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2 Timothy 2:23 — Word Study

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N1904τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

BSA<the>ho Andde foolishmōros [dull, stupid] andkai ignorantapaideutos [uninstructed] speculationszētēsis [controversy] do refuseparaiteomai [avoid, refuse] knowingeidō thathoti they breedgennaō [begets] quarrels;machē [strifes, contentions]

Word
Listen & take away2 Timothy 2
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 23 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (machē) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
2 Timothy 2:23quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs Timothy to avoid foolish arguments, knowing they lead to conflict.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, offering guidance on conduct.
Where we areIn a section about the qualities of a servant of the Lord, emphasizing peace over conflict.
The hard wordμωρός
Take awayAvoid arguments that lead to strife.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectειδως verbπαραιτέομαι The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

1 of 11 occurs nowhere else in the New Testament — a word 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 Timothy 2:23

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

Context — Instructions for a Servant of the Lordgenerated

22Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.
24And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.
25He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 2:23 advises Timothy to reject foolish and ignorant speculations. Paul stresses the importance of focusing on constructive dialogue, as quarreling detracts from the mission of spreading the gospel. This guidance is part of a broader encouragement to pursue righteousness and peace, as seen in the surrounding verses.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Timothy 2:14–16Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.
21 Timothy 1:4or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.
31 Timothy 4:7But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.
41 Timothy 6:4–5he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
5Titus 3:9But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 5 references, hung on the phrase they belong to

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.2 Timothy 2:14–16 1 Timothy 1:4 1 Timothy 4:7 1 Timothy 6:4–5 Titus 3:9

The Key Word μωρός, mōrosgenerated

The word μωρός is an adjective meaning 'foolish' and is used to describe a lack of good sense. In this context, it characterizes arguments that are not only unwise but also morally or spiritually lacking.

This term appears in various New Testament contexts, often highlighting folly in thought or action. Paul’s instruction to avoid such foolishness reflects a concern for the integrity and effectiveness of Christian witness.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The Berean Standard Bible translates the verse as 'But reject foolish and ignorant speculation,' which is echoed in the KJV and ASV with similar phrasing.

However, the YLT and WEB use slightly different wording, such as 'the foolish and uninstructed questions be avoiding,' indicating a variation in how the translations handle the concept of ignorance.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb governing the verse is παραιτοῦ, do refuse, which connects to an infinitive phrase describing what to avoid, and a participial phrase explaining the reason for this refusal.

The sentence structure emphasizes the action of refusal, with the reason for this action clearly articulated through the participial clause that follows.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek word μάχη is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for 'strife' or 'dispute', such as in רִיב (H7379). This connection highlights the ongoing theme of conflict in both the Old and New Testaments.

In this case, the term's use in Proverbs 17:14 illustrates the consequences of quarrels and disputes, reinforcing Paul's warning to Timothy.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

2 Timothy 2:23 advises Timothy to avoid foolish arguments, knowing that they lead to conflict. Paul emphasizes that a servant of the Lord should not be quarrelsome but should be kind and able to teach, promoting peace and understanding.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Paul mean by 'foolish and ignorant speculation'?

Paul refers to arguments or debates that lack substance and are unproductive, emphasizing the need to focus on meaningful discussions.

Why is it important to avoid quarreling?

Quarreling distracts from the mission of spreading the gospel and can harm relationships within the Christian community.

What qualities should a servant of the Lord possess?

A servant of the Lord should be kind, able to teach, and avoid conflict, reflecting the character of Christ in their interactions.

How can I apply this verse in my life?

Consider how you engage in discussions and strive to promote peace and understanding rather than getting caught up in arguments.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What types of arguments do I find myself engaging in that may be foolish or unproductive?
  2. How can I cultivate a spirit of kindness and patience in my interactions with others?
  3. In what ways can I encourage constructive dialogue in my community?
  4. How does avoiding quarreling reflect the character of Christ in my life?

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

Early church writers reference this verse to discuss the importance of avoiding foolish arguments and maintaining peace in the faith community.

IrenaeusAgainst Heresies Book 4 c. 130–202
In the preceding book, then, the ideas of the apostles as to all these points have been set forth, to the effect that not only did they, "who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" of truth, hold no such opinions,
Early Church Fathers on 2 Timothy 2 →
Clement of AlexandriaThe Stromata Book 1 c. 150–215
The Stoics also, whom he mentions too, say not well that the Deity, being a body, pervades the vilest matter. He calls the jugglery of logic "the tradition of men." Wherefore also he adds, "Avoid juvenile questions.
Early Church Fathers on 2 Timothy 2 →
CyprianTreatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews c. 200–258
Also to Timothy: "But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they generate strifes. But the servant of God ought not to strive, but to be gentle towards all men."
Early Church Fathers on 2 Timothy 2 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on 2 Timothy 2:23 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid,.... Such as have no solid wisdom in them, and are foreign from the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, and are not useful and unedifying; such ought to

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

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

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

It is a precept or caution of the same nature with those, 4:7; and . The repetition of this precept of the apostle four times in these two short Epistles, lets us know how important a thing he judged it, that ministers of the gospel should not spend their time in their discourses to their congregations, in things that tend nothing to the building up of their hearers in faith or holiness, being either old wives’ fables, like the stories in the popish legends, or the apocryphal stories of Bel and the Dragon, Tobit and his dog, and the swallows dunging in his eye, &c.; or sifting out genealogies, or vain and impertinent discourses, or idle, fruitless questions, which tend not to edifying, but…

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

23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. Ver. 23. But foolish and unlearned, &c.] παραιτου. Vitiligatorum naenias devita. Shift them off, set them by as seeds of sedition. Shake off vain questionists as great triflers. Such were the schoolmen, in detestation of whose vain jangling and doting about questions Luther saith, Prope est ut iurem nullum esse Theologum Scholasticum qui unum caput Evangelii intelligat; I could almost swear that there is not a schoolman that understands one chapter of the New Testament. One of their doctors said, that he had publicly expounded the Book of Job; but by that time he came to the 10th and 11th chapters, he did…

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

(23) But foolish and unlearned questions avoid.—The Greek word translated “unlearned” is better rendered ignorant. These “questions” which, as we have seen above, the false teachers, with whom Timothy was so much thrown, loved to put forward for discussion, could hardly be termed “unlearned”—much useless learning being often thrown away in these disputing of the schools—but were rather “pointless,” “stupid,” as well as foolish. The nature of these questions of controversy has been discussed above. Knowing that they do gender strifes.—Knowing—as thou dost—from sad and frequent experience, what conflicts, heart-burnings, estrangements, these abstract questions between rival teachers and rival…

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

Verse 23. Foolish and unlearned questions] See the notes on 1 Timothy 1:4; "1 Timothy 4:7", and "Titus 3:9".

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

23. But foolish and unlearned questions] But those foolish and ignorant questionings steadily refuse; as above ‘beware their bad doctrine; their foolish questioning decline.’unlearned] The word occurs nowhere else in N.T., its meaning ‘indoctus’ and then ‘ineptus’ is seen in Proverbs 8:5, ‘Ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.’ Hence its appropriate union here with ‘foolish.’ ‘Ignorant’ has a shade of moral fault very frequently, which makes it a better rendering than ‘unlearned.’ Cf. Psalms 49:10, ‘the ignorant and foolish’ (Pr.-B. V.).questions] ‘Questionings,’ see note on 1 Timothy 1:4.avoid] ‘Decline,’ see note on 1 Timothy 4:7 where the form of the sentence is very similar to 2…

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

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid; - see the notes at 2 Timothy 2:16; compare the notes at 1 Timothy 1:4, 1 Timothy 1:6; 1 Timothy 4:7.

