras. 7 682Arsinoites176 BC–27 BC

λαμβάνουσα καὶ ἐπιγράφουσα καὶ ἐγγράφουσα εἰσ … ν … … σια ἐκ τοῦ μέσου ἀσφαλίζω

ἐνέχυρον, ἄν σε ἐρωτήσῃ περὶ τῶν σιδηρίων α … … … ἀσφαλισθῆναι αὐτὰ καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ κεῖται ὥστε … … έτακται ἡμῖν πληρῶσαι ὑμᾶς σπουδάσαντας

BASP 6 (1969), p. 17-AD 214–AD 215

πε … … ἔπειτά μοι ἐξαπε … … ἐγένετο καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ἐδύνατο τότε ἀσφαλισθῆναι περὶ … … ἀποφασ … ἀκολουθοῦντος τῷ νόμῳ ἀποκατασταθῆναι … στρατηγοῦ ἀποφάσει, ἀλλὰ στήσαντος

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
τὸνho the G3588 Article · accusative · singular · 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-ASM — Article · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular 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

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
τάφονtaphos tomb G5028 Noun · accusative · singular · 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.
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-ASM — Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-ASM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

toom.

See BURIAL.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

From the burial of Sarah in the cave of Machpelah, (Genesis 23:19) to the funeral rites prepared for Dorcas, (Acts 9:37) there is no mention of any sarcophagus, or even coffin, in any Jewish burial. Still less were the rites of the Jews like those of the Pelasgi or Etruscans. They were marked with the same simplicity that characterized all their religious observances. This simplicity of rite led to what may be called the distinguishing characteristic of Jewish sepulchres --the deep loculus --which, so far as is now known, is universal in all purely Jewish rock-cut tombs, but hardly known elsewhere. Its form will be understood by referring to the following diagram, representing the forms of Jewish sepulture. In the apartment marked A there are twelve such loculi about two feet in…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See SEPULCHRE.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ See BURIAL

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
τάφοςtomb
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

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
σφραγίσαντεςsphragizō having sealed G4972 Verb · aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
15× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Matthew than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To seal something means to stamp or mark it for security or preservation, as in Matthew 27:66 and Revelation 20:3. This term can also mean to keep something secret or to attest to its authenticity.
Amplified meaning
stamping, marking for security
Tyndale gloss
to seal
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word σφραγίζω (sphragizō) means 'to seal' and is derived from the root for 'seal'. It covers a range of meanings, including sealing for security, concealment, and authentication. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as sealing a tomb (Mt 27:66) and marking believers with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). The lexicons note its metaphorical uses, but do not present significant disagreements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σφραγίζω

[in LXX chiefly for חתם (De 32:34, al.), also for סתם (Da TH 8:26) ;]

to seal,

for security: Mt 27:66, Re 20:3; τ. καρπὸν τοῦτον, fig. (cf. Deiss., BS, 238 f.; MM, xxiv; DB, iv, 427a), Ro 15:28;

for concealment, hence, metaph., to hide (Da TH 9:24, Jo 14:17): Re 10:4 22:10;

for distinction, Re 7:3-8; metaph., Eph 1:13 4:30; mid., II Co 1:22;

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

σφραγίζω (Rev. vii. 3 Rec.) ; 1 aor. ἐσφράγισα; 1 aor. mid. ptep. σφραγισάμενος ; Pass., pf. ptep. ἐσφραγισμένος ; 1 aor. ἐσφραγίσθην ; [in 2 Co. xi. 10 Rec." gives the form odpayicera “de coniectura vel errore” (Tdf.; see his note ad loc.)]; (σφραγίς, q-v-); Sept. for DNM; to set a seal upon, mark with a seal, to seal; a. for security: τί, Mt. xxvii. 66; sc. τὴν ἄβυσσον, to close it, lest Satan after being cast into it should come out; hence the addition ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, over him i.e. Satan, Rev. xx. 3, (ἐν ᾧ —i. 6. δώματι ---- κεραυνός ἐστιν ἐσφραγισμένος, Aeschyl. Eum. 828; mid. σφραγίζομαι τὴν θύραν, Bel and the Dragon 14 Theodot.). b. Since things sealed up are concealed (as, the contents of a letter), σφραγίζω means trop. to hide (Deut. xxxii. 34), keep in silence, keep secret: τί, Rev. x. 4; xxii. 10, (τὰς ἁμαρτίας, Dan. ix. 24 Theodot.; ras ἀνομίας. Job xiv. 17; τοὺς λόγους σιγῇ.…

