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2 Corinthians 3:1 — Word Study

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N1904Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν συστατικῶν;

BSAAre we beginningarchomai againpalin ourselvesheautou [our own merits, abilities] to commend?sunistēmi, sunistaō [praise, recommend] Orei surely not we needchrēzō [require, have a necessity for] likehōs sometis [certain individuals, others] commendatorysustatikos [commendation, approval] lettersepistolē [epistles, written recommendations] topros yousu [as a testimony, for your sake] orē fromek yousu [as a reference, on your behalf] commendatory [letters]?sustatikos

Word
Listen & take away2 Corinthians 3
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 1 opens the 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 (sustatikos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
2 Corinthians 3:1quick helps
In a sentencePaul questions whether he needs to commend himself again or if he requires letters of recommendation.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Corinthians.
Where we areIn a letter discussing his authority and the nature of his relationship with the Corinthians.
The hard wordσυνίστημι
Take awayThe need for letters of recommendation is challenged by the evidence of the Corinthians themselves.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectτὶς verbἄρχω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

2 of 17 occur nowhere else in the New Testament — words chosen on purpose.

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 3:1

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

Context — Paul's Defense of His Apostolic Authoritygenerated

1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.
3It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:1 opens a discussion on the need for validation of Paul's authority as an apostle. He questions whether he must commend himself again or if he requires letters of recommendation, implying that the Corinthians themselves serve as proof of his ministry. This context is vital as Paul defends his role and the authenticity of his message amidst challenges from others.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Corinthians 2:17For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.
22 Corinthians 5:12We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.
32 Corinthians 10:8–12For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.
42 Corinthians 12:11–19I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
51 Corinthians 3:10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.

The Key Word συνίστημι, sunistēmi, sunistaōgenerated

The verb συνιστάνειν (*sunistānai*) means 'to commend' or 'to recommend.' It is derived from the prefix συν-, meaning 'together,' and ἵστημι, meaning 'to stand.' This word is used in contexts where someone is being endorsed or introduced, particularly in formal recommendations.

In this verse, Paul uses it to question the necessity of self-commendation or external letters, suggesting that the Corinthians themselves are evidence of his apostolic authority.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In the Berean Standard Bible, the verse reads: 'Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?' This wording is consistent across several translations, including the KJV and WEB.

However, differences arise in the rendering of συνιστάνειν. The YLT and LSV translate it as 'recommend,' while the GNV and ULB opt for 'praise.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main finite verb is Ἀρχόμεθα, we are beginning, which governs two clauses: one asking if he must commend himself again and another questioning the need for letters of recommendation.

The structure includes a prepositional phrase indicating the source of the letters, showing a complex relationship between Paul's authority and the Corinthians' perception of him.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἄρχω appears in the Septuagint, often related to authority or the beginning of actions. It is linked to the Hebrew word חָלַל, which means 'to pierce' or 'to bore,' suggesting a connection to initiating or starting something.

The use of ἐπιστολή in this context aligns with its meaning in the Septuagint, where it refers to written messages, indicating the formal nature of communication.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

2 Corinthians 3:1 raises a question about whether Paul needs to commend himself again or if he requires letters of recommendation. He implies that the Corinthians themselves are evidence of his ministry, challenging the need for external validation.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Paul mean by 'letters of recommendation'?

Paul is referring to formal endorsements or commendations that validate a person's authority or character, which were common in the ancient world.

Why does Paul question the need to commend himself?

He questions it because he believes the Corinthians themselves are proof of his apostolic authority, having been transformed through his ministry.

What is the significance of self-commendation in this context?

Self-commendation raises questions about authenticity and authority, which Paul addresses by emphasizing the evidence of the Corinthians' changed lives.

How does this verse relate to Paul's overall message?

This verse is part of Paul's broader defense of his ministry, asserting that the lives of the Corinthians are a testament to his work and authority as an apostle.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What does it mean to you that your life can be a letter of recommendation for your faith?
  2. How can you support others in their ministry without needing formal validation?
  3. In what ways do you see evidence of transformation in your community?
  4. What challenges do you face in affirming your own worth or authority in your faith journey?

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

Early church Fathers comment on this verse to discuss Paul's authority and the implications of his apostleship.

Didymus the BlindPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH c. 313–398
Paul gently expresses his surprise that the Corinthians are still unaware of the implication of his apostleship.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 3 →
John ChrysostomHomily 6 on 2 Corinthians c. 347–407
He anticipates and puts himself an objection which others would have urged against him, 'Thou vauntest thyself;' and this though he had before employed so strong a corrective in the expressions, "Who is sufficient for these things?" and,
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 3 →
PelagiusCOMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3 c. 354–418
Paul is not saying this in order to boast but so that the Corinthians will not be seduced by others.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 3 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 2 Corinthians 3:1 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Do we begin again to commend ourselves?.... The apostle having asserted that he and his fellow ministers always triumphed in Christ, and made manifest the savour of his knowledge in every place; were

Read John Gill on 2 Corinthians 3 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Are we beginning (2 Corinthians 2:17) again to recommend ourselves?

Read Robert Jamieson on 2 Corinthians 3 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

2 CHAPTER 3 To obviate the imputation of vain glory, Paul showeth that the gifts and graces of the Corinthians were a sufficient commendation of his ministry, ,5 the efficacy of which he ascribeth entirely to God. He proveth the superior excellency of the gospel ministry to that of the law, and thereupon justifieth his plain speaking, as under a dispensation of greater light and liberty than that of Moses. The apostle, in the former Epistle, had spoken much in the vindication of himself and of his office; he seeth reason to return again to something of the like discourse, being provoked by the many imputations which the false apostles and teachers, in this church, had laid upon him…

Read Matthew Poole on 2 Corinthians 3 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Ver. 1. Do we begin again, &c.] As we had done before, 2 Corinthians 1:12. To commend ourselves] Quod magnificum referente alio fuisset, ipso qui gesserat recensente vanescit. (Plin.) "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth," Proverbs 27:2. Laus proprio sordescit in ore. But the apostle was necessitated to it. As some others, letters of commendation] As the false apostles, who carried it by testimonial; in giving whereof, many good people are much to blame. Beauty needs no letters of commendation, saith Aristotle; much less doth virtue…

Read John Trapp on 2 Corinthians 3 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

III. (1) Do we begin again to commend ourselves?—The MSS. present various readings: “Do we begin again to commend ourselves [Nay, not so], unless we desire [which we do not] letters of commendation;” but the Received text is sufficiently supported, and gives a clearer and simpler meaning. Here, again, we have to read between the lines. Titus has told St. Paul what has been said of him at Corinth. Referring, probably, to what he had said in his First Epistle as to the “wisdom” which he preached (1 Corinthians 2:6), his having “laid the foundation” (1 Corinthians 3:10), his dwelling on his sufferings (1 Corinthians 4:11), his preaching without payment (1 Corinthians 9:15) as a thing he…

Read Charles John Ellicott on 2 Corinthians 3 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

CHAPTER III. The apostle shows, in opposition to his detractors, that the faith and salvation of the Corinthians were sufficient testimony of his Divine mission; that he needed no letters of recommendation, the Christian converts at Corinth being a manifest proof that he was an apostle of Christ, 1-3. He extols the Christian ministry, as being infinitely more excellent than that of Moses, 4-12. Compares the different modes of announcing the truth under the law and under the Gospel: in the former it was obscurely delivered; and the veil of darkness, typified by the veil which Moses wore, is still on the hearts of the Jews; but when they turn to Christ this veil shall be taken away, 13-16. On…

Read AdamClarke on 2 Corinthians 3 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ch. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6. St Paul’s Ministry no self-assumed task, but the communication of the Spirit1. Do we begin again to commend ourselves?] A charge had been apparently brought against St Paul that he had before (probably in 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 4:11-14; 1 Corinthians 9:20-27; 1 Corinthians 14:18) indulged in unseemly self-laudation. He supposes that the same charge will be brought against him for his language in ch. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.as some others] The opponents of St Paul had no doubt come armed with letters of commendation from some Apostle (as the Judaizers in Galatians 2:12) or Church, and some of them had received similar letters from the…

Read Cambridge on 2 Corinthians 3 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Do we begin again - This is designed evidently to meet an objection.

Read Albert Barnes on 2 Corinthians 3 →

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

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you?

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

NETBNew English Translation2006

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we?

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?

RVARevised Version, American1894

Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others , epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Doe we begin to praise our selues againe? or neede we as some other, epistles of recommendation vnto you, or letters of recommendation from you?

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or do we need, as some, commendatory letters to you, or [commendatory] from you?

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you?

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? We do not need letters of recommendation to you or from you, like some people, do we?

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need (as some do) epistles of commendation to you, or from you?

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Are we starting to speak well of ourselves again? Or do we need to have some letter of recommendation for you, or from you, as some people do?

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Do we seem to be again attempting to put ourselves in the right? or have we need, as some have, of letters of approval to you or from you?

Word by word, the decisions they made

συνιστάνειν;sunistēmi, sunistaō to commend? G4921 2 different renderings
recommendLSV YLT
praiseGNV ULB
συστατικῶνsustatikos commendatory G4956 3 different renderings
commendationASV DRA KJV NWB RVA WEB
commendatoryDBY
approvalBBE
ἐπιστολῶνepistolē letters G1992 3 different renderings
lettersBBE BSB DBY LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB YLT
epistlesASV DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA
letterFBV

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.

clauseverbἈρχόμεθαAre we beginningadverbialπάλινagainclause · objectobjectἑαυτοὺςourselvesverbσυνιστάνεινto commendclauseOrclauseμὴnotclauseverbχρῄζομενwe needprepositional phrase · adverbialὥςlikeτινεςsomenoun phrase · objectσυστατικῶνcommendatoryἐπιστολῶνlettersprepositional phrase · adverbialprepositional phraseπρὸςtoὑμᾶςyouorprepositional phraseἐξfromὑμῶνyou

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

Incipimus iterum nosmetipsos commendare ? aut numquid egemus (sicut quidam) commendatitiis epistolis ad vos, aut ex vobis ?

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

ܡܫܪܝܢܢ ܠܢ ܬܘܒ ܡܢ ܕܪܝܫ ܕܢܚܘܝܟܘܢ ܡܢܐ ܚܢܢ ܐܘ ܕܠܡܐ ܣܢܝܩܝܢܢ ܐܝܟ ܐܚܪܢܐ ܕܐܓܪܬܐ ܕܦܘܩܕܐ ܢܬܟܬܒܢ ܠܟܘܢ ܥܠܝܢ ܐܘ ܕܐܢܬܘܢ ܬܟܬܒܘܢ ܬܦܩܕܘܢ ܥܠܝܢ

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

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν συστατικῶν;

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν συστατικῶν;

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
OrNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
συστατικῶν; commendatory [letters]?TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Treg, 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.

