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Romans 15:20 — Word Study

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N1904οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

BSAthusohutō, ohutōs [thus, like this] nowde being ambitiousphilotimeomai [strived, made it my aim] to evangeliseeuangelizomai [speak good news, proclaim, the good news of salvation] notou wherehopou was namedonomazō [not named, not previously announced] Christ,Christos [the Anointed One, Jesus] so thathina not uponepi another’sallotrios [another's, a different person's] foundationthemelios [base, starting point] I may buildoikodomeō [constructing, establishing]

Word
Listen & take awayRomans 15
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 20 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 (oikodomeō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Romans 15:20quick helps
In a sentencePaul aims to preach the gospel in areas where Christ has not yet been proclaimed, avoiding the risk of building on another's work.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, expressing his missionary ambition.
Where we areIn a section discussing Paul's ministry and his approach to evangelism.
The hard wordφιλοτιμούμενον
Take awayPaul is focused on establishing new foundations for the gospel.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectΧριστός verbφιλοτιμέομαι 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 15:20

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 Missionary Ambitionsgenerated

19by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
20In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
21Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
22That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

Romans 15:20 shows Paul's determination to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, indicating his desire to reach those who had not yet heard the message of salvation. He emphasizes the importance of establishing new foundations rather than building on the work of others, which is a recurring theme in his letters as he seeks to expand the reach of the gospel. This aligns with his broader mission strategy, as seen in other passages such as 2 Corinthians 10:14-16.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Corinthians 10:14–16We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.
21 Corinthians 3:9–15For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
32 Corinthians 10:13–16We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you.
4Ephesians 2:20–22built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

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


The Key Word φιλοτιμούμενον, philotimeomaigenerated

The word φιλοτιμέομαι is a present participle meaning 'to aspire' or 'to be ambitious.' It is derived from the roots for 'friend' and 'honor,' suggesting a striving for recognition or achievement. In this context, it highlights Paul's earnest desire to spread the gospel.

This word appears only three times in the New Testament, indicating a specific and passionate pursuit of a goal. Paul's use of this term suggests not just ambition but a noble aim in his mission work, emphasizing the importance of preaching the gospel in uncharted territories.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The translations generally agree on the core meaning of the verse. The BSB, KJV, ASV, and others convey Paul's aspiration to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.

However, there are differences in how certain phrases are rendered. For example, οὕτως is translated as this way in the BSB and so in the KJV. Similarly, ἵνα is rendered as so that in the BSB and that in the ASV.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is φιλοτιμούμενον, being ambitious, which governs the entire clause. The structure includes an infinitive phrase indicating the purpose of the ambition — εὐαγγελίζεσθαι, to evangelize — and a prepositional phrase that specifies where this ambition is directed.

The clause structure emphasizes Paul's intent and the conditions under which he operates, with subordinate clauses elaborating on the context of his missionary work and the necessity of establishing new foundations.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

φιλοτιμέομαι does not have a direct equivalent in the Septuagint, but its concept of striving for honor can be related to various themes found in the Old Testament, such as the pursuit of righteousness and the honor associated with serving God.

The absence of this specific term in the LXX suggests that Paul's ambition is uniquely articulated in the New Testament context, reflecting the missionary zeal of the early church.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Romans 15:20 shows that Paul is eager to share the gospel in places where people have not yet heard of Christ. He wants to make sure he is not building on the work of others, but laying a new foundation for the faith.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Paul mean by 'not building on someone else’s foundation'?

Paul is emphasizing the importance of establishing new converts in areas where the gospel has not yet been preached, rather than relying on the work of other missionaries.

Why is it significant that Paul aspired to preach where Christ was not known?

This reflects Paul's commitment to spreading the gospel to unreached people, demonstrating the urgency and importance of evangelism in his ministry.

How does Paul's ambition relate to his overall mission strategy?

Paul's ambition to preach in new areas aligns with his strategy of expanding the reach of the gospel, ensuring that he lays a strong foundation for new believers.

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

We can learn the value of targeting unreached populations and the importance of establishing a solid foundation for faith in new believers.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I identify areas in my life where I can share the gospel where it is not known?
  2. What steps can I take to ensure that I am building on a solid foundation in my own faith?
  3. In what ways can I support others who are sharing the gospel in new areas?
  4. How does understanding Paul's ambition inspire my own approach to evangelism?

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

Several early church Fathers comment on this verse, discussing Paul's approach to evangelism and the implications of building on another's foundation.

John ChrysostomHomily on Romans 29 c. 347–407
"Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named." See here another preeminence; that he had not only preached the Gospel to so many, and persuaded them, but he did not even go to those who had become disciples.
Early Church Fathers on Romans 15 →
PelagiusPELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS c. 354–418
A man who builds on someone else’s foundation is not doing anything wrong, as long as he builds with gold and such. Here Paul is referring to those false apostles who always went to converts and never to the Gentiles because they could not…
Early Church Fathers on Romans 15 →
AmbrosiasterCOMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES fl. c. 366–384
It was not without reason that Paul says that he tried to preach in places where Christ had not been named. For he knew that false apostles went about sharing Christ in ways which were wrong in order to ensnare the people by some other…
Early Church Fathers on Romans 15 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Romans 15:20 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel,.... The sense is, not barely that he strove to preach the Gospel and not the law, the pure Gospel, and, not a mixed one; nor only that he endeavoured to

Read John Gill on Romans 15 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: Yea, so have I strived , [ houtoos (G3779) de (G1161) filotimoumenon

Read Robert Jamieson on Romans 15 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 20,21. He gives a reason why he chose to preach the gospel in these places, because Christ had not been named or preached there before; this, he saith, was his ambition, and a thing that he greatly coveted; he was unwilling to build upon another man’ s foundation, to put his sickle into another’ s harvest, to derive the glory to himself which would be due to others, ,16. Again, another reason why he preached the gospel where Christ had not been named, was this, that so by him, as an apostle of Christ, and in his ministry, that scriptnre might be fulfilled, which you have in , To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see, & c. See Poole on "".

Read Matthew Poole on Romans 15 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’ s foundation: Ver. 20. Lest I should build] Lest I should seem to do anything unbeseeming the office of an apostle: there is a decorum to be kept in every calling.

Read John Trapp on Romans 15 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20, 21) Throughout all this long missionary career, the Apostle had made it his endeavour not merely to go over old ground where others had been before him, but to seek out new and virgin soil, where he might enter as a pioneer, and convey the good news of the kingdom of heaven for the first time.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Romans 15 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 20. So have I strived to preach the Gospel] ουτωδεφιλοτιμουμενον. For I have considered it my honour to preach the Gospel where that Gospel was before unknown. This is the proper import of the word φιλοτιμεισθαι; from φιλος, a friend, and τιμη, honour. As I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, so I esteem it an honour to preach it, and especially to proclaim it among the heathen; not building on another man's foundation-not watering what another apostle had planted; but cheerfully exposing myself to all kinds of dangers and hardships, in order to found new Churches.

Read AdamClarke on Romans 15 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. Yea, so have I strived] Better, But jealously striving so, &c. The “but” adds a qualifying additional fact; that his line and area of action were determined, in a measure, by his aim to work only in untouched regions. This is partly to explain why, with all his vast range of travel, he had not yet visited Rome.—“Jealously striving:”—the Gr. verb indicates an effort in which personal desires and principles are kept in view. St Paul made it a point of honour to be a pioneer in his missionary work; not with a selfish love of éclat, but because his devotion to his Master took this peculiar line, very probably under Divine suggestions.lest I should build, &c.] He avoided this, probably, both…

Read Cambridge on Romans 15 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yea, so have I strived - The word used here φιλοτιμούμενον philotimoumenon means properly “to be ambitious, to be studious of honor;” and then to “desire” earnestly. In that sense it is used here.

Read Albert Barnes on Romans 15 →

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

In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

NETBNew English Translation2006

And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation,

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

yea, making it my aim so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man’s foundation;

RVARevised Version, American1894

yea, making it my aim so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man’s foundation;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Yea, so I enforced my selfe to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should haue built on another mans foundation.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

and so aiming to announce the glad tidings, not where Christ has been named, that I might not build upon another's foundation;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and so counting it honour to proclaim good news, not where Christ was named — that upon another's foundation I might not build —

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and so counting it honor to proclaim good news, not where Christ was named—that on another’s foundation I might not build—

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

In this way, my desire has been to proclaim the gospel, but not where Christ is known by name, in order that I might not build upon another man's foundation.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And I have so preached this gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

In fact I was keen to spread the good news in places that hadn't heard the name of Christ, so that I wouldn't be building on what others have done.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Making it my purpose not to take the good news where Christ was named, so that my work might not be resting on that of others;

Word by word, the decisions they made

οὕτωςohutō, ohutōs thus G3779 2 different renderings
this wayBSB MSB NETB ULB
thisDRA
ὠνομάσθηonomazō was named G3687 2 different renderings
was namedBBE DRA GNV KJV LSV NWB YLT
namedASV DBY NETB RVA WEB
ἀλλότριονallotrios another’s G245 3 different renderings
anotherASV DRA GNV KJV LSV NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
another'sDBY YLT
othersBBE FBV
οἰκοδομῶoikodomeō I may build G3618 3 different renderings
buildASV DBY DRA KJV LSV NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
buildingBSB FBV MSB
builtGNV

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.

clauseγὰρforclauseοὐNotclauseverbτολμήσωwill I dareclause · objectverbλαλεῖνto speak ofnoun phrase · objectτιanythingnoun phraseclauseobjectὧνwhatadverbialοὐexceptverbκατειργάσατοhas accomplishedsubjectΧριστὸςChristprepositional phrase · adverbialδι’throughἐμοῦmeprepositional phrase · adverbialεἰςunto [the]noun phraseὑπακοὴνobedienceἐθνῶνof [the] Gentilesnoun phrase · adverbialλόγῳby wordκαὶandἔργῳdeedprepositional phrase · adverbialprepositional phraseἐνin [the]noun phraseδυνάμειpowernoun phraseσημείωνof signsκαὶandτεράτωνwondersprepositional phraseἐνin [the]noun phraseδυνάμειpowernoun phraseΠνεύματοςof [the] SpiritἉγίουof Godclause · adverbialὥστεso asclausesubjectμεfor meprepositional phrase · adverbialprepositional phraseἀπὸfromἸερουσαλὴμJerusalemκαὶandprepositional phraseκύκλῳaroundprepositional phraseμέχριuntonoun phraseτοῦ-ἸλλυρικοῦIllyricumverbπεπληρωκέναιto have fully proclaimednoun phrase · objectτὸthenoun phraseεὐαγγέλιονgospelnoun phraseτοῦ-Χριστοῦof Christδὲnowclauseadverbialοὕτωςthusverbφιλοτιμούμενονbeing ambitiousclause · objectverbεὐαγγελίζεσθαιto preach the gospelnoun phrase · adverbialοὐχnotnoun phraseclauseadverbialὅπουwhereverbὠνομάσθηhad been namedsubjectΧριστόςChristclauseἵναso thatclauseμὴnotclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐπ’uponnoun phraseἀλλότριονanother’sθεμέλιονfoundationverbοἰκοδομῶI might buildἀλλὰRatherclauseκαθὼςasclauseverbγέγραπταιit has been writtenclauseclauseverbὌψονταιThey will seenoun phrase · subjectclauseindirect objectοἷςto whomadverbialοὐκnotverbἀνηγγέληit was proclaimedprepositional phrase · adverbialπερὶconcerningαὐτοῦHimκαὶandclausenoun phrase · subjectclausesubjectοἳthose thatadverbialοὐκnotverbἀκηκόασινhave heardverbσυνήσουσινwill understand

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

Sic autem prædicavi Evangelium hoc, non ubi nominatus est Christus, ne super alienum fundamentum ædificarem :

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

ܟܕ ܡܬܚܦܛ ܐܢܐ ܐܣܒܪ ܠܐ ܟܪ ܕܐܬܩܪܝ ܫܡܗ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ ܕܠܐ ܐܒܢܐ ܥܠ ܫܬܐܣܬܐ ܢܘܟܪܝܬܐ

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

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

οὕτως δὲ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
φιλοτιμούμενον being ambitiousNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TR, ByzTreg

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 15:20οὕτωthusthusοὕτωδέnownowδέφιλοτιμέομαιbeing ambitbeing ambitiousφιλοτιμέομαιεὐαγγελίζωto evangelito evangeliseεὐαγγελίζωοὐnotnotοὐὅπουwherewhereὅπουὀνομάζωwas namedwas namedὀνομάζωΧριστόςChrist,Christ,Χριστόςἵναso thatso thatἵναμήnotnotμήἐπίuponuponἐπίἀλλότριοςanother’sanother’sἀλλότριοςθεμέλιοςfoundationfoundationθεμέλιοςοἰκοδομέωI may buildI may buildοἰκοδομέωὄνομαn.n. name,n.n. name, charὄνομαοὗτοςDem.pr. thDem.pr. this, hοὗτοςεὖAdv well, Adv well, well εὖὅςRel.pr. whRel.pr. who, whὅςχρίωv. I anoinv. I anointχρίωοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐἄλλοςAdj other,Adj other, anotἄλλοςτίθημιv. I put, v. I put, placeτίθημιφίλοςAdj. & n.fAdj. & n.f. & nφίλοςτιμήn.f. a prin.f. a price, hτιμήμήNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. not, lμήἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦArticle thArticle theἀμφιέννυμιv. I put ov. I put on, clἀμφιέννυμιλάμπωv. I shinev. I shineλάμπωεἴτεCj. and ifCj. and if, wheεἴτεκώμηn.f. a viln.f. a villageκώμηπτωχόςAdj poor, Adj poor, destiπτωχός
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 15:20

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.

