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1 Timothy 5:16 — Word Study

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N1904εἴ τις πιστὸς πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

BSAIfei anytis faithfulpistos [faithful, trusting in God] orē believing [woman]pistos hasechō [dependent] widows,chēra [needy, requiring support] she should helpeparkeō [relieve, provide for] to themautos andkai not should be burdenedbareō [weighed down, oppressed] theho church,ekklēsia [assembly, community of believers] so thathina to those [who are]ho trulyontōs [really, actually] widowschēra it may impart relief.eparkeō [support, care for]

Word
Listen & take away1 Timothy 5
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 16 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (eparkeō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
1 Timothy 5:16quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs that believing women with dependent widows should assist them, ensuring the church is not burdened.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, providing guidance on church responsibilities regarding widows.
Where we areIn a section discussing the care of widows, emphasizing responsibilities within the church community.
The hard wordἐπαρκέω
Take awayThe church's ability to help must not be hindered by unnecessary burdens.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subjectτὶς verbἔχω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — 1 Timothy 5:16

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

Context — Instructions on Caring for Widowsgenerated

15For some have already turned aside to follow Satan.
16If any believing woman has dependent widows, she must assist them and not allow the church to be burdened, so that it can help the widows who are truly in need.
17Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
18For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

1 Timothy 5:16 addresses the responsibilities of believers, particularly women, in caring for widows. Paul emphasizes that those who have widows dependent on them should provide support, ensuring that the church can focus its resources on those truly in need. This verse highlights the importance of personal responsibility in the community of faith, paralleling earlier instructions in 1 Timothy 5:4 regarding family obligations.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
11 Timothy 5:4–8But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show godliness to their own family and repay their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
21 Timothy 5:3–5Honor the widows who are truly widows.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to

widows indeed1 Timothy 5:3–5

The Key Word ἐπαρκέω, eparkeōgenerated

The verb ἐπαρκέω, meaning 'to help' or 'to provide for', is a present active imperative, indicating a command. It conveys the idea of giving assistance or support, particularly in the context of those in need.

This word emphasizes the necessity of active engagement in helping others, particularly widows, reflecting the broader theme of community support within the church.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses assist for ἐπαρκέω. Other translations, like the KJV and ASV, use relieve, highlighting the act of providing aid.

The translations generally agree on the core message, though variations exist in terms of specific word choices, such as church versus assembly for ἐκκλησία.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb ἔχει, has, governs the subject πιστὸς, believing woman, with a series of clauses that detail her responsibilities. The structure emphasizes the relationship between the woman and her obligation to assist widows.

The sentence includes subordinate clauses detailing conditions and actions, such as the imperative ἐπαρκέω, she should help, and the negative μὴ, not, which restricts the church from being burdened.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἐκκλησία corresponds to the Hebrew קָהָל, meaning 'assembly' or 'congregation', indicating a gathering of people for a common purpose, often seen in the context of Israel's worship.

χῆρος translates the Hebrew אַלְמָנָה, meaning 'widow', which reflects the same concern for vulnerable individuals in both the Old and New Testaments.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

1 Timothy 5:16 teaches that if a believing woman has widows who depend on her, she should help them. This ensures that the church can focus on assisting those truly in need, without being burdened by unnecessary responsibilities.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean for a woman to have dependent widows?

It means she has widows who rely on her for support, highlighting a personal responsibility to care for family members in need.

Why should the church not be burdened?

The church should not be burdened so it can effectively help those who are genuinely in need, ensuring that resources are allocated to the most vulnerable.

What is the significance of the word 'assist'?

The word 'assist' emphasizes the active role believers must take in providing support and care for those in need, particularly widows.

How does this verse relate to the overall theme of 1 Timothy?

This verse reflects the broader theme of community responsibility and care for vulnerable members within the church, which is a recurring topic in Paul's letters.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I actively support those in need within my community?
  2. What responsibilities do I have towards my family members who may be in need?
  3. In what ways can the church better assist those who are truly in need?
  4. How does my understanding of community support shape my actions as a believer?

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

Early church fathers comment on the responsibilities of believers towards widows, emphasizing the importance of care and support within the community.

Ambrose of MilanOn the Duties of the Clergy 2.15.68, 72-73 c. 339–397
But if it is praiseworthy to have one’s soul free from this failing of greed, how much more glorious is it to gain the love of the people by liberality.
Early Church Fathers on 1 Timothy 5 →
John ChrysostomHomily on 1 Timothy 15 c. 347–407
Observe how again he speaks of those as "widows indeed," who are left destitute, and have no resource from any other quarter. It was better to have it so. For thus two great objects were attained.
Early Church Fathers on 1 Timothy 5 →
Augustine of HippoTRACTATES ON John 62.5 354–430
“But none of those reclining at table understood why he said this to him. For some thought that, because Judas held the purse, Jesus says to him,
Early Church Fathers on 1 Timothy 5 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 1 Timothy 5:16 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

If any man or woman that believeth have widows,.... That is, if any member of a church, whether a brother or a sister, have mothers or grandmothers, or any near relations widows, in mean

Read John Gill on 1 Timothy 5 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. If any ... have widows - of his family, however related to him.

Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Timothy 5 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

16 If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. Ver. 16. Have widows] That are widows indeed, that have neither children nor nephews to relieve them, 1 Timothy 5:3, of whom by the law of nature they may require θρεπτηρια, aliment and assistence. And let not the church be charged] How then will church robbers answer it, if church chargers be in fault? let them give us a just commentary upon Proverbs 20:25, and remember Cardinal Wolsey, and his sacrilegious instruments; five of whom came to fearful ends, as Scultetus recordeth, and concludeth with this wish, Utinam his et similibus…

Read John Trapp on 1 Timothy 5 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them.—This is not what, at first sight, it appears to be—a mere repetition of the injunction of 1 Timothy 5:4; 1 Timothy 5:8. There the duties enjoined were what may be termed filial; the love, respect, and kindness to the aged was especially pressed on the younger, on the children and grandchildren of the desolate, on the master of the house or family to which the aged widow belonged. Here the reference belongs exclusively to the younger widows, who (see Note above) were, no doubt, very numerous in a great Asian Church like Ephesus; for the future of these women, often still young and totally unprovided for, St. Paul was…

Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Timothy 5 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 16. If any man or woman that believeth] If any Christian man or woman have poor widows, which are their relatives, let them relieve them - provide them with the necessaries of life, and not burden the Church with their maintenance, that the funds may be spared for the support of those widows who were employed in its service, teaching children, visiting the sick, c., c. For the performing of such offices it is very likely that none but widows were employed and these were chosen, other things being equal, out of the most indigent of the widows, and therefore called by the apostle, here and in 1 Timothy 5:3, αἱςοντωςχηραι, widows indeed-widows desolate, without support, and without…

Read AdamClarke on 1 Timothy 5 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. If any man or woman that believeth] The balance of authority in mss. requires us to read with R.V., If any woman that believeth.have widows] Again, hath widows, dependent on her. In what precise way we are to understand this verse is not very clear; whether (1) as a general summary of the whole passage, or (2) as a summary of the portion respecting younger widows inculcating such oversight as might anticipate sinful leanings, or (3) as an extension of the charge to more distant Christian relatives than in 1 Timothy 5:4; 1 Timothy 5:8. On the whole, having regard to the way in which the points are put more than once in some fresh aspect, with some degree of repetition, (1) seems best.…

Read Cambridge on 1 Timothy 5 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If any man or woman that believeth - Christians are often simply called “believers,” because faith is the leading and most important act of their religion.

Read Albert Barnes on 1 Timothy 5 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

16. Have widows—Spoken of the younger widows, as 1 Timothy 5:8 refers rather to the support of elder widows. Let them—Referring to the any man or woman; that is, the son or daughter, or other relative able to maintain the widow.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on 1 Timothy 5 →

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

If any believing woman has dependent widows, she must assist them and not allow the church to be burdened, so that it can help the widows who are truly in need.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

If any man or woman who believes has widows, let them relieve them, and don’t let the assembly be burdened, that it might relieve those who are widows indeed.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

If any believing man or believing woman has dependent widows, they must assist them and not allow the church to be burdened, so that it can help the widows who are truly in need.

NETBNew English Translation2006

If a believing woman has widows in her family, let her help them. The church should not be burdened, so that it may help the widows who are truly in need.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

If any woman that believeth hath widows, let her relieve them, and let not the church be burdened; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

RVARevised Version, American1894

If any woman that believeth hath widows, let her relieve them, and let not the church be burdened; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

If any man or woman that believeth hath widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

If any faithfull man, or faithfull woman haue widowes, let them minister vnto them, and let not the Church bee charged, that there may bee sufficient for them that are widowes in deede.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

If any believing man or woman have widows, let them impart relief to them, and let not the assembly be charged, that it may impart relief to those [that are] widows indeed.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

If any believing man or believing woman have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the assembly be burdened, that those really widows it may relieve.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

If any believing man or believing woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the assembly be burdened, that it may relieve those [who are] really widows.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

If any believing woman has widows, let her help them, so that the church will not be weighed down, so that it might help the real widows.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

If any of the faithful have widows, let him minister to them, and let not the church be charged: that there may be sufficient for them that are widows indeed.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Any Christian woman who has widows in the family should help them, so that the church is not burdened with the responsibility, and can help those widows who are truly in need.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

If any woman of the faith has relations who are widows, let her give them help, so that the care of them does not come on the church, and so it may give help to those who are truly widowed.

Word by word, the decisions they made

πιστὸςpistos faithful G4103 2 different renderings
believingBSB DBY LSV MSB NETB ULB YLT
faithfulDRA
πιστὴpistos believing [woman] G4103 2 different renderings
believingBSB DBY LSV MSB NETB ULB YLT
faithfulDRA
ἔχειechō has G2192 2 different renderings
hasBBE BSB FBV LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
haveDBY DRA KJV YLT
ἐπαρκείτωeparkeō she should help G1884 2 different renderings
relieveASV KJV LSV NWB RVA WEB YLT
it may impart reliefDBY
ἐκκλησία,ekklēsia church, G1577 2 different renderings
churchASV BBE BSB DRA FBV GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB
assemblyDBY LSV WEB YLT
ὄντωςontōs truly G3689 3 different renderings
indeedASV DBY DRA KJV NWB RVA WEB
trulyBBE BSB FBV MSB NETB
reallyLSV YLT

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.

clauseclauseεἴIfclausenoun phrase · subjectτιςanyπιστὴbelieving [woman]verbἔχειhasobjectχήρας[dependent] widowsclauseclauseverbἐπαρκείτωlet her impart reliefobjectαὐταῖςto themκαὶandclauseadverbialμὴnotverbβαρείσθωlet be burdenednoun phrase · subjecttheἐκκλησίαchurchclauseἵναso thatclausenoun phrase · objectταῖςto those [who are]noun phraseὄντωςtrulyχήραιςwidowsverbἐπαρκέσῃit may impart relief

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

Si quis fidelis habet viduas, subministret illis, et non gravetur ecclesia : ut iis quæ vere viduæ sunt, sufficiat.

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

ܐܢ ܐܢܫ ܡܗܝܡܢܐ ܐܘ ܡܗܝܡܢܬܐ ܐܝܬ ܠܗܘܢ ܐܪܡܠܬܐ ܢܬܪܣܘܢ ܐܢܝܢ ܘܠܐ ܢܐܩܪܢ ܥܠ ܥܕܬܐ ܕܠܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܐܪܡܠܬܐ ܐܢܝܢ ܕܫܪܪܐ ܬܣܦܩ

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

εἴ τις πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

εἴ τις πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

εἴ τις πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

εἴ τις πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

εἴ τις πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

εἴ τις πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

εἴ τις πιστὸς πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

εἴ τις πιστὸς πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, ἐπαρκείτω αὐταῖς καὶ μὴ βαρείσθω ἐκκλησία, ἵνα ταῖς ὄντως χήραις ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶

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
πιστὸς faithfulTR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Treg, Tyn
orTR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Treg, Tyn
ἐπαρκείτω she should helpNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, TR, ByzTreg, Tyn

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 Timothy 5:16εἰIfIfεἰτὶςanyanyτὶςπιστόςfaithfulfaithfulπιστόςororπιστόςbelieving [believing [womaπιστόςἔχωhashasἔχωχῆρος[dependent][dependent] widχῆροςἐπαρκέωshe should she should helpἐπαρκέωαὐτόςto themto themαὐτόςκαίandandκαίμήnotnotμήβαρέωshould be bshould be burdeβαρέωthetheἐκκλησίαchurch,church,ἐκκλησίαἵναso thatso thatἵναto those [wto those [who aὄντωςtrulytrulyὄντωςχῆροςwidowswidowsχῆροςἐπαρκέωit may impait may impart rἐπαρκέωπείθωv. I persuv. I persuade, πείθωἐπίPrep. on, Prep. on, to, aἐπίεἰ δὲ μήNeg.prt. bNeg.prt. but ifεἰ δὲ μήχάσμαn.n. a gapn.n. a gap, gulχάσμαἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦβαρύςAdj heavy,Adj heavy, weigβαρύςἤδηAdv now, aAdv now, alreadἤδηἤπερDisj.prt. Disj.prt. thanἤπερἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήροὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκκαλέωv. I call,v. I call, inviκαλέωArticle thArticle theχῆροςn.f. a widn.f. a widowχῆροςἀληθινόςAdj true, Adj true, real,ἀληθινόςμάρτυςn.m. a witn.m. a witnessμάρτυςὄντωςAdv reallyAdv really, truὄντωςμακρόςAdj long, Adj long, distaμακρός
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 Timothy 5:16

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

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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
εἴei If G1487 Conditional particle
501× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means 'if' and is used to express conditions or questions. It appears in many Bible verses, such as Matthew 11:14 and Romans 8:25, introducing a condition or hypothesis.
Tyndale gloss
if
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εἰ, transliterated as ei, is a primary conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'whether.' It is used in various contexts, including conditions, indirect questions, and expressions of wishes. In the New Testament, it appears frequently, often followed by different verb tenses to indicate various conditions. The lexicons do not present significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰ,

conjunctive particle, used in conditions and in indirect questions.