Read Albert Barnes on 2 Timothy 2 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling.

NETBNew English Translation2006

But reject foolish and ignorant controversies, because you know they breed infighting.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

But foolish and ignorant questionings refuse, knowing that they gender strifes.

RVARevised Version, American1894

But foolish and ignorant questionings refuse, knowing that they gender strifes.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they gender contentions.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And put away foolish and vnlearned questions, knowing that they ingender strife.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

But foolish and senseless questionings avoid, knowing that they beget contentions.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and the foolish and uninstructed questions be avoiding, having known that they beget strife,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and be avoiding the foolish and uninstructed questions, having known that they beget strife,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

But refuse foolish and ignorant questions. You know that they give birth to arguments.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And avoid foolish and unlearned questions, knowing that they beget strifes.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Avoid foolish and childish debates, for you know they only lead to fights.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And put away foolish and uncontrolled questionings, seeing that they are a cause of trouble.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἀπαιδεύτουςapaideutos ignorant G521 2 different renderings
ignorantASV BSB MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB
uninstructedLSV YLT
παραιτοῦparaiteomai do refuse G3868 2 different renderings
avoidDBY DRA FBV KJV NWB
refuseASV RVA ULB WEB
εἰδὼςeidō knowing G6063 2 different renderings
knowingASV DBY DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA WEB
you knowBSB FBV MSB NETB ULB
μάχας·machē quarrels; G3163 2 different renderings
strifesASV DRA KJV RVA
contentionsDBY NWB

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.

clauseδὲAndclausenoun phrase · objectτὰς-noun phraseadjective phraseμωρὰςfoolishκαὶandἀπαιδεύτουςignorantζητήσειςspeculationsverbπαραιτοῦrefuseclause · adverbialclauseverbεἰδὼςknowingclauseὅτιthatclauseverbγεννῶσινthey breedobjectμάχαςquarrels

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

Stultas autem et sine disciplina quæstiones devita : sciens quia generant lites.

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

ܚܪܝܢܐ ܣܟܠܐ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܕܠܐ ܡܪܕܘ ܐܢܘܢ ܐܫܬܐܠ ܡܢܗܘܢ ܝܕܥ ܐܢܬ ܓܝܪ ܕܬܟܬܘܫܐ ܡܘܠܕܝܢ

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

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

τὰς δὲ μωρὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους ζητήσεις παραιτοῦ εἰδὼς ὅτι γεννῶσιν μάχας·

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

2 Timothy 2:23<the><the>δέAndAndδέμωρόςfoolishfoolishμωρόςκαίandandκαίἀπαίδευτοςignorantignorantἀπαίδευτοςζήτησιςspeculationspeculationsζήτησιςπαραιτέομαιdo refusedo refuseπαραιτέομαιειδωςknowingknowingειδωςὅτιthatthatὅτιγεννάωthey breedthey breedγεννάωμάχηquarrels;quarrels;μάχηἄλφαletter theletter the firsἄλφαζητέωv. I seek,v. I seek, searζητέωπαράPrep. fromPrep. from, in παράμάχομαιv. I engagv. I engage in μάχομαιμυστήριονn.n. anythn.n. anything hμυστήριονὅστιςRel.pr. whRel.pr. whosoevὅστιςγένοςn.n. offspn.n. offspring,γένοςζήτησιςn.f. a quen.f. a questionζήτησιςφρόνιμοςAdj intellAdj intelligentφρόνιμοςγενεαλογίαn.f. genean.f. genealogyγενεαλογίαμωρόςAdj stupidAdj stupid, fooμωρόςεἷςAdj oneAdj oneεἷςεἰCond. ifCond. ifεἰοἶδαv. I know,v. I know, remeοἶδαγινώσκωv. I come v. I come to knγινώσκωῬοβοάμProp.n. ReProp.n. RehoboaῬοβοάμἙσρώμProp.n. HeProp.n. HezronἙσρώμ
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 Timothy 2:23

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.

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
τὰςho <the> G3588 Article · accusative · plural · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Timothy as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-APF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
<the>19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
δὲde And G1161 Conjunction
2,787× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Timothy as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέAnd2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
μωρὰςmōros foolish G3474 Adjective · accusative · plural · feminine
12× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A foolish person is someone who is dull or stupid, like the fool in Matthew 7:26. It describes someone who is heedless or lacking in good sense, often in a moral or spiritual way.
Amplified meaning
dull, stupid
Tyndale gloss
foolish
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μωρός (i.e., *moros*) means dull or foolish, often used to describe a lack of mental sharpness. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, including references to foolishness in actions and thoughts (e.g., Matthew 7:26, 1 Corinthians 1:25). The term is derived from a root suggesting a state of being shut up or blocked, and it is sometimes associated with moral implications, indicating a heedless or blockheaded nature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μωρός, -ά, -όν,

[in LXX for נָבָל, etc.; freq. in Si.;]

prop., of the nerves, dull, sluggish (Hipp., Arist.).

Of the mind, dull, stupid, foolish: Mt 5:22 (v. Field, Notes, 3 ff.) 7:26 23:17, 19 (T, WH, txt., R, om.) Mt 25:2, >3, 8, I Co 3:18 4:10; of things, παράδοσις, Mk 7:13 (T, WH, txt., R, om.): ζητήσεις, II Ti 2:23, Tit 3:9; τὸ μ. τ. θεοῦ, I Co 1:25; τὰ μ. τ. κόσμου, I Co 1:27.†

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

μωρός, -d, -dv, [on the accent cf. W. 52 (51); Chandler 88 404, 405], foolish: with τυφλός, Mt. xxiii. 17, 19 [here T Tr WH txt. om. L br. μωρ.]; τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, an act or appointment of God deemed foolish by men, 1 Co. i. 25; i. q. without learning or erudition, 1 Co. i. 27; iiL 18; iv. 10; imprudent, without forethought or wisdom, Mt. vii. 26; xxiii. 17,19 [see above]; xxv. 2 sq. 8; 1. 4: empty, useless, ζητήσεις, 2 Tim. ii. 23; Tit. iii. 9; in imitation of the Hebr. 533 (cf. Ps. xiii. (xiv.) 1; Job ii. 10) i. q. impious, godless, (because such a man neglects and despises what relates to salvation), Mt. v. 22; [some take the word here as a Hebr. term ()D rebel) expressive of condemnation ; cf. Num. xx. 10; Ps. Ixviii. 8; but see the Syriac; Field, Otium Norv. pars iii. ad loc.; Levy, Neuhebriisch. u. Chald. Worterbuch s. v. pn]. (Sept. for 523, Deut. xxxii. 6; Is. xxxii. 5 sq.; for…

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

μωρός. In the nursery acrostic P Tebt II. 27885 (early i/a.b.) it is said of a lost garment—)éwy ὁ ἄρας, μωρὸς --ὁ -- ἀπολέσας, (αι lion he was who took it, a fool who lost it”: cf. BGU I. 4513 (A.D. 203) ἐπῆλθεν αὐτῷ, ἐπαγαγὼν σὺν α[ὐ]τῷ τὸν 1ό. IV. τοφθῖϊ. 35. (ii/A.D.) Μάρων ἐπικαλί(ούμενος) μωρός shows the word used as ἃ nickname, cf. the cognomen Brutus (Liv. i. 56. 8): so the diploma of club membership with reference to the boxer Herminus—P Lond 11784 (a.p. 194) (=III. p. 217) γεινώσκετε! ὄντα [ἡμῶν] συνοδείτην “Eppeivoy, τὸν καὶ Μωρόν, ‘‘ know that we are adopting as member Herminus, also called Morus.” The word is a Greek word, and it is μωρός 421 Motors quite unnecessary to identify it in Mt 522 with Heb. md | Movoje. Numb 20? (cf. RV marg.). It is found in the Midrashim, | For this the older form of the proper name, as in the and may well have passed into use amongst the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μωρός (mōros) — foolish.

