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2 Corinthians 13:12 — Word Study

Depth

N1904Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

BSAdo greetaspazomai [salute, give a holy welcome to] one anotherallēlōn [each other, mutually] withen a holyhagios [Christian, set apart, divine, sacred] kiss.philēma [a symbol of love and respect, a sign of affection]

Word
Listen & take away2 Corinthians 13
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 12 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (philēma) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
2 Corinthians 13:12quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs the Corinthians to greet each other warmly, emphasizing unity and affection.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the church in Corinth.
Where we areThis is part of Paul's concluding remarks in his second letter to the Corinthians.
The hard wordἈσπάσασθε
Take awayThe call for a sincere and affectionate greeting among believers.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause verbἀσπάζομαι 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 — 2 Corinthians 13:12

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 — Final Exhortations in 2 Corinthiansgenerated

11Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
12Greet one another with a holy kiss.
13All the saints send you greetings.
14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

2 Corinthians 13:12 is part of Paul's final exhortations to the church in Corinth, where he encourages them to live in harmony and peace. He emphasizes the importance of mutual affection among believers, culminating in the instruction to greet one another with a holy kiss. This practice reflects the love and unity that should characterize the Christian community, as seen in other letters, such as Romans 16:16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:26.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Romans 16:16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.
21 Corinthians 16:20All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
31 Thessalonians 5:26Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
41 Peter 5:14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

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


The Key Word Ἀσπάσασθε, aspazomaigenerated

The verb ἀσπάζομαι means to greet, welcome, or salute, often conveying respect and affection. It is used in various contexts, including formal greetings and farewells. The aorist middle deponent form here indicates a command directed at the Corinthians to actively engage in this greeting.

Paul's instruction to greet one another with a holy kiss highlights the importance of expressing love and unity within the church. It is a call to action, urging believers to show warmth and mutual respect in their interactions.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In this study, the verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses the phrase Greet one another with a holy kiss. This is echoed in the KJV and WEB, maintaining the same essential meaning.

The ASV uses salute instead of greet, while the YLT phrases it as salute one another in an holy kiss. The FBV adds Christian to describe the kiss, indicating a specific context for the greeting.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is Ἀσπάσασθε, do greet, which governs the action of the sentence. It is followed by a reciprocal pronoun ἀλλήλους, one another, indicating the mutual nature of the greeting.

The phrase μετὰ ἁγίου φιλήματος describes how the greeting should be performed, with the adjective ἁγίου qualifying the noun φιλήματι, emphasizing the sacredness of the act.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In 2 Corinthians 13:12, the Greek word ἀλλήλους (allēlōn), meaning 'one another,' corresponds to the Hebrew terms for 'man' (אִישׁ) and 'woman' (אִשָּׁה), which emphasize interpersonal relationships and community. This choice highlights the importance of mutual greeting and connection within the body of believers.

The term ἁγίῳ (hagios), translated as 'a holy,' reflects the Hebrew concept of sacredness (קֹ֫דֶשׁ), reinforcing the idea that the greeting is not just a social formality but a sacred act, underscoring the spiritual significance of their fellowship.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

2 Corinthians 13:12 instructs believers to greet each other with a holy kiss, reflecting mutual love and respect within the Christian community. This practice symbolizes the unity and affection that should characterize their relationships.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does a 'holy kiss' mean?

A 'holy kiss' is a gesture of love and respect among believers, symbolizing their unity in Christ.

Why does Paul emphasize greeting one another?

Paul emphasizes greeting one another to promote harmony and mutual affection within the church.

Is the practice of a holy kiss still relevant today?

While the cultural expression may differ, the underlying principle of showing love and respect to fellow believers remains relevant.

How can we express this greeting in modern contexts?

In modern contexts, this greeting can be expressed through warm words, hugs, or other culturally appropriate gestures of affection.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I show love and respect to my fellow believers in my community?
  2. What are some ways to promote unity and harmony within my church?
  3. In what ways can I actively greet and welcome others in my daily life?
  4. How does the concept of a 'holy kiss' translate into my relationships with others?

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

Early church writers referenced this verse to discuss the importance of mutual affection and respect among believers.

Ignatius of AntiochEpistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Antiochians c. 35–108
I salute Cassian and his partner in life, and their very dear children. Polycarp, that most worthy bishop, who is also deeply interested in you, salutes you; and to him I have commended you in the Lord.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 13 →
TertullianOn Prayer c. 155–220
But when is peace more to be concluded with brethren than when, at the time of some religious observance, our prayer ascends with more acceptability;
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 13 →
John ChrysostomHomily 30 on 2 Corinthians c. 347–407
Then to lead them on unto it, he says, "Salute one another with a holy kiss." What is "holy?" not hollow, not treacherous, like the kiss which Judas gave to Christ.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 13 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 2 Corinthians 13:12 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Greet one another with an holy kiss. [See comments on Romans 16:16].

Read John Gill on 2 Corinthians 13 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Greet one another with an holy kiss. No JFB commentary on these verses.

Read Robert Jamieson on 2 Corinthians 13 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

See Poole on "". See Poole on "". It was an ancient custom and of common use, when friends met, for them (as a token of mutual love and friendship) to kiss each other: the Christians used it also at their ecclesiastical assemblings. It must not be looked upon as a precept, obliging all Christians to do the like; but only as directing those that then did use it, to use it innocently, chastely, sincerely, and holily.