Conditional, if;

c. indic., expressing a general assumption;

pres.: seq. indic, pres., Mt 11:14, Ro 8:25, al.; seq. imperat., Mk 4:23 9:22, Jo 15:18, I Co 7:9, al.; seq. fut. indic., Lk 16:31, Ro 8:11, al.; seq. pf. or aor., with negation in apodosis, Mt 12:26, Ro 4:14, al.; similarly, seq. impf., Lk 17:6, Jo 8:39; seq. quæst.,

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

εἰ 109 εἰ WH, s0 Trin Mt. xii. 41; Ὀζείας L T Tr WH; Πειλᾶτος T WH; Σεμεείν T Tr WH; Ταβειθά WH; Χερουβείν 1, T Tr WH (-βίμ RG); Χοραζείν T Tr WH; ἀφείδεια L; εἰδέα T Tr WH; ἐπαρχεία T WH; ἐπιπόθεια WH; ἡλεί T ; πανοικεί TWH; ῥαββεί T WH; ῥαββουνεί WH; σαβαχθανεί Tr WH; ταλειθά WH; τάχειον WH; τραπεζείτης T WH.| el, is first a conditional particle, ἐγ (Lat. si) ; secondly, an interrogative particle, whether, (Lat. an, num, ne). I. εἰ CoNDITIONAL (on the difference between it and ἐάν, see ἐάν, I. 1 b.) is connected, according to the variety of conditions, with various tenses and moods; viz. ἘΣ with the Indicative of all tenses, when anything is simply and generally assumed to be, or to be done, or to have been done, or to be about to be, (W. § 41 b., 2; ef. 42, 2; [Β. 220(190)]). a. withthe Ind. Present; a. foll. in the apodosis by the ind. pres.: Mt. xix. 10 (εἰ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία...…

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

ΕἸ , J ἐκπλησσω γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ ἀστέρος καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐκπίπτει. See also Michel 827 A (mid. 11,8.0.) τό τε νόμισμα τὸ ἐκπεπτωκὸς ἀριθμῶι, of coins that have fallen out of use. The verb is not infrequent with reference to crops that “fall to be included”’ in the produce of a particular year, eg. BGU II. 5915" (A.p. 56-7) βουλόμεθα μισθώσασθαι τοὺς ἐκπεπτωκότας εἰς τὸ τρίτον ἔτος Νέρωνος. . . φοινεικίνους καρπούς, P Fay ο115 (A.p. 99) ἐϊλαϊκοὺς καρποὺς ἐκπεππτωκότας (/. ἐκπεπτωκ --Ἰ εἰς τὸ ἐνεστὸ(ς) τρίτον ἔτος. Cf. P Hib I. γ810 (B.c. 244--3) a letter requesting that two persons should be released from some public service—81a τὸ μὴ ἐκπεσίεῖν αὐτοῖς τὸ viv λειτουργῆσαι, ‘because it is not at present their turn to serve,’’ where the editors point out that éxmec[et]v, which has been corrected in the papyrus, is practically equivalent to προσπέσηι in 1.4 of the same document. For the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰ (ei) — if.

εἰ,

Attic dialect-Ionic dialect and [Refs 4th c.AD+] ἤ [Refs] in Epic dialect:— Particle used interjectionally with imperative and to express a wish, but usually either in conditions, if, or in indirect questions, whether. In the former use its regular negative is μ; in the latter, οὐ.

__A INTERJECTIONALLY, in [Refs 8th c.BC+], come now! with imperative, εἰ δὲ.. ἄκουσον [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A.2 in wishes, with optative, ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις.. καλέσειεν [Refs]; so later, εἴ μοι ξυνείη μοῖρα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of unattained wishes, in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later with past tenses of indicative, εἰ γάρ μ᾽ ὑπὸ γῆν.. ἧκεν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; εἰ γὰρ τοσαύτην δύναμιν εἶχον ὥστε.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]infinitive (compare the use of infinitive in commands), αἰ γὰρ τοῖος ἐὼν.. ἐμὸς γαμβρὸς καλέεσθαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰ

ei

a primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that,

etc.:--forasmuch as, if, that, (al-)though, whether. Often used in

connection or composition with other particles, especially as in 1489,

1490, 1499, 1508, 1509, 1512, 1513, 1536, 1537. See also 1437.

see GREEK for 1489

see GREEK for 1490

see GREEK for 1499

see GREEK for 1508

see GREEK for 1509

see GREEK for 1512

see GREEK for 1513

see GREEK for 1536

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 1437

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰ

Cond.

if

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰ ei 502x

if, Mt. 4:3, 6; 12:7; Acts 27:39, freq.; since, Acts 4:9; whether, Mk. 9:23; Acts 17:11; that, in certain expressions, Acts 26:8, 23; Heb. 7:15; by a suppression of the apodosis of a sentence, εἰ serves to express a wish; O if! O that! Lk. 19:42; 22:42; also a strong negation, Mk. 8:12; Heb. 3:11; 4:3; εἰ καί, if even, though, although, Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
COND — Conditional particle
conditional particle — it marks the clause as a condition.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

COND CONDitional particle or conjunction

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%if
if74% · 388×only17% · 89×whether3% · 14×lest3% · 14×other renderings3% · 17×

522 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 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
adverbial7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 501 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
λέγωI say, speakδίδωμιI offer, giveἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fδίδωμιI offer, give
ὅτιthat, since, because
ΒηθσαϊδάPropγινώσκωI come to know, σύ
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςἐγώ
εἰIf501×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
τὶςArticle theεἰ δὲ μήNeg
μήNeg
Article theἐνεἷςone
τὶς
θέλωI will, wish, deδοκέωI think, seem, aἔχωI have, hold, po
γάρfor
Article theπιστεύωI believe, have διά
Article the
θεόςGod, a godΣατανᾶςan adversary, Saδεξιόςon the right han

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

Concordanceεἰ · 501× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew Luke John Romans 2 Corinthians Acts Mark Galatians Hebrews Revelation 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 307 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.

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
τιςtis any G5100 Indefinite pronoun · nominative · singular · masculine
529× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing in a general sense, as seen in Luke 9:49 and John 11:1. It can mean someone, anyone, or anything. This term is often used to describe an unspecified individual or object.
Tyndale gloss
one
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

τὶς is an enclitic indefinite pronoun meaning 'someone' or 'something.' It can refer to a certain person or object and appears in both singular and plural forms, such as τινός and τινες. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including Luke 9:49 and Acts 5:25. It is related to the interrogative pronoun τίς, indicating its flexible use in questions and statements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

τις, neut., τι, gen., τινός,

enclitic indefinite pron., related to interrog. τίς as πού, πως, ποτέ to ποῦ, πῶς, πότε.

As subst.,

one, a certain one: Lk 9:49, Jo 11:1, Ac 5:25, al.; pl., τίνες, certain, some: Lk 13:1, Ac 15:1, Ro 3:8, al.

someone, anyone, something, anything: Mt 12:29, Mk 9:30, Lk 8:46, Jo 2:25, Ac 17:25, Ro…

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

τὶς, τὶ. ἘΣ what follows, εἰ καί lays less emphasis upon it; although it is evident that εἰ καί can often be substituted for καὶ ei.” Cf. Herm. Vig. p. 829 sq.; W. 444 (413); Ellic. on Phil. ii. 17; Schmalfeld, Griech. Syntax, § 41; Paley, Grk. Particles, p. 31]. 8. εἰ μή, a. in a conditional protasis, with the same sequence of moods and tenses as the simple εἰ, see 1. above, if not, unless, except, [W. 477 (444) sqq.; B. 345 (297)]: Mt. xxiv. 22; Jn. ix. 33; | xv. 22, 24; Ro. vii. 7, ete. b. it serves, with the entire. following sentence, to limit or correct what has just been said, only, save that, (Lat. nisi quod), [B. 359 (308) ]: Mk. vi. 5; 1 Co. vii. 17 (where Paul by the addition εἰ μὴ ἑκάστῳ κτλ. strives to prevent any one in applying what had been said a little while before, viz. οὐ δεδούλωται . . ἐν τοιούτοις to his own case, from going too far) ; in ironical answers, unless…

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

τις (indef. pron.), ‘* someone, something’’: P Vat ΑἸ (B.c. 168) (= UPZi. p. 303) πᾶς τις πειρᾶται. . ., P Lond 421° (B.C. 168) (= Selections, p. 10) εἰς πᾶν τι ἐληλυθυῖα διὰ, τὴν τοῦ σίτου τιμήν, ‘having come to the last extremity because of the high price of corn,’’ P Oxy IV. 7421° (B.c. 2) ἐάν τι δύνῃ... δὸς ἐργασίαν, “if you can, give your attention to it’’ (Edd.), 2d. I. 120% (iv/a.D.) τινα ὁρῶντα αἱαυτὸν (/. ἑαυτὸν) ἐν δυστυχίᾳ, ““α man finding himself in adversity,’ 13 ἀποστῖλόν pot τινα ἢ Γοῦνθον ἢ ᾿Αμμώνιον, “send someone to me, either Gunthus or Ammonius” (Edd.). P Oxy VI. 937°" (ili/A.D.) γ]ράψον ἐκεῖ TO kat’ εἶδος ὅτι τι kal τι εἴληφας is translated by the editors ‘* write the list there, that you have received so and so.” They 3) ες remark that it is simpler to take τι καί τι as analogous to τὸ καὶ τό than ‘‘to take τί kal τί as an indirect interrogative, ὅτι being…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

τις (tis) — one.

τις,

τι, Indef. pronoun any one, any thing, enclitic through all cases (for exceptions see below):—but τί; τί; Interrog. pronoun who? what?, oxytone in the monosyllable cases, paroxytone in the others:—Dialectal forms: [Refs 5th c.AD+] σις (si se) [Refs 4th c.AD+] σις (with ?? for σ) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Thess. κις [Refs], neuter κι in διεκί, ποκκί (which see); neuter plural Doric dialect σά, Boeotian dialect τά, Aeolic dialect dative τίω, τίοισι (see. infr. B). (I.-[Refs 5th c.BC+] q[uglide]i-, cf. Latin quis, quid, etc.; for σά, τά, see at {ἄσσα}, σά μά; with τέο (see. infr. B) cf. OSlav. genitive česo)

__A Indef. pronoun τις, τι, genitive Ionic dialect τεο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; more frequently τευ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Trag. and Attic dialect του [Refs 5th c.BC+]; του is rare after [NT+4th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

τὶς

tis

an enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object:--a (kind

of), any (man, thing, thing at all), certain (thing), divers, he

(every) man, one (X thing), ought, + partly, some (man, -body, -

thing, -what), (+ that no-)thing, what(-soever), X wherewith,

whom(-soever), whose(-soever).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

τις, τι

Indef.pr.

any one, some one

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

τις tis 534x

enclitic, indefinite pronoun, a certain one, someone, Mt. 12:47; pl. some, certain, several, Lk. 8:2; Acts 9:19; 2 Pet. 3:16; one, a person, Mt. 12:29; Lk. 14:8; Jn. 6:50; combined with the name of an individual, one, Mk. 15:21; as it were in a manner, a kind of, Heb. 10:27; Jas. 1:18; any whatever, Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Indef-NSM — Indefinite pronoun · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

X-NSM Part of Speech: indefinite pronoun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
27%anyone
anyone27% · 144×some19% · 102×certain17% · 93×anything9% · 48×any9% · 47×one6% · 34×someone4% · 19×something3% · 18×other renderings7% · 37×

542 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 35 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
subject66%object20%adverbial9%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 530 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
εἰCond
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςὅτιthat, since, bec
δέbut, on the other ha
εἰCondεἰμίI am, existλέγωI say, speak
ἐάνCond
καίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speakἐγώ
μήNeg
ἵναin order that, sἐάνCondβλέπωI look, see
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςΦαρισαῖοςa Phariseeὁδόςa way, road, jou
τὶςany529×
what comes after →
Article the
γραμματεύςa scribe, town-cμαθητήςa learner, disciἀπό
σύ
λέγωI say, speakπλανάωI lead astray, dἐρωτάωI ask, question,
αὐτός
ἐκὁράωI see, look uponἀπό
ἐκ
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐνπλούσιοςrichὑδρωπικόςafflicted with d

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

Concordanceτὶς · 529× in the New Testament
Acts Luke John 1 Corinthians Mark 2 Corinthians Hebrews Matthew 1 Timothy Romans James Revelation

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 121 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

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

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

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

ὅτι λιμοῦ τὴν Χαναναίαν καταλαβόντος εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀπῆρε καὶ διατρίψας ἐν αὐτῇ τινα χρόνον ὑπέστρεψεν ὀπίσω.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.5c. AD 100

πλήρης εἰμὶ ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, καὶ στέαρ ἀρνῶν καὶ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων οὐ βούλομαι, οὐδ̓ ἂν ἔρχησθε ὀφθῆναί μοι, τίς γὰρ ἐξεζήτησεν ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν;

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

ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντοθεν· μὴ ἐξέστω δὲ τῷ καθόλου ἐπὶ τὴν διαθήκην ταύτην ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἐπέρχεσθαι, εἰ δὲ μὴ ἄκυρον ἔστω καὶ προσαποτεισάτω ὁ ἐπιφέρων ὕστερον … ἄλλον τῆς

P.Cair. Cat. 10364 descr.Pathyris126 BC–102 BC

προγεγραμμένου ἵππου, καὶ μὴ ἐπελεύσεσθαί σοι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. ἐὰν δὲ ἐπέλθωμεν ἢ ἄλλος τις ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἥ τʼ ἔφοδος ἄκυρος ἔσται καὶ προσαποτείσομέν σοι χαλκοῦ τάλαντα πέντε.