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
οὕτωςohutō, ohutōs thus G3779 Adverb
209× 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
Thus means in this way or like this, as when Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 5:16 and Luke 1:25.
Amplified meaning
thus, like this
Tyndale gloss
thus(-ly)
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὕτω (i.e., houto) is an adverb meaning 'in this way' or 'thus.' It is derived from the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος and is used in various contexts to refer to what precedes or follows in a statement. The New Testament employs it frequently, particularly in the Gospels and Acts, to clarify or emphasize descriptions and comparisons.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὕτως, rarely (Bl., § 5, 4; WH, App., 146 f.) οὕτω, adv.

(< οὗτος),

[in LXX chiefly for כֵּן;]

in this way, so, thus;

referring to what precedes: Mt 5:16 6:30, Mk 10:43 14:59, Lk 1:25 2:48 15:7, Jo 3:8, Ro 1:15, I Co 8:12, al.; οὕτως καί, Mt 17:12, Mk 13:29, al.; pleonastically, resuming a ptcp. (cl.; v. Bl., § 74, 6), Ac 20:11 27:17.

Referring to what follows: Mt 1:18 6:9, Lk 19:31, Jo 21:1,

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

οὕτω and οὕτως (formerly in printed editions οὕτω appeared before a consonant, οὕτως before a vowel; but [recent critical editors, following the best Mss. (“cod. Sin. has -ro but fourteen times in the N. T.” Scrivener, Collation ete. p. liv.; οἵ. his Introduction ete. p. 561), have restored οὕτως; viz. Treg. uniformly, 205 times; Taf. 203 times, 4 times + ; Lchm. 196 times, 7 times +w (all before a consonant); WH 196 times, 10 times -ro (all before a consonant); cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 97; WH. App. p- 146 54.7; ef. W. § 5, 1b.; B. 9; [Lob. Pathol. Elementa ii. 213 sqq.]; ef. Kriiger § 11, 12, 1; Kiihner §72, 3 a.), adv., (fr. οὗτος), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. for 13, in this manner, thus, 80; 1. by virtue of its native demonstrative force it refers to what precedes; in the manner spoken of; in the way described; in the way it was done; in this manner; in such a manner; thus, so: Mt. vi. 30…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὕτως (ohutō, ohutōs) — thus(-ly).

οὕτως,

and before a consonant οὕτω (but sometimes οὕτως before a consonant, [Refs 5th c.BC+], and οὕτω before a vowel is found in Epic dialect Poets and _Ionic dialect_ Prose, see near the end); in Attic dialect strengthened

__A οὑτωσί [Refs 5th c.BC+]; see at {οὗτος Α}:— adverb of οὗτος, in this way or manner, so, thus: οὕτως is antecedent to ὡς, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Attic dialect also οὕτως ὥσπερ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὥσπερ.., οὕτω καὶ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὡσαύτως, ὥσπερ.., οὕτω καὶ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also οὕτως, ὅπως.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; poetry also ὥστε.., οὕτω δὲ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] is frequently left out after ὡς, ὡς ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐποίουν ταῦτα [Refs 5th c.BC+] —Sts. οὕτω or -ως refers to what follows, thus, as follows, οὕτω χρὴ ποιεῖν: ἐὰν.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] followed by a quotation, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; καὶ οὕτως even…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὕτω οὕτως

houto

houtos hoo'-toce

adverb from 3778; in this way (referring to what precedes or

follows):--after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all

that, like(-wise), no more, on this fashion(-wise), so (in like

manner), thus, what.

see GREEK for 3778

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὕτως

Adv

thus, so, in this manner

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὕτως houtōs 208x

thus, in this way, Mt. 1:18; 2:5; 5:16; et al. freq.; ὁς μὲν οὕτως, ὁς δὲ οὕτως, one so, and another so, one in one way, and another in another, 1 Cor. 7:7; so, Mt. 7:12; 12:40; 24:27, 37, et al. freq.; thus, under such circumstances, Acts 20:11; in such a condition, viz., one previously mentioned, Acts 27:17; 1 Cor. 7:26, 40; and, perhaps, Jn. 4:6; in an ordinary way, at ease, like Latin sic, perhaps, Jn. 4:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
48%thus
thus48% · 104×so39% · 83×this way4% · 9×other renderings4% · 9×other renderings5% · 10×

215 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 13 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
adverbial88%predicate12%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 209 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
περιτομήcircumcisionπλοῖονa ship, vesselἑπτάIndec
ὅτιthat, since, because
πατήρfather, Father, αὐτόςσύ
οὗτος
τίςIrgεἰCondἔχωI have, hold, po
δέbut, on the other ha
φανερόωI make clear, viλαλέωI speak, sayποιέωI do, make
οὐNeg
δέbut, on the othe
οὕτωthus209×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theσύἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
γάρfor
γράφωI writeπρέπωit becomes, is fδιώκωI pursue, persec
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθησαυρίζωI store up, trea
λαλέωI speak, say
βλασφημέωI speak evil agaοὐNegκαίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceοὕτω · 209× in the New Testament
Matthew 1 Corinthians Acts Luke Romans John Mark Hebrews 2 Corinthians James Revelation 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 419 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 6c. AD 40

ὡς γὰρ τῶν κολοσσιαίων μεγεθῶν τὰς ἐμφάσεις καὶ ἡ βραχυτάτη σφραγὶς τυπωθεῖσα δέχεται, οὕτως τάχα που καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναγραφείσης ἐν τοῖς νόμοις κοσμοποιίας ὑπερβάλλοντα κάλλη καὶ ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ψυχὰς ἐπισκιάζοντα βραχυτέροις…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.19c. AD 75–95

ἰστέον οὖν, ὅτι πάντων ἐκεῖνος ἀναγκαιότατον ἡγήσατο τῷ καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μέλλοντι βίον οἰκονομήσειν καλῶς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νομοθετεῖν θεοῦ πρῶτον φύσιν κατανοῆσαι καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἐκείνου θεατὴν τῷ νῷ γενόμενον οὕτως παράδειγμα τὸ πάντων ἄριστον…

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
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD

καὶ συνγραφὴν πατρικῆς … ὑπογράφει ἐν τοῖς μάρτυσι ὁ Πατοῦς συνορῶν … τὴν ὑπογραφήν. οὕτως ἑκουσίως ὁ Καλλιμήδης … α διὰ μονογράφου Θορταίου ἔφεσιν λαβόν… τοῦ λδ ἔτους

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

r … ς οὕτως ὑπὸ γε… ς δεομένων δὲ τῶν … ντων ὑμῶν διαλήψεως … καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

καλῶς ποιήσετε συνγεινόμενοι εἰς τοῦτον τόπον ἐν ἀσφαλείαι ὑπάρχοντα συντηρηθῆναι τοῦτον τῶι κυρίωι βασιλεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ πράσσοντες καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν διατηροῦντες … ε … παρὰ τῶν

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
δὲde now G1161 Conjunction
2,787× 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 is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέnow2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
φιλοτιμούμενονphilotimeomai being ambitious G5389 Verb · present · no voice stated · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
3× 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 aspire or strive for something, often related to seeking honor or recognition, as seen in Romans 15:20 and 2 Corinthians 5:9. It involves being ambitious and eager to achieve a goal.
Amplified meaning
strived, made it my aim
Tyndale gloss
to aspire
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

φιλοτιμέομαι is a verb meaning to love or seek after honor, often translated as to be ambitious or emulous. It is derived from the roots for 'friend' and 'honor.' In the New Testament, it appears in contexts suggesting earnest striving or zeal, particularly in Romans, 2 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians. The lexicons indicate a shift from its original meaning of emulation to a more general sense of striving or being zealous.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** φιλοτιμέομαι, -οῦμαι

(< φίλος, τιμή),

[in LXX: IV Mac 1:35 A ;]

to love or seek after honour, hence, to be ambitious, emulous (Plat., Plut., al.): c. inf., Ro 15:20, II Co 5:9, I Th 4:11.†

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

φιλοτιμέομαι, -οὔμαι; (φιλότιμος, and this fr. φίλος and τιμή) ; depon. pass. (with fut. mid.); freq. in Grk. writ. fr. Andoc., Lysias, Xen., Plat. down; a. to be fond of honor; to be actuated by love of honor; froma love of honor to strive to bring something to pass. b. foll. by an inf., to be ambitious to ete., 1 Th. iv.11; Ro. xv. 20; do strive earnestly, make it one’s aim, 2 Co. ν. 9.

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

φιλοτιμέομαι is found in the NT in Rom 1539, 2 Cor 59, 1 Thess 41, and in all three passages seems to have lost its original idea of emulating (‘Cam ambitious”), and to mean little more than ‘‘am zealous,” ‘‘strive eagerly,” in accordance with its usage in late Greek: cf. P Petr III. 42 H.(8) f* (iii/B.c.) ἐφιλοτιμοῦ με παραγενέσθαι πρὸς σὲ καὶ] ἦλθον, PSI IV. 375} (B.C. 250-49) ὃν τρόπον ἐφιλοτιμήθης περὶ ἡμῶν, P Cairo Zen III. 593054 (B.c. 250), and P Tebt II. 41010 (1.14...) μν[ἤ]σθητιε o[s] ἐν τῷ Τρ[ι]στόμῳ με ἐφιλοτ[ι]μοῦ σὺν ἐμοὶ μεῖναι, ‘‘remember how zealous you were at Tristomos to remain with me” (Edd.). The verb is also common in honorary decrees, where its general meaning is ‘‘act with public spirit,” e.g. C/A II. 4442. (ii/B.c.) ὅπως οὖν καὶ ἡ βουλὴ Kal 6 δῆμος μνημονεύοντες φαίνωνται τῶν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς φιλοτιμουμένων, OG/S 1178 (ii/B.C.) ὃ δῆμος ὁ ᾿Αθηναίων εὐχάριστος ὧν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φιλοτιμέομαι (philotimeomai) — to aspire.

φῐλοτῑμ-έομαι,

future ήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; later, -ηθήσομαι[Refs 1st c.BC+] codices: aorist ἐφιλοτιμήθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect πεφιλοτίμημαι [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—perfect in passive sense, [Refs 1st c.AD+]: (φιλότιμος):—love or seek after honour, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: hence, to be ambitious, emulous, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φ. ὅτι.. to be jealous because.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φ. πρὸς ἀλλήλους, πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους, vie emulously with, rival, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. the object of ambition, etc., is mostly added with a preposition, φ. ἐπί τινι to place one's fame in a thing, glory or pride oneself upon it, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; περὶ τῶν καλῶν contend in rivalry for, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; περὶ τὴν θήραν, δεῖπνα, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φ. πρὸς τὴν πόλιν…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

φιλοτιμέομαι

philotimeomai

middle voice from a compound of 5384 and 5092; to be fond of honor,

i.e. emulous (eager or earnest to do something):--labour, strive,

study.

see GREEK for 5384

see GREEK for 5092

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φιλοτιμέομαι

v.

I desire very strongly

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φιλοτιμέομαι philotimeomai 3x

pr. to be ambitious of honor; by impl. to exert one’s self to accomplish a thing, use one’s utmost efforts, endeavor earnestly, Rom. 15:20; 2 Cor. 5:9; 1 Thess. 4:11*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

φιλοτιμέομαι φιλότιμος Dep. to love or seek after honour, to be ambitious, emulous, jealous, Ar., etc.; φ. ὅτι . . to be jealous because . . , Xen.:—the object of ambition is added with a prep., φιλ. ἐπί τινι to pride oneself upon it, id. Xen., etc.; ἔν τινι Plat.;— with neut. adj., ἀεί τι φιλοτιμούμενος pursuing some object of ambition, Xen.

c. inf. to strive eagerly and emulously to do a thing, endeavour earnestly, aspire, id. Xen.:—c. acc. et inf. to be anxious that . . , id. Xen.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PNP-ASM — Verb · present · no voice stated · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PNP-ASM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: middle or passive depoNent Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

am-bish'-us (philotimeomai, "to be strongly desirous," "strive earnestly," "make it one's aim"): Given as a marginal reading in Ro 15:20 ("being ambitious to bring good tidings"), 2Co 5:9 ("We are ambitious, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him"), and 1Th 4:11 ("that ye be ambitious to be quiet").