Read Matthew Poole on 2 Corinthians 13 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

12 Greet one another with an holy kiss. Ver. 12. With a holy kiss] A custom proper to those times.

Read John Trapp on 2 Corinthians 13 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) Greet one another with an holy kiss.—The tense of the Greek verb indicates that the Apostle is giving directions, not for a normal and, as it were, liturgical usage, but for a single act. In doing so, he repeats what he had said in 1 Corinthians 16:20. The same injunction appears in Romans 16:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:26. What he meant was that, as the public reading of the Epistle came to a close, the men who listened should embrace each other and kiss each other’s cheeks, in token that all offences were forgotten and forgiven, and that there was nothing but peace and goodwill between them. It was, perhaps, natural, that the counsel should be taken as a rubric, even at the cost of its…

Read Charles John Ellicott on 2 Corinthians 13 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 12. Greet one another with a holy kiss.] Use every means by which a good understanding may be brought about. Let the spirit of friendship live among you, and encourage its continuance by every friendly act. See Clarke on Romans 16:16.

Read AdamClarke on 2 Corinthians 13 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. Greet one another with a holy kiss] See note on 1 Corinthians 16:20.

Read Cambridge on 2 Corinthians 13 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Greet - Salute; see the note, Romans 16:3. With an holy kiss - note, Romans 16:16.

Read Albert Barnes on 2 Corinthians 13 →

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

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Greet one another with an holy kiss.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Salute one another with a holy kiss.

RVARevised Version, American1894

Salute one another with a holy kiss.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Greete one another with an holy kisse. All the Saintes salute you.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Salute one another with a holy kiss.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

salute one another in an holy kiss;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Greet one another in a holy kiss.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Greet each other with a holy kiss.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the saints salute you.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Greet each other with Christian affection.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Give one another a holy kiss.

Word by word, the decisions they made

Ἀσπάσασθεaspazomai do greet G782 2 different renderings
greetBSB FBV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB ULB WEB
saluteASV DBY DRA GNV RVA YLT
ἁγίῳhagios a holy G40 3 different renderings
a holyASV BBE BSB DBY DRA LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
holyGNV KJV YLT
christianFBV

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.

clauseverbἈσπάσασθεGreetobjectἀλλήλουςone anotherprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνwithnoun phraseἁγίῳa holyφιλήματιkissclauseverbἈσπάζονταιGreetobjectὑμᾶςyounoun phrase · subjectnoun phraseοἱtheἅγιοιsaintsπάντεςall

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

Salutate invicem in osculo sancto. Salutant vos omnes sancti.

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

ܫܐܠܘ ܒܫܠܡܐ ܚܕ ܕܚܕ ܒܢܘܫܩܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ

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

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

2 Corinthians 13:12ἀσπάζομαιdo greetdo greetἀσπάζομαιἀλλήλωνone anotherone anotherἀλλήλωνἐνwithwithἐνἅγιοςa holya holyἅγιοςφίλημαkiss.kiss.φίλημαἄλφαletter theletter the firsἄλφαἄλλοςAdj other,Adj other, anotἄλλοςφιλέωv. I love,v. I love, kissφιλέωεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκἁγνόςAdj pure, Adj pure, chastἁγνόςθάλπωv. I cheriv. I cherish, nθάλπωφίλημαn.n. a kisn.n. a kissφίλημαφίλοςAdj. & n.fAdj. & n.f. & nφίλοςἀγαπάωv. I lovev. I loveἀγαπάωσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςπίμπλημιv. I fillv. I fillπίμπλημιπνεῦμαn.n. wind,n.n. wind, breaπνεῦμαἀσπάζομαιv. I greetv. I greet, salἀσπάζομαιἀλλήλωνRecip.pr. Recip.pr. one aἀλλήλων
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 2 Corinthians 13:12

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.

do greet one another with a holy kiss.
Ἀσπάσασθεaspazomai do greet G782 Verb · aorist · middle deponent · imperative · second person · plural
60× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Corinthians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To pay respects to means to greet or welcome someone, like in Matthew 5:47 or Romans 16:16. It involves showing respect or affection to someone. This word is about greeting or welcoming others.
Amplified meaning
salute, give a holy welcome to
Tyndale gloss
to pay respects to
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀσπάζομαι is a verb meaning to greet, welcome, or salute, often used in the context of expressing good wishes or taking leave. It can also imply a physical embrace or kiss, and is employed as a formal closing in letters. The New Testament frequently uses it in greetings, such as in Romans 16:16 and 1 Corinthians 16:20.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀσπάζομαι depon.,

[in LXX: Ez 18:7, Jg 18:15 (לְשָׁלוֹם שָׁאַל), Es 5:2, I Mac 7:29, al.;]

to welcome, greet, salute: c. acc. pers., Mt 5:47, Mk 9:15, Ac 21:7, al.; id. seq. ἐν φιλήματι, Ro 16:16, I Co 16:20, II Co 13:12, I Th 5:26, I Pe 5:14; τ. ἐκκλησίαν (Deiss., BS, 257), Read the full entry →

