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1 Peter 2:25 — Word Study

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N1904ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

BSAYou wereeimi forgar likehōs sheepprobaton [lost] going astrayplanaō [led away from the truth] butalla you have returnedepistrephō [turned back, reverted] nownun toepi theho Shepherdpoimēn [the one who cares for your souls, Jesus] andkai Overseerepiskopos [Bishop, guardian] of theho soulspsuchē [the seat of emotions, desires, and spiritual life] of you.su

Word
Listen & take away1 Peter 2
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 25 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 (su) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
1 Peter 2:25quick helps
In a sentencePeter reminds the believers that they once strayed like lost sheep but have now returned to their true Shepherd.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Peter, addressing the Christian community.
Where we areThis verse concludes a section on Christ's suffering and the believers' response.
The hard wordἐπιστρέφω
Take awayThough lost, they have found their way back to the one who cares for them.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectπρόβατον verbεἰμί 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 — 1 Peter 2:25

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

Context — The Shepherd and Overseergenerated

22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
23When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 Peter 2:25 speaks of the transformation of believers who were once lost but have returned to Christ, described as the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls. This passage emphasizes the care and guidance that Jesus provides, contrasting their former state of wandering with their current relationship with Him. The surrounding verses highlight Christ's suffering and the call for believers to follow His example, reinforcing the theme of redemption and guidance.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Psalm 119:176I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
2Isaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
3Jeremiah 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
4Ezekiel 34:6My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’
5Matthew 9:36When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

The Key Word ἐπιστρέφω, epistrephōgenerated

The verb ἐπιστρέφω means 'to turn' or 'to return.' It is in the second aorist passive indicative form, indicating a completed action that has been done to the subject, in this case, the believers. This highlights the transformative act of returning to God.

The passive voice suggests that the action of returning is not solely initiated by the believers but implies divine assistance in their return to the Shepherd, emphasizing God's role in their redemption.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In this study, the verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible, which states: you have returned. This is echoed in the WEB and BSB, while the KJV and ASV use returned unto, maintaining the same essential meaning.

The translations agree on the core message of the verse, emphasizing the believers' return to Christ as their Shepherd and Overseer.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb governing the sentence is ἐπεστράφητε, you have returned, which is complemented by a prepositional phrase indicating the object of their return and a participial phrase describing their previous state. The structure reflects a contrast between past and present.

The sentence is built around the main verb, with the adverb νῦν now providing emphasis on the current state of the believers, highlighting their transformation.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ποιμένα appears in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew word for shepherd, often associated with leaders and caretakers of God's people. This connection reinforces the understanding of Jesus as the ultimate Shepherd.

ἐπίσκοπος is also found in the Septuagint, denoting overseers or guardians, which aligns with the role of church leaders in the New Testament.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

1 Peter 2:25 states that believers were once like lost sheep but have now returned to Jesus, who is their Shepherd and Overseer. This verse emphasizes the care that Jesus provides and the transformation that occurs when one turns back to Him.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be like sheep going astray?

This phrase refers to the tendency of people to wander away from the truth or guidance, similar to how sheep can stray from their shepherd.

How does one return to the Shepherd?

Returning to the Shepherd involves repentance and turning back to Christ for guidance and care, recognizing Him as the source of spiritual nourishment.

What is the significance of Jesus being called the Shepherd?

Calling Jesus the Shepherd signifies His role in caring for and guiding His followers, akin to how a shepherd tends to sheep, ensuring their safety and well-being.

What does the term 'Overseer' imply?

The term 'Overseer' indicates a leadership role, suggesting that Jesus watches over and protects the souls of believers, guiding them in their spiritual journey.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways have I experienced wandering away from my faith, and how can I actively return to Christ?
  2. How can I better understand and embrace Jesus as my Shepherd in my daily life?
  3. What steps can I take to help others who may be straying from their faith?
  4. How does acknowledging Jesus as the Overseer of my soul change my perspective on my spiritual journey?

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

Several early church Fathers comment on this verse, highlighting the significance of returning to Christ as the Shepherd and the implications of wandering away.

Hilary of ArlesINTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER c. 403–449
Error has three causes—darkness, loneliness and ignorance. The Gentile sheep were wandering among idols because of their foolish ignorance, and they found themselves lost in the darkness of sin and in the loneliness of a strange nation.
Early Church Fathers on 1 Peter 2 →
BedeCommentary on the Catholic Epistles c. 673–735
For you were like sheep gone astray. How is it that he calls both sheep and gone astray, when those who lead a life in error are rather called by the name of goats than sheep, unless because the Lord knows who are his,
Early Church Fathers on 1 Peter 2 →
BedeCommentary on the Catholic Epistles c. 673–735
But now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. He touches on the evangelical parable, where the pious Shepherd, having left ninety-nine sheep in the desert, came to visit the one that had gone astray.
Early Church Fathers on 1 Peter 2 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 1 Peter 2:25 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

For ye were as sheep going astray,.... This is a proof of their being healed, namely, their conversion; in which an application of the blood of Christ, and pardon, and so healing by it, was made to their souls.

Read John Gill on 1 Peter 2 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. For - why they need healing (1 Peter 2:24).

Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Peter 2 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For ye were, while ye continued in your Judaism, and had not yet received the gospel, as sheep going astray, from Christ the great Shepherd, and the church of believers his flock, and the way of righteousness in which he leads them. Ye were alienated from the life of God, bewildered and lost in the way of sin, . But are now returned, in your conversion to the faith, to the Shepherd; Christ the good Shepherd, ,14,16, that takes care of souls, as a shepherd doth of his sheep. And Bishop of your souls; superintendent, inspector, or, as the Hebrews phrase it, visitor, i.e. he that with care looks to, inspects, and visits the flock. This he adds for the comfort (as of all believers, so)…

Read Matthew Poole on 1 Peter 2 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. Ver. 25. As sheep] Than the which no creature is more apt to stray, less apt and able to return. The ox knoweth his owner, &c.

Read John Trapp on 1 Peter 2 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) For ye were as sheep going astray.—The right reading does not attach “going astray” to “sheep,” but as predicate of the sentence, “ye were going astray like sheep.” The “for” introduces an explanation of how they came to be in need of “healing.” “I may well say that ye were healed; for Israelites though you are, your consciences and memories tell you that you were as far gone in wilful error as any Gentiles, and needed as complete a conversion.” (Comp. 1 Peter 2:10.) Jew and Gentile take different ways, but both alike fulfil the prophecy, “every man to his own way.” The two metaphors, of healing and going astray, do not match very well, but the fact that both are quotations from Isaiah…

Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Peter 2 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 25. For ye were as sheep going astray] Formerly ye were not in a better moral condition than your oppressors; ye were like stray sheep, in the wilderness of ignorance and sin, till Christ, the true and merciful Shepherd, called you back from your wanderings, by sending you the Gospel of his grace. Bishop of your souls.] Unless we consider the word bishop as a corruption of the word επισκοπος episcopos, and that this literally signifies an overseer, an inspector, or one that has the oversight, it can convey to us no meaning of the original. Jesus Christ is the Overseer of souls; he has them continually under his eye; he knows their wants, wishes, dangers, c., and provides for them. As…

Read AdamClarke on 1 Peter 2 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. For ye were as sheep going astray] The sequence of thought is suggested by the “all we like sheep have gone astray” of Isaiah 53:6, but the imagery could scarcely fail to recall to the mind of the Apostle the state of Israel “as sheep that had no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36), and the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-13; Luke 15:4). The image had been a familiar one almost from the earliest times to describe the state of a people plunged into anarchy and confusion by the loss of their true leader (Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17).but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls] We can scarcely fail to connect the words with those which St Peter had once heard as to the…

Read Cambridge on 1 Peter 2 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For ye were as sheep going astray - Here also is an allusion to Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” See the notes at that verse. The figure is plain. We were like a flock without a shepherd.

Read Albert Barnes on 1 Peter 2 →

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

For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

For you were going astray like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

NETBNew English Translation2006

For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

RVARevised Version, American1894

For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

For ye were as sheepe going astray: but are nowe returned vnto the shepheard and Bishop of your soules.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

For ye were going astray as sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

for ye were as sheep going astray, but ye turned back now to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

for you were as sheep going astray, but now you turned back to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

All of you had been wandering away like lost sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

At one time you were like sheep who had lost their way, but now you've returned to the Shepherd—the one who watches over you.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Because, like sheep, you had gone out of the way; but now you have come back to him who keeps watch over your souls.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἦτεeimi You were G1510 2 different renderings
wereASV DBY GNV KJV NWB RVA YLT
you wereBSB DRA FBV LSV MSB NETB WEB
πλανώμενοιplanaō going astray G4105 2 different renderings
going astrayASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA WEB YLT
wanderingULB
ἐπεστράφητεepistrephō you have returned G1994 2 different renderings
you have returnedBSB MSB ULB WEB
turned backLSV NETB YLT
ἐπίσκοπονepiskopos Overseer G1985 3 different renderings
bishopASV DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA
overseerBSB DBY LSV MSB WEB YLT
guardianNETB ULB

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseγὰρforclauseclauselinking verbἦτεYou wereprepositional phrase · predicateὡςlikenoun phraseπρόβαταsheepπλανώμενοιgoing astrayἀλλὰbutclauseverbἐπεστράφητεyou have returnedadverbialνῦνnowprepositional phrase · adverbialἐπὶtonoun phraseτὸνthenoun phrasenoun phraseΠοιμέναShepherdκαὶandἘπίσκοπονOverseernoun phraseτῶνof thenoun phraseψυχῶνsoulsὑμῶνof you

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

Eratis enim sicut oves errantes, sed conversi estis nunc ad pastorem, et episcopum animarum vestrarum.

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

ܕܛܥܝܢ ܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܐܝܟ ܥܪܒܐ ܘܐܬܦܢܝܬܘܢ ܗܫܐ ܠܘܬ ܪܥܝܐ ܘܣܥܘܪܐ ܕܢܦܫܬܟܘܢ

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

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.¶

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
πλανώμενοι going astrayNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

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.

1 Peter 2:25εἰμίYou wereYou wereεἰμίγάρforforγάρὡςlikelikeὡςπρόβατονsheepsheepπρόβατονπλανάωgoing astragoing astrayπλανάωἀλλάbutbutἀλλάἐπιστρέφωyou have reyou have returnἐπιστρέφωνῦνnownowνῦνἐπίtotoἐπίthetheποιμήνShepherdShepherdποιμήνκαίandandκαίἐπίσκοποςOverseerOverseerἐπίσκοποςof theof theψυχήsoulssoulsψυχήσύof you.of you.σύἐπίPrep. on, Prep. on, to, aἐπίὅςRel.pr. whRel.pr. who, whὅςπλάνηn.f. a wann.f. a wanderinπλάνηπροβαίνωv. I go fov. I go forwardπροβαίνωἄλλοςAdj other,Adj other, anotἄλλοςνυνίAdv now, aAdv now, alreadνυνίψύχωv. I cool,v. I cool, growψύχωπνεῦμαn.n. wind,n.n. wind, breaπνεῦμαπρόβατονn.n. a shen.n. a sheepπρόβατονἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςὥσπερAdv just aAdv just as, asὥσπερτοιοῦτοςDem.pr. ofDem.pr. of suchτοιοῦτοςνήπιοςAdj an infAdj an infant, νήπιοςπλησίονAdv near, Adv near, nearbπλησίονποιμήνn.m. a shen.m. a shepherdποιμήνδιασκορπίζωv. I scattv. I scatter, wδιασκορπίζωχείρωνAdj worseAdj worseχείρωνμόνοςAdv alone,Adv alone, but,μόνος
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 1 Peter 2:25

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.

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ἦτεeimi You were G1510 Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · second person · plural
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in 1 Peter than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

εἰμί is a Greek verb meaning 'to be' or 'to exist.' It serves various functions, such as a substantive verb for persons and things, and as a copula linking subjects and predicates. The New Testament frequently uses it in passages like John 1:1 and Matthew 24:3. Notably, it can also express possibility, as seen in Hebrews 9:5.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

with various uses and significations, like the English verb to be.

As substantive verb.

Of persons and things, to be, exist: Ac 17:28, Jo 1:1 8:58 17:5, al; ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν (for past ptcp.), Re 1:4, 8 4:8 11:17 16:5 (v. Swete, Ap., 5; M, Pr., 228); τὰ (μὴ) ὄντα, Ro 4:17, I Co 1:28.

Of times, events, etc., to be, happen, take place: Mt 24:3, Mk 14:2 15:42, Lk 21:23, Jo 4:6, 23 5:10, al.