2 Corinthians 3:1ἄρχωAre we begiAre we beginninἄρχωπάλινagainagainπάλινἑαυτοῦourselvesourselvesἑαυτοῦσυνίστημιto commend?to commend?συνίστημιOrOrμήsurely notsurely notμήχρῄζωwe needwe needχρῄζωὡςlikelikeὡςτὶςsomesomeτὶςσυστατικόςcommendatorcommendatoryσυστατικόςἐπιστολήletterslettersἐπιστολήπρόςtotoπρόςσύyouyouσύororἐκfromfromἐκσύyouyouσύσυστατικόςcommendatorcommendatory [lσυστατικόςἤδηAdv now, aAdv now, alreadἤδηἤπερDisj.prt. Disj.prt. thanἤπερχρείαn.f. need,n.f. need, neceχρείαὅςRel.pr. whRel.pr. who, whὅςἐπιστέλλωv. I writev. I write, senἐπιστέλλωπάληn.f. a wren.f. a wrestlinπάληοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόσυνίστημιv. I commev. I commend, pσυνίστημιἀδελφήn.f. a sisn.f. a sisterἀδελφήἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνδεύτεροςAdj & Adv.Adj & Adv. secoδεύτεροςμικρόςAdj littleAdj little, smaμικρόςταπεινόωv. I humblv. I humble, huταπεινόωἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦπάλινAdv again,Adv again, furtπάλινπότεIrg.prt. wIrg.prt. when, πότεφοβέωv. I fear,v. I fear, am tφοβέω
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 3:1

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.

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
Ἀρχόμεθαarchomai Are we beginning G757 Verb · present · middle · indicative · first person · plural
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Meaning
To be first or reign over means to have power or authority, like a ruler. This is seen in Jesus' teachings and interactions with his disciples, such as in Matthew 16:21.
Tyndale gloss
be first
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἄρχω (*archō*) primarily means 'to begin' or 'to rule.' It can denote the act of starting something, often with a genitive case, or the authority to lead or govern. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts related to leadership (e.g., Mark 10:42) and beginning actions (e.g., Matthew 4:17). The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἄρχω,

[in LXX for חלל, משׁל, etc.;]

to begin.

to rule (v. DCG, ii, 538b.): c. gen., Mk 10:42, Ro 15:12. Mid., to begin: seq. ἀπό, Mt 16:21 20:8, Lk 14:18 23:5 24:27, 47, Jo 8:9, Ac 1:22 8:35 10:37, I Pe 4:17; c. inf., an Aramaic pleonasm, Mk 1:45 2:23 5:17, Lk 3:8, al. (v. M, Pr., 14 f.; Dalman, Words, 27; MM, s.v.).

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

ἄρχω ; [fr. Hom. down]; to be first. 1. to be the first to do (anything), to begin, —a sense not found in the Grk. Bible. 2. to be chief, leader, ruler: twos [B. 169 (147) ], Mk. x. 42; Ro. xv. 12 (fr. Is. xi. 10). See ἄρχων. Mid., pres. ἄρχομαι ; fut. ἄρξομαι (once [twice], Lk. xiii. 26 [but not Tr mrg. WH mrg.; xxiii. 30]); 1 aor. ἠρξάμην; to begin, make a beginning: ἀπό twos, Acts x. 37 [B. 79 (69); ef. Matth. § 558]; 1 Pet. iv. 17; by brachylogy ἀρξάμενος ἀπό τινος ἕως τινός for, having begun from some person or thing (and continued or continuing) to some person or thing: Mt. xx.8; Jn. viii. 9 [i.e. Rec.]; Acts i. 22; ef. W. § 66, 1 c.; [B. 374 (320)]; ἀρξάμενον is used impers. and absol. a beginning being made, Lk. xxiv. 27 (so in Hadt. 3, 91; cf. W. 624 (580) ; [B. 374 sq. (321)]); carelessly, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Μωυσέως καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων προφητῶν διηρμήνευεν for, beginning from Moses he…

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

ἄρχω (archō) — be first.

ἄρχω,

Epic dialect infinitive ἀρχέμεναι[Refs 8th c.BC+]imperfect ἦρχον[Refs]; Doric dialect ἆρχον[Refs 5th c.BC+]: future ἄρξω[Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist ἦρξα, Epic dialect ἄρξα[Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect ἦρχα[Refs 1st c.AD+]:—middle, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; non-thematic participle ἄρχμενος[Refs 3rd c.BC+]: imperfect, [Refs 8th c.BC+]future ἄρξομαι (in middle sense, see below) [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Doric dialect ἀρξεῦμαι[Refs 3rd c.BC+]: aorist ἠρξάμην[Refs 8th c.BC+] —passive, perfect ἦργμαι only in middle sense, see below [Refs]: aorist ἤρχθην, ἀρχθῆναι[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—to be first,

I. in Time, begin, make a beginning, active and middle (in [Refs 8th c.BC+]to be the aggressor, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἄρχεσθαι to begin one's operations, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἄρχειν…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἄρχω

archo

a primary verb; to be first (in political rank or power):--reign

(rule) over.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἄρχω

v.

I reign, rule

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἄρχω archō 86x

(1) pr. (act.) to be first; to rule, Mk. 10:42; Rom. 15:12 (2) mid. to begin, Mt. 4:17; to take commencement, Lk. 24:27; 1 Pet. 4:17

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἄρχω pf. pass. ἦργμαι only in mid. sense in pass. sense:— to be first,

of Time, to begin, make a beginning, both in Act. and Mid.:

c. gen. to make a beginning of, πολέμοιο, μάχης, etc., Hom.; so Hdt. and attic:—Mid. also in a religious sense, like ἀπάρχεσθαι, ἀρχόμενος μελέων beginning the sacrifice with the limbs, Od.; ἄρχειν σπονδῶν Thuc.

c. gen. also to begin from or with, ἐν σοὶ μὲν λήξω σέο δ᾽ ἄρξομαι Il.; so, ἄρχεσθαι ἔκ τινος Od.; ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ παιδίων even from boyhood, Hdt.

c. gen. rei et dat. pers., ἄρχ. θεοῖς δαιτός to make preparations for a banquet to the gods, Il.; τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε id. Il., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PMI-1P — Verb · present · middle · indicative · first person · plural
present middle indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PMI-1P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Middle Mood: Indicative Person: first Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

be-gin'-ing (re'-shith; arche): The natural meaning of the word is with reference to time. The primitive Greek root means "to be long," "to draw out." Thus, it is used to refer to some point of time long drawn out, or long past (Ge 1:1). It is used also to express the inauguration of a particular event (Ex 12:2). The principal interest in the word centers in the use of it in Joh 1:1. It must be interpreted here by that which follows in the statement as to the relation of the Logos to the Eternal God and the use of the word "was." It is true that the word arche cannot be separated from the idea of time, but when time began He already was, and therefore He was from eternity.

See TIME; ETERNITY.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
31%began
began31% · 27×he began28% · 24×having begun10% · 9×they began9% · 8×beginning3% · 3×may begin3% · 3×other renderings14% · 12×

86 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 18 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
δοκέωI think, seem, appea
Article the
ἀνίστημιI raise up, set up,
Article the
ἄρχωAre we beginning
what comes after →
Article the
ἔθνοςa race, people,
ἔθνοςa race, people, the
ἐπί

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

Concordanceἄρχω · 2× in the New Testament
Mark Romans
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 74 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 Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.72c. AD 40

δίκαιον γὰρ τὸ μὲν κρεῖττον ἄρχειν ἀεὶ καὶ πανταχοῦ, τὸ δὲ χεῖρον ἄρχεσθαι·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.77c. AD 75–95

καὶ Μωυσῆς, ἄρχειν γὰρ μάχης οὐ συνεβούλευσεν ὁ θεὸς χρωμένῳ, τὴν δύναμιν ὑπανῆγε διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου ἐκπεριιών.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.18c. AD 100

τίς οὖν ὁ δυνάμενος νῦν ἄρχειν θηρίων ἤ ἰχθύων ἤ πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
P.Wisc. 1 33ArsinoitesAD 147

ον καίτοι τῶν τοιούτων κεκωλυμένων δημοσίοις πράγμασι προσιέναι. ἴσθι γε καὶ κωμοστρατηγεῖν, τουτέστιν ἄρχειν, καὶ κωμῶν κακοήθους ἐᾶν τοὺς ἐλευθέρους τύπτειν καὶ παίειν καὶ μαστιγοῦν. τῶν οὖν τοιούτων

CPR 7 4Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 156

τινες ἑκούσιοι ὑπεσχήμενοι, μετʼ ἐκείνους γυμνασιαρχεῖν, ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ὦσι, μετὰ τὸν νῦν γυμνασίαρχον ἀρχεῖν ?. ἄλλο ἐπὶ τοὺς θανόντας· Ἀρτεμιδώρου προσαχθέντος Σαραπίων νεώτερος ῥήτωρ εἶπεν· ὁ ἡμέτερος πατὴρ

P.Vet.Aelii 7Ankyron (Herakleopolites)AD 223–AD 224

πρὸς μόνον … … υρης τω … … … ους τρια … … ω Αρχω … … ὄρος, λιβὸς … … υ Σαραπ … … υ παρα

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
πάλινpalin again G3825 Adverb
141× 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
Again or once more is what this word means. It is used in many places in the Bible, like Matthew 4:8 and John 1:35, to indicate that something is happening again or that something should be done again.
Tyndale gloss
again
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πάλιν (*palin*) is an adverb meaning 'again' or 'back.' It encompasses both spatial and temporal contexts, indicating a return to a previous position or the repetition of an action. In the New Testament, it appears in various verses, such as Matthew 4:8 and John 1:35. The lexicons note its use for both literal and rhetorical purposes, but there is no significant disagreement among them.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πάλιν, adv.,

[in LXX for שׁוּב, etc.;]

of place, back, backwards (LS, s.v.).