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

ἀσπάζομαι ; [impf. ἠσπαζόμην] ; 1 aor. ἠἡσπασάμην ; (fr. σπάω with a intensive [q. y., but cf. ν᾽ ἀπιζθκ p. 1163 ; Curtius, Das Verbum, i. 324 sq.]; hence prop. to draw to one’s self [W. § 38, 7 fin.]; cf. doxaipw for σκαίρω. ἀσπαίpo for σπαίρω, ἀσπαρίζω for σπαρίζω) ; [fr. Hom. down]; a. with an acc. of the pers., to salute one, greet, bid welcome, wish well to, (the Israelites, on meeting and at parting, generally used the formula 7 DI7W); used of those accosting any one: Mt. x. 12; Mk. ix. 15; xv. 18; Lk. i. 40; Acts xxi. 19. of those who visit one to see him a little while, departing almost immediately afterwards: Acts xviii. 22; xxi. 7; like the Lat. sa/utare, our ‘pay one’s respects to,’ of those who show regard for a distinguished person by visiting him: Acts xxv. 13, (Joseph. antt. 1,19, 5;6,11,1). of those who greet one whom they meet in the way: Mt. v.47 (in the East even now…

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

ἀσπάζομαι. The papyri have shown conclusively that this common NT word was the regular ¢erm. tech. for conveying the greetings at the end of a letter. Examples are BGU IV. 1079*f(A.D. 41) (= Selections, p. 40) ἀσπάζου Διόδωρον pler’] ἄλων (Δ ἄλλων)... ἀσπάζου ᾿Αρποχράτη[ν], 22. 11. 423!8f (ii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 91) ἄσπασαι Καπίτων[α πο]λλὰ καὶ το[ὺς] ἀδελφούς [μ]ου καὶ Σιεϊρήνιϊ]λλαν καὶ τοὺς] φίλους [μ]ου, etc. As showing how much the absence of these greetings was felt, we may quote P Giss I. 787 (ii/A.D.) ἡ μικρά μου “Hpa8[o]is γράφουσα τῶι πατρὶ ἐμὲ οὐκ dorifeται κ[α]ὶ διὰ τί οὐκ οἶδα, and P Grenf I. ς 35: (iv/a.p.) ᾿Αλλοῦς πολλά σοι ἀπειλί(εῖ), ἐπὶ γὰρ πολλάκις γράψας καὶ πάντας ἀσπασάμενος αὐτὴν μόνον οὐκ ἠσπάσου. The use of the Ist pers. ἀσπάζομαι by Tertius in Rom 16*!, the only ex. of this exact formula in the NT, may be paralleled from P Oxy VII. 106775 (iii/A.D.) where…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀσπάζομαι (aspazomai) — to pay respects to.

ἀσπάζομαι,

Epic dialect aorist ἀσπάσσατο[Refs]:—welcome kindly, greet, τινά[Refs 8th c.BC+]; μεγάλως ἠσπάζοντο αὐτόν received him with great joy, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: frequently with no modal word, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially as the common form on meeting, Στρεψιάδην ἀσπάζομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; πόρρωθεν ἀ. salute from a distance, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πρόσωθεν αὐτὴν ἁγνὸς ὢν ἀ. I salute her at a respectful distance, i. e. keep away from her, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀ. ταῖς κώπαις, of the saluting of ships, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; ἀ. τινὰ βασιλέα to hail or salute as king, [Refs 1st c.BC+] to bid the event welcome, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀσπάζομαι

aspazomai

from 1 (as a particle of union) and a presumed form of 4685; to enfold

in the arms, i.e. (by implication) to salute, (figuratively) to

welcome:--embrace, greet, salute, take leave.

see GREEK for 1

see GREEK for 4685

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀσπάζομαι

v.

I greet, salute, pay my respects to

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀσπάζομαι aspazomai 59x

to salute, greet, welcome, express good wishes, pay respects, Mt. 10:12; Mk. 9:15, et al. freq.; to bid farewell, Acts 20:1; 21:6; to treat with affection, Mt. 5:47; met. to embrace mentally, welcome to the heart of understanding, Heb. 11:13

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀσπάζομαι to welcome kindly, bid welcome, greet, Lat. salutare, τινα Hom., etc.; as the common form on meeting, ἀσπάζομαί σε or ἀσπάζομαι alone, Ar.; πρόσωθεν αὐτὴν ἀσπ. I salute her at a respectful distance, i. e. keep away from her, Eur.:— also to take leave of, id. Eur., Xen.

to embrace, kiss, caress, Ar.; of dogs, Lat. blandiri, Xen.

of things, to follow eagerly, cleave to, Lat. amplector, ἀσπ. τὸν οἶνον Plat.

ἀσπ. ὅτι to be glad that, Ar.