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

εἰμί (fr. ἔω, whence ἐμέ in inscriptions [7]; Aeol. ἐμμὲ (Curtius (yet ἔμμε, so G. Meyer) 8 564; Veitch p. 2287), impv. ἴσθι, ἔστω, less usual ἤτω, 1 Co. xvi. 22; Jas. v.12; Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 48,5; [1 Mace. x. 31; Ps. ciii. (civ.) 31]; Plat. rep. 2 p. 361 ¢. [here it has given place to ἔστω (or ἴτω), see Stallb. ad loc.; Veitch p. 200 sq.; 3 pers. plur. ἔστωσαν, Lk. xii. 35; 1 Tim. iii. 12], inf. εἶναι ; impf. —ace. to the more ancient and elegant form, ἦν, 2 pers. ἦσθα (Mt. xxvi. 69; Mk. xiv. 67), rarer form ἧς (Mt. RKV. 1235 dn ΧΙ: 9]. 92); xxI LS. Reyna 15 G@ ΕΣ Tr WH), 3 pers. ἦν, 1 pers. plur. jer, — ace. to the mid. form, com. in later Grk. [ef. Veitch p. 226], ἤμην (Mt. xxv. 35sq.; [on Acts xi. 11 ef. WH. Intr. § 404]; Gal.i.10, etc.), plur. ἤμεθα (Mt. xxiii. 30 G L T Tr WH; Acts xxvii. 37 L T Tr WH; [Gal. iv. 3 TWH Tr mrg.; Eph. ii. 3 T Tr WH; Bar. i. 19]); cf. Lob. ad Phryn.…

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

εἰμί. Middle forms in the flexion of εἰμί other than the present tense (cf. however MGr εἶμαι, -σαι, etc.) begin to appear very early in the dialects and are well established in the papyri. Thus the Ist sing. impf. ἤμην, which always takes the place of the class. ἢ in the NT (but see Ac 2018 D) may be illustrated from PSI IV. 36274 (B.c. 251-0) ἤμην δὲ πρὸς τῶι λαμβάνειν τὸν χαλκόν, P Magd 65 (B.c. 221) ἤμην γυμνός, P Par 57 (B.c. 129) ὧν ἤμην δι᾽ αὐτῶν [π]αραμε[μετ]ρηκ[υῖα, P Oxy IIT. 526% (ii/A.p.) οὐκ ἤμην ἀπαθὴς ἀλόγως σε καταλείπιν. For ist plur. ἤμεθα see P Petr IT. 4 (7)° (B.C. 255-4) τεθλιμμένοι ἤμεθα : cf. Ac 2737, Eph 23, as contrasted with the act. ἦμεν in Ac 111 (NB), 1612, Rom 7° a/.: the two forms are found together in Gal 4% (SDFG). The non-classical ἧς (Lob. Phryx. p. 149) is found sefzes in the NT as compared with ἦσθα (from an old perf. form ἤησθα), which is confined…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

(sum), Aeolic dialect ἔμμι [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Cretan dialect ἠμί [Refs]; 2nd pers. singular εἶ, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰς [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Doric dialect ἐσσί [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἐστί, Doric dialect ἐντί [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. dual ἐστόν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; 1st pers. plural ἐσμέν, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰμέν (also in [Refs 5th c.BC+], Doric dialect εἰμές [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural εἰσί (-ίν), Epic dialect and Ionic dialect ἔασι (-ιν) [Refs 8th c.BC+], Doric dialect ἐντί [Refs 5th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Lyric poetry also in middle form ἔσσο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔστω (ἤτω [LXX+5th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ἔστωσαν, but ἔστων [Refs 8th c.BC+], and early Attic dialect Inscrr., [Refs 2nd c.BC+]subjunctive ὦ, ᾖς, ᾖ, Epic dialect ἔω [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔῃ [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a

primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic):--am,

have been, X it is I, was. See also 1488, 1498, 1511, 1527, 2258,

2071, 2070, 2075, 2076, 2771, 2468, 5600.

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

to be, to exist, Jn. 1:1; 17:5; Mt. 6:30; Lk. 4:25, freq.; ἐστί[ν], it is possible, proper, Heb. 9:5; a simple linking verb (“copula”) to the subject and predicate, and therefore in itself affecting the force of the sentence only by its tense, mood, etc., Jn. 1:1; 15:1, freq.; it also forms a frequent circumlocution with the participles of the present and perfect of other verbs, Mt. 19:22; Mk. 2:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εἰμί The whole of the pres. ind. (except 2nd sg. εἶ) may be enclitic when εἰμί is the Copula; but the 3rd sg. is written ἔστι in certain cases of emphasis, e. g. ἔστι μοι, I have: when used as Verb Subst., it retains the accent in all persons. as Substantive Verb, to be, to exist, οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ οὗτος ἀνήρ, οὐδ᾽ ἔσσεται Od.; τεθνηῶτος, μηδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἐόντος id. Od.; οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι he is no more, Eur.; θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες Il.; ἐσσόμενοι posterity, id. Il.; ζώντων καὶ ὄντων Ἀθηναίων Dem.:—so of cities, etc., ὄλωλεν, οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἔστι Τροία (cf. Troja fuit), Eur.

of things, to be, exist, εἰ ἔστιν ἀληθέως [ἡ τράπεζα] Hdt.; ἕως ἂν ὁ πόλεμος ἦι so long as it last, Thuc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-IAI-2P — Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · second person · plural
imperfect active indicative — a continuing action in past time.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-IAI-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Imperfect Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%is
is26% · 619×are9% · 228×was7% · 176×being6% · 138×it is5% · 112×will be4% · 87×am3% · 80×were3% · 67×other renderings37% · 901×

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 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
linking verb87%verb13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,457 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
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίYou were2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

Concordanceεἰμί · 2,457× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation 1 John 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

τινὲς μὲν γὰρ ἐπιδεικνύμενοι λόγων δεινότητα καὶ τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς θηρευόμενοι δόξαν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τῆς παιδείας τὸ μέρος ὁρμῶσιν, ἄλλοι δὲ χάριν ἐκείνοις φέροντες, περὶ ὧν τὴν ἀναγραφὴν εἶναι συμβέβηκε, τὸν εἰς αὐτὴν πόνον καὶ παρὰ δύναμιν ὑπέστησαν·

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 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν, μηνὸς Ἐπεὶφ κε. ἐν Παθύρει, ἐφʼ Ἑρμίου τοῦ παρὰ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν, μηνὸς Τῦβι ιη ἐν Παθύρει ἐφʼ Ἑρμίου τοῦ παρὰ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
γὰρgar for G1063 Conjunction
1,038× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
For is a word used to explain or give a reason, often introducing a justification or clarification, as seen in Matthew 4:18 and Romans 7:1. It's a conjunction that connects ideas and provides additional information.
Tyndale gloss
for
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word γάρ (gar) is a coordinating particle primarily used to introduce reasons or explanations, similar to 'for' in English. It can serve various functions, including causal, explicative, and conclusive, and is often placed after the first word in a clause. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts that clarify or justify preceding statements, aligning with its classical usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γάρ,

co-ordinating particle, contr. of γε ἄρα,

verily then, hence, in truth, indeed, yea, then, why, and when giving a reason or explanation, for, the usage in NT being in general accord with that of cl.;

explicative and epexegetic: Mt 4:18 19:12, Mk 1:16 5:42 16:4, Lk 11:30, Ro 7:1, I Co 16:5, al.

Conclusive, in questions, answers and exclamations: Mt 9:5 27:23, Lk 9:25 22:27, Jo 9:30, Ac 8:31 16:37 19:35,

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

γάρ, a conjunction, which ace. to its composition, γέ and dpa (i. 4. ἄρ), is properly a particle of affirmation and conclusion, denoting truly therefore, verily as the case stands, “ the thing is first aflirmed by the particle yé, and then is referred to what precedes by the force of the particle dpa” (Klotz ad Devar. ii. 1, p. 232; οἵ. Kiihner ii. p. 724; [Jelf § 786; W. 445 (415) sq-]). Now since by a new affirmation not infrequently the reason and nature of something previously mentioned are set forth, it comes to pass that, by the use of this particle, either the reason and cause of a foregoing statement is added, whence arises the causal or argumentative force of the particle, for (Lat. nam, enim; Germ. denn) ; or some previous declaration is explained, whence γάρ takes on an ex plicative force: YP Sor, the fact is, namely (Lat. videlicet, Germ. ndmilich). Thus the force of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γάρ (gar) — for.

γάρ

(γε, ἄρα), causal conjunction, used alone or with other Particles.

I. introducing the reason or cause of what precedes, for, τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη· κήδετο γ. Δαναῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but frequently in explanation of that which is implied in the preceding clause, πολλάων πολίων κατέλυσε κάρηνα.. τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον [Refs]

I. b in simple explanations, especially after a Pronoun or demonstrative adjective, ἀλλὰ τόδ᾽ αἰνὸν ἄχος κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἱκάνει· Ἕκτωρ γ. ποτε φήσει [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὃ δὲ δεινότατον.. ὁ Ζεὺς γ... [Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently in introducing proofs or examples, μαρτύριον δέ· Δήλου γ. καθαιρομένης.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τεκμήριον δέ· οὔτε γ. Λακεδαιμόνιοι.. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; in full, τεκμήριον δὲ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γάρ

gar

a primary particle; properly, assigning a reason (used in argument,

explanation or intensification; often with other particles):--and, as,

because (that), but, even, for, indeed, no doubt, seeing, then,

therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γάρ

Cj.

for

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γάρ gar 1x

for; it is, however, frequently used with an ellipsis of the clause to which it has reference, and its force must then be variously expressed: Mt. 15:27; 27:23, et al.; it is also sometimes epexegetic, or introductory of an intimated detail of circumstances, now, then, Mt. 1:18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γάρ for, Lat. enim, and like it, regularly placed after the first word of a sentence: to introduce the reason:

ARGUMENTATIVE, to introduce the reason for a statement, which usually precedes:—when it precedes the statement, it may be rendered since, as, Ἀτρείδη, πολλοὶ γὰρ τεθνᾶσιν Ἀχαιοί, χρὴ πόλεμον παῦσαι Il.

the statement of which γάρ gives the reason may be omitted, οὐ γάρ τί μοι Ζεὺς ἦν ὁ κηρύξας τάδε [yes], for it was not Zeus, etc., Soph.; ἔστι γὰρ οὕτω [yes], for so it is, i. e. yes certainly, Plat.; οἵδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ εἰσί: τοῦτο γάρ σε δήξεται [I say this], for it will sting thee, Eur.: —in Conditional Propositions, where the Condition is omitted, it may be transl. for otherwise, else, οὐ γὰρ ἄν με ἔπεμπον πάλιν, (sc. εἰ μὴ ἐπίστευον)…

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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

for (ki (conjunction), le, from 'el (preposition), and various other words. In the New Testament also the words are various, chiefly gar, kai gar, hoti (conjunctions); anti apo eis dia (accusative), epi (dative and accusative), peri (genitive), pros (genitive and accusative), huper (genitive) (prepositions)): the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version give in many cases more literal or more accurate renderings than those in the King James Version.

In the New Testament the most important preps. from a doctrinal point of view are anti, "face to face," "over against," "instead," "on behalf of," peri, "around," "about," "concerning," huper, "over," "on behalf of." The first has been claimed as stating the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice as contrasted with huper and peri, more frequently used of it. But, although anti in the New Testament often means…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%for
for97% · 1050×other renderings3% · 33×

1,083 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 11 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
adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,038 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
αὐτόςἐγώσύ
οὐNeg
οὐδείςno one, none, noαὐτόςλαλέωI speak, say
εἰμίI am, exist
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeλυπέωI pain, grieve, καθεύδωI sleep, am slee
οὗτος
εἰςαὐτόςδιά
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existκύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐγώ
γάρfor1038×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύἐν
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becἐνοὐNeg
αὐτός
Article theοὗτοςλέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theδιάἐν

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

Concordanceγάρ · 1,038× in the New Testament
Romans Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Hebrews Acts 2 Corinthians John Mark Galatians 1 Thessalonians Revelation

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ λόγον καὶ ἀκοὴν ὑπερβάλλει μείζω καὶ σεμνότερα ὄντα ἢ ὡς θνητοῦ τινος ὀργάνοις ἐναρμοσθῆναι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

τινὲς μὲν γὰρ ἐπιδεικνύμενοι λόγων δεινότητα καὶ τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς θηρευόμενοι δόξαν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τῆς παιδείας τὸ μέρος ὁρμῶσιν, ἄλλοι δὲ χάριν ἐκείνοις φέροντες, περὶ ὧν τὴν ἀναγραφὴν εἶναι συμβέβηκε, τὸν εἰς αὐτὴν πόνον καὶ παρὰ δύναμιν ὑπέστησαν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.7c. AD 100

ἐγνώρισεν γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ δεσπότης διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰ παρεληλυθότα καὶ τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων δοὺς ἀπαρχὰς ἡμῖν γεύσεως, ὧν τὰ καθ̓ ἕκαστα βλέποντες ἐνεργούμενα, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν, ὀφείλομεν πλουσιώτερον καὶ ὑψηλότερον προσάγειν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ.