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

σφραγίζω, κε 568]. In P Oxy VI. 9325 (late ii/A.D.) ἂν ἔρχῃ ἄφες ἀρτάβας ἕξ is τοὺς σάκκους σφραγίσας λαχανοσπέρμου ἵνα πρόχιροι ὦσι, ““1ξ you come, take out six artabae of vegetable-seed, sealing it in the sacks in order that they may be ready’ (Edd.), we have clear confirmation of Deissmann’s view (BS p. 238f.) that by Paul’s καρπὸν σφαγίζεσθαι in Rom 157° we are to understand the Apostle as meaning that all the proper steps had been taken with regard to the collection. ‘‘If the /frzzt is sealed, then everything is in order: the sealing is the last thing that must be done prior to delivery.” Cf. also P Hib I. 3915 (B.C. 265) where with reference to the embarkation upon a government transport of a quantity of corn, instructions are given that the shipmaster is to write a receipt, and further— δεῖγμα σφραγισάσ(θ]ω, ‘let him seal a sample,” obviously to prevent the corn from being…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σφραγίζω (sphragizō) — to seal.

σφρᾱγ-ίζω,

Ionic dialect σφρηγίζω, close or enclose with a seal, σφραγίζεις λύεις τ᾽ ὀπίσω.. πεύκην (={δέλτον}) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ σιτάριον [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—middle, τὸν θησαυρόν [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; μόνη δὲ κλῇθρ᾽ ἐγὼ σφραγίζομαι [LXX+5th c.BC+]; δεῖγμα σφραγισάσθω let him seal up with his seal a sample (of the corn), [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—passive, ἐν ᾧ [δώματι] κεραυνός ἐστιν ἐσφραγισμένος [LXX+4th c.BC+]; οὐ δύναμαι ἀναγνῶναι [τὸ βιβλίον]· ἐσφράγισται γάρ[LXX+3rd c.BC+]; ἐσφραγίσθη γῇ λευκῇ [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σφραγίζω

sphragizo

from 4973; to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or

preservation (literally or figuratively); by implication, to keep

secret, to attest:--(set a, set to) seal up, stop.

see GREEK for 4973

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σφραγίζω

v.

I set a seal upon

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σφραγίζω sphragizō 15x

to seal, stamp with a seal, Mt. 27:66; Rev. 20:3; to seal up, to close up, conceal, Rev. 10:4; 22:10; to set a mark upon, distinguish by a mark, Eph. 1:13; 4:30; Rev. 7:3, 4, 5, 8; to seal, to mark distinctively as invested with a certain character, Jn. 6:27; mid. to set one’s own mark upon, seal as one’s own, to impress with a mark of acceptance, 2 Cor. 1:22; to deliver over safely to someone, Rom. 15:28; absol. to set to one’s…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σφραγίζω σφρα_γίζω, to seal, Eur.:—Mid. to seal for oneself, have sealed, Plut.: —Pass., perf. part. ἐσφραγισμένος sealed up, kept under seal, Aesch.

to mark as with a seal, to mark, Anth.; δεινοῖς σημάντροισιν ἐσφραγισμένοι, of wounded persons, Eur.

metaph. to set a seal on, confirm, stamp with approval, NTest., Anth.: Mid. to assure of a thing, c. acc. rei, NTest.: to limit, Anth.

to seal or accredit as a faithful servant, as a believer, τινά NTest.

from σφρα_γίς

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%sealed
sealed60% · 15×having sealed12% · 3×you were sealed8% · 2×we may have sealed4% · 1×do seal4% · 1×may seal4% · 1×has set his seal4% · 1×has sealed4% · 1×

25 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 15 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
ἐπιτελέωI complete, accoArticle theκλείωI shut, shut up
χιλιάςa thousand
δώδεκαIndecτέσσαρεςfour
τάφοςa tomb, burial-place
Article the
μαρτυρίαwitness, evidence, t
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
Article the
σφραγίζωhaving sealed15×
what comes after →
Article the
λίθοςa stoneθεόςGod, a godπνεῦμαwind, breath, sp
ἐκ
πᾶςall, the whole, φυλήa tribe, race
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article the
αὐτός
Article the
ἐγώ
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

Concordanceσφραγίζω · 15× in the New Testament
Revelation Ephesians John 2 Corinthians Matthew Romans
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 14 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Clement of Rome Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 172c. AD 40

ὁ δὴ ταῦτα μὴ ἀκοῇ μᾶλλον ἢ διανοίᾳ προμαθὼν καὶ ἐν τῇ αὑτοῦ ψυχῇ σφραγισάμενος θαυμάσια καὶ περιμάχητα εἴδη, καὶ ὅτι ἔστι καὶ ὑπάρχει θεὸς καὶ ὅτι εἷς ὁ ὢν ὄντως ἐστὶ καὶ ὅτι πεποίηκε τὸν κόσμον καὶ πεποίηκεν ἕνα, ὡς ἐλέχθη, κατὰ τὴν μόνωσιν…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 43.2c. AD 96

