Menu

Mark 12:3 — Word Study

Depth

N1904οἱ καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

BSA<the>ho Butde having takenlambanō [grabbed hold of, took] himautos [work-man, messenger] they beat [him]derō [beat up, flay] andkai they sent [him] awayapostellō [dispatched, set apart, back] empty-handed.kenos [with nothing, devoid of anything]

Word
Listen & take awayMark 12
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 3 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 (kenos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Mark 12:3quick helps
In a sentenceThe tenants violently mistreat the servant sent to collect the owner's share.
Who is speakingThe owner of the vineyard, represented through the parable told by Jesus.
Where we areThe parable of the wicked tenants, illustrating the rejection of God's messengers.
The hard wordλαβόντες
Take awayThe servant is sent away without receiving anything.
6 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subject verbλαμβάνω 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 — Mark 12:3

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

Context — The Parable of the Wicked Tenantsgenerated

2At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard.
3But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
4Then he sent them another servant, and they struck him over the head and treated him shamefully.
5He sent still another, and this one they killed. He sent many others; some they beat and others they killed.

Mark 12:3 describes how the tenants of a vineyard violently seized the servant sent by the owner to collect his share of the harvest. This event is part of a larger parable where Jesus illustrates the rejection of God's prophets and messengers throughout history, culminating in the rejection of His own Son. The actions of the tenants reflect a broader theme of disobedience and violence against those sent by God, as seen in the Old Testament examples of prophets being mistreated.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
11 Kings 18:4–13for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
21 Kings 19:10–14“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
31 Kings 22:27and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”
42 Chronicles 16:10Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
52 Chronicles 24:19–21Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them; but they would not listen.

The Key Word λαβόντες, lambanōgenerated

The word λαμβάνω (lambanō) means 'to take' or 'to receive,' indicating an action of seizing or grasping. In this context, it is a second aorist participle, suggesting a completed action of taking the servant.

This participle is used to describe the tenants' violent action against the servant, emphasizing their aggression. The plural masculine form indicates that multiple tenants are involved in this act of seizing.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.' This wording is consistent across several translations.

However, variations appear in the rendering of specific terms. For example, λαβόντες is translated as 'took' in the KJV and ASV, while the YLT uses 'having taken.' Similarly, ἀπέστειλαν is generally translated as 'sent' across most versions, but the YLT uses 'send.' The term κενόν appears as 'empty' in many translations, while the BBE and FBV render it as 'with nothing.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἔδειραν, they beat, which governs the actions of the tenants. The structure includes a participial phrase λαβόντες, having taken, describing the tenants' action before the beating, and a second verb ἀπέστειλαν, they sent, which completes the sequence of actions.

The verse is built around a series of actions taken by the tenants, showing a clear progression from seizing the servant to beating him and finally sending him away empty-handed.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

λαμβάνω has a connection in the Septuagint, where it translates the Hebrew word לָקַח (laqach), meaning 'to take.' This word appears in various contexts, indicating the act of taking or receiving.

ἀποστέλλω, used here as 'to send away,' corresponds to the Hebrew שָׁלַח (shalach), which also means 'to send.' This connection emphasizes the continuity of God sending messengers throughout the biblical narrative.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Mark 12:3 tells us that the tenants of the vineyard seized the servant sent by the owner, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. This illustrates the rejection and mistreatment of God's messengers, reflecting a broader theme in the parables of Jesus.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that they seized the servant?

It indicates that the tenants violently took hold of the servant, showing their rejection of his authority and mission.

Why did they beat the servant?

The beating signifies their hostility and contempt for the messenger sent by the owner, reflecting the treatment of prophets throughout history.

What does 'empty-handed' imply in this context?

It means that the servant left without receiving what was due to him, symbolizing the failure of the tenants to honor their obligations.

How does this parable relate to the broader message of the Gospel?

This parable illustrates the rejection of God's messengers, culminating in the rejection of Jesus Himself, highlighting the consequences of disobedience.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways do I see people rejecting God's messages today?
  2. How can I respond to those who mistreat or reject the truth?
  3. What does it mean for me to be a faithful messenger of God's word?
  4. How can I ensure that I am not like the tenants who rejected the servant?

Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Mark 12:3 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And they caught him,.... This clause is left out in the Syriac and Persic versions, though it seems proper to be retained; and denotes the rudeness and violence with which the prophets of the Lord

Read John Gill on Mark 12 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

Read Robert Jamieson on Mark 12 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. Ver. 3. And beat him] Properly, they hild (tanned) him; but by a metonymy, they beat him. Sic percutimus vulpem, ut pellis ei detrahatur; so men beat a fox that they may the better skin him. (Äåñù proprie excorio, pellem detraho. Gerhard.) A figure of speech which consists in substituting for the name of a thing the name of an attribute of it or of something closely related. ŒD

Read John Trapp on Mark 12 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XII. (1-12) And he began to speak unto them by parables.—See Notes on Matthew 21:33-36. The parable which, like that of the Sower, and like that only, is related in all the first three Gospels, was one which had obviously impressed itself strongly, as that had done, on the minds of those who heard it, and was reproduced by independent reporters with an almost textual exactness. A place for the winefat.—Better, simply, a vine vat.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Mark 12 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. they caught him] The gradual growth of the outrage is clearly traced: (i) The first servant they “caught, beat, and sent away empty;” (ii) at the second they “cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled;” (iii) the third “they killed.”

