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Romans 14:16 — Word Study

Depth

N1904μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

BSANot [allow to be misrepresented, let it not be possible for men to say evil about] should be denigratedblasphēmeō [evil spoken of, slandered, in a bad light, showing disrespect] thereforeoun [therefore, as a consequence] yoursu [to be beneficial, good] <the>ho good.agathos

Word
Listen & take awayRomans 14
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 16 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (agathos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Romans 14:16quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs believers not to let their good be misrepresented as evil.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Roman Christians.
Where we areThis verse is part of Paul's teaching on love and community conduct.
The hard wordβλασφημείσθω
Take awayOur actions should not lead to misunderstanding or slander.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subject verbβλασφημέω 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 — Romans 14:16

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

Context — Conduct in the Communitygenerated

15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
16Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.
17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Romans 14:16 is part of Paul's broader discussion on how believers should conduct themselves in matters of personal conviction, particularly regarding food and drink. He emphasizes love and consideration for others, urging that one's good actions should not be misrepresented or lead others to speak ill of them. This teaching aligns with the call to live in a way that builds up the community rather than tearing it down, as seen in the surrounding verses.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Romans 12:17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
21 Corinthians 10:29–30the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?
32 Corinthians 8:20–21We hope to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this generous gift.
41 Thessalonians 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word βλασφημείσθω, blasphēmeōgenerated

The verb βλασφημείσθω is a present passive imperative form of βλασφημέω, meaning 'to blaspheme' or 'to speak irreverently.' It is used here in the third person singular, indicating that something should not be denigrated or slandered.

This term carries a strong negative connotation, often associated with disrespect towards God or sacred matters. In this context, Paul warns against allowing what is considered good to be spoken of in a derogatory manner, highlighting the importance of maintaining a good reputation within the community.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The primary translation comparison is with the Berean Standard Bible, which uses the phrase to be spoken of as evil. This is echoed in the KJV and ASV, both of which say be evil spoken of.

The WEB opts for be slandered, which emphasizes the malicious intent behind the misrepresentation. The BBE similarly conveys the idea of being misrepresented with let it not be possible for men to say evil about your good.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main clause is governed by the imperative verb βλασφημείσθω, should be denigrated, which commands that something should not occur. The subject of this command is encapsulated in the noun phrase τὸ ἀγαθόν, the good, which is further modified by the possessive pronoun ὑμῶν, your.

The structure emphasizes the relationship between the good actions of the believers and the potential for those actions to be misrepresented. The use of the imperative form indicates a strong directive from Paul regarding community behavior.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek word βλασφημείσθω does not have a direct equivalent in the Septuagint for this specific context, but its roots in the Old Testament suggest a longstanding concern for how words can affect reputation and community integrity.

The term ἀγαθόν corresponds with the Hebrew טוֹב, which conveys the sense of goodness or beneficial qualities, emphasizing the moral implications of actions and their perceptions.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Romans 14:16 teaches that believers should not let their good deeds be misrepresented or spoken of in a negative way. Paul encourages Christians to consider how their actions might affect others and to protect the reputation of what is good.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean for something good to be spoken of as evil?

It means that actions or behaviors that are intended for good can be misinterpreted or criticized, leading others to view them negatively.

Why is it important not to let good be spoken of as evil?

Allowing good to be misrepresented can harm relationships within the community and diminish the witness of the Christian faith.

How can I ensure that my actions are not misrepresented?

Being considerate and transparent in your actions and communicating openly with others can help prevent misunderstandings.

What are some examples of good actions that might be misunderstood?

Acts of kindness, sharing personal convictions, or making choices based on faith can sometimes be viewed negatively by others who do not understand the intent behind them.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I be more mindful of how my actions might be perceived by others?
  2. How can I encourage others in my community to focus on the good rather than the negative?
  3. What steps can I take to clarify my intentions when my actions are misunderstood?
  4. How does this teaching apply to my interactions with those who may not share my beliefs?

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

Several early church Fathers comment on this verse, discussing its implications for Christian conduct and community relationships.

Clement of AlexandriaThe Instructor Book 2 c. 150–215
"Let not, then, your good be evil spoken of; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink "says the apostle, in order that the meal spoken of may not be conceived as ephemeral, "but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Early Church Fathers on Romans 14 →
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS c. 185–253
How is it possible for what is good to us to be spoken of as evil? “What is good to us” refers here to the spiritual interpretation of the law,
Early Church Fathers on Romans 14 →
John ChrysostomHomily on Romans 26 c. 347–407
By their "good," he means here either their faith, or the hope of rewards hereafter, or the perfectness of their religious state.
Early Church Fathers on Romans 14 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Romans 14:16 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Let not then your good be evil spoken of. The Vulgate Latin reads it, "our good", and so the Syriac version; the sense is the same, and to be understood either of the Gospel in general, which is good

Read John Gill on Romans 14 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Let not then your good be evil spoken of: Let not then your good - i:e., this liberty of yours as to Jewish meats and days, well founded though it be, Be evil spoken of - by reason of the evil it does to others.