Of time, again, once more: Mt 4:8, Mk 2:13, Lk 23:20, Jo 1:35 (and freq.), Ac 17:32, Ro 11:23, Ga 1:9, He 1:6, al; pleonastically, π. ἀνακάμπτειν, Ac 18:21; ὑποστρέφειν, Ga 1:17; εἰς τὸ π., II Co 13:2; π. ἐκ τρίτου (Bl., § 81, 4),

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

πάλιν, adv.,fr. Hom. down; 1. anew, again, [but the primary meaning seems to be back; cf. (among others) Ellendt, Lex. Soph. 8. v. ii. p. 485]; a. joined to verbs of all sorts, it denotes renewal or repetition of the action: Mt. ἵν. 8; xx.5; xxi. 36; xxii.1,4; Mk. ii. 13; iii. 20; Lk. xxiii. 20; Jn. i. 35; iv. 13 ; viii. 2, 8, 12, 21; ix. 15,17; x.19; Acts xvii. 32; xxvii. 28; Ro. xi. 23; 1 Co. vii. 5; 2Co. xi.16; Gal.i.9; 11.18; iv. 19; 2 Pet. ii. 20; Phil. ii. 28; iv.4; Heb.i. 6 (where πάλιν is tacitly opposed to the time when God first brought his Son into the world, i. e. to the time of Jesus’ former life on earth) ; Heb. v.12; vi.1,6; Jas. v.18; Rev. x. 8, 11; πάλιν μικρόν se. ἔσται, Jn. xvi. 16 sq. 19; εἰς τὸ πάλιν, again (cf. Germ. zum wiederholten Male; [see eis, A. II. 2 fin.]), 2 Co. xiii. 2; with verbs of going, coming, departing, returning, where again combines with the…

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

πάλιν, an adverbial acc. like δίκην, μάτην, χάριν, originally meaning ‘‘back,’’ return to a previous position, in later Greek came to be used rather in the sense of ‘‘ again,” repetition of a previous action. Exx. are P Tebt I. 58°? (B.C. 111) πάλιν προσεντέλλομαί σοι προσεδρεῦσαι, “1 again bid you be in attendance”’ (Edd.), P Fay 122! (¢. A.D. 100) ἕως ἀπολαβὼν τὸ λοιπὸν THs τιμ[ἢ]ς πάλιν σοι γράψω, “until I get the remainder of the price and write to you again” (Edd.), PSI IV. 299! (ili/A.D. εὔχομαι τ]ῷ θεῷ ἕως οὗ ἄν pe πάλιν πρὸς ὑμᾶς εὐοδώσῃ, “1 pray God until he again gives me a prosperous return to you,” P Oxy παλινγενεσία 4 XII. 1490° (late iii/a.p.) εἰ οὖν πάλιν δύνῃ ἐκπλέξαι παρὰ σεαυτῷ, τύχῃ τῇ ἀγαθῇ, “if then you can again get him off by yourself (Ὁ), good luck to you” (Edd.), and P Gen I. 532° (iv/A.D.) ἐγὼ πάλιν σὸς δοῦλος εἰμεὶ καὶ οὐκ ἀποστατίσωμαί (= ἡσομαί) σου ὡς…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πάλιν (palin) — again.

πάλῐν [ᾰ],

poetry also πάλι (q.see), adverb

1. of Place, back, backwards (the usual sense in early Epic dialect), mostly joined with Verbs of going, coming, etc.; π. χώρει [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ἐλεύσεται, κατελθεῖν, ἐπανέλθωμεν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δεῦρο σωθήσῃ π. [Refs]; δόμεναι π. give back, restore, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; π. ἀγκαλέσαι to call back, [Refs 4th c.BC+] she turned back from her son, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: coupled with other adverbs, π. αὖτις ἔβαινον νηὸς ἐπὶ γλαφυρῆς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; αὖ π. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἄψορρον π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. οἴκαδε, π. οἴκαδ᾽ αὖ, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with the Article, ἡ π. ὁδός [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πάλιν

palin

probably from the same as 3823 (through the idea of oscillatory

repetition); (adverbially) anew, i.e. (of place) back, (of time) once

more, or (conjunctionally) furthermore or on the other hand:--again.

see GREEK for 3823

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πάλιν

Adv

again, further, on the other hand

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πάλιν palin 141x

pr. back; again, back again, Jn. 10:17; Acts 10:16; 11:10; again by repetition, Mt. 26:43; again in continuation, further, Mt. 5:33; 13:44, 45, 47, 18:19; again, on the other hand, 1 Jn. 2:8

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πάλιν of Place, back, backwards, Hom., Hes., etc.; π. χωρέειν Hdt.; π. ἔρχεσθαι Aesch., etc.; also, πάλιν δοῦναι to give back, restore, Il.:—c. gen., πάλιν τράπεθ᾽ υἷος ἑοῖο she turned back from her son, id. Il.; πάλιν κίε θυγατέρος ἧς id. Il.;—also πάλιν αὖτις back again, αὖτε πάλιν, ἂψ π., π. ὀπίσσω, etc.

with a notion of contradiction, πάλιν ἐρεῖν to gain say (i. e. say against), Il.; but, μῦθον πάλιν λάζεσθαι to take back one's word, unsay it, id. Il.; opp. to ἀληθέα εἰπεῖν, Od.: in Prose, contrariwise, Plat.: —c. gen., τὸ πάλιν νεότητος youth's opposite, Pind.; χρόνου τὸ πάλιν the change of time, Eur.

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

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-gen': Advb. denoting repetition; in New Testament, generally for palin, "back," "once more." Occasionally, it has the force of a connective, synonymous with "moreover," as in Ro 15:10 ff; 1Co 3:20, etc. The expression "born again" of the King James Version, Joh 3:3,7; 1Pe 1:23, translating the Greek "anothen" and "ana" in composition, becomes in the Revised Version (British and American) "anew," i.e. "over again." As these particles mean "from above" and "up," their use as indicating repetition is sometimes disputed, but without further foundation than that "again" does not exhaust the meaning.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
99%again
again99% · 144×other renderings1% · 1×

145 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
adverbial100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 141 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
ἐγώἸουδαῖοςJewishδοξάζωI glorify, honor
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςὄρθροςearly dawn, day-
οὖνtherefore, then
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goἸησοῦςJesus
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the othe
αὐτός
ἀφίημιI send away, relοὖνtherefore, thenλέγωI say, speak
πάλινagain141×
what comes after →
λέγωI say, speak
μήNegἐνArticle the
εἰς
Article theΚαφαρναούμPropσυναγωγήan assembly, con
Article the
ὄχλοςa crowdμαθητήςa learner, disciδώδεκαIndec
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἐξέρχομαιI go out, come oArticle the
οὖνtherefore, then
αὐτόςἐρωτάωI ask, question,ἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q

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

Concordanceπάλιν · 141× in the New Testament
John Mark Matthew Hebrews Galatians 2 Corinthians Acts Romans 1 Corinthians Luke Philippians Revelation

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 35 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 Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

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

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

Ἰακώβου φυγὴ εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν καὶ τὸν ἐκ τἀδελφοῦ φόβον, καὶ ὡς γήμας ἐκεῖ καὶ δώδεκα γεννήσας παῖδας πάλιν εἰς τὴν Χαναναίαν ἐπανῆλθεν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.7c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ πάλιν πρὸς αὐτούς: Μὴ ἐγὼ ἐνετειλάμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, προσενέγκαι μοι ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίας;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC
PSI 6 575Alexandria252 BC

ἐμνήσθην σοι καὶ πρότερον ἐν πόλει ὑπὲρ Ἑρμογένους τινὸς τῶν κληρούχων, ᾤμην δὲ δεῖν πάλιν ὑπομνῆσαί σε. καλῶς ἂν οὖν ποιήσαις, ὡς ἄν σοι ἀποδῶι τὴν ἐπιστολήν, γνωριμώτερόν σε

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59442Alexandria (?)276 BC–227 BC

ς σοι παραδῶι μετὰ φιλίας κα … μαν παρʼ αὐτοῦ παῖδα πάλιν ἀνακεχωρηκέναι … πράγματα ἔχων ὅπως καταγάγω αὐτόν· οὐ γὰρ … καὶ Αἰνησίδημον ἀξιώσω τοῦ

P.Cair. Zen. 4 59621Arsinoites (?)249 BC–240 BC

παρασχέσθαι μαρτυροῦντας αὐτῆι εναμ … … ἐρημοῦμαι δὲ καὶ ἐγὼ μαρτυρίας περὶ τούτων, ὅπως πάλιν διακούσας … … ους, ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἐνδείξηται, εἶναι τὴν οἰκίαν ἐμήν , ἵνα

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ἑαυτοὺςheautou ourselves G1438 Reflexive pronoun · first person · accusative · plural · masculine
320× 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 reflexive pronoun means 'themself' or 'themselves', referring back to the subject of a sentence, as in Matthew 27:42 and Luke 23:35.
Amplified meaning
our own merits, abilities
Tyndale gloss
themself
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἑαυτοῦ (i.e., *heautou*) is a reflexive pronoun meaning 'of himself, herself, itself,' and is used primarily in the third person. It appears in various contexts throughout the New Testament, often indicating actions done by a subject to themselves or emphasizing possession. Additionally, it can serve as a reciprocal pronoun in plural forms, indicating mutual actions among individuals.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἑαυτοῦ, -ῆς, -οῦ, dat. -ῷ, etc., acc. -όν, etc., pi. -ῶν, etc. (Att. contr. αὑτοῦ, etc);

reflex pron.;

prop, of 3rd person (Lat. sui, sibi, se), of himself, herself, itself, etc.: Mt 27:42, Mk 15:31, Lk 23:35, al.; added to a middle verb, διεμερίσαντο ἑαυτοῖς, Jo 19:24; to an active verb, Ac 14:14 (M, Pr., 157); ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ, Lk 12:57 21:30, Jo 5:19, al. (v.s. ἀπό); δι’ ἑαυτοῦ, Ro 14:14; ἐν ἑ., Mt 3:9, Mk 5:30, al.; εἰς ἑ., Read the full entry →

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἑαυτοῦ (heautou) — themself.

ἑαυτοῦ, ῆς, οῦ, ἑαυτῷ, ῇ, ῷ, ἑαυτόν, ήν, ό,

plural ἑαυτῶν, ἑαυτοῖς, ἑαυτούς άς, ά: Ionic dialect ἑωυτοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also ωὑτῆς [Refs 3rd c.BC+] in Papyrus and Inscrr., as [Refs 1st c.BC+]: Attic dialect contraction αὑτοῦ, etc., which is the usual form in Trag., though ἑαυτοῦ, etc., are used (though rarely) when the metre requires, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; Cretan dialect ϝιαυτοῦ Kohler-Ziebarth Stadtrecht von Gortyn [Refs]; Doric dialect αὐταυτοῦ, αὐσαυτοῦ (which see); Thess. εὑτοῦ (dative), [Refs]: genitive plural ηὑτῶν [Refs]:—reflexive pronoun of 3rd pers., of himself, herself, itself, etc.; first in [Refs 7th c.BC+], and Attic dialect [Refs 8th c.BC+] itself by itself, absolutely, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; αὐτὸ ἐφ᾽ αὑτοῦ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν, ἑαυτοῦ, of themselves, himself, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, see at…

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἑαυτοῦ, ῆς, οῦ

Refl.pr.

himself, herself, itself

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἑαυτοῦ heautou 319x

himself, herself, itself, Mt. 8:22; 12:26; 9:21; also used for the first and second persons, Rom. 8:23; Mt. 23:31; also equivalent to ἀλλήλων, Mk. 10:26; Jn. 12:19; ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν, of himself, themselves, voluntarily, spontaneously, Lk. 12:57; 21:30; of one’s own will merely, Jn. 5:19; δι’ ἑαυτοῦ, of itself, in its own nature, Rom. 14:14; ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, of one’s own self, 2 Cor.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἑαυτοῦ reflex. Pron. of 3rd pers., Lat. sui, sibi, se, of himself, herself, itself, etc.; first in Hdt. and attic; Hom. has ἕο αὐτοῦ, οἷ αὐτῷ, ἑ αὐτόν:—αὐτὸ ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτό itself by itself, absolutely, Plat.; so τὸ ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτόν Thuc.; αὐτὸ καθ᾽ αὑτό Plat.;— ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ of himself, Thuc., etc.; ἐν ἑαυτοῦ, ἐντὸς ἑαυτοῦ, Lat. sui compos: — παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ at his own house, Xen.; often with comp. and Sup., ἐγένοντο ἀμείνονες αὐτοὶ ἑωυτῶν they surpassed themselves, Hdt.; πλουσιώτεροι ἑαυτῶν, i. e. continually richer, Thuc.