Read Cambridge on Mark 12 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

3. Beat him, and sent him away empty — Mark minutely describes the gradual climax of their advancing villany. This servant was only beaten and dismissed empty, that is, without any payment or rentage.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Mark 12 →

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

But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

NETBNew English Translation2006

But those tenants seized his slave, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And they caught him , and beat him and sent him away empty.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

But they tooke him, and beat him, and sent him away emptie.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

But they took him, and beat [him], and sent [him] away empty.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and they, having taken him, did severely beat [him], and did send him away empty.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and they, having taken him, severely beat [him], and sent him away empty.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

But they took him, beat him, and sent him away with nothing.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Who having laid hands on him, beat him, and sent him away empty.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

But they grabbed hold of him, beat him up, and sent him away with nothing.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And they took him, and gave him blows, and sent him away with nothing.

Word by word, the decisions they made

λαβόντεςlambanō having taken G2983 3 different renderings
tookASV BBE DBY RVA ULB WEB
having takenLSV YLT
grabbed hold ofFBV
ἀπέστειλανapostellō they sent [him] away G649 2 different renderings
sentASV BBE BSB DBY DRA FBV GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
sendYLT
κενόν.kenos empty-handed. G2756 2 different renderings
emptyASV BSB DBY DRA KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA WEB YLT
with nothingBBE FBV ULB

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.

clauseκαὶButclauseclauseclause · adverbialverbλαβόντεςhaving takenobjectαὐτὸνhimverbἔδειρανthey beat [him]καὶandclauseverbἀπέστειλανsent [him] awayadverbialκενόνempty-handed

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

Qui apprehensum eum ceciderunt, et dimiserunt vacuum.

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 ܡܚܐܘܗܝ ܘܫܕܪܘܗܝ ܟܕ ܣܦܝܩ

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

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


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

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

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

οἱ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

οἱ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔδειραν καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
οἱ <the>TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Treg, Tyn
καὶ ButNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

Apparatus — SBL Greek New Testament, CC BY 4.0


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.

Mark 12:3<the><the>καίButButκαίλαμβάνωhaving takehaving takenλαμβάνωαὐτόςhimhimαὐτόςδέρωthey beat [they beat [him]δέρωκαίandandκαίἀποστέλλωthey sent [they sent [him]ἀποστέλλωκενόςempty-handeempty-handed.κενόςδέχομαιv. I take,v. I take, receδέχομαιἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόαἱρέωv. I choosv. I choose, prαἱρέωἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦἐξαποστέλλωv. I send v. I send forthἐξαποστέλλωἄρτοςn.m. breadn.m. bread, a lἄρτοςμισθόςn.m. wagesn.m. wages, rewμισθόςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωκενόςAdj empty,Adj empty, vainκενόςδύοAdj. & IndAdj. & Indec.nuδύοκήρυγμαn.n. a pron.n. a proclamaκήρυγμα
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 Mark 12:3

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> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
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 Mark 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.

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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.

Read the full entry →
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> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
καὶde But G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίBut8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
λαβόντεςlambanō having taken G2983 Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
258× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To take or receive something, like in Matthew 26:26, where Jesus takes bread and breaks it. It can also mean to accept or obtain something, and is often translated as receive or accept in the KJV.
Amplified meaning
grabbed hold of, took
Tyndale gloss
to take
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λαμβάνω (lambanō) means both 'to take' and 'to receive,' covering a wide range of applications from literal actions like grasping or seizing to more abstract uses such as accepting ideas or concepts. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in contexts involving physical actions (e.g., taking bread in Mt 26:26) or receiving something (e.g., receiving a message in Jn 6:21). The lexicons note that the word can also imply a sense of violence or urgency in some contexts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λαμβάνω,

[in LXX chiefly for לקח, also for נשׂא, לכד, אחז, etc.;]

to take, lay hold of: absol., Mt 26:26, Mk 14:22; c. acc. rei, Mt 5:40 26:52, al. mult.; c. acc. pers., Mt 21:35, Mk 12:3, al.; pleonastic λαβών (M, Pr., 230; Bl., §74, 2), Mt 13:31 14:19, al.; so also indic., Mk 7:27, Jo 19:1, 40, Re 8:5, al.; metaph., c. acc. rei, ἀφορμήν, Ro 7:8, 11; ὑδόδειγμα, Ja 5:10; id. c. acc. pers.…

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

λαμβάνω; impf. ἐλάμβανον; fut. λήψομαι, (LT Tr WH λήμψομαι, an Alexandrian form; 568 8. v. M, μ); 2 aor. ἔλαβον (2 pers. plur. once [in Tdf. 7 after B*] ἐλάβατε, 1 Jn. ii. 27; see reff. s. v. ἀπέρχομαι, init.), impv. λάβε (Rey. x. 8 54.), not λαβέ (W. § 6,1 a.; B. 62 (54)); pf. εἴληφα, 2 pers. εἴληφας [and εἴληφες (Rev. xi. 17 WHI; see xomidw); on the use of the pf. interchangeably with an aor. (Rey. v. 7; viii. 5, ete.) οἵ. B. 197 (170) ; W. 272 (255); Jebb in Vincent and Dickson’s Mod. Grk. 2d ed. App. §§ 67, 68], ptep. εἰληφώς ; [Pass., pres. ptep. λαμβανόμενος ; pf. 3 pers. sing. εἴληπται, Jn. viii. 4 ὙΠ το. (rejected section)]; Sept. hundreds of times for n>), very often for 8wW3, also for 729 and several times for 108; [fr. Hom. down]; I. to take,i.e. 1. to take with the hand, lay hold of, any pers. or thing in order to use it: absol., where the context shows what is taken, Mt.…