Read Robert Jamieson on Romans 14 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Here is another argument against offences; it will cause our good to be blasphemed, or evil spoken of. Some, by good here, would understand the Christian faith, or the gospel in general; but others do rather understand it of our Christian liberty in particular: q.d. Give none occasion for this great privilege of your Christian liberty to be traduced; use it so, as that neither the weak Christian nor the infidel may reproach or accuse you as licentious or contentious: see ,30.

Read Matthew Poole on Romans 14 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of: Ver. 16. Let not then your good] That is, your Christian liberty purchased by Christ. Be evil spoken of] Gr. be blasphemed. Contumely cast upon the people of God is blasphemy in the second table. God, for the honour that he beareth to his people, counts and calls it so.

Read John Trapp on Romans 14 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Your good.—That blessing of Christian liberty which you enjoy. This is not to be used so as to give rise to reproaches and recriminations which will make a bad impression on the outside world.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Romans 14 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of] Do not make such a use of your Christian liberty as to subject the Gospel itself to reproach. Whatsoever you do, do it in such a manner, spirit, and time, as to make it productive of the greatest possible good. There are many who have such an unhappy method of doing their good acts, as not only to do little or no good by them, but a great deal of evil. It requires much prudence and watchfulness to find out the proper time of performing even a good action.

Read AdamClarke on Romans 14 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. then] therefore. The word sums up and applies the previous reasonings.your good] i.e. your Christian light and liberty, in the “kingdom of God.” Misuse of this would be sure to embitter Christian intercourse, and to weaken the tenderness of conscience and so the holiness of life in the community. Cp. 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 2:15-16.

Read Cambridge on Romans 14 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let not then your good ... - That which you esteem to be right, and which may be right in itself. You are not bound by the ceremonial law.

Read Albert Barnes on Romans 14 →

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

Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Then don’t let your good be slandered,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

RVARevised Version, American1894

Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Cause not your commoditie to be euill spoken of.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Let not then your good be evil spoken of;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Let not, then, your good be evil spoken of,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Do not let, then, evil be spoken of your good,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

So do not allow what you consider to be good to be spoken of as evil.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Let not then our good be evil spoken of.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Don't let the good things you do be misrepresented—

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Let it not be possible for men to say evil about your good:

Word by word, the decisions they made

βλασφημείσθωblasphēmeō should be denigrated G987 2 different renderings
evil spoken ofASV DBY DRA KJV NWB RVA YLT
slanderedWEB
ἀγαθόν.agathos good. G18 2 different renderings
goodASV BBE BSB DBY DRA KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
good thingsFBV

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.

clauseοὖνthereforeclauseadverbialμὴNotverbβλασφημείσθωlet be spoken of as evilnoun phrase · subjectὑμῶνyournoun phraseτὸ-ἀγαθόνgood

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

Non ergo blasphemetur bonum nostrum.

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

ܘܠܐ ܬܬܓܕܦ ܛܒܬܢ

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

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

μὴ βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.

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.

Romans 14:16μήNotNotμήβλασφημέωshould be dshould be denigβλασφημέωοὖνthereforethereforeοὖνσύyouryourσύ<the><the>ἀγαθόςgood.good.ἀγαθόςβλάσφημοςAdj slandeAdj slanderousβλάσφημοςοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐκαλόςAdj beautiAdj beautiful, καλόςπότεIrg.prt. wIrg.prt. when, πότεφοβέωv. I fear,v. I fear, am tφοβέωπαραπορεύομαιv. I go pav. I go pastπαραπορεύομαικινέωv. I move,v. I move, stirκινέωἄραDisj.prt. Disj.prt. then,ἄραμένDisj.prt. Disj.prt. trulyμένἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνθησαυρόςn.m. a tren.m. a treasureθησαυρόςσυνείδησιςn.f. the cn.f. the consciσυνείδησις
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 Romans 14:16

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

Not should be denigrated therefore your <the> good.
μὴ Not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Amplified meaning
allow to be misrepresented, let it not be possible for men to say evil about
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μή () is a Greek negative particle used to express subjective negation, often in conditional or hypothetical contexts. It contrasts with οὐ (ou), which indicates absolute denial. μή can function as an adverb meaning 'not' or as a conjunction meaning 'lest.' It appears in various grammatical constructions, including prohibitions and deliberative questions, and is referenced in verses like Matthew 5:29 and John 3:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

used where the negation depends on a condition or hypothesis, expressed or understood, as distinct from οὐ, which denies absolutely. μή is used where one thinks a thing is not, as distinct from an absolute negation. As a general rule, οὐ negatives the indic., μή the other moods, incl, ptcp. [In LXX for אֵין, אַיִן, אַל.]

As a neg. adv., not;

with ref. to thought or opinion: Jo 3:18, Tit 1:11, II Pe 1:9.

In delib. questions, c. subjc. (M, Pr., 185): Mk 12:14, Ro 3:8.