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

V-ADM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: middle Deponent Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
46%do greet
do greet46% · 26×greet16% · 9×greets14% · 8×having greeted5% · 3×he greets4% · 2×other renderings4% · 2×other renderings12% · 7×

57 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 14 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 60 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
ΖαχαρίαςZechariahἀναβαίνωI go up, mount, ΠτολεμαΐςPtolemais
ἐκκλησίαan assembly, congreg
αὐτόςArticle the
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
φίλημαa kissArticle the
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἀδελφόςa brotherἐγώ
ἐάνCond
καίand, even, also,
ἀσπάζομαιdo greet60×
what comes after →
σύ
Article theἘπαφρᾶςEpaphrasΤιμόθεοςTimothy
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherἐκἘλισάβετProp
ἀλλήλων
ἐνκαίand, even, also,
αὐτός
χαίρωI rejoice, am glἐξηγέομαιI explain, make
ΠρίσκαPrisca, Priscilla
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

Concordanceἀσπάζομαι · 60× in the New Testament
Romans Acts 1 Corinthians Colossians Hebrews Philippians 1 Peter 2 Corinthians 2 Timothy 3 John Luke Matthew
Across the New Testament17 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 164c. AD 40

ἡ μὲν γὰρ εὐτέλειαν καὶ ὀλιγοδεΐαν καὶ ὅσον ἀναγκαῖον φιλαυστήρῳ καὶ σεμνῷ βίῳ διαφερόντως ἀσπάζεται, ἡ δὲ περιεργίαν καὶ πολυτέλειαν, ἃ χλιδῆς καὶ θρύψεως αἴτια γίνεται ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι, δι’ ὧν τὴν ὑπαίτιον καὶ θανάτου χαλεπωτέραν ζωὴν παρὰ τοῖς εὖ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.196c. AD 75–95

Ταῦτα τοῦ θεοῦ κρίναντος περὶ τῶν Σοδομιτῶν Ἅβραμος θεασάμενος τρεῖς ἀγγέλους, ἐκαθέζετο δὲ πρὸς τῇ δρυῒ τῇ Μαμβρῆ παρὰ τῇ θύρᾳ τῆς αὑτοῦ αὐλῆς, καὶ νομίσας εἶναι ξένους ἀναστὰς ἠσπάσατό τε καὶ παρʼ αὐτῷ καταχθέντας παρεκάλει ξενίας μεταλαβεῖν.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 1.2.2c. AD 140

ταῦτά μου συμβουλευομένου καὶ διακρίνοντος ἐν τῇ κάρδίᾳ μου, βλέπω κατέναντί μου καθέδραν λευκὴν ἐξ ἐρίων χιονίνων γεγονυῖαν μεγάλην: καὶ ἦλθεν γυνὴ πρεσβῦτις ἐν ἱματισμῷ λαμπροτάτῳ, ἔχουσα βιβλίον εἰς τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ ἐκάθισεν μόνη καὶ ἀσπάζεταί με:…

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 4th c. AD 7th c. AD

τοὺς παρ … c … ἀσπάζεταί σε … ρ …δοῦς καὶ Μητρόβις καὶ Ἡρᾶς. οὐκ ἔπεμψα τὸ ἔσοπτρον διὰ τὸν

P.Fay. 112Euhemeria (ArsinoitesAD 99

γράψω. τὰς ἅλως οὐ πάσας θλάσον ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος. μὴ οὖν ἄλλως ποιήσῃς. ἔρρωσο. ἀσπάζου Ἥρωνα καὶ Ὀρσενοῦφιν καὶ τοὺς ἐν οἴκῳ πάντας. ἔτους β Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Νερούα Τραιανοῦ

P.Fay. 123Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 100

ἀγόμενος ἵνα ἀπολυθῇ, ἀλλὰ αἰφνιδίως εἴρηκεν ἡμῖν σήμερον. γνώσομαι γὰρ εἰ ἀληθῶς λέγει. ἔρρωσο. ἀσπάζου τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς Λύκον καὶ … ν. Μεχεὶρ ιβ.

do greet one another with a holy kiss.
ἀλλήλουςallēlōn one another G240 Reciprocal pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
100× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in 2 Corinthians than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means one another, indicating mutual action or relationship. In Matthew 25:32 and John 13:22, it describes how people interact with each other.
Amplified meaning
each other, mutually
Tyndale gloss
one another
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀλλήλων is a reciprocal pronoun meaning 'one another' or 'each other,' derived from ἄλλος. It is used in various contexts to indicate mutual actions or relationships, appearing frequently in the New Testament, including verses like Matthew 25:32 and John 13:22. The lexicons agree on its meaning and usage without significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀλλήλων (gen. pl.), dat. -οις, -αις, acc. -ους, -ας, -α (no nom.), recipr. pron.

(< ἄλλος),

of one another, mutually: Mt 25:32, Mk 4:41, Jo 13:22, al.

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

ἀλλήλων, gen. plur. [no nom. being possible]; dat. τοις; -als, τοῖς ; ACC. -OUS, -as, -a, ONE another ; reciprocally, mutually: Mt. xxiv. 10; Jn. xiii. 35; Acts xxviii. 25; Ro. i. 12; Jas. v. 16; Rey. vi. 4, and often. [Fr. Hom. down. ]

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀλλήλων (allēlōn) — one another.