ἐκεῖνος γάρ, ζήλου ἐμπεσόντος περὶ τῆς ἱερωσύνης καὶ στασιαζουσῶν τῶν φυλῶν, ὁποία αὐτῶν εἴη τῷ ἐνδόξῳ ὀνόματι κεκοσμημένη, ἐκέλευσεν τοὺς δώδεκα φυλάρχους προσενεγκεῖν αὐτῷ ῥάβδους ἐπιγεγραμμένας ἑκάστης φυλῆς κατ̓ ὄνομα: καὶ λαβὼν αὐτὰς ἔδησεν καὶ…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 1st c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Harr. 2 223AD 1–AD 100

r Πετεχῶν Ταναβίνηι τῆι ἀδελφῆι χαίρειν. ἔπεμψά σοι δύο σφραγῖδας ἵνα τὰς ἀγέλας σφραγίσης. ἐπισφράγισον καὶ ὅσα ἔχεις σκεύη φύλαξον ἕως ὅτου παραγένωμαι πρός σε ἠ διαπέμψω σοι

BGU 1 249ArsinoitesAD 75–AD 85

μένων αἰσθόμενός σου τὴν εἴς με φιλοφροσύνην. φρόντισον δʼ ἐμοῦ χόρτου δεσμῶν ἑξακοσίων καὶ σφράγισον τὸ σιτάριον καὶ τὴν κριθὴν δηλώσας μοι, ποίωι μέτρωι ἔπεμψας. ἀσπάζου τὰ ἀβάσκαντά σου

P.Flor. 3 334 RoApollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 114–AD 119

καὶ ὄξος ἐκ τοῦ Κῴου καὶ ἐλαίαν· καὶ πάλι τῆι σῆι σφραγῖδι ἀσφαλῶς κλείσας σφράγισον. τὸ δαπανηθὲν ἀνάλωμα εἰς τοὺς θησαυρούς Εἰσῆ ὅσιόν ἐστιν, ἵνα τῷ κρατίστῳ ἡγεμόνι μετε

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
τὸνho the G3588 Article · accusative · singular · 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-ASM — Article · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular 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

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
λίθονlithos stone G3037 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
59× 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 stone can be a literal rock or a figurative one, like a stumbling block. In the Bible, Jesus is called the stone that the builders rejected in Matthew 21:42.
Amplified meaning
rock, barrier
Tyndale gloss
stone
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λίθος (lithos) means 'stone' and can refer to various types of stones, including precious stones. In the New Testament, it is used literally for stones in contexts like tombs (e.g., Mt 27:60) and metaphorically for Christ and believers (e.g., 1 Pet 2:4-5). The lexicons note its use in idioms and as a building material, but there is no significant disagreement among them.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λίθος, -ου, ὁ

(and, in Att., of precious stones, ἡ.),

[in LXX for אֶבֶן, Ge 11:3, al.; λ. τίμιος, for פָּז, Ps 18 (19):10 20 (21):3, Pr 8:19, al.;]

a stone: Mt 4:6, al.; pl., Mt 3:9, al.; at the entrance of a tomb, Mt 27:60, 66 28:2, Mk 15:46 16:3, 4, Lk 24:2, Jo 11:38, 39, 41 20:1; λ. μυλικός, Lk 17:2, cf. Re 18:21; of building stones,

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

λίθος, -ov, 6, Sept. for 738, [fr. Hom. down]; a stone: of small stones, Mt. iv. 6; vii. 9; Lk. iii. 8; iv. [3], 11; ΧΙ. 11; xxii. 41; Jn. viii. 7; plur., Mt. iii. 9; iv.3; Mk. v.55 Lk. iii. 8; xix. 40; Jn. viii. 59; x. 31; of a large stone, Mt. xxvii. 60, 66; xxviii. 2; Mk.xv.46; xvi. 3 sq.; Lk. xxiv. 2; Jn. xi. 38 sq. 41; xx.1; of building stones, Mt. xxi. 42,44 [T om. L WH Trmrg. br. the vs.]; xxiv. 2; Mk. xii.10; xiii. 1 sq.; Lk. xix. 44; xx. 17sq.3 xxi. 5 sq.; Acts iv. 11; 1 Pet. ii. 7; metaph. of Christ: λίθος ἀκρογωνιαῖος (q. ν.), ἐκλεκτός (ef. 2 Esdr. v. 8), ἔντιμος, 1 Pet. ii. 6 (Is. xxviii. 16); ζῶν (see (aw, II.b.), 1 Pet. ii. 4; λίθος προσκόμματος, one whose words, acts, end, men (so stumble at) take such offence at, that they reject him and thus bring upon themselves ruin, ibid. 8 (7); Ro. ix. 33; of Christians: λίθοι ζῶντες, living stones (see (aw, τι. s.), of which the…