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

λαμβάνω in its ordinary sense of ‘‘ receive,” ‘‘ get,” as in Mt 78, Jn 357, is naturally very common, e.g. P Giss I. 67° (ii/a.p.) ἔλαβόν σου ἐπιστολήν, P Ryl II. 122} (a.p. 127) λαβὼν τὸ πιττάκιον τὸ ἀκόλουθον ποίει, “on receipt of this document, act in accordance with it” (Edd.), P Fay 1274 (ii/iii a.p.) | ἐὰ (= ἐὰν) λάβητε φαγὸν πέμψαι ἐμοὶ διὰ Karolrov, “if you get any lentils send them to me by Katoitus " (Edd.), and 76, 1355 (iv/A.D.) τὰ ἀργύρια ἃ ἔλαβες, “money which you received.” Similarly in connexion with money receipts, as 26. 1098 (early i/A.D.) ἀποχὴν θέλω λαβεῖν, “1 wish to get a receipt,” 20. 2113 (A.D. 134) ἀλλήλ[οις] ἀποχὰς τούς τε διδόντας καὶ τοὺς λαμβάν[ο]ντας, ‘‘that payer and payee shall mutually give receipts’’ (Edd.). Wilcken Ostr. i. p. 109 has pointed out that in the case of all ostraca receipts known to him the writers were Romans, but see 7hed Ostr 1058…

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

λαμβάνω (lambanō) — to take.

λαμβάνω,

future λήψομαι (λήψω only late, variant in [LXX]; Ionic dialect λάψομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Doric dialectfuture 2nd pers. singular λαψῇ [Refs 5th c.BC+], infinitive λαμψεῖσθαι [Refs 2nd c.BC+]aorist 2 ἔλᾰβον, Epic dialect ἔλλᾰβον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect Iterat. λάβεσκον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; written λάβε in middle Ms. of [Refs 4th c.BC+] Attic dialectaccusative to [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: perfect εἴληφα [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect, Doric dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive λελαβήκειν [Refs]: pluperfect εἰλήφειν [Refs 5th c.BC+] (κατα-); Doric dialect perfect subjunctive 3rd.pers. singular (παρ-) λελόνβῃ [Refs] —middle, aorist 2 ἐλαβόμην, Epic dialect ἐλλ-, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect reduplicate λελαβέσθαι [Refs]:—passive, future ληφθήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐλήφθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ἐλάφθην [Refs 5th…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

λαμβάνω

lambano

a prolonged form of a primary verb, which is use only as an alternate

in certain tenses; to take (in very many applications, literally and

figuratively (properly objective or active, to get hold of; whereas

1209 is rather subjective or passive, to have offered to one; while

138 is more violent, to seize or remove)):--accept, + be amazed,

assay, attain, bring, X when I call, catch, come on (X unto), +

forget, have, hold, obtain, receive (X after), take (away, up).

see GREEK for 1209

see GREEK for 138

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λαμβάνω

v.

I receive, take

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λαμβάνω lambanō 258x

to take, take up, take in the hand, Mt. 10:38; 13:31, 33; to take on one’s self, sustain, Mt. 8:17; to take, seize, seize upon, Mt. 5:40; 21:34; Lk. 5:26; 1 Cor. 10:13; to catch, Lk. 5:5; 2 Cor. 12:16; to assume, put on, Phil. 2:7; to make a rightful or successful assumption of, Jn. 3:27; to conceive, Acts 28:15; to take by…

Read the full entry →
Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

λαμβάνω from Root ΛΑΒ The orig. sense of the word is two-fold, one (more active) to take, and the other (more passive) to receive

to take:

to take hold of, grasp, seize, Hom., etc.; the part seized in gen., the whole in acc., τὴν πτέρυγος λάβεν caught her by the wing, Il.; γούνων λάβε κούρην Od., etc.:—then, with gen. of part only, ποδῶν, γούνων, κόρυθος λάβεν took hold of the feet, etc., Il.

to take by violence, seize, carry off as prize or booty, Hom.

λ. δίκην, ποινάς, Lat. sumere poenas, to exact punishment, Eur., etc.; v. infr. II. 3.

of passions, feelings, etc., to seize, Hom., etc.; of fever and sudden illnesses, to attack, Hdt., attic

of a deity, to seize, possess, τινά Hdt.: of darkness, and the like, to occupy, possess, Aesch.