In conditional and final sentences, after εἰ, ἐάν, ἄν, ἵνα, ὅπως: Mt 10:14,

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

μή, Sept. for Ox, |X, PN, ἃ particle of negation, which differs from οὐ (which is always an adverb) in that ov denies the thing itself (orto speak technically, denies simply, absolutely, categorically, directly, objectively). but μή denies the thought of the thing, or the thing according to the judgment, opinion, will, purpose, preference, of some one (hence, as we say technically, indirectly, hypothetically, subjectively). This distinction holds also of the compounds οὐδείς, μηδείς, οὐκέτι, μηκέτι, ete. But pris either an ad verb of negation, not (Lat. non, ne); or aconjunction, that... not, lest, (Lat. ne); or an interrogative particle, (Lat. num) [i. e. (generally) implying aneg. ans.; in indir. quest. whether nol (suggesting apprehension) ]. Cf. Herm. ad Vig. § 267 p- 802 sqq-; Matthiae § 608; Bitm. Gram. § 148 (cf. Alex. Bttm. N. T. Gr. p. 344 (296) sqq.); Kiihner ii. §§ 512 sq. p.…

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

μή Grenf II. 384 (mid. 1.8.6.) καλῶς οὖ]ν ποιήσις μὴ ἀμελήσ[α]ς α[. . ἀγο]ράσαι. .. , P Oxy I. 3815 (a.p. 49--50) (= Selections, p. 53) τοῦ δὲ Σύρου μὴ βουλομένου ἐνμεῖναι τοῖς κεκριμένοις, “45 Syrus does not wish to abide by what has been decided,” 2d. II. 2755 (A.D. 66) (= Selections, p. 58) ἔγραψα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἰδότος γράμματα, “1 wrote for him seeing that he was unlettered,” BGU I. 22° (a.p. 114) (= Selections, p. 74) TappovOios . . . τὸ παρὸν μὴ ἔχουσα κύριον, ‘ Tarmuthis at present without a guardian,’ and P Grenf II. 779 (iii/iv A.D.) (= Sedections, p. 120) θαυμάζω πάνυ [ὅτι] ἀλόγως ἀπέστητε μὴ ἄραντες [τὸ σ]ῶμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ὑμῶν, “1 wonder exceedingly that you went off so unreasonably, without taking the body of your brother”; cf. P Tor 1. 1¥8-4 (νον 116) εἰ δὲ kal τις θείηι τὸ μὴ ὄν (cf. 1 Cor 1°8)—acc. and inf. follow, P Ryl II. 144°? (Α.Ὁ. 38) ἐπαγαγεῖν αἰτίας τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ‘‘…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

Elean μά [ᾱ] [Refs 6th c.BC+]. (Cf. Sanskrit mā´, Armenian mi [from I.-[Refs 5th c.BC+] mē´], negative used in prohibitions):—not, the negative of the will and thought, as οὐ of fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. (A few examples of μηδέ and μηδείς have been included.)

__A in INDEPENDENT sentences, used in expressions of will or wish, command, entreaty, warning,

__A.1 with present imperative, 2 person, μή μ᾽ ἐρέθιζε [Refs 8th c.BC+]: rarely with aorist imperative, μὴ.. ἔνθεο τιμῇ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Attic dialect, μὴ ψεῦσον, ὦ Ζεῦ, τῆς.. ἐλπίδος [Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect imperative [Refs 8th c.BC+] person when perfect = present, μὴ κεκράγετε [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

absolute denial); (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

affirmative one)) whether:--any but (that), X forbear, + God forbid, +

lack, lest, neither, never, no (X wise in), none, nor, (can-)not,

nothing, that not, un(-taken), without. Often used in compounds in

substantially the same relations. See also 3362, 3363, 3364, 3372,

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

a negative particle, can function as a conj, not, for the particulars of its usage, especially as distinguished from that of οὐ, consult a grammar; as a conj., lest, that not, Mt. 5:29, 30; 18:10; 24:6; Mk. 13:36; μή, or μήτι, or μήποτε, when prefixed to an interrogative clause, it expresses an intimation either of the reality of the matters respecting which the question is asked, Mt. 12:23; or the contrary, Jn. 4:12

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Particle-N — Particle · negative
particle — a small word colouring the clause; it does not decline.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
71%not
not71% · 772×except9% · 95×unless5% · 58×surely not4% · 41×lest3% · 32×otherwise2% · 23×other renderings4% · 48×other renderings1% · 16×

1,085 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 23 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial84%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,060 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,σύἐγώ
ἵναin order that, so th
αὐτόςσύπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώαὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
εἰCond
αὐτόςυἱόςa son, descendenκαίand, even, also,
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰςδιά
μήNot1060×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenσημεῖονa sign, miracle,
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
καίand, even, also,ποιμήνa shepherdβάθοςdepth, a depth,
εἰμίI am, exist
δίδωμιI offer, giveἐνμετά
τὶς
σύὑστερέωI am lacking, faγεννάωI beget, bring f
φοβέωI fear, am terrified
ἀπόArticle theμόνοςalone, but, only

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

Concordanceμή · 1,060× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John 1 Corinthians Romans Mark Acts Revelation 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 Timothy Galatians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,321 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.

