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Philemon 1:8 — Word Study

Depth

N1904Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

BSAThereforedio muchpolus [having much boldness, confident] inen [for this reason, therefore] ChristChristos [the Anointed One, Jesus] boldnessparrēsia havingechō to orderepitassō [command, give direction] yousu what [is]ho befittinganēkō [fitting, befitting, convenient]

Word
Listen & take awayPhilemon 1
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 8 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (anēkō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Philemon 1:8quick helps
In a sentencePaul expresses his confidence in Christ to command Philemon to do what is fitting.
Who is speakingPaul, writing as a prisoner of Christ, addressing Philemon.
Where we areThis verse is part of Paul's appeal to Philemon regarding Onesimus.
The hard wordπαρρησία
Take awayPaul balances authority with love in his request.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectἔχω verbἔχω 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 — Philemon 1:8

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 — Paul's Appeal to Philemongenerated

7I take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
8So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper,
9I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.
10I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.

Philemon 1:8 reveals Paul’s approach as he addresses Philemon, a fellow believer, regarding Onesimus, a runaway slave who has become a Christian. Paul acknowledges his authority in Christ but chooses to appeal based on love rather than command. This reflects the relational dynamics within the early church, emphasizing mutual respect and love among believers.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Corinthians 3:12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.
22 Corinthians 10:1–2Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away.
32 Corinthians 11:21To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.
41 Thessalonians 2:2–6As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God.
52 Corinthians 10:8For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 5 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word παρρησία, parrēsiagenerated

The word παρρησία (parrēsia) means boldness or confidence in speaking. It is derived from πᾶς (all) and ῥῆσις (speech), indicating a freedom of speech that allows one to speak openly. In the New Testament, it often describes the boldness of the apostles, as seen in Acts 4:13.

Here, Paul expresses that he has much boldness in Christ, indicating a strong confidence rooted in his relationship with Jesus. This boldness is not just for authority's sake; it is tempered by love, as he chooses to appeal rather than command outright.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible, which states, So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper. This is consistent with the KJV, which uses to enjoin thee that which is convenient, maintaining the sense of authority.

However, the translations differ in their choice of words for πολλὴν and παρρησίαν. The KJV and ASV use much and boldness, while the DRA opts for having much boldness and confidence, indicating a more personal tone.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἔχων, having, which governs the action of the sentence. It introduces an infinitive phrase ἐπιτάσσειν, to order, indicating what Paul is prepared to do.

The structure includes an indirect object σοι, you, and a participial phrase ἀνῆκον, befitting, which describes what he is commanding. This hierarchical arrangement shows Paul's authority while also emphasizing his respectful approach.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

διό appears in the Septuagint, often translating the Hebrew word כֵּן (H3651), which conveys a sense of appropriateness or reason. This connection enriches the understanding of Paul's use of διό as he establishes his rationale for speaking boldly.

The term ἀνήκω in this context aligns with the Hebrew concept of what is fitting or proper, as seen in the ethical teachings throughout the Old Testament.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Philemon 1:8 shows Paul confidently expressing his authority in Christ to command Philemon to act appropriately. However, he chooses to appeal to him based on love, demonstrating the importance of relationships and mutual respect in the Christian community.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Paul mean by 'boldness' in this verse?

Paul refers to his confidence in Christ that empowers him to address Philemon directly, indicating he has the authority to command but prefers to appeal lovingly.

Why does Paul choose to appeal rather than command?

Paul emphasizes the importance of love and relationship over authority, showing that he values Philemon's willingness to act out of love rather than obligation.

How does this verse reflect the dynamics of early Christian relationships?

It illustrates a balance of authority and love, where leaders like Paul are not just commanding but also nurturing the bonds of fellowship among believers.

What can we learn from Paul's approach to Philemon?

We learn the significance of approaching others with respect and love, especially when addressing difficult issues, rather than relying solely on authority.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I apply Paul's example of boldness tempered with love in my own relationships?
  2. In what situations might I need to balance authority and love in my own life?
  3. What does it mean to me to have confidence in Christ as Paul did?
  4. How can I encourage others to act out of love rather than obligation?

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

Several early church Fathers reference this verse to discuss authority and love in leadership. Their insights reflect on how Paul balances these elements in his appeal to Philemon.

Ignatius of AntiochEpistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians c. 35–108
I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow-disciples with me.
Early Church Fathers on Philemon 1 →
JeromeCommentary on Philemon c. 347–420
I am writing to you because of the confidence I have in Christ Jesus, commanding you to do what is proper for the sake of love. I urge you even more, as one such as Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
Early Church Fathers on Philemon 1 →
John ChrysostomHomily on Philemon 2 c. 347–407
Observe how cautious he is, lest any of the things which were spoken even from exceeding love should so strike the hearer, as that he should be hurt.
Early Church Fathers on Philemon 1 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Philemon 1:8 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ,.... Or use much freedom of speech in the name of Christ, as an ambassador of his, and great authority as his apostle, which was given him for

Read John Gill on Philemon 1 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, Wherefore - because of my love, I "beseech," rather than "enjoin," or authoritatively command.

Read Robert Jamieson on Philemon 1 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ; in the Greek it is: Wherefore, having much parrhsian, boldness, liberty or freedom of speech, or much power and authority, or right, as , for Christ’ s sake, being Christ’ s apostle, or speaking for the sake of Christ. To enjoin thee; to command thee, authoritatively. That which is convenient; to anhkon, things that are expedient, or convenient, fit for thee to do. My office authorizeth me in such cases.

Read Matthew Poole on Philemon 1 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

8 Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, Ver. 8. That which is convenient] τοανηκον, or, that which is thy duty. Officium autem est ius actionis ad quemcunque statum pertinens, saith Jul. Scaliger.

Read John Trapp on Philemon 1 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8-20) Here St. Paul enters on the main subject of his Letter—the recommendation to Philemon of his runaway slave, Onesimus. All thoughtful readers of the Epistle must recognise in this a peculiar courtesy and delicacy of tone, through which an affectionate earnestness shows itself, and an authority all the greater because it is not asserted in command. The substance is equally notable in its bearing on slavery. Onesimus is doubly welcomed into the Christian family. He is St. Paul’s son in the faith: he is to Philemon a brother beloved in the Lord. In that recognition is the truth to which, both in theory and in practice, we may look as being the destruction of slavery.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Philemon 1 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 8. Wherefore, though I might be much bold] It would be better to read: Wherefore, although I have much authority through Christ, to command thee to do what is proper; yet, on account of my love to thee, I entreat thee. The tenderness and delicacy of this epistle, says Dr. Paley, have long been admired: "Though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient; yet, for love's sake, I rather beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds." There is something certainly very melting and persuasive in this and every part of the epistle. Yet, in my opinion…

Read AdamClarke on Philemon 1 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8–21. A personal Request: Onesimus8. Wherefore] Because I am writing to one whose life is the fruit of a loving heart.though I might be much bold] Lit., “having much boldness”; but the insertion of “though” rightly explains the thought.—“Boldness”:—the Greek word, by derivation, means outspokenness, and its usage almost always illustrates this. See on Colossians 2:15 above, and our note on Ephesians 3:12.—He has the right to “say anything” to Philemon.in Christ] Whom he represents as apostle, and who also unites him and Philemon in an intimacy which makes outspokenness doubly right.enjoin] A very strong word. The cognate noun occurs Titus 2:15; “rebuke with all authority.”—“Love must often…

Read Cambridge on Philemon 1 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ - Though I might have much boldness as an apostle of Christ.