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAP-NPM — Verb · second 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-2AAP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
18%having taken
having taken18% · 48×receive8% · 20×having received7% · 18×took6% · 16×take4% · 11×receiving4% · 10×receives4% · 10×do take3% · 9×other renderings46% · 123×

265 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 76 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 258 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
αὐτόςλαμβάνωI receive, takeλέγωI say, speak
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ὅςἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
αὐτός
δέbut, on the otheεἰςἐσθίωI eat
ὅς
σίναπιmustardζύμηleaven, fermentδιακονίαwaiting at table
Article the
γάρforσύθεόςGod, a god
λαμβάνωhaving taken258×
what comes after →
Article the
ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fβιβλίονa papyrus rollχάραγμαsculpture, a sta
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἀναγγέλλωI announce, makeζωήlife
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,εἰςσύ
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,δουλείαslavery, bondageυἱοθεσίαadoption
γυνήa woman, wife, my la
ἐγκρύπτωI hide in, mix wκαίand, even, also,κρύπτωI hide, conceal,

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

Concordanceλαμβάνω · 258× in the New Testament
Matthew John Acts Revelation Luke Mark Hebrews 1 Corinthians Romans 2 Corinthians James 1 John

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 650 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 54c. AD 40

εἶθ’, οἷα φιλεῖ, προσπεριειργάζετο, τίς ἡ τῶν ὁρατῶν δὴ τούτων οὐσία καὶ εἰ ἀγένητοι πεφύκασιν ἢ γενέσεως ἔλαβον ἀρχὴν καὶ τίς ὁ τρόπος τῆς κινήσεως καὶ τίνες αἱ αἰτίαι δι’ ὧν ἕκαστα οἰκονομεῖται·

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

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.5c. 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 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Gen. 1 20Pathyris110 BC

Λατοπολίτου, ἣν ἐωνήσατο ἐκ βασιλικοῦ ἐν τῶι ε ἔτει πρὸς τὰ ταύτης ἐκφόρια, καὶ λαβὼν τὴν εἰθισμένην διαγραφὴν ἐπικεχωρηκέναι ταύτηι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δ μερίδα, ὃς καὶ παρὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ

P.Bad. 2 3Pathyris110 BC

Λατοπολίτου, ἣν ἐωνήσατο ἐκ βασιλικοῦ ἐν τῷ πέμπτωι ἔτει πρὸς τὰ τῆς γῆς ἐκφόρια λαβὼν τὴν εἰθισμένην διαγραφήν. ὁ Ἁρκοννῆσις ἐπικεχώρηκεν ταύτῃ τὴν τετάρτην μερίδα πρὸς πυροῦ ἀρτάβας δέκα

P.Grenf. 2 37Pathyris109 BC

τῆς κώμης καθέσταται Πατσεοῦς Πατῆτος ὁ τὴν ἐντολὴν ἐπιδεικνὺς χειρογραφήσας ὡς εἴθισται καὶ διαστολὴν λαβὼν προ

<the> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
αὐτὸνautos him G846 Personal pronoun · accusative · singular · masculine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Amplified meaning
work-man, messenger
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-ASM — Personal pronoun · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-ASM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςhim5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
ἔδειρανderō they beat [him] G1194 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
15× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To flay or scourge means to beat or thrash someone, like the way Jesus was treated in Matthew 21:35 and Mark 12:3.
Amplified meaning
beat up, flay
Tyndale gloss
to beat up
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δέρω (derō) means to skin or flay, often used in a metaphorical sense to mean to beat or thrash. It appears in various New Testament passages, including Matthew 21:35 and Mark 12:3. The word has roots in both physical and figurative contexts, with some lexicons noting its colloquial use to mean 'thrash.' There is a slight variation in how some lexicons interpret its metaphorical applications.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δέρω

[in LXX: Le 1:6, II Ch 29:34 35:11 (פָּשַׁט hi.)* ;]

to skin, flay.

(of. Eng. slang, hide) to beat, thrash: c. acc, Mt 21:35, Mk 12:3, 5, Lk 20:10, 11 22:63, Jo 18:23, Ac 5:40 16:37 22:19; ὡς ἀέρα δέρων, I Co 9:26; εἰς πρόσωπου δ., II Co 11:20. Pass., Mk 13:9, Lk 12:47, 48 (δαρήσεται πολλάς, ὀλίγας, sc.…

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

δέρω; 1 aor. ἔδειμα : 2 fut. pass. δαρήσομαι; 1. to flay, skin: Hom. II. 1,459; 23, 167, ete. 2. to beat, thrash, smite, (cf. Germ. durchgerben, [low Eng. hide]), so sometimes in prof. auth. fr. Arstph. ran. 619 [ef. vesp. 485] down: τινά, Mt. xxi. 35; Mk. xii. 3,5; Lk. xx. 10 sq-; xxii. 63; Jn. xviii. 23; Acts v. 40; xvi. 37; xxii. 19; εἰς πρόσωπον δέρειν τινά, 2 Co. xi. 20; ἀέρα δέρειν (see ἀήρ), 1 Co. ix. 26; Pass.: Mk. xiii. 9; Lk. xii. 47 (δαρήσεται πολλάς, sc. πληγάς, will be beaten with many stripes) ; 48, (ὀλίγας, cf. Xen. an. 5, 8, 12 παίειν ὀλίγας. Soph. El. 1415 παίειν διπλῆν, Arstph. nub. 968 (972) τύπτεσθαι πολλάς. Plat. lege. 8 p. 845 a. μαστιγοῦσθαι πληγάς; cf. [W. 589 (548)]; B. [82 (72)]: § 134, 6).