Not should be denigrated therefore your <the> good.
βλασφημείσθωblasphēmeō should be denigrated G987 Verb · present · passive · imperative · third person · singular
34× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Romans than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To blaspheme means to speak badly of God or sacred things, showing disrespect. This word appears in Matthew 9:3 and Mark 2:7, where Jesus is accused of blasphemy. The KJV translates it as blaspheme or speak evil.
Amplified meaning
evil spoken of, slandered, in a bad light, showing disrespect
Tyndale gloss
to blaspheme
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word βλασφημέω (i.e., *blasphemeo*) means to speak irreverently about sacred things, especially God. It encompasses actions like blaspheming, slandering, and reviling. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including Matthew 9:3 and Mark 3:29. The entries indicate a consistent understanding of the term, focusing on its negative implications in relation to divine reverence.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

βλασφημέω, -ῶ

(< βλάσφημος),

[in LXX: IV Ki 19:4 (יכח hi.) ib. 6, 22 (גּדף pi.), Is 52:5 (נאץ hith.), Da LXX 3:29 (96) (אמר שׁלח), To 1:18, Da TH Bel 9, II Mac 2 * ;]

to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things (in cl., opp. of εὐφημέω), esp. to speak impiously of God, to blaspheme, speak blasphemously: absol., Mt 9:3 26:65, Mk 2:7, Jo 10:36, Ac 26:11, I Ti 1:20, II Pe 2:12; τ. θεόν, Ac 19:37, Re 16:11, 21; τὸ ὄνομα τ. θεοῦ, Re…

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

βλασφημέω, -&; impf. ἐβλασφήμουν ; 1 aor. ἐβλασφήpnoa; Pass., [pres. βλασφημοῦμαι]; 1 fut. βλασφημηθήσομαι; (βλάσφημος, q. V-) ; to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, (Vulg. blasphemo) ; absol.: Lk. xxii. 65; Acts xiii. 45; xviii.6; xxvi. 11; 1 Tim.i. 20; 1 Pet. iv.4; with ace. of pers. or thing (as in later Grk., Joseph., Plut., Appian, ete.): Mt. xxvii. 39; Mk. iii. 28 L T Tr WH; xv. 29; Lk. xxiii. 39; Tit. iii. 2; Jas. ii. 7; Jude 10; with the cognate noun βλασφημίαν, to utter blasphemy (Plat. legg. 7 p. 800 c.; see ἀγαπάω ad fin.), Mk. iii. 28 RG (where LT Tr WH ὅσα for ὅσας, see above) ; [foll. by ἐν, 2 Pet. ii. 12; cf. Bttm. as at end, and see ἀγνοέω, a.]. Pass. βλασφημοῦμαι to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed at: Ro. iii. 8; xiv. 16; 1 Co. iv. 13 (T WH Tr mrg. δυσφημούμενοι) ; x. 30; Tit. ii. 5; 2 Pet. ii. 2; τὸ ὄνομά τινος, Ro. ii. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 1. Spee. of…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

βλασφημέω (blasphēmeō) — to blaspheme.

βλασφημ-έω,

perfect βεβλασφήμηκα [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—speak profanely of sacred things, εἰς θεούς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; offer rash prayers, [Refs]; β. κατά τινος utter imprecations against, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. speak ill or to the prejudice of one, slander, περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς διατριβῆς [NT+5th c.BC+] O.:—passive, to have evil spoken of one, βεβλασφημημένους [NT+1st c.AD+]

3. speak impiously or irreverently of God, blaspheme, εἰς τὸν Κύριον [LXX+NT]; εἰς τὰ θεῖα Vett.[LXX+NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

βλασφημέω

blasphemeo

from 989; to vilify; specially, to speak impiously:--(speak)

blaspheme(-er, -mously, -my), defame, rail on, revile, speak evil.

see GREEK for 989

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

βλασφημέω

v.

I speak evil against, blaspheme

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

βλασφημέω blasphēmeō 34x

to defame, revile, slander, Mt. 27:39; to speak of God or divine things in terms of impious irreverence, to blaspheme, Mt. 9:3; 26:65

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

βλασφημέω βλάσφημος to drop evil or profane words, speak lightly or amiss of sacred things, βλ. εἰς θεούς Plat.: to utter ominous words, Aeschin.

to speak ill or to the prejudice of one, to speak slander, περί τινος Dem.; εἴς τινα id. Dem.:—also, βλ. τινα Babr., NTest.:—Pass. to have evil spoken of one, id. NTest.

to speak impiously or irreverently of God, to blaspheme, id. NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PPM-3S — Verb · present · passive · imperative · third person · singular
present passive imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PPM-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Passive Mood: iMperative Person: third Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
17%denigrating
denigrating17% · 6×blaspheming11% · 4×blaspheme9% · 3×blasphemed6% · 2×may be denigrated6% · 2×we are denigrated3% · 1×should be denigrated3% · 1×am i denigrated3% · 1×other renderings43% · 15×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb91%adverbial6%object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 34 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
αὐτόςμέγαςἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
παραπορεύομαιI go past
δέbut, on the otheArticle the
λαλέωI speak, say
οὕτωthus, so, in thiΠαῦλοςPaul
μήNeg
παιδεύωI discipline, ed
θεόςGod, a god
Article the
βλασφημέωshould be denigrated34×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godὄνομαname, character,καλόςbeautiful, good,
αὐτός
κινέωI move, stir, exοὐχίIrg
τίςIrg
ἔτιstill, yet, evenδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐν
Article the
εἰς
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