ἀλλήλων,

Aeolic dialect and Doric dialect ἀλλάλων, genitive plural, dua. ἀλλήλοιν, Epic dialect ἀλλήλοιϊν[Refs 8th c.BC+] feminine -αιν [Refs 5th c.BC+] codices: dative ἀλλήλοις, αις, οις, dual ἀλλήλοιν: accusative ἀλλήλους, ας, a, dual ἀλλήλω (feminine) [LXX+5th c.BC+]: the dual is rare in Prose: singular, κεράμὡ ἁρμόττοντι πρὸς ἄλληλον[Refs]:—of one another, to one another, one another; hence, mutually, reciprocally, used of all three persons, [Refs 8th c.BC+] among one another, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πρὸς ἀλλήλους, εἰς ἄλληλα, [Refs]; ἐπί, πρὸς ἀλλήλοις, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; παρ᾽ ἀλλήλους, -α, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἡ δι᾽ ἀλλήλων δεῖξις reciprocal proof, [Refs 8th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀλλήλων

allelon

Genitive plural from 243 reduplicated; one another:--each other,

mutual, one another, (the other), (them-, your-)selves, (selves)

together (sometimes with 3326 or 4314).

see GREEK for 243

see GREEK for 3326

see GREEK for 4314

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀλλήλων

Recip.pr.

one another

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀλλήλων allēlōn 100x

one another, each other

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀλλήλων redupl. from ἄλλος of one another, to one another, one another, Hom., etc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
C-APM — Reciprocal pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

C-APM Part of Speech: reCiprocal pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
93%one another
one another93% · 94×each other4% · 4×other renderings3% · 3×

101 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
object46%adverbial46%indirect object5%predicate2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 100 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
πρός
λέγωI say, speakδιαλογίζομαιI reason, debateλαλέωI speak, say
εἰς
αὐτόςβλέπωI look, seeφιλαδελφίαbrotherly love
ἀγαπάωI love
ἵναin order that, sσύArticle the
μετά
ἡμέραa dayγογγύζωI whisper, murmuλέγωI say, speak
ἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute, pay
πᾶςall, the whole,
ἀλλήλωνone another100×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸουδαῖοςJewishμαθητήςa learner, disciτέDisj
ἐν
φίλημαa kissArticle theἅγιοςset apart, holy,
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰςἐμβαίνωI embarkχαρίζομαιI show favor to,
τίςIrg
ἆραIrgἄνDisjεἰμίI am, exist
ὅτιthat, since, because
ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fλέγωI say, speakArticle the

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

Concordanceἀλλήλων · 100× in the New Testament
John Romans Luke Acts Galatians 1 John 1 Thessalonians Mark 1 Corinthians 1 Peter Ephesians James
Across the New Testament21 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 20 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 33c. AD 40

μετὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ νοητοῦ φωτὸς ἀνάλαμψιν, ὃ πρὸ ἡλίου γέγονεν, ὑπεχώρει τὸ ἀντίπαλον σκότος, διατειχίζοντος ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων αὐτὰ καὶ διιστάντος θεοῦ τοῦ τὰς ἐναντιότητας εὖ εἰδότος καὶ τὴν ἐκ φύσεως αὐτῶν διαμάχην.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.1c. AD 75–95

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

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 2.5c. AD 96

εἰλικρινεῖς καὶ ἀκέραιοι ἦτε καὶ ἀμνησίκακοι εἰς ἀλλήλους.

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 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Athen.. 23Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 82

Ἡρακλῆς ὡς ἐτῶν εἴκοσι οὐλὴ ἀντικνημίῳ ἀριστερῷ, οἱ τρεῖς Ἡρακλέους νεωτέρου Πέρσαι τῆς ἐπιγονῆς, ἀλλήλων ἔγγυοι εἰς ἔκτισιν, Θέωνι τῶι καὶ Σωκράτῃ Ἥρωνος ὡς ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ἑνὸς ἀσήμωι, ἔχειν

P.Alex. 7Dionysias (Arsinoites)AD 113

οὐλὴ γόνατι ἀριστερῷ καὶ … Δημητροῦτι Ἀγχορίμφιος Περσίνῃ ὡς ἐτῶν τεσσαράκοντα … τοῖς δυσὶ ἀλλήλων ἐνγύοις μετὰ κυρίου τῆς Δημητροῦτος … … ειδωνος ὡς ἐτῶν εἴκοσι πέντε οὐλὴ χειρὶ

P. Lond. 3 p. 144-148 no. 1179ArsinoitesAD 138–AD 161

καθήκει· ἐὰν δὲ διαφορὰς αὐτοῖς γενα … διὰ χειρὸς χρῆσιν ἔντοκον ἀργυρίου χ ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων ἀπόδοσις αὐτὴ … ηφεπ … η καὶ δραχμὰς … … … ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος

do greet one another with a holy kiss.
ἐνen with G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
79%in
in79% · 2226×with5% · 135×among5% · 132×by4% · 112×on3% · 72×other renderings4% · 116×other renderings1% · 40×

2,833 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 36 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial82%predicate11%object3%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,743 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,πᾶςall, the whole, σύ
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύεἰμίI am, exist
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the othe
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,οὐNeg
ἐγώ
μετάπατήρfather, Father, εἰς
ἐνwith2743×
what comes after →
Article the
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaἡμέραa dayκαρδίαthe heart, inner
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theμένωI remain, abide
σύ
εἰμίI am, existμένωI remain, abideκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
καίand, even, also,εἰμίI am, existArticle the
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theτόποςa placeσοφίαwisdom