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

λίθος is always masc. in the NT even when it means a gem (Rev 211} αἱ, LXX), whereas Attic after B.c. 385 preferred the fem. (Meisterhans Gy. p. 129). This is in keeping with the Kow 7 usage, e.g P Petr 11. 13 (6)® (B.c. 258-253) τοὺς λίθους of stones for building, P Oxy III. 498? (ii/a.D.) τῶν οἰκοδομουμένων λίθων κύβων καμηλικῶν, “ squared buildingstones transportable by camel (Ὁ) ” (Edd.), 16. 5281? (1Π|,---ii/A.D.) ἔπεμσάς pu ἐπιστολὰς δυναμένου λίθον σαλεῦσε, *“you sent me letters which would have shaken a stone” (Edd.), P Tebt 11. 34217 (late ii/A.D.) kepapetov . . λίθοις ἀρεστοῖς ἐξηρτισμί(ένον), ‘‘a pottery fitted with stones in good order” (Edd.), P Oxy X. 12737 (A.D. 260) περιτραχήλιον . . ἔχον λίθον ὁλκῆς χωρὶς τοῦ [λί]θ[ο]υ τετάρτων lA λιθόστρωτος δεκατριῶν, ‘a necklace having a stone and weighing apart | from the stone 13 quarters’’ (Edd.), OGZS οοὔ! (Rosetta stone—B.C.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λίθος (lithos) — stone.

λίθος [ῐ], ου,

o((see. below 11), stone, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; especially of the stones thrown by warriors, τρηχὺς λ., λ. ὀκριόεις, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also, stonequoit, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of building- stones, λίθοι βασιλικοί [Refs 5th c.BC+]; λίθον ἕψειν 'to lose one's labour', [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also of stupid persons, 'blockheads', λίθοι [Refs 6th c.BC+]; λ. τις, ou) dou/lh [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; προσηγορεύθη διὰ τὸ μὴ φρονεῖν λ., of Niobe, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; λίθῳ λαλεῖς proverbial of ἀναίσθητοι, [Refs]

2. stone as a substance, opposed to wood, flesh, etc., ἐπεὶ οὔ σφι λ. χρὼς οὐδὲ σίδηρος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; λαοὺς δὲ λίθους ποίησε turned into stone, petrified,[Refs 8th c.BC+]; as an emblem of hard-heartedness, σοὶ δ᾽ αἰεὶ κραδίη στερεωτέρη ἐστὶ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λίθος

lithos

apparently a primary word; a stone (literally or

figuratively):--(mill-, stumbling-)stone.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λίθος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a stone

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λίθος lithos 59x

a stone, Mt. 3:9; 4:3, 6; used figuratively, of Christ, Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6; of believers, 1 Pet. 2:5; meton. a tablet of stone, 2 Cor. 3:7; a precious stone, Rev. 4:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

λίθος λί^θος, ου, a stone, Hom., etc.: a precious stone, Hdt.: marble, id. Hdt.:—proverb., λίθον ἕψειν to boil a stone, i. e. "to lose one's labour," Ar.;— of stupidity, λίθοι blocks, stones, id. Ar.

stone as a substance, opp. to wood, flesh, etc, Il., etc.

also fem., Hom., Theocr.;—but the fem. was mostly used of some special stone, as the magnet, Eur., Plat.; of a touchstone, Plat.; ἡ διαφανὴς λ. a piece of crystal used for a burning glass, Ar.

at Athens, λίθος (masc.) was a name for various blocks of stone used for rostra or tribunes, as,

the Bema of the Pnyx, Ar.

another in the ἀγορά used by the κήρυκες, Plut.

an altar in the ἀγορά, Dem.

a piece on a draughtboard, Theocr.

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

N-ASM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Stone

Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events (Gen. 28:18; Josh. 24:26, 27; 1 Sam. 7:12, etc.). They were gathered out of cultivated fields (Isa. 5:2; comp. 2 Kings 3:19). This word is also used figuratively of believers (1 Pet. 2:4, 5), and of the Messiah (Ps. 118:22; Isa. 28:16; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11, etc.). In…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The allusion in Re 2:17 may be to the practice at the Olympic games of giving the successful competitor a white stone, inscribed with his name and the value of his prize; or to the mode of balloting with black and white stones on the question of the acquittal of an accused person, or his admission to certain privileges; if the stones deposited in the urn by the judges were all white, the decision was favorable. In early ages, flint-stone knives were in common use, instead of steel, Ex 4:25 Jos 5:2.