Concordanceβλασφημέω · 34× in the New Testament
Acts Mark Revelation 2 Peter Luke Matthew Romans 1 Timothy Jude Titus 1 Corinthians 1 Peter
Across the New Testament14 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 Confusion of Tongues 154c. AD 40

καὶ αὐτὸ μέντοι τὸ βλασφημεῖν οὐ τοῖς κακηγορουμένοις ἐπιφέρει τινὰ ζημίαν, ἃ τῆς ἰδίου φύσεως οὔποτ’ ἐξίσταται, ἀλλὰ τοῖς καταιτιωμένοις συμφορὰς ἀνηκέστους.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.215c. AD 75–95

ἔστωσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ δικάζειν λαχόντες ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐν πάσῃ τιμῇ, ὡς μήτε βλασφημεῖν ἐκείνων παρόντων μήτε θρασύνεσθαί τισιν ἐξεῖναι τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἐν ἀξιώματι τῶν ἀνθρώπων αἰδοῦς αὐτῶν εὐλαβεστέρους, ὥστε τοῦ θεοῦ μὴ καταφρονεῖν, ἀπεργαζομένης.

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 13.1c. AD 96

ἐξαλείψωμεν ἀφ̓ ἡμῶν τὰ πρότερα ἁμαρτήματα καὶ μετανοήσαντες ἐκ ψυχῆς σωθῶμεν, καὶ μὴ γινώμεθα ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι μηδὲ θέλωμεν μόνον ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἔξω ἀνθρώποις ἐπὶ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ, ἵνα τὸ ὄνομα δἰ ἡμᾶς μὴ βλασφημῆται.

Not should be denigrated therefore your <the> good.
οὖνoun therefore G3767 Conjunction
496× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Romans than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means therefore or then, showing a consequence. It appears in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9 to connect ideas and events.
Amplified meaning
therefore, as a consequence
Tyndale gloss
therefore/then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὖν (oun) is a particle used to express consequence, sequence, or to resume a narrative. It translates to 'therefore,' 'then,' or 'accordingly,' and appears frequently in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9. It can also serve in exhortations and questions, indicating what follows logically from previous statements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὖν,

particle expressing consequence or simple sequence (never standing first in a sentence),

wherefore, therefore, then: Mt 3:10, Lk 3:9, Jo 8:38, Ac 1:21, Ro 5:9, al.; in exhortations, Mt 3:8, Lk 11:35, Ac 3:19, Ro 6:12, al.; in questions, Mt 13:28, Mk 15:12, Jo 8:[5], Ro 6:1, al.; continuing a…

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

οὖν ἃ conj. indicating that something follows from another necessarily; [al. regard the primary force of the particle as confirmatory or continuative, rather than illative; cf. Passow, or L.andS.s. v.; Kiihner § 508, 1 ii. p- 707 sqq.; Biiumlein p. 173 sqq.; Kriiger § 69, 52; Donaldson p. 571; Rost in a program “ Ueber Ableitung ” u.s.w. p.2; Klotz p. 717; Hartung ii. 4]. Hence it is used in drawing a conclusion and in connecting sentences together logically, then, therefore, accordingly, consequently, these things being so, [ (Klotz, Rost, al., have wished to derive the word fr. the neut. ptep. ὄν (cf. ὄντως) ; but see Baumlein or Kiihner u.s.); ef. W. § 53, 8]: Mt. iii. 10; x. 32 (since persecutions are not to be dreaded, and consequently furnish no excuse for denying me [οἵ. W. 455 (424)]); Mt. xviii. 4; Lk. iii.9; xvi. 27; In. viii. 38 (καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν, and ye accordingly, i. e.…

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

οὖν. This common particle, which occurs in the NT nearly 500 times, is used in our sources in a variety of connexions, the exact shade of meaning being determined by the context. (1) For the causal meaning ‘‘therefore” we may cite BGU II. 423" (ii/aA.p.) (= Sevectzons, p. 91) Kal καλῶς pol ἐστιν. ἐρωτῶ ce οὖν, κύριέ pou πατήρ, γράψον μοι ἐπιστόλιον πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας σου... , “it is well with me. I beg you, therefore, my lord father, write me a letter, first regarding your health ... ,” and P Oxy XIV. 16651 (iii/A.D.), where a son in urgent need of oil writes to his father—dvayxalws οὖν, ἐὰν ἔτι παρὰ σεαυτῷ χρ[ἴ]ον ἔχῃς, δήλωσον ἢ τῷ vie σου ἢ ᾧ ἐὰν σὺ βούλῃ τούτους μοι ἐν τάχει παρα[σ]χεῖν, ‘perforce, therefore, if you have still with you any unguent, instruct your son or any one else you wish to supply me with them speedily ” (Edd.). (2) Οὖν is very common in a looser…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὖν (oun) — therefore/then.