BGU 6 1260Pathyris102 BC

σημαινομένης ἀρούρης μιᾶς , καὶ μὴ ἐπελεύσασθαι Νεχθανοῦπιν καὶ τοὺς τούτου υἱοὺς μηδʼ ἄλλον τινὰ τῶν παρʼ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸν Πετεαρσεμθεία μηδʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλον τινὰ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῦ περὶ

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
πιστὸςpistos faithful G4103 Adjective · nominative · singular · masculine
67× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Being faithful or trustworthy is what this word means, as seen in Matthew 24:45 and 1 Corinthians 4:2. It describes someone who is loyal and dependable, like the apostles in the Bible.
Amplified meaning
faithful, trusting in God
Tyndale gloss
faithful
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πιστός is an adjective meaning trustworthy or faithful, derived from the root πείθω. It describes both people and things, indicating reliability and trustworthiness, as seen in various New Testament passages like Matthew 24:45 and 2 Timothy 2:2. The word can also denote a believer, someone who trusts in God or is convinced of Jesus' resurrection. Notably, Liddell-Scott-Jones highlights its use in classical literature, while Moulton & Milligan note its rare active sense of 'trusting' in the New Testament.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πιστός, -ή, -όν

(< πείθω),

[in LXX chiefly for נֶאֱמָן;]

Pass., to be trusted or believed;

of persons, trusty, faithful: Mt 24:45 25:21, 23, Lk 12:42, Ac 16:15, I Co 4:2, 17 7:25, Eph 1:1 6:21, Col 1:2, 7 4:7, 9, I Ti 1:12, II Ti 2:2, He 2:17 3:2, 5, I Pe 5:12, Re 2:13 19:11; of God, I Co…

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

πιστός, -7, -όν, (πείθω [q. v-]), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. mostly for 1232}; 1. trusty, faithful; of persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties: δοῦλος, Mt. xxiv. 45; xxv. 21, 23; οἰκονόpos, Lk. xii. 42; 1 Co. iv. 2; διάκονος, Eph. vi. 21; Col. i. 7; iv. 7; ἀρχιερεύς, Heb. ii. 17; iii. 2; of God, abiding by his promises, 1 Co.i.9; x.13; 2Co.i. 18; 1 Th. v. 24; 2 Th. ii. 8; Heb. x. 23: xi. 11; 2 Tim. 1. 13; Avdneds 9: 1 Pet. 1v. 19% add, 1 Co.ave 17; Colsava 9s 1 Tim. i. 12; Heb. iii. 5; 1 Pet. v. 12; πιστὸς ἔν τινι, in a thing, Lk. xvi. 10-12; xix. 17; 1 Tim. iii. 11; ἐπί τι, Mt. xxv. 23; ἄχρι θανάτου, Rev. ii. 10. one who kept his plighted faith, Rev. ii. 13; worthy of trust; that can be relied on: 1 Co. vii. 25; 2 Tim. ii. 2; Christ is called μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, Rev. i. 5; with καὶ ἀληθινός added, Rev.…

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

πιστός. For πιστός, ‘‘ faithful,” ‘‘ trustworthy,” as generally in the NT, cf. P Grenf II. 7312 (late iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p- 118) τ]αύτην παραδέδωκα τοῖς καλοῖς kal πιστοῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν νεκροτάφων εἰς τήρησιν, “1 have handed her over to the good and faithful men among the grave-diggers themselves that they may take care of her” (cf. Mt 2574), and P Oxy I. 4159 (iii/iv A.D.) ἁγνοὶ πιστοὶ σύνδικοι, “true and trustworthy advocates.” In a deed of sale of a slave, published by Eitrem (S#/avenkauf, Christiania, 1916), the slave is described as 27 πιστοῦ kal adpdcrov, ‘faithful and not given to running away.’’ A petitioner for release from prison οὕνεκα Tod θεοῦ kal τοῦ καλῶς ἔχοντος, “in the name of God and of fair play,’’ describes himself, P Petr II. 19(1a)4, as δοὺς τὰ πιστά, with reference apparently to certain required ‘‘ pledges”: cf. BGU IV. 115276 (B.C. 10) οὗ τὰ] πιστὰ (reading…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πιστός (pistos) — faithful.

πιστός, ή, όν,

(πείθω):

__B passive, to be trusted or believed:

__B.I of persons, faithful, trusty, ἑταῖρος [Refs 8th c.BC+]: comparative -ότερος [Refs 5th c.BC+]: superlative πιστότατος [Refs 8th c.BC+] a trusted friend of P., Ergias cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+]; οἱ πιστοί, in Persia, trusty councillors, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τάδε Περσῶν πιστὰ καλεῖται [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__B.I.2 trustworthy, worthy of credit, [Refs 5th c.BC+]. adverb, - τῶς καὶ ἀδόλως [Refs]

__B.I.3 genuine, π. Ἀταλάντης γόνος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Θηρικλέους π. τέκνον, of a cup, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; unmistakable, νόσοι πονηραὶ καὶ π. [LXX]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πιστός

pistos

from 3982; objectively, trustworthy; subjectively,

trustful:--believe(-ing, -r), faithful(-ly), sure, true.

see GREEK for 3982

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πιστός, ή, όν

Adj

trustworthy, faithful, believing

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πιστός pistos 67x

faithful, true, trusty, Mt. 24:45; 25:21, 23; Lk. 12:42; 2 Tim. 2:2; put in trust, 1 Cor. 7:25; true, veracious, Rev. 1:5; 2:13; credible, sure, certain, indubitable, Acts 13:34; 1 Tim. 1:15; believing, yielding belief and confidence, Jn. 20:27; Gal. 3:9; spc. a Christian believer, Acts 10:45; 16:1, 15; Read the full entry →

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

A-NSM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Faithful

As a designation of Christians, means full of faith, trustful, and not simply trustworthy (Acts 10:45; 16:1; 2 Cor. 6:15; Col. 1:2; 1 Tim. 4:3, 12; 5:16; 6:2; Titus 1:6; Eph. 1:1; 1 Cor. 4:17, etc.).

It is used also of God’s word or covenant as true and to be trusted (Ps. 119:86, 138; Isa. 25:1; 1 Tim. 1:15;

In many passages in the Bible, means "believing." Thus in Ga 3:9, believers are said to be blessed with Abraham, because of his preeminent distinction above all man for steadfast faith in God. This appellation is given in Scripture to true Christians, to indicate not only their saving faith in Christ, but their trustworthy and consistent Christian character, Ac 16:15 1Co 4:17 Eph 6:21 Col 4:9 1Pe 5:12. "A faithful saying" is one that cannot prove false, 1Ti 1:15 2Ti…

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

Counted over the 29 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.67c. AD 40

ὄντως γὰρ ἀναίσχυντος καὶ θρασεῖα ἡ αἴσθησις, ἣ ἐξουθενηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς παρὰ τὸν πιστὸν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ (ibid.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.256c. AD 75–95

πολέμιον γὰρ σὸν οὐκ εἰδέναι ἔφασκε, πιστὸν δὲ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα δοῦλον καὶ χιλίαρχον καὶ τὸ τούτων μεῖζον γαμβρόν τε ἤδη καὶ συγγενῆ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 11.5c. AD 100

καί: τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῦ πιστόν: βασιλέα μετὰ δόξης ὄψεσθε, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν μελετήσει φόβον κυρίου

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

κέχρησαι τὸ κερμάτιον, οὐ δὲ φάσιν ἀπέστειλας ἐμοί. ἐγὼ γὰρ μή εἰ ἤδη ὅτι πιστὸς εἶ οὐκ ἂν ἔχρησά σοι. εἰδὼς τὴν σὴν πίστιν οὐδενὶ ἔδωκα τὸ γράμμα. ἄν

O.Krok. 2 267KrokodiloAD 98–AD 117

ὡς ἐπίτροπος · εἰ μὲν ηὕρηκες μίσθωμα αὐτῇ εἰς Διδύμους, ἀσφάλισον σεαυτῷ λίαν παρὰ πιστὸν ἄνθρωπον ἵνα μὴ αὐτὴν ὑβρίσωσιν· ἐὰν ποιῄσεις μοι μικρόν τι, ἀνταποδώσω σοι καὶ πάντοτε

O.Did. 402DidymoiAD 110–AD 115

μὲν ἔλθῃς ὑγιαίνουσα, οἴσεις μοι αὐτὴ τὸ τετράδερμα, εἰ δὲ μή, πέμψεις μοι διὰ πιστοῦ τινος ἐπεὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ οὐ δύναμαι μένειν. εὐχαριστῶ α … φησαπολ ἔρρωσο. τε προσα

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ē or G2228 Particle
343× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Timothy as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Or is a word used to show a choice between two things, like in Matthew 5:17 where it's either obey God's law or not. It's also used to compare things, like in Romans 1:21 where it's one thing or another.
Tyndale gloss
or
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word (ē) is a particle used to indicate distinction, functioning as a disjunctive 'or' and a comparative 'than.' It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in phrases like 'either...or' and in disjunctive questions. Notably, it can also express comparisons after comparative terms, such as in Matthew 10:15. The entries do not show any significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἤ, disjunctive and comparative particle (Bl., §36, 12; 77, 11);

disjunctive, or;

between single words: Mt 5:17, Mk 6:56, Lk 2:24, Jo 6:19, Ro 1:21, al.;

before a sentence expressing a variation, denial or refutation of a previous statement, freq. in interrog. form: Mt 7:4, 9, Mk 12:14, Lk 13:4, Ro 3:29 6:3 9:21, I Co 6:9, 16 9:6, II Co 11:7; ἢ . . . ἤ…

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

ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ (NVWT ΒΗ Targ. Jonath. ad ᾿ς lili. 10), the kingdom of the Messiah, which will be founded by God through the Messiah and over which the Messiah will preside as God’s vicegerent; ἡ Bac. τῶν οὐρανῶν, only in Matthew, but very frequently [some 33 times], the kingdom of heaven, i. e. the kingdom which is of heavenly or divine origin and nature (in rabbin. writ. nown mao is the rule of God, the theocracy viewed universally, not the Messianic kingdom); sometimes simply ἡ βασιλεία : Mt. iv. 23, ete.; Jas. ii. 5; once ἡ Bac. τοῦ Δαυείδ, because it was supposed the Messiah would be one of David’s descendants and a king very like David, Mk. xi. 10; once also ἡ Bac. τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ, Eph. ν. 5. Relying principally on the prophecies of Daniel — who had declared it to be the purpose of God that, after four vast and mighty kingdoms had succeeded one another and the last of…

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

ἢ μή. The general distinction between οὐ and μή is that οὐ is objective, dealing only with facts, while μή is sudjectize, involving will and thought. But in late Greek μή has encroached very largely upon οὐ, with the result that in the NT οὐ is almost entirely confined to the indicative, while μή monopolizes the other moods (but see I. 5). A few exx. of some of the many uses of μή will make this clear. I. Μή negatives (1) the conjunctive (a) after ἐάν (4v)—P Oxy II. 294%? (A.D. 22) (= Selections, p. 36), where certain men are confined to prison, ἐὰν μή τι πίσωσι τὸν ἀρχιστάτορα δο[ῦν]αι etk(= ἱκ)ανόν, ‘* unless indeed they shall persuade the chief usher to give security,’’ BGU II. 5301” \i/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 61) alav (/. ἐὰν) μὴ ἔλθῃς, κινδυνεύω ἐκστῆvat od ἔχω [κλή]ρου, “if you do not come I run the risk of losing the lot (of land) which I possess ”—a father writes to Selections…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἤ (ē) — or.

ἤ,

Epic dialect also ἠέ (in signification [Refs 4th c.BC+], conjunction with two chief senses, Disj. (or) and comparative (than).

__A DISJUNCTIVE, or, ἐγὼ.. ἢ ἄλλος Ἀχαιῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; θεόσυτος ἢ βρότειος ἢ κεκραμένη [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__A.2 ἢ.. ἤ either.. or, ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ᾽ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα [Refs 8th c.BC+], etc.; so ἢ.. ἤτοι.. [Refs 5th c.BC+] is emphasized, later no distinction is implied, [NT+2nd c.BC+]; ἤ repeated any number of times, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι ἢ τεὸν ἢ Αἴαντος ἰὼν γέρας ἢ Ὀδυσῆος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἤ is probably wrongly accented in codices of [Refs 8th c.BC+] adverb [Refs 4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

e

a primary particle of distinction between two connected terms;

disjunctive, or; comparative, than:--and, but (either), (n-)either,

except it be, (n-)or (else), rather, save, than, that, what, yea.