in attic αὑτοῦ, sometimes for 1st or 2nd pers., Aesch., Soph.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
F-1APM — Reflexive pronoun · first person · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

F-1APM Part of Speech: reFlexive pronoun Person: first Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
34%himself
himself34% · 111×themselves20% · 67×yourselves14% · 48×his own7% · 24×their own6% · 21×ourselves6% · 20×itself3% · 11×other renderings5% · 18×other renderings3% · 11×

331 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 21 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
object53%adverbial36%indirect object8%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 320 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
θάπτωI buryεἰςἕκαστοςeach, every one
ἐν
λέγωI say, speakδιαλογίζομαιI reason, debateαὐτός
ἐπί
βασιλείαkingship, sovereἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, pοἰκίαa house, househo
πρός
λέγωI say, speakκρατέωI lay hold of, oδιαλογίζομαιI reason, debate
μετά
ἔχωI have, hold, poπαραλαμβάνωI take, receiveλαμβάνωI receive, take
ἑαυτοῦourselves320×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
αἴρωI raise, lift upεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inμερίζωI divide, part,
Article the
ἱμάτιονouter garmentἐκοἰκονόμοςa steward
λέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, becἐάνCondαὐτός
οὐNeg
δύναμαιI am powerful, aἵστημιI cause to standκρίνωI judge, decide,
ἀλλάbut, except
πρόσκαιροςtemporaryArticle theὅσος

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

Concordanceἑαυτοῦ · 320× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew 2 Corinthians John Mark Acts Romans 1 Corinthians Ephesians Hebrews Revelation Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament25 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 9c. AD 40

τὸ δὲ παθητὸν ἄψυχον καὶ ἀκίνητον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ, κινηθὲν δὲ καὶ σχηματισθὲν καὶ ψυχωθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ μετέβαλεν εἰς τὸ τελειότατον ἔργον, τόνδε τὸν κόσμον·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.19c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.1c. AD 100

Ἡμερῶν οὖν οὐσῶν πονηρῶν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος ἔχοντος τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὀφείλομεν ἑαυτοῖς προσέχοντες ἐκζητεῖν τὰ δικαιώματα κυρίου,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

καὶ ἡμῖν δὲ γράφοντες ὑπὲρ ὧν αἱρεῖσθε ὡς πᾶν προθυμότερον τελεωθησόμενον, ἐπιμελόμενοι δὲ καὶ ἑαυτῶν ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους ιδ τοῦ καὶ ια, Παῦνι ιε

P.Grenf. 1 33Thebais104 BC

κζ μέση μελίχρως λεύκωμα ὀφθαλμόν, μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύρριν αἱ τρεῖς τῶν Ψεμμίνιος μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ ἑαυτῶν ἀδελφοῦ Παχνούβιος τοῦ προγεγραμμένου καὶ συνπωλουμένου, ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπαρχούσης αὐτοῖς πατρικῆς γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου

P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν Πτολεμαίδι. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους ιϛ, Θωῦθ η.

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
συνιστάνειν;sunistēmi, sunistaō to commend? G4921 Verb · present · active · infinitive
16× 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
To commend or recommend, as in Romans 16:1 where Paul commends Phoebe to the church.
Amplified meaning
praise, recommend
Tyndale gloss
to commend
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

συνίστημι is built from the prefix συν- meaning 'together' and the root ἵστημι meaning 'to stand.' It covers meanings such as to commend, recommend, show, prove, and to be composed of or cohere. In the New Testament, it appears in several letters, notably in Romans and 2 Corinthians, where it emphasizes the act of presenting or establishing someone or something.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

συν-ίστημι

[in LXX for צוה pi., קהל ni., etc.; I Mac 12:43, II Mac 4:24, III Mac 1:19 (and freq. in these books) ;]

trans.,

to commend, recommend: c. acc. pers., II Co 3:1 6:4 10:12, 18; id. c. dat., Ro 16:1 (as freq. at the beginning of a letter; Deiss., LAE, 226), II Co 5:12; seq. πρός, II Co 4:2; pass., seq. ὑπό, II Co 12:11;

to show, prove, establish: c. acc., Ro 3:5 5:8, II Co 6:4; dupl. acc., Ga 2:13; acc. et inf.,

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

συν-ίστημι (Ro. iii. 5; v. 8; xvi. 1; 2 Co. x. 18; Gal. ii. 18 Rec.; ptep. συνιστάντες, 2 Co. iv. 21, Τ Tr; vi. 41, T Tr), or συνιστάνω (2 Co. ν. 12; Gal. ii. 18 GLTTr WH; inf. συνιστάνειν, 2 Co. iii. 1 R GT WH; ptep. συνἱστάνων, 2 Co. iv. 2 WH; vi. 4 WH; x. 12,.18 LT Tr WH), or συνιστάω (inf. συνιστᾶν, 2 Co. iii. 1L Tr; ptep συνιστῶν, 2 Co. iv. 2 RG; vi.4 RG; x. 18 Rec.; see ἵστημι) ; 1 aor. συνέστησα; pf. συνέστηκα; 2 pf. ptep. συνeoras[nom. plur. neut. -τῶτα, 2 Pet. iii. 5 WHaurg.]; pres. pass. inf. συνίστασθαι; fr. Hom. Il. 14, 96 down; 2. to place together, to set in the same place, to bring or band together; in the 2 aor., pf. and plupf. intransitively, to stand with (or near): συνεστώς τινι, Lk. ix. 32. 2. to set one with another i.e. by way of presenting or introducing him, i. e. to commend (Xen., Plat., Dem., Polyb., Joseph., Plut.) : τινά, 2 Co. iii. 1; Wie Ais) χα, 1. 18…

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

συνίστημι place of ἐπίσταμαι in the closely parallel 59060%. The literal meaning ‘‘bring together” is probable in PSI VI. 6657 (ili/B.C.) γεωργοὺς δὲ ods οὐ συνίημι, but unfortunately the verb is followed by a lacuna. ovvioTH it is very common in the papyri, and is used with a great variety of meanings. We can notice only the principal ones, and those most nearly related to the NT occurrences of the word. (1) From its original meaning ‘‘set together,” ‘*combine,’’ συνίστημι passes into the sense of ‘* bring together as friends,” ‘‘introduce,’’ ‘‘recommend,” as in P Petr II. 11(1)° (iii/B.c.) (= Selections, p. 7) πέπεισμαι ῥαιδίως pe τῶι βασιλεῖ συσταθήσεσθαι, “I am sure that I shall easily be introduced to the King,’ P Oxy IV. 787 (A.D. 16) ἐρωτῶ σε οὖν ἔχειν συνεσταμένον, “I ask you therefore to hold him as recommended,” 26, II. 2025 (a.D. 25) παρακαλῶ oe μετὰ πάσης δυνάμεως ἔχειν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

συνίστημι, συνιστάω (sunistēmi, sunistaō) — to commend.

συνίστημι,

also συνιστάνω [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; συνιστάω [NT+4th c.BC+]; imperfect συνίστα [Refs 2nd c.BC+]imperfect συνίστην, future συστήσω, aorist 1 συνέστησα: transitive perfect συνέστᾰκα, found only in later texts, [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—set together, combine, τὰς χορδὰς ἀλλήλαις [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰς ἄρκυς καὶ τὰ δίκτυα falsa lectio in [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. combine, associate, unite, σ. τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἐπὶ τῇ Σπάρτῃ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ταύτας (i.e. τὰς πόλεις) [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. b σ. Ἀσίην ἑωυτῷ unite Asia in dependence on himself, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μαντικὴν ἑωυτῷ συστῆσαι bring prophetic art into union with himself, i.e. win, acquire it, [Refs 5th…

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

συνίστημι, συνιστάνω

v.

I commend, prove, am composed of, cohere

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

συνίστημι synistēmi 16x

also spelled συνιστάνω and συνιστάω, to place together; to recommend to favorable attention, Rom. 16:1; 2 Cor. 3:1; 10:18; to place in a striking point of view, Rom. 3:5; 5:8; Gal. 2:18; to stand beside, Lk. 9:32; to have been permanently framed, Col. 1:17; to possess consistence, 2 Pet. 3:5

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

συνιστάω = συνίστημι III, NTest.

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

V-PAN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5721

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ko-mend':

(1) For paratithemi (Lu 23:46), translating the Hebrew paqadh (Ps 31:5), in the dying words of Jesus: "Into thy hands I commend my Spirit." the King James Version in Psalms has the more general word "commit." The use of the Greek word in the sense of "deposit what belongs to one into the hands of another" is not uncommon in the classics. So also the derivatives paratheke (2Ti 1:12) and parakatatheke (1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 1:14). See DEPOSIT. This sense of the English, while slightly archaic, corresponds to the first meaning of the Latin, whence it comes, "to commit for preservation," especially of the dying; to commend…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
19%commending
commending19% · 3×shows6% · 1×demonstrates6% · 1×i commend6% · 1×commend?6% · 1×we commending6% · 1×we are commending6% · 1×you have proved6% · 1×other renderings38% · 6×

16 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
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 16 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἑαυτοῦ
πάλινagain, further, Article the
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἐν
Article the
ἀνήρa male human bei
δικαιοσύνηjustice, justness, r
θεόςGod, a god
ἀλήθειαtruth
Article the
συνίστημιto commend?16×
what comes after →
ἑαυτοῦ
πρόςὡςas, like as, howἁγνόςpure, chaste
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theσύ
αὐτός
τίςIrg
εἶπονI say, speak
Disj
μήNeg

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

Concordanceσυνίστημι · 16× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Romans 2 Peter Colossians Galatians Luke
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 11 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 17c. AD 40

ᾗ δὲ συνέστηκεν, εἰσόμεθα παρακολουθήσαντες εἰκόνι τινὶ τῶν παρ’ ἡμῖν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.172c. AD 75–95

καταδεεστέραν τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν ἀπέφηνεν ἧς ὁρῶ νῦν παροῦσα τὰς μὲν γὰρ ἀκοὰς πείθειν ἐπεχείρει μόνον, τὸ δὲ ἀξίωμα τῶν πραγμάτων οὐχ οὕτως ἐποίει γνώριμον, ὡς ἡ ὄψις αὐτὸ καὶ τὸ παρʼ αὐτοῖς εἶναι συνίστησιν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Lond. 7 219370 BC–59 BC

συνλόγους καὶ συναγωγὰς καὶ ἀποδημίας καὶ μηδενὶ αὐτῶν ἐξέστω συνπε … ματαρχηισειν μηδὲ σχίσματα συνίστασθαι μηδʼ ἀποχωρήσειν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἡγουμένου φράτρας εἰς ἑτέραν φράτραν καὶ μὴ γ

P.Oxy. 22 2349OxyrhynchosAD 70

Σεουήρου οὐ δυνάμενος τὸν εἰς τὴν χώραν ἀνάπλουν ποιήσασθαι διὰ τὸ ἐν στρατείᾳ εἶναι συνίστημι τὸν ἠλευθερωμένον ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ πρὶν τῆς στρατείας τότε χρηματίζων Πτολεμαῖος Πτολεμαίου Φυλαξιθαλάσσιος ὁ καὶ

P.Brem. 5Hermopolis (?)AD 117–AD 119

Μάλχον βενεφικιάριον Ῥαμμίου τοῦ κρατίστου ἡγεμόνος ἡμῶν ἐπιμελόμενον τῆς ὑπὸ σὲ περιμέτρου ἄνδρα ἀγαθώτατον συνίστημί σοι. ἐλπίζω δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν δώσειν ἐργασίαν τοιοῦτον ἑαυτὸν παραστῆσαί σοι, οἷον ἐγὼ διεβεβαιωσάμην

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ei Or G2228 Conditional particle
343× 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
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
COND — Conditional particle
conditional particle — it marks the clause as a condition.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

COND CONDitional particle or conjunction

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.