οὖν,

Ionic dialect and Doric dialect ὦν (the latter in [Refs 8th c.BC+], adverb certainly, in fact, confirming something, frequently in contrast with something which is not confirmed, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] only in combination with γε (see. γοῦν), γάρ, οὔτε or μήτε, ὡς, ἐπεί, μέν, etc.:

1. really, φημὶ γὰρ οὖν κατανεῦσαι.. Κρονίωνα for I declare that Zeus did really promise.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τόφρα γὰρ οὖν ἑπόμεσθα.., ὄφρ᾽ for we followed them up to the very point, where.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Θηβαῖοι μὲν ταῦτα λέγουσι.., Πλαταιῆς δ᾽ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι.., ἐκ δ᾽ οὖν τῆς γῆς ἀνεχώρησαν at all events they did return, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so δ᾽ οὖν after a parenthesis; εἰ δή τις ὑμῶν οὕτως ἔχει,—οὐκ ἀξιῶ μὲν γὰρ ἔγωγε,—εἰ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὖν

oun

apparently a primary word; (adverbially) certainly, or

(conjunctionally) accordingly:--and (so, truly), but, now (then), so

(likewise then), then, therefore, verily, wherefore.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὖν

Cj.

therefore, then

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὖν oun 499x

then, now then, Mt. 13:18; Jn. 19:29; then, thereupon, Lk. 15:28; Jn. 6:14; therefore, consequently, Mt. 5:48: Mk. 10:9; it also serves to mark the resumption of discourse after an interruption by a parenthesis, 1 Cor. 8:4. Sometimes it is not translated.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὖν really, at all events, used like γοῦν to dismiss a perplexing subject, οὔτ᾽ οὖν ἀγγελίῃς ἔτι πείθομαι, οὔτε θεοπροπίης ἐμπάζομαι Od.; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, Hdt.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν, εἴτε μὴ γενήσεται whether it shall be really so, or no, Eur.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν ἀληθὲς εἴτ᾽ οὖν ψεῦδος Plat.; εἰ δ᾽ ἔστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἔστι, θεός if he is, as he surely is, a god, id. Plat.

added to indef. Pronouns and Advs., like Lat. cunque, ὅστις whoever, ὁστισοῦν whosoever; ὅπως how, ὁπωσοῦν howsoever; ἄλλος ὁστισοὖν another, be he who he may; so, ὁποιοσοῦν, ὁποσοσοῦν, ὁπωσοῦν, ὁποθενοῦν…

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
79%therefore
therefore79% · 428×then19% · 104×other renderings1% · 7×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 496 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
διακονέωI wait at table,ἔχωI have, hold, poΣατανᾶςan adversary, Sa
μένDisj
Article theεἰCondπολύςmuch, many, ofte
τίςIrg
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakδιά
Article the
ἸακώβPropὕδωρwater
σύ
καίand, even, also,δεῖit is necessary,ἐρωτάωI ask, question,
οὖνtherefore496×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusἸουδαῖοςJewishμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgἸησοῦςJesus
καίand, even, also, nam
νίπτωI washἕτεροςanother, differeὁράωI see, look upon
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύοὗτος
σύ
πονηρόςevil, bad, wickeτέλειοςperfect, full-grἨλίαςElijah

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

Concordanceοὖν · 496× in the New Testament
John Acts Matthew Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter Galatians Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament23 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 110 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

τὸ μὲν οὖν κάλλος τῶν νοημάτων τῆς κοσμοποιίας οὐδεὶς οὔτε ποιητὴς οὔτε λογογράφος ἀξίως ἂν ὑμνῆσαι δύναιτο·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.6c. AD 75–95

ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερον διενοήθην, ὅτε τὸν πόλεμον συνέγραφον, δηλῶσαι τίνες ὄντες ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τίσι χρησάμενοι τύχαις ὑφʼ οἵῳ τε παιδευθέντες νομοθέτῃ τὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἄσκησιν ἀρετῆς πόσους τε πολέμους ἐν μακροῖς…

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
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 2 23Latopolites109 BC

χαίρειν. τοῦ παρʼ Ἑρμώνακτος τῶν ὁμοτίμων τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ὑποδιοικητοῦ χρηματισμοῦ ἀντίγραφον ὑπόκειται. κατακολουθήσας οὖν τοῖς διʼ αὐτοῦ σημαινομένοις χρημάτισον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Παθύρει τραπέζης, συνυπογράφοντος Φίβιος τοῦ…

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος βεα … ρων … δια … στρατιωτῶν

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς Θηβαίδος. ὅπως οὖν εἰδότες εὐθαρσεῖς ὑπάρχητε ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι. ἔρρωσθε ἔτους λ Φαῶφι ιθ

Not should be denigrated therefore your <the> good.
ὑμῶνsu your G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Amplified meaning
to be beneficial, good
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-2GP — Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2GP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Genitive Number: Plural

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyour2892×
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 .