Read Albert Barnes on Philemon 1 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper,

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper,

NETBNew English Translation2006

So, although I have quite a lot of confidence in Christ and could command you to do what is proper,

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Wherefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to enjoin thee that which is befitting,

RVARevised Version, American1894

Wherefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to enjoin thee that which is befitting,

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Wherefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Wherefore, though I bee very bolde in Christ to commaund thee that which is conuenient,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Wherefore having much boldness in Christ to enjoin thee what is fitting,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Wherefore, having in Christ much boldness to command thee that which is fit —

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

For this reason, having in Christ much boldness to command you that which is fit—

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Therefore, although I have all the boldness in Christ to command you to do what you should do,

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Wherefore though I have much confidence in Christ Jesus, to command thee that which is to the purpose:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

That's why even though I'm brave enough in Christ to order you to do your duty,

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And so, though I might, in the name of Christ, give you orders to do what is right,

Word by word, the decisions they made

πολλὴνpolus much G4183 2 different renderings
muchDRA KJV LSV YLT
having much boldnessDBY
παρρησίανparrēsia boldness G3954 2 different renderings
boldnessASV DBY LSV RVA ULB WEB YLT
confidenceDRA NETB
ἔχωνechō having G2192 2 different renderings
i haveASV DRA NETB RVA ULB WEB
havingDBY LSV YLT
ἐπιτάσσεινepitassō to order G2004 2 different renderings
commandDRA LSV NETB ULB WEB YLT
to orderBSB FBV MSB
ἀνῆκονanēkō befitting G433 4 different renderings
convenientKJV NWB
befittingASV RVA
fitLSV YLT
fittingDBY

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.

clauseΔιόThereforeclauseclause · adverbialnoun phrase · objectπολλὴνmuchnoun phraseprepositional phraseἐνinΧριστῷChristπαρρησίανboldnessverbἔχωνhavingclause · adverbialverbἐπιτάσσεινto orderindirect objectσοιyounoun phrase · objectτὸwhat [is]clauseverbἀνῆκονbefittingprepositional phrase · adverbialδιὰfor the sake ofnoun phraseτὴν-ἀγάπηνloveadverbialμᾶλλονratherverbπαρακαλῶI exhort [you]clause · adverbialclausepredicateτοιοῦτοςsuch a onelinking verbὢνbeingprepositional phrase · adverbialὡςasnoun phraseΠαῦλοςPaulπρεσβύτηςagedδὲthenclauseadverbialνυνὶnownoun phrase · predicateκαὶalsonoun phraseδέσμιοςa prisonernoun phraseΧριστοῦof ChristἸησοῦJesus

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

Propter quod multam fiduciam habens in Christo Jesu imperandi tibi quod ad rem pertinet :

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

ܡܛܠ ܗܕܐ ܦܪܗܣܝܐ ܣܓܝܐܬܐ ܐܝܬ ܠܝ ܒܡܫܝܚܐ ܕܐܦܩܘܕ ܠܟ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܙܕܩܢ

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

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Διὸ πολλὴν ἐν Χριστῷ παρρησίαν ἔχων ἐπιτάσσειν σοι τὸ ἀνῆκον

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

Philemon 1:8διόThereforeThereforeδιόπολύςmuchmuchπολύςἐνininἐνΧριστόςChristChristΧριστόςπαρρησίαboldnessboldnessπαρρησίαἔχωhavinghavingἔχωἐπιτάσσωto orderto orderἐπιτάσσωσύyouyouσύwhat [is]what [is]ἀνήκωbefittingbefittingἀνήκωδιάPrep. throPrep. through, διάχρίωv. I anoinv. I anointχρίωπᾶςAdj all, tAdj all, the whπᾶςἐπίPrep. on, Prep. on, to, aἐπίἀνάPrep. and,Prep. and, apieἀνάεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκἐγκακέωv. I am fav. I am faint, ἐγκακέωμνημονεύωv. I rememv. I remember, μνημονεύωπλῆθοςn.n. a muln.n. a multitudπλῆθοςπάσχωv. I am acv. I am acted uπάσχωσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςσωτήρn.m. a savn.m. a savior, σωτήρἸησοῦςn.m. Jesusn.m. JesusἸησοῦςλαλέωv. I speakv. I speak, sayλαλέωμετάPrep. withPrep. with, aftμετάχρείαn.f. need,n.f. need, neceχρεία
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 Philemon 1:8

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.

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
Διὸdio Therefore G1352 Conjunction
53× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Therefore is a word that shows a consequence or a reason, like in Matthew 27:8 and Romans 1:24. It explains why something happens.
Tyndale gloss
therefore
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word διό (dio) is a conjunction meaning 'wherefore' or 'on which account.' It is derived from the combination of two words meaning 'through' and 'which thing.' The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including Matthew 27:8 and Romans 1:24. The entries generally agree on its meaning and usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

διό

conjunct. for δι᾽ ὅ,

wherefore, on which account: Mt 27:8, Lk 7:7, Ac 15:19, Ro 1:24, al.; δ. καί, Lk 1:35, Ac 10:29 24:26, Ro 4:22 15:22, II Co 1:20 4:13 5:9, Phl 2:9, He 11:12 13:12 (v. Ellic. on Ga 4:31).

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

διό, conjunction i. q. d¢ 6, [fr. Thue. and Plato down], wherefore, on which account: Mt. xxvii. 8; Lk. i. 35; vil. 7; Acts x. 29; Ro. i. 24; ii. 1; 1 Co. xii. 3; 2 Co. vi. 17; Heb. iii. 7; Jas. i. 21; 1 Pet. i. 13, and often. [Cf. W. 445 (414); B. 233 (200); on Paul’s use, see Ellic. on Gal. iv. 31.]

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

διό comes out in OG/S 4098 (ii/A.D.) τῶν ἐκλέκτων ἐν Ῥώμῃ δικαστῶν, 5257 διϊκαστὴν ἐν Ῥώμῃ. On the ἀρχιδικαστής, who seems to have occupied the position of a permanent judge at Alexandria, before whom parties in civil cases could elect to have their disputes tried, see Milne, Roman Foyt, Ρ- 196 ff. P Lond 908" (a.p. 139) (= III. p. 132) mentions an ἀ., and also (1..5) Ev8al?Jpovos δι[έπ]οντος τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχιδικάστειαν. The abstract figures without ἀρχι- in Michel 477} (mid. ii/B.c.) ἀπ[ολυθείς τε ἀπὸ τῆς δικαστείας ἐπεδήμησεν κτλ. For the δικαστήριον, as the Praefect’s tribunal or court, see P Strass I. 517,19. (a.p. 262), P Oxy I. 5911 (a.p. 292), P Amh II. 824 19 (iii/iv avp.), ete. MGr δικαστῆς survives…

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

διό (dio) — therefore.

διό,

conjunction, for δι᾽ ὅ, wherefore, on which account, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; διὸ καί, διὸ δὴ καί, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

διό

dio

from 1223 and 3739; through which thing, i.e. consequently:--for which

cause, therefore, wherefore.

see GREEK for 1223

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

διό

Cj.

wherefore

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

διό dio 53x

inferential conj., on which account, wherefore, therefore, Mt. 27:8; 1 Cor. 12:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

διό dio/conjConjunct., for δι᾽ ὅ wherefore, on which account, Lat. quapropter, quocirca, quare, Thuc., Plat., etc.

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
96%therefore
therefore96% · 51×other renderings4% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 53 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
πιστεύωI believe, have fait
γράφωI writeἐγώ
σύ
ἐπισκιάζωI overshadow, en
ΠαῦλοςPaul
Article the
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
οὐNeg
ζήτημαa question, dispute
καίand, even, also,
διόTherefore53×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἀναντιρρήτωςwithout contradiπυκνόςfrequent, often
παρακαλέωI summon, entreat, a
σύἀλλήλων
λέγωI say, speak
ἀναβαίνωI go up, mount, ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, Article the
Article the
λαλέωI speak, sayπαρίημιI neglect, omit,
οὐNeg
ἐγκακέωI am faint, am wἐπαισχύνομαιI am ashamed

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

Concordanceδιό · 53× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Hebrews Acts Romans Ephesians 2 Peter 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians James Luke 1 Peter Galatians
Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 8 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 38c. AD 40

διὸ φλέβας μαστοῖς ἐοικυίας ἐπλημμύρει, αἳ στομωθεῖσαι ποταμοὺς καὶ πηγὰς ἔμελλον ἀναχεῖν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.163c. AD 75–95

διὸ καὶ Φαραώθης ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οὐ τοῖς περὶ αὐτῆς λεγομένοις ἀρκεσθεὶς ἀλλὰ καὶ θεάσασθαι σπουδάσας οἷός τε ἦν ἅψασθαι τῆς Σάρρας.

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

διὸ καὶ μᾶλλον συγχαίρω ἐμαυτῷ ἐλπίζων σωθῆναι.