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%being ambitious
being ambitious33% · 1×we are ambitious33% · 1×strive earnestly33% · 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
καίand, even, also, nam
διόwherefore
δέbut, on the other ha
οὕτωthus, so, in thi
φιλοτιμέομαιbeing ambitious
what comes after →
εὐαγγελίζωI bring good news, p
οὐNeg
εἴτεand if, whether
ἐνδημέωI am at home
ἡσυχάζωI rest, am silent, l
καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceφιλοτιμέομαι · 3× in the New Testament
1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians Romans
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn Dreams 2.55c. AD 40

τί δὲ περὶ Δωρίους καὶ Ἰωνικὰς καὶ Κορινθιακὰς γλυφὰς καὶ ὅσα οἱ ἐντρυφῶντες τοῖς καθεστῶσι νόμοις προσεξεῦρον σπουδάζομέν τε καὶ φιλοτιμούμεθα, κιονόκρανα κοσμοῦντες;

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.395c. AD 75–95

καὶ ἥσθη πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος οὕτως, ὡς μηδὲν ἄλλο φιλοτιμεῖσθαι μηδὲ ἀγαπᾶν ὡς τὸ τηρεῖν τὰ νόμιμα.

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
εὐαγγελίζεσθαιeuangelizomai to evangelise G2097 Verb · present · middle · infinitive
54× 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
To announce good news, especially the gospel, is the meaning of this word, as seen in Revelation 10:7 and Luke 16. It means to share the message of God's love and salvation. This word is often translated as 'evangelize' or 'preach the gospel'.
Amplified meaning
speak good news, proclaim, the good news of salvation
Tyndale gloss
to speak good news
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

εὐαγγελίζω is a verb meaning to announce good news, particularly in a Christian context referring to the gospel. It is derived from roots meaning 'good' and 'message.' The New Testament frequently uses it to describe the act of proclaiming the message of salvation through Christ, as seen in verses like Luke 4:18 and Romans 1:15. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εὐαγγελίζω

[in LXX for בָּשַׂר pi., hith.; for good news in general: I Ki 31:9, al.; of God's loving kindness, Ps 39 (40):10 95 (96):2, and esp. of Messianic blessings, Is 40:9 60:6, al. ;]

to bring or announce glad tidings;

act. (only in late writers): c. acc pers., Re 10:7; seq. ἐπί, c. acc pers., Re 14:6; pass., of things, to be proclaimed as glad tidings: Lk 16:16, Ga 1:11, I Pe 1:25; impers., I Pe 4:6; of persons, to have glad tidings…

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

εὐαγγελίζω : 1 aor. εὐηγγέλισα (Rev. x. 7; xiv. 6; 1S. xxxi. 9; 2S. xviii. 19; W. 71 (69); [B. 35 (30)]); Pass., pres. εὐαγγελίζομαι : pf. ptep. εὐηγγελισμένοι (Heb. iv. 2); 1 aor. εὐηγγελίσθην; Mid., pres. evayyed (Copat ; impf. εὐηγγελιζόμην (Acts viii. 25 LT Tr WH); 1 aor. εὐηγγελισάμην ; (εὐάγγελος bringing good news); Sept. for Wa; to bring good news, to announce glad tidings; Vulg. evangelizo [ete.]; used in the O. T. of any kind of good news: 1S. xxxi. 9; 2. 5.1. 30; 1 Chr.x.9; of the joyful tidings of God’s kindnesses, Ps. xxxix. (xl.) 10; τὸ σωτήριον θεοῦ, Ps. χον. (xevi.) 2; in particular, of the Messianic blessings: Is. xl. 9; lii. 7; lx. 6; lxi. 1, ete.; in the N. T. used esp. of the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Christ, and of what relates to this salvation. L Inthe Active (rarein Grk. auth. also, in fact found…

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

εὐαγγελίζω. For the rare use of the active of this verb, as in Rev τοῦ, 148, we can now appeal not only to Dion Cass, Ixi. 13. 4 where the reading is doubtful, but to P Giss I. 275 (end of Trajan’s reign or beginning of Hadrian’s) (= Chrest. I. 17) where reference is made to the arrival from Memphis of a slave of the strategus Apollonius, announcing a victory he had gained—é]pxopévw εὐαγγελίζοντι τὰ τῆς velkns αὐτοῦ καὶ προκοπῆς. See also the Christian hymn of iv/a.p. P Amh I. 215 παισὶν δ᾽ [ε]ὐηγγέλιζε λέγων, IItwxol βασιλείαν. .. The literary and Biblical usage of the mid. is fully illustrated by Milligan Z%ess. p. 141 ff.: add for the former Menandrea p. 1068 εὐϊαγγελίσασθαι πρ[ὸς] σὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐβουλόμην, and Longus Daphnis and Chloe iii. 33 τὸν γάμον εὐηγγελίζετο, ‘full of joy brings her the annunciation of the marriage”’…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐαγγελίζομαι (euangelizomai) — to speak good news.

εὐαγγελ-ίζομαι,

imperfect, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: future participle -ιούμενος [Refs 1st c.AD+]: aorist (see. below):—active, only in later Gr., [LXX+NT+2nd c.AD+]pluperfect εὐηγγελίκειν uncertain in [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: (εὐάγγελος):— bring good news, announce them, λόγους ἀγαθοὺς φέρων εὐαγγελίσασθαί τινι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εὐ. ὅτι.. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τινι ὅτι.. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: with accusative et infinitive, [Refs 1st c.AD+] —active, εὐ. τὰ τῆς νίκης “PGiss.” [same place]; τισιν ὡς.. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—passive, receive good tidings, ἐν ᾗ -ίσθη ἡ πόλις ἡμέρᾳ [Refs 1st c.BC+]

II. preach or proclaim as glad tidings, τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ [NT]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐαγγελίζω

euaggelizo

from 2095 and 32; to announce good news ("evangelize") especially the

gospel:--declare, bring (declare, show) glad (good) tidings, preach

(the gospel).

see GREEK for 2095

see GREEK for 32

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐαγγελίζω

v.

I bring good news, preach good tidings

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐαγγελίζω euangelizō 54x

to address with good tidings, Rev. 10:7; 14:6; but elsewhere to proclaim as good tidings, to announce good tidings of, Lk. 1:19; to address with good tidings, Acts 13:32; 14:15; to address with the Gospel teaching, evangelize, Acts 16:10; Gal. 1:9; absol. to announce the good tidings of the Gospel, Lk. 4:18; 9:6; pass. to be announced as good tidings, Lk. 16:16; to be addressed with good tidings, Mt. 11:5; Read the full entry →

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

V-PMN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Middle Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5733

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
29%evangelising
evangelising29% · 16×evangelise18% · 10×evangelised9% · 5×i evangelised7% · 4×he was evangelising5% · 3×having evangelised5% · 3×having been evangelised5% · 3×he evangelised4% · 2×other renderings16% · 9×

55 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 16 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 54 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
σύδιδάσκωI teachκηρύσσωI proclaim, hera
Article the
πούςthe footεὐαγγέλιονthe good news, tδιά
σύ
ἐγώὑπερέκειναbeyondτὶς
πτωχόςpoor, destitute
καίand, even, also,ἐγείρωI wake, arouse,
γάρfor
ὁράωI see, look uponἐάνCond
εὐαγγελίζωto evangelise54×
what comes after →
σύ
οὗτοςχαράjoy, gladnessἀπό
Article the
λαόςa people, the crβασιλείαkingship, sovereΧριστόςanointed, the Me
οὐNeg
ἐνὅπουwhere, whitherεἰμίI am, exist
αὐτός
Article theἐν
ἐγώ
δεῖit is necessary,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

Concordanceεὐαγγελίζω · 54× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Galatians 1 Corinthians 1 Peter Romans 2 Corinthians Ephesians Hebrews Revelation 1 Thessalonians Matthew
Across the New Testament12 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
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 115c. AD 40

ἡνίκα δ’ ἂν μέλλωσιν ἐπιτέλλειν, ἄμητον εὐαγγελίζονται, καὶ ἐπιτείλασαι χαίροντας γεωπόνους πρὸς συγκομιδὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐγείρουσιν·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 5.24c. AD 75–95

καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ἓξ ποιησάντων τῇ ἑβδόμῃ τὸ ὁπλιτικὸν Ἰησοῦς συναγαγὼν καὶ τὸν λαὸν ἅπαντα τὴν ἅλωσιν αὐτοῖς τῆς πόλεως εὐηγγελίζετο, ὡς κατʼ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν αὐτοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ ταύτην παρέξοντος αὐτομάτως καὶ δίχα τοῦ πόνου τοῦ σφετέρου τῶν…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD
O.Claud. 4 852Mons ClaudianusAD 138–AD 161

ἐπάρχῳ παρὰ τῶν σκληρουργῶν καὶ ἐργοδοτῶν ἐργαζομένων ἐν μετάλλῳ Κλαυδιανοῦ· εὐαγγελιζόμεθα ὅτι Σαράπιδος θελέσαντος

O.Claud. 4 853Mons ClaudianusAD 186–AD 187

Καίσαρος παρὰ σκληρουργῶν καὶ ἐργοδοτῶν καὶ χαλκέων ἐργαζομένων ἐν μετάλλῳ Κλαυδιανοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ χαίρειν· εὐαγγελιζόμεθά σοι, κύριε, ἱλαρὰν φάσιν τοῦ Σεράπιδος θέλοντος καὶ τῆς Τύχης τοῦ Κλαυδιανοῦ καὶ τῆς

O.Claud. 4 860Mons ClaudianusAD 186–AD 187

Πρόβῳ … ἐπιτρόπῳ τοῦ κυρίου Καίσαρος παρὰ … ας ἐργοδοτῶν Κλαυδιανοῦ, τῷ κυρίῳ χα εὐαγγελιζόμεθά σοι, κύριε, τὴν ἱλαρὰν φάσιν ὅτι … εἴκοσι … προτέρου … τιοις κυρ

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
οὐχou not G3756 Particle · negative
1,622× 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 is a strong 'no', used to deny something completely. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 13:29 and John 1:21. It is a negative answer to a question.
Tyndale gloss
no
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὐ (transliterated as ou) is a primary negative particle meaning 'not' or 'no.' It is used to negate verbs or statements, often appearing in various forms depending on the following sound. In the New Testament, it frequently serves to deny facts and is distinct from another negative particle, μή (transliterated as ), which is used for prohibitions or wishes.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὐ, before a vowel with smooth breathing οὐκ, before one with rough breathing οὐχ (but improperly οὐχ ἰδού, Ac 2:7, WH, mg.; cf. WH, Intr., § 409; M, Pr., 44, 244),

[in LXX for לֹא, אַיִן, אֵין;]

neg. particle,

not, no, used generally c. indic. and for a denial of fact (cf . μή);

absol. (accented), οὔ, no: Mt 13:29, Jo 1:21 21:5; οὒ οὔ, Mt 5:37, Ja 5:12.

Most freq. negativing a verb or other word, Mt 1:25 10:26, 38, Mk 3:25 9:37, Jo 8:29, Ac 7:5, Ro 1:16, Phl 3:3, al.; in…

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

οὐ before a consonant, οὐκ before a vowel with a smooth breathing, and ody before an aspirated vowel ; but sometimes in the best codd. οὐχ occurs even before a smooth breathing; accordingly LT WH mrg. have adopted οὐχ ἰδού, Acts ii. 7; LT οὐχ ᾿Ιουδαϊκῶς, Gal. ii. 14 (see WH. Introd. § 409); L οὐχ ὀλίγος, Acts xix. 23; οὐχ ἠγάπησαν, Rev. xii. 11; and contrariwise οὐκ before an aspirate, as οὐκ ἕστηκεν, Jn. viii. 44 T; [οὐκ ἕνεκεν, 2 Co. vii. 12 T]; (οὐκ εὗρον, Lk. xxiv. 3; [οὐκ ὑπάρχει, Acts iii. 6] in cod. x [alsoC*; ef. cod. Alex. in 1 ἔβαν. iv. 2,12; Job xix. 16; xxxviiil. 11, 26]); cf. W. $5, 14d. 14; Β. τ; [A. v. Schiitz, Hist. Alphab. Att., Berol. 1875, pp: 54-58 ; Sophocles, Hist. of Grk. Alphab., 1st ed. 1848, p- 64 sq. (on the breathing); Tdf Sept., ed. 4, Proleg. pp: Xxxiii. xxxiv.; Scrivener, Collation ete., 2d ed., p. lv. no. 9; id. cod. Bezae p. xlvii. no. 11 (ef. p. xlii.…

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

ου to make the voyage” (Edd.), and P Amh II. 78?! (a.p. 184) τοιαύτης ο[ὖ]ν αὐθαδίας ἐν αὐτῷ οὔσης οὐ δυνάμενος [ἐν]καρτερεῖν ἐπιδίδωμι, ‘“ his audacity having reached this pitch I can endure no longer and present this petition.” See further Proleg. p. 231 f. In support of the translation ‘‘ I determined not to know” in 1 Cor 2, we may cite P Par 2657 (B.c. 163) (= UPZi. Ρ-. 248) οὐκ ἐκρίναμεν καταχωρῆσαι, ‘we determined not to record,” P Tebt I. 124° (c. B.c. 118) οὐκ (ἐκδρίναμεν ἐξαρ[ιθ]μεῖ[σθαι, “we determined not to be counted,” and the classical formula in P Hamb I. 27° (B.c. 250 (249)) οὐκ ἔφη εἰδέναι, ‘he said that he did not know.” The origin of the double negative οὐ μή is fully discussed by Moulton Pro/eg. p. 187 ff. When we pass to its actual occurrences in the NT, we find that these for the most part are found in passages derived from the OT and in the Sayings of our Lord…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὐ (ou) — no.