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
μὴ surely not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× 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
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
μήsurely not1060×
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.

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
χρῄζομενchrēzō we need G5535 Verb · present · active · indicative · first person · plural
5× 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
To be in need of something, like in Matthew 6:32 where Jesus says people do not need to worry about food or clothes.
Amplified meaning
require, have a necessity for
Tyndale gloss
to need
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

χρῄζω (chrēzō) means to need or have need of, often used with a genitive case. It appears in several New Testament verses, including Matthew 6:32 and Luke 12:30. The word is derived from a root meaning necessity and has variations in dialects, indicating its long-standing use in Greek literature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

χρῄζω

(< χρή)

[in LXX Jg 11:7, I Ki 17:18 A * ;]

to need, have need of: c. gen. rei, Mt 6:32, Lk 11:8 12:30, II Co 3:1; c. gen. pers. seq. ἐν, Ro 16:2.†

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

χρῄζω (chrēzō) — to need.

χρῄζω,

[Refs 6th c.BC+]present and imperfect (but see below [Refs]: Epic dialect and Ionic dialect χρηΐζω, as always in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; written χρηιίζω, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also χρεΐζω, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; Doric dialect χρῄζω [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also χρήζω [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; χρείζω [Refs 2nd c.BC+]: sicil. Doric dialect χρῄσδω [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; Megarian dialect Doric dialect χρῄδδω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future χρῄσω [Refs 5th c.BC+], Ionic dialect χρηΐσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist Ionic dialect χρηΐσαι probably [Refs]; participle χρηΐσας[Refs]: (χρή):—want, lack, have need of, with genitive, χρηΐζοντα.. ἰητῆρος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δύο χρῄσει [μεσοτάτων] [Refs 5th c.BC+] [same place]: absolutely in participle χρηΐζων needy, poor, [Refs 8th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

χρῄζω

chrezo

from 5532; to make (i.e. have) necessity, i.e. be in want of:--(have)

need.

see GREEK for 5532

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

χρῄζω

v.

I need

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

χρῄζω chrēzō 5x

to need, want, desire, Mt. 6:32; Lk. 11:8; 12:30; Rom. 16:2; 2 Cor. 3:1*

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-1P — Verb · present · active · indicative · first person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-1P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: first Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%she may need
she may need20% · 1×we need20% · 1×you need20% · 1×he needs20% · 1×you have need20% · 1×

5 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
verb100%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ὅτιthat, since, because
οὐράνιοςheavenlyοἶδαI know, remember
ὅσος
αὐτός
σύ
ἄνDisj
μήNeg
Disj
χρῄζωwe need
what comes after →
οὗτος
ἅπαςall, the whole
πρᾶγμαa thing done, a matt
καίand, even, also,
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
τὶς

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

Concordanceχρῄζω · 5× in the New Testament
Luke 2 Corinthians Matthew Romans
Across the New Testament4 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 Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Preliminary Studies 33c. AD 40

χρῄζει δὲ ὁ ἀσκητὴς Βάλλας μέν, καταπόσεως, ἀλλὰ ὡς δούλης καὶ παλλακίδος — ἄνευ γὰρ τροφῆς καὶ ζωῆς οὐδ’ ἂν τὸ εὖ ζῆν περιγένοιτο, ἐπειδὴ τὰ μέσα τῶν ἀμεινόνων ἀεὶ θεμέλιοι —, χρῄζει δὲ καὶ Ζέλφας, διεξοδικῆς ἑρμηνείας, ἵνα τὸ λογικὸν αὐτῷ διχόθεν…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 11.200c. AD 75–95

παραδοθεῖσα δὲ αὕτη τινὶ τῶν εὐνούχων εἰς ἐπιμέλειαν πάσης ἐτύγχανε προνοίας ἀρωμάτων ἀφθονίᾳ καὶ πολυτελείᾳ τῶν ἀλειμμάτων ὧν χρῄζει τὰ σώματα καταρδομένη, καὶ τούτων ἀπέλαυον ἐπὶ μῆνας ἓξ τετρακόσιαι τὸν ἀριθμὸν οὖσαι.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.4c. AD 100

πεφανέρωκεν γὰρ ἡμῖν διὰ πάντων τῶν προφητῶν, ὅτι οὕτε θυσιῶν οὔτε ὁλοκαυτωμάτων οὔτε προσφορῶν χρῄζει, λέγων ὅτε μέν:

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Coll.Youtie 1 22Tanais (Oxyrhynchites)AD 87

Ἁρπαήσιος μητρὸς … τος Παχνούπιος ἀπὸ κώμης Τανάεως ὡς ἐτῶν … οὐλὴ ἀντικνημίῳ ἀριστερῷ. χρῄζω εἰς σπέρματα δάνεια τῆς εἰς τὸ ἐνεστὸς ἕβδομον ἔτος Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Δομιτιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ

O.Krok. 2 267KrokodiloAD 98–AD 117

διὰ παντὸς ὑγιαίνειν· καλῶς ποιήσεις, κύρι’ ἄδελφέ μου, πέμψον μοι Σαραπιάδα μετὰ Τιβεριάτι ὅτι χρῄζω αὐτῆς· εἰ μὲν θέλεις ἀφεῖναι αὐτὴν σεαυτῷ ὅλον τὸν μῆνα, ἄφες καὶ οὐδείς ἐστι

P.Flor. 2 247Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 253

χαίρειν. ἐὰν τὸ ξυλάριον Δημέας ἀνακομίζῃ παράσχες αὐτῷ τὸ ταυρικὸν τὸ παρὰ σοὶ ἐὰν χρῄζει αὐτοῦ ἐστʼ ἂν διαπεράσῃ τὸ Χθω καὶ δύναται ἐξαυτῆς ὑποστρέψαι. αὐτάρκως δὲ ἔχεις ἅπαξ

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ὥςhōs like G5613 Adverb
502× 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 means as or when, showing a comparison or timing. It's used in many verses, like Mark 4:26 and 1 Corinthians 3:15, to show how things are done. It helps explain how or when something happens.
Tyndale gloss
as/when
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὡς (hōs) — as/when.

ὡς:—

Summary:

__A as adverb of Manner.

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

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

__A.Ac ὡς Relat. and Interrog., how.

__A.Ad ὡς temporal, when.

__A.Ae ὡς Local, where,

__B ὡς, as CONJUNCTION.

__C,D various usages. adverb of Manner:

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὡς

hos

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

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὡς

Adv

as, like as, how, while, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὡς hōs 504x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὡς thus, as, so that, since

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

of Manner:

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

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

thus, for instance, Od.

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

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

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%as
as60% · 310×like16% · 84×when8% · 41×how4% · 21×about4% · 20×other renderings6% · 33×other renderings1% · 7×

516 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 22 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial31%predicate12%object4%subject4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 502 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
πρόσωπονthe face, counteπούςthe footδιδάσκωI teach
σύ
πλησίονnear, nearby, a καρδίαthe heart, innerἀποστέλλωI send forth, se
καίand, even, also, nam
πολύςmuch, many, ofteαὐτόςλαόςa people, the cr
ἀλλάbut, except
γαμίζωI give in marriaθέλωI will, wish, deφανερῶςclearly, openly
εἰμίI am, exist
ὥραan hour, seasonὅτιthat, since, becοὐNeg
ὡςlike502×
what comes after →
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἥλιοςthe sun, sunlighφῶςlight, a source
δέbut, on the other ha
πληρόωI fill, fulfill,γίνομαιI come into beinἀκούωI hear, listen
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἐνἐγώ
φωνήa sound, noise, voic
ὕδωρwaterβροντήthunderἐν
ἐν
Article theοὐρανόςthe sky, the heaκρυπτόςhidden, secret

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
τινεςtis some G5100 Indefinite pronoun · nominative · plural · masculine
529× 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
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.
Amplified meaning
certain individuals, others
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-NPM — Indefinite pronoun · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

X-NPM Part of Speech: indefinite pronoun Case: Nominative Number: Plural 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
τὶςsome529×
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

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
συστατικῶνsustatikos commendatory G4956 Adjective · genitive · plural · feminine
1× 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 means to recommend or introduce someone, like a letter of recommendation. It appears in 2 Corinthians 3:1, where Paul asks if he needs letters of recommendation. It's about putting in a good word for someone.
Amplified meaning
commendation, approval
Tyndale gloss
recommended
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

συστατικός is an adjective meaning 'commendatory' or 'introductory,' derived from the verb συνίστημι. It refers to letters of recommendation or introduction, as seen in 2 Corinthians 3:1. The word covers a range of meanings related to bringing together or consolidating, but its primary use in the New Testament is in the context of commendation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* συ-στατικός (Tr. συν-), -ή, -όν

(< συνίστημι),

for putting together, constructive.

for bringing together, introductory, commendatory: ἐπιστολή (Arist., Diog. L., al.; and v. MM, xxiv), II Co 3:1.†

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

συστατικός, ““commendatory,” occurs in P Oxy XII. 158779 (late ii/A.D.) συστατικῶν γραμμάτων : cf. 2 Cor 3! συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν. Good exx. of such letters are P Goodspeed 4 (ii/B.c.) (= Selections, p. 24), P Oxy IV. 787 (A.D. 16), 76, II. 294 (A.D. 22), 26. 292 (c. A.D. 25)(= Selectzons, Ρ- 37)Other exx. of the word are P Oxy III. 505? (ii/A.p.) κατὰ συστατικὸν γενόμενον, “Ὅν the terms of a deed of representation’’ (Edd.), and 26. 5091? (late ii/a.p.) Opodo! ya] To{v} συστατικὸν πεπυῆσθαί σοι, “1 acknowledge that the contract of representation has been made with you” (Edd.), and in a more general sense P Tebt II. 31579 (ii/A.bD.) ἔχι yap συστατικὰς [ὅπως τὸν ἀπιθοῦντα μετὰ φρουρᾶς τῷ ἀρχιερῖ πέμπιν, ‘for he has instructions to send recalcitrants under guard to the high-priest” (Edd.). For συστάτης, ‘‘a delegate,” cf. P Oxy VIII. 1116° (A.D. 363) with note, and for σύστασις, ‘fan…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

συστατικός (sustatikos) — recommended.