Often used in connection with other particles. Compare especially

2235, 2260, 2273.

see GREEK for 2235

see GREEK for 2260

see GREEK for 2273

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Disj.prt.

or, than

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἤ ē 343x

can function as a conj (298x), either, or, Mt. 6:24; after comparatives, and ἄλλος, ἕτερος, expressed or implied, than, Mt. 10:15; 18:8; Acts 17:21; 24:21; intensive after ἀλλά and πρίν, Lk. 12:51; Mt. 1:18; it also serves to point an interrogation, Rom. 3:29

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

PRT PaRTicle, disjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

or: The word is used once for either (1Sa 26:10), and is still in poetic use in this sense; as in, "Without or wave or wind" (Coleridge); "Or the bakke or some bone he breketh in his dzouthe" (Piers Plowman (B), VII, 93; compare Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 65). It is also used with "ever" for before (Ps 90:2; Ecclesiasticus 18:19), which the American Standard Revised Version substitutes in Ec 12:6 (compare 12:1,2); So 6:12; Da 6:24.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
84%or
or84% · 304×than13% · 47×other renderings4% · 13×

364 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
adverbial20%object18%subject12%predicate7%verb4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 343 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
σύ
πρόςχείρa handἁμαρτίαa sin
πατήρfather, Father, ance
Article theκακολογέωI speak evil of,Disj
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaἀνεκτόςendurable, tolerθεόςGod, a god
αὐτός
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenβοῦςan ox
ἀδελφόςa brother
DisjArticle theἐάνCond
or343×
what comes after →
Article the
μήτηρa motherπόλιςa cityδύο
τίςIrg
πίνωI drink, imbibeεἰμίI am, existλαλέωI speak, say
οὐNeg
οἶδαI know, rememberἀναγινώσκωI readδίδωμιI offer, give
ἐν
φυλακήa watching, guarτίςIrgποῖοςIrg
καίand, even, also, nam
ἰχθύςa fishαἰτέωI ask, request, 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

Concordance · 343× in the New Testament
Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Acts Mark Romans 2 Corinthians John 1 Peter Galatians James 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 457 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.

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
πιστὴpistos believing [woman] G4103 Adjective · nominative · singular · feminine
67× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Being faithful or trustworthy is what this word means, as seen in Matthew 24:45 and 1 Corinthians 4:2. It describes someone who is loyal and dependable, like the apostles in the Bible.
Tyndale gloss
faithful
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πιστός is an adjective meaning trustworthy or faithful, derived from the root πείθω. It describes both people and things, indicating reliability and trustworthiness, as seen in various New Testament passages like Matthew 24:45 and 2 Timothy 2:2. The word can also denote a believer, someone who trusts in God or is convinced of Jesus' resurrection. Notably, Liddell-Scott-Jones highlights its use in classical literature, while Moulton & Milligan note its rare active sense of 'trusting' in the New Testament.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πιστός, -ή, -όν

(< πείθω),

[in LXX chiefly for נֶאֱמָן;]

Pass., to be trusted or believed;

of persons, trusty, faithful: Mt 24:45 25:21, 23, Lk 12:42, Ac 16:15, I Co 4:2, 17 7:25, Eph 1:1 6:21, Col 1:2, 7 4:7, 9, I Ti 1:12, II Ti 2:2, He 2:17 3:2, 5, I Pe 5:12, Re 2:13 19:11; of God, I Co…

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

πιστός, -7, -όν, (πείθω [q. v-]), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. mostly for 1232}; 1. trusty, faithful; of persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties: δοῦλος, Mt. xxiv. 45; xxv. 21, 23; οἰκονόpos, Lk. xii. 42; 1 Co. iv. 2; διάκονος, Eph. vi. 21; Col. i. 7; iv. 7; ἀρχιερεύς, Heb. ii. 17; iii. 2; of God, abiding by his promises, 1 Co.i.9; x.13; 2Co.i. 18; 1 Th. v. 24; 2 Th. ii. 8; Heb. x. 23: xi. 11; 2 Tim. 1. 13; Avdneds 9: 1 Pet. 1v. 19% add, 1 Co.ave 17; Colsava 9s 1 Tim. i. 12; Heb. iii. 5; 1 Pet. v. 12; πιστὸς ἔν τινι, in a thing, Lk. xvi. 10-12; xix. 17; 1 Tim. iii. 11; ἐπί τι, Mt. xxv. 23; ἄχρι θανάτου, Rev. ii. 10. one who kept his plighted faith, Rev. ii. 13; worthy of trust; that can be relied on: 1 Co. vii. 25; 2 Tim. ii. 2; Christ is called μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, Rev. i. 5; with καὶ ἀληθινός added, Rev.…

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

πιστός. For πιστός, ‘‘ faithful,” ‘‘ trustworthy,” as generally in the NT, cf. P Grenf II. 7312 (late iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p- 118) τ]αύτην παραδέδωκα τοῖς καλοῖς kal πιστοῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν νεκροτάφων εἰς τήρησιν, “1 have handed her over to the good and faithful men among the grave-diggers themselves that they may take care of her” (cf. Mt 2574), and P Oxy I. 4159 (iii/iv A.D.) ἁγνοὶ πιστοὶ σύνδικοι, “true and trustworthy advocates.” In a deed of sale of a slave, published by Eitrem (S#/avenkauf, Christiania, 1916), the slave is described as 27 πιστοῦ kal adpdcrov, ‘faithful and not given to running away.’’ A petitioner for release from prison οὕνεκα Tod θεοῦ kal τοῦ καλῶς ἔχοντος, “in the name of God and of fair play,’’ describes himself, P Petr II. 19(1a)4, as δοὺς τὰ πιστά, with reference apparently to certain required ‘‘ pledges”: cf. BGU IV. 115276 (B.C. 10) οὗ τὰ] πιστὰ (reading…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πιστός (pistos) — faithful.

πιστός, ή, όν,

(πείθω):

__B passive, to be trusted or believed:

__B.I of persons, faithful, trusty, ἑταῖρος [Refs 8th c.BC+]: comparative -ότερος [Refs 5th c.BC+]: superlative πιστότατος [Refs 8th c.BC+] a trusted friend of P., Ergias cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+]; οἱ πιστοί, in Persia, trusty councillors, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τάδε Περσῶν πιστὰ καλεῖται [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__B.I.2 trustworthy, worthy of credit, [Refs 5th c.BC+]. adverb, - τῶς καὶ ἀδόλως [Refs]

__B.I.3 genuine, π. Ἀταλάντης γόνος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Θηρικλέους π. τέκνον, of a cup, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; unmistakable, νόσοι πονηραὶ καὶ π. [LXX]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πιστός

pistos

from 3982; objectively, trustworthy; subjectively,

trustful:--believe(-ing, -r), faithful(-ly), sure, true.

see GREEK for 3982

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πιστός, ή, όν

Adj

trustworthy, faithful, believing

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πιστός pistos 67x

faithful, true, trusty, Mt. 24:45; 25:21, 23; Lk. 12:42; 2 Tim. 2:2; put in trust, 1 Cor. 7:25; true, veracious, Rev. 1:5; 2:13; credible, sure, certain, indubitable, Acts 13:34; 1 Tim. 1:15; believing, yielding belief and confidence, Jn. 20:27; Gal. 3:9; spc. a Christian believer, Acts 10:45; 16:1, 15; Read the full entry →

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

A-NSF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

woom'-an ('ishshah, "a woman" (feminine of 'ish, "a man"]; gune, "a woman" "wife"):

I. IN THE CREATIVE PLAN

II. IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES

1. Prominence of Women

2. Social Equality

3. Marriage Laws

4. Inheritance

5. Domestic Duties

6. Dress and Ornaments

7. Religious Devotion and Service

(1) in Idolatry and False Religion

(2) in Spiritual Religion

III. INTER-TESTAMENTAL ERA

IV. IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES

1. Mary and Elisabeth

2. Jesus and Women

3. In the Early Church

4. Official Service

5. Widows

6. Deaconesses

IV. LATER TIMES

1. Changes in Character and Condition

2. Notable Examples of Christian Womanhood

3. Woman in the 20th Century

The generic term "man" includes woman. In the narrative of the creation (Ge 1:26,27) Adam is a collective term for mankind. It may signify human being, male or female, or humanity entire. "God said, Let us make man .... and let them"…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Woman

Was “taken out of man” (Gen. 2:23), and therefore the man has the preeminence. “The head of the woman is the man;” but yet honour is to be shown to the wife, “as unto the weaker vessel” (1 Cor. 11:3, 8, 9; 1 Pet. 3:7). Several women are mentioned in Scripture as having been endowed with prophetic gifts, as Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judg. 4:4, 5), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), Anna (Luke 2:36, 37), and the daughters of Philip the evangelist…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Is spoken of in Scripture as the beloved and honored companion and helpmeet, not the servant, of man, Ge 2:23,24, created as the necessary completion of man, Ge 3:16 1Co 11:3,8,9 14:34,35 1Ti 2:11-14, yet specially qualified for that sphere, and as necessary in it as man in his. Man and woman are indeed essentially one, the natural qualities of each so responding to those of the other as to lay the foundation of the most tender and abiding unity. The Bible thus raised the Jewish woman high above the woman of heathenism; and the Old Testament contains some of the finest portraitures of female character. But still greater is the contrast between the women of heathenism and…

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Origin and cause of the name

Ge 2:23

- ORIGINALLY MADE

. By God in his own image

Ge 1:27

. From one of Adam's ribs

Ge 2:21,22

. For man

1Co 11:9

. To be an helpmeet for man

Ge 2:18,20

. Subordinate to man

1Co 11:3

. To be the glory of man

1Co 11:7

- Deceived by Satan

Ge 3:1-6; 2Co 11:3; 1Ti 2:14

- Led man to disobey God

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
68%faithful
faithful68% · 46×believing12% · 8×trustworthy9% · 6×believers4% · 3×faithful!3% · 2×other renderings4% · 3×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
predicate54%subject13%adverbial12%object9%indirect object6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 67 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
εἰμίI am, existμάρτυςa witnessΔαυίδProp
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀγαθόςgoodἀδελφόςa brotherἀγαπητόςloved, beloved
εἰμίI am, exist
ὀλίγος& Advὅς
ἐγώ
κρίνωI judge, decide,ἁμαρτίαa sin
ὅτιthat, since, because
ἐγώδουλεύωI am a slave, am
πιστόςbelieving [woman]67×
what comes after →
Article the
λόγοςa word, speech, κύριοςlord, Lord, mastθεόςGod, a god
ἐν
ἐλάχιστοςleast, smallest,κύριοςlord, Lord, mastΧριστόςanointed, the Me
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀληθινόςtrue, real, genuἀγαπητόςloved, belovedἐπιγινώσκωI come to know,
εἰμίI am, exist
καίand, even, also,Article the
ἐπί
ὀλίγος& Advπολύςmuch, many, ofte

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

Concordanceπιστός · 67× in the New Testament
1 Timothy Revelation Luke 1 Corinthians Hebrews Matthew Acts Colossians 1 Peter 2 Timothy Titus 2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament19 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 29 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.67c. AD 40

ὄντως γὰρ ἀναίσχυντος καὶ θρασεῖα ἡ αἴσθησις, ἣ ἐξουθενηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς παρὰ τὸν πιστὸν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ (ibid.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.256c. AD 75–95

πολέμιον γὰρ σὸν οὐκ εἰδέναι ἔφασκε, πιστὸν δὲ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα δοῦλον καὶ χιλίαρχον καὶ τὸ τούτων μεῖζον γαμβρόν τε ἤδη καὶ συγγενῆ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 11.5c. AD 100

καί: τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῦ πιστόν: βασιλέα μετὰ δόξης ὄψεσθε, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν μελετήσει φόβον κυρίου

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

κέχρησαι τὸ κερμάτιον, οὐ δὲ φάσιν ἀπέστειλας ἐμοί. ἐγὼ γὰρ μή εἰ ἤδη ὅτι πιστὸς εἶ οὐκ ἂν ἔχρησά σοι. εἰδὼς τὴν σὴν πίστιν οὐδενὶ ἔδωκα τὸ γράμμα. ἄν

O.Krok. 2 267KrokodiloAD 98–AD 117

ὡς ἐπίτροπος · εἰ μὲν ηὕρηκες μίσθωμα αὐτῇ εἰς Διδύμους, ἀσφάλισον σεαυτῷ λίαν παρὰ πιστὸν ἄνθρωπον ἵνα μὴ αὐτὴν ὑβρίσωσιν· ἐὰν ποιῄσεις μοι μικρόν τι, ἀνταποδώσω σοι καὶ πάντοτε

O.Did. 402DidymoiAD 110–AD 115

μὲν ἔλθῃς ὑγιαίνουσα, οἴσεις μοι αὐτὴ τὸ τετράδερμα, εἰ δὲ μή, πέμψεις μοι διὰ πιστοῦ τινος ἐπεὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ οὐ δύναμαι μένειν. εὐχαριστῶ α … φησαπολ ἔρρωσο. τε προσα

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ἔχειechō has G2192 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
709× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means to have or hold something, like a possession or ability. It is used in many ways, such as having power or being with someone. The Bible uses it in Revelation 5:8 and 14:6.
Tyndale gloss
to have/be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔχω,

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

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

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

Trans.;

to have, hold, hold fast, etc.;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔχω (echō) — to have/be.

ἔχω,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔχω

echo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

uncircumcised, use.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔχω

v.