οὐ,

the negative of fact and statement, as μή of will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective. —The same differences hold for all compounds of οὐ and μή, and some examples of οὐδέ and οὐδείς are included below.—As to the Form, see infr. G. USAG[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I. as the negative of single words,

II. as the negative of the sentence.

I. οὐ adhering to single words so as to form a quasi-compound with them:—with Verbs: οὐ δίδωμι withhold, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐκ εἰῶ prevent, [Refs]; οὐκ ἐθέλω refuse, [Refs]; οὔ φημι deny, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; but sometimes οὐ is retained, εἰ δ᾽ ἂν.. οὐκ ἐθέλωσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐάντε.. οὐ (variant{μή}) φῆτε ἐάντε φῆτε [Refs 8th c.BC+] —On the use of οὐ in contrasts, see below [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὐ

ou

ouk ook, and (before an aspirate)

ouch ookh

a primary word; the absolute negative (compare 3361) adverb; no or

not:--+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, +

nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but. See also

3364, 3372.

see GREEK for 3361

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὐ

Neg.prt.

no, not

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὐ ou 1x

negative adverb, originally the gen. of ὅς, spelled οὐκ if followed by a word beginning with a vowel and a smooth breathing, οὐχ if followed by a vowel and rough breathing, not, no, Mt. 5:37; 12:43; 23:37; for the peculiarities of its usage (especially as distinct from μή) consult a grammar

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
82%not
not82% · 1383×certainly6% · 96×surely4% · 70×no longer3% · 50×no2% · 39×other renderings3% · 51×

1,689 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 17 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
adverbial82%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,622 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
εἰμίI am, existἐγώαὐτός
ὅς
ἐγώθερίζωI reap, gatherδέbut, on the othe
ὅτιthat, since, because
σύαὐτόςἐγώ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἐνἐπί
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγάρforὅς
οὐnot1622×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐκArticle theἐγώ
μήNeg
παρέρχομαιI pass byεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inπίνωI drink, imbibe
οἶδαI know, remember
ὅτιthat, since, becArticle theτίςIrg
γάρfor
εἰμίI am, existθέλωI will, wish, deArticle the
δύναμαιI am powerful, am ab
ἔρχομαιI come, goσῴζωI save, healArticle 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

Concordanceοὐ · 1,622× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke 1 Corinthians Romans Mark Acts 2 Corinthians Revelation Hebrews 1 John Galatians

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 6c. AD 40

ὡς γὰρ τῶν κολοσσιαίων μεγεθῶν τὰς ἐμφάσεις καὶ ἡ βραχυτάτη σφραγὶς τυπωθεῖσα δέχεται, οὕτως τάχα που καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναγραφείσης ἐν τοῖς νόμοις κοσμοποιίας ὑπερβάλλοντα κάλλη καὶ ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ψυχὰς ἐπισκιάζοντα βραχυτέροις…

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 1.8c. AD 100

ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ὡς διδάσκαλος, ἀλλ̓ ὧς εἰς ἐξ ὑμῶν ὑποδείξω ὀλίγα, δἰ ὧν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν εὐφρανθήσεσθε.

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

δὲ γενόμεναι κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον κληρονομήσασαι ταξάμεναι τὰ καθήκοντα τέλη θεᾶι Βερενίκηι κυριεύομεν. ὅθεν οὐκ ἀποδιδόντων τὰ ἡμέτερα ἐπεδώκαμεν ἐν τῶι λ ἔτει προσανγελίαν Ἡρακλείδει γενομένωι ἀρχιφυλακίτηι τοῦ Παθυρίτου

C.Erbstreit16Diospolis Magna (Theben)135 BC

ι ἀρουρῶν πρόκτησιν … ένου αὐτὸν ἐν συνεδρίωι καὶ συγχώρησιν … ειν, ἐν ἧι οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ὁ πατήρ. ὅθεν καταβεβραβευμένοι … ήρου συνεριου ἀξιοῦμεν, ἐὰν φαίνηται, συντάξαι γράψαι, οἷς

P.Adl. 2Pathyris125 BC

ὠνῆς ἐν πίστει διὰ τῶν περὶ τὸν Πανεβχοῦνιν ἐκτελειωθεῖσαν τῶι … ἔτει ἀντὶ ὀφειλημάτων, οὐκ ἐπελευσομένους τὸν Πανερέα καὶ τὴν Σενενοῦπιν περὶ ὀφειλημάτων μηδὲ περὶ ἄλλου μηδενός. ταῦτα δὲ

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
ὅπουhopou where G3699 Adverb
82× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Romans than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word asks about the location or place of something, like in Matthew 25:24 and John 3:8. It is used to describe where events occur, and is often translated as 'where' or 'in what place'.
Tyndale gloss
where(-ever)
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὅπου (i.e., *hopou*) is an adverb meaning 'where' or 'whither.' It is derived from two components and is used in various contexts, including relative clauses and indirect questions. The New Testament employs it to denote locations and conditions, as seen in verses like Matthew 6:19 and Revelation 2:13. It can also express time or cause, as noted in 1 Corinthians 3:3.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅπου,

adv.

of place, correlat. of ποῦ (q.v.), where.

Prop., of place,

where;

in relative sentences, c. indic: Mt 25:24, 26, Mk 2:4 4:5, 15 5:40 13:14, Jo 3:8 6:62 7:34, 36 11:32 14:3 17:24 20:19, Ro 15:20, Re 2:13; after nouns of place, for relat. prepositional phrase (ἐν ᾧ., etc.), Mt 6:19, 20 13:5 26:57 28:6, Mk 6:55 9:48, Lk 12:33, Jo 1:28 4:20, 46 6:23 7:42 10:40 11:30 12:1 18:1, 20 19:18, 20, 41 20:12, Ac 17:1,

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

ὅπου, Mk. xiv. 14; Ileb. vi. 20; ὧδε, Mt. xxii. 12; ἔσω, Mt. xxvi. 58; εἰς with ace. of pers., into one’s house, Acts xvi. 40, but on this pass. see εἰς, A. I. 1a. εἰσέρχ. πρός τινα, to one, i.e. into his house, visit, Mk. xv. 43; Lk. i. 23; Acts x. 8; xi. 3; xvi. 40 GL TTrWH; xxviii. 8; Rey. iii. 20; to an assembly of persons, Acts xvii. 2. Moreover the following deserve notice: a. the phrase εἰσέρχεσθαι καὶ ἐξέρχεσθαι, to go in and out, (the Hebr. ANS) NID, or reversed Nj} NNY, usually denotes one’s whole mode of living and acting, Deut. xxviii. 6; 1 S. xxix. 6, ete.; ef. Gesenius, Thesaur. i. p. 184 sq.), is used of familiar intercourse with one: ἐν παντὶ χρόνῳ ᾧ εἰσῆλθε x. ἐξῆλθεν ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς ὁ κύριος, equiv. to εἰσῆλθε ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς k. ἐξῆλθε ἀφ᾽ ἡμ. Acts i. 21, (Eur. Phoen. 536 ἐς οἴκους εἰσῆλθε x. ἐξηλθ᾽ [W. 624 sq. (580); but ef. B. 390 (334)]); figuratively, of moral pursuits unimpeded…

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

ὅπου, ‘*where,” as in Mk 24, is seen in P Oxy I. 7613 (Α.Ὁ. 179) ὅπου σὺν To ἀνδρὶ καταμένω, ‘where | live with my husband,” in P Lond 8545 (i/ii A.D.) (=III. p. 206), an interesting account of a journey—els Λιβύην ὅπου "Αμμων πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις χρησμῳδεῖ, “to Libya, where Ammon sings oracles to all men,’’ and in the question to an oracle P Oxy XII. 1477? (iii/iv A.D.) εἶ μένω ὅπου ὑπάγω ; ‘shall I remain where I am going?’’ For the meaning “ whither” (ὅποι is not found in the NT), as in Jn 74, see Ost 11628 (Rom.) ὅπου @éAe.—with reference to the sending of certain measures of wheat. Ὅπου ἄν (éav) = ‘‘ wheresoever,’’ as in Mk 98, may be illustrated from P Eleph 1° (B.C. 311-10) (= Selections, p. 2) εἶναι δὲ ἡμᾶς κατὰ ταὐτὸ (cf. Ac 14) ὅπου ἂν δοκῆι ἄριστον εἶναι, “‘and that we shall live together wherever may seem best,” P Oxy XIV. 16397° (B.C. 73 or 442) ὅπου ἂν τῶι καθόλου περιπίπτῃς…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅπου (hopou) — where(-ever).

ὅπου,

Ionic dialect ὅκου, Relat., indirect interrogative, and indefinite adverb of Place, correlated to ποῦ:

I. as a Relat., sometimes with genitive loci, τῆς πόλεως ὅπου κάλλιστον στρατοπεδεύσασθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]in some places, [Refs 4th c.BC+] adjective, μέλη, ὅπου (i. e. ἐν οἷς)[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with other Particles, ὅκου δή somewhere or other, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅπου ἄν wherever, with subjunctive, [Refs]; in Trag. the ἄν may be omitted, as ὅπου δ᾽ Ἀπόλλων σκαιὸς ᾖ, τίνες σοφο; [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with genitive, ὅπου ἂν τύχῃ τῶν λεγομένων [Refs 5th c.BC+]anywheresoever, [Refs]; ὅπουπερ with optative, wherever, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁπουδάν, ={ὅπου δὲ ἄν}, anywhere, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; ὁπουδήποτε, = ubicumque, Dosith.p.410 K.; ὁπουδηποτοῦν anywheresoever, [Refs 1st…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅπου

hopou

from 3739 and 4225; what(-ever) where, i.e. at whichever spot:--in

what place, where(-as, -soever), whither (+ soever).

see GREEK for 3739

see GREEK for 4225

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅπου

Adv

where, whither

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅπου hopou 82x

where, in which place, in what place, Mt. 6:19, 20, 21; Rev. 2:13; whither, to what place, Jn. 8:21; 14:4; ὅπου ἄν, or ἐάν, wherever, in whatever place, Mt. 24:28; whithersoever, Mt. 8:19; Jas. 3:4; met. where, in which thing, state, etc., Col. 3:11; whereas, 1 Cor. 3:3; 2 Pet. 2:11

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὅπου relat. adv. of Place, properly gen. of an obsol. Pron. ὅπος, correlat. to ποῦ: as a relat., Hdt., attic;—sometimes with gen. loci, ὅπου γῆς, Lat. ubi terrarum, Plat.:— ἔσθ᾽ ὅπου in some places, Lat. est ubi, Aesch., Dem.:—with other Particles, ὅκου δή somewhere or other, Lat. nescio ubi, Hdt.:— ὅπου ἄν or ὅπουπερ ἄν, wherever, with Subjunct., Trag.:— ὁπουοῦν, Lat. ubicunque, Plat.

in indirect questions, ὄφρα πύθηαι πατρός, ὅπου κύθε γαῖα Od., etc.: —with Verbs of motion in pregnant sense, just as, reversely, ὅποι is used with Verbs of rest, κεῖνος δ᾽ ὅπου βέβηκεν, οὐδεὶς οἶδε Soph.:—in repeating a question, ἡ Λακεδαίμων ποῦ 'στιν; Answ. ὅπου 'στίν; (do you ask) where it is? Ar.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
85%where
where85% · 71×wherever12% · 10×other renderings4% · 3×other renderings0% · 0×