μωρός, ά, όν,

Attic dialect μῶρος Hdn.Gr. 1.192: μῶρος as feminine, [Refs 5th c.BC+], but accusative μῶραν [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—dull, sluggish, of the nerves, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; χειμῶνος ἀρχομένου μ. γίνονται οἱ ἐργάται [τῶν σφηκῶν] [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. of persons, dull, stupid, μωροῦ φωτὸς ἅδε βουλά [NT+5th c.BC+]: comparative in proverbial, μωρότερος Μορύχου [Refs 5th c.BC+]: superlative, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. b in a religious sense, λαὸς μ. καὶ ἀκάρδιος [LXX]

3. of things, δέδοικα μῶρον πυραύστου μόρον [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ μ. folly, [NT+5th c.BC+]; μῶρα φρονεῖν, φωνεῖν, δρᾶν, [LXX+5th c.BC+]

3. b μ. ἀνάγκη blind necessity, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

μωρός

moros

probably from the base of 3466; dull or stupid (as if shut up), i.e.

heedless, (morally) blockhead, (apparently) absurd:--fool(-ish, X

-ishness).

see GREEK for 3466

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μωρός, ά, όν

Adj

stupid, foolish

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μωρός mōros 12x

pr. dull; foolish, Mt. 7:26; 23:17; 25:2f., 8; 1 Cor. 1:25, 27; 3:18; 4:10; 2 Tim. 2:23; Tit. 3:9; from the Hebrew, a fool in senseless wickedness, Mt. 5:22*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μωρός μωρός, ή, όν dull, sluggish, stupid, Soph., etc.; τὸ- μ. folly, Eur.; μῶρα φρονεῖν, δρᾶν, λέγειν Soph., Eur.:—adv. -ρως, Xen.

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

A-APF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
69%foolish
foolish69% · 9×foolishness8% · 1×foolish things8% · 1×fools8% · 1×fool8% · 1×

13 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
subject33%predicate25%object25%adverbial8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 12 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
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
Article the
ὅτιthat, since, becἀλλάbut, except
λέγωI say, speak
ἄνDisj
ἀνήρa male human being,
ὁμοιόωI make like, lik
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτός
μωρόςfoolish12×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
τυφλόςblindπέντεIndecἀπαίδευτοςuntrained, unedu
Article the
φρόνιμοςintelligent, pruθεόςGod, a godκόσμοςthe world, unive
ἔνοχοςinvolved in, liable
εἰμίI am, exist
ὅστις
οἰκοδομέωI build, build u
λαμβάνωI receive, take
Article the

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

Concordanceμωρός · 12× in the New Testament
Matthew 1 Corinthians 2 Timothy Titus
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Cherubim 75c. AD 40

λέληθέ σε, ὦ μωρέ, ὅτι πᾶς ὁ δοκῶν ἐν γενέσει διώκειν διώκεται·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 39.1c. AD 96

Ἅφρονες καὶ ἀσύνετοι καὶ μωροὶ καὶ ἀπαίδευτοι χλευάζουσιν ἡμᾶς καὶ μυκτηρίζουσιν, ἑαυτοὺς βουλόμενοι ἐπαίρεσθαι ταῖς διανοίαις αὐτῶν.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 3.6.5c. AD 140

ἀποκριθεῖσά μοι λέγει: Ἕως πότε μωρὸς εἶ καὶ ἀσύνετος, καὶ πάντα ἐπερωτᾷς καὶ οὐδὲν νοεῖς;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Brem. 61Hermopolis (?)AD 113–AD 120

τὰ ἀβάσκαντά σου παιδία. ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχομαι. Φαρμοῦθι ιϛ. οὐκ ἀγνοεῖς, πῶς πάλιν ὁ μωρὸς διενοχλεῖ μοι χάριν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ μωραίνων καὶ οὐκ ἔχων σε τὸν ἐκτινάξοντα αὐτοῦ

P.Athen.. 43 VoArsinoitesAD 131

ἀσκαύλης ἐπιτηρήσεως δραχμὰς δραχμὰς κ ἐπιτηρήσεως δραχμὰς … ἡμῖν δραχμὰς ιβ Βερενικίδος Αἰγιαλοῦ … μωρος θρηναύλης ἐπιτηρήσεως δραχμὰς κη Ἥρων γέρων ἀσκαύλης ἐπιτηρήσεως δραχμὰς ιϛ ἡμῖν δραχμὰς ιη Διονυσιάδος

P.Petaus 118ArsinoitesAD 182–AD 187

Μ … ος Πυμήους Πακόις Θωσοιέος … ανος Κάστωρ ὁ μωρός α Πι … υ … ν α Πωλᾶς Ἀτσακοῦς Μ … … ος Βαχώτα

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Timothy as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
ἀπαιδεύτουςapaideutos ignorant G521 Adjective · accusative · plural · feminine
1× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means uninstructed or ignorant, often translated as unlearned. In 2 Timothy 2:23, it describes foolish or stupid arguments that should be avoided. The word emphasizes the importance of wisdom and knowledge in the biblical worldview.
Amplified meaning
uninstructed
Tyndale gloss
uninstructed
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀπαίδευτος (*apaideutos*) is built from a negative prefix and a root meaning 'to educate.' It covers meanings like uninstructed, uneducated, and ignorant, with a range that includes boorishness and rudeness. The New Testament uses it in 2 Timothy 2:23, where it refers to unlearned or silly questions.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀ-παίδευτος, -ον

(< παιδεύω),

[in LXX for כְּסִיל, etc., chiefly in Wi. lit.;]

uninstructed, ignorant: II Ti 2:23.†

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

ἀπαίδευτος, -ov, (παιδεύω), without instruction and discipline, uneducated, ignorant, rude, [W. 96 (92)]: ζητήσεις, stupid questions, 2 Tim. ii. 23. (In classies fr. (Eurip.,] Xen. down; Sept.; Joseph.)

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

ἀπαίδευτος. In P Oxy I. 33428 (late ii/a.D.) Appianus does not hesitate to charge the Emperor (? Marcus Aurelius) with τυραννία ἀφιλοκαγαθία ἀπαιδία as contrasted with the virtues of his deified father Antoninus who was φιλόσοφος . ἀφιλάργυρος . . . φιλάγαθος. See Archiv i. p. 37.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀπαίδευτος (apaideutos) — uninstructed.