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

δέρω. P Oxy III. 653 (4) (before Ap. 161) shows us this word in its colloquial sense—first found in Aristophanes—of SObeatecn ‘‘thrash” instead of ‘‘flay.” In the account of a trial regarding a mortgage upon the property of Voltimus which had been seized by the creditor, Sempronius Orestinus, the Praefect informs the latter that unless he makes restitution - οὐ μόνον κατακριθήσει ἀλλὰ Kal δαρήσίει. So in Sy// 7379 (c. A.D. 175) ἔστω δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπιτείμια καὶ τῷ δαρέντι καὶ μὴ ἐπεξελθόντι παρὰ τῷ ἱερεῖ ἢ τῷ ἀρχιβάκχῳ, ἀλλὰ δημοσίᾳ ἐνκαλέσαντι : the δαρείς here has been called 6 πληγείς a little earlier. It may be noted that for the ordinary rendering of 2 Cor 112° εἴ τις εἰς πρόσωπον ὑμᾶς δέρει, ‘if any one smiteth you on the face,” Paspati suggests (see #xp III. i. p. 238) ‘Sif he upbraideth you to your face,’ in view of the MGr προσωποδέρει. The ordinary MGr verb δέρνω (aor. Sepa) = ‘‘…

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

δέρω (derō) — to beat up.

δέρω

[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—also δείρω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: imperfect ἔδερον [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect δέρον [Refs 8th c.BC+]: future δερῶ [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἔδειρα [Refs 8th c.BC+] —middle, see. {ἀναδέρω}:—passive, future δᾰρήσομαι [NT+2nd c.AD+]aorist ἐδάρην [ᾰ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; participle δαρθείς [Refs 4th c.BC+]perfect δέδαρμαι (see. below):— skin, flay, of animals, δ. βοῦς [Refs 8th c.BC+] 'flog a dead horse', [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀσκὸς δεδάρθαι to have one's skin flayed off, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; δερῶ σε θύλακον κλοπῆς I will make a thief's purse of your skin, [Refs 5th c.BC+] 'first catch your hare, then cook it', [Refs]; ἀέρα δέρειν 'plough the sands', [Refs]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέρω

dero

a primary verb; properly, to flay, i.e. (by implication) to scourge,

or (by analogy) to thrash:--beat, smite.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέρω

v.

I flay, flog, scourge, beat

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέρω derō 15x

to skin, flay; hence, to eat, scourge, beat, Mt. 21:35; Mk. 12:3, 5; 13:9

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δέρω to skin, flay, of animals, Hom., etc.:— ἀσκὸν δεδάρθαι to have one's skin flayed off, Solon; so, δερῶ σε θύλακον I will make a purse of your skin, Ar.

also (like the slang words to tan or hide) to cudgel, thrash, id. Ar.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
27%having beaten
having beaten27% · 4×beating27% · 4×they beat13% · 2×will be beaten with13% · 2×strikes7% · 1×you will be beaten7% · 1×strike you?7% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb80%adverbial20%

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
αὐτός
λαμβάνωI receive, takeθέλημαwill, wish, desiἐξαποστέλλωI send forth
μένDisj
ὅς
συναγωγήan assembly, congreg
εἰς
πληγήa blow, stripe, woun
ἄξιοςworthy, worthy o
κἀκεῖνος
δέbut, on the othe
δέρωthey beat [him]15×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀποστέλλωI send forth, seἐπίἀτιμάζωI disgrace, dish
ὅς
δέbut, on the othe
πολύςmuch, many, often
ὀλίγος& Adv
πᾶςall, the whole,
κενόςempty, vain, hollow

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

Concordanceδέρω · 15× in the New Testament
Luke Acts Mark 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians John Matthew
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
1st c. AD
JJP 18 (1974), p. 184 no. 6Bakchias (Arsinoites)AD 1–AD 200

ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ … ς δε … η οὐ μόνον ἀλλά με παρʼ ἕκαστα δέρων

<the> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
ἀπέστειλανapostellō they sent [him] away G649 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
131× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To send means to set apart or dispatch someone or something on a mission, as seen in Matthew 10:40 and Mark 12:2. This term is used to describe the act of giving someone a task or commission to fulfill.
Amplified meaning
dispatched, set apart, back
Tyndale gloss
to send
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀποστέλλω (i.e., *apostellō*) means to send away or dispatch, often with a specific mission or commission. It is used in various contexts, including sending persons like Christ and the apostles, as well as things like messages or commands. The New Testament frequently employs this term, notably in Matthew 10:40 and Luke 4:18. Different lexicons highlight its official or authoritative connotation compared to the more general term for sending.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπο-στέλλω,

[in LXX very freq., almost always for שׁלח;]

prop., to send away, to dispatch on service;

to send with a commission, or on service;

of persons: Christ, Mt 10:40; the apostles, 10:16; servants, Mk 12:2; angels, 13:27;

of things: ὄνος, Mt 21:3; τὸ δρέπανον, Mk 4:29; τ. λόγον, Ac 10:36; τ. ἐπαγγελίαν (i.e. the promised Holy Spirit), Lk 24:49, Rec.; seq. εἰς, Mt 20:2, Lk 11:49, Jo 3:17; ὀπίσω,