It was also customary to raise a heap or mound of stones in commemoration of any remarkable event, Ge 31:46 Jos 4:5-7 7:26 8:29…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
75%stone
stone75% · 45×stones20% · 12×as a stone3% · 2×other renderings2% · 1×

60 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
adverbial41%object29%subject17%predicate7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 59 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
ἐκἀποκυλίωI roll awayἵναin order that, s
καίand, even, also, nam
χρυσίονa golden ornamenσπήλαιονa cave, denἄργυροςsilver as a meta
ἐπί
λίθοςa stone
ἀφίημιI send away, release
οὐNegμήNeg
πρός
προσκόπτωI stumble
λίθοςstone59×
what comes after →
ὅς
ἀποδοκιμάζωI reject after tοὐNeg
Article the
πούςthe footἸουδαῖοςJewishδέbut, on the othe
ἐπί
λίθοςa stoneArticle theαὐτός
τίμιοςof great price, prec
καίand, even, also,ξύλονa staff, cross, ὡςas, like as, how
οὗτος
ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fσυνθλάωI break, break i

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

Concordanceλίθος · 59× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Mark Revelation John 1 Peter Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament10 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 147 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 18c. AD 40

εἶθ’ ὥσπερ ἐν κηρῷ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ τοὺς ἑκάστων δεξάμενος τύπους ἀγαλματοφορεῖ νοητὴν πόλιν, ἧς ἀνακινήσας τὰ εἴδωλα μνήμῃ τῇ συμφύτῳ καὶ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐνσφραγισάμενος, οἷα δημιουργὸς ἀγαθός, ἀποβλέπων εἰς τὸ παράδειγμα τὴν ἐκ λίθων καὶ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.70c. AD 75–95

ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ μὴ διαφυγεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ ηὑρημένα μηδὲ πρὶν εἰς γνῶσιν ἐλθεῖν φθαρῆναι, προειρηκότος ἀφανισμὸν Ἀδάμου τῶν ὅλων ἔσεσθαι τὸν μὲν κατʼ ἰσχὺν πυρὸς τὸν ἕτερον δὲ κατὰ βίαν καὶ πλῆθος ὕδατος, στήλας δύο ποιησάμενοι τὴν μὲν ἐκ πλίνθου…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.2c. AD 100

καὶ πάλιν λέγει ὁ προφήτης, ἐπεὶ ὡς λίθος ἰσχυρὸς ἐτέθη εἰς συντριβήν: Ἰδού, ἐμβαλῶ εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, ἐκλεκτόν, ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἔντιμον.

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
O.Claud. 4 885Mons ClaudianusAD 150–AD 154

ἐπίτροπον καὶ σοὶ ἀπεσταλκέναι περὶ τοῦ δηλωθῆναι αὐτῷ τοὺς ἀποκειμένους ἐν τῷ μετάλλῳ λίθους τῆς αὐτοῦ κοπῆς εἰς πρὸ μιᾶς Καλανδῶν Ἰανουαρίων. εὖ οὖν ποιήσεις καὶ ἐμοὶ ἐγγράφως

O.Claud. 4 888Mons ClaudianusAD 150–AD 154

Παλαις Ἀθηνοδώρῳ τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ χαίρειν. γείνωσκε ὅτι … ἤδη γ λίθους ἄνω ἐν τῇ λατομίᾳ ἕτερον συλλέγοντα πόδας ιβ ἕτερον … τὸν δὲ ἕτερον πόδας

O.Claud. 4 892Mons ClaudianusAD 150–AD 154

μιν καὶ ἐλαῖαι τεσσεράκοντα καὶ κρομμύδια. ἴσθι δὲ τὸν κῆπον τετραυματισμένον ἅλι. οὐδέπω ὁ λίθος ἐστράφη. οὔπω οὐδὲν καινότερον. ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχομαι εὐτυχῶς. ἀσπάζου τὸν κουράτορα καὶ Σαραπιόδωρον ἐὰν

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
μετὰmeta with G3326 Preposition
470× 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
Means with or after, showing accompaniment, as in being among a group or following someone, like Jesus with his disciples in Mark 1:13. It can also show cause and effect. The KJV translates it as after, among, or with. It is used in many New Testament books, including Matthew and Luke.
Amplified meaning
setting, placing on watch
Tyndale gloss
with/after
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μετά (transliterated as meta) is a preposition that can mean 'with,' 'among,' or 'after,' depending on the case it governs (genitive, accusative, or sometimes dative). In the New Testament, it is used to indicate association or companionship, as in Mark 1:29, and to denote sequence in time or place, as seen in Hebrews 9:3. The entries do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μετά (before vowel μετ’; on the neglect of elision in certain cases, V. WH, App., 146b),

prep. c. gen., acc. (in poet, also c. dat.),

[in LXX for אֵת, עִם, אַחַד, etc.;].