ἀπαίδ-ευτος, ον,

uneducated, παιδεύσωμεν τὸν ἀ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with genitive of things, uninstructed in.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. boorish, rude, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀ. μαρτυρία clumsy evidence, [NT+4th c.BC+]: comparative, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. adverb -τως[Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀπαίδευτος

apaideutos

from 1 (as a negative particle) and a derivative of 3811;

uninstructed, i.e. (figuratively) stupid:--unlearned.

see GREEK for 1

see GREEK for 3811

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀπαίδευτος, ον

Adj

untrained, uneducated

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀπαίδευτος apaideutos 1x

uninstructed, ignorant; silly, unprofitable, 2 Tim. 2:23*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀπαίδευτος παιδεύω uneducated, Eur., Plat.:— c. gen. uninstructed in a thing, Xen.

ignorant, boorish, coarse, Eur., Plat.

adv., ἀπαιδεύτως ἔχειν to be without education, Eur.

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

A-APF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%ignorant
ignorant100% · 1×

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

Concordanceἀπαίδευτος · 1× in the New Testament
2 Timothy
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus
JosephusAgainst Apion 2.37c. AD 75–95

εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀναγνοὺς τὰς ἐπιστολὰς Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὰς Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Λάγου καὶ τῶν μετʼ ἐκεῖνον τῆς Αἰγύπτου βασιλέων ἐντυχὼν τοῖς γράμμασι καὶ τὴν στήλην τὴν ἑστῶσαν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα περιέχουσαν, ἃ Καῖσαρ ὁ μέγας τοῖς…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD
BGU 7 1578Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 212

ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ εἰς αὑτὴν πάντων … ρος εμε γεγηροβοσκηκέναι με. ἡ δὲ ἴσως ἂν ἀπαίδευτος οὖσα … καὶ ἀχθομένη τῷ ὑποχειρίαν μοι εἶναι πᾶσαν ἀσέλγειαν … ἀμνηστίαν ποιησαμένη ἧς

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
ζητήσειςzētēsis speculations G2214 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
8× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A controversy or dispute, such as the one in 2 Timothy 2:23 about foolish arguments.
Amplified meaning
controversy
Tyndale gloss
controversy
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ζήτησις (zētēsis) refers to a seeking or search, encompassing inquiries, debates, and controversies. It is derived from the verb ζητέω and is used in various contexts, including philosophical investigations and judicial inquiries. In the New Testament, it appears in passages like Acts 15:2 and 1 Timothy 6:4, where it denotes disputes or subjects of questioning.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* ζήτησις, -εως, ἡ

(< ζητέω).

a seeking, search.

a questioning, inquiry, debate: Ac 15:2, 7, II Ti 2:23, Tit 3:9; seq. περί, Jo 3:25, Ac 25:20, I Ti 6:4.†

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

ζήτησις. The more technical use of this word, as in Ac 252°, may be illustrated from the long petition of Dionysia P Oxy II. 237% 7 (A.D. 186) περὶ ἰδιωτικῶν ζητήσεων, ** concerning private suits,” “Hi 89. εἴ tis γένοιτο ζήτησις cis ὕστερον περὶ τῶν μὴ δεόντως ἀπογραψαμένων, ‘if any inquiry is made hereafter concerning false returns ’’ (Edd.): οἵ. 26. III. Gey (a.p. 184) ἐάν τις ζήτησις περὶ τούτου πρὸς σὲ γένηται, and from the inscrr. OG/S 6299 (A.D. 137) συνέβαινεν δὲ πλειστάκις περὶ τούτου ζητήσεις γείνεσθ[αι με]ταξὺ τῶν ἐνπόρων πρὸς τοὺς τελώνας. For the ordinary meaning ‘‘ search ”’ see a proclamation by the prefect in A.D. 154-5 promising all who had fled from public burdens that, if they returned within three months—p[Sleplav πρὸς α[ὐ]τοὺς ζήτησιν ἔσεσθαι (BGU 11. 372118). The subst. occurs in a difficult phrase in an Imperial edict, probably to be assigned to Julian (see Archiv…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ζήτησις (zētēsis) — controversy.

ζήτ-ησις, εως, ἡ,

seeking, search for, κατ᾽ Εὐρώπης ζήτησιν ἐκπλῶσαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατὰ βίου τε καὶ γῆς ζ. [Refs]; ἀνδρὸς κατὰ ζήτησιν in quest of him, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. searching, examining, ζήτησιν ἐποιέετο τῶν νεῶν searched the ships, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. inquiry, investigation, especially of a philosophic nature, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ζ. τοῦ μέλλοντος διὰ ὀρνίθων ποιεῖσθαι inquire into the future by augury, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

4. judicial inquiry, [Refs 4th c.BC+], etc.: plural, suits, controversies, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ζήτησις

zetesis

from 2212; a searching (properly, the act), i.e. a dispute or its

theme:--question.

see GREEK for 2212

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ζήτησις, εως, ἡ

n.f.

a question, debate, controversy

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ζήτησις zētēsis 7x

a seeking; an inquiry, a question; a dispute, debate, discussion, Jn. 3:25; 1 Tim. 6:4; a subject of dispute or controversy, Acts 15:2, 7; 25:20; 2 Tim. 2:23; Tit. 3:9

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ζήτησις ζήτησις, εως ζητέω a seeking, seeking for, search for a thing, c. gen., Hdt., Soph., etc.

a searching, search, ποιέεσθαι ζήτησιν τῶν νεῶν to search the ships, Hdt.

inquiry, investigation, Plat.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
29%controversy
controversy29% · 2×controversies29% · 2×inquiry14% · 1×speculations14% · 1×debate14% · 1×

7 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
object50%subject38%adverbial13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 8 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
δέbut, on the other ha
πολύςmuch, many, ofteμωρόςstupid, foolish
οὖνtherefore, then
γίνομαιI come into bein
καίand, even, also, nam
στάσιςstanding, place,
οὗτος
περί
ὅστις
ἀπέραντοςunaccomplished,
ζήτησιςspeculations
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
λογομαχίαcontention aboutγενεαλογίαgenealogy
ἐκ
Article the
οὐNeg
ὀλίγος& Adv
γίνομαιI come into being, a
ἀνίστημιI raise up, set
λέγωI say, speak
εἰCond

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

Concordanceζήτησις · 8× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Timothy 2 Timothy John Titus
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Didache The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 54c. AD 40

ἐκ δὲ τῆς τούτων ζητήσεως τὸ φιλοσοφίας συνέστη γένος, οὗ τελειότερον ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.31c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὁ μὲν τοῦτο ποιήσας ἀπαλλάσσεται κατὰ ζήτησιν χωρίων πρὸς νομὰς ἐπιτηδείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 19.10c. AD 100

μνησθήσῃ ἡμέραν κρίσεως νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας, καὶ ἐκζητήσεις καθ̓ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν ἁγίων, ἢ διὰ λόγου κοπιῶν καὶ πορευόμενος εἰς τὸ παρακαλέσαι καὶ μελετῶν εἰς τὸ σῶσαι ψυχὴν τῷ λόγῳ, ἢ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν σου ἐργάσῃ εἰς λύτρωσιν ἁμαρτιῶν σου.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD
SB 5 7741HerakleopolitesAD 126–AD 133