84 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
adverbial70%predicate28%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 82 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
ἀφανίζωI cause to disapεὑρίσκωI findἀκολουθέωI accompany, att
τόποςa place
Article the
σύ
ἀκολουθέωI accompany, attλέγωI say, speakπαρά
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakτόποςa place
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaven
ἐνArticle the
ὅπουwhere82×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐγώArticle theκαίand, even, also,
Article the
πάσχαAramγραμματεύςa scribe, town-cπαραλυτικόςafflicted with p
ἐάνCond
ἀπέρχομαιI come or go awaκηρύσσωI proclaim, heraεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come in
οὐNeg
ἔχωI have, hold, poσπείρωI sow, spread, sδεῖit is necessary,
γάρfor
εἰμίI am, existἐνδιαθήκηa covenant, will

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

Concordanceὅπου · 82× in the New Testament
John Mark Matthew Revelation Luke Hebrews Acts James 1 Corinthians 2 Peter Colossians Romans
Across the New Testament12 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 AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.60c. AD 40

τὸ δὲ ἕτερον ξύλον, τὸ τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, οὐ δεδήλωκεν οὔτε εἰ ἐντὸς οὔτε εἰ ἐκτός ἐστι τοῦ παραδείσου, ἀλλ’ εἰπὼν οὕτως „καὶ τὸ ξύλον τοῦ εἰδέναι γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ“ εὐθὺς ἡσύχασεν οὐ δηλώσας ὅπου τετύχηκεν ὄν, ἵνα μὴ ὁ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.152c. AD 75–95

Θέρρου δὲ μισήσαντος τὴν Χαλδαίαν διὰ τὸ Ἀράνου πένθος μετοικίζονται πάντες εἰς Χαρρὰν τῆς Μεσοποταμίας, ὅπου καὶ Θέρρον τελευτήσαντα θάπτουσιν ἔτη βιώσαντα πέντε καὶ διακόσια·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 16.6c. AD 100

ἔστιν, ὅπου αὐτὸς λέγει ποιεῖν καὶ καταρτίζειν.

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 1st c. AD
P.Mich. 5 231ArsinoitesAD 48–AD 51

αι επ … ωμ … … … … προελευσομένους ἡμᾶς ὅπου ἐὰν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Γναῖος Οὐηργίλλις Καπίτων τὸν τοῦ νομοῦ διαλογισμὸν ποιῆται πρὸς τὸ

P.Fam.Tebt. 19ArsinoitesAD 118

παρʼ ἑτέρῳ αὐτῆς δανειστῇ οὔσας ἀπεσπακέναι αὐτὸν οὐ δεόντως. Διηρᾶς· διαβεβαιούμέθα καὶ κατὰ τούτων ὅπου εἰσὶν ἀρουρῶν τετελειωκέναι τὰ νόμιμα καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων. ἀξιοῦμεν οὖν καὶ νῦν χωρὶς

P.Mil.Vogl. 3 129Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 135

καὶ Κρονίωνι, ἵνʼ εἰδῶσι ὀφείλειν αὐτοὺς παρεῖναι ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερώτατον τοῦ κρατίστου ἡγεμόνος βῆμα ὅπου ἐὰν τὸν τοῦ νομοῦ διαλογισμὸν ἢ δικαιοδοσίαν ποιῆται πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πραάγματος διάγνωσιν. Ἡρακλείδης

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
ὠνομάσθηonomazō was named G3687 Verb · aorist · passive · indicative · third person · singular
9× 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 name something means to give it a label or title, like when Jesus named his disciples in Mark 3:14. It can also mean to mention or praise something, as in worship. This word is used in Acts 19:13 and Romans 15:20.
Amplified meaning
not named, not previously announced
Tyndale gloss
to name
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὀνομάζω (onomazō) means to name, mention, or address by name. It is derived from the root ὄνομα (onoma), meaning 'name.' This term appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as in Acts 19:13 and Romans 15:20, often relating to the act of naming or invoking names in praise or exorcism.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὀνομάζω

(< ὄνομα),

[in LXX for זכר, נקב, קרא;]

to name, mention, or address by name: Ac 19:13; pass., Ro 15:20, Eph 1:21 5:3; of the use of the Divine name in praise and worship, II Ti 2:19 (LXX, Nu 16:26; cf. Is 52:11, Am 6:10).

to name, call, give a name to: Mk 3:14 (T, R, txt. om.), Lk 6:13, 14; pass., I Co 5:11; seq. ἐξ (cl.), Eph 3:15 (cf. ἐπ-ονομάζω).†

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

ὀνομάζω; 1 aor. dvduaca; Pass., pres. ὀνομάζομαι; 1 aor. ὠνομάσθην ; (ὄνομα); fr. Hom. down; to name (cf. W. 615 (572)]; a. τὸ ὄνομα, to name i. 6. to utter: pass. Eph. i. 21; τοῦ κυρίου [Rec. Χριστοῦ], the name of the Lord (Christ) sc. as his Lord, 2 Tim. ii. 19 (Sept. for MM DY VIN, to make mention of the nume of Jcho~ vah in praise, said of his worshippers, Is. xxvi. 13; Am. Vi. 10); τὸ ὄνομα ᾿Ιησοῦ ἐπί τινα, Acts xix. 13, see ἐπί, C. I. 1c. p. 234

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

ὀνομάζω taken by the inhabitants of Assos, are followed by the words—oltwes καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς Γαΐου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Τερμανικοῦ σωτηρίας εὐξάμενοι Διὶ Καπιτωλίωι ἔθυσαν τῶι τῆς πόλεως ὀνόματι. The simple dat. is found in BGU IV. 120 528 (8.0. 28) δὸς ᾿Αλεξίωινι τῶι βαφῖ τῶι ἐμῶι ὀνόματι κτλ., P Oxy III, 53135. (ii/a.p.) πέμψον Φρόνιμον πρὸς ᾿Ασκληπιάδην ἐμῶι ὀνόματι, P Flor II. 2261) (iii/a.p.) πέμψον αὐτὰ εἰς Ταλεῖ τῷ ἐμῷ ὀνόμ(α)τι, and from the inscrr. JS xvii. (1897), p. 411 No. 14 προστείμου ὀνόματι, and C/G 3919 στεφανωτικοῦ ὀνόματι, where, as Evans (CQ xv. p. 26) points out, ὀνόματι might be rendered ‘under the heading of.” (6) Other exx. of ὄνομα with various prepositions are— P Tebt 11. 31752 (A.D. 174-5) ἕκαστα ἐπιτελοῦντι ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀπούσης ὀνόματος, “carrying out everything in my name and during my absence” (Edd.), P Oxy VII. 1063% (ii/iii A.D.) σύμβαλε “Hpddy.. . ἐξ ὀνόματός…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὀνομάζω (onomazō) — to name.

ὀνομάζω,

imperfect ὠνόμαζον [Refs 4th c.BC+], etc.; Epic dialect ὀν- [Refs 8th c.BC+]: future ὀνομάσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ὠνόμασα [Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect ὠνόμακα [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, future -ασθήσομαι[Refs 2nd c.AD+]aorist ὠνομάσθην and perfect ὠνόμασμαι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect ὀνόμασται [Refs 4th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ὠνομάδαται [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—middle, imperfect ὠνομάζετο [Refs 5th c.BC+] —Aeolic dialect or _Doric dialect_ future 3rd.pers. singular ὀνυμάξει (or -εῖ) [Refs]: aorist ὀνύμαξε [Refs 5th c.BC+]; middle future ὀνυμάξομαι[Refs]: present ὀνυμάζεται[Refs 5th c.AD+]: (ὄνομα):—speak of by name, call or address by name, of persons, πατρόθεν ἐκ γενεῆς ὀνομάζων ἄνδρα ἕκαστον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Πυθοδώρου.., ὃν Ἀθηναῖοι οὐκ ὀνομάζουσιν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοῖς προγόνοις -αζομένοις ἀπομνημονεύεται ὁπόστος ἀφ᾽…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὀνομάζω

onomazo

from 3686; to name, i.e. assign an appellation; by extension, to

utter, mention, profess:--call, name.

see GREEK for 3686

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὀνομάζω

v.

I give a name to, mention

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὀνομάζω onomazō 10x

to name, Lk. 6:14; to style, entitle, Lk. 6:13; 1 Cor. 5:11; to make mention of, Eph. 5:3; to make known, Rom. 15:20; to pronounce in exorcism, Acts 19:13; in NT to profess, 2 Tim. 2:19

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὀνομάζω ὄνομα to name or speak of by name, call or address by name, Il., Hdt., Xen.

of things, to name, specify, Il.

ὀν. τινά τι to call one something, Hdt., attic: in Mid., παῖδά μ᾽ ὠνομάζετο called me his son, Soph.:—Pass., ὄνομα δ᾽ ὠνομάζετο Ἕλενος id. Soph., etc.

εἶναι is often added pleon., τὰς οὐνομάζουσι εἶναι Ὑπερόχην καί . . whose names they say are Hyperoche and . . , Hdt.; σοφιστὴν ὀνομάζουσιν τὸν ἄνδρα εἶναι Plat.

to name or call after . . , ἐπί τινι Hdt., etc.; ἔκ τινος Soph.:—Pass., ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦτο οὐνομάζεται hence this saying has arisen, Hdt.

to use names or words, μάλα σεμνῶς ὀνομάζων Dem.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-API-3S — Verb · aorist · passive · indicative · third person · singular
aorist passive indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-API-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Passive Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
27%named
named27% · 3×he named18% · 2×invoke9% · 1×being designated9% · 1×being named9% · 1×should be named9% · 1×naming9% · 1×he called9% · 1×

11 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
verb78%linking verb11%adverbial11%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 9 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
ἀπόστολοςan apostle, a messen
καίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
ὅς
ἐξορκιστήςan exorcist
ἸουδαῖοςJewish
ὅπουwhere, whither
οὐNeg
ἀδελφόςa brother
τὶς
ὀνομάζωwas named
what comes after →
ΠέτροςPeter
καίand, even, also,
ἐπί
Article the
Χριστόςanointed, the Messia
ἵναin order that, s
εἰμίI am, exist
πόρνοςa fornicator
οὐNeg
μόνοςalone, 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

Concordanceὀνομάζω · 9× in the New Testament
Ephesians Luke 1 Corinthians 2 Timothy Acts Romans
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 12 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
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 89c. AD 40

ἑορτὴ γὰρ οὐ μιᾶς πόλεως ἢ χώρας ἐστὶν ἀλλὰ τοῦ παντός, ἣν κυρίως ἄξιον καὶ μόνην πάνδημον ὀνομάζειν καὶ τοῦ κόσμου γενέθλιον.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.128c. AD 75–95

Χέθιμος δὲ Χέθιμα τὴν νῆσον ἔσχε, Κύπρος αὕτη νῦν καλεῖται, καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς νῆσοί τε πᾶσαι καὶ τὰ πλείω τῶν παρὰ θάλατταν Χέθη ὑπὸ Ἑβραίων ὀνομάζεται·

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 undated 1st c. BC 2nd c. AD
BGU 4 1165Alexandria15 BC–14 BC

σὺν τῇ κατʼ αὐτὴν σημανθείσῃ ἐρανικῇ συνγραφῇ καὶ ἑτέρᾳ δανειστικῇ συνχωρήσει, διʼ ἧς καὶ ὀνομάζεται ὁ τοῦ Ἡρακλείδου καὶ τῆς Θερμούθιος υἱὸς Ἡρακλείδης, καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα μηδ

P.Lips. 2 145 VoPtolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 189

ἀπιστείας ὑφέξει. ἔξεστιν μὲν πᾶσιν τοῖς δεύτερον εἰς λιτουργίαν ὀνομασθεῖσι τοὺς μὴ πρότερον λελειτουργηκότας ὀνομάζειν, ἵνα αὐτοὶ π … … νται. ει … … εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν ὑπαγόμενοι καὶ οἱ

P.Col. 10 279Alexandria (?)AD 226–AD 275

μὴ ἀμελεῖν. οἶδας καὶ σὺ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ὀφείλοντά μοι, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἦν δίκαιον ὀνομάζειν αὐτὸν διὰ ἐπιστολῆς, καὶ σὺ αὐτὸς τοσοῦτο ποίησον, οἶδα γὰρ πῶς με φιλεῖς, τοῦ

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
Χριστός,Christos Christ, G5547 Noun · nominative · singular · masculine
529× 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
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-NSM — Noun · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-NSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative 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

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
ἵναhina so that G2443 Conjunction
669× 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 word means 'in order that' or 'to', showing purpose or result, as seen in Acts 19:4 and Romans 11:31. It's used to express a goal or outcome. In Ephesians 1:17, it's used to describe a purpose.
Tyndale gloss
in order that/to
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἵνα is primarily a conjunction meaning 'in order that' or 'that,' indicating purpose or intention. It can also function as an adverb of place, meaning 'where' or 'whither.' In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, often introducing clauses that express purpose, such as in Matthew 1:22. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings or usages.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἵνα,

adverb (poët., Hom., al.),

of place, where, whither.

of circumstance, when.