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

ἀποκαταστῆναι , ἔτι καὶ νῦν καλῶς ποιήσεις παρακαλῶν σαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῶν· προσπέπτωκεν γὰρ Παῶν ἀναπλεῖν ἐν τῶι Τῦβι μηνὶ μετὰ δυνάμεων ἱκανῶν πρὸς τὸ καταστεῖλαι τοὺς ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

ἀλλʼ ἀποστερέσαι … ησας ἀλλά … τας κατὰ κοινόν … ἐπίσκεψιν ποιησάσθαι. … τούτων γὰρ γενομένων ἐσόμεθα βεβοηθημένοι ὑφʼ ὑμῶν. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους θ Φαρμοῦθι κζ, ἐπιλέγματος ἀναγνωσθέντος τοῦ ὑπομνήματος

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

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 ἐπάνω

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ὡςhōs like G5613 Adverb
502× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means as or when, showing a comparison or timing. It's used in many verses, like Mark 4:26 and 1 Corinthians 3:15, to show how things are done. It helps explain how or when something happens.
Tyndale gloss
as/when
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὡς is an adverb and conjunction derived from the relative pronoun ὅς. It is used in various contexts to mean 'as,' 'like,' or 'when,' and can indicate manner, comparison, or time. In the New Testament, it appears frequently to express similarity or to introduce clauses, such as in comparisons or temporal phrases. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὡς, adverbial form of the relative pron. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.

As relat. adv. of manner, as, like as, just as, even as;

with a demonstrative, like οὕτως, expressed or understood: οὕτως . . . ὡς, Mk 4:26, I Co 3:15, Eph 5:28, Ja 2:12, al.; ὡς . . . οὕτως, Ac 8:32, I Co 7:17, al.; elliptically (sc. οὕτως, οὕτω), c. nom., Mt 6:29, al.; c. acc., Mt 19:19, Mk 12:31, al.; c. prep., Mt 26:55, Read the full entry →

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

ὡς [ Treg. (by mistake) in Mt. xxiv. 38 ὥς; cf. W. 462 (431); Chandler § 934, and reff. in Ebeling, Lex. Hom. s. v. p. 494

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

ὡς. Ι. = “45: P Goodsp Cairo 44 (ii/B.c.) (= Selections, Ῥ- 24) εἰ tppwoar . .. εἴη dv ὡς αἱρούμεθα, “if you are well, it will be as we desire,” BGU I. 1637 (A.D. 108) καὶ yap ἄλλοι ὡς πληγέντες ὑπὸ αὐτοῦ ἀναφόριον δεδώκασι, “for others have given information (from time to time) ἃ5 having been assaulted by him,” P Flor I. 5618 (A.p. 234) ὡς καθήκει, and BGU IV. το. 1 (iv/y A.D.) κα]ταβληθῆναι ὡς φονέα. 2. = “that,” ‘ how,” after verbs of saying, thinking, etc.: P Tebt I. τοῦ (B.c. 119) φρόντισον ὡς τὰ τῆς ὑποσχέσεως ἐκπληρωθήσεται, “take care that the terms of his agreement are fulfilled” (Edd.), and P Tebt II. 4101? (i/A.D.) μν[ἤ]σθητι o[s] ἐν τῷ Τρ[ιστόμῳ pe ἐφιλοτ[ιυἹμοῦ σὺν ἐμοὶ μεῖναι, ‘remember how zealous you were at Tristomos to remain with me” (Fdd.). 3. Ὁ. ind. with dy, as in Σ Cor 125, cf. P Par 4615 (B.C. 152) ὡς ἂν εὐκαιρήσω, παραχρῆμα παρέσομαι πρός σε. 4. c. conj. with…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὡς (hōs) — as/when.

ὡς:—

Summary:

__A as adverb of Manner.

__A.Aa ὧς and ὥς (with accent), so, thus.

__A.Ab ὡς (without accent) of the Relat. pronoun ὅς, as.

__A.Ac ὡς Relat. and Interrog., how.

__A.Ad ὡς temporal, when.

__A.Ae ὡς Local, where,

__B ὡς, as CONJUNCTION.

__C,D various usages. adverb of Manner:

__A.Aa ὥς, Demonstr., ={οὕτως}, so, thus, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Ionic dialect Prose, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὥς simply ={οὕτως}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2 καὶ ὧς even so, nevertheless, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐδ᾽ ὧς not even so, [Refs 8th c.BC+] are used in Trag. and Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κἂν ὧς, εἴπερ μέλει σοι, ἀπόστειλόν μοί τινα [Refs 4th c.AD+]; δουλεύων καθὼς καὶ ὧς [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; Thess. καὶ οὗς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; for this phrase the accentuation ὧς[Refs 2nd…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὡς

hos

probably adverb of comparative from 3739; which how, i.e. in that

manner (very variously used, as follows):--about, after (that),

(according) as (it had been, it were), as soon (as), even as (like),

for, how (greatly), like (as, unto), since, so (that), that, to wit,

unto, when(-soever), while, X with all speed.

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὡς

Adv

as, like as, how, while, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὡς hōs 504x

conjunction formed from the relative pronoun ὅς, used as a comparative part. and conj., as, correlatively, Mk. 4:26; Jn. 7:46; Rom. 5:15; as, like as, Mt. 10:16; Eph. 5:8; according as, Gal. 6:10; as, as it were, Rev. 8:8; as, Lk. 16:1; Acts 3:12; before numerals, about, Mk. 5:13; conj. that, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὡς thus, as, so that, since

A. ADVERB of Manner, either ὥς (with accent) Demonstr. so, thus, Lat. sic;— or ὡς (without accent) Relat. as, Lat. ut. B. ὡς, as CONJUNCTION. C, D. various usages.

of Manner:

ὥς, Demonstr. = οὕτως, so, thus, Lat. sic, Hom., Hdt.; rare in attic:— καὶ ὥς, even so, nevertheless, οὐδ᾽ ὥς, μηδ᾽ ὥς, not even so, in no wise, Hom., Soph.

in Comparisons, ὥς . . , ὡς . . , so . . as . . , Lat. sic . . ut . . , Il., Plat.

thus, for instance, Od.

ὡς, Relat., as, Lat. ut, first in Hom.; οὕτως ὡς, Lat. sic ut; but the antec. is often omitted: similes are commonly introduced by ὡς ὅτε, ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε, where ὅτε often seems superfluous, ἤριπε δ᾽, ὡς ὅτε πύργος [ἤριπε] Il.:—this ὡς takes the accent at the end of a clause or when it follows the word dependent on it; θεὸς δ᾽ ὣς τίετο δήμῳ Il.; οἱ δὲ φέβοντο, βόες ὥς…

Read the full entry →
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
60%as
as60% · 310×like16% · 84×when8% · 41×how4% · 21×about4% · 20×other renderings6% · 33×other renderings1% · 7×

516 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 22 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
adverbial31%predicate12%object4%subject4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 502 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
πρόσωπονthe face, counteπούςthe footδιδάσκωI teach
σύ
πλησίονnear, nearby, a καρδίαthe heart, innerἀποστέλλωI send forth, se
καίand, even, also, nam
πολύςmuch, many, ofteαὐτόςλαόςa people, the cr
ἀλλάbut, except
γαμίζωI give in marriaθέλωI will, wish, deφανερῶςclearly, openly
εἰμίI am, exist
ὥραan hour, seasonὅτιthat, since, becοὐNeg
ὡςlike502×
what comes after →
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἥλιοςthe sun, sunlighφῶςlight, a source
δέbut, on the other ha
πληρόωI fill, fulfill,γίνομαιI come into beinἀκούωI hear, listen
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἐνἐγώ
φωνήa sound, noise, voic
ὕδωρwaterβροντήthunderἐν
ἐν
Article theοὐρανόςthe sky, the heaκρυπτόςhidden, secret

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

Concordanceὡς · 502× in the New Testament
Revelation Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John 2 Corinthians 1 Peter Hebrews Mark Romans Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
πρόβαταprobaton sheep G4263 Noun · nominative · plural · neuter
39× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
In the Bible, a sheep refers to a literal animal or a person who follows a leader, as in Matthew 7:15 and Romans 8:36.
Amplified meaning
lost
Tyndale gloss
sheep
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρόβατον refers to a sheep, derived from the notion of something that walks forward. It is used in the New Testament to denote sheep literally and metaphorically, often representing followers of a leader, especially in the context of the Good Shepherd. The term can also imply timidity or laziness when used proverbially. It appears in verses like Matthew 7:15 and Romans 8:36.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρόβατον, -ου, τό

(< προβαίνω),

[in LXX chiefly for צֹאן, also for שֶׂה, more rarely for כֶּבֶשׂ (כֶּשֶׂב), רָחֵל;]

in Hom., Hdt., cattle, esp. of small cattle, sheep and goats.

In NT, as in Attic writers generally (cf. MM, xxi), a sheep: Mt 7:15, Mk 6:34, al.; πρόβατα σφαγῆς, Ro 8:36(LXX). Metaph. (in cl. of timidity, stupidity or idleness), of the followers of a leader or master, esp. of those who are subject to the care of the Good Shepherd: Mt 10:6 15:24 26:31(LXX), Mk 14:27(LXX), Jo 10:7, 8, 15, 16, 26, 27 21:16, 17 (WH txt., προβάτια),

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

πρόβατον is used of ‘‘sheep” collectively in such a passage as P Hib I. 3210 (B.c. 246) πρόβατα Xn, (dv) ἔρσίεν)ες ἢ, ἄρνες ty . . . “38 sheep, of whicheizht are rams, 13 lambs . .” Other exx. of the word are P Petr II. 22° (iii/B.c.) Botds(?) ἢ ὑποζύγιον (‘‘ass ’’) ἢ πρόβατον, P Oxy II. 2445 (A.D. 23) πρόβατα τριακόσια εἴκοσι καὶ αἶγας [ἑκατ]ὸν ἑξήκον[τ]α καὶ τοὺς ἐπακολουθ(οῦντας) ἄρνας [κ]αὶ ἐρίφους, P Fay

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρόβατον (probaton) — sheep.

πρόβᾰτον, τό,

frequently in plural πρόβατα (but also in singular, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; irregular dative πρόβασι[Refs 5th c.AD+] — used (among the Ionians and Dorians) of all four-footed cattle, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of Europa's bull, [Refs 8th c.BC+] generally of cattle, flocks and herds, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ π. καὶ καρταίποδα [Refs]; opposed to ἄνθρωποι, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ λεπτὰ τῶν π. small cattle, i.e. sheep and goats, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; so later, π. ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐρίφων λήψεσθε [LXX] almost invariably of sheep, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in later Boeotian dialect, [Refs]: generally, animals for slaughter, whether for sacrifices, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; or for food, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρόβατον προβάτιον

probaton

probably neuter of a presumed derivative of 4260; something that walks

forward (a quadruped), i.e. (specially), a sheep (literally or

figuratively):--sheep(-fold).

see GREEK for 4260

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρόβατον, ου, τό

n.n.

a sheep

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρόβατον probaton 39x

a sheep, Mt. 7:15; 9:36; 10:16; met. Mt. 10:6; 15:24

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρόβατον πρόβα^τον, ου, τό, προβαίνω mostly in pl. πρόβατα, properly, anything that walks forward; in Hom. generally of cattle, flocks and herds; in Hdt. and Pind. also of horses; τὰ λεπτὰ τῶν προβάτων small cattle, i. e. sheep and goats, Hdt.; but in attic always of sheep, Ar., Thuc.

proverb. of stupid, lazy people, πρόβατ᾽ ἄλλως a set of sheep, Ar.; so, προβατίου βίος, i. e. a lazy do-nothing life, id. Ar.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-NPN — Noun · nominative · plural · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-NPN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shep:

1. Names:

The usual Hebrew word is tso'n, which is often translated "flock," e.g. "Abel .... brought of the firstlings of his flock" (Ge 4:4); "butter of the herd, and milk of the flock" (De 32:14). The King James Version and the English Revised Version have "milk of sheep." Compare Arabic da'n. The Greek word is probaton. For other names, see notes under CATTLE; EWE; LAMB; RAM.

2. Zoology:

The origin of domestic sheep is unknown. There are 11 wild species, the majority of which are found in Asia, and it is conceivable that they may have spread from the highlands of Central Asia to the other portions of their habitat. In North America is found the "bighorn," which is very closely related to a Kamschatkan species. One species, the urial or sha, is found in India. The Barbary…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Sheep

Are of different varieties. Probably the flocks of Abraham and Isaac were of the wild species found still in the mountain regions of Persia and Kurdistan. After the Exodus, and as a result of intercourse with surrounding nations, other species were no doubt introduced into the herds of the people of Israel. They are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The care of a shepherd over his flock is referred to as illustrating God’s care over his people (Ps. 23:1, 2; 74:1; 77:20; Isa. 40:11; 53:6; John 10:1-5, 7-16).