δοῦναι πράσσεσθαι ὁμοίως καὶ τὰς παρὰ τοῖς διακριταῖς ἐκθέσεις. εἰ γάρ τινα ἐν αὐτοῖς ζητήσεως δεῖσθαι νομίζεις, δυνήσει περὶ τούτων ἐπιστεῖλαι τοῖς τοῦ Ἡρακλείδου βοηθοῖς. ἴσθι μὲν γὰρ τὴν

ει. Κεφαλίωνος καὶ Ἀπολλωνίου τελωνῶν ἐνκυκλίου Μενδησίου ἀξιωσάντων … ς εἶναι τὴν ζήτησιν, Μαμερτεῖνος εἶπεν· τότε ἐρεῖτε. παραγενομένων … Διοφάντου Πτολεμαίου καὶ Ἡρακλείου τοῦ Ἡρακλείου πρὸς Σαραπίωνα

P.Hamb. 1 70Arsinoites (?)AD 145

μου τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν πάντα δημόσια εἰς ὄνομα τῆς Φλαουίας Πτολέμας, ὁμολογῶ, ἐάν τις ζήτησις γένηται περὶ τῶν περιγεινομένων αὐτῶν ἢ ἑτέρου τινὸς αὐτῶν, ὅταν τὸν λόγον δίδομεν τῷ

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
παραιτοῦparaiteomai do refuse G3868 Verb · present · no voice stated · imperative · second person · singular
12× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To refuse or excuse oneself from something, like in 1 Timothy 4:7 where the apostle Paul tells Timothy to avoid foolish arguments. This word can also mean to deprecate or decline something.
Amplified meaning
avoid, refuse
Tyndale gloss
to refuse/excuse
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word παραιτέομαι (i.e., *paraiteomai*) is built from the prefix παρ- and a verb meaning 'to ask.' It covers a range of meanings including to beg off, deprecate, refuse, and decline. In the New Testament, it appears in verses like Mark 15:6 and Hebrews 12:19. The entries indicate a consistent use of the term for seeking exemption or avoidance.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

παρ-αιτέομαι, -οῦμαι,

[in LXX for בּקשׁ pi., etc.;]

to beg of or from another: Mk 15:6 (Rec. ὅνπερ ᾐτοῦντο, v. Field, Notes, 43).

to deprecate;

prop., c. neg., to entreat that not (Thuc., al.): He 12:19;

to refuse, decline, avoid: o. acc., I Ti 4:7 5:11, II Ti 2:23, Tit 3:10, He 12:25 (EV; but v. Field, Notes, 234).

to beg off, ask to be excused, excuse (Polyb., al.) : Lk 14:18, 19 (He 12:25, Field, Notes, 234).†

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

παρ-αιτέομαι, -οὔμαι, impy. pres. παραιτοῦ ; [impf. 3 pers. plur. παρῃτοῦντο, Mk. xv. 6 T WH Tr mrg., where al. ὅνπερ ἡτοῦντο (q. v.)]; 1 aor. παρῃτησάμην ; pf. pass. ptep. παρητημένος with a pass. signif.; fr. Aeschyl. and Pind. down; 1. prop.to ask alongside (wapa[IV.1]), beg to have near one; to obtain by entreaty ; to beg from, to ask for, supplicate: [Mk. xv. 6 (see above) ]. 2. to avert (mapa aside [see mapa, IV. 1]) by entreaty or seek to avert, to deprecate ; a. prop. foll. by μή and ace. w. inf. [to intreat that... not], Heb. xii. 19 (Thue. 5, 63) ; cf. W. 604 (561); [Β. § 148, 13]. b. i.q. to refuse, decline: τὸ ἀποθανεῖν, Acts xxv. 11 (θανεῖν οὐ παραι-

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

παραιτέομαι, “request,” ‘‘entreat,’’ is found in P Petr II. 38 (ἡ 48 (Ptol.) παραιτεῖσθαι] κ[ατα]πλεῖν eis [᾿Αλε]ξανδρεί[αν : cf. Mk 15° ABN (but see Field Vo/es, p. 43), Heb 1219, For the meaning ‘‘beg off from,” as in Heb 1235 (cf. Field Notes, p. 234), cf. BGU IV 1040 (ii/A.D.) τοὺς mpdkt[lopa]s π[αρ]αιτῖσθαι, ‘‘ to beg off from the factors.”’ Hence the stronger sense ‘‘ refuse,” “decline” (1 Tim 47, 511; cf. Aristeas 184), in P Lond 12313 (Α. Ὁ. 144) (=III. p. 108) παραιτούμενοι τὴν εἰς τὸ μ[έϊλλον with reference to “resigning ” a lease of land, and BGU II. 6258 (beg. iii/a.p.) (as amended Chrest. I. p. 37) γείνωσκε, ἄδελφε, ἐκληρώθην (Eph 11) els τὰ Bovxddta: οὐκ ἠδυνόμην παρετῆσε (1. ἠδυνάμην παραιτήσασθαι). In an edict of Germanicus Caesar, Preisigke 3924°7 (A.D. 19), παραιτοῦμαι is directly contrasted with ἀποδέχομαι. See also the letter of the Emperor Claudius to the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

παραιτέομαι (paraiteomai) — to refuse/excuse.

παραιτ-έομαι,

beg of or from another, ask as a favour of him, τινά τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive added, ἓν δ᾽ αὐτοὺς παραιτησώμεθα, ἐπίδηλον ἡμῖν.. ποιεῖν, ἢν τοῖς ἔπεσι χαίρωσι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive for accusative, θεοὺς παραιτοῦ τῶν σ᾽ ἔρως ἔχει τυχεῖν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; Προμηθέα -εῖται Ἐπιμηθεὺς αὐτὸς νεῖμαι asks P. for permission to.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. παραιτησάμενος βασιλέα having obtained the king's leave, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: generally, intercede with, appeal to a person, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. σφέας, ὡς ἄξουσι.. entreating them and saying that.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with double accusative, beg one's pardon for.., σὲ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

παραιτέομαι

paraiteomai

from 3844 and the middle voice of 154; to beg off, i.e. deprecate,

decline, shun:--avoid, (make) excuse, intreat, refuse, reject.

see GREEK for 3844

see GREEK for 154

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

παραιτέομαι

v.

I make excuse, refuse, reject

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

παραιτέομαι paraiteomai 12x

to entreat; to beg off, excuse one’s self, Lk. 14:18, 19; to deprecate, entreat against, Acts 25:11; Heb. 12:19; to decline receiving, refuse, reject, 1 Tim. 4:7; 5:11; Tit. 3:10; Heb. 12:25; to decline, avoid, shun, 2 Tim. 2:23

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

παραιτέομαι fut. ήσομαι perf. -ῄτημαι Dep.

to beg from another, ask as a favour of him, Lat. exorare, τί τινα Eur., Plat., etc.: to obtain by entreaty, τι Hdt.