συστᾰτ-ικός, ή, όν,

of or for putting together, component, μόρια [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; opposed to διαιρετικός, [Refs 5th c.AD+]

2. drawing together, consolidating, opposed to διαχυτικός, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. probatory, confirmatory, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. δημόσιος χρηματισμός a publicly deposited deed confirmatory (of a gift), [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

II. of or for bringing together, introductory, commendatory, τὸ κάλλος παντὸς ἐπιστολίου -ώτερον personal appearance is better introduction than any letter, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σ. ἐπιστολαί letters of introduction, [NT]; ἡ σ. alone, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

III. -κόν, τό, deed of representation, power of attorney, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; agreement to appoint a representative, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

συστατικός

sustatikos

from a derivative of 4921; introductory, i.e. recommendatory:--of

commendation.

see GREEK for 4921

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

συστατικός, ή, όν

Adj

commendatory

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

συστατικός systatikos 1x

commendatory, recommendatory, 2 Cor. 3:1*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

συστατικός συστα^τικός, ή, όν συνίστημι III introductory, ς. ἐπιστολή a letter of introduction, NTest.

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

A-GPF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%commendatory
commendatory50% · 1×commendatory ?50% · 1×

2 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.

Concordanceσυστατικός · 1× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Oxy. 12 1587OxyrhynchitesAD 276–AD 300

ἐκ τῆς ἐπεσκεμμένης ἐκ τῆς βιβλιοθήκης … ον θαρρείτω ὅτι οὐκ ἀμελῶ … οι συστατικῶν γραμμάτων … Ποσιδώνιος ἀντιλαμβάνεται … φοβος ὁ ἡγούμενος αὐτοῦ … πρὸς τὸν Ποσιδώνιον καὶ

P.Lond. 4 1391Aphrodites Kome (Antaiopolites)AD 710

ἐπωφελεῖς τοῖς τῆς χώρας. δεχόμενος οὖν τὰ παρόντα γράμματα διάστειλον διὰ τῆς πόλεως καὶ συστατικῶν χωρίων καὶ ἐμφανῶν τῆς διοικήσεώς σου προσώπων παιδία εἰς διδάχην τεχνῶν τούτους ἐκδιδοὺς τεχνίταις

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ἐπιστολῶνepistolē letters G1992 Noun · genitive · plural · feminine
24× 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 refers to a written message, like a letter, as seen in Acts 9:2 and 1 Corinthians 5:9. It is about sending a note or a formal letter. The New Testament includes many epistles, including those written by Paul.
Amplified meaning
epistles, written recommendations
Tyndale gloss
epistle
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπιστολή (i.e., *epistolē*) means a letter or message, often used in the context of written communication. It encompasses both informal letters and formal commands, appearing frequently in the New Testament, such as in Acts and Corinthians. The word is derived from ἐπιστέλλω and reflects a range of uses, including official documents and letters of commendation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπι-στολή, -ῆς, ἡ

(< ἐπιατέλλω),

[in LXX for אִגֶּרֶת, etc.; freq. in Mac ;]

a message.

a letter, an epistle: Ac 9:2, I Co 5:9, al.; pl., Ac 22:5, I Co 16:3, al.; ἐ. σνστατικαί, II Co 3:1 (cf. Milligan, NTD, 254 f.). (On the NT ἐπιστολαί, cf. Milligan, Th., 121 ff.; NTD, 85 ff.; Deiss., BS, 3 ff.; St. Paul, 8 ff.)

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

ἐπι-στολή, -ῆς, ἡ, (ἐπιστέλλω), a letter, epistle: Acts xv. 30; Ro. xvi. 22; 1 Co. v. 9, ete.; plur., Acts ix. 2; 2Co. x. 10, ete.; ἐπιστολαὶ συστατικαί, letters of commendation, 2 Co. iii. 1 [W. 176 (165). On the possible use of the plur. of this word interchangeably with the sing. (cf. Thom. Mag. ed. Ritschl p. 113, 8), see Bp. Lghtft. and Meyer on Phil. iii. 1. (Eur., Thue., al.)] -

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

ἐπιστολή. Preisigke in his Fachwérter, p. 90, has classified various more or less technical usages of this common word. Thus in P Amh II, 6419 (a.p. 107) the copy of an official letter addressed to the strategus with reference to the public baths of Hermopolis is headed—avrtypadov ἐπιστολῆς, and in P Hamb I. 18 4-6 (a.p, 222) a συνκολ(λήσιμον) is mentioned αὐθ(εντικῶν) ἐπιστολ(ῶν) kal βιβλ(ιδίων) ὑποκεκολ(λημένων). In BGU IV. 1046%1-5 (not before A.D. 166) (= Chrest. I. p. 315) we learn that the persons selected for certain public duties were appointed by the epistrategus—8u’ ἐπιστολ(ῆς) κομισθι(είσης) καὶ προγρα(φείσης) (*‘ openly placarded up”’) ; while in Chvest. I. 2616 (a.p. 135) a petition, instead of being lodged in the usual way as a ὑπόμνημα, takes the form of an ἐπιστολή : see Wilcken’s note ad 7. In BGU IV. 11357 (prob. B.C. 10) κατὰ] νομογραφικὴν ἐπιστ[ολήν, the word is = ‘‘…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπιστολή (epistolē) — epistle.

ἐπιστολ-ή, ἡ,

(ἐπιστέλλω) anything sent by a messenger, message, order, commission, whether verbal or in writing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς by command, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: used by Trag. always in plural, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Πενθέως ἐπιστολαῖς by his commands, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τέκνων ἐπιστολὰς ἔγραψεν commands about her children, [Refs]

2. letter, ἐ. διαπέμπειν, ἀποδοῦναι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πέμπειν τινί [Refs 5th c.BC+]: in plural of one letter, like{γράμματα}, Latin litterae, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν.. τοῦ Ὄθωνος, Latin ab epistulis Othoni, his secretary, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; νομογραφικὴ ἐ. [Refs 1st c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπιστολή

epistole

from 1989; a written message:--"epistle," letter.

see GREEK for 1989

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπιστολή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

a letter, dispatch, epistle

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπιστολή epistolē 24x

word sent; an order, command; an epistle, letter, Acts 9:2; 15:30

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπιστολή ἐπιστολή, ἡ, ἐπιστέλλω a message, command, commission, whether verbal or in writing, Hdt., attic; ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς by command, Hdt.

a letter, Lat. epistola, Thuc., etc.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

let'-erz.

See ALPHABET; WRITING.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Lu 23:38 The Hebrews have certain acrostic poems which begin with the letters of the alphabet, ranged in order. The most considerable of these is Ps 119:1-176, which contains twentytwo stanzas of eight verses each, all acrostic; that is, the first eight begin with Aleph, the next eight with Beth, and so on. Ps 25:1-22 34:1-22, have but twenty-two verses each, beginning with the twentytwo letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Others, as Ps 111:1-112:10, have one-half of the verse beginning with one letter, and the other half with the next. Thus, Blessed is the man who feareth the Lord,

Who delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Written by David to Joab 2Sa 11:14

→ King of Syria to king of Israel 2Ki 5:5,6

→ Rabshakeh to Hezekiah Isa 37:9-14

→ King of Babylon to Hezekiah Isa 39:1

→ Sennacherib to Hezekiah 2Ki 19:14

→ Of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah Ne 2:7-9

→ Open letter from Sanballat to Nehemiah Ne 6:5

→ Luke to Theophilus (the books of Luke and Acts) Ac 1:1

→ Claudius Lysias to Felix Ac 23:25-30

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%letter
letter67% · 16×letters33% · 8×

24 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
object38%adverbial38%subject17%predicate8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 24 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
ἐνὅτιthat, since, becδιά
διά
δοκιμάζωI put to the tesλόγοςa word, speech, μήτεNeg
γράφωI write
σύ
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἐν
αὐτός
παρά
ἐπιστολήletters24×
what comes after →
ἐν
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastὅς
οὗτος
πέμπωI sendσημειόωI note
ἐγώ
σύ
εἰς
ΔαμασκόςDamascus
δέχομαιI take, receive, acc
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

Concordanceἐπιστολή · 24× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Acts 2 Thessalonians 1 Corinthians 2 Peter 1 Thessalonians Colossians Romans
Across the New Testament8 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 11 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 Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaEvery Good Man is Free 96c. AD 40

μηνύει δὲ ἡ πεμφθεῖσα ἐπιστολὴ τῷ βασιλεῖ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 7.136c. AD 75–95

ταῦτα γράψας καὶ σημηνάμενος τῇ αὑτοῦ σφραγῖδι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἔδωκεν Οὐρίᾳ κομίσαι πρὸς Ἰώαβον.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 47.1c. AD 96

Ἀναλάβετε τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου τοῦ ἀποστόλου.

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 1st c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Edg. $1Karien258 BC

r Ἀπολλόδοτος Χαρμίδει χαίρειν· ὑπογέγραφά σοι τῶν πρὸς Ξάνθιππον ἐπιστολῶν τὰ ἀντίγραφα. ἐντυχὼν οὖν αὐτῶι καὶ περὶ τῶν Βυξε δραχμῶν εἴδησον πῶς βούλεται οἰκονομῆσαι,

P.Grenf. 1 11Arsinoites182 BC

αὐτῶν ανενεγκεῖν ἐπὶ σὲ τὰ συγκεκριμένα τοῦ δὲ Πεχύτου γράψαντός σοι διὰ τῆς ὑποκειμένης ἐπιστολης καταστάντας ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει παρόντος Δημητρίου τοῦ φρουράρχου, Ἀσκληπιάδου ὑπηρέτου, Πολιάνθου Ψεμμίνιος τοῦ Πατοῦτος

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος βεα … ρων … δια … στρατιωτῶν … τὴν ἐπιστολὴν … ντες, οἷς καὶ ἐντετάλμεθα ἀσπάσεσθαι ὑμᾶς παρʼ ἡμῶν φιλοφρόνως καὶ διὰ γραμμάτων ἐκρίναμεν

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
πρὸςpros to G4314 Preposition
700× 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
A preposition showing direction or relationship, like towards or with something, as seen in Mark 5:11 and John 18:16. This means indicating movement or direction. It's about showing proximity or connection.
Tyndale gloss
to/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρός is a preposition that indicates direction, proximity, or relation. It can be used with the genitive to denote motion from a place, with the dative for local proximity, and with the accusative to express motion towards a place or object. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as Acts 27:34 for benefit and Mark 5:11 for proximity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρός,

prep. c. gen., dat., acc.