“The sheep of Palestine are longer in the head than ours, and have tails from 5 inches broad at the narrowest part to 15 inches at the widest, the weight being in proportion, and ranging generally from 10 to 14 lbs.…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Sheep were an important part of the possessions of the ancient Hebrews and of eastern nations generally. The first mention of sheep occurs in (Genesis 4:2) They were used in the sacrificial offering,as, both the adult animal, (Exodus 20:24) and the lamb. See (Exodus 29:28; Leviticus 9:3; 12:6) Sheep and lambs formed an important article of food. (1 Samuel 25:18) The wool was used as clothing. (Leviticus 13:47) "Rams skins dyed red" were used as a covering for the tabernacle. (Exodus 25:5) Sheep and lambs were…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Of the Syrian sheep, according to Dr. Russell, there are two varieties; the one called Bedaween sheep, which differ in no respect from the larger kinds of sheep among us, except that their tails are somewhat longer and thicker; the others are those often mentioned by travellers on account of their extraordinary tails; and this species is by far the most numerous. The tail of one of these animals is very broad and large, terminating in a small appendage that turns back upon it. It is of a substance between fat and marrow, and is not eaten separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of their dishes, and also often used instead of butter. A common sheep of this sort, without the head, feet, skin, and entrails, weighs from sixty to eighty pounds, of which the tail itself is usually ten or fifteen pounds, and when the animal is fattened, twice or thrice that weight, and very…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
98%sheep
sheep98% · 39×than a sheep?3% · 1×

40 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
object39%subject26%adverbial23%predicate13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 39 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰμίI am, existὑπέρ
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
σύεἰμίI am, existοὗτος
ἑκατόνIndec
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thἔχωI have, hold, po
καίand, even, also, nam
βοῦςan oxκτῆνοςa beast of burde
ἔνδυμαa garment, raiment
ἐν
πρόβατονsheep39×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,ἐμόςποίμνηa flock
καίand, even, also, nam
πλανάωI lead astray, dἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,περιστεράa dove
ἐγώ
Article the
μήNeg
ἔχωI have, hold, po
ἔσωθενfrom within, inside
δέbut, on the othe

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

Concordanceπρόβατον · 39× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke Mark 1 Peter Acts Hebrews Revelation Romans
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 210 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 85c. AD 40

τὰς γοῦν πολυζῴους ἀγέλας προβάτων αἰγῶν βοῶν ἄγει ποιμὴν αἰπόλος βουκόλος, ἄνθρωποι μηδὲ τοῖς σώμασιν ἐρρωμένοι καὶ σφριγῶντες, ὡς ἕνεκα γοῦν εὐεξίας ἐμποιῆσαι τοῖς ἰδοῦσι κατάπληξιν·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.102c. AD 75–95

Οἱ δὲ χαίροντες οἷς τε ἑώρων καὶ οἷς ἤκουον τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τῆς κατὰ δύναμιν αὐτῶν σπουδῆς οὐκ ἀπελείποντο, ἀλλʼ εἰσέφερον ἄργυρόν τε καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ χαλκὸν ξύλα τε τῆς καλλίστης ὕλης καὶ μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῆς σήψεως παθεῖν δυνάμενα, αἰγείους τε τρίχας καὶ…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.2c. AD 100

γέγραπται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἅ μὲν πρὸς τὸν Ἰσραήλ, ἃ δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, λέγει δὲ οὕτως: Ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν: τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν: ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἄφωνος ἐναντίον τοῦ…

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

Ἰάσονι δοῦναι στρῶμα ἢ δραχμὰς λ, οὐκ ἔδωκεν. γραψάτω οὖν Ἀπολλοδώρωι τῶι ἐπὶ τῶν προβάτων δοῦναι ἔρια δραχμῶν λ, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέγνωσα ὧδε, ἵνα γένηταί σοι στρῶμα· ἐγὼ δὲ

δ εν … … … εὐκαιρήσης, γράψον ἡμῖν ἵνα παραγενωμ … … λόγον τῶν προβάτων καὶ τὸν χρόνον οὗ … ἔρρωσο. ἔτους λζ, Παχὼνς

ὧν τὸ καθʼ ἓν σήμερον ὑπόκειται τῶν τε ἐγγαίων καὶ κτηνῶν τῆι προκειμένῃ Ταθώτει, πρόβατα μὲν ὀκτὼ βόες δύο καὶ τὰ ἐπεσόμενα τούτοις καὶ οἰκίαν ᾠκοδομημένην καὶ ἐστεγασμένην καὶ

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
πλανώμενοιplanaō going astray G4105 Verb · present · passive · participle · nominative · plural · neuter
39× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To lead someone astray or cause them to wander from the truth, as seen in Matthew 24:4-5 where Jesus warns of false prophets. This can also mean to deceive or seduce someone.
Amplified meaning
led away from the truth
Tyndale gloss
to lead astray
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πλανάω is built from the root meaning to cause to wander or stray. It covers a range of meanings including leading astray, deceiving, and going off the right path, both literally and metaphorically. The New Testament uses it in contexts of deception and error, as seen in verses like Matthew 18:12 and 1 Peter 2:25. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πλανάω, -ῶ

(< πλάνη),

[in LXX chiefly for תּעה;]

to cause to wander, lead astray. Pass., to go astray, wander: Mt 18:12, 13, He 11:38, I Pe 2:25 (cf. Is 53:6). Metaph., to lead astray, deceive: c. acc. pers., Mt 24:4, 5, 11, 24, Mk 13:5, 6, Jo 7:12, II Ti 3:13, I Jo 1:8 2:26 3:7, Re 2:20 12:9 13:14 19:20 20:3, 8, 10; pass., to be led astray, to err: Mt 22:29, Mk 12:24, 27, Lk 21:8, Jo 7:47,

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

πλανάω, -@; fut. πλανήσω ; 1 aor. ἐπλάνησα; Pass., pres. πλανῶμαι; pf. πεπλάνημαι; 1 aor. ἐπλανήθην ; (πλάνη); fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down; Sept. for APN; to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way ; a. prop.; in pass., Sept. chiefly for NA, fo go astray, wander, roam about, (first so in Hom. 1]. 23, 321): Mt. xviii. 12sq-; 1 Pet. ii. 25 (fr. Is. liii. 6, cf. Ex. xxiii. 4 ; Ps. exviii. (exix.) 176); Heb. xi. 38. b. metaph. to lead away from the truth, to lead into error, to deceive: twa, Mt. xxiv. 4, 5, 11, 24; Mk. xiii. 5,6; Jn. vii. 12; 1Jn. ii. 26; iii. 7; 2 Tim. iii. 13"; Rev. ii. 20GLT TrWH; xii. 93 xiii. 14; xix. 20; xx. 8, 8, 10; ἑαυτόν, 1 Jn. 1. 8; pass. to be led into error, [R.V. be led astray]: Lk. xxi. 8; Jn. vii. 47; Rev. ii. 20 Rec.; to err, Mt. xxii. 29; ΜΚ. xii. 24, 27; μὴ πλανᾶσθε, 1 Co. vi. 9; xv. 33; Gal. vi. 7; Jas. 1. 16; esp. through ignorance…

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

πλανάω. For the metaph. use of πλανάω, ‘lead astray,” ‘‘deceive,” cf. P Par 4728 (B.c. 152-1) (= ΡΖ i. p. 332,

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πλανάω (planaō) — to lead astray.

πλᾰν-άω,

future -ήσω [LXX]:—passive and middle, future -ήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐπλανήθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect πεπλάνημαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: (πλάνη):—Prose verb, ={πλάζω} (used once in [Refs 8th c.BC+], cause to wander, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. lead from the subject, in talking, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. lead astray, mislead, deceive, ἢ γνώμη πλαν; [NT+5th c.BC+]; πλανῶν τὴν ἔξοδον, of the Labyrinth, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II. passive, wander, stray, ἵπποι πλανόωνται ἀνὰ δρόμον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of the planets, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of reports, travel abroad, πολλὰ.. ἐμπόρων ἔπη φιλεῖ π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πλανάω

planao

from 4106; to (properly, cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or

virtue):--go astray, deceive, err, seduce, wander, be out of the way.

see GREEK for 4106

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πλανάω

v.

I lead astray, deceive

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πλανάω planaō 39x

to lead astray, cause to wander; pass. to go astray, wander about, stray, Mt. 18:12, 13; 1 Pet. 2:25; met. to mislead, deceive, Mt. 24:4, 5, 11, 24; pass. to be deceived, err, mistake, Mt. 22:29; to seduce, delude, Jn. 7:12; pass. to be seduced or wander from the path of virtue, to sin, transgress, Tit. 3:3; Heb. 5:2; Jas. 5:19

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πλανάω πλάνη like πλάζω, to make to wander, lead wandering about, Hdt., Aesch.:— to lead from the subject, in talking, Dem.

to lead astray, mislead, deceive, Soph., Plat.

Pass. to wander, roam about, stray, Il., Aesch.; c. acc. loci, to wander over, Lat. oberrare, Eur.; but c. acc. cogn., πολλοὺς ἑλιγμοὺς πλανᾶσθαι to wander about as in a labyrinth, Xen.:— of reports, to wander abroad, Soph.

to wander in speaking, digress, Hdt.

c. gen., πλαναθεὶς καιροῦ having missed one's opportunity, Pind.

to do a thing irregularly or at random, Hdt.; ἐνύπνια τὰ ἐς ἀνθρώπους πεπλανημένα that have visited them irregularly, id. Hdt.

to wander in mind, to be at a loss, id. Hdt., Aesch.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PPP-NPN — Verb · present · passive · participle · nominative · plural · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PPP-NPN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Passive Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-stra' (ta`ah, "to wander," "to err"; planaomai, "to go astray," each carrying the idea of being lost): With one exception (Ex 23:4 "his ass going astray") used metaphorically of moral wandering, going astray in paths of error and sin, like "sheep going astray" (1Pe 2:25 the King James Version; Isa 53:6; Ps 119:176).

This wandering may be due

(1) to inherent evil (Ps 58:3);

(2) to false shepherds (Jer 50:6); contrast the beautiful and classic passage, Mt 18:12,13, the Son of man (verse 12) seeketh that which is…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
10%deceiving
deceiving10% · 4×do be misled8% · 3×they will mislead8% · 3×being deceived5% · 2×you err5% · 2×may mislead5% · 2×do be deceived3% · 1×they go astray3% · 1×other renderings55% · 22×

40 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 30 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
verb95%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 39 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
μήNeg
Article theβλέπωI look, seeκληρονομέωI inherit, obtai
καίand, even, also, nam
πρόβατονa sheepἐγείρωI wake, arouse, πλανάωI lead astray, d
σύ
τὶςκαίand, even, also,ἐν
Article the
ζητέωI seek, search fπερίΣατανᾶςan adversary, Sa
πολύςmuch, many, often
καίand, even, also,ζάωI live
πλανάωgoing astray39×
what comes after →
Article the
ὄχλοςa crowdκαρδίαthe heart, innerἐμός
καίand, even, also, nam
πλανάωI lead astray, dὄροςa mountainArticle the
μήNeg
οἶδαI know, remember
πολύςmuch, many, often
γάρfor
σύ
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

Concordanceπλανάω · 39× in the New Testament
Matthew Revelation Mark 1 John Hebrews 1 Corinthians 2 Timothy James John 1 Peter 2 Peter Galatians
Across the New Testament14 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 71 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 Ignatius of Antioch Josephus The Didache The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.108c. AD 40

„ἐπικατάρατος μέντοι καὶ ὁ πλανῶν τυφλὸν ἐν ὁδῷ“ (Deut.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.274c. AD 75–95

ὁμοίως καὶ περὶ βοσκημάτων οἷς ἂν ἐντύχῃ τις κατʼ ἐρημίαν πλανωμένοις, μὴ εὑρεθέντος τοῦ κυρίου παραχρῆμα παρʼ αὑτῷ φυλαττέτω μαρτυράμενος τὸν θεὸν μὴ νοσφίζεσθαι ἀλλότρια.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 16.1c. AD 100

Ἔτι δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ ἐρῶ ὑμῖν, ὡς πλανώμενοι οἱ ταλαίπωροι εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἤλπισαν, καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν αὐτῶν τὸν ποιήσαντα αὐτούς, ὡς ὄντα οἶκον θεοῦ.

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

με πώποτε ἐν τῇ Τρικομίαι ὑπὸ τῆς αἰσχύνης, εἰ καὶ αὑτοὺς δεδώκαμεν καὶ ἀποπεπτώκαμεν πλανώμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν καὶ πιστεύοντες τὰ ἐνύπνια. εὐτύχει.