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

Concordanceἐν · 2,743× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Acts John Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Revelation Mark Ephesians Colossians 1 John

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
do greet one another with a holy kiss.
ἁγίῳhagios a holy G40 Adjective · dative · singular · neuter
234× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Corinthians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
In the Bible, this word means holy or set apart, describing God and things dedicated to Him. It appears in Luke 1:49 and John 17:11, highlighting God's purity and majesty.
Amplified meaning
Christian, set apart, divine, sacred
Tyndale gloss
holy
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἅγιος (i.e., *hagios*) means holy or sacred, derived from a root indicating reverence. It refers to things and places dedicated to God, such as temples, and to persons, including angels and saints. In the New Testament, it is often applied to God, Christ, and believers, emphasizing moral purity and separation for divine service. Notably, it can also imply a sense of veneration.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — ἱερός, ὅσιος, ἅγιος, ἁγνός from a scan

‘Iepos, probably the same word as the German ‘hehr’ (see Curtius, Grundziige, vol. v. p. 369), never in the N. T., and very seldom elsewhere, implies any moral excellence. It is singular how seldom the word is found there, indeed only twice (1 Cor. ix. 13; 2 Tim. iii. 15) ; and only once in the Septuagint (Josh. vi. 8: ἱεραὶ cadrvyyes); four times in 2 Maccabees, but not else in the Apocrypha; being in none of these instances employed of persons, who only are moral agents, but always of things. To persons the word elsewhere also is of rarest application, though examples are not wanting. Thus ἱερὸς ἄνθρωπος is in Aristophanes (Rane, 652) a man initiated in the mysteries ; kings for 328 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § uxxxvut. Pindar (Pyth. v. 97 [Diss., 131 Heyn.]) are ἱεροί, as having their dignity from the gods; for Plutarch the Indian gymnosophists are ἄνδρες ἱεροὶ καὶ αὐτόνομοι (De…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἅγιος, -α, ον

(< τό ἅγός, religious awe; ἅζω, to venerate),

[in LXX chiefly for קֹ֫דֶשׁ;]

primarily, dedicated to the gods, sacred (Hdt.; rare in Att., never in Hom., Hes. and Trag., who use ἁγνός), hence, holy, characteristic of God, separated to God, worthy of veneration. Its highest application is to God himself, in his purity, majesty, and glory: Lk 1:49, Jo 17:11, Re 4:8. Hence

of things and places which have a claim to reverence as sacred to God, e.g. the Temple: Mt 24:15, He 9:1;

of persons employed by him, as angels: I Th 3:13; prophets,

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

ἅγιος, -a, -ov, (fr. τὸ dyos religious awe, reverence ; dl, ἅζομαι, to venerate, revere, esp. the gods, parents, [Curtius § 1187), rare in prof. auth.; very frequent in the sacred writ.; in the Sept. for wap; 1. properly reverend, worthy of veneration: τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ, Lk. i. 49; God, on account of his incomparable majesty, Rev. iv. 8 (Is. vi. 3, ete.), i. q. ἔνδοξος. Hence used a. of things which on account of some connection with God possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence, as places sacred to God which are not to be profaned, Acts vii. 83; τόπος ἅγιος the temple, Mt. xxiv. 15 (on which pass. see βδέλυγμα, ¢.); Acts vi. 13; xxi. 28; the holy land or Palestine, 2 Mace. i. 29; ii. 18; τὸ ἅγιον and τὰ ἅγια [W. 177 (167)] the temple, Heb. ix. 1, 24 (cf. Bleek on Heb. vol. ii. 2, p. 477 sq.) ; spec. that part of the temple or tabernacle which is called ‘the holy place’…

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

ἅγιος. The adjective is common as a title of the gods in the inscriptions, e. σ. OGZS 3781 (A.D. 18-9) θεῷ ἁγίῳ ὑψίστῳ : cf. 26, 721' ὃ δαδοῦχος τῶν ἁγιωτάτων ᾿Εἰλευσῖνι μυστηρίων. The superlative may be further illustrated (cf. Jude?) from the oldest recovered Christian letter P Amh I. 3(a)iii 22f. (between A.D. 264 (265) and 282 (281)) τοῖς κατ᾽ αἰὐτὸν ἁγιωτάτοις προ[εστῶσι]: cf. Deissmann Z4Z, p. 192 ff. For τὸ ἅγιον as “temple” cf. OGZS 56° (the Canopus inscr. of Ptolemy III, B.c. 239) καθιδρῦσαι [sc. ἄγαλμα Χρυσοῦν διάλιθον] ἐν τῶι ἁγίωι. : ἁγιότης, ἁγιωσύνη. ᾿Αγιότης, as a title, is found in the late P Giss I. 55° (vi/A.D.) addressed by one “‘ papa” or ‘‘ bishop ” to another --ἠξιώθην. . . γράψαι πρ[ὸ]ς τὴν σὴν ἁγιότητα]. Fora similar use of ἡ ἁγιωσύνη with reference to an ἐπίσκοπος, see the Pe/agfa-Legenden (ed. Usener) p. 107, cf. p. 84, On the “‘profane” warrant for ἁγιωσύνη…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἅγιος (hagios) — holy.