I have, hold, possess

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔχω echō 708x

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

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

V-PAI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

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

716 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 97 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb99%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
Article the
ἄγγελοςan angel, messenαὐτόςκαίand, even, also,
μήNeg
Article theδέbut, on the otheπρόβατονa sheep
ὅς
καίand, even, also,ἐνεἰμίI am, exist
χρείαneed, necessity, bus
οὐNegαὐτόςὅς
ἔχωhas709×
what comes after →
Article the
ἑπτάIndecυἱόςa son, descendenδέbut, on the othe
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegὅς
ἐν
Article theἑαυτοῦΧριστόςanointed, the Me
οὖςthe ear
ἀκούωI hear, listen
ἐξουσίαpower, authority, we
Article theἀλλάbut, exceptἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 11c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.11c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Gen. 1 20Pathyris110 BC

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

P.Bad. 2 3Pathyris110 BC

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

P.Adl. 4Ptolemais (Oberägypten)110 BC

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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
χήρας,chēra [dependent] widows, G5503 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
26× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A widow is a woman who has lost her husband, like in Luke 2:37 where a widow named Anna is described as worshiping God day and night. It can also be used to describe a city that has been abandoned.
Amplified meaning
needy, requiring support
Tyndale gloss
widow
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

χήρα is a feminine noun meaning 'widow,' derived from the masculine form χῆρος, which refers to a widower. The term appears frequently in the New Testament, including in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, often in contexts discussing the plight of widows. It can also metaphorically describe a city that has been stripped of its inhabitants or wealth, as noted in Revelation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

χήρα, -ας, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for אַלְמָנָה ;]

a widow: Mt 23:13 (Rec., R, mg.), Mk 12:40-43, Lk 2:37 4:25 7:12 18:3, 5 20:47 21:2, 3, Ac 6:1 9:39, 41, I Co 7:8, I Ti 5:3-5, 11, 16, Ja 1:27; γυνὴ χ., Lk 4:26; of one of an ordo viduarum (v. CGT, in l.), I Ti 5:9; metaph., of a city forsaken, Re 18:7.†

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

χήρα, -as, ἡ, (fem. of the adj. χῆρος, ‘bereft’; akin to χέρσος, sterile, barren, and the Lat. careo, [but ef. Curtius § 192]), fr. Hom. Il. 6, 408 down, Sept. for 727, a widow: Mt. xxiii. 14 (13) Ree.; Mk. xii. 40, 42 sq.; Lk. ii. 37; iv. 253 vii. 12; xviii. 3,5; χχ. 47; xxi. 2sq.; Acts vi. 1; ix. 39,41; 1Co. vii. 8; 1 Tim. v. 3-5, 9, 11, 16; Jas. i. 27; with γυνή added (2S. xiv. 5, and often in the Grk. writ. fr. Hom. Il. 2, 289 down), Lk. iv. 26; a city stripped of inhabitants and riches is represented under the figure of a widow, Rev. xviii. 7.

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

χῶρος 2. as prep. c. gen. ‘‘apart from,” ‘‘ without”: (a) of persons—P Oxy VI. 9321° (late ii/A.D.) τὰ χοιρίδια χωρὶς μοῦ μὴ πώλι, ‘do not sell the young pigs without me” (Edd.), and BGU III. 9204 (a.p, 180-181) χωρὶς κυρίου κατὰ τὰ “Pwpatfwv ἔθη. (b) of things—P Tebt I. 61 (α)} Ὁ (B.c. 118-117) χωρὶς σπέρματος Kal τῆς ἄλλης δα(πάνης), P Oxy IX. 1211" (medical receipt—ii/a.p.) πᾶν ἄρωμα χωρὶς λιβάνου, ‘every spice except frankincense.”’ (c) of abstract nouns (cf. Philem!, and the equivalent P Tebt I. 104*8 (8.6, 92) ἄνευ τῆς Φιλίσκου γνώ[μ]ης)--P Oxy IL. 237% 25 (a.p. 186) χωρὶς λόγον, 2. VIII. 112871 (A.D. 173) χωρὶς ὑπερθέσεως, “without delay,” and 76. VIII. 1130! (A.D. 484) χωρὶς ἐνγραφοῦς ἐντάγιον (= -lov), ‘‘ without a written deed.” 3 = ‘“‘besides”: (a) the object being excluded—P Oxy VIII. 112418 (A.D. 26) χωρὶς τῶν προκειμένων, ‘apart from the amounts aforesaid,” P Ryl 11. 1381%…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

χήρα (chēra) — widow.

χήρ-α,

Ionic dialect χήρη, ἡ, widow, χῆραι γυναῖκες [Refs 8th c.BC+]; as a name of Hera, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

2. Comedy texts, of a dish, widowed, i.e. without sauce, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. later masculine χῆρος, widower, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. χῆρος, α, ον, Adj, metaphorically, bereaved, χῆρα μέλαθρα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εὐνή [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; δρυμοὶ χ. bereft of men, [Refs 8th c.BC+] Sanskrit jáhāti 'abandon, renounce'.)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

χῇρος

chera

feminine of a presumed derivative apparently from the base of 5490

through the idea of deficiency; a widow (as lacking a husband),

literally or figuratively:--widow.

see GREEK for 5490

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

χήρα, ας, ἡ

n.f.

a widow

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

χήρα chēra 26x

a widow, Mt. 23:14; Lk. 4:26

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

χήρα χήρα, ionic χήρη, ἡ, bereft of a husband, a widow, Lat. vidua, c. gen., χήρη σευ ἔσομαι, says Andromache to Hector, Il.; χῆραι γυναῖκες widow women, id. Il.; so Eur., etc.

from χήρα was formed the masc. χῆρος (as widower from widow), Anth.

χῆρος, α, ον, as adj., in metaph. sense, widowed, bereaved, χῆρα μέλαθρα Eur.; c. gen., φάρσος στελεοῦ χῆρον a piece torn from the stem, Anth.

deriv. uncertain

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

N-APF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Widows

To be treated with kindness (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12; 27:19, etc.). In the New Testament the same tender regard for them is inculcated (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 5:3-16) and exhibited.

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Character of true

Lu 2:37; 1Ti 5:5,10

- GOD

. Surely hears the cry of

Ex 22:23

. Judges for

De 10:18; Ps 68:5

. Relieves

Ps 146:9

. Establishes the border of

Pr 15:25

. Will witness against oppressors of

Mal 3:5

- Exhorted to trust in God

Jer 49:11

- SHOULD NOT BE

. Afflicted

Ex 22:22

. Oppressed

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%widows
widows52% · 14×widow48% · 13×

27 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
subject46%object35%predicate12%adverbial4%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 26 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
οἰκίαa house, househoὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,
ὄντωςreally, truly
Article theδέbut, on the othe
τὶς
δέbut, on the othe
καίand, even, also, nam
ὀρφανόςbereaved, an orpβασίλισσαa queen
εἷςone
ἔρχομαιI come, go
χῆρος[dependent] widows,26×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
πρόφασιςa pretext, an exὄχλοςa crowdμονόωI leave alone
οὗτος
Article theἐκδικέωI give justice o
ἐπαρκέωI aid, relieve, do s
αὐτός
πτωχόςpoor, destitute
βάλλωI cast, throw, r
ἕωςuntil, as far as
ἔτοςa year

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

Concordanceχῆρος · 26× in the New Testament
Luke 1 Timothy Acts Mark 1 Corinthians James Revelation
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 40 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 Ignatius of Antioch Josephus Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.63c. AD 40

εὐχὴν δὲ χήρας καὶ ἐκβεβλημένης ἀναφαίρετον ἐᾷ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.240c. AD 75–95

Ταῖς δὲ δεκάταις ταῖς δυσίν, ἃς ἔτους ἑκάστου προεῖπον τελεῖν, τὴν μὲν τοῖς Λευίταις, τὴν δʼ ἑτέραν πρὸς τὰς εὐωχίας, τρίτην πρὸς αὐταῖς κατὰ τὸ ἔτος τρίτον συμφέρειν εἰς διανέμησιν τῶν σπανιζόντων γυναιξί τε χήραις καὶ παισὶν ὀρφανοῖς·

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 2.4.3c. AD 140

πέμψει οὖν Κλήμης εἰς τὰς ἔξω πόλεις, ἐκείνῳ γὰρ ἐπιτέτραπται: Γραπτὴ δὲ νουθετήσει τὰς χήρας καὶ τοὺς ὀρφανούς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD

τὸ … … ν συνεργάζεσθαι ἢ ἀπει… τὴν σὴν τοῦ μισοπονήρου … ω γυνὴ χήρα οὐδὲ ἐμαυ… … νη διαζῆν καὶ ὦι εὐεργετημένη. … διευτύχει. … … τωι

SB 14 11904Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 184

σιτικὰ δημόσια ὡς ὀφειλόμενα ὑπὸ ἀγνώστου μοι ἀνθρώπου, καταφρονοῦντές μου ὡς γυναικὸς ἀβοηθήτου καὶ χήρας καθεστώσης. μὴ ἀνεχομένης δʼ ἐμοῦ ἐργολαβηθῆναι, αὐθαδῶς χρησάμενοι ἀποσπάσαντες δούλην μου Σαραπιάδα, ἃ εἶχεν

P.Oxy. 60 4071Oasis ParvaAD 241–AD 244

Ἡλιοδώρας Παράμμωνος … … … ἀπὸ τῆς Μικρᾶς Ὀάσεως. βίαν πάσχουσα … … γυνὴ χήρα καὶ πρεσβῦτις ὑπὸ Ἀμμω … … τῆς αὐτῆς Μικρᾶς Ὀάσεως

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ἐπαρκείτωeparkeō she should help G1884 Verb · present · active · imperative · third person · singular
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To help means to provide assistance or support to someone, like when the apostle Paul wrote about relieving widows in 1 Timothy 5:10. It's about being strong enough to aid someone in need.
Amplified meaning
relieve, provide for
Tyndale gloss
to help
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπαρκέω (i.e., *eparkeo*) is built from the prefix ἐπ- and the root ἀρκέω. It covers meanings such as to aid, relieve, and ward off harm, often with a focus on providing assistance or being sufficient. In the New Testament, it appears in 1 Timothy 5:10 and 5:16, where it emphasizes helping others.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** ἐπ-αρκέω, -ῶ

[in LXX: I Mac 8:26 11:35 * ;]

to be strong enough for.

to ward off.

to aid, relieve: c. dat. pers., I Ti 5:10, 16 (mid., WH, mg.).†

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

ἐπ-αρκέω, -@; 1 aor. [ἐπήρκεσα], subjunc. ἐπαρκέσω; properly, to avail or be strong enough for . . . (see ἀρκέω); hence a. to ward off or drive away, τί τινι, a thing for another’s advantage i. q. a thing from any one (Hom.), to defend. b. to aid, give assistance, relieve, (Hdt., Aeschyl., al.) : τινί, 1 Tim. v. 10; Mid. to give aid from one’s own resources, 1 Tim. v.16 ace. to the reading ἐπαρκείσθω (1, txt. T Tr WH mrg.) for ἐπαρκείτω (RG L mrg. WH txt.); (κατὰ δύναμιν ἀλλήλοις ἐπαρκεῖν, Xen. mem. 2, 7, 1).

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

ἐπαρκέω. P Par 46° (B.c. 153) εἰ ἔρρωσαι καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν κατὰ λόγον σοι χρηματίζεται, εἴη ἄν, ὡς βούλομαι, καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ μετρίως ém[a]p[ka@—where however the reading is far from certain: see Witkowski?, p. 86. See also Cagnat IV. 743 (Eumeneia—time of Alexander Severus = C. and B. ii. No. 23215) τοῦτο yap ἢν μοι τερπνὸν ἐπαρκεῖν εἴ τις ἔχρῃζε--α Jew speaks. In Polyb. i. 51. 10 the verb is used as nearly synonymous with ἐπιβοηθέω : cf. 1 Tim 51%,

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπαρκέω (eparkeō) — to help.

ἐπαρκ-έω,

future -έσω (see. below): Epic dialect aorist infinitive ἐπαρκέσσαι [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—to be strong enough for a thing, in [Refs 8th c.BC+]. with accusative of things et dative person, ward off something from one, οὐδέ τί οἱ τό γ᾽ ἐπήρκεσε λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον [Refs 8th c.BC+]prohibebit quominus.., [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. with accusative of things, ward off, prevent, ἐπαρκέσσαι κακότητα [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; σέ τοι μόνον δέδορκα πημονάν (Reiske for ποιμένων) ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. with dative person only, help, assist, [NT+6th c.BC+]: absolutely, τίς ἄρ᾽ ἐπαρκέσε; who will aid? [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπαρκέω

eparkeo

from 1909 and 714; to avail for, i.e. help:--relieve.

see GREEK for 1909

see GREEK for 714

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπαρκέω

v.