C. gen.,

among, amid: Mk 1:13, Lk 22:37 (LXX, ἐν) 24:5, Jo 18:5, al.; διωγμῶν, Mk 10:30.

Of association and companionship, with (in which sense it gradually superseded σύν, than which it is much more freq. in NT; cf. Bl., § 42, 3): c. gen. pers., Mt 8:11 20:20, Mk 1:29 3:7, Lk 5:30, Jo 3:22, Ga 2:1, al. mult.; εἶναι μετά…

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

μετά, [on its neylect of elision before proper names beginning with a vowel, and before sundry other words (at least in Tdf.’s text) see Tdf. Proleg. p. 95; cf. WH. Intr. p- 146°; W.§ 5,1a.; B. p. 10], a preposition, akin to μέσος (as Germ. mit to Mitte, mitten) and hence prop. in the midst of, amid, denoting association, union, accompaniment; [but some recent etymologists doubt its kinship to μέσος ; some connect it rather with ἅμα, Germ. sammt, ef. Curtius § 212; Vaniéek p. 972]. It takes the gen. and ace. (in the Grk. poets also the dat.). [On the distinetion between μετά and σύν, see σύν, init. ] I. with the Genitive (Sept. for ΠΝ, DY, WM, ete.); among, with, [ef. W. 376 (352) sq.]; 1. amid, among ; a. prop.: μετὰ τῶν νεκρῶν, among the dead, Lk. xxiv. 5 (μετὰ νεκρῶν κείσομαι, Eur. Hee. 209; θάψετέ με μετὰ τῶν πατέρων μου, Gen. xlix. 29 Sept.; μετὰ ζώντων εἶναι, to be among the…

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

μετά. In the NT (as in classical prose) μετά is construed only with the gen. and the acc., and the various shades of meaning connected with these two usages can be readily illustrated from our sources. (1) c. gen.—(a) For the ordinary meaning ‘‘ with,” ‘in company with,” we may cite P Eleph 11° (B.c. 311-10) (= Selections, p. 4) τοὶ pera Δημητρίας, “those acting with Demetria,’’ P Tebt I. 3519 (B.C. 111) ὃς κ[α]ὶ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν ὑπὸ | τὴν ἐντολὴν e(om.) ὑπογράφει, ‘* who shall append his signature to the edict together with yours ” (Edd.), P Amh IT. 1355} | (early 1i/A.D.) ἐρρῶσθαί σε ed ) μετὰ τῶν τέ δ: A parallel to this &r. εἰρ. = ‘‘partition-wall” (Eph 214). (early ΠΑ: ἐρρῷσθαύσε etx (ou) here rey τευ ΠΣ a pray for your health and for that of your children” (Edd.), P Oxy III. 5314 (ii/A.D.) ἡδέως σε ἀσπαζόμεθα πάντες οἱ ἐν (= Selections, p. 102) καλῶς ἐποίησες οὐκ ἀπένηχές (/, ἀπήνεγκες)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μετά (meta) — with/after.

μετά [ᾰ,

but ᾱ in [Refs 5th c.BC+]], poetry μεταί, uncertain, only in μεταιβολί; Aeolic dialect, Doric dialect, [Refs 4th c.AD+]: preposition with genitive, dative, and accusative (Cf. Goth. mip, OHG. miti, mit 'with'.)

__A WITH GEN. (in which use μ. gradually superseded σύν, which see),

__A.I in the midst of, among, between, with plural Nouns, μετ᾽ ἄλλων λέξο ἑταίρων [Refs 8th c.BC+] with one, [Refs 5th c.BC+], i.e. among no men, [Refs]

__A.II in common, along with, by aid of (implying a closer union than σύν), μ. Βοιωτῶν ἐμάχοντο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; συνδιεπολέμησαν τὸν πόλεμον μ. Ἀθηναίων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μ. τῆς βουλῆς in co-operation with the council, [Refs 8th c.BC+] with, i.e. by aid of, Athena, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; μ. τινὸς πάσχειν, δρᾶν τι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μ. τινὸς εἶναι to be on one's side, [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μετά

meta

a primary preposition (often used adverbially); properly, denoting

accompaniment; "amid" (local or causal); modified variously according

to the case (genitive association, or accusative succession) with

which it is joined; occupying an intermediate position between 575 or

1537 and 1519 or 4314; less intimate than 1722 and less close than

4862):--after(-ward), X that he again, against, among, X and,

+ follow, hence, hereafter, in, of, (up-)on, + our, X and

setting, since, (un-)to, + together, when, with (+ -out). Often used

in composition, in substantially the same relations of participation

or proximity, and transfer or sequence.