Conjunction,

prop., final, denoting purpose or end (cl.), that, in order that, usually the first word in the clause, but sometimes (cl. also) preceded by an emphatic word (Ac 19:4, Ro 11:31 (?), Ga 2:10, al.);

c. optat. (so in cl. after historic tenses): after a pres., Eph 1:17 (but WH, mg., subjc.; v. Burton, § 225, Rem., 2);

c. subjc.: after a pres., Mk 4:21, Lk 6:34, Jo 3:15, Ac 2:25,

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

ἵνα, I. an adv. of Place. fr. Hom. down, esp. in the poets; a. where; in what place. b. to what place; whither. Of the former signification C. F. A. Fritzsche (on Mt. p. 836; differently in Fritzschiorum Opusce. p. 186 sqq-.) thought he had found two examples in bibl. Greek, and H. A. W. Meyer agrees with him. The first viz. iva μὴ φυσιοῦσθε, 1 Co. iv. 6, they explain thus: where (i. e. in which state of things viz. when ye have leatned from my example to think humbly of yourselves) the one is not exalted to the other’s disadvantage; the second, iva αὐτοὺς ζηλοῦτε, Gal. iv. 17, thus: where ye zealously court them; but see II. 1 d. below. “ iva I. a final Conjunction (for from local direction, indicated by the adverb, the transition was easy te mental direction or intention) denoting pur pose and end: to the intent that; to the end that, in order that; ἵνα pn, that not, lest; it is used…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἵνα (hina) — in order that/to.

ἵνα,

adverb,

I. of Place,

I.1. in that place, there, once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.2. elsewhere relative, in which place, where,[Refs 8th c.BC+]: rarely in Attic dialect Prose, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵ. ἡ Νίκη (i.e. ἐστίν) [Refs 8th c.BC+] [same place]; ἵν᾽ ἄν with subjunctive, wherever, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; as indirect interrogative, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. b after [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἔμαθε ἵ. ἦν κακοῦ in what a calamity, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵν᾽ ἕσταμεν χρείας[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. c with Verbs of motion, whither, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

II. of circumstance, γάμος.., ἵ. χρή at which, when, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἵ. μὲν ἐξῆν αὐτοῖς.., ἐνταῦθα.. when it was in their power, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. ={ἐάν}, uncertain in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἵνα

hina

probably from the same as the former part of 1438 (through the

demonstrative idea; compare 3588); in order that (denoting the purpose

or the result):--albeit, because, to the intent (that), lest, so as,

(so) that, (for) to. Compare 3363.

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 3588

see GREEK for 3363

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἵνα

Cj.

in order that, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἵνα hina 663x

that, in order that, Mt. 19:13; Mk. 1:38; Jn. 1:22; 3:15; 17:1; ἵνα μή, that not, lest, Mt. 7:1; in NT equivalent to ὥστε, so that, so as that, Jn. 9:2; also, marking a simple circumstance, the circumstance that, Mt. 10:25; Jn. 4:34; 6:29; 1 Jn. 4:17; 5:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἵνα Adverb,

of Place,

demonstr. in that place, there, only in Il. 10. 127.

relat., = ὅπου, in which place, where, Hdt., etc.;—so, ἵνα τε Il.; ἵνα περ Hom.:—c. gen., ἵνα γῆς in whatever part of the land, Hdt.; ἔμαθε ἵνα ἦν κακοῦ in what a calamity, id. Hdt.; οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἵν᾽ εἶ κακοῦ Soph.

= ὅποι, with Verbs of motion, whither, Od.; ὁρᾷς ἵν᾽ ἥκεις Soph.

of circumstance, when, at which, Od.

Final Conjunction, = ὅπως, that, in order that, Lat. ut, Hom.:

with subj.,

after principal tenses of ind., id. Hom., etc.

after historical tenses, in similes, where the aor. refers to any possible time, Od.

after opt. and ἄν, ἔδωκε μένος, ἵνα γένοιτο she gave him vigour, that he might become, Il.

with opt., after historical tenses, Hom., etc.

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

so (co', although the Hebrew might be pointed cewe'; Assyrian Sib'u; Septuagint Segor, Soa; Manetho, Seuechos; Latin Sevechus; Herodotus (ii. 137 ff), Sabakon): In all probability the "Sabaeo" of Herodotus, the Shabaka, who founded the Ethiopian dynasty, the XXVth of Egyptian kings. His date is given as 715-707 BC (Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, III, 281 ff), but we may suppose that before his accession to the throne he was entitled to be designated king, as being actually regent. To this So, Hoshea, king of Israel, made an appeal for assistance to enable him to throw off the yoke of the Assyrian Shalmaneser IV (2Ki 17:3). But Hoshea's submission to So brought him no advantage, for Shalmaneser came up throughout all the land and laid siege to Samaria. Not long after the fall of Samaria, So ventured upon an eastern campaign, and…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

So

(Nubian, Sabako), an Ethiopian king who brought Egypt under his sway. He was bribed by Hoshea to help him against the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:4). This was a return to the policy that had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

"So, king of Egypt," is once mentioned in the Bible -- (2 Kings 17:4) So has been identified by different writers with the first and second kings of the Ethiopian twenty-fifth dynasty, called by Manetho, Sabakon (Shebek) and Sebichos (Shebetek).

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

King of Egypt, made an alliance with Hoshea king of Israel, and promised him assistance; but was unable to prevent Shalmaneser king of Assyria from taking Samaria and subverting the kingdom, B. C. 721, 2Ki 17:4. See PHARAOH.

So is believed to have been the Servetus or Sabaco II of secular history, the second king of the Ethiopian or twenty-fifth dynasty, and the predecessor of Trihakah. A singular fact has been brought to light by the recent explorations at Nineveh, corroborating the Scripture record the more forcibly, because unexpected and direct. The Bible shows that Egypt and Assyria, though remote, were often in conflict during the height of the Assyrian ruins power, and that So was at war with Shalmaneser. After war comes the treaty of peace; and as the Bible prepares us to suppose such treaties were made, the Assyrian ruins…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
56%that
that56% · 382×so that40% · 271×other renderings4% · 24×

677 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 10 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
adverbial8%object3%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 669 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
παρακαλέωI summon, entreaἐπιτιμάωI rebuke, chide,δίδωμιI offer, give
σύ
λαλέωI speak, sayδιάδίδωμιI offer, give
ἐγώ
δίδωμιI offer, giveὑπέρπερί
ἀλλάbut, except
αὐτόςκόσμοςthe world, univeἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
τίςIrgἐγώἱκανόςsufficient, wort
ἵναso that669×
what comes after →
μήNeg
Article theτὶςεἰς
Article the
γραφήa writing, passaχαράjoy, gladnessλόγοςa word, speech,
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theσύαὐτός
ἐν
αὐτόςἐγώὅς
εἰμίI am, exist
μετάεἷςoneἅγιοςset apart, holy,

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

Concordanceἵνα · 669× in the New Testament
John Mark 1 Corinthians Luke 2 Corinthians Revelation Matthew Romans Ephesians Hebrews 1 John Acts

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 300 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 Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 15c. AD 40

ἑκάστῃ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀπένειμεν ἔνια τῶν τοῦ παντὸς τμημάτων τὴν πρώτην ὑπεξελόμενος, ἣν αὐτὸς οὐδὲ πρώτην, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς ἄλλαις συγκαταριθμῆται, καλεῖ, μίαν δ’ ὀνομάσας ὀνόματι εὐθυβόλῳ προσαγορεύει, τὴν μονάδος φύσιν καὶ πρόσρησιν ἐνιδών τε καὶ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.71c. AD 75–95

ἵνα καὶ τῆς πλινθίνης ἀφανισθείσης ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπομβρίας ἡ λιθίνη μείνασα παράσχῃ μαθεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα δηλοῦσα καὶ πλινθίνην ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἀνατεθῆναι.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Edg. $1Alexandria259 BC–257 BC

καὶ θεῶν μὴ ὀκνήσῃς διελθὼν εἰς ἐμπόριον καὶ ἀγοράσας, οὐθὲν γὰρ ἄλλο ἡμᾶς ἐπικωλύει, ἵνα μὴ ὑστερήσωμεν τῆς ἐργασίας. τὰς δὲ τιμὰς τούτων λαβὲ παρὰ Ἀπολλοφάνους. τὸ γύναιον ἐπίτοκον

vestiges … ἵνα μηθὲν ἐν τούτοις ἀγνοηθῆι … … Ἑρμίαι τῶν διαδόχων καὶ ἐπιμελητῆι, παρὰ Δρύτωνος τοῦ

P.Bour. 11Pathyris89 BC

ἕκαστος τῶν παρὰ σοὶ σιτοποιησάμενος πυροῦ ἀρτάβην μίαν ἐν ἑτοίμωι ἔσται αὐτοῖς ὁ ἄρτος, ἵνα δὲ καὶ κριθὴ ὑπάρξηι ἐπιμε … … ηγησαιἐμμέτρως αἴτησαιἐμμε … … τησαι ἔρρωσο ἔτους

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
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.
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,

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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.…

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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+]

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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.

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
ἐπ᾽epi upon G1909 Preposition
886× 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
A preposition meaning upon, to, or against, often used to show location or direction, like in Matthew 6:10 where Jesus teaches us to pray for God's will to be done on earth. It can also indicate a sense of time or order.
Tyndale gloss
upon/to/against
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπί (epi) is a preposition that indicates a relationship of superposition, often translated as 'on,' 'upon,' or 'over.' It can govern the genitive, dative, or accusative cases, covering meanings related to place, time, authority, and various figurative uses. In the New Testament, it frequently appears with the accusative case, especially in contexts of motion or direction, such as in Matthew 14:28.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπί (before a smooth breathing ἐπ’, before a rough breathing ἐφ’),

prep. c. gen., dat., acc. (acc. most freq. in NT),

with primary sense of superposition, on, upon.

C. gen.,

of place, answering the question, where?

of the place on which, on, upon: ἐπὶ (τ.) γῆς, Mt 6:10, 19, al.; τ. κεφαλῆς, I Co 11:10; τ. νεφελῶν, Mt 24:30, al.; like ἐν, in constr. praegn. after verbs of motion: βάλλειν, Mk 4:26; σπείρειν, ib. 31; ἔρχεσθαι, He 6:7, al.; fig., ἐπ’ ἀληθείας (MM, s.v. ἀ.); of the subject of thought or speech, Ga 3:16; of power or authority, over, πάντων,

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

ἐπί, [before a rough breathing ἐφ᾽ (occasionally in Mss. én’; see 6. g. Ps. exly. (exlvi.) 3), and also in some instances before a smooth breathing (as ἐφ᾽ ἐλπίδι, Acts ii. 26 L; Ro. viii. 20 (21) Tdf.); 566 ἀφεῖδον. It neglects elision before proper names beginning with a vowel (exe. Αἴγυπτον Acts vii. 10, 18) and (at least in Tdf.’s txt.) before some other words, see the Proleg. p. 94 sq.; cf. W. §5,1a.; B. p. 10], a preposition [fr. the Skr. local prefix dpi; Curtius $335], joined to the gen., the dat., and the ace. ; its primary signification is upon (Lat. super; [cf. W. 374 (350) note). A. with the Genitive [cf. W. § 47, g.; B. 336 (289)]; I. of Place; and 1. of the place on which; a. upon the surface of (Lat. in or super with the abl., Germ. auf with the dat.); after verbs of abiding, remaining, standing, going, coming, etc.; of doing anything: ἐπὶ κλίνης, Mt. ix. 2; Lk. xvii. 34…

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

ἐπὶ ξένης εἶναι, and P Giss I. 2115 μένε ἐπὶ ἑαυτοῦ, “stay at home.” The sense of ‘‘near,’’ “‘in the vicinity of”’ appears in P Ryl II. 127° (A.D. 29) κοιμωμένον μον ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας: cf. Ac 5°% and see Jn 6᾽", 211 ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, where the rendering ‘“‘ near the sea,’ or, as we should say, “fon the shore,” is to be preferred (cf. Abbott /ok. Gr. p- 261). In P Lond 11688 (a.p. 18) (= III. p. 136) ἐν τοῖς ἀπὸ A(Bos μέρεσι ἐπὶ ταῖς οὔσαις γειτνίαις, ἐπί is almost = ἐν." The local force still underlies the meaning of such a phrase as ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας (cf. Mk 1214) in the census paper P Oxy II. 255}5 (A.D. 48) (= Selections, p. 47), where it is stated that the return is ‘“‘sound”’ and rests “on a true basis "᾿-ἐ]ξ [ὑ]γιοῦς kal ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας. Cf. also P Lille I. 264 (iii/B.c.) τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν γ[ῆν ἑτο]ιμάζω, εἰ μὴ ἀκολουθεῖς ἅπαντα καθὼς ἐπὶ τῆς διαγραφῆς τ[ο]ῦ [εἰς τὸ] τε ἔτος σπόρου μεμισθῶσϑαι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπί (epi) — upon/to/against.