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

τῶν ὑπογεγραμμένων μοι ἐγγαίων Ἐσθλάδαν Δρύτωνος διαγράφειν τοῖς ἀνδράσι· τὰ δὲ νῦν ἐποικονομ … διὸ ἀξιῶ, ἐὰν φαίνηται, συντάξαι ἐγδοθῆναι αὐτῶι τὴν καθήκουσαν διαγραφήν. οὗ καὶ γενομένου, ἔσομαι πεφιλανθρωπημένος.

P. Amh. Gr. 2 36138 BC–131 BC

τῶι Παθυρίτηι ἐγγαιδίων, διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν, λείπω τε τὴν ὑπερβολὴν, διοδεύων κινδυνεύω παρʼ ἕκαστον. Διὸ ἀξιῶ

ἡμᾶς εἶναι καὶ ἑτέρωι τόπωι κατοικούσας μὴ εὐχερῶς δύνασθαι ἐπιβαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν σημαινομένην κτῆσιν. Διὸ καταπεφευγυῖαι ἐπὶ σὲ, ἀξιοῦμεν, ἐὰν φαίνηται, μεταπεμψάμενον αὐτὸν ἐπισκέψασθαι καὶ ἐὰν ἦι οἷα γράφομεν

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
πολλὴνpolus much G4183 Adjective · accusative · singular · feminine
413× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means much or many, and is used to describe things like large crowds, as in Mark 5:24, or a great amount of time, as in Matthew 25:19. It emphasizes the magnitude of something.
Amplified meaning
having much boldness, confident
Tyndale gloss
much
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ,

[in LXX chiefly for רַב and cognate forms;]

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πολύς (polus) — much.

πολύς,

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

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ

Adj

much, many, often

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πολύς polys 416x

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

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

A-ASF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,ὅςεἰς
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἀπώλειαdestruction, ruiἀπέρχομαιI come or go awa
ὄχλοςa crowd
αὐτόςὁράωI see, look uponκαίand, even, also,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theὁράωI see, look uponμετά
αὐτός
παρακαλέωI summon, entreaἀκολουθέωI accompany, attλαλέωI speak, say
πολύςmuch413×
what comes after →
Article the
δέbut, on the otheπρῶτοςfirst, beforeσυναναβαίνωI go up with
καίand, even, also, nam
ὡςas, like as, howθεραπεύωI care for, atteεὐθέωςimmediately, soo
δέbut, on the other ha
εἰμίI am, existἐκτέραςa wonder, porten
γάρfor
ἔρχομαιI come, goεἰμίI am, existπάσχωI am acted upon,
μᾶλλονmore, rather
Article theκράζωI cry aloud, shrσύ

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 335 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.1c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 38Pathyrites171 BC

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

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

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

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

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Philemon as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Amplified meaning
for this reason, therefore
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The most frequent preposition in the New Testament, 2,752 occurrences. In, on, at, among, within — its force comes almost entirely from the word it is attached to. What it does here is put the events inside a community rather than at a distance: they were fulfilled among us.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

prep, (the most freq. of all in NT), c. dat. (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, c. abl.).

Of place, c. dat. rei, pers., in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Lk 7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mt 7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mt 12:40; τ. ὄρει, II Pe 1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Re 3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν , Lk 1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Ga 3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mt 12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103)…

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

ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, (οἴ. Fritzsche, Com. on Rom. vol. ii. p. 82 544.; W. 389 (364); Weiss, Bibl. Theol. des N. T. §§ 84 b., 149 c.), ingrafied as it were in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ, with the Lord: Ro. iii. 24; vi. 11, 23; viii. 39; 1Co.i.4; 2 Co. iii. 14; Gal. ii. 4; iii. 14, 26, 28; v. 6; Eph.i. 3 [Rec. om. ἐν]; ii. 6 sq. 10,13; 1 Tim.i.14; 2 Tim.i. 1,13; ii-1; 1 Pet. iii. 16; v.10; στήκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, Phil. iv. 1; iva εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, that I may be found (by God and Christ) most intimately united to him, Phil. iii. 9; εἶναι ἐν Χριστῷ "Inc. 1 Co. i. 30; οἱ ἐν Xp. "Ina. Ro. viii. 1; 1 Pet. v. 14; κοιμᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ, θνήσκειν ἐν κυρίῳ, to fall asleep, to die, mindful of relationship to Christ and confiding in it [W. u.s.], 1 Co. xv. 18; Rey. xiv. 13. Since such union with Christ is the basis on which actions and virtues rest, the expression is…

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

ἐν 210 contract—time of Augustus) ἱμάτια γυναικεῖα ἐν apyv(plov) δραχμαῖς ἑκατόν, P Oxy IV. 7247 (A.D. 155) ἐξ ὧν ἔσχες τὴν πρώτην δόσιν ἐν δραχμαῖς τεσσαράκοντα, 70. I. 565 (A.D. 211) δανειζομένη. .. ἀργύριον ἔντοκον ἐν δραχμαῖς ἑξακισχειλίαις, and P Grenf II. 778 (iii/iv a.p.) (=Selections, Pp. 120) το]ὺς μισθοὺς. . ὄντας ἐν δραχμαῖς τριακοσίαις τεσσαράκοντα. Similar are P Oxy IV. 7084 (a.p. 188) yopou . . ἐν (1vpod)(apraBats) ’B, BGU 1. 724 (a.p. 191) ἐξέκοψαν πλεῖστον τόπον ἐν ἀρούραις πέντε: with which may be compared Eph 2!° τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν, “consisting in.” In P Lond 9215 (ii/iii a.p.) (ΞΞ 111. P- 134) γεγονέναι ἐν ἀμπέλῳ = ‘to be planted with vines.” A predicative use of ἐν is seen in P Hib I. 421° (B.c. 262) δώσομεν Λευκίωι ἐν ὀφειλήματι, ‘asa debt,” P Petr I. 1215 (cf. II. p. 22) ὅσα δὲ ᾿Αξιοθέα προσενήνεγκται ἐμ φερνῆι, “ἐᾷς dowry,” and P Tebt I. 120 135…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

poetry ἐνί, εἰν, εἰνί [Refs 8th c.BC+], forms used by Epic dialect and Lyric Poets as the metre requires, but only as falsa lectio in Trag., εἰν [Refs 5th c.BC+] ἰν [Refs]

__PREP. WITH DAT. AND ACC. Radical sense, in, into.

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

__A.I.1 in, νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with names of cities or islands, as ἐν Ἀθήνῃς, ἐν Τροίῃ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; where ἐν is used, it = in the district of.., ὲν Ἐλευσῖνι [Refs] in my arms, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐν αὑτῷ εἶναι to be in one's senses, be oneself, ἔτ᾽ ἐν σαυτῷ (variant -τοῦ) γενοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.1.b ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν in the fish-market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν ἐθεώρουν ἄν in the two-obol seats, [Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or

state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or

constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between 1519

and 1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:--about, after, against, +

almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+

all means), for (... sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to,

-wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, X outwardly,

one, X quickly,

X shortly, (speedi-)ly, X that, X there(-in, -on),

through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while,

with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same

import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate

direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different)

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

followed by the dat., in, Mt. 8:6; Mk. 12:26; Rev. 6:6,; upon, Lk. 8:32; among, Mt. 11:11; before, in the presence of, Mk. 8:38; in the sight, estimation of, 1 Cor. 14:11; before, judicially, 1 Cor. 6:2; in, of state, occupation, habit, Mt. 21:22; Lk. 7:25; Rom. 4:10; in the case of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

e)nprepe)ni/prep ei)nprep ei)ni/prep in, among. c. dat.

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

in, ἐν νήσῳ, ἐν Τροίῃ, etc., Hom., etc.:—elliptic, ἐν Ἀλκινόοιο (sc. οἴκῳ) Od.; εἰν Ἀΐδαο Il.; ἐν παιδοτρίβου at the school of the training master, Ar.

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

in the number of, amongst, ἐν Δαναοῖς, etc., Hom.; and with Verbs of ruling, ἄρχειν, ἀνάσσειν ἐν πολλοῖς to be first or lord among many, i. e. over them, id. Hom.; cf. ὁ, τό B. III. 3.

in one's hands, within one's reach or power, Lat. penes, Hom., etc.; ἐν σοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν Soph.; ἐν τῷ θεῷ τὸ τέλος ἦν Dem.

in respect of, ἐν γήρᾳ in point of age, Soph.