see GREEK for 4314

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1722

see GREEK for 4862

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μετά

Prep.

with, after

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μετά meta 469x

(1) gen., with, together with, Mt. 16:27; 12:41; 26:55; with, on the same side or party with, in aid of, Mt. 12:30; 20:20; with, by means of, Acts 13:17; with, of conflict, Rev. 11:7; with, among, Lk. 24:5; with, to, towards, Lk. 1:58, 72; (2) acc., after, of place, behind, Heb. 9:3; of time, after, Mt. 17:1; 24:29; followed by an infin. with the neut. article, after, after that, Mt.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μετά in the midst of, among with gen., dat., and acc.

Prep. with gen., dat., and acc.

WITH GEN. in the midst of, among a number, μετ᾽ ἄλλων ἑταίρων Od.; πολλῶν μετὰ δούλων Aesch.

in common, along with, μετὰ Βοιωτῶν ἐμάχοντο Il.; μ. ξυμμάχων κινδυνεύειν Thuc.; μετά τινος πάσχειν, στῆναι Aesch., Soph.

with, by means of, ἱκετεύειν μετὰ δακρύων Plat.; μετ᾽ ἀρετῆς πρωτεύειν Xen.:—as a periphr. for Adverbs, ὁσίως καὶ μετ᾽ ἀληθείας Plat.

WITH DAT., only poet., mostly epic,

properly of persons, among, in company with, μετὰ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν in or among the third generation Nestor reigned, Il.

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

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%with
with74% · 350×after21% · 99×other renderings5% · 24×

473 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 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%predicate18%subject2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 470 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
ἀποκτείνωI put to death, λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, go
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theμήNegκαίand, even, also,
Article the
καίand, even, also,οὐδέNegεἷςone
αὐτός
πατήρfather, Father, ἄγγελοςan angel, messenμέροςa part, portion
ἐγώ
ὁράωI see, look uponπαιδίονa little child, παραδίδωμιI hand over, del
μετάwith470×
what comes after →
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciπνεῦμαwind, breath, spτελώνηςa collector of t
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,εἰμίI am, existArticle the
ἐγώ
εἰμίI am, existἐνArticle the
οὗτος
ὁράωI see, look uponἐξέρχομαιI go out, come oλέγωI say, speak
σύ
εἰμίI am, existἔτιstill, yet, evenκαινόςfresh, new

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

Concordanceμετά · 470× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Mark Revelation Hebrews 1 Corinthians 1 Timothy 1 John 2 Corinthians Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament24 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 930 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 26c. AD 40

χρόνος γὰρ οὐκ ἦν πρὸ κόσμου, ἀλλ’ ἢ σὺν αὐτῷ γέγονεν ἢ μετ’ αὐτόν·

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

ὡς ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐγένετο καὶ ὃν τρόπον Νῶχος σωθεὶς ἐν λάρνακι μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν κατῴκησεν ἐν τῷ Σινάρῳ πεδίῳ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.5c. AD 100

λογισάμενος οὖν τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐὰν μελήσῃ μοι περὶ ὑμῶν τοῦ μέρος τι μεταδοῦναι ἀφ̓ οὗ ἔλαβον, ὅτι ἔσται μοι τοιούτοις πνεύμασιν ὑπηρετήσαντι εἰς μισθόν, ἐσπούδασα κατὰ μικρὸν ὑμῖν πέμπειν, ἵνα μετὰ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν τελείαν ἔχητε τὴν γνῶσιν.