Not should be denigrated therefore your <the> good.
τὸho <the> G3588 Article · nominative · singular · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans 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-NSN — Article · nominative · singular · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-NSN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Not should be denigrated therefore your <the> good.
ἀγαθόν.agathos good. G18 Adjective · nominative · singular · neuter
102× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Romans than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Good or beneficial, as seen in Luke 8:8 where it describes good soil producing a good crop. This word means something that is pleasant, useful, or morally good. In the Bible, it is used to describe things that are pleasing to God and beneficial to people.
Tyndale gloss
good
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀγαθός (agathos) means 'good' in various contexts, including moral, physical, and beneficial senses. It can describe people, actions, and things, often implying a sense of excellence or virtue. In the New Testament, it is used to refer to morally good qualities, such as in Romans 12:2. The term contrasts with words like πονηρός (evil) and κακός (bad).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀγαθός, -ή, -όν,

[in LXX chiefly for טוֹב;]

in general, good, in physical and in moral sense, used of persons, things, acts, conditions, etc., applied to that which is regarded as "perfect in its kind, so as to produce pleasure and satisfaction, . . . that which, in itself good, is also at once for the good and the advantage of him who comes in contact with it" (Cremer, 3): γῆ, Lk 8:8; δένδρον, Mt 7:18; καρδία, Lk 8:15; δόσις, Ja 1:17; μέρις, Lk 10:42; ἔργον (freq. in Pl.), Phl 1:6; ἐλπίς, II Th 2:16; θησαυρός, Mt 12:35; μνεία, Read the full entry →

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

ἀγαθός, -7, -όν, (akin to ἄγαμαι to wonder at, think highly of, ἀγαστός admirable, as explained by Plato, Crat. p. 412 ο. [al. al.; ef. Donaldson, New Crat. § 8287), in general denotes “ perfectus, . . . qui habet in se ac facit omnia quae habere et facere debet pro notione nominis, oflicio ac lege” (Irmisch ad Hdian. 1, 4, p. 134), excelling in any respect, distinguished, good. It can be predicated of persons, things, conditions, qualities and affections of the soul, deeds, times and seasons. To this general signif. can be traced back all those senses which the word gathers fr. the connection in which it stands; 1. of a good constitution or nature: γῆ, Lk. viii. 8; δένδρον, Mt. vii. 18, in sense equiv. to ‘fertile soil,’ ‘a fruitful tree,’ (Xen. oec. 16, 7 γῆ ἀγαθή, . . . γῆ κακή, an. 2, 4, 22 χώρας πολλῆς kK. ἀγαθῆς οὔσης). In Lk. viii. 15 ἀγαθὴ καρδία corresponds to the fig.…

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

ἀγαθός. The comparative βελτίων (in the LXX about 20 times for the commoner κρείσσων) occurs in the fragmentary P Petr III. 42 H (8) 15 (middle of iii/B.c.) (= Witkowski Epp.*, p. 16). In a votive inscription discovered at Cos (Paton and Hicks, 92), Nero is described as ἀγαθὸς θεός (cf. Deissmann ZAZ, p. 349). For ἀγαθὸς δαίμων, see 57 in the same collection (=C/G 2510)—Tiyxq ᾿Αγαθᾷ καὶ ᾿Αγαθῷ Δαίμονι καὶ τῶ(ι) δάμω(ι), etc., etc. Une other phrase is worth quoting: P Oxy II. 29814 (i/A.p.) ἐὰν ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ mapayévy, ‘if you arrive happily,” 7. III. 531° (ii/A.D.) ἕως ἐπ’ ἀγαθῷ πρὸς σὲ παραγένομαι, BGU III. 83519:: (beginning of 111Α.}.) εἰς τὴν ἐπ᾽ [ἀ]γαθοῖς γεναμένης κατασποράν, P Flor I. 2110 (a.p. 239) α΄. The neuter pl., as in Lk 1219, may be illustrated by P Ryl I. 2818? (iv/a.p.) ποὺς δεξιὸς ἐὰν ἅλληται, δεσπότης ἔσται πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κτημάτων, ‘if the right foot quiver, the man…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀγαθός (agathos) — good.

ἀγᾰθός [ᾰγ], ή, όν,

Laconian dialect ἀγασός [Refs 5th c.BC+]:— good:

I. of persons,

I.1. well-born, gentle, opposed to κακός, δειλός, οἷά τε τοῖς ἀγαθοῖσι παραδρώωσι χέρηες[Refs 8th c.BC+]; τοὺς εὐγενεῖς γὰρ κἀγαθοὺς.. φιλεῖ Ἄρης ἐναίρειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—in political sense, aristocrats, especially in the phrase καλοὶ κἀγαθοί (see. entry καλοκἀγαθός).