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
ΧριστῷChristos Christ G5547 Noun · dative · singular · masculine
529× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Christ means anointed, referring to Jesus as the Messiah, as seen in Luke 2:11 and John 1:41.
Amplified meaning
the Anointed One, Jesus
Tyndale gloss
Christ
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

Χριστός (Christos) means 'anointed' and refers specifically to the Messiah, a title used for Jesus in the New Testament. The term is derived from the verb χρίω (to anoint) and appears in various contexts, including references to anointing oil and the anointed kings of Israel. It is used substantively as 'the Christ' in many New Testament verses, such as Matthew 2:4 and John 1:20.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

χριστός (Χρ-), -ή, -όν

(< χρίω),

[in LXX for מָשִׁיחַ and cogn. forms ;]

as adj.,

of things, anointing, to be used as ointment (Æsch., Eur., al.; τ. ἔλαιον τὸ χ., Le 21:10);

of persons, anointed (ὁ ἰερεὺς ὁ χ., Le 4:5; οἱ χ. ἰευρεῖς, II Mac 1:10): ὁ χ. τοῦ κυρίου or Θεοῦ (I Ki 2:10, Ps 2:2, al.), of the Messiah (Aram., מְשִׁיחָא; cf. Dalman, Words, 289 ff.), Lk 2:11, 26 Jo 1:41, Ac 2:36 4:26, al.

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

Χριστός, τή, -dv, (xpiw), Sept. for mw, anointed: 6 | ἱερεὺς ὁ χριστός, Lev. iv. 5; vi. 22; of χριστοὶ ἱερεῖς, 2 Mace. i. 10; the patriarchs are called, substantively, of χριστοὶ θεοῦ, Ps. civ. (cv.) 15; the sing. 6 χριστὸς τοῦ κυρίου (177 Mw) in the O. T. often of the king of Israel (see χρίσμα), as 1 S. ii. 10, 35; [xxiv. 11; xxvi. 9, 11, 23]; 2.5. 1. 14; Ps. ii. 2; xvii. (xviii.) 51; Hab. iii. 13; [2 Chr. xxii. 7]; also of a foreign king, Cyrus, as sent of God, Is. xlv. 1; of the coming king whom the Jews expected to be the saviour of their nation and the author of their highest felicity: the name ὁ χριστός (mw, Chald. xmw>) is not found in the O. T. but is first used of him in the Book of Enoch 48, 10 [ef. Schodde’s note]; 52, 4 (for the arguments by which some have attempted to prove that the section containing these passages is of Christian origin are not convincing [cf. υἱὸς τοῦ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Χριστός (Christos) — Christ.

χριστός, ή, όν,

(χρίω) to be rubbed on, used as ointment or salve, opposed to πιστός, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ ἔλαιον τὸ χ. anointing oil, [LXX]

II. of persons, anointed, ὁ ἱερεύς ὁ χ. [LXX]

II.2. especially of the Kings of Israel, ὁ χ. Κυρίου[LXX]; plural, of the patriarchs, [LXX]

II.3. in NT, ὁ χ. the Messiah, [NT]; then used as proper name of Jesus, Ἰησοῦς χ. [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Χριστός

Christos

from 5548; anointed, i.e. the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus:--Christ.

see GREEK for 5548

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Χριστός, οῦ, ὁ

n.m.

anointed, the Messiah, the Christ

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Χριστός Christos 529x

pr. anointed; ὁ Χριστός, the Christ, the Anointed One, i.e. Μεσσίας, the Messiah, Mt. 1:16, 17; Jn. 1:20, 25, 42; meton. Christ, the word or doctrine of Christ, 2 Cor. 1:19; 21; Eph. 4:20; Christ, a truly Christian frame of doctrine and affection, Rom. 8:10; Gal. 4:19; Christ, the Church of Christ, 1 Cor. 12:12; Christ the distinctive privileges of the Gospel of Christ, Gal. 3:27; Phil.…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DSM — Noun · dative · singular · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Christ

Anointed, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word rendered “Messiah” (q.v.), the official title of our Lord, occurring five hundred and fourteen times in the New Testament. It denotes that he was anointed or consecrated to his great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and King of his people. He is Jesus the Christ (Acts 17:3; 18:5; Matt. 22:42), the Anointed One. He is thus spoken of by Isaiah (61:1), and by Daniel (9:24-26), who styles him “Messiah the Prince.”

The Messiah is the same person as “the seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15), “the seed of Abraham” (Gen. 22:18), the “Prophet like unto Moses” (Deut.…

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 16 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
Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome Polycarp Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.137c. AD 75–95

τὸ δὲ ἄλλο μέχρι τῆς στέγης χριστὸν ἦν καὶ καταπεποικιλμένον χρώμασι καὶ βαφαῖς.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.6c. AD 100

ταῦτα οὖν κατήργησεν, ἵνα ὁ καινὸς νόμος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἄνευ ζυγοῦ ἀνάγκης ὤν, μὴ ἀνθρωποποίητον ἔχῃ τὴν προσφοράν.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement preface.1c. AD 96

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
7th c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 5th c. AD 8th c. AD

τὸ μῆκος πήχεις πέντε πλάτος πήχεις τέσσαρες ἥμισυ· βάψον δὲ εἰς τὸ βῆλον σημεῖον Χριστοῦ … … ἐπάνω τ … . προσαγορεύω πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς κατʼ ὄνομα ἀπὸ μικρῶν

P.Petra 3 29Petra (Tertia Palaestina Salutaris)AD 582–AD 592

r βασιλείας τοῦ δεσπότου ἡμῶν Φλαουίου Μαυρικίου πιστοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ ἡμέρου μεγίστου εὐεργέτου καὶ αὐτοκράτορος Αὐγούστου ἔτους … … … … … … ημερ

P.Petra 3 31Petra (Tertia Palaestina Salutaris)AD 582–AD 592

βασιλείας τοῦ δεσπότου ἡμῶν Φλαουίου Μαυρικίου Τιβερίου πιστοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ ἡμέρου μεγίστου εὐεργέτου καὶ αὐτοκράτορος Αὐγούστου ἔτους … … … … … … τήνδε

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
παρρησίανparrēsia boldness G3954 Noun · accusative · singular · feminine
31× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means boldness or freedom in speaking, like the apostles in Acts 4:13 and 2 Corinthians 3:12, who spoke openly about Jesus.
Tyndale gloss
boldness
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

παρρησία is built from πᾶς (all) and ῥῆσις (speech), covering meanings like freedom of speech, boldness, and confidence. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as Acts 4:13 and John 7:13. The lexicons note its use in both positive and negative senses, with some indicating a shift from boldness in speech to general confidence.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

παρρησία, -ας, ἡ

(< πᾶς + ῥῆσις, speech),

[in LXX: Le 26:13 (μετὰ π., קוֹמְמִיּוּת), Pr 1:20 10:10, Wi 5:1, al.;]

freedom of speech, plainness, openness, freedom in speaking (Eur., Plat., al.): Ac 4:13, II Co 3:12; παρρησίᾳ, adverbially, freely, openly, plainly, Mk 8:32, Jo 7:13, 26 10:24 11:14 16:29 18:20; opp. to ἐν παροιμίαις, Jo 16:25; ἐν π., Eph 6:19; μετὰ π., Ac 2:29 4:29, 31 28:31.