P.Oxy. 36 2754OxyrhynchosAD 111

χρηματικὴν πείσονται ζημίαν, τὸν τοῦ θεῶν ἐμφανεστάτου Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Νέρουα Τραιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ Δακικοῦ πλανῶντες ἔλεον. οὐδεμίαν οἱ τοῖς βιβλίοις ἐμφερόμενοι παραίτησιν ἕξουσιν ὑπερτίθεσθαι βουλόμενοι, πάλαι τοῦ…

ZPE 205 (2018), p. 127-142Fundort: Kellis (Oasis MagnaAD 301–AD 400

ς· καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῶν ἠνέχθη μοι εἰς πρόσωπον οὐχ … ε ἢ διὰ τῶν πλανώντων. τοῦτο δὲ μάλιστα … κ … σμου … ει ἐν οἷς καὶ ὤφειλεν τὴν

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ἀλλ᾽alla but G235 Conjunction
638× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
But is a strong opposing word, used in Matthew 5:15 and John 7:16. It shows contrast or surprise, like in the phrase 'but God' in Romans 3:31.
Tyndale gloss
but
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀλλά (alla) is an adversative particle, meaning 'but' or 'otherwise.' It is derived from the neuter plural of ἄλλος and is used to introduce opposition or contrast in sentences. In the New Testament, it often appears in contexts that involve negation or exceptions, such as in Matthew 5:15 and John 16:2. The lexicons note its stronger adversative force compared to δέ.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀλλά (ἀλλ’ usually bef. α and υ, often bef. ε and η, rarely bef. ο and ω, never bef. ι; Tdf., Pr., 93 f.; WH, App., 146),

adversative particle,

stronger than δέ; prop. neuter pl. of ἄλλος, used adverbially, with changed accent; hence prop. otherwise, on the other hand (cf. Ro 3:31);

opposing a previous negation, but: οὐ (μὴ) . . . ἀ., Mt 5:15, 17 Mk 5:39, Jo 7:16, al.; rhetorically subordinating but not entirely negativing what precedes, οὐ . . . ἀ., not so much . . . as, Mk 9:37, Mt 10:20, Jo 12:44, al.; with ellipse of the negation, Mt 11:7-9

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

ἀλλά, an adversative particle, derived from ἄλλα, neut. of the adj. ἄλλος, which was originally pronounced ἀλλός (cf. Klotz ad Dévar. ii. p. 1 sq.), hence properly, other things se. than those just mentioned. It differs from δέ, as the Lat. at and sed from autem, [ef. W. 441 sq. (411)]. 1. But. So related to the preceding words that it serves to introduce 1. an opposition to concessions; nevertheless, notwithstanding: Mt. xxiv. 6; Mk. xiii. 20; xiv. 28; Jn. xvi. 7, 20; Acts iv. 17; vii. 48; Ro. v. 14 sq.; x. 16; 1 Co. iv. 4; 2 Co. vii. 6; Phil. ii. 27 (ἀλλ᾽ ὁ θεός etc.), ete. 2. an objection: Jn. vii. 27; Ro. x. 18 sq.; 1 Co. xv. 35; Jas. ii. 18. 3. an exception: Lk. xxii. 53; Ro. iv. 2; 1 Co. viii. 7; xe 29: 4. a restriction: Jn. xi. 42; Gal. iv. 8; Mk. xiv. 36. 5. an ascensive transition or gradation, nay rather, yea moreover: Jn. xvi. 2; 2 Co. i. 9; esp. with καί added, Lk. xii. 7…

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

ἀλλά. The closeness οἱ ἀλλά to πλήν appears in more uses than one. Armitage Robinson, Zp/estans, p. 205, has a note on a quasi-resumpltive use of ἀλλά in Eph 524 which is closely paralleled by that of πλήν in ver. 33. Then there are instances of ἀλλά = ‘‘except.” ‘This is clear where we have ἀλλ᾽ ἤ (as in 2 Cor 13%): thus P Petr 11. 9 (3)® (B.c. 24139) ὥστε μηθένα εἶναι ἐνταῦθα ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ἡμᾶς, ‘ There is no one left here except ourselves” (Ed.), 2d. 46 (α)" (B.C. 209) καὶ μὴ ὑποκεῖσθαι πρὸς ἄλλο μηδὲν add’ ἢ τὴν mpoyeypap[μέν]ην ἐγγύην, “has not been pledged for any other purpose than the aforesaid security” (1α.), P Lond 89738 (a.p. 84) (=TIII. p. 207) ὃ μέντοιγε οὐ θέλων. ἀλλὰ ἢ ἀνάγκηι. In P Tebt I. το 419 (B.c. 92) μὴ ἐξέστω Φιλίσκωι γυναῖκα ἄλλην. μ γυ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀλλά (alla) — but.

ἀλλά,

conjunction, originally neuter plural of ἄλλος, otheruise: used adversatively to limit or oppose words, sentences, or clauses, stronger than δέ:

I. in simple oppositions, but,

I.1. after negative clauses, οὐ κακός, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθός[Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.1. b after a simple negative, ἦ παραφρονεῖ; οὔκ, ἀλλ᾽ ὕπνος μ᾽ ἔχει[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.1. c frequently after οὐ μόνον, μὴ μόνον, with or without καί, οὐ μόνον ἅπαξ, ἀ. πολλάκις[Refs 5th c.BC+], either, not only.. but.., μὴ ὅτι ἰδιώτην τινά, ἀλλὰ τὸν μέγαν βασιλέα[Refs 5th c.BC+]; or, not only not.. but.., οὐχ ὅπως κωλυταὶ.. γενήσεσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ.. περιόψεσθε[Refs 5th c.BC+]; the negative form is ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέ, μὴ ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἄλλου, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ δίκην εἴρηκα[Refs 4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀλλά

alla

neuter plural of 243; properly, other things, i.e. (adverbially)

contrariwise (in many relations):--and, but (even), howbeit, indeed,

nay, nevertheless, no, notwithstanding, save, therefore, yea, yet.

see GREEK for 243

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀλλά

Cj.

but, except

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀλλά alla 638x

but; however; but still more; ἀλλάγε, at all events; ἀλλή, unless, except. Ἀλλά also serves to introduce a sentence with keenness and emphasis, Jn. 16:2; Rom. 6:5; 7:7; Phil. 3:8

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀλλά Conjunct., properly neut. pl. of ἄλλος (with changed accent) otherwise, but, stronger than δέ:

to oppose single clauses, but, Lat. autem, the preceding clause being negat., οὐ μόνον ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις Plat.; so, οὐχ (or μὴ) ὅτι, οὐχ (or μὴ) ὅπως, are followed by ἀλλά or ἀλλά καὶ . . . , not only . . . , but . . .

after a negative ἀλλά sometimes = ἀλλ᾽ ἤ, except, but, ἔπαισεν οὔτις ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώ Soph.

to oppose whole sentences, but, yet, Lat. at:— used by Hom., with imperat. or subj., to remonstrate, encourage, persuade, like Lat. tandem, ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι, ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε, ἀλλὰ ἴωμεν, Hom.

joined with other Particles, ἀλλ᾽ ἄρα, or, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν, but then, however, Hdt., etc.

ἀλλὰ γάρ, Lat. enimvero, but really, certainly, attic

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
92%but
but92% · 591×instead2% · 15×other renderings4% · 25×other renderings2% · 12×

643 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
adverbial10%object6%predicate3%subject2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 638 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
οἶδαI know, rememberκατεργάζομαιI work out, prodἐπιγινώσκωI come to know,
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγράφωI writeἐν
ἐγώ
ἀπόκρατέωI lay hold of, oθέλημαwill, wish, desi
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegοὐδείςno one, none, noΜωϋσῆςMoses
θεόςGod, a god
Article theἄνομοςlawless, sinful,
ἀλλάbut638×
what comes after →
Article the
Article theπέμπωI sendθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ἐν
οὐNeg
πᾶςall, the whole, ἐνδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐν
πᾶςall, the whole, Article theδύναμιςmight, power, ma
ἵναin order that, so th
φανερόωI make clear, viπληρόωI fill, fulfill,σῴζωI save, heal

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

Concordanceἀλλά · 638× in the New Testament
John 1 Corinthians Romans 2 Corinthians Mark Matthew Luke Acts Galatians 1 Peter Hebrews Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 5c. AD 40

οὐ μὴν διὰ τοῦθ’ ἡσυχαστέον, ἀλλ’ ἕνεκα τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς καὶ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἐπιτολμητέον λέγειν, οἴκοθεν μὲν οὐδέν, ὀλίγα δ’ ἀντὶ πολλῶν, ἐφ’ ἃ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην διάνοιαν φθάνειν εἰκὸς ἔρωτι καὶ πόθῳ σοφίας κατεσχημένην.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.1c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.8c. 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 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
P. Grenf. 1 21Pathyris127 BC

ἐπὶ Διονυσίου ἀγορανόμου ἐν τῶι ϛ ἔτους ἐπὶ τοῦ Φιλομήτορος, ἣ διασαφεῖ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ

P.Grenf. 1 44Pathyris127 BC

ἐπὶ Διονυσίου ἀγορανόμου ἐν τῶι ϛ ἔτει ἐπὶ τοῦ Φιλομήτορος ἣ διασαφεῖ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

νῦν οὐδενός … ς ἀξιοῦμεν … ἀνθρώπου ἀλόγως … ὀφείλει ἡμῖν διάφορα … θαι ἀλλʼ ἀποστερέσαι … ησας ἀλλά … τας κατὰ κοινόν … ἐπίσκεψιν ποιησάσθαι. … τούτων γὰρ

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ἐπεστράφητεepistrephō you have returned G1994 Verb · second aorist · passive · indicative · second person · plural
36× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To turn or revert, either physically or morally, as in Luke 1:16-17 where it means to turn back to God. This verb is used to describe a change in direction or behavior. It can also mean to cause someone to return to a virtuous path.
Amplified meaning
turned back, reverted
Tyndale gloss
to turn
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπιστρέφω (i.e., *epistrepho*) means to turn or return, both literally and metaphorically. It encompasses a range of meanings including turning towards, returning to God, and moral reform. The New Testament uses it in contexts such as conversion and repentance, notably in Luke 1:16-17 and James 5:19-20. There is some variation in how lexicons interpret its ethical implications, particularly regarding conversion.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπι-στρέφω

[very freq. in LXX, chiefly for שׁוּב, in its various senses, also for פָּנָה, etc. ;]

trans., to turn about, round or towards, hence metaph., to turn, cause to return (to God, virtue, etc.): Lk 1:16, 17 (cf. Ma 3:24), Ja 5:19, 20.

Intrans.,

to turn, turn oneself around: Ac 16:18; c. inf., Re 1:12; seq. πρός, Ac 9:40; so also pass. (cl.), Mk 5:30 8:33, Jo 21:20; metaph., of turning to God (v. Field, Notes, 246 ff.), ἐπὶ τ. κύριον (θεόν), Ac 9:35 11:21 14:15 15:19 26:20; πρὸς τ. θεόν, I Th…

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

ἐπι-στρέφω ; fut. ἐπιστρέψω; 1 aor. ἐπέστρεψα; 2 aor. pass. ἐπεστράφην; fr. Hom. down; Sept. for 394, 33D and 3973, 739, and times without number for 337 and wT; 1. transitively, a. to turn to: ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν, to the worship of the true God, Acts xxvi. 20. b. to cause to return, to bring back; fig. τινὰ ἐπὶ κύριον τὸν θεόν, to the love and obedience of God, Lk. i. 16; ἐπὶ τέκνα, to love for the children, Lk. i. 17; ἐν φρονήσει δικαίων, that they may bein [R. V. to walk in] the wisdom of the righteous, Lk. i. 17; τινὰ ἐπί τινα, supply from the context ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν and ἐπὶ τὴν ὁδόν, Jas. v. 19 sq. 2. intrans. ΟΥ̓. § 38, 1 [cf. p. 26; B. 144 (126 sq.)]); a. fo turn, to turn one’s self: ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον and ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν, of Gentiles passing over to the religion of Christ, Acts ix. 35; xi. 21; xiv. 15; xv. 19; xxvi. 20, cf. 1 Pet. ii. 25; πρός τι, Acts ix. 40; πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 1 Th. i. 9; 2…

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

ἐπιστρέφω is used literally = ‘‘turn” or ‘‘turn back”? in P Tebt I. 138 (late ii/B.c.) ἐπιστρέψας Kal σπασάμενος ταύτην (sc. τὴν μάχαιραν). The word has a certain ethical significance in P Oxy III. 486% (a.p. 131) tlod Σ]αραπίωνος μὴ ἐπιστραφέντος ὥστε κ[ατα]πλεῦσαι, “‘but S. has paid no attention to the instruction to sail down” (Edd.), BGU I. 367 (ii/A.D.) ot ἀδελφοὶ “A. καὶ “QL. ὀφείλοντές μοι κατ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐπιστρέφονται ἀποδῶναί μοι, ““1πΠ6 brothers H. and H., although they owe me (money), do not show the smallest inclination to repay me,” P Fay 1288 (iii/A.D.) οὐκ ἐπέστρεπται ὃ ἸΤοντικὸς λαβεῖν τὴν οἰκίαν παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, ‘ Ponticus has not shown any inclination to take the house from us”’ (Edd.). On the misleading translation of the verb by ‘‘am converted” in the AV see Field Mores, p. 8f., and especially p- 246 ff. The absolute use of the verb in certain portions of the LXX is discussed…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō) — to turn.