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

τῶν συνκυρόντων πάντων ὧν κεκράτηκεν ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν ἐφʼ ὅσον περιῆι χρόνον, ἡμῶν δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν τῶν λοιπῶν κρατουσῶν, Ἀρίστων Ἀθηνοδότου τῶν ἀπὸ Διὸς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης

P.Grenf. 1 33Thebais104 BC

Ἀράβισσα ὡς ἐτῶν κζ μέση μελίχρως λεύκωμα ὀφθαλμόν, μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύρριν αἱ τρεῖς τῶν Ψεμμίνιος μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ ἑαυτῶν ἀδελφοῦ Παχνούβιος τοῦ προγεγραμμένου καὶ συνπωλουμένου, ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπαρχούσης αὐτοῖς πατρικῆς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

Διοπολίτου ἐπὶ … τοῦ παρὰ … ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο Ὧρος Ἑρμίου ὡς ἐτῶν δέκα δύο μετὰ προσπωλουμένης τῆς Ὥρου συγγενοῦς Ἀρσινόης τῆς Βελλέους ὡς ἐτῶν κβ μέσης μελιχρόου στρογγυλοπροσώπου εὐθύρινος

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
τῆςho the G3588 Article · genitive · singular · feminine
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-GSF — Article · genitive · singular · feminine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
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

<the> And having gone they made secure the tomb having sealed the stone with the guard.
κουστωδίας.¶koustōdia guard. G2892 Noun · genitive · singular · feminine
3× 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 Roman sentry or guard is referred to as 'koustodia' in the Bible, such as the guards stationed at Jesus' tomb in Matthew 27:65-66 and 28:11. These soldiers were tasked with keeping watch over the tomb.
Amplified meaning
Roman sentry, watchmen
Tyndale gloss
guard
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word κουστωδία (koustodia) means 'guard' and is derived from Latin. It refers specifically to a watch or custody, particularly in the context of Roman soldiers, as seen in the New Testament passages Matthew 27:65, 66 and 28:11. The entries consistently emphasize its meaning related to guarding or watching.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

*† κουστωδία, -ας, ἡ, (Lat. custodia),

a guard: Mt 27:65, 66 28:11.†

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

κουστωδία, -ας [B. 17 (16) ], ἡ, (a Lat. word), guard: used of the Roman soldiers guarding the sepulchre of Christ, Mt. xxvii. 65 sq.; xxviii. 11. (Ev. Nic. ¢. 13.)

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

κουστωδία. P Oxy II. 294? (A.D. 22) (= Selections, p. 35) ἐν κοσ[τ]ωδε[ίᾳ εἰσί is, so faras we know, the earliest ex. of this borrowed word. For the spelling κουστωδία, as in Mt 27%f, 284, cf P Ryl II. 189?(a.p, 128) δημοσίο(υ) ἱματισμοῦ κουστωδιῶν, ‘‘ public clothing for the guards”: see also Hatzidakis Gy. p. 109. Ina fragmentary report referring to the Jewish War of Trajan, P Par 684-8, we find κωστωδία —raira ἐγένετο ὅτι τινὰς ἐπὶ κωστωδίαν ἥρπασαν καὶ [τοὺς ἁρπασθέντ]ας ἐτραυμάτισαν : the word is similarly restored in BGU I. 341° (ii/A.D.).

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κουστωδία (koustōdia) — guard.

κουστωδία, ἡ,

= Latin custodia, [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

κουστωδία

koustodia

of Latin origin; "custody", i.e. a Roman sentry:--watch.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κουστωδία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

a guard

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κουστωδία koustōdia 3x

a watch, guard, Mt. 27:65, 66; 28:11*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κουστωδία κουστωδία, ἡ, the Lat. custodia, NTest.

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

N-GSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gard:

(1) sar ha-Tabbachim, "captain of the guard," literally, "slaughterers" (Ge 37:36; 39:1; 40:3,1; 41:10,12); rabh Tabbachim (2Ki 25:8,11,20; Jer 39:9, etc.); rabh tabbachayyah (Da 2:14); ratsim, "guard," the King James Version "footmen" (1Sa 22:17); sare ha-ratsim, "chief of the guard" the King James Version "captains of the guard" (1Ki 14:27); ta' ha-ratsim, "guard-chamber" (1Ki 14:28; compare Eze 40:21, etc., where "lodges" are "guardrooms"; see A.B.…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Guard

(1.) Heb. tabbah (properly a “cook,” and in a secondary sense “executioner,” because this office fell to the lot of the cook in Eastern countries), the bodyguard of the kings of Egypt (Gen. 37:36) and Babylon (2 Kings 25:8; Jer. 40:1; Dan. 2:14).

(2.) Heb. rats, properly a “courier,” one whose office was to run before the king’s chariot (2 Sam. 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5). The couriers were also military guards (1 Sam. 22:17; 2 Kings 10:25). They were…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ See WATCHMAN

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%guard
guard100% · 3×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object33%adverbial33%subject33%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
μετάτὶς
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
ΠιλᾶτοςPilate
κουστωδίαguard.
what comes after →
ὑπάγωI go away, depart
ἀσφαλίζωI make safe
ἔρχομαιI come, go
εἰς

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

Concordanceκουστωδία · 3× in the New Testament
Matthew
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
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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