In LXX (I Mac 4:18, Wi 5:1, al.), FlJ, and NT, also (from the absence of fear which accompanies freedom of speech), confidence, boldness:

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

παρρησία, -as, 7, (πᾶν and pros; cf. ἀρρησία silence, κατάρρησις accusation, πρόρρησις prediction) ; 1. freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech, (Kur., Plat., Dem., al.): ἡ π. τινός, Acts iv. 13; χρῆσθαι παρρησίᾳ, 2 Co. iii. 12; παρρησίᾳ adverbially,— freely: λαλεῖν, Jn. vii. 13, 26; xviii. 20 ;— openly, frankly, i. e. without concealment: Mk. viii. 32; Jn. xi. 14; — without ambiguity or cireumlocution: εἰπὲ ἡμῖν παρρησίᾳ (Philem. ed. Meineke p. 405), Jn. x. 24;— without the use of figures and comparisons, opp. to ἐν παροιμίαις : Jn. xvi. 25, and RG in 29 (where L TTr WH ἐν παρρησίᾳ); ἐν παρρησίᾳ, Sreely, Eph. vi. 19; pera παρρησίας, Acts xxviil. 31 ; εἰπεῖν, Acts ii. 29; λαλεῖν, Acts iv. 29, 31. 2. free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance, (1.Mace. iv. 18; Sap. ν. 1 ; Joseph. antt. 9, 10,4; 15, 2, 7; [οἷν W. 23]): Phil. i. 20 (opp. to αἰσχύνεσθαι, cf.…

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

παρρησία. ‘In accordance with its etymology παρρησία is used especially of ‘‘freedom,’’ ‘‘ boldness” zz speech, but it readily passes into the more general meaning ‘‘ confidence,’’ as in Heb 38, 1 Jn 228, Job 2719, Zest. xzt. patr. Reub iv. 2. This may be illustrated from P Par 63%%! 7 (B.c. 165) καλῶς ἔχειν ὑπέλαβον ταύτην ἔτι τὴν παρησίαν (for spelling, cf. Winer-Schmiedel Gy. p. 56) ἀγαγεῖν πρός σε. P Oxy VIII. 1100!° (A.D. 206) με]τὰ παρρησίας (cf. Ac 2831), unfortunately in a broken context, and Kazse/ 1096 παρησίαν ὁμοίαν οὐκ ἔχων βροτοῖς. Cf. also Aristeas 125 συμβουλευόντων παρρησίᾳ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον τῶν φίλων, ‘since friends unreservedly offer advice for one’s best interests ” (Thackeray). In OG/S 3231° (B C. 159-8) εὐδοκι[μη]κὼς ἐν ταῖς χρείαις ἁπάσαις κιεκ]όσμηκε τὸν αὑτοῦ [β]ίον τῆι καλλίστηι παρρησίαι. the word seems to be equivalent to ““ liberality,” and in Vett. Val. p.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

παρρησία (parrēsia) — boldness.

παρρησί-α, ἡ,

(πᾶς, ῥῆσις) outspokenness, frankness, freedom of speech, claimed by the Athenians as their privilege, ἐλεύθεροι παρρησίᾳ θάλλοντες οἰκοῖεν πόλιν κλεινῶν Ἀθηνῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔχειν π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δημοκρατίας οὔσης οὐκ ἔστι π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; περὶ παρρησίας, title of work by Philodemus.

2. in bad sense, licence of tongue, ἡ εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. freedom of action, [Refs 5th c.AD+]; π. ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου power of life and death, [Refs]; licence, permission, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; παρρησίᾳ ἐκτέμνεται τὸ δέρμα without fear, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; ἤγαγον ὑμᾶς μετὰ παρρησίας openly, [LXX]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

παρρησία

parrhesia

from 3956 and a derivative of 4483; all out-spokenness, i.e.

frankness, bluntness, publicity; by implication, assurance:--bold (X

-ly, -ness, -ness of speech), confidence,

X freely, X openly, X plainly(-ness).

see GREEK for 3956

see GREEK for 4483

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

παρρησία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

freedom, confidence

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

παρρησία parrēsia 31x

freedom in speaking, boldness of speech, Acts 4:13; παρρησίᾳ, as an adv., freely, boldly, Jn. 7:13, 26; so μετὰ παρρησίας, Acts 2:29; 4:29, 31; license, authority, Phlm. 8; confidence, assurance, 2 Cor. 7:4; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 3:6; 10:19; openness, frankness, 2 Cor. 3:12; παρρησίᾳ, and ἐν παρρησίᾳ, adverbially, openly, plainly, perspicuously, unambiguously, Mk. 8:32; Jn. 10:24

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

N-ASF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bold'-nes (parresia, "confidence," "fearlessness," "freedom of speech"): This was one of the results of discipleship (Ac 4:13,29,31; Eph 3:12; Php 1:20; 1Ti 3:13; 1Jo 4:17). It was a necessary qualification for the work assigned them. They were not only subject to violent persecutions, but also were the constant subject of ridicule and contempt. Paul uses the word in the sense of plainness in 2Co 3:12. In Heb 10:19; 1Jo 2:28; 4:17, it has the sense of freeness resulting from confidence. In Phm 1:8, the reference is…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Of THE RIGHTEOUS Pr 14:26; 28:1; Eph 3:12; Heb 4:16; 10:19; 13:6; 1Jo 2:28; 4:17

→ INSTANCES OF, IN PRAYER

Abraham Ge 18:23-32

Moses Ex 33:12-18

See COURAGE

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
42%boldness
boldness42% · 13×confidence19% · 6×publicly10% · 3×plainly10% · 3×public6% · 2×openly6% · 2×freedom3% · 1×openness3% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial58%object32%subject7%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 31 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
ἐν
αὐτόςνῦνnow, already, atἐγώ
μετά
λέγωI say, speakσύθεόςGod, a god
Article the
ἔχωI have, hold, poἐάνCondοὖνtherefore, then
ἐγώ
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusπολύςmuch, many, ofte
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
μετάἐν
παρρησίαboldness31×
what comes after →
λαλέωI speak, say
καίand, even, also,περίArticle the
καίand, even, also, nam
ἸωάννηςJohnπροσαγωγήapproach, accessArticle the
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
ἐπιτάσσωI give order, coπρόςἐν
Article the
λόγοςa word, speech, θρόνοςa throne, seat
πρός
σύ

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

Concordanceπαρρησία · 31× in the New Testament
John Acts 1 John Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Timothy Colossians Mark Philemon Philippians
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 12c. AD 40

καὶ ὅταν γε μόνος ἰδίᾳ τῷ θεῷ προσέρχηται, μετὰ παρρησίας φησὶ μὴ εἶναι εὔλογος — ἴσον τῷ μὴ τῶν εὐλόγων καὶ πιθανῶν ἐφίεσθαι —, πεπονθέναι δὲ τοῦτο πρὸ τῆς ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτης, ἀφ’ οὗ τὸν θεὸν ἄρξασθαι διαλέγεσθαι ὡς θεράποντι αὐτῷ (Exod.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.52c. AD 75–95

τῆς δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα κοινωνίας ἀπόλαυσιν ἐχούσης ἀκίνδυνον καὶ προσέτι πολλὴν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν παρρησίαν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 34.1c. AD 96

Ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἐργάτης μετὰ παρρησίας λαμβάνει τὸν ἄρτον τοῦ ἔργου αὐτοῦ, ὁ νωθρὸς καὶ παρειμένος οὐκ ἀντοφθαλμεῖ τῷ ἐργοπαρέκτῃ αὐτοῦ,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Mich. 8 502KoptosAD 101–AD 200

τοῦτο μόνον. παρακληθείς, ἄδελφε, διαλλάγηθί μοι ὅπως χρήσωμαι καὶ ἐν τῇ στρατείᾳ τῇ σῇ παρρησίᾳ. τὸ δὴ λοιπὸν μὴ εἶχές με μηδʼ ἑξῆς ἀδελφῷ ἐξ οὗ ἐπεξενώθην; ἀλλʼ ἔχω

P.Oxy. 8 1100OxyrhynchosAD 206

των τ … … ν διασειόντων τῶν εἰς ταῦτα ὑπηρη … … μετὰ παρρησίας, καὶ ἂν ἐλεγχθῶσι, τῆς προσηκούσης τεύξονται τιμωρίας. εἰ δὲ … … … ροιντο τοῖς

ἀναστάντος καὶ διὰ τῶν θεωμένων ἐλθόντος κατὰ μέσον τοῦ θεάτρου, ἐφώνησαν· Ἰσίδωρε ἡ βία παρρησία· τίς ὁ φθόνος τῆς εἰρήνης; τὸν ἀναστάσεως … … … ωνι ἔχεις αὐτόν· στρατηγέ,

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
ἔχωνechō having G2192 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
709× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means to have or hold something, like a possession or ability. It is used in many ways, such as having power or being with someone. The Bible uses it in Revelation 5:8 and 14:6.
Tyndale gloss
to have/be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἔχω, transliterated as echō, means 'to have' or 'to hold' and is used in various contexts, including possession, ability, and condition. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often relating to physical possession or metaphorical concepts like keeping faith or emotions. Notably, it can also refer to being pregnant, as seen in Matthew 1:18. The entries do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔχω,

[in LXX for אָצֵל (ἐχόμενος), בַּעַל, יֵשׁ, etc., 59 words in all;]

(on the Aktionsart of the various tenses, v. M, Pr., 110, 145, 150, 183),

to have, as in cl., in various senses and constructions.