C. gen., of motion from a place, from the side of, hence metaph., in the interests of, Ac 27:34 (cf. Page, in l.).

C. dat., of local proximity, hard by, near, at: Mk 5:11, Lk 19:37, Jo 18:16 20:11, 12, Re 1:13.

C. acc., of motion or direction towards a place or object, to, towards.

Of place,

after verbs of motion or of speaking and other words with the idea of direction: ἔρχομαι, ἀναβαίνω, πορεύομαι, λέγω, ἐπιστολή, etc., Mt 3:14, Mk 6:51, Lk 11:5, Jo 2:3,

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

πρός, a preposition, i.q. Epic mpori, from πρό and the adverbial suffix τι, (cf. the German vor . . . hin [Curtius § 381]); it is joined I. with the AccusaTIvE, to, towards, Lat. ad, denoting direction towards athing, or position and state looking towards a thing (W. § 49h. p. 404 (378)): it is used 1. of the goal or limit towards which a movement is directed: πρός twa or τι, a. prop. after verbs of going, departing, running, coming, ete.: ἄγω, Jn. xi. 15; ἀναβαίνω, Mk. vi. 51; Jn. xx. 17; Acts xv. 2; ἀνακάμπτω, Mt. ii. 12; Acts xvili. 21; ἀνέρχομαι, Gal. i. 17 [1]. Tr mrg. arépy.]; ἀπέρχομαι, Mt. » xiv. 25 [Rec.]; Mk. iii. 13, etc.; πρὸς ἑαυτόν, to his house, Lk. xxiv. 12 [T om. L Trbr. WH reject the ys.; Tr reads mp. αὐτόν ; some connect the phrase w. θαυμάζων (see 2 Ὁ. below) ]; Jn. xx. 10 [Ὁ Tr αὐτούς, WH air. (cf. s. v. αὑτοῦ sub fin.)]; γίνεσθαι πρός τινα, to come to one, 1 Co.…

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

πρός reference to place PSI IV. 31178 (iv/A.D.?) πρ]ὸς τὴν Aavitk.ay τῆς κοίλης Dupials. Headlam (on Herodas VII. 123) holds that τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν in Mk 2? ‘‘is surely idiomatic (not vulgar as Moulton thinks) ‘spots which commanded the door’”: cf. Mt 310, Lk 35. For πρός, ‘‘with,” as in Jn ΤΡ, Heb 41%, cf. Epict. iv. 9. 13 πρὸς ὃν οὐδείς ἐστί σου πιθανώτερος (see Sharp Ξε, p. 92). And for the possibility that the difficult πρός in Mk 63, οἷ", 14%, Jn 1}, 1 Jn 1?, is to be explained as an Aramaism, see Rendel Harris Prologue to S. John’s Gospel p. 8f., and Burney Avamaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel p. 28 f. (6) of time = ‘‘for’’ (a time) and no longer—BGU I. 1131? (A.D. 143) βουλόμενος παρεπιδημεῖν πρὸς καιρόν (cf. Lk 818), P Oxy I. 6714 (A.D. 338) πρὸς ὀλίγον εἰσχύει, ‘‘withstands but for a short time” (cf. Jas 4), and P Flor III. 282° (A.D. 520) πρὸς ὅλον χρόνον. (c) of mental…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρός (pros) — to/with.

πρός,

preposition, expressing direction,

__A on the side of, in the direction of, hence with genitive, dative, and accusative, from, at, to: Epic dialect also προτί and ποτί, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] usually with accusative, more rarely with dative, and each only once with genitive, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—dialectal forms: Doric dialectποτί (which see) and ποί, but Cretan dialect πορτί [Refs], Argive προτ(ί) [Refs 7th c.BC+] πός [Refs 4th c.BC+]., also sometimes in Asia Minor in compounds, see at {ποσάγω},{ποσφέρω}; Aeolic dialect πρός [Refs 7th c.BC+]; πρές [Refs 6th c.AD+]; Pamphylian περτ (ί) [Refs] (With προτί, πρός cf. Sanskrit práti 'towards, near to, against, back, etc.', Slavonic protiv[ucaron], Lett. pret 'against', Latin pretium: ποτί (which see) and πός are not cognate) [Refs 4th c.BC+] refers to that from which something…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρός

pros

a strengthened form of 4253; a preposition of direction; forward to,

i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to;

with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the

accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the

destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is

predicated):--about, according to , against, among, at, because of,

before, between, (where-)by, for, X at thy house, in, for intent, nigh

unto, of, which pertain to, that, to (the end that), X together, to

(you) -ward, unto, with(-in). In the comparative case, it denotes

essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession

to, or nearness at.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρός

Prep.

to, towards, with

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρός pros 700x

from; met. for the benefit of, Acts 27:34; with a dative, near, by, at, by the side of, in the vicinity of, Mk. 5:11; Lk. 19:37; with an accusative, used of the place to which anything tends, to, unto, towards, Mt. 2:12; 3:5, 13; at, close upon, Mt. 3:10; Mk. 5:22; near to, in the vicinity of, Mk. 6:45; after verbs of speaking, praying, answering to a charge, etc., to, Mt. 3:15; 27:14; of place where, with, in, among, by, at, etc., Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρός prep. with gen., implying motion from a place; with dat., abiding at a place; with acc., motion to a place

WITH GEN.,

of Place, from, from forth, Hom., Soph.

on the side or quarter of, νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος islands looking (as it were) from Elis, i. e. towards Elis, Od.; πρὸς τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἵδρυται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ Στρύμονος lies more towards (i. e. nearer) the Hellespont than the Strymon, Hdt.; ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο πρὸς Ὀλύνθου Thuc., etc.:—often with words denoting the points of the compass, δύω θύραι εἰσίν, αἱ μὲν πρὸς βορέαο, αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς νότου one looking north wards, the other south wards, Od.; so, οἰκέουσι πρὸς νότου ἀνέμου Hdt., etc.

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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
69%to
to69% · 506×with7% · 48×for6% · 42×toward4% · 30×against3% · 21×at3% · 20×unto2% · 18×other renderings5% · 37×other renderings1% · 10×

732 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 32 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial93%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 700 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
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,Article theνύξthe night, night
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
αὐτός
ἄγωI leadφέρωI carry, bear, bμαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
ὑπέρσῶμαbody, fleshυἱόςa son, descenden
πρόςto700×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἐνἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theοὐNeg
ἀλλήλων
τίςIrgλέγωI say, speakμήNeg

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

Concordanceπρός · 700× in the New Testament
Luke Acts John Mark Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Hebrews Romans Ephesians 1 Thessalonians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 3c. AD 40

ἡ δ’ ἀρχή, καθάπερ ἔφην, ἐστὶ θαυμασιωτάτη κοσμοποιίαν περιέχουσα, ὡς καὶ τοῦ κόσμου τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῦ νόμου τῷ κόσμῳ συνᾴδοντος καὶ τοῦ νομίμου ἀνδρὸς εὐθὺς ὄντος κοσμοπολίτου πρὸς τὸ βούλημα τῆς φύσεως τὰς πράξεις ἀπευθύνοντος, καθ’ ἣν καὶ ὁ σύμπας…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.4c. AD 75–95

τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον ἡμῖν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γενόμενον καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ πράξεις καὶ τὸ τέλος οἷον ἀπέβη πείρᾳ μαθὼν ἐβιάσθην ἐκδιηγήσασθαι διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῷ γράφειν λυμαινομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.3c. AD 100

τούτων οὖν μενόντων τὰ πρὸς κύριον ἁγνῶς, συνευφραίνονται αὐτοῖς σοφία, σύνεσις, ἐπιστήμη, γνῶσις.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Grenf. 1 28Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)109 BC

r … πυρὸν νέον καθαρὸν ἄδολον μέτρωι ὧι καὶ παρείληφεν καὶ ἀποκαθεστάμενον εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδίοις ἀνηλώμασιν. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῶι ἐν τῶι ὡρισμένωι χρόνωι ἢ μὴ ποιῆ

P.Amh. 2 48Pathyris107 BC

παρεχέτω τὸν οἶνον μόνιμον ἕως Ἁθὺρ λ τοῦ δεκάτου ἔτους, καὶ ἀποκαταστησάτω εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῖς ἰδίοις. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῷ ἐν τῷ ὡρισμένῳ χρόνῳ ἀποτεισάτω ἑκάστου κεραμίου

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

πᾶσι χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διὰ παντὸς εὐημερεῖν. ὑγιαίνομεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ὑμᾶςsu you G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · accusative · plural
2,892× 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 Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Amplified meaning
as a testimony, for your sake
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2AP — Personal pronoun · second person · accusative · plural
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2AP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Accusative Number: Plural

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyou2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ē or G2228 Particle
343× 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
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.

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ἐξek from G1537 Preposition
913× 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
The preposition 'out from' shows movement or origin, like in John 6:31 and Acts 9:3. It helps us understand where people or things come from or are going.
Tyndale gloss
out from
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐκ (transliterated as ek) is a preposition that means 'from' or 'out of,' governing the genitive case. It indicates origin, separation, or motion away from a place, time, or cause. In the New Testament, it is used to denote various relationships, such as source or distinction, and appears in contexts like John 6:31 and Matthew 1:3. Different lexicons highlight its versatility in both literal and metaphorical senses.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐκ (ἐξ),

prep. c. gen.,

from out of, from (see Addendum, p. 492).

ἐκ, before a vowel ἐξ,

prep. c. gen.,

of motion outwards, separation from (opp. to εἰς; = Lat. e, ex), from out of, from among, from.

Of Place,

of motion, out of, forth from, off from: Jo 6:31, Ac 9:3, Ga 1:8, al.; esp. after verbs of motion, Mt 8:28 17:9, Mk 1:25 7:28, Jo 1:33 20:1, Ac 12:7, 17 27:30, al.; constr. praeg., σώζειν (διας.) ἐκ, Ju 5, Ac 28:4. Metaph., Mt 7:4, 5, I Pe 2:9; ἐκ τ.…

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

ἐκ, before a vowel ἐξ, a preposition governing the genitive. It denotes as well exit or emission out of, as separation from, something with which there has been close connection ; opp. to the prepositions εἰς into and ἐν in: from out of, out from, forth from, from, (Lat. e, ex), [ οἵ. W. 364, 366 (343) sq.; B. 326 sq. (281)]. It is used I. of Pace, and 1. univ. of the place from which; from a surrounding or enclosing place, from the interior of: ἄρτος, ἄγγελος, φῶς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, Jn. vi. 81 sq.; Acts ix. 3 [here RG ἀπό]; Gal. 1. 8; ἀνατολή, δύναμις ἐξ ὕψους, Lk. i. 78; xxiv. 49; esp. after verbs of going, fleeing, leading, calling, freeing, removing, releasing, etc. : ἥκειν ἐκ τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας eis τ. Γαλιλαίαν, Jn. iv. 47; ἐξέρχεσθαι ἔκ τινος out of the body of one (spoken of demons), Mk. i. 25; v. 8 [here L mrg. ἀπό]; vii. 29; of power emanating from the body, Mk. v. 30 [cf. B. 301 (258)…

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

ἐκ 190 passages as P Tebt I. 23" (c. B.C. 119 or 114) οὐκ ὀρθῶς κρίνομεν πέπρακταί σοι μὴ ἐκ τῆς ἡμῶν προεδρίας πεφροντικέναι ἀπροσδέητον ἑτέρων γενέσθαι, ‘I consider that you have acted badly in not having been careful that he should be independent of others owing to my superior rank ”’ (Edd. ), 24. 248° (B.c. 117) ἔκ τε τῆς πλείστης προσεδρείας, ‘on account of the prolonged attendance ’’ (Edd.), and P Fay 12} (c. B.C. 103) ἐκ κοινολογ[ς(]α[ς] τ[ἢ]ς συνσταθείσης πρὸς αὐτούς, ‘‘as the result of the colloquy which took place between τ᾿ (Edd.). From this it is an easy transition to the meaning ‘‘ according to”’ or “in accordance with,’’ as in the common legal phrase καθάπερ ἐγ δίκης, ‘‘as if in accordance with a legal decision,’’ z. δ. ‘‘as if a formal decree of the court had been obtained,’’ as in P Eleph 1132 (B.C. 311-0) (= Selections, p- 3), P Ryl 11. 15435 (a.p. 66): cf. P Petr III.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐκ (ek) — out from.