ἐπί,

Thess. (before τ) [Refs 3rd c.BC+], to denote the being upon or supported upon a surface or point.

__A WITH GEN.:

__A.I of Place,

__A.I.1 with Verbs of Rest, upon, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: without a Verb expressed, ἔγχεα ὄρθ᾽ ἐ. σαυρωτῆρος (i.e. σταθέντα) [Refs]; ἔκλαγξαν ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων the arrows on his shoulders, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with Verbs of Motion, where the subject rests upon something, as on a chariot, a horse, a ship, φεύγωμεν ἐφ᾽ ἵππων on our chariot, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὴν κλεῖδα περιφέρειν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ to carry the key about on his person, [Refs 5th c.BC+] walk on tiptoe, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of places, upon, if the place is an actual support, [Refs]; ἐ. τοῦ εὐωνύμον on the left, ἐ. τῶν πλευρῶν on the flanks, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but most frequently, in, rarely in [Refs 8th c.BC+] in the country. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐπ᾽ οἰκήματος κατίσαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπί

epi

a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time,

place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive

case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on,

etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon,

etc.:--about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as

(touching), at, beside, X have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a

place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf

of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward),

with. In compounds it retains essentially the same import, at, upon,

etc. (literally or figuratively).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπί

Prep.

on, to, against, on the basis of, at

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπί epi 890x

(1) with the gen., upon, on, Mt. 4:6; 9:2; 27:19; in, of locality, Mk. 8:4; near upon, by, at, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 21:1; upon, over, of authority, Mt. 2:22; Acts 8:27; in the presence of, especially in a judicial sense, 2 Cor. 7:14; Acts 25:9; in the case of, in respect of, Jn. 6:2; Gal. 3:16; in the time of, at the time of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπί

on, upon with gen., dat., and acc.

prep. with gen., dat., and acc.: Radic. signf. upon.

WITH GEN.:

of Place,

with Verbs of Rest, upon or on, κεῖσθαι ἐπὶ χθονός Il.; ἐφ᾽ ἵππου on horse-back, etc.; ἐπὶ γῆς upon earth, Soph.; ἐπ᾽ ἀγροῦ in the country, Od.; also at or near, ἐπὶ Λήμνου off Lemnos, Hdt., etc.:—with Verbs of motion, the sense is pregnant, ἐπ᾽ ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν drew the ship upon the land and left it there, Il., etc.; ἀναβῆναι ἐπὶ τῶν πύργων Xen.

not strictly of Place, μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς to remain in the command, id. Xen.; ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων engaged in business, Dem.: —of ships, ὁρμεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἀγκύρας to ride at (i. e. in dependence on an) anchor, Hdt.

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

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
28%upon
upon28% · 258×on22% · 203×to8% · 77×in7% · 62×over7% · 59×at6% · 57×against4% · 38×for4% · 37×other renderings13% · 116×

907 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 46 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
adverbial91%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 886 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
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaαὐτόςλευκόςwhite, bright
αὐτός
δέbut, on the otheφιάληa shallow and flκεφαλήthe head
κάθημαιI sit, am seated
Article theκαίand, even, also,γυνήa woman, wife, m
πίπτωI fall, fall under
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,Article the
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ὁδόςa way, road, jouγάρforκαίand, even, also,
ἐπίupon886×
what comes after →
Article the
γῆthe earth, soil,κεφαλήthe headθρόνοςa throne, seat
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theὅτιthat, since, bec
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theὅςκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,Article theπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theὅς

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

Concordanceἐπί · 886× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Revelation Matthew Mark John Romans Hebrews 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 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 29c. AD 40

εἶθ’ ὕδατος ἀσώματον οὐσίαν καὶ πνεύματος καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἑβδόμου φωτός, ὃ πάλιν ἀσώματον ἦν καὶ νοητὸν ἡλίου παράδειγμα καὶ πάντων ὅσα φωσφόρα ἄστρα κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔμελλε συνίστασθαι.

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

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. 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 2nd c. BC 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐωνήσατο παρὰ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Τοτόηους ἐν τῷ ιε ἔτει Παῦνι γ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀρχείου, μιᾶς μὲν ἐν τῷ ἀπὸ λιβὸς πεδίωι, γείτονες· νότου γῆ Πατοῦτος τοῦ

P.Lond. 3 p. 18 no. 678Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC–99 BC

καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν μηνὸς Χοιὰκ … ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἐπὶ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου τῆς ἄνω τοπαρχίας τοῦ Παθυρίτου. ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Σχώτου ἱερεὺς Σούχου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα. ἔτους ιϛ Τῦβι λ. τέτακται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει τράπεζαν ἐφʼ ἧς Παγκράτης δεκάτης ἐνκυκλίου διʼ Ἀπολλωνίου τελώνου Πακοῖβις

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
ἀλλότριονallotrios another’s G245 Adjective · accusative · singular · masculine
14× 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
Something that is 'another's' refers to something that belongs to someone else, not to oneself, as seen in Luke 16:12 and Romans 14:4. It can also describe something that is foreign or alien, like in Matthew 17:25-26.
Amplified meaning
another's, a different person's
Tyndale gloss
another’s
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀλλότριος (i.e., *allotrios*) is built from the root for 'another' and means belonging to another or foreign. It covers a range of meanings including alien, strange, and hostile, often contrasted with what is one's own. The New Testament uses it in verses like Luke 16:12 and Romans 14:4. Dodson's entry is notably brief, simply defining it as belonging to another person or foreign.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀλλότριος, -α, -ον

(< ἄλλος),

[in LXX for זוּר, נֵכָר, אַחֵר;]

belonging to another, not one's own (opp. to ἴδιος): Lk 16:12, Ro 14:4 15:20 (Field, Notes, 165 f.), II Co 10:15, 16, I Ti 5:22, He 9:25.

foreign, strange, alien (opp. to οἰκεῖος; v. MM, VGT, s.v.): Mt 17:25, 26, Jo 10:5, Ac 7:6, He 11:9, 34.†

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

ἀλλότριος, -a, τον; 1. belonging to another (opp. to ἴδιος), not one’s own: Heb. ix. 25; Ro. xiv. 4; xv. 20; 2 Co. x. 15 sq.; 1 Tim. v. 22; Jn. x. 5. in neut., Lk. xvi. 12 (opp. to τὸ ὑμέτερον). 2. foreign, strange: yi, Acts vii. 6; Heb. xi. 9; not of one’s own family, alien, Mt. xvii. 25 sq.; an enemy, Heb. xi. 34, (Hom. I. 5, 214; Xen. an. 3, 5, 5).

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

ἀλλότριος. P Oxy VII. 1067 ὁ (a very ungrammatical letter of iii/A.D.), μάθε οὖν ὅτι ἀλλοτρίαν γυναῖκαν (/. ἀλλοτρία γυνή) ἐκληρονόμησεν αὐτόν, ““Κπονν then that a strange woman is made his heir” (Ed.): The adjective is common in the sense of alzenus, “belonging to others”: one or two special applications may be cited. A rescript of Gordian (P Tebt Il. 285°), which Wilcken marks as suffering from translation out of Latin, uses τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους for * outsiders,” as against legitimate children. P Giss I. 6γ15 (ii/a.p.) τὸ yap ἀλλ[ότ]ριον ἐποίησα Ev[. . . seems to imply ‘‘I did what was foreign to me,” but the lost context may change this entirely. 6. 995 (ii/iii Αἰγυπτίων ἀλλότρια ταῦτα ἣν], ἐδρᾶτο δὲ ὅμως. P Tor I. 141-3 (Ptol. Euergetes) προέφερετο ἀλλότριον εἶναι τὸ παρεισαγόμενον ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ. P Oxy II 2829 (4.p. 30-5) ἡ δὲ ἀλλότρια φρονήσασα THs κοινῆς συμβιώϊσεως], “ became dissatisfied…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀλλότριος (allotrios) — another’s.

ἀλλότριος,

Aeolic dialect ἀλλότερρος [Refs], α, ον, (ἄλλος) of or belonging to another, βίοτος, νηῦς, ἄχεα, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γυνή another man's wife, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἀλλοτρίων χαρίσασθαι to be bountiful of what is another's, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γναθμοῖσι γελοίων ἀλλοτρίοισιν with faces unlike their own, of a forced, unnatural laugh, [Refs]; ἀ. ὄμμασιν εἷρπον by the help of another's eyes, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἀ. ἄτην not inflicted by other hands, [Refs]; but ἀ. φόνος murder of a stranger[Refs 5th c.BC+] reap where one has not sown, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἀλλοτριωτάτοις τοῖς σώμασιν χρῆσθαι deal with one's body as if it belonged to another, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ ἀλλότρια, contraction τἀλλότρια, what belongs to others, not one's own, τἀ. ἀποστερεῖν, δειπνεῖν, [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀλλότριος

allotrios

from 243; another's, i.e. not one's own; by extension foreign, not

akin, hostile:--alien, (an-)other (man's, men's), strange(-r).

see GREEK for 243

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀλλότριος, ία, ιον

Adj

belonging to another person, foreign

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀλλότριος allotrios 14x

belonging to another, Lk. 16:12; foreign, Acts 7:6; Heb. 11:9; a foreigner, alien, Mt. 17:25

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀλλότριος ἄλλος opp. to ἴδιος, of or belonging to another, Lat. alienus, Hom., etc.; ἀλλ. γυνή another man's wife, Aesch.; γναθμοῖσι γελοίων ἀλλοτρίοισιν, of the suitors, laughed with a face unlike one's own, of a forced, unnatural laugh, Od. (Horace's malis ridere alienis is different); ἀλλ. ὄμμασιν by the help of another's eyes, Soph.; ἀλλοτριωτάτοις τοῖς σώμασιν χρῆσθαι to deal with one's body as if it absolutely belonged to another, Thuc.

opp. to οἰκεῖος, foreign, strange, Lat. peregrinus, Hom.; often with the notion of hostile, Il.

adv., ἀλλοτρίως ἔχειν or διακεῖσθαι πρός τινα to be unfavourably disposed towards one, Lys.: comp. -ιώτερον less favourably, Dem.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
21%another’s
another’s21% · 3×another14% · 2×strangers14% · 2×strange7% · 1×others’7% · 1×others7% · 1×foreign7% · 1×foreigners7% · 1×other renderings14% · 2×

14 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 10 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
adverbial71%object29%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 14 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
ἀπόἐνοἶδαI know, remember
ἐν
καυχάομαιI boast, gloryοὐNeg
γῆthe earth, soil, lan
ἐν
κρίνωI judge, decide, thi
Article the
ἐπί
μήNeg
ἀλλότριοςanother’s14×
what comes after →
φημίI say
αὐτός
πιστόςtrustworthy, faithfu
οὐNeg
δέbut, on the other ha
οὐNeg
Article the
φωνήa sound, noise,
καίand, even, also, nam
δουλόωI enslave

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

Concordanceἀλλότριος · 14× in the New Testament
Hebrews 2 Corinthians John Matthew Romans 1 Timothy Acts Luke
Across the New Testament8 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 79 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 Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 74c. AD 40

τῷ δὴ πάντων πατρὶ θεῷ τὰ μὲν σπουδαῖα δι’ αὑτοῦ μόνου ποιεῖν οἰκειότατον ἦν ἕνεκα τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν συγγενείας, τὰ δὲ ἀδιάφορα οὐκ ἀλλότριον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ταῦτα τῆς ἐχθρᾶς αὐτῷ κακίας ἀμοιρεῖ, τὰ δὲ μικτὰ τῇ μὲν οἰκεῖον τῇ δ’ ἀνοίκειον, οἰκεῖον μὲν…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.17c. AD 75–95

Καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἰάκωβος τοιαύτην οὐκ ἀσυνέτως ἐποιήσατο τῆς ὄψεως τὴν κρίσιν, τοὺς δʼ ἀδελφοὺς τοῦ Ἰωσήπου σφόδρα ἐλύπησε τὰ προειρημένα καὶ διετέθησαν ὡς ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίῳ τινὶ μέλλοντι τὰ σημαινόμενα διὰ τῶν ὀνειράτων ἀγαθὰ ἕξειν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀδελφῷ καὶ ὧν…