Trans.;

to have, hold, hold fast, etc.;

to hold, as, in the hand: Re 5:8 14:6, al.; ἐν τ. χειρί, Re 1:16 10:2, al.;

of arms and clothing, = φέρω, φορέω, to bear, wear: Mt 3:4 22:12, al.; so freq. pres. ptcp. (LS, s.v., A, I, 6; Bl., § 74, 2), Mk 11:13, Jo 18:10, Re 9:17, al.;

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

ἔχω ; fut. ἕξω ; impf. εἶχον, [1 pers. plur. εἴχαμεν, 2 Jn. ἔχω 266 5 T Tr WH], 8 pers. plur. εἶχαν (Mk. viii. 7 L T Tr WH; Rey. ix. 8 LT Tr WH; but ef. [ Soph. Lex., Intr. p. 38; Tdf. Proleg. p. 123; WH. App. p. 165]; B. 40 (35)) and εἴχοσαν (LT Tr WH in Jn. xv. 22, 24; but ef. Bitm. in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1858, pp. 485 sqq. 491; see his N. T. Gr. p. 43 (37); [Soph. Lex., Intr. p. 39; Τὰ Proleg. p. 124; WH. App. p. 165; ef. δολεόω ]) ; pres. mid. ptep. ἐχόμενος ; to have,—with 2 aor. act. ἔσχον; pf. ἔσχηκα; I. Transitively. have (hold) in the hand: τὶ ἐν τῇ χειρί, Rev. i. 16; vi. 5; x. 2; xvii. 4; and simply, Rev. v. 8; viii. 3, 6; xiv. 6, ete.; Heb. viii. 3. Ὁ. in the sense of wearing (Lat. gestare) ; of garments, arms and the like: τὸ ἔνδυμα, Mt. iii. 4; xxii. 12; κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων, sc. τί, having a covering hanging down from the head, i.e. having the head covered [B. $130, 5; W. §…

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

ἔχω. It may be well to illustrate some of the less usual forms of this common verb. The future σχήσω (cf. Kithner-Blass Gr. 1. ii. p. 112 n.8) is restored by the editor in OGZS 751° (ii/ B.C.) ἐπεὶ θλιβέντες ἐμ πλείοσιν ἀσθενῶς [σχή]σετε. For the 2 aor. with 1 aor. termination (cf. Ac 757 D συνἐσχαν) see BGU 11. 4518 (i/ii A.D.) ἀναγκαίως ἔσχαμεν δ[ι7᾽ ἐπιστολῆς σε ἀσπάσεσθαι, and for ἔσχοσαν cf. OG/S 315°" (B.C. 164-159) ὑφοψίαν μοχθηράν, ἣν Kal περὶ Tod ἀδελφοῦ ἔσχοσαν. In 20. 2237 (iii/B.c.) we have αὐτοὶ ἀπολογισάμενοι περί τε τῆς εὐνοίας ἣν διὰ παντὸς εἰσχήκατε εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν οἰκίαν, and for similar forms see the editor's note ® to 2b. 323. For the trans. use of the verb see such passages as P Oxy IV. 743!® (B.c. 2) εἰ καὶ m[p]ds ἄλλους εἶχον πρᾶγμα, βοηθὸν αὐτοῦ γ[εἸνέσθαι διὰ ἣν ἔχομε(ν) πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς φιλίαν, BGU I. 228(a.p. 114) (= «ϑελδείζογις, p. 74), which illustrate 1 Cor…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔχω (echō) — to have/be.

ἔχω,

__A2nd pers. singular ἔχεισθα conjecture in [Refs 7th c.BC+]; 2nd pers. singular subjunctive ἔχῃσθα [Refs 8th c.BC+]imperfect εἶχον, Epic dialect ἔχον [Refs 8th c.BC+], Ionic dialect and poetry ἔχεσκον [Refs 8th c.BC+]future ἕξω, Epic dialect infinitive ἑξέμεναι [Refs 3rd c.BC+] (of momentary action, especially in sense check, see below [Refs 4th c.BC+], not found in Attic dialect Inscrr. or [Refs]; 2nd pers. singular σχήσησθα [Refs]aorist 1 ἔσχης α falsa lectio in [Refs 3rd c.AD+]aorist 2 ἔσχον, imperative σχές [Refs 5th c.BC+] only in Oracle texts cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; subjunctive σχῶ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural σχοίησαν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive σχεῖν [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect σχέμεν [Refs] (in Alexandr. Gr. 3rd.pers. plural imperfect and aorist 2 εἴχοσαν [NT+3rd c.BC+], see at {Σχέθω}: perfect ἔσχηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔχω

echo

scheo skheh'-o; (used in certain tenses only)

a primary verb; to hold (used in very various applications, literally

or figuratively, direct or remote; such as possession; ability,

contiuity, relation, or condition):--be (able, X hold, possessed

with), accompany, + begin to amend, can(+ -not), X conceive, count,

diseased, do + eat, + enjoy, + fear, following, have, hold, keep, +

lack, + go to law, lie, + must needs, + of necessity, + need, next, +

recover, + reign, + rest, + return, X sick, take for, + tremble, +

uncircumcised, use.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔχω

v.

I have, hold, possess

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔχω echō 708x

pluperfect., ἐσχήκειν, to hold, Rev. 1:16; to seize, possess a person, Mk. 16:8; to have, possess, Mt. 7:29, et al. freq.; to have, have ready, be furnished with, Mt. 5:23; Jn. 5:36; 6:68; to have as a matter of crimination, Mt. 5:23; Mk. 11:25; to have at command, Mt. 27:65; to have the power, be able, Mt. 18:25; Lk. 14:14; Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAP-NSM — Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAP-NSM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
29%having
having29% · 211×has9% · 62×have8% · 58×you have7% · 52×i have5% · 36×we have5% · 35×he has3% · 24×had3% · 21×other renderings30% · 217×

716 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 97 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
verb99%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 709 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
Article the
ἄγγελοςan angel, messenαὐτόςκαίand, even, also,
μήNeg
Article theδέbut, on the otheπρόβατονa sheep
ὅς
καίand, even, also,ἐνεἰμίI am, exist
χρείαneed, necessity, bus
οὐNegαὐτόςὅς
ἔχωhaving709×
what comes after →
Article the
ἑπτάIndecυἱόςa son, descendenδέbut, on the othe
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegὅς
ἐν
Article theἑαυτοῦΧριστόςanointed, the Me
οὖςthe ear
ἀκούωI hear, listen
ἐξουσίαpower, authority, we
Article theἀλλάbut, exceptἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p

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

Concordanceἔχω · 709× in the New Testament
Revelation John Luke Matthew Mark 1 Corinthians Acts Hebrews 1 John Romans 2 Corinthians 1 Timothy

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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 11c. AD 40

ἀπεριμάχητον δὲ δόγμα καὶ ἀνωφελὲς ἀναρχίαν ὡς ἐν πόλει κατασκευάζον τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ τὸν ἔφορον ἢ βραβευτὴν ἢ δικαστὴν οὐκ ἔχοντι, ὑφ’ οὗ πάντ’ οἰκονομεῖσθαι καὶ πρυτανεύεσθαι θέμις.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.11c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν ἀρχιερέων οὐδενὸς ἀρετῇ δεύτερος Ἐλεάζαρος τῷ προειρημένῳ βασιλεῖ ταύτης ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς ὠφελείας οὐκ ἐφθόνησε πάντως ἀντειπὼν ἄν, εἰ μὴ πάτριον ἦν ἡμῖν τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν τῶν καλῶν ἀπόρρητον.