ἐκ,

before a vowel ἐξ, also

__A ἐξ τῳ ϝοίκῳ [Refs] and less frequently ; ἐγ- in Inscrr. before β γ δ λ μ ; Cretan dialect and Boeotian dialect ἐς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἐχ frequently in Attic dialect Inscrr. before χ φ θ (and in early Inscrr. before ς, [Refs]:—preposition governing GEN. only (except in [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—radical sense, from out of, frequently also simply, from.

__A.I OF PLACE, the most frequently usage, variously modified:

__A.I.1 of Motion, out of, forth from, ἐκ Πύλου ἐλθὼν τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης [Refs 8th c.BC+] to strike with a spear in the hand, opposed to ἀντιτοξεύειν or ἀκοντίζειν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐκ χρυσῶν φιαλῶν πίνειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐκ

ek

or ex ex

a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or

motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause; literal or

figurative; direct or remote):--after, among, X are, at,

betwixt(-yond), by (the means of), exceedingly, (+ abundantly above),

for(- th), from (among, forth, up), + grudgingly, + heartily, X

heavenly, X hereby, + very highly, in, ...ly, (because, by reason) of,

off (from), on, out among (from, of), over, since, X thenceforth,

through,

X unto, X vehemently, with(-out). Often used in composition,

with the same general import; often of completion.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐκ, ἐξ

Prep.

from out, out from among, from

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐκ ek 915x

ἐχ before vowels, with genitive, from, out of, a place, Mt. 2:15; 3:17; of, from, out of, denoting origin or source, Mt. 1:3; 21:19; of, from some material, Mt. 3:9; Rom. 9:21; of, from, among, partitively, Mt. 6:27; 21:31; Mk. 9:17; from, denoting cause, Rev. 8:11; 17:6; means or instrument, Mt. 12:33, 37; by, through, denoting the author or efficient cause, Mt. 1:18; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐκ

ἐξ before a vowel, ἐγ before β γ δ λ μ prep. governing GEN. only, Lat. e, exRadical sense, from out of, opp. to εἰς:

out of, from. c. gen.

OF PLACE:

of Motion, out of, forth from, Hom., etc.: ἐκ θυμοῦ φίλεον I loved her from my heart, with all my heart, Il.

to denote change from one place or condition to another, κακὸν ἐκ κακοῦ one evil from (or after) another, id. Il.; λόγον ἐκ λόγου λέγειν Dem.

to express distinction from a number, ἐκ πόλεων πίσυρες four out of many, Il.

of Position, like ἔξω, outside of, beyond, ἐκ βελέων out of shot, id. Il.; ἐκ καπνοῦ out of the smoke, Od.

with Verbs of Rest, ἐκ ποταμοῦ χρόα νίζετο washed his body with water from the river, id. Od.:—with Verbs signifying to hang or fasten, ἐκ πασσαλόφι κρέμασεν φόρμιγγα he hung his lyre from (i. e. on) the peg, id.…

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

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
28%of
of28% · 258×from26% · 243×out of23% · 216×out from7% · 61×by5% · 51×at2% · 20×other renderings8% · 70×other renderings1% · 14×

933 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 26 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
adverbial69%predicate15%subject11%object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 913 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,ὅτιthat, since, becἀνάστασιςa rising again,
αὐτός
ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, ἀνίστημιI raise up, set καταβαίνωI go down, come
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegArticle theτίςIrg
εἷςone
καίand, even, also,ὅτιthat, since, becαὐτός
ἐκfrom913×
what comes after →
Article the
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaθεόςGod, a godστόμαthe mouth, speec
αὐτός
εἰμίI am, existArticle theκαίand, even, also,
νεκρόςdead, a corpse
ἀνίστημιI raise up, set ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, καίand, even, also,
σύ
παραδίδωμιI hand over, delμεριμνάωI am anxious, diἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
πίστιςfaith, belief, trust
ζάωI liveἸησοῦςJesusἀλλάbut, except

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

Concordanceἐκ · 913× in the New Testament
John Revelation Luke Acts Matthew Mark Romans Galatians 1 Corinthians 1 John 2 Corinthians Hebrews

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
ὑμῶνsu you G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
2,892× 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 Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Amplified meaning
as a reference, on your behalf
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyou2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

Are we beginning again ourselves to commend? Or surely not we need like some commendatory letters to you or from you commendatory [letters]?
συστατικῶν;sustatikos commendatory [letters]? G4956 Adjective · genitive · plural · masculine
1× 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 means to recommend or introduce someone, like a letter of recommendation. It appears in 2 Corinthians 3:1, where Paul asks if he needs letters of recommendation. It's about putting in a good word for someone.
Tyndale gloss
recommended
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

συστατικός is an adjective meaning 'commendatory' or 'introductory,' derived from the verb συνίστημι. It refers to letters of recommendation or introduction, as seen in 2 Corinthians 3:1. The word covers a range of meanings related to bringing together or consolidating, but its primary use in the New Testament is in the context of commendation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* συ-στατικός (Tr. συν-), -ή, -όν

(< συνίστημι),

for putting together, constructive.

for bringing together, introductory, commendatory: ἐπιστολή (Arist., Diog. L., al.; and v. MM, xxiv), II Co 3:1.†

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

συστατικός, ““commendatory,” occurs in P Oxy XII. 158779 (late ii/A.D.) συστατικῶν γραμμάτων : cf. 2 Cor 3! συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν. Good exx. of such letters are P Goodspeed 4 (ii/B.c.) (= Selections, p. 24), P Oxy IV. 787 (A.D. 16), 76, II. 294 (A.D. 22), 26. 292 (c. A.D. 25)(= Selectzons, Ρ- 37)Other exx. of the word are P Oxy III. 505? (ii/A.p.) κατὰ συστατικὸν γενόμενον, “Ὅν the terms of a deed of representation’’ (Edd.), and 26. 5091? (late ii/a.p.) Opodo! ya] To{v} συστατικὸν πεπυῆσθαί σοι, “1 acknowledge that the contract of representation has been made with you” (Edd.), and in a more general sense P Tebt II. 31579 (ii/A.bD.) ἔχι yap συστατικὰς [ὅπως τὸν ἀπιθοῦντα μετὰ φρουρᾶς τῷ ἀρχιερῖ πέμπιν, ‘for he has instructions to send recalcitrants under guard to the high-priest” (Edd.). For συστάτης, ‘‘a delegate,” cf. P Oxy VIII. 1116° (A.D. 363) with note, and for σύστασις, ‘fan…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

συστατικός (sustatikos) — recommended.

συστᾰτ-ικός, ή, όν,

of or for putting together, component, μόρια [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; opposed to διαιρετικός, [Refs 5th c.AD+]

2. drawing together, consolidating, opposed to διαχυτικός, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. probatory, confirmatory, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. δημόσιος χρηματισμός a publicly deposited deed confirmatory (of a gift), [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

II. of or for bringing together, introductory, commendatory, τὸ κάλλος παντὸς ἐπιστολίου -ώτερον personal appearance is better introduction than any letter, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σ. ἐπιστολαί letters of introduction, [NT]; ἡ σ. alone, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

III. -κόν, τό, deed of representation, power of attorney, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; agreement to appoint a representative, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

συστατικός

sustatikos

from a derivative of 4921; introductory, i.e. recommendatory:--of

commendation.

see GREEK for 4921

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

συστατικός, ή, όν

Adj

commendatory

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

συστατικός systatikos 1x

commendatory, recommendatory, 2 Cor. 3:1*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

συστατικός συστα^τικός, ή, όν συνίστημι III introductory, ς. ἐπιστολή a letter of introduction, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-GPM — Adjective · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-GPM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

let'-erz.

See ALPHABET; WRITING.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Lu 23:38 The Hebrews have certain acrostic poems which begin with the letters of the alphabet, ranged in order. The most considerable of these is Ps 119:1-176, which contains twentytwo stanzas of eight verses each, all acrostic; that is, the first eight begin with Aleph, the next eight with Beth, and so on. Ps 25:1-22 34:1-22, have but twenty-two verses each, beginning with the twentytwo letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Others, as Ps 111:1-112:10, have one-half of the verse beginning with one letter, and the other half with the next. Thus, Blessed is the man who feareth the Lord,

Who delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Written by David to Joab 2Sa 11:14

→ King of Syria to king of Israel 2Ki 5:5,6

→ Rabshakeh to Hezekiah Isa 37:9-14

→ King of Babylon to Hezekiah Isa 39:1

→ Sennacherib to Hezekiah 2Ki 19:14

→ Of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah Ne 2:7-9

→ Open letter from Sanballat to Nehemiah Ne 6:5

→ Luke to Theophilus (the books of Luke and Acts) Ac 1:1

→ Claudius Lysias to Felix Ac 23:25-30

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%commendatory
commendatory50% · 1×commendatory ?50% · 1×

2 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.

Concordanceσυστατικός · 1× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Oxy. 12 1587OxyrhynchitesAD 276–AD 300

ἐκ τῆς ἐπεσκεμμένης ἐκ τῆς βιβλιοθήκης … ον θαρρείτω ὅτι οὐκ ἀμελῶ … οι συστατικῶν γραμμάτων … Ποσιδώνιος ἀντιλαμβάνεται … φοβος ὁ ἡγούμενος αὐτοῦ … πρὸς τὸν Ποσιδώνιον καὶ

P.Lond. 4 1391Aphrodites Kome (Antaiopolites)AD 710

ἐπωφελεῖς τοῖς τῆς χώρας. δεχόμενος οὖν τὰ παρόντα γράμματα διάστειλον διὰ τῆς πόλεως καὶ συστατικῶν χωρίων καὶ ἐμφανῶν τῆς διοικήσεώς σου προσώπων παιδία εἰς διδάχην τεχνῶν τούτους ἐκδιδοὺς τεχνίταις

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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