I.2. brave, valiant, since courage was attributed to Chiefs and Nobles, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.3. good, capable, in reference to ability, ἀ. βασιλεύς[Refs 8th c.BC+]: frequently with qualifying words, ἀ. ἐν ὑσμίνῃ[Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ πολέμια, τὰ πολιτικά, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: more rarely with dative, ἀ. πολέμῳ[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, ἀ. μάχεσθαι[Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀγαθός

agathos

a primary word; "good" (in any sense, often as noun):--benefit,

good(-s, things), well. Compare 2570.

see GREEK for 2570

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀγαθός, ή, όν

Adj

good

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀγαθός agathos 102x

good, profitable, generous, upright, virtuous

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀγαθός deriv. uncertain good, Lat. bonus:

of persons,

in early times, good, gentle, noble, in reference to birth, opp. to κακοί, πατρὸς δ᾽ εἴμ᾽ ἀγαθοῖο, θεὰ δέ με γείνατο μήτηρ Il.; ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἐξ ἀγαθῶν, Lat. boni bonis prognati, Plat.; with this early sense was associated that of wealth and power, like Lat. optimus quisque in Sallust and Cicero; esp. in the phrase καλοὶ κἀγαθοί (v. καλοκἀγαθός).

good, brave, since these qualities were attributed to the Chiefs, Il.; ἀγαθὸς ἐν ὑσμίνῃ, βοὴν ἀγαθός, πὺξ ἀγαθός, etc., Hom.; ἀγ. τὰ πολέμια, τὰ πολιτικά Hdt., etc.;—also c. dat., ἀγ. πολέμῳ Xen.;—and, ἀγ. εἴς τι, περί τι, πρός τι Plat., etc.; lastly, c. inf., ἀγ. μάχεσθαι, ἱππεύεσθαι, good at fighting, etc.…

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

A-NSN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

good (Tobh, Tubh, yaTabh; agathos, agathon, kalos, kalon): In English "good" is used in various senses, most of which are represented in the Bible.

(1) In the Old Testament the commonest word is Tobh, occurring very frequently and translated in a great variety of ways. Of the different shades of meaning, which frequently run into each other, the following may be distinguished:

(a) Possessing desirable qualities, beneficial, agreeable, e.g. "good for food" (Ge 2:9); "We will do thee good" (Nu 10:29); Who will show us any good?" (Ps 4:6); "good tidings of good" (Isa 52:7).

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
84%good
good84% · 86×good things8% · 8×good?3% · 3×other renderings6% · 6×

103 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 9 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
object34%adverbial30%subject15%predicate13%second object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 102 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
εἰςἐκγάρfor
ἔργονwork, labor, action,
πᾶςall, the whole, πλήρηςfullὑπομονήendurance, stead
καίand, even, also, nam
πονηρόςevil, bad, wickeτέDisjκαλόςbeautiful, good,
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becσάρξflesh, bodyμνείαremembrance, rec
τὶς
δύναμαιI am powerful, aπράσσωI do, fare, requεἰCond
ἀγαθόςgood.102×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπιστόςtrustworthy, faiβρέχωI moisten, rain,
Article the
αἰτέωI ask, request, γάρforκατά
ποιέωI do, make
ἵναin order that, sDisjεἰς
εἰCond
μήNegδέbut, on the othe
εἰμίI am, exist
λέγωI say, speakἄλλοςother, another,

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

Concordanceἀγαθός · 102× in the New Testament
Romans Luke Matthew 1 Peter 1 Timothy Ephesians Mark Titus Acts Hebrews John 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 183 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.14c. AD 75–95

καθʼ ὅσον δʼ ἂν ἀποστῶσι τῆς τούτων ἀκριβοῦς ἐπιμελείας, ἄπορα μὲν γίνεται τὰ πόριμα, τρέπεται δὲ εἰς συμφορὰς ἀνηκέστους ὅ τι ποτʼ ἂν ὡς ἀγαθὸν δρᾶν σπουδάσωσιν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.12c. AD 100

ἐὰν ᾖ ἀγαθός, ἡ δικαιοσύνη αὐτοῦ προηγήσεται αὐτοῦ: ἐὰν ᾖ πονηρός, ὁ μισθὸς τῆς πονηρίας ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ:

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
Pylon 7 (2025) [Avdoulou], § 1-13Oxyrhynchos (OxyrhynchitesAD 101–AD 200

ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ. Πολυκράτης Ἀθην … Πολυκράτους τῶν ἀπ’ Ὀξυρύγχων πόλεως … ἀπὸ κώμης Σερύφεως τοῦ

Pap.Brux. 8 p. 94-Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 167

καὶ Οὐήρου τῶν κυρίων Αὐτοκρατόρων εἰς δάνεια σπέρματα τῆς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος η ἔτους ἐπʼ ἀγαθοῖς κατασπορᾶς ἃς ὁ αὐτὸς βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς ὧι ἡ περὶ τῶν σπερμάτων διάκρισις διαφέρει, ἔγραψεν

P.Berl.Frisk 3Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 211–AD 212

καὶ ἑκάστῳ τὰ ἴδια πρυτανεύεις ὡς ἐκ τῆς θαυμασιωτάτης σου συνέσεως τὴν ὅλην ἐπαρχίαν ἀγαθῶν πεπληρῶσθαι, μάλιστα συντηροῦντός σου τοὺς γεωργοῦντας τὴν δημοσίαν γῆν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν αἰωνίου ἀηττήτου

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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