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

ἀπο-στέλλω; fut. ἀποστελῶ ; 1 aor. ἀπέστειλα; pf. ἀπέσταλκα, [3 pers. plur. ἀπέσταλκαν Acts xvi. 36 LT Tr WH (see γίνομαι init.) ; Pass., pres. drooreAAopat |; pf. ἀπέσταλpat; 2 aor. ἀπεστάλην ; [fr. Soph. down]; prop. to send off; sena away ; 1. to order (one) to go to a place ap6/ 5 τς ἀποστέλλω pointed; a. either persons sent with commissions, or things intended for some one. So, very frequently, Jesus teaches that God sent him, as Mt. x. 40; Mk. ix. 37; Lk. x.16; Jn. v. 36, ete. he, too, is said to have sent his apostles, i. 6. to have appointed them: Mk. vi. 7; Mt. x.16; Lk. xxii. 35; Jn. xx. 21, etc. messengers are sent: LK. vii. 3 ; ix. 52; x. 1; servants, Mk. vi. 27; xii. 2; Mt. xxi. 36; xxii. 3; an embassy, Lk. xiv. 32; xix. 14; angels, Mk. xiii. 27; Mt. xxiv. 31, ete. Things are said to be sent, which are ordered to be led away or conveyed to any one, as Mt. xxi. 3; Mk. xi. 3…

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

ἀποστέλλω. The verb is common in the sense of mz¢¢o. Thus P Par 32°° (B.c. 152) (= Witkowski?, p. 68) Καβάτοκον δ᾽ ἐπιτηρῶ, ἂν κατα[π]λῇ, ἀποστεῖλαί σοι, P Oxy IV. 744° (B.C. 1) (= Selections, p. 33) ἐὰν εὐθὺς ὀψώνιον λάβωμεν ἀποστελῶ

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀποστέλλω (apostellō) — to send.

ἀποστέλλω,

future -στελῶ: aorist ἀπέστειλα (see. below):— send off or away from, μή μ᾽.. τῆσδ᾽ ἀποστείλητε γῆς[Refs 5th c.BC+]; send away, banish, τὰ δίκαια[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, go away, depart, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. dispatch, on some mission or service, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently of messengers or forces, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἰκιστάς (as a form of banishment), [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, with infinitive, οἱ ἀποσταλέντες στρατεύεσθαι[Refs]

III. put off, doff, θαἰμάτια[Refs 5th c.BC+]

IV. intransitive, retire, withdraw, of the sea, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of persons, οἴκαδε[Refs 4th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀποστέλλω

apostello

from 575 and 4724; set apart, i.e. (by implication) to send out

(properly, on a mission) literally or figuratively:--put in, send

(away, forth, out), set (at liberty).

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 4724

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀποστέλλω

v.

I send forth, send, send away, dismiss

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀποστέλλω apostellō 132x

to send forth a messenger, agent, message, or command, Mt. 2:16; 10:5; to put forth into action, Mk. 4:29; to liberate, rid, Lk. 4:19; to dismiss, send away, Mk. 12:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀποστέλλω to send off or away from, γῆς, χθονός Soph., Eur.; ἔξω χθονός Eur.; ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Plat.: absol. to send away, banish, Soph., Eur.:—Pass. to go away, depart, set out, Soph., Eur.

to send off, despatch, on some service, Soph.; of troops and ships, Hdt., Thuc.

intr. to go back, retire, of the sea, Thuc.; of seamen, Dem.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
31%sent
sent31% · 42×he sent16% · 22×having sent9% · 12×has sent5% · 7×he may send2% · 3×have sent2% · 3×send forth2% · 3×send2% · 3×other renderings29% · 39×

134 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 38 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
verb96%adverbial2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 131 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
λίανvery, very much,δέρωI flay, flog, scθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
σύὁράωI see, look uponἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p
Article the
δέχομαιI take, receive,λιθοβολέωI stone, cast stἀλλάbut, except
αὐτός
μήNegἄρχωI beginεὐθέωςimmediately, soo
ὅς
ὅτιthat, since, becεἰςκαίand, even, also,
ἀποστέλλωthey sent [him] away131×
what comes after →
Article the
ἄγγελοςan angel, messenυἱόςa son, descendenδοῦλος (II)
πρός
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
αὐτός
εἰςκηρύσσωI proclaim, heraArticle the
ἐγώ
Article theεἰςκηρύσσωI proclaim, hera
εἰς
Article theὅλοςall, the whole, αὐτός

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

Concordanceἀποστέλλω · 131× in the New Testament
John Luke Acts Matthew Mark 1 John Revelation 1 Corinthians 1 Peter 2 Corinthians 2 Timothy Hebrews

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

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaThat the Worse Attacks the Better 5c. AD 40

καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς κοιλάδος τῆς Χεβρών, καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Συχέμ.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.167c. AD 75–95

φήσαντος δέ τινος αὐτῷ τῶν παρόντων ἐν Βηθλεέμῃ πόλει τεθεᾶσθαι Ἰεσσαίου μὲν υἱὸν, ἔτι δὲ παῖδα τὴν ἡλικίαν, εὐπρεπῆ δὲ καὶ καλὸν τά τε ἄλλα σπουδῆς ἄξιον καὶ δὴ καὶ ψάλλειν εἰδότα καὶ ᾄδειν ὕμνους καὶ πολεμιστὴν ἄκρον, πέμψας πρὸς τὸν Ἰεσσαῖον…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 14.9c. AD 100