π. τινα to move by entreaty, obtain leave from, id. Hdt.: to intercede with a person, prevail upon him by supplications, id. Hdt., Eur.

c. acc. et inf. to entreat one to do or be so and so, Hdt., Xen., etc.:—also c. gen. pers. et inf. to beg of a person to do a thing, Eur.:—c. inf. only, to obtain leave to do, Hdt.

c. acc. rei, Lat. deprecari, to avert by entreaty, deprecate, τὴν ὀργήν, τὰς ζημίας Aeschin.

to decline, deprecate, χάριν Pind.

c. acc. pers. to ask him to excuse one, decline his invitation, Polyb.; absol., NTest.:—Pass., ἔχε με παρῃτημένον have me excused, id. NTest.

π. γυναῖκα to divorce her, Luc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PNM-2S — Verb · present · no voice stated · imperative · second person · singular
present no voice stated imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PNM-2S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: middle or passive depoNent Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

re-fuz': Formerly used with the additional meaning "reject," and hence, the change from the King James Version to the Revised Version (British and American) in 1Sa 16:7; Eze 5:6; 1Ti 4:4; 1Pe 2:7, etc.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%do refuse
do refuse25% · 3×excused17% · 2×i do refuse8% · 1×do reject8% · 1×they excused themselves8% · 1×you may refuse8% · 1×having refused8% · 1×they were requesting8% · 1×other renderings8% · 1×

12 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
verb92%object8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 12 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
ἐγώ
ἔχωI have, hold, po
ὅς
δέσμιοςone bound, a pri
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
εἷςone
οὐNeg
τὶς
μῦθοςan idle tale, fable
γραώδηςbelonging to old
παραιτέομαιdo refuse12×
what comes after →
Article the
πρῶτοςfirst, beforeἀποθνῄσκωI am dying, am aλαλέωI speak, say
γυμνάζωI train by physical
δέbut, on the othe
ὅτανwhen, whensoever
γάρfor
οἶδαI know, remember
ὅτιthat, since, bec
μήNeg
προστίθημιI put to, add, 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

Concordanceπαραιτέομαι · 12× in the New Testament
Hebrews Luke 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Acts Mark Titus
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.144c. AD 40

καὶ προσεπιτείνει τὴν τοῦ * * * προκόπτοντος μετριοπάθειαν τῷ τὸν μὲν ἄνευ προστάξεως παραιτεῖσθαι ὅλην τὴν γαστρὸς ἡδονήν, τὸν δὲ προκόπτοντα μετὰ προστάξεως·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 5.203c. AD 75–95

Βαράκου δὲ φαμένου οὐ στρατηγήσειν μὴ κἀκείνης αὐτῷ συστρατηγούσης ἀγανακτήσασα, σὺ μέν, εἶπε, γυναικὶ παραχωρεῖς ἀξίωμα ὃ σοὶ δέδωκεν ὁ θεός, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ παραιτοῦμαι .

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

ὅταν με ἴδητε, ἀποδέχομαι, τὰς δὲ ἐπιφθόνους ἐμοὶ καὶ ἰσοθέους ἐκφωνήσεις ὑμῶν ἐξ ἅπαντος παραιτοῦμαι. πρέπουσι γὰρ μόνῳ τῶι σωτῆρι ὄντως καὶ εὐεργέτῃ τοῦ σύνπαντος τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους, τῷ

P.Coll.Youtie 1 20Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 56

ἄνδρες ψε ἀφήλικες λδ ἄνδρες ψπβ ὧν παραγενόμενοι καὶ παραιτησάμενοι ἄνδρες σι ὑπερετεῖς θ γίνονται ἄνδρες σιθ καταλείπονται ἄνδρες φξγ ὑπερετεῖς ἐτῶν ξα ϛ

BGU 4 1040ArsinoitesAD 101–AD 200

σοι ἵνʼ εἰδῇς καὶ γίγνωσκε ὅτι οὐκ ἐν … ν … μεθα τοὺς πράκτορας παραιτεῖσθαι· παρεγράφη γὰρ ταῦτα ὡς γερδιακοῦ δραχμαὶ λθ καὶ ἄλλως οὖν μοι γράψεις, περὶ ὧν

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
εἰδὼςeidō knowing G6063 Verb · perfect · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
295× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
to perceive: see
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-RAP-NSM — Verb · perfect · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-RAP-NSM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: peRfect Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%you know
you know20% · 58×knowing17% · 49×i know16% · 46×know14% · 39×we know12% · 34×knows6% · 18×know you2% · 6×other renderings7% · 21×other renderings5% · 14×

285 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 28 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
ὅτιhoti that G3754 Conjunction
1,293× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Timothy as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'that' or 'because', used to introduce a reason or explanation. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Romans 8:38. It helps to show cause and effect in sentences.
Tyndale gloss
that/since: that
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὅτι (hoti) is a conjunction primarily meaning 'that' or 'because.' It introduces objective clauses, often following verbs of perception or declaration, and can also serve as a causal particle. The New Testament frequently employs it in this way, such as in Matthew 5:4-12. There is some variation in how lexicons describe its usage, particularly regarding its pleonastic function in direct discourse.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅτι,

conjc. (prop. neut. of ὅστις).

As conjc, introducing an objective clause, that;

after verbs of seeing, knowing, thinking, saying, feeling: Mt 3:9 6:32 11:25, Mk 3:28, Lk 2:49, Jo 2:22, Ac 4:13, Ro 1:13 8:38 10:9, Phl 4:15, Ja 2:24, al.; elliptically, Jo 6:46, Phl 3:12, al.

After εἶναι (γίνεσθαι): defining a demonstr. or pers. pron., Jo 3:19 16:19, Ro 9:6, I Jo 3:16 al.; c. pron. interrog., Mt 8:27, Mk 4:41,

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

ὅτι [properly neut. of ὅστις], a conjunction [fr. Hom. down], (Lat. quod [ef. W. § 53,8 b.; B. § 139, 51; § 149, 87), marking I. the substance or contents (of a statement), that; 1. joined to verbs of saying and declaring (where the ace. and infin. is used in Lat.) : ἀναγγέλλειν, Acts xiv. 27; διηγεῖσθαι, Acts ix. 273; εἰπεῖν, Mt. xvi. 20; xxviii. 7,13; Jn. vii. 42; xvi. 15; 1Co.i.15; λέγειν, Mt. iii. 9; vill. 11; Mk. iii. 28; Lk. xv.7; Jn. xvi. 20; Ro. iv. 9 [T Tr WH om. L br. ὅτι}; ix. 2, and very often; προεἰρηκέναι, 2 Co. vii. 3; before the ὅτι in Acts xiv. 22 supply λέγοντες, contained in the preceding παρακαλοῦντες [ef. B. §151, 11]; ὅτι after γράφειν, 1 Co. ix.10; 1 Jn. 11. 12-14; μαρτυρεῖν, Mt. xxiii. 31; Jn. i. 34; iii. 28; iv. 44; ὁμολογεῖν, Heb. xi. 13; δεικνύειν, Mt. xvi. 21; δηλοῦν, 1 Co. i. 11; διδάσκειν, 1 Co. xi. 14. after ἐμφανίζειν. Heb. xi. 14; δῆλον (ἐστίν), 1 Co.…

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

οτι. (1) For ὅτι, ‘‘that,” introducing an objective clause after verbs of knowing, saying, etc., cf. P Tebt II. 4098 (A.D. 5) εἰδὼ[ς ὅ]τι ἐξίι)ουσίαν αὐτῶν ἔχει kal Λυσίμαχος kal σύ, ΚΕ knew that both you and Lysimachus had plenty of them” (Edd.), P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) νομίσας ὅτι (cf. Mt 517) κιχρᾷς por αὐτούς, ““ consider that you are lending them (sc. staters) to me’’ (Edd.), BGU III. 8464* (ii/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 93) γεινώσκειν σαι θέλω, ὅτι οὐχ [HA] Lov, ὅτι ἀναβένις (1. ἀναβαίνεις) els τὴν μητρόπολιν, “1 wish you to know that I had no hope that you were coming up to the metropolis,” 74.9 αἴγραψά σοι, ὅτι γυμνός εἰμει, “1 wrote you that I am naked,” and P Tebt II. 420+ (iii/A.D.) οἴδατε ὅτι ἀπὸ ζημίας ἠμί, ‘‘ You know that I am blameless.” Ὅτι, however, is frequently omitted, e.g. BGU IIL. 8153(ii/a.p.) γεινόσκιν σε θέλω [τὴ]ν ἐπιστολήν σου ἔλαβε (corrected by another hand…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅτι (hoti) — that/since: that.