ἐπι-στρέφω,

perfect ἐπέστροφα [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—turn about, turn round, νῶτον Oracle texts cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. τὰς ναῦς tack [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also, put an enemy to flight, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; wheel about, τοὺς ἱππεῖς [Refs 1st c.AD+]; wheel through a right angle, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

__b. intransitive, turn about, turn round, ἕλκε δ᾽ ἐπιστρέψας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; here only in [Refs 8th c.BC+], and perhaps transitive, whirl, but see [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of ships, put about, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; of a wild boar, turn upon the hunter, ἐπί τινα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; return, ἀπὸ τῆς στρατείας Epist. Philipp. in [NT]; of an illness, recur, falsa lectio for{ὑπο-}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: as Hebraism, with infinitive, as periphrasis of πάλιν, ἐπιστρέψει.. εὐφρανθῆναι [LXX]; so with καί and finite Verb…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπιστρέφω

epistrepho

from 1909 and 4762; to revert (literally, figuratively or

morally):--come (go) again, convert, (re-)turn (about, again).

see GREEK for 1909

see GREEK for 4762

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπιστρέφω

v.

I turn back to

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπιστρέφω epistrephō 36x

trans. to turn towards; to turn round; to bring back, convert, Lk. 1:16, 17; Jas. 5:19, 20; intrans. and mid. to turn one’s self upon or towards, Acts 9:40; Rev. 1:12; to turn about, Mt. 9:22; to turn back, return, Mt. 12:44; met. to be converted, Acts 28:27

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπιστρέφω fut. ψω to turn about, turn round, Eur.; ἐπ. τὰς ναῦς to make a sudden tack, Thuc.; but also to put an enemy to flight, Xen.

intr. to turn about, turn round, Il., Hdt., attic:— to return, NTest.

to turn towards, τὸ νόημα Theogn.; πρός τι, εἴς τινα Plut.:— ἐπ. πίστιν to press a pledge upon one, Soph.

intr. to turn towards, Xen.

to turn from an error, to correct, make to repent, Luc.

intr. to repent, NTest.

to curve, twist, torment, Ar.

Mid. and Pass., esp. in aor2 pass. ἐπεστράφην [α^]: — to turn oneself round, turn about, ἐπιστρεφόμενος constantly turning, to look behind one, Hdt.; with acc., θάλαμον ἐπεστράφη turned to gaze on it, Eur.; δόξα ἐπεστράφη turned about, changed, Soph.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2API-2P — Verb · second aorist · passive · indicative · second person · plural
second aorist passive indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2API-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Passive Mood: Indicative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
17%having turned
having turned17% · 6×turn11% · 4×he should return8% · 3×turned6% · 2×do turn again3% · 1×turning3% · 1×having turned back3% · 1×may turn3% · 1×other renderings47% · 17×

36 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 25 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
verb92%adverbial8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 36 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
συνίημιI consider, undeοὖνtherefore, thenπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
μήNeg
ἀγρόςa field, the couὁμοίωςin like manner
Article the
αὐτόςὅτιthat, since, bec
πῶς
θεόςGod, a godκαίand, even, also,
σύ
πρός
ἐπιστρέφωyou have returned36×
what comes after →
ἐπί
Article theκύριοςlord, Lord, mastθεόςGod, a god
πρός
Article theσύκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
καίand, even, also, nam
ἰάομαιI healἀφίημιI send away, relὁράωI see, look upon
εἰς
Article the
Article the
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spΠέτροςPeter

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

Concordanceἐπιστρέφω · 36× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew Mark James Revelation 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians 2 Peter Galatians John
Across the New Testament12 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 201 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
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.8c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ ἡδονὴ βοηθεῖ πρὸς διαμονὴν τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπιθυμία, καὶ λύπη μέντοι καὶ φόβος δάκνοντα τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπέστρεψεν αὐτὴν μηδενὸς ὀλιγωρεῖν, ὀργή τε ἀμυντήριον ὅπλον [ἣ] μεγάλα πολλοὺς ὠφέλησε, καὶ τἆλλα ταύτῃ.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.53c. AD 75–95

Ταῦτα λέγων καὶ ἔτι πλείω τούτοις ὅμοια τὴν τῆς γυναικὸς ὁρμὴν ἐπέχειν ἐπειρᾶτο καὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτῆς εἰς λογισμὸν ἐπιστρέφειν, ἡ δὲ βιαιότερον ἐχρῆτο τῇ σπουδῇ καὶ ἐπιβαλοῦσα τὰς χεῖρας ἀναγκάζειν ἀπογνοῦσα τὸ πείθειν ἤθελεν.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 11.1.5c. AD 140

Πορεύσῃ, φησί, καὶ ὃς ἂν ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας ἐπιστρέψῃ πρὸς κύριον, πορεύσεται ἐν αὐτῇ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 2nd c. AD
Tyche 31 (2016), p. 36-38 no. 3Herakleopolites ?130 BC

ξύλων … ι διὰ πιττακίου ἐπὶ Κερκεσῆφιν καὶ εὖρον … … … … … ἐπέστρεψα εἰς Σαμάρειαν, διὰ τὰ ξύλα … … … … … μὴ ἀπενήνεχθαι … ν

P.Tebt. 1 138 descr.Tebtynis (Arsinoites)126 BC–102 BC

προγεγραμμένων Ὀννῶφρις … μενος μοι ἐκεῖνος ἀντιλογίας μάχην ἀνελόμενος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μάχαιραν καὶ … επιστρέψας καὶ σπασάμενος ταύτην βουλόμενός με ἀλογῆσαι κατήνεγκε πληγαῖς τρισὶ καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸν

P.Tebt. 2 610 Vo descr.Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 101–AD 200

?? ἐπιστρέψαντες ἐπὶ τὸν νότον ἐπʼ ἄλλον … τιμιου νήσου κλήρου ὑποστάσεως ἄρουραι ρλϛ 𐅵 δ

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
νῦνnun now G3568 Adverb
148× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Now refers to the present time, as in John 4:18 and Romans 13:11. It's used to emphasize a current situation or action.
Tyndale gloss
now
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

νῦν is an adverb meaning 'now,' indicating the present time as opposed to the past or future. It can also refer to the immediate past or future. The New Testament uses it frequently, including in John 11:8 and Romans 13:11. Abbott-Smith notes its use in logical sequences, while Liddell-Scott-Jones highlights its dialectal variations and broader applications.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

νῦν, adv.,

[in LXX chiefly for עַתָּה;]

prop., of time, now, i.e. at the present time: as opp. to past, Jo 4:18, Ac 7:52, Ro 13:11, II Co 7:9, Col 1:24, al.; opp. to fut., Jo 12:27, Ro 11:31, al.; c. art., ὁ (ἡ, τὸ) et subst., the present: Ro 3:26, Ga 4:25, I Ti 6:17, Tit 2:12, al.; ἀπὸ τοῦ ν. (LXX for מֵעַתָּה), Lk 1:48, Read the full entry →

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

νῦν (nun) — now.

νῦν

(for νυν, νυ, see infr. II), adverb now, both of the present moment, and of the present time generally, οἳ ν. βροτοί εἰσιν mortals of our day, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so in Ionic dialect and Attic dialect, οἱ ν. [ἄνθρωποι] men of the present day, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁ ν. τρόπος, τὸ ν. βαρβαρικόν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Βοιωτοὶ οἱ ν.[Refs 5th c.BC+]the present, [LXX+5th c.BC+]; μέχρι ν. (variant{μ. τοῦ ν}.) [Refs 1st c.BC+]; τὰ ν. simply, ={ν}., [NT+5th c.BC+]

2. of the immediate past, just now, but now, ν. Μενέλαος ἐνίκησεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]

3. of the future, presently, ν. αὖτ᾽ ἐγχείῃ πειρήσομαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; compare νῦν δή, νυνί.

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

νῦν

nun

a primary particle of present time; "now" (as adverb of date, a

transition or emphasis); also as noun or adjective present or

immediate:--henceforth, + hereafter, of late, soon, present, this

(time). See also 3569, 3570.

see GREEK for 3569

see GREEK for 3570

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

νῦν

Adv

now, already, at present

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

νῦν nyn 147x

now, at the present time, Mk. 10:30; Lk. 6:21, et al. freq.; just now, Jn. 11:8; forthwith, Jn. 12:31; καὶ νῦν, even now, as matters stand, Jn. 11:22; now, expressive of a marked tone of address, Acts 7:34; 13:11; Jas. 4:13; 5:1; τὸ νῦν, the present time, Lk. 1:48; τανῦν, or τὰ νῦν, now, Acts 4:29

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
87%now
now87% · 129×present7% · 11×now on2% · 3×other renderings4% · 6×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial93%predicate4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 148 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
ἀπόἐνκαίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
ὥραan hour, seasonαὐτόςἔρχομαιI come, go
δέbut, on the other ha
φανερόωI make clear, viπῶςὅς
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
μάρτυςa witnessαὐτόςσύ
ὅς
δίκαιοςjust, righteous,διάἐπί
νῦνnow148×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
καίand, even, also,Article theἐλεέωI pity, have mer
Article the
ἔχωI have, hold, poψυχήthe soul, life, ἄρχωνa ruler, prince,
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰςοὐNegφέρωI carry, bear, b
καιρόςfitting season, oppo
εἰςπρόςλεῖμμαa remnant, remai
ἐν
Article theπαρρησίαfreedom, confide

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

Concordanceνῦν · 148× in the New Testament
John Acts Luke Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Hebrews 1 Peter Philippians 1 John Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 257 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 134c. AD 40

ἐναργέστατα καὶ διὰ τούτου παρίστησιν ὅτι διαφορὰ παμμεγέθης ἐστὶ τοῦ τε νῦν πλασθέντος ἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα θεοῦ γεγονότος πρότερον·

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

ὅπως Ἅβραμος ὁ πρόγονος ἡμῶν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς κατέσχε τὴν τότε μὲν Χαναναίαν νῦν δὲ Ἰουδαίαν λεγομένην.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.1c. AD 100

φύγωμεν οὑν τελείως ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἀνομίας, μήποτε καταλάβῃ ἡμᾶς τὰ ἔργα τῆς ἀνομίας: καὶ μισήσωμεν τὴν πλάνην τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ, ἵνα εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα ἀγαπηθῶμεν.

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

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

γράφω περὶ τοῦ διανδραγαθήσαντα σαυτοῦ ἐπιμέλεσθαι μέχρι τοῦ τὰ πράγματα ἀποκαταστῆναι , ἔτι καὶ νῦν καλῶς ποιήσεις παρακαλῶν σαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῶν· προσπέπτωκεν γὰρ Παῶν ἀναπλεῖν ἐν τῶι

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

γε… ς δεομένων δὲ τῶν … ντων ὑμῶν διαλήψεως … καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν οὐδενός … ς ἀξιοῦμεν … ἀνθρώπου ἀλόγως … ὀφείλει ἡμῖν διάφορα … θαι ἀλλʼ

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ἐπὶepi to G1909 Preposition
886× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter 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,

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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.