ἅγιος [ᾰ], α, ον,

devoted to the gods:

I. in good sense, sacred, holy:

I.1. of things, especially temples, ἈΦροδίτης ἱρὸν ἅ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἱρο᾽ν Ἡρακλέος ἅ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; μητρός.. ἐστι πατρὶς ἁγιώτερον[Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἅ., τό, temple, [LXX+NT]Holy of Holies, [NT]

I.2. of persons, holy, pure, [LXX+5th c.BC+] οἱ ἅ. the Saints, [NT] πνεῦμα ἅ. the Holy Spirit, [NT] adverb ἁγίως καὶ σεμνῶς ἔχειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. in bad sense, accursed, execrable, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; rare in Attic dialect (see. above). (Possibly cognate with Sanskrit yajati 'sacrifice'.)

ἅγιος (hagios) — holy: saint.

ἅγιος [ᾰ], α, ον,

devoted to the gods:

I. in good sense, sacred, holy:

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἅγιος

hagios

from hagos (an awful thing) (compare 53, 2282); sacred (physically,

pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially,

consecrated):--(most) holy (one, thing), saint.

see GREEK for 53

see GREEK for 2282

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἅγιος, ία, ον

Adj

set apart, holy, sacred

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἅγιος hagios 233x

separate from common condition and use; dedicated. Lk. 2:23; hallowed; used of things, τὰ ἅγια, the sanctuary; and of persons, saints, e.g., members of the first Christian communities; pure, righteous, ceremonially or morally; holy

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἅγιος ἄγος devoted to the gods, sacred, holy, Lat. sacer:

of things, esp. temples, Hdt., Xen., etc.: τὸ ἅγιον the Temple, τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων theHoly of Holies, NTest.

of persons, holy, pure, Ar.; adv. ἁγίως, Isocr., NTest.—The word never occurs in Hom. or Trag., ἁγνός being used instead.

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

A-DSN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
72%holy
holy72% · 165×saints25% · 56×other renderings3% · 7×

228 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
adverbial45%subject16%object16%predicate14%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 234 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
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spεἰςπᾶςall, the whole,
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
ἐνπίμπλημιI fillκαίand, even, also,
εἰμίI am, exist
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spἵναin order that, s
καίand, even, also, nam
δίκαιοςjust, righteous,δυνατόςpowerful, able, προφήτηςa prophet, poet
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
αὐτόςἐλάχιστοςthe smallest, leἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute,
ἅγιοςa holy234×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἄμωμοςblamelessπῦρfire, trials
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύωνa dogἀναγινώσκωI read
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
βλασφημέωI speak evil agaδιδάσκωI teachἐπί
εἰμίI am, exist
ἀκούωI hear, listenὅστιςὅτιthat, since, bec
ἐν
Χριστόςanointed, the MeArticle theἀγάπηlove

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

Concordanceἅγιος · 234× in the New Testament
Acts Revelation Romans Luke Hebrews Ephesians 1 Corinthians Matthew 1 Peter 2 Corinthians Mark Colossians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 438 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 89c. AD 40

Ἐπεὶ δ’ ὁ σύμπας κόσμος ἐτελειώθη κατὰ τὴν ἑξάδος ἀριθμοῦ τελείου φύσιν, τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἡμέραν ἑβδόμην ἐσέμνυνεν ὁ πατὴρ ἐπαινέσας καὶ ἁγίαν προσειπών·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.125c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὁ μὲν πᾶς ναὸς ἅγιον ἐκαλεῖτο, τὸ δʼ ἄβατον τὸ ἐντὸς τῶν τεσσάρων κιόνων τοῦ ἁγίου τὸ ἅγιον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.15c. AD 100

ναὸς γὰρ ἅγιος, ἀδελφοί μου, τῷ κυρίῳ τὸ κατοικητήριον ἡμῶν τῆς καρδίας.

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 8th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Col. 3 58Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)249 BC

περὶ τοῦ ὀρόβου Τηλέμαχον ἰδεῖν ἢ Ἀρτέμωνα. Μητροδώρωι τὴν παρὰ Νέστου ἐντολὴν ἀποδοῦναι. Ἀγίαν τὸν παρὰ Μακίνου ὑπηρέτην ἰδεῖν. ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας τῶν ὑποδιφθέρων τί τέλος ἐστίν. Φοίνικα

τὸ προσκύνημα τοῦ ἁγίου τόπου καὶ τοῦ γράψαντος παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς Φιλόσοφος

⳨ τῷ ἁγίῳ μοναστηρίῳ ἄπα Δωροθέου … … … … η … ω ἀπὸ ἐποικίου Νειλάμμωνος παρὰ

do greet one another with a holy kiss.
φιλήματι.philēma kiss. G5370 Noun · dative · singular · neuter
7× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Corinthians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A kiss, used as a symbol of love and respect, like in Luke 7:45 and Romans 16:16. In the New Testament, it represents a token of Christian brotherhood and affection.
Amplified meaning
a symbol of love and respect, a sign of affection
Tyndale gloss
kiss
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