I aid, relieve, do service, render help

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπαρκέω eparkeō 3x

dat., pr. to ward off; to assist, relieve, succor; 1 Tim. 5:10, 16 (2x)*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπαρκέω fut. έσω to ward off a thing from a person, τί τινι Il.

c. acc. rei only, to ward off, prevent, Od.; ἐπ. μὴ πεσεῖν, prohibere quominus, Aesch.

c. dat. pers. only, to help, assist, Hdt., Ar.:—rarely c. acc. pers., like ὠφελεῖν, Eur.:—absol., τίς ἄρ᾽ ἐπαρκέσει; who will aid? Aesch.

to supply, furnish, τι id. Aesch.; ἐπ. τινί τινος to impart to him a share of, Xen.; c. dat. rei, to supply with a thing, Eur.

absol. to be sufficient, to prevail, Soph.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

With the sense of that which brings aid, support, or deliverance, "help" (noun and vb.) represents a large variety of words in Hebrew and Greek (noun 7, verb 16). A principal Hebrew word is `azar, "to help," with the corresponding nouns `ezer, `ezrah; a chief Greek word is boetheo (Mt 15:25; Mr 9:22,24, etc.). True help is to be sought for in Yahweh, in whom, in the Old Testament, the believer is constantly exhorted to trust, with the renouncing of all other confidences (Ps 20:2; 33:20; 42:5; 46:1; 115:9,10,11; 121:2; Isa 41:10,13,14, etc.). In Ro 8:26 it is said, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity," the verb here…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%she has imparted relief
she has imparted relief33% · 1×she should help33% · 1×it may impart relief33% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
χῆροςa widow
ἔχωI have, hold, poὄντωςreally, truly
θλίβωI make narrow, perse
εἰCond
ἐπαρκέωshe should help
what comes after →
εἰCond
πᾶςall, the whole,
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceἐπαρκέω · 3× in the New Testament
1 Timothy
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
αὐταῖςautos to them G846 Personal pronoun · dative · plural · feminine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in 1 Timothy than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P-DPF Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςto them5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Timothy 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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
μὴ not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

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

As a neg. adv., not;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

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

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

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

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

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

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

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

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

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

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

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

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,060 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,σύἐγώ
ἵναin order that, so th
αὐτόςσύπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώαὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
εἰCond
αὐτόςυἱόςa son, descendenκαίand, even, also,
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰςδιά
μήnot1060×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenσημεῖονa sign, miracle,
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
καίand, even, also,ποιμήνa shepherdβάθοςdepth, a depth,
εἰμίI am, exist
δίδωμιI offer, giveἐνμετά
τὶς
σύὑστερέωI am lacking, faγεννάωI beget, bring f
φοβέωI fear, am terrified
ἀπόArticle theμόνοςalone, but, only

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

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

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

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

Counted over the 1,321 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
βαρείσθωbareō should be burdened G916 Verb · present · passive · imperative · third person · singular
6× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To burden means to weigh someone down, often in a spiritual sense. In the New Testament, it appears in Matthew 26:43 and 2 Corinthians 1:8, describing emotional or spiritual pressure.
Amplified meaning
weighed down, oppressed
Tyndale gloss
to burden
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word βαρέω (transliterated as bareō) means to weigh down or burden, often used in a passive sense. It appears in the New Testament in contexts relating to being oppressed by sleep or external troubles, such as in Matthew and 2 Corinthians. The term is derived from a later form of βαρύνω and has a range of meanings from physical weight to emotional burdens.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

βαρέω, -ῶ (later form of βαρύνω, q.v.),

[in LXX: Ex 7:14 (כָּבֵד), II Mac 13:9*;]

to depress, weigh down. In NT, in pass. only: Mt 26:43, Lk 9:32 21:34, II Co 1:8 5:4, I Ti 5:16.†

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

βαρέω, -ὦ: to burden, weigh down, depress; in the N. T. found only in Pass., viz. pres. ptep. βαρούμενοι, impv. βαρείσθω; 1 aor. ἐβαρήθην ; pf. ptep. βεβαρημένος ; the better writ. do not use the pres.; they use only the pteps. βεβαρηώς and βεβαρημένος; see Matth. § 227; W. 83 (80); [Β. 84 (47); Veitchs.v.]. Used simply: éo be weighed down, oppressed, with external evils and calamities, 2 Co. i. 8; of the mental oppression which the thought of inevitable death occasions, 2 Co. v.4; ὀφθαλpot BeBapnpevor, sc. ὕπνῳ, weighed down with sleep, Mk. xiv. 40 (LT Tr WH καταβαρυνόμενοι) ; Mt. xxvi. 43; with ὕπνῳ added, Lk. ix. 32; ἐν (3) κραιπάλῃ, Lk. xxi. 34 Ree. βαρυνθῶσιν, [see βαρύνω], (Hom. Od. 19, 122 οἴνῳ BeBapnores, Diod. Sic. 4, 38 τῇ νόσῳ); μὴ βαρείσθω let it not be burdened, sc. with their expense, 1 Tim. v. 16, (εἰσφοραῖς, Dio Cass. 46, 32). [Comp.: ém-, καταBapéw.…

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

βαρέω. The verb is only found in perf. pass. in LXX, and only twice (Exod 7%, 2 Macc 13%): see Thackeray Gr. i. p- 261. Similarly in NT we have only the passive, but the present and aorist are used. The record fits its early history, for βεβαρημένος is the oldest form after the Homeric BeBaρηώς ; and Hippocrates is the first to use βαρέεται. See Anz Subsidia, p. 266 ff. Instances of the active are late in appearing. Anz quotes Lucian’s censure on Bapeiv for βαρύνειν, and mentions C/G 585318 (A.p. 174) ἵνα μὴ τὴν πόλιν βαρῶμεν. MGr has Bape, “strike,” as well as βαρειοῦμαι, “be weary of? (Thumb Handbook, p. 321). The use of the verb in the papyri tallies with this record. Thus P Tebt II. 32725 (late ii/A.D.), γ]νυνὴ οὖσα ἀβοήθητος ποίλλο]ῖς ἔτεσι βεβαρημένη, ‘fa defenceless woman weighted with many years” (Edd.), P Oxy VI. 93978 (iv/A.D.) ἡνίκα éBapetro τῇ νόσῳ. It becomes a formula in |…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

βαρέω (bareō) — to burden.

βαρέω,

Aeolic dialect βορ-, see below, future -ήσω[Refs 2nd c.AD+]: perfect βεβάρηκα [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—passive, see below:—weigh down, depress, βαρήσει ταῦτα τὸ πορθμεῖον [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; τὸ ἔθνος ἐβάρει ταῖς εἰσφοραῖς [Refs 1st c.AD+] [same place]:—passive, κῆρ.. βόρηται [Refs 7th c.BC+]; β. τῷ ἐκφορίῳ [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: with accusative, to be indignant at, αὐτῶν τὴν εὐγένειαν [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

2. charge an account, [Refs 6th c.AD+]

II. intransitive in Epic dialect perfect participle βεβαρηώς weighed down, heavy, οῐνῳ βεβαρηότες [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—later, perfect participle passive βεβαρημένος, μεθυσθεὶς τοῦ νέκταρος β. ηὗδεν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς β. ὑπ᾽ οἴνου[NT+3rd c.BC+]; οἷον βεβαρημένος as though pregnant…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

βαρέω

bareo

from 926; to weigh down (figuratively):--burden, charge, heavy, press.

see GREEK for 926

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

βαρέω

v.

I weight, load, burden

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

βαρέω bareō 6x

to be heavy upon, weigh down, burden, oppress, as sleep, Mt. 26:43; Mk. 14:40; Lk. 9:32; calamities, 2 Cor. 1:8; 5:4; or, trouble, care, expense, etc. 1 Tim. 5:16*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

βαρέω βαρύς to weigh down, depress, Luc.

intr. in epic perf. part. βεβαρηώς, weighed down, heavy, οἴνωι βεβαρηότες Od.: later in part. pass. βεβαρημένος, Theocr., Anth., etc.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%wearied
wearied33% · 2×we were weighed17% · 1×being burdened17% · 1×should be burdened17% · 1×may be burdened17% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb83%adverbial17%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 6 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
ὀφθαλμόςthe eye
Article the
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτός
πότεIrg
μήNeg
δύναμιςmight, power, marvel
ὑπέρ
στενάζωI groan
σκῆνοςa tent
βαρέωshould be burdened
what comes after →
ὕπνοςsleep
διαγρηγορέωI awake out of s
σύ
Article the
ὥστεso that, therefore
ἐξαπορέομαιI am utterly wit
ἐπί
ὅς
Article the
ἐκκλησίαan assembly, con

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

Concordanceβαρέω · 6× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Luke 1 Timothy Matthew
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD

οὐσιακὴν γῆν κατʼ ἀξίαν ἑκάστην καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ παλαιοῦ προστάγματος γεωργεῖσθαι, αὐτοὶ δὲ βεβαρημένοι πολλῷ χρόνῳ δημοσίοις βασιλικὴν γῆν, τοῦ δὲ Ἑργέως περὶ γραμματείαν πόλεως ἄρουραν α ιϛ

P.Giss. 1 4Apollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 118

οὐσιακὴν γῆν κατʼ ἀξίαν ἑκάστης καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ παλαιοῦ προστάγματος γεωργεῖσθαι, αὐτοί τε βεβαρημένοι πολλῶι χρόνωι δημοσίοις … περὶ γραμματείαν μητροπόλεως, ὁ μὲν Ψεαθῦρις νεώτερος ἀνὰ β ιβ

Aegyptus 31 (1951), p. 319Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 316

Ἀχιλλᾶ καὶ Σερῆνις Ἀρίστωνος ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς κώμης μηδὲν ἔχοντες πρός με, οἴνῳ πολλῷ βεβαρημένοι καὶ θαρροῦντες ᾧ περίκεινται πλούτει, ἐπιστάντες μετὰ ἀραβικῶν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ οἰκίᾳ καὶ τὰς μὲν

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ho the G3588 Article · nominative · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Timothy 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-NSF — Article · nominative · singular · feminine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-NSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ἐκκλησία,ekklēsia church, G1577 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
114× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
An assembly refers to a group of people gathered together for a common purpose, like a church or community, as seen in Acts 19:32 and Hebrews 2:12. This term is used to describe both Jewish and Christian communities.
Amplified meaning
assembly, community of believers
Tyndale gloss
assembly
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐκκλησία (i.e., *ekklesia*) means an assembly or congregation, originally referring to a gathering of citizens called for public affairs. In the New Testament, it primarily denotes the Christian church, encompassing both local congregations and the broader body of believers. It is also used in the Septuagint for the assembly of Israel. The term reflects a progression from civic assembly to a spiritual community.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — Ἔκκλησία, συναγωγή, πανήγυρις from a scan

THERE are words whose history it is peculiarly interesting to watch, as they obtain a deeper meaning, and receive a new consecration in the Christian Church; words which the Church did not invent, but has assumed into its service, and employed in a far loftier sense than any to which the world has ever put them before. The very word by which the Church is named is itself an example—a more illustrious one could scarcely be found—of this progressive ennobling of a word.' For we have ἐκκλησία in three distinct stages of meaning—the heathen, the Jewish, and the Christian. In respect of the first, ἡ ἐκκλησία (ΞΞἔκκλητοι, Euripides, Orestes, ‘ Zezschwitz, in his very interesting Lecture, Profangrdcitét und Biblischer Sprachgeist, Leipzig, 1859, p. 5, has said excellently well, ‘ Das Christenthum wiire nicht als was es siegend iiber Griechenthum und Romerthum sich ausgewiesen, hitte es zu…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐκκλησία, -ας, ἡ

(< ἐκ-καλέω),

[in LXX chiefly for קָהָל, otherwise for one of its cogn. forms ;]

prop., an assembly of citizens regularly convened (in Thuc., ii, 22, opp. to σύλλογος, a concourse): Ac 19:32, 39, 41.

In LXX of the assembly, congregation, community of Israel (De 4:10 23:2, al.): Ac 7:38, He 2:12 (LXX).

NT, esp. of an assembly or company of Christians, a (the) church;

of gatherings for worship: I Co 11:18 14:19, 34, 35;

of local communities: Ac 8:3, I Co 4:17; with name…

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

ἐκκλησία, -as, 7, (fr. ἔκκλητος called out or forth, and this fr. ἐκκαλέω) ; prop. a gathering of citizens called out

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

ἐκκλησία. For the Biblical history of the word ἐκκλησία, which meant originally any public assembly of citizens summoned by a herald, it is sufficient to refer to Hort, Zhe Christian Ecclesia, p. τ ff. It is the LXX term fer the community of Israel, whether assembled or no. In the Gospels the word is confined to Mt 1618, 1817, where it denotes Christ's new ἐκκλησία, as distinguished from the old. Deissmann (ZAZ p. 112 ff.) has emphasized the significance of the fact that the Latin-speaking people of the West, to whom Christianity came, did not translate the word, but simply borrowed it, and cites an interesting bilingual inscr. of A.D. 103-4, found in the theatre of Ephesus, which refers to the gift by a Roman official of a silver image of Artemis (cf. Ac 19*4) and other statues—tva τίθηνται kat’ ἐκκλησίαν (cf. Ac 14%) ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ἐπὶ τῶν βάσεων, or, in the parallel text, z/a wt…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) — assembly.

ἐκκλησί-α, ἡ,

(ἔκκλητος) assembly duly summoned, less general than σύλλογος, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; applied to the Homeric Assemblies, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; to the Samian Assembly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to the Spartan, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to the meeting of the Amphictyons at Delphi, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; at Athens, ἐ. κύριαι, opposed to σύγκλητοι, Arist.[Refs 2nd c.AD+]; κυρία ἐ., at Amorgos, [Refs]; ἐ. συναγείρειν, συνάγειν, συλλέγειν, ἀθροίζειν, call an assembly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. γίγνεται an assembly is held, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. διαλύειν, ἀναστῆσαι, dissolve it, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. ἀνεβλήθη was adjourned, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐκκλησία

ekklesia

from a compound of 1537 and a derivative of 2564; a calling out, i.e.

(concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation

(Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or

saints in heaven or both):--assembly, church.