καὶ πάλιν ὁ προφήτης λέγει: Πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ’ ἐμέ, οὖ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι ταπεινοῖς χάριν, ἀπέσταλκέν με ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν, κηρῦξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, καλέσαι ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτὸν καὶ…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Cair. Zen. 1 59047Alexandria258 BC

r Ἀμύντας Ζήνωνι χαίρειν. ἀπεστάλκαμεν Δεξίλαον πρὸς Ἀπολλώνιον κομίζοντα ἐπιστολὴν περὶ ἀνηλωμάτων. καλῶς ἂν οὖν ποιήσαις … τήν τε

P.Cair. Zen. 1 59049Memphites (?)258 BC

r Νίκων Ζήνωνι χαίρειν. ἀπόστειλόν τινα ὃς παραλήψεται τὸν χόρτον τὸν γινόμενον ἡμῖν παρὰ τῶν γεωργῶν καὶ Ἀπολλώνιον ὑπόμνησον

P.Edg. $1Alexandria258 BC

πόλει κομιῆι· καὶ τὴν ταχίστην, ἵνα γενόμενα ὡς ἂν παραγένηι εἰς πόλιν καταγάγηις ἡμῖν. ἀπεστάλκαμεν δέ σοι τὴν γραφὴν πάντων Ἕρμωνα κομίζοντα καὶ ἅμα ἵνα γένηται πρὸς τούτοις. ἔρρωσο.

<the> But having taken him they beat [him] and they sent [him] away empty-handed.
κενόν.kenos empty-handed. G2756 Adjective · accusative · singular · masculine
18× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means something is empty, either literally or figuratively, as seen in Ephesians 5:6 and Colossians 2:8. It can describe empty words or actions that have no purpose or value. The Bible uses this word to emphasize the importance of meaningful actions.
Amplified meaning
with nothing, devoid of anything
Tyndale gloss
empty
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κενός is an adjective meaning 'empty' or 'vain.' It can describe things that contain nothing or are devoid of value, as seen in various contexts in the New Testament, such as in Mark 12:3 and 1 Corinthians 15:10. The term also applies to people, indicating being empty-handed or lacking spiritual substance, as noted in James 2:20. The lexicons agree on its primary meanings, with no significant disagreement.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — κενός, μάταιος from a scan

THESE words nowhere in the N.T. occur together; but on several occasions in the Septuagint, as for instance at Job xx. Seen Xk es οὐ! 1%. Δ. clos ἐσ ie nC lemontaor Rome, Cor. 6; and not unfrequently in classical Greek; as in Sophocles (Hlec. 324); in Aristotle (Hthic. Nic. i. 2. 1); and in Plutarch (Adv. Colot. 17). We deal with them here solely in their ethical use; for seeing that μάταιος knows, at least in Scripture, no other use, it is only as ethically employed that κενός can be brought into comparison with it, or the words made the subject of discrimination. The first, κενός, is ‘ empty,’ ‘ leer,’ ‘ gehaltlos,’ ‘ inanis’ ; the second, μάταιος, ‘ vain,’ ‘ eitel ’ (‘idle’), ‘ erfolglos,’ ‘ vanus.’ In the first is characterized the hollowness, in the second the aimlessness, or, if we may use the word, the resultlessness, connected as it is with μάτην, of that to which this epithet…

Read the full entry →
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κενός, -ή, -όν,

[in LXX chiefly for ריק and cognate forms;]

empty (Ge 37:24, Jg 7:16). Metaph.,

empty, vain: λόγοι, Eph 5:6; ἀπάτη, Col 2:8; κήρυγμα, πίστις, I Co 15:14;

vain, fruitless: ἡ χάρις, I Co 15:10; κόπος, I Co 15:58; ἡ εἴσοδος, I Th 2:1; κενά, Ac 4:25(LXX); εἰς κενόν, in vain, to no purpose (Diod., LXX; cl. διὰ κενῆς),

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

κενός, -7, -όν, [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for DP, Ps PD ete., empty ; 1. prop. of places, vessels, ete., which contain nothing (Judg. vii. 16; Gen. xxxvii. 24); metaph. empty, vain; devoid of truth: λόγοι, Eph. v. 6 (Ex. v. 9); ἀπάτη. Col. ii. 8; κήρυγμα, πίστις, 1 Co. xy. 14. 57 of men, empty-handed; without a gift: ἀποστέλλειν and ἐξαποστέλλειν τινὰ κενόν (Gen. xxxi. 42; Deut. xv. 13; xvi. 16), Mk. xii.3; Lk.i.53; xx.10sq.; metaph. des¢itute of spiritual wealth, of one who boasts of his faith as a transcendent possession, yet is without the fruits of faith, Jas. ii. 20. 3. metaph. of endeavors, labors, acts, which result in nothing, vain, fruitless, without effect: ἡ χάρις. 1 Co. xv. 10; κόπος, ib. 58; ἡ εἴσοδος, 1 Th. ii. 1; neut. plur. κενά, things that will not succeed, Acts iv. 25 (fr. Ps. ii. 1); εἰς κενόν, in vain, to no purpose, [ef. W. 592 (551)]: 2 Co. vi.1; Gal. ii. 2; Phil.…

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

κενός (kenos) — empty.