ὅτῐ,

Epic dialect ὅττῐ (both in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: conjunction, to introduce an objective clause, that, after Verbs of seeing or knowing, thinking or saying; in [Refs 8th c.BC+] —Usage:

I. when ὅτι introduces a statement of fact:

I. a in [Refs 8th c.BC+] always with indicative, the tense following the same rules as in English, ἤγγειλ᾽ ὅττι ῥά οἱ πόσις ἔκτοθι μίμνε πυλάων [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I. b in Attic dialect, ὅτι takes indicative after primary tenses, indicative or optative after secondary tenses, e.g. ἐνδείκνυμαι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι σοφός [Refs 5th c.BC+] news came that Megara had (literal has) revolted, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: sometimes optative and indicative are found in the same sentence, ἔλεγον, ὅτι Κῦρος μὲν τέθνηκεν, Ἀριαῖος δὲ πεφευγὼς.. εἴη [Refs 5th c.BC+].. and the accusative with infinitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅτι

hoti

neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes

redundant); causative, because:--as concerning that, as though,

because (that), for (that), how (that), (in) that, though, why.

see GREEK for 3748

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅτι

Cj.

that, since, because

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅτι hoti 1x

originally was the neuter of ὅστις, that, Mt. 2:16, 22, 23; 6:5, 16; often used pleonastically in reciting another’s words, Mt. 9:18; Lk. 19:42; Acts 5:23; as a causal particle, for that, for, because, Mt. 2:18; 5:3, 4, 5; 13:13; because, seeing that, since, Lk. 23:40; Acts 1:17

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%that
that64% · 856×because19% · 252×for16% · 209×other renderings1% · 12×

1,329 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 8 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial16%object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,293 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
λέγωI say, speakγάρforδέbut, on the othe
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςσύδέbut, on the othe
οἶδαI know, remember
οὐNegκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakμαθητήςa learner, disciπερί
γινώσκωI come to know, lear
οὗτοςκαίand, even, also,αὐτός
ὅτιthat1293×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπατήρfather, Father,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existοἶδαI know, rememberδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐγώ
εἰμίI am, existοὐNegArticle the
οὗτος
εἰμίI am, existArticle theποιέωI do, make
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theῥῆμαa thing spokenζητέωI seek, search f

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

Concordanceὅτι · 1,293× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 John Revelation 1 Corinthians Romans 2 Corinthians Galatians Philippians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 8c. AD 40

Μωυσῆς δὲ καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἐπ’ αὐτὴν φθάσας ἀκρότητα καὶ χρησμοῖς τὰ πολλὰ καὶ συνεκτικώτατα τῶν τῆς φύσεως ἀναδιδαχθεὶς ἔγνω δή, ὅτι ἀναγκαιότατόν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τὸ μὲν εἶναι δραστήριον αἴτιον, τὸ δὲ παθητόν, καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὲν δραστήριον ὁ τῶν ὅλων…

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

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.3c. AD 100

ὅτι ἀληθῶς βλέπω ἐν ὑμῖν ἐκκεχυμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ πλουσίου τῆς πηγῆς κυρίου πνεῦμα ἐφ̓ ὑμᾶς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
C.Erbstreit14Diospolis Magna (Theben)187 BC

καὶ τὴν εἰκοστὴν τοῦ ἐγκυκλίου καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ καθήκοντα. … ται Προῖτος, καθʼ ὅτι πρόκειται … ἑξήκοντα ἓξ τετρωβόλου καὶ τῆς … … τοπογραμματέως τοῦ Παθυρίτου … ἀρουρῶν

P.Grenf. 1 10 p. 24Hermonthis149 BC

ι τοῖς ἐνκαλουμένοις τὸ ἀντίγραφον τῆς ἐντεύξεως λαβεῖν παρ … τ … … πίστιν ὅτι ἀπαντησα … ἐπὶ τὸ ἐν τῆι αὐλῆι κριτήριον ἐν ἡμέραις λ οὐκ ο

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

δʼ ἐπιχειροῦντας μὴ ὑπακούειν σου … υτέραι στάσει ἐχομένους ἀσφαλισάμενος μέχρι τοῦ καὶ ἡμᾶς ὅτι τάχος ἐπιβαλεῖν πρὸς σέ. ἔρρωσοἔρρωσο ἔτους κϛ Φαμενὼθ ιϛ

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
γεννῶσινgennaō they breed G1080 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · plural
97× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 2 Timothy as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To beget means to produce or create offspring, and is used to describe the father or mother of a child. It can also mean to regenerate or be born again, as seen in Matthew and Luke.
Amplified meaning
begets
Tyndale gloss
to beget
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γεννάω is a verb meaning to beget or bring forth, primarily used in the context of fathers begetting children and mothers giving birth. It also extends metaphorically to concepts like regeneration and producing effects in various contexts. The New Testament uses it in passages such as Matthew 1:1-16 and John 3:4, where it refers to both physical birth and spiritual rebirth.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γεννάω, -ῶ

(< γέννα, poët. for γένος),

[in LXX chiefly for ילד ;]

of the father, to beget: c. acc., Mt 1:1-16, Ac 7:8, 29; seq. ἐκ, Mt 1:3, 5, 6.