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. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Gen. 1 20Pathyris110 BC

ἔτους η Μεχεὶρ β, ἐπὶ Σώσου ἀγορανόμου. ὁμολογεῖ Ἁρκοννῆσις Φιγήριος Πέρσης τῶν μισθοφόρων ἱππέων ἔχειν παρὰ Ναομσήσιος τῆς Σπεμμίνιος εἰς λύτρα τετάρτης μερίδος γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου ἐν τῆι κάτω

P.Bad. 2 3Pathyris110 BC

Μεχεὶρ β ἐν Παθύρει ἐπὶ Σώσου ἀγορανόμου. ὁμολογεῖ Ἁρκοννῆσις Φιγήριος Πέρσης τῶν μισθοφόρων ἱππέων ἔχειν παρὰ Ναομσήσιος τῆς Σπεμμίνιος εἰς λύτρα τετάρτης μερίδος γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου ἐν τῇ κάτω

P.Adl. 4Ptolemais (Oberägypten)110 BC

Ψεμμῖνις … ου Ὥρωι Νεχούτου χαίρειν. ὁμολογῶ ἔχειν παρὰ σοῦ χαλκοῦ νομίσματος τάλαντα τρῖα ἄτοκα ?. ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ἃ προσωφείλετό σοι

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
ἐπιτάσσεινepitassō to order G2004 Verb · present · active · infinitive
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To command or give orders to someone, like Jesus commanding the demons in Mark 1:27. This word is about telling someone what to do or giving instructions.
Amplified meaning
command, give direction
Tyndale gloss
to command
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπιτάσσω (*epitassō*) means to command or order. It is built from the prefix ἐπί (upon) and τάσσω (to arrange). The term appears in contexts where one is given a duty or charge, as seen in Luke 14:22 and Mark 1:27. It is synonymous with κελεύω (to command).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπι-τάσσω

[in LXX for אָמַר, צָוָה, etc. ;]

to command, charge: c. acc rei, Lk 14:22; c. dat. pers., Mk 1:27 9:25, Lk 4:36 8:25; id. c. acc rei, Phm 8; id. c. inf., Mk 6:39, Lk 8:31, Ac 23:2; id. c. imperat., Mk 9:25; c. acc et inf., Mk 6:27.†

SYN.: κελεύω

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

ἐπι-τάσσω; 1 aor. ἐπέταξα; (rdcaw); to enjoin upon, order, command, charge: absol. Lk. xiv. 22; τινί, Mk. i. 27; ix. 25; Lk. iv. 86 ; viii. 25; τινὶ τὸ ἀνῆκον, Philem. 8; τινί foll. by the inf., Mk. vi. 39; Lk. viii. 31; Acts xxiii. 2; foll. by ace. and inf. Mk. vi. 27; foll. by direct discourse, Mk. ix. 25. (Several times in Sept. ; Grk. writ. fr. Hdt. down.) [Syn. see κελεύω, fin. ]

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

ἐπιτάσσω. P Eleph 134 (B.C. 223) © δὲ ἐπήινει μόνον, ἐπέταξεν δ᾽ οὐθέν, P Tebt I. 59° (B.C. 99) ἐπιτάσσοντές μοι προθυμότερον διὰ τὸ ἄνωθεν φοβεῖσθαι καὶ σέβεσθαι τὸ ἱερόν, P Oxy II. 2947! (A.D. 22) (= Selections, p. 35) ὡς ἐπέταξεν 6 ἦγεpov, 26. 2751 (A.D. 66) (= Selections, p. 55) ποιοζ[ῦντα πάντα τὰ ἐπιτασσόμενα avtw—of an apprentice, 26. XII. 14808 (A.D. 32) οὐκ ἠμέλησα περὶ οὗ μοι ἐπιτέταχας, “1 did not neglect your instructions ” (Edd.).

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπιτάσσω (epitassō) — to command.

ἐπιτάσσω,

Attic dialect ἐπιτάττω, put upon one as a duty, enjoin, τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τί τινι, as ἐ. ἄεθλόν τινι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with dative person et infinitive, order one to do, ἐ. τοῖσι μὲν πεζὸν στρατὸν..παρέχειν [Refs 5th c.BC+]: rarely with accusative et infinitive, enjoin or order that.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; with the case omitted, ἐ. ἀποφορὴν ἐπιτελέειν [Refs 5th c.BC+]: absolutely, impose commands, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τινί on one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:— passive, accept orders, submit to commands, εἰ 'πιταξόμεσθα δή [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, οἱ ἐπιταττόμενοι γαμεῖν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of things, to be ordered, ὁ στρατὸς ὁ -θεὶς ἑκάστοισι [Refs 5th c.BC+] assuming variant; τὰ ἐπιτασσόμενα ἐπετέλεον orders given, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δικαίωσις τοῖς πέλας -ομένη dictated, [Refs 5th c.BC+] what was prescribed, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπιτάσσω

epitasso

from 1909 and 5021; to arrange upon, i.e. order:--charge, command,

injoin.

see GREEK for 1909

see GREEK for 5021

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπιτάσσω

v.

I give order, command

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπιτάσσω epitassō 10x

with dat., to set over or upon; to enjoin, charge, Mk. 1:27; 6:39; Lk. 4:36

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπιτάσσω attic -ττω fut. ξω to put upon one as a duty, to enjoin, τί τινι Hdt., etc.:—c. dat. pers. et inf. to order one to do, id. Hdt., attic:—absol. to impose commands, Thuc.; τινί on one, Soph.:—Pass. with fut. mid. -τάξομαι, aor1 -ετάχθην, perf. -τέταγμαι:— to accept orders, submit to commands, Eur., Ar.; c. acc. rei, Thuc.:—of things, to be ordered, ὁ στρατὸς ὁ ἐπιταχθεὶς ἑκάστοισι Hdt.; τὰ ἐπιτασσόμενα orders given, id. Hdt.

to place next or beside, id. Hdt., Xen.:— Mid., τοὺς ἱππέας ἐπετάξαντο they had the cavalry placed next, Thuc.

to place behind, c. gen., Hdt.: absol. to place in reserve, Plut.:—Mid., Xen.

to set in command over, οἱ ἐπιτεταγμένοι set as guards over the waggons, Thuc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAN — Verb · present · active · infinitive
present active infinitive — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5721

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

or'-der (`arakh, "to arrange"; tassein ( diatassein, taxis, tagma)): "Order" in Biblical phrases may indicate

(1) arrangement in rows,

(2) sequence in time,

(3) classification and organization,

(4) likeness or manner,

(5) regulation, direction or command, or

(6) the declaring of a will.

In many passages it is difficult if not impossible to determine from the English text alone in which of these senses the word is used.

1. Arrangement in Rows:

The fundamental idea suggested by the Hebrew, Greek and English words is that of arrangement in rows. Thus "order" is used in the Bible of arranging wood for an altar (Le 1:7; 1Ki 18:33; compare Hebrew Ge 22:9; Isa 30:33); of laying out…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
30%he commands
he commands30% · 3×he commanded20% · 2×commanded10% · 1×order10% · 1×command10% · 1×he would command10% · 1×you did command10% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἀκάθαρτοςunclean, impure
Article the
σπεκουλάτωρa body-guardsman, an
βασιλεύςa king, ruler, e
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώ
πνεῦμαwind, breath, sp
δύναμιςmight, power, marvel
καίand, even, also,
ἐπιτάσσωto order10×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ὑπακούωI listen, obeyArticle theἔτιstill, yet, even
αὐτός
ἀνακλίνωI make to reclinεἰς
σύ
ἐξέρχομαιI go out, come oArticle the
Article the
ἀκάθαρτοςunclean, impureπαρίστημιI bring, present
φέρωI carry, bear, bring
Article the

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

Concordanceἐπιτάσσω · 10× in the New Testament
Luke Mark Acts Philemon
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

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

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 7.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς τοῖς πέριξ ἔθνεσι στρατεύσας Δαυίδης καὶ χειρωσάμενος φόρον ἐπέταξεν αὑτῷ τελεῖν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Oxy. 2 294AlexandriaAD 22

ἔλθω. ὁ μὲν ἡγούμενος τοῦ στρατηγοῦ καὶ Ἰοῦστος ὁ μαχαιροφόρος ἐν κοστωδείᾳ εἰσί, ὡς ἐπέταξεν ὁ ἡγεμών, ἕως ἐπὶ διαλογισμόν, ἐὰν μή τι πείσωσι τὸν ἀρχιστάτορα δοῦναι ἱκανὸν ἕως

BGU 2 467Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 176–AD 179

οὗ καὶ τότε σοι ἐνέτυχον διὰ Μέλανος δούλου μου, αὐτὴ ἐν ἀσθενίᾳ τυγχάνουσα, καὶ ἐπέταξας, ἕνα τῶν περί σε ὑπηρετῶν ἐπαναγκάσαι αὐτὸν ἀποκαταστῆσαί μοι τοὺς καμήλους, ὃς μαθὼν αὐτὸ