κενός, ή, όν,

Ionic dialect and poetry κεινός [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect also κενεός, as always in [Refs 8th c.BC+] (except in Il.[same places], and κενός [Refs 8th c.BC+], and in Doric dialect, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; Aeolic dialect κέννος, accusative to Greg. Cor.p.610 [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but οἱ Αἰολεῖς.. οὐ λέγουσι κέννος Choerob.in [Refs], from κενϝος, kenevos,[Refs 5th c.AD+] κενευϝός [Refs]

I. mostly of things, empty, opposed to πλέως, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to πλήρης, [Refs]; opposed to μεστός, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὸ κ. (i.e. τάλαντον) the empty one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; χώματα κεινά, ={κενοτάφια}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατέθισαν ἐπὶ κενευϝῶν (i.e. τάφων genitive singular) [Refs 5th c.AD+]; κ. χρόνος a pause in music, Anon.[Refs 1st c.AD+]; of wool and wine, uncertain meaning in…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

κενός

kenos

apparently a primary word; empty (literally or figuratively):--empty,

(in) vain.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κενός, ή, όν

Adj

empty, vain, hollow

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κενός kenos 18x

empty; having nothing, empty-handed, Mk. 12:3; met. vain, fruitless, void of effect, Acts 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:10; εἰς κενόν, in vain, to no purpose, 2 Cor. 6:1; hollow, fallacious, false, Eph. 5:6; Col. 2:8; inconsiderate, foolish, 1 Thess. 3:5; Jas. 2:20

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κενός of things, empty, opp. to πλέως or πλήρης, Hom., Hdt., attic

metaph. empty, vain, κενὰ εὔγματα Od.; κ. ἐλπίς Aesch., etc.:—in adverbial usages, neut. pl., κενεὰ πνεύσας Pind.; διὰ κενῆς to no purpose, in vain, Ar., Thuc.

of persons,

c. gen. void, destitute, bereft, τοῦ νοῦ, φρενῶν Soph.; συμμάζων Eur.

empty-handed, Hom., Hdt., attic:— bereft of her mate, λέαινα Soph.: — empty of wit, empty-headed, id. Soph., Ar.

comp. and Sup. κενώτερος, -ώτατος, Plat., etc.

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

A-ASM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
39%vain
vain39% · 7×void17% · 3×empty17% · 3×empty-handed17% · 3×vain things?6% · 1×foolish6% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial50%predicate28%second object11%object6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 18 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
εἰς
μήNegπῶςοὐNeg
ἐξαποστέλλωI send forth
πλουτέωI become richἀτιμάζωI disgrace, dish
οὐNeg
ἐγώὅτιthat, since, bec
ἀποστέλλωI send forth, send,
καίand, even, also,
δέρωI flay, flog, scourg
αὐτός
κενόςempty-handed.18×
what comes after →
γίνομαιI come into being, a
ἀλλάbut, exceptArticle the
τρέχωI run, exercise myse
DisjοὐδέNeg
ἄραDisj
Article the
καίand, even, also, nam
Article the
ἐν
κύριοςlord, Lord, mast

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

Concordanceκενός · 18× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Luke 1 Thessalonians Philippians 2 Corinthians Acts Colossians Ephesians Galatians James Mark
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 51 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Polycarp The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

ὧν τὸ μὲν ἐπεφήμισε σκότος, ἐπειδὴ μέλας ὁ ἀὴρ τῇ φύσει, τὴν δ’ ἄβυσσον, πολύβυθον γὰρ τό γε κενὸν καὶ ἀχανές·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.166c. AD 75–95

Τῶν γὰρ Αἰγυπτίων διαφόροις ἀρεσκομένων ἔθεσι καὶ τὰ παρʼ ἀλλήλοις ἐκφαυλιζόντων νόμιμα καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δυσμενῶς ἐχόντων πρὸς ἀλλήλους, συμβαλὼν αὐτῶν ἑκάστοις καὶ διαπτύων τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἐποιοῦντο περὶ τῶν ἰδίων κενοὺς καὶ μηδὲν ἔχοντας ἀληθὲς…

The DidacheThe Didache 2.5c. AD 100

οὐκ ἔσται ὁ λόγος σου ψευδής, οὐ κενός, ἀλλὰ μεμεστωμένος πράξει,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
JJP 16 - 17 (1971), p. 137 [9758]Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 147

παρέσχηκε διὰ πύλης Καρανίδος ἐρημοφυλακίας Σύρος ἐξάγων καμήλους κενοὺς δύο . ἔτους δεκάτου Ἀντωνείνου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου Φαρμοῦθι ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι κζ Καρανίδοσ

P.Ross.Georg. 2 29AD 101–AD 200

δ κνήκου κεράμια β φακοῦ ἀρτάβη α χορτοσπέρμου ἀρτάβη α ἄλλα ὁμοίως ἐν σφυρῖδι κενῇ μέτρα βόες τέλειαι δ μόσχος τέλειος α ἄλλοι ὑποδεέστεροι β

P.Stras. 8 790Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 160

καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀριστοδήμου ἀρουρ δ προσόδων ἑξηκονταρούρου ἀρουρ α 𐅵 … ἐν τοῖς κενοῖς ἐδάφεσι ἀρουρ δ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀριστοδήμου ἀρουρ δ προσόδων ἑξηκονταρούρου ἀρουρ … 𐅵

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.

Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.

Donate