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 5.6c. AD 96

τί οὖν ἐστὶν ποιήσαντας ἐπιτυχεῖν αὐτῶν, εἰ μὴ τὸ ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως ἀναστρέφεσθαι καὶ τὰ κοσμικὰ ταῦτα ὡς ἀλλότρια ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν αὐτῶν;

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

ἀποδοῦναι οὐκ ἐποίησαν, οἰόμενοι ὅρκωι ἀποκλύσαντες ἡμᾶς στερέσειν, προφανῶς ἔνοχοι ὄντες φωρᾶι λείας ἐφημμένοι ἀλλοτρίων καὶ ταῦτʼ ὀρφανικῶν. ὑπὲρ ὧν πλεονάκις ἐντετευχυιῶν ὑπερέχων ἡμᾶς ἀπράκτους καθίστησι. καὶ ἐν τῶι

APF 6 (1920), p. 85Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 120–AD 121

ἅπαντες προφέρονται, καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ παιδίον, εἴτε ἦν τῆς Ἀπίας τῆς καὶ Ἡρακλείας εἴτε ἀλλότριον, τελευτῆσαι, τὰ νῦν εἰς διάλυσιν ἀγείοχαν πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀμφισβήτησιν καὶ συνχωροῦσιν ἡ

P.Diog. 5ArsinoitesAD 138

Κλήμης καὶ γνωστῆρας οὐετρανοὺς γ … ν, Οὐαλέριον Παῦλον, Ἰούλιον Κρεῖσπον συγχειρογραφοῦντας αὐτῷ μηδενὶ ἀλλοτρίῳ κεχρῆσθαι. καὶ τῆς Φλαουίου Τιτιανοῦ γενομένου ἡγεμόνος σημειώσεως ἐπὶ τοῦ προκειμένου ὀνόματος Λουκρητίου Κλήμεντος

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
θεμέλιονthemelios foundation G2310 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
16× 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
A foundation, like the one Jesus talks about in Luke 6:48-49, where a strong foundation is crucial for withstanding life's challenges. This concept is also used metaphorically in Romans 15:20 and Ephesians 2:20.
Amplified meaning
base, starting point
Tyndale gloss
foundation
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θεμέλιος is derived from τίθημι and means 'foundation.' It can refer to a physical foundation, such as a foundation stone, or be used metaphorically to describe foundational principles in various contexts, including Christian teachings. The New Testament references include Luke 6:48-49, Hebrews 11:10, and 1 Corinthians 3:10-12. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θεμέλιος, -ον

(< τίθημι),

[in LXX for אַרְמוֹן, מוֹסָד, etc.;]

of or for a foundation; as subst., ὁ θ. (sc. λίθος), a foundation stone, foundation: Lk 6:48, 49 14:29 (but v. Deiss., BS, 123); pl., οἰ θ. (cl.), He 11:10, Re 21:14, 19; neut., τὸ θ. (Arist., Phys., vi, 6, 10, LXX and later writers), Ac 16:26; metaph., Ro 15:20, I Co 3:10-12, Eph 2:20, I Ti 6:19, II Ti 2:19,

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

θεμέλιος, -ον, (θέμα [i. 6. thing laid down]), laid down as a foundation, belonging to a foundation, (Diod. 5, 66; θεμέλιοι λίθοι, Arstph. av. 1137); generally as a subst., ὁ θεμέλιος [se. λίθος] (1 Co. iii. 11 sq.; 2 Tim. ii. 19; Rev. xxi. 19), and τὸ θεμέλιον (rarely so in Grk. writ., as [Ar istot. phys. auscult. 2,9 p. 200", 41: Paus. 8, 32,1; [al.]), the foundation (of a building, wall, city): prop., Lk. vi. 49; τιθέναι θεμέλιον, Lk. vi. 48; xiv. 29; plur. οἱ θεμέλιοι (chiefly so in Grk. writ.), Heb. xi. 10; Rey. xxi. 14, 19; neut. ro Oey. Acts xvi. 26 (and often in the Sept.) ; metaph. the foundations, beginnings, first principles, of an institution or system of truth: 1 Co. iii. 10, 12; the rudiments, first principles, of Christian life and knowledge, Heb. vi. 1 (μετανοίας gen. of apposition [W. 531 (494)]); a course of instruction begun by a teacher, Ro. xv. 20; Christ is called…

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

θεμέλιος. The neut. τὸ θεμέλιον can be seen in P Petr II. 14(3)? (as completed Introd. p. 30—iii/B.C.) εἰς ? τὸ θεμέλιον ψύξαι, **for drying the foundation,” 26. III. 46(4)4 τοῖς τὸ θεμέλιον ὀρύξασι € ““ἴο those who dug the foundation, 5 (drachmae),’’ and the plur., as in Ac 1678 (cf. Prov 839), in P Strass I. 98 (¢. A.D. 307 or 352) πηχισμοῖς kal θεμελίοις kal τίχεσιν, and P Lond 1215!® (iii/a.p.) (=I. p. 101) καὶ ἐκεινήθη τῆς γῆς τὰ 5 θεμείλια. In P Magd 274 (B.C, 218) βιάζεταί με πλίνθον προσάγων καὶ θεμέλιον σκάπτων ὥστε οἰκοδομεῖν, the gender is indeterminable, as in a number of the NT passages. So Chrest. 11. 68% (A.D. 14) ods Kal ἀνοικοδόμησα ἐπὶ τῶι [ἀρχ]α[(]ωι θεμελίωι, P Lond 9911 (vi/A.D.) (ΞΞ- ΠΙ. p. 258) ἀπὸ θεμελίου ἕως ἀέρως, Mechel 11855 (ii/B.c.) ἐκ θεμελίω. For the LXX usage, see Thackeray Gr. i. p. 154f., and cf. Moeris p. 185; θεμέλιον Kal θεμέλια, οὐδετέρως…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θεμέλιος (themelios) — foundation.

θεμέλῐ-ος, ον,

of or for the foundation, λίθοι [Refs 5th c.BC+], ὁ, foundation-stone, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; οἱ θ. ἐκ παντοίων λίθων ὑπόκεινται the foundations, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also neuter θεμέλιον [Refs 4th c.BC+], of the foundations of the world, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐκ τῶν θ. from the foundations, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: metaphorically, ἐκθ. ἐσφαλμένοι [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; also ἀνεκτίσθη τὸ τεῖχος ἐκ θεμελείων (sic) [Refs 4th c.AD+]

II. θεμέλια, τά, buildingsites, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

III. substantive, the fourth τόπος,= ἀντιμεσουράνημα, Herm.Trism. in [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

θεμέλιος θεμέλιον

themelios

from a derivative of 5087; something put down, i.e. a substruction (of

a building, etc.), (literally or figuratively):--foundation.

see GREEK for 5087

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θεμέλιος, ον

n.m. & n.n.

belonging to the foundation

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θεμέλιον themelion 1x

in Acts 16:26 themelion is used as a neuter noun from themelios (G2529), foundation such as the foundation of a prison*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θεμέλιος θεμέλιος, ον ΘΕ, Root of τίθημι of or for the foundation, Ar.:—as Subst., θεμέλιος (sub. λίθος) a foundation, οἱ θεμέλιοι the foundations, Thuc.; ἐκ τῶν θεμελίων from the foundations, id. Thuc.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

foun-da'-shun:

In Hebrew the words for "foundation" are mostly derivatives from yacadh, "to found," and in Greek two words are used: one, katabole, of "foundation of the world" (Mr 13:35; 15:34; Lu 11:50; Joh 17:24, etc.); the other, themelios, of the foundation of a building (Lu 6:48,49; 14:29; Ac 16:26, etc.), in which sense it is also used metaphorically in various connections (Christ the foundation of the church, 1Co 3:11; or the apostles and prophets the foundation, with Christ as corner-stone, Eph 2:20; the…

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- The lowest part of a building, and on which it rests

Lu 14:29; Ac 16:26

- FIGURATIVELY APPLIED TO

. The heavens

2Sa 22:8

. The earth

Job 38:4; Ps 104:5

. The world

Ps 18:15; Mt 13:35

. The mountains

De 32:22

. The ocean

Ps 104:8

. Kingdoms

Ex 9:18

- LAID FOR

. Cities

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
75%foundation
foundation75% · 12×foundations25% · 4×

16 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 2 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
object50%adverbial25%subject25%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 16 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
ἐπίσαλεύωI shake, exciteArticle the
τίθημιI put, place
καίand, even, also,
χωρίςapart from, without
γῆthe earth, soil,
αὐτός
τίθημιI put, place
ἀλλότριοςbelonging to another
ἐπί
θεμέλιοςfoundation16×
what comes after →
Article the
δεσμωτήριονa prisonἀπόστολοςan apostle, a meθεόςGod, a god
ἐπί
Article the
ὅς
προσρήσσωI dash against
καίand, even, also, nam
μήNeg
οἰκοδομέωI build, build up, e

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

Concordanceθεμέλιος · 16× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Luke Revelation Hebrews 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Acts Ephesians Romans
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 33 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 41c. AD 40

τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν ὅτι πρῶτον μέν ἐστι σπορὰ καὶ φυτεία, δεύτερον δὲ τῶν σπαρέντων καὶ φυτευθέντων αὔξησις, ἡ μὲν εἰς τὸ κάτω ῥίζας ἀποτείνουσα οἱονεὶ θεμελίους, ἡ δ’ εἰς τὸ ἄνω πρὸς ὕψος αἰρομένων καὶ στελεχουμένων;

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 5.31c. AD 75–95

Τῆς δὲ πόλεως εἰ καί τι παρέλθοι τὸ πῦρ κατέσκαπτε καὶ κατὰ τῶν οἰκησόντων, εἴ τις πορθηθεῖσαν ἀνεγείρειν ἐθελήσειεν, ἀρὰς ἔθετο, ὅπως θεμελίους μὲν τειχῶν βαλόμενος στερηθῇ τοῦ πρώτου παιδός, τελειώσας δὲ τὸν νεώτατον τῶν παίδων ἀποβάλῃ.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Mert. 3 108ArsinoitesAD 69–AD 79

ἔχει ἐν μισθώσει παρὰ … … σὺν ἑτέροις εἰς καθαίρεσιν καὶ … ἀνοικοδομήσουσι ἐκ θεμελίου τοῦ προόντος … … τοῦ Φαρμοῦθι μηνὸς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος … ἔτους Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος

P.Alex.Giss. 43Apollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 113–AD 120

Ἱερακίων Ἀπολλωνίωι τῶι κυρίωι πλεῖστα χαίρειν. οἱ θεμέλιοι τῶν τοιχῶν καὶ τῶν στύλων τοῦ ἐνθάδε θεάτρου πολλοὶ ὄντες χρείαν

P.Oxy. 20 2272Busiris (Herakleopolites oder Busirites)AD 169

r,1 γ α λαξῷ λαξεύοντι λίθους. εἰς τὰς γωνίας ἐπάνω τοῦ θεμελίου δραχμαὶ ϛ … ς ὑπουργοῦσιν ὑπὲρ καθαιρέσεως προπύλωνος διαπαλαιωθέντος δραχμαὶ κη οἰκοδόμῳ ἐπισκευάσαντι τὸν

thus now being ambitious to evangelise not where was named Christ, so that not upon another’s foundation I may build
οἰκοδομῶoikodomeō I may build G3618 Verb · present · active · subjunctive · first person · singular
41× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Romans than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To build or construct something, like a house, is the meaning of this word. In Luke 11:48 and 1 Peter 2:7, it refers to building or confirming something, whether physical or spiritual.
Amplified meaning
constructing, establishing
Tyndale gloss
to build
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οἰκοδομέω, -ῶ

(< οἰκοδόμος),

[in LXX chiefly for בּנה;]

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οἰκοδομέω (oikodomeō) — to build.

οἰκοδομ-έω,

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

__b generally, fashion, καταπέτασμα [LXX]

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οἰκοδομέω

v.

I build, build up, edify

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAS-1S — Verb · present · active · subjunctive · first person · singular
present active subjunctive — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAS-1S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Subjunctive Person: first Number: Singular

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

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 41 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
ἀποδοκιμάζωI reject after tσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
ληνόςa winepressὑπολήνιονa pit under the ναόςa temple, shrine
ὅστις
φρόνιμοςintelligent, pruμωρόςstupid, foolish
ὅτιthat, since, because
ὑποκριτήςa hypocrite, disσύ
ἡμέραa day
τρεῖςthree
οἰκοδομέωI may build41×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theὥστεso that, therefoοἶκοςa house, househo
Article the
τάφοςa tomb, burial-pμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulcheναόςa temple, shrine
οὗτος
γίνομαιI come into bein
καίand, even, also, nam
συνάγωI gather togetheοὐNegπορεύομαιI travel, journe
ἐγώ
Article theλέγωI say, speak

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

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

Counted over the 176 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.115c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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