PSI 5 455Oxyrhynchos (?)AD 178

καθάπερ τῇ ἐνεστώσῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐπέταξάς μοι διʼ ὑπηρέτου ἐπιδεῖν Σαραπᾶτα χρηματίζοντα μητρὸς Σαραποῦτος ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως καὶ προσφωνῆσαί

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
σοιsu you G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · dative · singular
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

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

P-2DS Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Dative Number: Singular

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyou2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
τὸho what [is] G3588 Article · accusative · singular · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Philemon as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-ASN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

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
what [is]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

Therefore much in Christ boldness having to order you what [is] befitting
ἀνῆκονanēkō befitting G433 Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · singular · neuter
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Philemon than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means something is fitting or proper, like in Ephesians 5:4 where it describes what kind of speech is suitable for believers. It's about what is due or befitting a situation. In the Bible, it's used to describe what is right or proper in relationships and behavior.
Amplified meaning
fitting, befitting, convenient
Tyndale gloss
be fitting
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀνήκω (i.e., *anēkō*) is built from the roots meaning 'to come up to' and 'to arrive at.' It covers a range of meanings including 'to pertain to,' 'to be fit,' or 'to be proper,' often used in ethical contexts. In the New Testament, it appears in passages like Ephesians 5:4 and Colossians 3:18, where it conveys notions of what is suitable or becoming.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀν-ήκω

(ἀνά, ἥκω),

[in LXX: Jos 23:14 (בּוֹא), I Ki 27:8, Si. prol. 10, I, II Mac6*;]

prop., to have come up to; in later writers, impers. it is due, it is befitting: in ethical sense (MM, VGT, s.v.), Eph 5:4, Col 3:18; τὸ ἀνῆκον, Phm 8.†

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

ἀν-ήκω ; [impf. ἀνῆκεν); in Grk. writ. to have come up to, arrived at, to reach to, pertain to, foll. generally by εἴς τε; hence in later writ. ἀνήκει τί τινι something appertains to one, is due to him se. to be rendered or performed by others (1 Mace. x. 42; xi. 35; 2 Mace. xiv. 8), and then ethically τὸ ἀνῆκον what is due, duty, [R. V. befitting], Philem. 8; τὰ οὐκ ἀνήκοντα unbecoming, discreditable, Eph. v. 4 (LT Tr WH ἃ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν. W. 486 (452); [B. 350 (301) ]); impers. ὡς ἀνῆκε as was fitting, sc. ever since ye were converted to Christ, Col. iii. 18, [W. 270 (254); ef. B. 217 (187) and Bp. Lghtft. ad loc.].

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

ἀνήκω. The ethical meaning of this word “το be due” is by no means confined to the Biblical literature, as the following citations will show. OGJ/S 53217 (B.c. 3), the Paphlagonians’ oath of allegiance to Augustus, has the undertaking παν]τὶ τρόπωι ὑπὲρ τῶ[ν] ἐκείνοις ἀνηκόϊντων] (for the rights of Augustus and his heirs) πάντα κίνδυνον ὑπομενεῖν. Other examples of this use, which is found in 1 and 2 Maccabees, are given in the index. From the Magnesian inscriptions we may quote 53°° (end of iii/B.c.) οὐθενὸς ἀποστήσεται (sc. 6 δῆμος) τῶν ἀνηκόντων τῇ πόλει τῶν Μαγνήτων πρὸς τιμὴν ἢ χάριτος ἀπόδοσιν, where Thieme (p. 15) renders, “ was man der Stadt der Magneten zu erweisen schuldig ist.” Similarly from the papyri: P Fay 94 (iii/a.D.) has twice περὶ τῶν [τῇ ἐπιτροπείᾳ] ἀνηκόντων, as the editors restore it, ‘his duties in the period of guardianship, functions pertaining to it.” In P Tebt…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀνήκω (anēkō) — be fitting.

ἀνήκω,

to have come up to a point, reach up to, of persons and things, ἐς μέτρον τινὸς ἀ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; φρενῶν ἐς τὰ ἐμεωυτοῦ πρῶτα οὔκω ἀ. have not yet reached the highest point I aim at, [Refs]; ἀ. εἰς τὸ ὀξύ to rise to a point, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; τοῦτο μὲν ἐς οὐδὲν ἀ. amounts to nothing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μεῖζον ἀ. ἢ κατ᾽ ἐμὰν ῥώμαν the matter has gone too far.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]have gone as far as.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. ἀ. ἐς σὲ ἔχειν it has come to you to have, has become yours to have, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. ἀ. εἴς τι refer to or be connected with.., [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὰ εἰς ἀργυρίου λόγον ἀ. ἀδικήματα which involve a money consideration, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀνήκω

aneko

from 303 and 2240; to attain to, i.e. (figuratively) be

proper:--convenient, be fit.

see GREEK for 303

see GREEK for 2240

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀνήκω

v.

is due, becoming, suitable, proper

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀνήκω anēkō 3x

to come up to, to pertain to; ἀνήκει, impers. it is fit, proper, becoming, Col. 3:18; Eph. 5:4; Phlm. 8*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀνήκω to have come up to a point, reach up to, of persons, αἱμασιὴν ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν a wall reaching up to a man's middle, Hdt.; ἀν. ἐς τὰ μέγιστα to reach up to the highest point, id. Hdt.

of things, τοῦτο ἐς οὐδὲν ἀν. amounts to nothing, id. Hdt.; αἱ πολλαὶ [ζημίαι] ἐς τὸν θάνατον ἀν. have gone as far as death, Thuc.; ἀν. ἔς σε ἔχειν it has come to you to have, has become yours to have, Hdt.

to appertain, be fit or proper, NTest.; τὸ ἀνῆκον what is fit and proper, id. NTest.

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

V-PAP-ASN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%fit
fit33% · 1×fitting33% · 1×befitting33% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
ὅς
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
ἀνήρa male human bei
Article the
σύ
ἀνήκωbefitting
what comes after →
ἀλλάbut, except
μᾶλλονmore, rather
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

Concordanceἀνήκω · 3× in the New Testament
Colossians Ephesians Philemon
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 137c. AD 40

ἀλλὰ μήποτε ὁσίως πάνυ κἀκ περισκέψεως ἀκριβοῦς αὐτὰ εἰς τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ βωμὸν οὐκ ἀνῆκεν, ὅτι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν κατὰ ἀμερῆ χρόνων διαστήματα πολλὰς πρὸς ἑκάτερον τό τε εὖ καὶ χεῖρον τροπὰς λαμβάνον καὶ διαλλάττοντας ἀεὶ τύπους δέχεται τοτὲ μὲν καθαροῦ καὶ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 14.97c. AD 75–95

τὰ μέντοι τέκνα αὐτοῦ ἀνῆκεν ἡ σύγκλητος Γαβινίου γράψαντος τοῦθʼ ὑπεσχῆσθαι τῇ μητρὶ παραδούσῃ τὰ ἐρύματα.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD

μερίδων παρὰ Πασίωνος κωμογραμματέως Βουκόλου τοῦ καὶ Τριστόμου καὶ Σαμαρείας δηλῶ μηδὲν σεσημάσθαι μοι ἀνῆκον τῇ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου ἐπιτροπῇ τῶν ἀπὸ Παῦνι α ἕως Μεσορὴ Ἐπαγομένων ε μηνῶν

P.Wisc. 2 56OxyrhynchosAD 209

τὸ ιδ ἔτος θεοῦ Μάρκου κατʼ οἰκίαν ἀπογραφῇ ἐτῶν λη ἄσημον ἧς ἐπικρίσεως τὸ ἀνῆκον … μέρος ἐκλαβὼν ὑπέταξα καὶ ἐπιδίδωμι τὸ βιβλίδιον ἀξιῶν ἐνταγῆναι τοῖς εἴδεσι καὶ ὀμνύω

P.Oxy. 45 3263Apollonos Polis (Arsinoites)AD 215

Αὐρηλίου Ἑρ … … … ο κωμογραμματέως Ἀπόλλωνος πόλεως καὶ Ψιντεώ. δηλῶ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἀνῆκον σημῆναι ταῖς τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου καὶ ἀρχιερέως ἐπιτροπαῖς τοῦ Μεσορὴ μηνὸς τοῦ διεληλυθότος κγ

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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