Read the full entry →
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,
ἐπίto886×
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

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
τὸνho the G3588 Article · accusative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ποιμέναpoimēn Shepherd G4166 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
18× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A shepherd is someone who cares for and guides a group of people or animals. In the Bible, Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, and church leaders are also shepherds, responsible for guiding their flock, as seen in Matthew 9:36 and John 10:11. This role involves leadership and protection.
Amplified meaning
the one who cares for your souls, Jesus
Tyndale gloss
shepherd
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ποιμήν (i.e., *poimen*) means 'shepherd' and can refer literally to someone who tends flocks or herds, or metaphorically to a leader or pastor. It appears in various New Testament contexts, often symbolizing Christ or church leaders. The term has roots in both classical literature and the Septuagint, where it is used to describe both herdsmen and leaders of people.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ποιμήν, -ένος, ὁ,

[in LXX for רֹעֶה;]

a shepherd: Mt 9:36 25:32 26:31(LXX), Mk 6:34 14:27, Lk 2:8, 15, 18, 20, Jo 10:2, 12. Metaph., of Christ; Jo 10:11, 14, 16, He 13:20, I Pe 2:25; of Christian pastors, Eph 4:11 (cf. Hom., Il., i, 263, ποιμένα λαῶν).†

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

ποιμήν, -ένος, 6, (akin to the noun ποία, q. v.; [or fr. r. meaning ‘to protect’; cf. Curtius §372; Fick i. 1827), fr. Hom. down; Sept. for Ay4, a herdsman, esp. a shepherd; a. prop.: Mt. ix. 36; xxv. 32; xxvi. 31; Mk. vi: 34; xiv. 27; Lk. ii. 8,15, 18, 20; Jn. x. 2,12; in the parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow, Jn. x. 11, 14. b. metaph. the presiding officer, manager, director, of any assembly: so of Christ the Head of the church, Jn. x. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 25; Heb. xiii. 20, (of the Jewish Messiah, Ezek. xxxiv. 23); of the overseers of the Christian assemblies [A. V. pastors], Eph.iv.11; ef. Ritschl, Entstehung der altkathol. Kirche, ed. 2, p. 350 sq-; [Hatch, Bampton Lects. for 1880, p.123 sq.]. (Of kings and princes we find ποιμένες λαῶν in Hom. and Hes.)

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

ποιμήν, “shepherd,” is naturally common, and does not always occur in a very favourable light: cf. P Magd 611 (5,6. 221) προστάξαι Aropaver . . μὴ περιιδεῖμ με ἀνόμως ὑβριζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ποιμένων, P Ryl II. 152° (a.p. 42) érradévte(s) οἱ ποιμένες... ἃ ἔχουσι πρόβατα εἰς ds ἔχωι νομὰς ἐν ἐλαιῶ(νι) Θερμουθαρίου, ‘the shepherds let their flocks into the pasturage which I have in the olive-yard of Thermoutharion.” The word is also used of a lessee of sheep (μισθωτὴς προβάτων), cf. P Lond 851 (A.D. 216-219) (= IIL. Ρ- 48), and the introd. to P Strass I. 24 (A.D. 118), also Archiv iv. Ρ. 533-

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ποιμήν (poimēn) — shepherd.

ποιμήν, ένος, ὁ,

vocative ποιμήν (not -μέν) Hdn.Gr. 2.717:— herdsman, whether of sheep or oxen, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to lord or owner (ἄναξ), [Refs]

2. after [Refs 8th c.BC+] always shepherd, βουκόλοι καὶ π. [LXX+5th c.BC+]

II. metaphorically, shepherd of the people, regularly of Agamemnon, Ἀγαμέμνονα π. λαῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]: generally, captain, chief, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ποιμένες δώρων Κυπρίας, of the Loves, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: absolutely, master, lord, πλοῦτος ὁ λαχὼν ποιμένα [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II.2. in [LXX+NT] (Cf.Lithuanian piemuõ, genitive singular piemeñs 'shepherd'.)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ποιμήν

poimen

of uncertain affinity; a shepherd (literally or

figuratively):--shepherd, pastor.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ποιμήν, ένος, ὁ

n.m.

a shepherd

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ποιμήν poimēn 18x

one who tends flocks or herds, a shepherd, herdsman, Mt. 9:36; 25:32; met. a pastor, superintendent, guardian, Jn. 10:11, 14, 16

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

shep'-erd (ro`eh, ro`i; poimen, "a feeder"): The sheep owner frequently tends the flocks himself (Ge 4:4; 30:40; compare Eze 34:12), but more often he delegates the work to his children (Ge 29:9; 1Sa 16:19; 17:15) or relatives (Ge 31:6). In such cases the sheep have good care because the keepers have a personal interest in the well-being of the animals, but when they are attended by a hireling (1Sa 17:20) the flocks may be neglected or abused (Isa 56:10,11; Eze…

Shepherd

A word naturally of frequent occurence in Scripture. Sometimes the word “pastor” is used instead (Jer. 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 17:16). This word is used figuratively to represent the relation of rulers to their subjects and of God to his people (Ps. 23:1; 80:1; Isa. 40:11; 44:28; Jer. 25:34, 35; Nahum 3:18; John 10:11, 14; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

In a nomadic state of society every man, from the sheikh down to the slave, is more or less a shepherd. The progenitors of the Jews in the patriarchal age were nomads, and their history is rich in scenes of pastoral life. The occupation of tending the flocks was undertaken,not only by the sons of wealthy chiefs, (Genesis 30:29) ff.; Genesis37:12 ff., but even by their daughters. (Genesis 29:6,8; Exodus 2:10) The Egyptian captivity did march to implant a love of settled abode, and consequently we find the tribes which still retained a taste for shepherd life selecting their own quarters apart from their brethren in the transjordanic district. (

Or PASTOR.

Abel was a keeper of sheep, Ge 4:2, as were the greater number of the ancient patriarchs. When men began to multiply, and to follow different employments, Jabal son of Lamech was acknowledged as father, that is, founder of shepherd and nomads, Ge 4:20. A large part of the wealth of ancient patriarchs consisted in flocks and herds, the care of which was shared by their sons, daughters, and servants. Rachel the bride of Jacob was a shepherdess, Ge 29:6; his sons, the fathers of the tribes of Israel were shepherds, and so was David their king, Ps 78:70-72. The employment is highly honored in the Bible, Lu 2:8-20. In…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
72%shepherd
shepherd72% · 13×shepherds28% · 5×

18 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
object33%subject28%predicate28%adverbial11%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 18 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
πατάσσωI strikeεἰμίI am, existὥσπερjust as, as
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
μήNeg
καίand, even, also, nam
θύραa door, opportunity
Article the
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNeg
ποιμήνShepherd18×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
διασκορπίζωI scatter, winnoἄρχωI beginArticle the
Article the
καλόςbeautiful, good,πρόβατονa sheep
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐνArticle the
ἀφορίζωI rail off, separate
Article the
λαλέωI speak, say
πρός

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

Concordanceποιμήν · 18× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Mark 1 Peter Ephesians Hebrews
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 57 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
The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 85c. AD 40

τὰς γοῦν πολυζῴους ἀγέλας προβάτων αἰγῶν βοῶν ἄγει ποιμὴν αἰπόλος βουκόλος, ἄνθρωποι μηδὲ τοῖς σώμασιν ἐρρωμένοι καὶ σφριγῶντες, ὡς ἕνεκα γοῦν εὐεξίας ἐμποιῆσαι τοῖς ἰδοῦσι κατάπληξιν·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.169c. AD 75–95

Ὡς δʼ εἰς τὴν Χαναναίαν ἀφίκετο, μερίζεται πρὸς Λῶτον τὴν γῆν τῶν ποιμένων αὐτοῖς στασιαζόντων περὶ τῆς χώρας ἐν ᾗ νέμοιεν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.12c. AD 100

λέγει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὴν πληγὴν τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἐξ αὐτῶν: Ὅταν πατάξωσιν τὸν ποιμένα ἑαυτῶν, τότε ἀπολεῖται τὰ πρόβατα τῆς ποίμνης.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. BC 1st c. AD 2nd c. AD
P.Lond. 2 p. 166-167 no. 445Bakchias (ArsinoitesAD 14–AD 19

Γερμανικοῦ Καίσαρος ὄντος δὲ καὶ ἀπολυσίμου τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας Ταῶς Πανήσιος καὶ Πομσάιος Πανάκθου ποιμένες τῶν ἀπὸ Βακχιάδος … α τὰ ἄλλα Ψαμμένσεως ὡς ἐτῶν λϛ ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ

PSI 15 1517Psenamosis (Hermopolites ?)AD 32–AD 33

πρεσβυτέροις Ψεναμώσεως χαίρειν. τοῦ δεδομένου παρὰ Ζωίλου … … ν περὶ τὴν κωμογραμματείαν κώμης Ποιμένων ὑπομνήματος ἀντίγραφον συνεσφράγισται· ἀκολουθήσαντες οὖν τοῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ σημαινομένοις καὶ μετα … … δηλουμένοις

P.Alex.Giss. 4Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 140

ἐνεστὸς γ ἔτος Ἀντωνίνου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου καὶ μετάξω καὶ ἐπιμίξω ἑτέροις πρόβασι ὧν ποιμὴν ἐγὼ ὁ Λύκος. ἀπεγραψάμην παρὰ στρατηγῷ πρόβατα ρμ ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα αἶγας θ ἐννέα. ἔτους

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ἐπίσκοπονepiskopos Overseer G1985 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
An overseer is a church leader who watches over and guides the community, as seen in Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 2:25. This term is also translated as bishop. In the Bible, overseers played a crucial role in the early Christian church. They were responsible for teaching and guiding believers.
Amplified meaning
Bishop, guardian
Tyndale gloss
overseer
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπίσκοπος (i.e., *episkopos*) is built from the prefix ἐπί (upon) and σκοπός (watcher). It refers to a superintendent or overseer, particularly in a religious context, where it denotes the head of a church, commonly translated as 'bishop.' The New Testament uses it in several passages, emphasizing its role in church leadership.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπί-σκοπος, -ου, ὁ

(< σκοπός, a watcher),

[in LXX for פָּקַד, its parts and derivatives, Nu 4:16 31:14, Jg 9:28, IV Ki 11:15, 18, II Ch 34:12, 17, Ne 11:9, 14, 22; אֵל, Jb 20:29; נוֹגַשׂ:, Is 60:17; Wi 1:6, I Mac 1:51 * ;]

a superintendent, guardian, overseer (cl.; for exx. v. LS, s.v.): Ac 20:28, I Pe 2:25 (ICC, in l.); as technical term for a religious office (Deiss., BS, 230 f.), in later Paul. epp. of the head of a church (Vg. episcopus), a bishop: Phl 1:1, I Ti 3:2, Tit 1:7 (v.…

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

ἐπίσκοπος, -ov, ὁ, (ἐπισκέπτομαι), an overseer, A Man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly, any curator, guardian, or superintendent; Sept. for Vp5, Judg. ix. 28; Neh. xi. 9,14, 22; 2 K. xi. 15, ete.; 1 Macc. i.51. The word has the same comprehensive sense in Grk. writ. fr. Homer Odys. 8, 163; Il. 22, 255 down; hence in the N. ‘T. ἐπίσκ. τῶν ψυχών guardian of souls, one who watches over their welfare: 1 Pet. ii. 25 ([τὸν παντὸς πνεύματος κτίστην κ. ἐπίσκοπον, Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 59, 3]; ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ προστάτης τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦς Xp. ibid. 61, 3; [ef. Sir. i. 67), ef. Heb. xiii. 17. spec. the super‘ intendent, head or overseer of any Christian church; Vulg. episcopus: Acts xx. 28; Phil. i. 1; 1 Tim. iii. 2; Tit. i. 7; see πρεσβύτερος, 2 b.; [and for the later use of the word, see Dict. of Chris. Antiq. 5. v.…

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

ἐπίσκοπος. The use of this word as an official title in pre-Christian times has been fully illustrated by Deissmann (8S, p. 230f.) from the inscrr. From his exx. it is enough to recall the application of the word to communal officials in Rhodes, as TMAe 494 (ii/iB.c.) where we hear of a council of five ἐπίσκοποι, and, more significant still in view of its later usage, the mention of an ἐπίσκοπος amongst the officials of the temple of Apollo at Rhodes in 24. 731%. To these instances we may add P Petr III. 36(a@) verso? where in a petition to the epimeletes the words occur—én[l] τῶν ἀποδεδειγμένων ἐπισκόπων, ‘in the presence of the appointed supervisors ” (Edd.), and the curious religious letter, P Par 6315. 41. (B.C. 165) ἀπόκειται yap παρὰ θ[εοῦ] μῆνις τοῖς μὴ κατὰ τὸ βέλτιστον [προαι]ρουμένοις ζῆν, καὶ τῶν ἀνθρόπων . ++ ἐπίσκοπόν ἐστιν τὸ δαιμ[όν]ιον καὶ νέμεσις] ἀπὸ Δι[ὸς] τοῖς…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) — overseer.

ἐπίσκοπ-ος, ὁ,

__A (σκοπός 1) one who watches over, overseer, guardian, ἦ γὰρ ὄλωλας ἐπίσκοπος, ὅς τέ μιν αὐτὴν ῥύσκευ (i.e. τὴν πόλιν), of Hector, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐπίσκοποι ἁρμονιάων watchers over compacts, of the gods, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐ. ὀϊστῶν, of an archer, variant in [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; in education, tutor, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially of tutelary gods (compare ἐπισκοπέὠ, Παλλὰς ἐ. [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Χάριτες Μινυᾶν ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πατρῴων δωμάτων ἐ. [Refs]; τὸ δεινὸν.. φρενῶν ἐπίσκοπον guardian of the mind, [Refs]; νυχίων φθεγμάτων ἐ., of Bacchus, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; [Χριστὸς] ἐ. τῶν ψυχῶν [NT+5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπίσκοπος

episkopos

from 1909 and 4649 (in the sense of 1983); a superintendent, i.e.