φίλημα (philema) means 'a kiss' and is derived from the verb φιλέω (phileō). It covers various contexts, including a simple kiss and a symbolic gesture of Christian brotherhood, as seen in several New Testament passages like Romans 16:16 and 1 Peter 5:14. The term also appears in classical literature, indicating its longstanding use.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

φίλημα, -τος, τό

(< φιλέω),

[in LXX: Pr 27:6, Ca 1:2 (נְשִׁיקָה) * ;]

a kiss: Lk 7:45 22:48; as a token of Christian brotherhood, φ. ἅγιον, Ro 16:16, I Co 16:20, II Co 13:12, I Th 5:26; φ. ἀγάπης, I Pe 5:14 (v. Lft., Notes, 90; DB, DCA, s.v. "Kiss").†

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

φίλημα, -ros, τό, fr. Aeschyl. down, a kiss (see φιλέω, 2): Lk. vii. 45; xxii. 48, (Prov. xxvii. 6; Cant. i. 2); ἅγιον, the kiss with which, as a sign of fraternal affection, Christians were accustomed to welcome or dismiss their companions in the faith: Ro. xvi. 16; 1 Co. xvi. 20; 2 Co. xiii. 12; 1 Th. v. 26; it is also called φίλημα ἀγάπης, 1 Pet. v. 14. Cf. Kahle, De osculo sancto (Regiom. 1867); [B. D.s. v. Kiss; also Dict. of Christ. Antiq. 8. v. Kiss ].

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

φίλημα, “qa kiss.’ For the φίλημα ἅγιον (Rom 161%, a/.), see Lightfoot Motes p. 90 f. and Milligan 7zess. p. 80.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φίλημα (philēma) — kiss.

φίλημ-α [ῐ], ατος, τό,

Doric dialect φίλᾱμα [Refs 2nd c.BC+]:— kiss, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of kisses as prizes in a game, παίζωμεν περὶ φιλημάτων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; as a symbol of Christian love, [NT]

II. plural, cosmetics, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

φίλημα

philema

from 5368; a kiss:--kiss.

see GREEK for 5368

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φίλημα, ατος, τό

n.n.

a kiss

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φίλημα philēma 7x

a kiss, Lk. 7:45; 22:48; Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26; 1 Pet. 5:14*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

φίλημα φίλημα, doric φίλα_μα, ατος, τό, a kiss, Eur., Xen., etc.

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

N-DSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(nashaq; phileo, kataphilo, philema): The kiss is common in eastern lands in salutation, etc., on the cheek, the forehead, the beard, the hands, the feet, but not (in Pal) the lips (Cheyne, E B, under the word "Salutations"). In the Bible there is no sure instance of the kiss in ordinary salutation. We have in the Old Testament naschaq, "to kiss," used

(1) of relatives (which seems the origin of the practice of kissing; compare So 8:1, "Oh that thou wert as my brother .... I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me"); Ge 27:26,27 (Isaac and Jacob); 29:11 (Jacob and Rachel); 33:4 (Esau and Jacob); 45:15 (Joseph and his brethren); 48:10 (Jacob and Joseph's sons); 50:1 (Joseph and his father); Ex 4:27 (Aaron and Moses); 18:7…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Kiss

Of affection (Gen. 27:26, 27; 29:13; Luke 7:38, 45); reconciliation (Gen. 33:4; 2 Sam. 14:33); leave-taking (Gen. 31:28,55; Ruth 1:14; 2 Sam. 19:39); homage (Ps. 2:12; 1 Sam. 10:1); spoken of as between parents and children (Gen. 27:26; 31:28, 55; 48:10; 50:1; Ex. 18:7;

Kissing the lips by way of affectionate salutation was customary among near relatives of both sexes, in both patriarchal and later times. (Genesis 29:11; Solomon 8:1) Between individuals of the same sex, and in a limited degree between those of different sexes, the kiss on the cheek as a mark of respect or an act of salutation has at all times been customary in the East, and can hardly be said to be extinct even in Europe. In the Christian Church the kiss of charity was practiced not only as a friendly salutation, but as an act symbolical of love and Christian brotherhood. (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12;

This salutation was customary in the East, to express regard and reverence, as well as affection, Gen 29.13; Ru 1.14; Acts 20.37. Sometimes the beard was kissed, 2Sa 20:9; and in token of humble affection, the feet, Lu 7:38. Images and the heavenly bodies were worshipped by kissing the hand towards them, 1Ki 19:18 Job 31:27 Ho 13:2. The expression, "Kiss the Son," Ps 2:12, may be illustrated by 1Sa 10:1, where king Saul receives the kiss of allegiance from Samuel. This salutation being customary in those days…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
86%kiss
kiss86% · 6×a kiss14% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial86%object14%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 7 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἐν
ἀλλήλωνπᾶςall, the whole,
ἸούδαςJudah, Judas, Jude
αὐτός
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
ἐν
φίλημαkiss.
what comes after →
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
ἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute,
ἐγώ
οὐNeg
Article the
υἱόςa son, descenden
ἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute, pay
σύ
ἀγάπηlove
εἰρήνηpeace, peace of

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

Concordanceφίλημα · 7× in the New Testament
Luke 1 Corinthians 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians Romans
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
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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