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 2564

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐκκλησία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

an assembly, congregation, church

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐκκλησία ekklēsia 114x

a popular assembly, Acts 19:32, 39, 41; in NT the congregation of the children of Israel, Acts 7:38; transferred to the Christian body, of which the congregation of Israel was a figure, the Church, 1 Cor. 12:28; Col. 1:18; a local portion of the Church, a local church, Rom. 16:1; a Christian congregation, 1 Cor. 14:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐκκλησία ἐκκλησία, ἡ, ἔκκλητος an assembly of the citizens regularly summoned, the legislative assembly, Thuc., etc.:—at Athens, the ordinary Assemblies were called κύριαι, the extraordinary being σύγκλητοι, ap. Dem.; ἐκκλ. συναγείρειν, συνάγειν, συλλέγειν, ἀθροίζειν to call an assembly, Hdt., etc.; ἐκκλ. ποιεῖν "to make a house, " Ar.; ἐκκλ. γίγνεται, καθίσταται an assembly is held, Thuc.; ἐκκλ. διαλύειν, ἀναστῆσαι to dissolve it, id. Thuc., etc.; ἀναβάλλειν to adjourn it, id. Thuc.

in NTest. the Church, either the body, or the place.

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

N-NSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

church:

I. PRE-CHRISTIAN HISTORY OF THE TERM

II. ITS ADOPTION BY JESUS

III. ITS USE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. In the Gospels

2. In Acts

3. In the Pauline Epistles

IV. THE NOTES OF THE CHURCH

1. Faith

2. Fellowship

3. Unity

4. Consecration

5. Power

V. ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH

1. The General and Prophetic Ministry

2. The Local and Practical Ministry

LITERATURE

The word "church," which is derived from kuriakos, "of or belonging to the Lord," represents in the English Versions of the Bible of the New Testament the Greek word ekklesia; Latin, ecclesia. It is with the signification of this word ekklesia as it meets us in the New Testament, and with the nature of the society which the word is there used to describe, that the present article is concerned.

I. Pre-Christian History of the Term.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Church

Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship.

In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia, which is synonymous with the Hebrew kahal of the Old Testament, both words meaning simply an assembly, the character of which can only be known from the connection in which the word is found. There is no clear instance of its being used for a place of meeting or of worship, although in post-apostolic times it early received this meaning. Nor is this word ever used to denote the inhabitants of a country united in the same profession, as when we say the “Church of England,” the “Church of Scotland,” etc.

We find the word ecclesia used in the following senses in the New Testament: (1.) It is translated “assembly” in the ordinary classical sense (

The Greek word translated church signifies generally an assembly, either common or religious; and it is sometimes so translated, as in Ac 19:32,39. In the New Testament it usually means a congregation of religious worshippers, either Jewish, as Ac 7:38, or Christians, as Mt 16:18 1Co 6:4. The latter sense is the more common one; and it is thus used in a twofold manner, denoting,

1. The universal Christian church: either the invisible church, consisting of those whose names are written in heaven, whom God knows, but whom we cannot infallibly know, Heb 12:23; or the visible church, made up of the professed followers of…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
65%church
church65% · 75×churches30% · 35×assembly3% · 3×other renderings2% · 2×

115 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 4 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
adverbial35%indirect object23%object20%subject12%predicate10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 114 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
ἐνλέγωI say, speakπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐν
σύἀλλάbut, exceptσιγάωI keep silent
ἑπτάIndec
Article theἑπτάIndec
αὐτός
οἶκοςa house, househo
οὖνtherefore, then
μένDisj
ἐκκλησίαchurch,114×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐννικάωI conquer, overc
καίand, even, also, nam
πύληa door, gateἐπίδιδάσκωI teach
γράφωI write
ὅδε
κατά
Article theὅλοςall, the whole, δικαιοσύνηjustice, justnes
ἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute, pay
ἘπαίνετοςEpaenetusσύ

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

Concordanceἐκκλησία · 114× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Corinthians Revelation 2 Corinthians Ephesians Romans Colossians 1 Timothy 3 John Galatians Matthew 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament17 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 43 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 Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.8c. AD 40

5, 2), καὶ τοὺς θλαδίας καὶ ἀποκεκομμένους τὰ γεννητικὰ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ πόρνους τὴν ἑνὸς ἀρχὴν ἀποδιδράσκοντας, οἷς ἄντικρυς ἀπείρηται εἰς ἐκκλησίαν θεοῦ φοιτᾶν (Deut.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.84c. AD 75–95

ἐπὶ τούτοις οὖν συγκαλεῖ τὸ πλῆθος εἰς ἐκκλησίαν ἀκουσόμενον ὧν ὁ θεὸς εἴποι πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ συναθροισθέντων στὰς ἐπὶ ὑψηλοῦ τινος, ὅθεν ἔμελλον πάντες ἀκούσεσθαι, ὁ μὲν θεός, εἶπεν, ὦ Ἑβραῖοι, καθάπερ καὶ πρότερον εὐμενὴς προσεδέξατό με καὶ βίον τε…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.16c. AD 100

λέγει: Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀδελφῶν μου, καὶ ψαλῶ σοι ἀνάμεσον ἐκκλησίας ἁγίων.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 5th c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Lond. 2 p. 279-280 no. 412Berenikis Aigialu (Arsinoites)AD 351

ἀξιῶ, πραιπόσιτε κύριε, ἀπραγμόνως ἃ ἀφήρπασέν μου παρασχεθῆναί μοι· διάκων γὰρ τετύχηκα τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας. καὶ τούτου τυχὼν εἰσαεί σοι εὐχαριστήσω. διευτύχει. μετὰ τὴν ὑπατείαν Φλαουίων Σεργίου καὶ Νειγρεινιανοῦ

P.Prag. 1 33ArsinoitesAD 391–AD 392

διάκονος καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀπὸ κώμης … Νικήτῃ Σαρμάτου ἐπιμελητῇ κάστρου τῆς … ἐπὶ τῆς παρελθούσης τετάρτης ἰνδικτίονος

P.Oxy. 72 4901OxyrhynchitesAD 408

τῇ θειοτάτῃ οἰκίᾳ διὰ Μαρίνου προνοητοῦ Αὐρήλιος Παμοῦν Μούιτος ἀπὸ ἐποικίου Κινήας διάκονος καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας χαίρειν. ὁμολογῶ ἐσχηκέναι παρὰ σοῦ ἀπὸ λόγου τῆς συμπεφωνημένης πρὸς ἀλλήλους τιμῆς οἴνου διπλῶν

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ἵναhina so that G2443 Conjunction
669× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means 'in order that' or 'to', showing purpose or result, as seen in Acts 19:4 and Romans 11:31. It's used to express a goal or outcome. In Ephesians 1:17, it's used to describe a purpose.
Tyndale gloss
in order that/to
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἵνα,

adverb (poët., Hom., al.),

of place, where, whither.

of circumstance, when.

Conjunction,

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἵνα (hina) — in order that/to.

ἵνα,

adverb,

I. of Place,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἵνα

hina

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 3588

see GREEK for 3363

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἵνα

Cj.

in order that, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἵνα hina 663x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἵνα Adverb,

of Place,

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

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

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

of circumstance, when, at which, Od.

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

with subj.,

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

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Easton's Bible Dictionary

So

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

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

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

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

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial8%object3%subject3%

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

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

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 300 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 15c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.71c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Bour. 11Pathyris89 BC

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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ταῖςho to those [who are] G3588 Article · dative · plural · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 1 Timothy 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-DPF — Article · dative · plural · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-DPF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

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
to those [who are]19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ὄντωςontōs truly G3689 Adverb
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Really means something is true or actual, like when the crowd said Jesus was really the Son of God in Mark 11:32. It's used to emphasize the truth of something.
Amplified meaning
really, actually
Tyndale gloss
really
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὄντως is an adverb derived from the participle of εἰμί (to be), meaning 'really' or 'truly.' It is used in the New Testament to emphasize truthfulness in statements, appearing in verses like Mark 11:32 and Luke 23:47. The word can also precede nouns, as seen in phrases like 'the truly good things' in classical texts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὄντως,

adv.

(< ὤν, ptcp. of εἰμί, sum),

[in LXX: Nu 22:37 (אֻמְנָם), Je 3:23 (אָכֵן), 10:19 (אַךְ), III Ki 12:24, Wi 17:14*;]

really, actually, truly: Mk 11:32, Lk 23:47 24:34, Jo 8:36, I Co 14:25, Ga 3:21; ἡ ὄ. ζωή, I Ti 6:19; ἡ ὄ. χήρα, I Ti 5:3, 5, 16.†

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

ὄντως (fr. dv; on advs. formed fr. ptcps. ef. Bttm. Ausf. Spr. § 115 a. Anm. 3; Kiihner § 335 Anm. 2), adv., truly, in reality, in point of fact, as opp. to what is pre tended, fictitious, false, conjectural: Mk. xi. 32 [see ἔχω, 1.1 £.]; Lk. xxiii. 47; xxiv. 34; In. viii. 36; 1 Co. xiv. 25: Gal. iii. 21 and Rec. in 2 Pet. ii. 18; ὁ, 9, τὸ ὄντως foll. by a noun, that which Read the full entry →

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

ὄντως, “actually,”’ “indeed,’’ as in Gal 3%, is seen in P Giss I. 228 (time of Trajan) mpd π]άν[τ]ων εὔχομ[α]ι. .. .. τὴν [γλυκυἸτάτην σου ὄψιν προσκυνῆσαι] νῦν ὄντως ἀμοιβ[ὴ]ν [- - .] TAs εὐσεβείας μου KTA. For its use, virtually as an adj., preceded by the art. and followed by a noun (1 Tim 53:5) 16), we may cite Hp. ad Diogn. x. 7, Arist. “4201. iv. 1. Cf MGr τόντις, “ really ’’’: few adverbs in τὼς have survived in MGr. For ὄξος, “‘sour wine’’ drunk by soldiers, as in Mt ΝΣ ) y al, cf. P Lond 1245° (a.p. 357) (= III. p. 228) a receipt for 4000 ξέσται supplied to soldiers stationed at Hermopolis— ὄξους ξέστας τετρακισχειλίους. Other exx. of the word, Reve 4 where it is distinguished from οἶνος, are 16. 8 5655 (tariff of excise duties—late i/a.p.) (=III. p. 92) πλὴν οἴνου κ[αὶ ὄΠξους, and 76. 11558 (A.D. 145-7) (= III. p. 113) ἐπὶ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὄντως (ontōs) — really.

ὄντως,

adverb participle of εἰμί (sum), really, actually, verily, with Verbs, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὄντως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς really and truly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to to ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to εἰκότως, [Refs 5th c.BC+]participle ὤν, οὖσα, ὄν, to imply real existence, [Refs]: also with Nouns, τὰ ὄντως ἀγαθά [Refs 5th c.BC+]; more freq in the later dialogues of [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὄντως

ontos

adverb of the oblique cases of 5607; really:--certainly, clean,

indeed, of a truth, verily.

see GREEK for 5607

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὄντως

Adv

really, truly

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὄντως ontōs 10x

really, in truth, truly, Mk. 11:32; Lk. 23:47.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὄντως part. of εἰμί (sum) really, verily, Eur., etc.; ὄντως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς really and truly, Plat.

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
40%indeed
indeed40% · 4×truly40% · 4×certainly20% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial60%object30%subject10%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
τιμάωI value at a priἵναin order that, sἐπιλαμβάνομαιI seize, take ho
ὅτιthat, since, because
λέγωI say, speakἀπαγγέλλωI report, bring
ἸωάννηςJohn
Article the
λέγωI say, speak
θεόςGod, a god
ἐλευθερόωI free, set free, li
σύ
ὄντωςtruly10×
what comes after →
χῆροςa widow
καίand, even, also,ἐπαρκέωI aid, relieve,
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ὅτιthat, since, because
προφήτηςa prophet, poet
ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, rais
Article the
ἐλεύθεροςfree, delivered from
εἰμίI am, exist

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

Concordanceὄντως · 10× in the New Testament
1 Timothy Luke 1 Corinthians Galatians John Mark
Across the New Testament6 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
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 106c. AD 40

ὡς εἶναι τελεσφόρον ὄντως τὸν ἕβδομον ἀριθμόν, ἀμφοτέρας τὰς ἰσότητας καταγγέλλοντα τήν τ’ ἐπίπεδον διὰ τετραγώνου κατὰ τὴν πρὸς τριάδα συγγένειαν καὶ τὴν στερεὰν διὰ κύβου κατὰ τὴν πρὸς τετράδα οἰκειότητα·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 15.63c. AD 75–95

οὐ γὰρ ἄξιον Ἡρώδην διʼ αὐτοῦ καταστάντα βασιλέα τῆς οὐδὲν προσηκούσης ἀρχῆς εἰς τοὺς ὄντως βασιλεῖς τοιαύτας ἐπιδείκνυσθαι παρανομίας.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
7th c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 5th c. AD

ἐπιφθόνους ἐμοὶ καὶ ἰσοθέους ἐκφωνήσεις ὑμῶν ἐξ ἅπαντος παραιτοῦμαι. πρέπουσι γὰρ μόνῳ τῶι σωτῆρι ὄντως καὶ εὐεργέτῃ τοῦ σύνπαντος τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους, τῷ ἐμῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ,

P.Mert. 1 12Oxyrhynchos oder Hermopolis (?)AD 59

πλεῖστα χαίρειν καὶ διὰ παντὸς ὑγιαίνειν. κομισάμενός σου ἐπιστολὴν οὕτως περιχαρὴς ἐγενόμην ὡς εἰ ὄντως ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐγεγόνειν, ἄνευ γὰρ ταύτης οὐθέν ἐστιν. γράφειν δέ σοι μεγάλας εὐχαριστίας

P.Giss. 1 22Apollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 113–AD 120