Christian officer in genitive case charge of a (or the) church

(literally or figuratively):--bishop, overseer.

see GREEK for 1909

see GREEK for 4649

see GREEK for 1983

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπίσκοπος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

overseer, supervisor, ruler

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπίσκοπος episkopos 5x

pr. an inspector, overseer; a watcher, guardian, 1 Pet. 2:25; in NT an ecclesiastical overseer, Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:7*

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

o-ver-se'-er, or -ser': One who overlooks, inspects; in the Old Testament from natsach (2Ch 2:18; in 2Ch 34:13 the Revised Version (British and American) changes to "set forward"), and paqadh (Ge 39:4,5; 2Ch 34:12,17; the Revised Version (British and American) has this word for the King James Version "officers" in Ge 41:34, and for "rulers" in 1Ch 26:32); in the New Testament once for episkopos, in Ac 20:28, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "bishops" (margin "overseers"; compare

Nave's Topical Bible

→ General scriptures concerning Mt 24:48,49

→ See BISHOP

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
71%overseer
overseer71% · 5×overseers29% · 2×

7 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
adverbial40%subject40%second object20%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 5 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
οὖνtherefore, thenγάρfor
τίθημιI put, place
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,
σύν
ΦίλιπποιPhilippi
καίand, even, also, nam
ποιμήνa shepherd
ἐπίσκοποςOverseer
what comes after →
ποιμαίνωI shepherd, tend
Article the
καίand, even, also, nam
διάκονοςa waiter, servan
ἀνεπίλημπτοςirreproachable
εἰμίI am, exist
ἀνέγκλητοςirreproachable, blam
εἰμίI am, exist
Article the
ψυχήthe soul, life,

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

Concordanceἐπίσκοπος · 5× in the New Testament
1 Peter 1 Timothy Acts Philippians Titus
Across the New Testament5 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
Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Josephus The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.43c. AD 40

9, 29), καὶ ἀναπετάσω καὶ ἐξαπλώσω πάσας τὰς πράξεις θεῷ μάρτυρα καλῶν καὶ ἐπίσκοπον ἑκάστης, ὃν κακία κρύπτεσθαι οὐ πέφυκεν, ἐξαπλοῦσθαι δὲ καὶ φανερῶς ὁρᾶσθαι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 10.53c. AD 75–95

ἀπέδειξε δέ τινας κριτὰς καὶ ἐπισκόπους, ὡς ἂν διοικοῖεν τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστοις πράγματα περὶ παντὸς τὸ δίκαιον ποιούμενοι καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς οὐκ ἔλασσον αὐτὸ περιέποντες.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 42.4c. AD 96

κατὰ χώρας οὖν καὶ πόλεις κηρύσσοντες καθίστανον τὰς ἀπαρχὰς αὐτῶν, δοκιμάσαντες τῷ πνεύματι, εἰς ἐπισκόπους καὶ διακόνους τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 5th c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD 2nd c. AD

οὐετρανοῦ, ἀκολούθως ᾗ πεποίηνται τῶν τούτου ἀφʼ ἧς ἔθετο Ῥωμαικῆς διαθήκης ἀπογραφῇ παρὰ τοῖς ἐπισκόποις τῷ πέμπτῳ ἔτει Ἀντωνίνου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου, Δύστρῳ, δούλων σωμάτων Ἀσκληποῦτος καὶ Οὐνιῶνος ἐνγενῶν

BIFAO 63 (1963), p. 52 no. 6Edfa (bei Panopolis)AD 222

Ἁρεμῆφι ὀρνιθοτρόφῳ δὸς γεωμέτραις ἐπισκόποις τοῦ ἀβρόχου τοκάδας δύο γίνονται τοκάδες β ἔτους α Παχὼν θ παρὰ Ἁρεμήφιος ἀντιγραφέως

P.Lond. 6 1913Hipponon (Herakleopolites) bzw. KynopolitesAD 334

Κυνοπολείτου. θείων βασιλικῶν γραμμάτων ἀναπεμφθέντων ὑπὸ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου κελευόντων τινὰς τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐπισκόπους τε καὶ πρεσβυτέρους καὶ ἑτέρους πολλοὺς καὶ ἐμὲ σὺν αὐτοῖς ε … … τοαυ

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
τῶνho of the G3588 Article · genitive · plural · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-GPF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
of the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ψυχῶνpsuchē souls G5590 Noun · genitive · plural · feminine
102× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Peter than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for soul refers to the breath of life or the seat of emotions and desires, as seen in Matthew 6:25 and John 10:11. It is the essence of a person, encompassing their will and affections. This concept is central to understanding human nature in the Bible.
Amplified meaning
the seat of emotions, desires, and spiritual life
Tyndale gloss
soul
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ψυχή (psuchē) refers to the soul or life principle, often associated with breath and the vital force in living beings. It encompasses the emotional and moral aspects of a person, functioning as the seat of desires and affections. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, including references to life, the self, and the spiritual essence of individuals, as seen in verses like Matthew 10:28 and 1 Peter 1:9.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ψυχή, -ῆς, ἡ,

[in LXX very freq. for נֶפֶשׁ, sometimes for לֵבַב ,לֵב, etc. ;]

breath (Lat. anima), breath of life, life (Hom., al.; in Arist., of the vital principle): Mt 6:25, Mk 3:4 10:45, Lk 12:22, Jo 10:11, Ac 20:10, 24, II Co 1:23, Phl 2:30, I Th 2:8, al.

the soul,

as the seat of the will, desires and affections: Mt 26:38, Mk 12:30 (LXX) 14:34, Lk 1:46, Jo 10:24,

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

ψυχή, -ῆς, ἡ, (ψύχω, to breathe, blow), fr. Hom. down, Sept. times too many to count for wj, occasionally also for 27 and 339; 1. breath (Lat. anima),i.e. a. the breath of life; the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing: Acts xx. 10; of animals, Rey. viii. 9, (Gen. ix. 4 34.; xxxv. 18; ἐπιστραφήτω ἡ Ψυχὴ τοῦ παιδαρίου, 1 K. xvii. 21); so also in those pass. where, in accordance with the trichotomy or threefold division of human nature by the Greeks, ἡ Ψυχή is distinguished from τὸ πνεῦμα (see πνεῦμα, 2 p. 530" [and reff. 8. v. rv. 5]), 1 Th. v. 23; Heb. iv. 12. b. life: μεριμνᾶν τῇ ψυχῇ, Mt. vi. 25; Lk. xii. 22; τὴν ψυχὴν ἀγαπᾶν, Rev. xii. 11; [μισεῖν, Lk. xiv. 26]; τιθέναι, Jn. x. 11, 15, 17; xiii. 37 sq.; xv. 13; 1 Jn. iii. 16; παραδιδόναι, Acts xv. 26; διδόναι (λύτρον. q. v-), Mt. xx. 28; Mk. x. 45; ζητεῖν τὴν ψυχήν twos (see ζητέω, 1 a.), Mt. ii. 20; Ro.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ψυχή (psuchē) — soul.

ψῡχ-ή, ἡ,

life, λύθη ψ. τε μένος τε [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι at hazard of their lives, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; λίσσου᾽ ὑπὲρ ψ. καὶ γούνων by your life,[Refs 5th c.BC+] to save their life, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὃ ἂν θέλῃ, ψυχῆς ὠνεῖται [θυμός] in exchange for life, [NT+7th c.BC+]; τῆς ἐμῆς ψ. γεγώς[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ποινὴν τῆς Αἰσώπου ψ. satisfaction for the life of [NT+5th c.BC+]; δεῖρον ἄχρις ἡ ψ... ἐπὶ χειλέων λειφθῇ within an inch of his life, [Refs 3rd c.BC+] —the phrase ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τὴν ψ. ἔχοντα taking his life in his hands, is probably falsa lectio in [LXX+4th c.BC+]; of life in animals, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἡ φύσις τοιαύτη πάντων ὅσσα ψ. ἔχει Democrit.278; ἐπῴζει καὶ ποιεῖ ψ. ἔχειν (of incubation) [LXX+5th c.BC+]; ἡ ψ. πάσης σαρκὸς αἷμα αὐτοῦ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ψυχή

psuche

from 5594; breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit, abstractly or

concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on

the one hand from 4151, which is the rational and immortal soul; and

on the other from 2222, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these

terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew 5315, 7307

and 2416):--heart (+ -ily), life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

see GREEK for 5594

see GREEK for 4151

see GREEK for 2222

see HEBREW for 05315

see HEBREW for 07307

see HEBREW for 02416

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ψυχή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

the soul, life, self

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ψυχή psychē 103x

breath; the principle of animal life; the life, Mt. 2:20; 6:25; Mk. 3:4; Lk. 21:19; Jn. 10:11; an inanimate being, 1 Cor. 15:45; a human individual, soul, Acts 2:41; 3:23; 7:14; 27:37; Rom. 13:1; 1 Pet. 3:20; the immaterial soul, Mt. 10:28; 1 Pet. 1:9; 2:11, 25; 4:19; the soul as the seat of religious and moral sentiment, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ψυχή ψυ_χή, ἡ, ψύχω breath, Lat. anima, esp. as the sign of life, the life, spirit, Hom., etc.; ψυχή τε μένος τε ψυχή τε καὶ αἰών, ψυχὴ καὶ θυμός Hom.; τὸν δ᾽ ἔλιπε ψυχή, of one swooning, Il.; ψυχὴν παρθέμενος staking or risking one's life, Od.; so, ἐμὴν ψυχὴν παραβαλλόμενος Il.; περὶ ψυχῆς for one's life, i. e. to save it, Od.; μάχεσθαι, θέειν περὶ ψυχῆς Hom.; τρέχειν περὶ ψυχῆς Hdt.; ὁ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγών the struggle is for life and death, Soph.; ποινὴν τῆς Αἰσώπου ψυχῆς ἀνελέσθαι to take revenge for the life of Aesop, Hdt.; ψυχὴν ἀφιέναι to give up the ghost, Eur.

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-GPF — Noun · genitive · plural · feminine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-GPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%soul
soul40% · 42×life34% · 36×souls19% · 20×lives4% · 4×other renderings4% · 4×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object51%adverbial23%subject19%predicate3%indirect object2%second object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 102 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,ἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,ζητέωI seek, search f
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
δέbut, on the otheArticle theἐπί
καίand, even, also, nam
δύναμαιI am powerful, aκαρδίαthe heart, innerσῶμαbody, flesh
γάρfor
Article theἀποβολήa casting away,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
ψυχήsouls102×
what comes after →
αὐτός
ἕνεκασῴζωI save, healτίθημιI put, place
σύ
καίand, even, also,τίςIrgἀπαιτέωI ask back, ask
ἐγώ
τίθημιI put, placeἕωςuntil, as far asArticle the
Article the
παιδίονa little child, ἔθνοςa race, people, μαθητήςa learner, disci
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theσῶμαbody, fleshπνεῦμαwind, breath, sp

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

Concordanceψυχή · 102× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Mark Revelation 1 Peter Hebrews Romans 1 John 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament19 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 430 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 Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas
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 1.34c. AD 75–95

ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς λαβών, καὶ πνεῦμα ἐνῆκεν αὐτῷ καὶ ψυχήν.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 6th c. AD 8th c. AD 3rd c. AD 7th c. AD
BGU 4 1141Alexandria15 BC–14 BC

σου καὶ συνεξελεύθερον. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐφιλίασά σοι εἰς τὸ ἀφαρπάσαι τι, ἀλλὰ ἡ σὴ ψυχὴ ἐπίσταται, ὅτι ὡς δοῦλος ἐπʼ ἐλευθερίᾳ θέλει ἀρέσαι οὕτω καὶ ἐγὼ τὴν φιλίαν σου

πεπομφέναι. οὐ γὰρ ζητῶ τὸν ἀριθμόν, ἀλλʼ εἰ οὗτοι λῃσταὶ ἦσαν. … εἶπεν, περὶ ψυχῆς ἀγωνίζομαι δύο φίλων τολμησάντων … κα α … … … ναγκη … … ρ

Μαύρου καὶ Ἀμμωνίου ἀραβοτοξοτῶν, ὡς, ἀγανακτησάντων αὐτῶν ἐπιπλησσομένου μου, διαλῦσαι ἡμᾶς, καὶ μόλις ἐπικερδᾶναι ψυχῆς ἐπιβουλήν · ἀναγκαίως τὴν ἐπίδοσιν τῶν βιβλιδίων ποιοῦμαι καὶ ἀξιῶ ἀχθῆναι αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸ

You were for like sheep going astray but you have returned now to the Shepherd and Overseer of the souls of you.
ὑμῶν.¶su of you. G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Peter as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2GP — Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύof you.2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

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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