πρὸ πάντων εὔχομαί σε τὸν ἀγαθὸν ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ τὴν γλυκυτάτην σου ὄψιν προσκυνῆσαι νῦν ὄντως ἀμοιβὴν ἤδη τῆς εὐσεβείας μου ἀπολαμβανούσης σε ἀπρόσκοπον καὶ ἱλαρώτατον. ταῦτά μοι ἡ πᾶσα

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
χήραιςchēra widows G5503 Noun · dative · plural · feminine
26× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A widow is a woman who has lost her husband, like in Luke 2:37 where a widow named Anna is described as worshiping God day and night. It can also be used to describe a city that has been abandoned.
Tyndale gloss
widow
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

χήρα is a feminine noun meaning 'widow,' derived from the masculine form χῆρος, which refers to a widower. The term appears frequently in the New Testament, including in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, often in contexts discussing the plight of widows. It can also metaphorically describe a city that has been stripped of its inhabitants or wealth, as noted in Revelation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

χήρα, -ας, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for אַלְמָנָה ;]

a widow: Mt 23:13 (Rec., R, mg.), Mk 12:40-43, Lk 2:37 4:25 7:12 18:3, 5 20:47 21:2, 3, Ac 6:1 9:39, 41, I Co 7:8, I Ti 5:3-5, 11, 16, Ja 1:27; γυνὴ χ., Lk 4:26; of one of an ordo viduarum (v. CGT, in l.), I Ti 5:9; metaph., of a city forsaken, Re 18:7.†

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

χήρα, -as, ἡ, (fem. of the adj. χῆρος, ‘bereft’; akin to χέρσος, sterile, barren, and the Lat. careo, [but ef. Curtius § 192]), fr. Hom. Il. 6, 408 down, Sept. for 727, a widow: Mt. xxiii. 14 (13) Ree.; Mk. xii. 40, 42 sq.; Lk. ii. 37; iv. 253 vii. 12; xviii. 3,5; χχ. 47; xxi. 2sq.; Acts vi. 1; ix. 39,41; 1Co. vii. 8; 1 Tim. v. 3-5, 9, 11, 16; Jas. i. 27; with γυνή added (2S. xiv. 5, and often in the Grk. writ. fr. Hom. Il. 2, 289 down), Lk. iv. 26; a city stripped of inhabitants and riches is represented under the figure of a widow, Rev. xviii. 7.

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

χῶρος 2. as prep. c. gen. ‘‘apart from,” ‘‘ without”: (a) of persons—P Oxy VI. 9321° (late ii/A.D.) τὰ χοιρίδια χωρὶς μοῦ μὴ πώλι, ‘do not sell the young pigs without me” (Edd.), and BGU III. 9204 (a.p, 180-181) χωρὶς κυρίου κατὰ τὰ “Pwpatfwv ἔθη. (b) of things—P Tebt I. 61 (α)} Ὁ (B.c. 118-117) χωρὶς σπέρματος Kal τῆς ἄλλης δα(πάνης), P Oxy IX. 1211" (medical receipt—ii/a.p.) πᾶν ἄρωμα χωρὶς λιβάνου, ‘every spice except frankincense.”’ (c) of abstract nouns (cf. Philem!, and the equivalent P Tebt I. 104*8 (8.6, 92) ἄνευ τῆς Φιλίσκου γνώ[μ]ης)--P Oxy IL. 237% 25 (a.p. 186) χωρὶς λόγον, 2. VIII. 112871 (A.D. 173) χωρὶς ὑπερθέσεως, “without delay,” and 76. VIII. 1130! (A.D. 484) χωρὶς ἐνγραφοῦς ἐντάγιον (= -lov), ‘‘ without a written deed.” 3 = ‘“‘besides”: (a) the object being excluded—P Oxy VIII. 112418 (A.D. 26) χωρὶς τῶν προκειμένων, ‘apart from the amounts aforesaid,” P Ryl 11. 1381%…

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

χήρα (chēra) — widow.

χήρ-α,

Ionic dialect χήρη, ἡ, widow, χῆραι γυναῖκες [Refs 8th c.BC+]; as a name of Hera, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

2. Comedy texts, of a dish, widowed, i.e. without sauce, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. later masculine χῆρος, widower, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. χῆρος, α, ον, Adj, metaphorically, bereaved, χῆρα μέλαθρα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εὐνή [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; δρυμοὶ χ. bereft of men, [Refs 8th c.BC+] Sanskrit jáhāti 'abandon, renounce'.)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

χῇρος

chera

feminine of a presumed derivative apparently from the base of 5490

through the idea of deficiency; a widow (as lacking a husband),

literally or figuratively:--widow.

see GREEK for 5490

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

χήρα, ας, ἡ

n.f.

a widow

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

χήρα chēra 26x

a widow, Mt. 23:14; Lk. 4:26

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

χήρα χήρα, ionic χήρη, ἡ, bereft of a husband, a widow, Lat. vidua, c. gen., χήρη σευ ἔσομαι, says Andromache to Hector, Il.; χῆραι γυναῖκες widow women, id. Il.; so Eur., etc.

from χήρα was formed the masc. χῆρος (as widower from widow), Anth.

χῆρος, α, ον, as adj., in metaph. sense, widowed, bereaved, χῆρα μέλαθρα Eur.; c. gen., φάρσος στελεοῦ χῆρον a piece torn from the stem, Anth.

deriv. uncertain

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

N-DPF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Widows

To be treated with kindness (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12; 27:19, etc.). In the New Testament the same tender regard for them is inculcated (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 5:3-16) and exhibited.

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Character of true

Lu 2:37; 1Ti 5:5,10

- GOD

. Surely hears the cry of

Ex 22:23

. Judges for

De 10:18; Ps 68:5

. Relieves

Ps 146:9

. Establishes the border of

Pr 15:25

. Will witness against oppressors of

Mal 3:5

- Exhorted to trust in God

Jer 49:11

- SHOULD NOT BE

. Afflicted

Ex 22:22

. Oppressed

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%widows
widows52% · 14×widow48% · 13×

27 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
subject46%object35%predicate12%adverbial4%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 26 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
οἰκίαa house, househoὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,
ὄντωςreally, truly
Article theδέbut, on the othe
τὶς
δέbut, on the othe
καίand, even, also, nam
ὀρφανόςbereaved, an orpβασίλισσαa queen
εἷςone
ἔρχομαιI come, go
χῆροςwidows26×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
πρόφασιςa pretext, an exὄχλοςa crowdμονόωI leave alone
οὗτος
Article theἐκδικέωI give justice o
ἐπαρκέωI aid, relieve, do s
αὐτός
πτωχόςpoor, destitute
βάλλωI cast, throw, r
ἕωςuntil, as far as
ἔτοςa year

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

Concordanceχῆρος · 26× in the New Testament
Luke 1 Timothy Acts Mark 1 Corinthians James Revelation
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 40 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 Ignatius of Antioch Josephus Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.63c. AD 40

εὐχὴν δὲ χήρας καὶ ἐκβεβλημένης ἀναφαίρετον ἐᾷ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.240c. AD 75–95

Ταῖς δὲ δεκάταις ταῖς δυσίν, ἃς ἔτους ἑκάστου προεῖπον τελεῖν, τὴν μὲν τοῖς Λευίταις, τὴν δʼ ἑτέραν πρὸς τὰς εὐωχίας, τρίτην πρὸς αὐταῖς κατὰ τὸ ἔτος τρίτον συμφέρειν εἰς διανέμησιν τῶν σπανιζόντων γυναιξί τε χήραις καὶ παισὶν ὀρφανοῖς·

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 2.4.3c. AD 140

πέμψει οὖν Κλήμης εἰς τὰς ἔξω πόλεις, ἐκείνῳ γὰρ ἐπιτέτραπται: Γραπτὴ δὲ νουθετήσει τὰς χήρας καὶ τοὺς ὀρφανούς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD

τὸ … … ν συνεργάζεσθαι ἢ ἀπει… τὴν σὴν τοῦ μισοπονήρου … ω γυνὴ χήρα οὐδὲ ἐμαυ… … νη διαζῆν καὶ ὦι εὐεργετημένη. … διευτύχει. … … τωι

SB 14 11904Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 184

σιτικὰ δημόσια ὡς ὀφειλόμενα ὑπὸ ἀγνώστου μοι ἀνθρώπου, καταφρονοῦντές μου ὡς γυναικὸς ἀβοηθήτου καὶ χήρας καθεστώσης. μὴ ἀνεχομένης δʼ ἐμοῦ ἐργολαβηθῆναι, αὐθαδῶς χρησάμενοι ἀποσπάσαντες δούλην μου Σαραπιάδα, ἃ εἶχεν

P.Oxy. 60 4071Oasis ParvaAD 241–AD 244

Ἡλιοδώρας Παράμμωνος … … … ἀπὸ τῆς Μικρᾶς Ὀάσεως. βίαν πάσχουσα … … γυνὴ χήρα καὶ πρεσβῦτις ὑπὸ Ἀμμω … … τῆς αὐτῆς Μικρᾶς Ὀάσεως

If any faithful or believing [woman] has [dependent] widows, she should help to them and not should be burdened the church, so that to those [who are] truly widows it may impart relief.
ἐπαρκέσῃ.¶eparkeō it may impart relief. G1884 Verb · aorist · active · subjunctive · third person · singular
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 1 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To help means to provide assistance or support to someone, like when the apostle Paul wrote about relieving widows in 1 Timothy 5:10. It's about being strong enough to aid someone in need.
Amplified meaning
support, care for
Tyndale gloss
to help
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπαρκέω (i.e., *eparkeo*) is built from the prefix ἐπ- and the root ἀρκέω. It covers meanings such as to aid, relieve, and ward off harm, often with a focus on providing assistance or being sufficient. In the New Testament, it appears in 1 Timothy 5:10 and 5:16, where it emphasizes helping others.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** ἐπ-αρκέω, -ῶ

[in LXX: I Mac 8:26 11:35 * ;]

to be strong enough for.

to ward off.

to aid, relieve: c. dat. pers., I Ti 5:10, 16 (mid., WH, mg.).†

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

ἐπ-αρκέω, -@; 1 aor. [ἐπήρκεσα], subjunc. ἐπαρκέσω; properly, to avail or be strong enough for . . . (see ἀρκέω); hence a. to ward off or drive away, τί τινι, a thing for another’s advantage i. q. a thing from any one (Hom.), to defend. b. to aid, give assistance, relieve, (Hdt., Aeschyl., al.) : τινί, 1 Tim. v. 10; Mid. to give aid from one’s own resources, 1 Tim. v.16 ace. to the reading ἐπαρκείσθω (1, txt. T Tr WH mrg.) for ἐπαρκείτω (RG L mrg. WH txt.); (κατὰ δύναμιν ἀλλήλοις ἐπαρκεῖν, Xen. mem. 2, 7, 1).

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

ἐπαρκέω. P Par 46° (B.c. 153) εἰ ἔρρωσαι καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν κατὰ λόγον σοι χρηματίζεται, εἴη ἄν, ὡς βούλομαι, καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ μετρίως ém[a]p[ka@—where however the reading is far from certain: see Witkowski?, p. 86. See also Cagnat IV. 743 (Eumeneia—time of Alexander Severus = C. and B. ii. No. 23215) τοῦτο yap ἢν μοι τερπνὸν ἐπαρκεῖν εἴ τις ἔχρῃζε--α Jew speaks. In Polyb. i. 51. 10 the verb is used as nearly synonymous with ἐπιβοηθέω : cf. 1 Tim 51%,

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπαρκέω (eparkeō) — to help.

ἐπαρκ-έω,

future -έσω (see. below): Epic dialect aorist infinitive ἐπαρκέσσαι [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—to be strong enough for a thing, in [Refs 8th c.BC+]. with accusative of things et dative person, ward off something from one, οὐδέ τί οἱ τό γ᾽ ἐπήρκεσε λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον [Refs 8th c.BC+]prohibebit quominus.., [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. with accusative of things, ward off, prevent, ἐπαρκέσσαι κακότητα [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; σέ τοι μόνον δέδορκα πημονάν (Reiske for ποιμένων) ἐ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. with dative person only, help, assist, [NT+6th c.BC+]: absolutely, τίς ἄρ᾽ ἐπαρκέσε; who will aid? [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπαρκέω

eparkeo

from 1909 and 714; to avail for, i.e. help:--relieve.

see GREEK for 1909

see GREEK for 714

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπαρκέω

v.

I aid, relieve, do service, render help

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπαρκέω eparkeō 3x

dat., pr. to ward off; to assist, relieve, succor; 1 Tim. 5:10, 16 (2x)*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπαρκέω fut. έσω to ward off a thing from a person, τί τινι Il.

c. acc. rei only, to ward off, prevent, Od.; ἐπ. μὴ πεσεῖν, prohibere quominus, Aesch.

c. dat. pers. only, to help, assist, Hdt., Ar.:—rarely c. acc. pers., like ὠφελεῖν, Eur.:—absol., τίς ἄρ᾽ ἐπαρκέσει; who will aid? Aesch.

to supply, furnish, τι id. Aesch.; ἐπ. τινί τινος to impart to him a share of, Xen.; c. dat. rei, to supply with a thing, Eur.

absol. to be sufficient, to prevail, Soph.

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

V-AAS-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Subjunctive Person: third Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%she has imparted relief
she has imparted relief33% · 1×she should help33% · 1×it may impart relief33% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
χῆροςa widow
ἔχωI have, hold, poὄντωςreally, truly
θλίβωI make narrow, perse
εἰCond
ἐπαρκέωit may impart relief.
what comes after →
εἰCond
πᾶςall, the whole,
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceἐπαρκέω · 3× in the New Testament
1 Timothy
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
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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