Of the mother, to bring forth, bear: Lk 1:13, 57 23:29, Jo 16:21; εἰς δουλείαν, Ga 4:24. Pass.

to be begotten: Mt 1:20;

to be born: Mt 2:1, 4 19:12 26:24, Mk 14:21, Lk 1:35, Jo 3:4, Ac 7:20, Ro 9:11,

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

γεννάω, -@ ; fut. γεννήσω ; 1 aor. ἐγέννησα; pf. yeyevynka; [Pass., pres. γεννάομαι, -ῶμαι]; pf. yeyevynpar; 1 aor. ἐγεννήθην ; (fr. γέννα, poetic for γένος) ; in Grk. writ. fr. Pind. down; in Sept. for 37°; to beget; 1. properly : of men begetting children, Mt. i. 1-16; Acts vii. 8, 29; foll. by ἐκ with gen. of the mother, Mt. i. 3, 5, 6; more rarely of women giving birth to children, Lk. i. 13, 57; xxiii. 29; Jn. xvi. 215; εἰς δουλείαν to bear a child unto bondage, that will be a slave, Gal. iv. 24, ({ Xen. de rep. Lae. 1, 3]; Leian. de sacrif.6; Plut. de liber. educ. 5; al.; Sept. Is. xvi. 9; 4 Mace. x. 2, etc.). Pass. to be begotten: τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθέν that which is begotten in her womb, Mt. i. 20; to be born: Mt. ii. 1, 4 [W. 266 (250) ; B. 203 (176) ]; xix. 12; xxvi. 24; Mk. xiv. 21; Lk. i. 35; Jn. 111. 4; [Acts vii. 20]; Ro. ix. 11; Heb. xi. 23; with the addition εἰς τὸν κόσμον…

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

γεννάω. P Fay 289 (A.p. 150-1) (= Selections, p. 82) ἀπογραφόμεθα τὸν γεννηθέντα ἡμεῖν ... υἱόν : the same formula in BGU I. 111} (ii/a.p.). Ῥ Gen I. 191 (Δ... 148) μηδέ[π]ω pov yevvyO(elons), 2. 3314 (ab. 156) γεννηθέντα [τ]ῷ ts (ἔτει) ᾿Αντω[νίνου] Καίσαρος, Sy// 406° (A.D. 147) συνησθέντες μοι γεννηθέντος υἱοῦ (of civic congratulations sent to Antoninus), C. avd B. ii. 590 (p. 656) Λούκιος γυν αι]κὶ ἰδίᾳ σεμνοτάτῃ, γεννηθείσῃ ἔτους Ῥξα (=a.p. 77), BGU I. 132 11:5 (ii/A.D.) Ἥρων ἄλλος vids μη(τρὸς) τῆς α(ὐτῆς) yevνηθ(είς). The confusion of forms from γίνομαι and forms from γεννάω, which gave a start to the mixing of γένημα and γέννημα, produces in BGU I. 28'® (Ἀν. 183) and riot (A.b. 138-9) the form γενηθέντα : see Deissmann 4S p. 154. With Mk 14%! cf. OGZS 45819 διὸ ἄν τις δικαίως ὑπολάβοι τοῦτο ἁτῶι ἀρχὴν τοῦ βίου Kal τῆς ζωῆς γεγονέναι, ὅ ἐστιν πέρας καὶ ὅρος τοῦ μεταμέλεσθαι, ὅτι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γεννάω (gennaō) — to beget.

γενν-άω,

future middle γεννήσομαι in passive sense, [Refs 1st c.BC+] (but -ηθήσομαι[Refs]: (γέννα):—causal of γίγνομαι (compare γείνομαι), mostly of the father, beget, ὁ γεννήσας πατήρ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἱ γεννήσαντές σε your parents, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅθεν γεγενναμένοι sprung, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the mother, bring forth, bear, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle, produce from oneself, create, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. produce, grow, get, κἂν σῶμα γεννήσῃ μέγα [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. metaphorically, engender, produce, λήθη τῶν ἰδίων κακῶν θρασύτητα γεννᾷ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; γεννῶσι τὸν οὐρανὸν [οἱ φιλόσοφοι] call it into existence, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὁ ἐξ ἀσωμάτου γεννῶν λόγος[Refs 3rd c.AD+]; of numbers, produce a total, [Refs 1st…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γεννάω

gennao

from a variation of 1085; to procreate (properly, of the father, but

by extension of the mother); figuratively, to regenerate:--bear,

beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make,

spring.

see GREEK for 1085

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γεννάω

v.

I beget, bring forth, give birth to

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γένημα genēma 4x

natural produce, fruit, increase, Mt. 26:29; Mk. 14:25; Lk. 12:18; 22:18; 2 Cor. 9:10*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γεννάω 11), of the father, to beget, engender, Aesch., Soph.; rarely of the mother, to bring forth, Aesch.; οἱ γεννήσαντες the parents, Xen.; τὸ γεννώμενον the child, Hdt.:—like φύω 1. 2, as κἂν σῶμα γεννήσηι μέγα even if he grow, get a large body, i. e. if he be of giant frame, Soph.

metaph. to produce, Plat.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bred: Found in the past tense in Ex 16:20 as a translation of rum = "to bring up," "to rise." In this verse, the manna is said to have arisen, i.e. "become alive" (with worms), to indicate that God's gifts are spoiled by selfish and miserly hoarding. The pres. act. occurs in Ge 8:17 for sharats = "to wriggle," "swarm," "abound," hence, "breed abundantly"; and in De 32:14 for ben = "son," "descendant," "child," "colt," "calf," "breed." The present participle is found in Ze 2:9 the King James Version for mimshaq, a derivative of mesheq = "possession," "territory," "field." The passage in question should therefore be translated "field of nettles" (the Revised Version (British and American) "possession of nettles").

Frank E. Hirsch

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%begat
begat40% · 39×born18% · 17×has been born5% · 5×having been born4% · 4×have begotten3% · 3×he begat2% · 2×shall be born2% · 2×be born2% · 2×other renderings24% · 23×

97 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 30 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb96%object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 97 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
δέbut, on the other ha
ἸακώβPropἸσαάκPropἸούδαςJudah, Judas, Ju
Article the
πᾶςall, the whole, καίand, even, also,ἀγαπάωI love
οὐNeg
εἰCondὅςπορνείαfornication, ido
θεόςGod, a god
Article theἐκ
τυφλόςblind
ὅτιthat, since, becἵναin order that, sὀφθαλμόςthe eye
γεννάωthey breed97×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸσαάκPropἸακώβPropἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ἐκ
Article theπνεῦμαwind, breath, spὕδωρwater
καίand, even, also, nam
μαστόςa breast, papεἰςοὗτος
ἐν
ΒηθλέεμPropΤαρσόςTarsusArticle the
υἱόςa son, descendent
σύδύο

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

Concordanceγεννάω · 97× in the New Testament
Matthew John 1 John Acts Hebrews Luke Galatians 1 Corinthians 2 Peter 2 Timothy Mark Philemon
Across the New Testament13 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 142 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 51c. AD 40

αὐτίκα γοῦν ὁ ἓξ συντιθέμενος ἐκ δυοῖν τριάδων οὐκέτι γεννᾶται πολυπλασιασθεισῶν, ἀλλ’ ἕτερος, ὁ ἐννέα.

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

ὡς ἐκ Κατούρης Ἁβράμῳ γαμηθείσης τὸ τῶν Τρωγλοδυτῶν Ἀράβων ἔθνος ἐγεννήθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 19.5c. AD 100

οὐ φονεύσεις τέκνον ἐν φθορᾷ, οὐδὲ πάλιν γεννηθὲν ἀποκτενεῖς.

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 0th c. BC 1st c. AD
PSI 12 1242101 BC–AD 100

ἀπαλλάξομεν. εὖ δʼ ἂν ἔχοι καὶ ὑμᾶς ἑορτάσαι πρεπόντως τῆι πρώτηι γενεθλίωι Διονυσίου πρώτου γεννηθέντος παιδίου. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἤδη πρὸς τῶι πλεῖν ἦμεν. ἀσπάζου τὴν μητέρα καὶ Διονύσιον καὶ

P.Warr. 2ArsinoitesAD 72

ἀπογράφομαι τὸν ἐπιγεννηθέντα μοι ἐκ τῆς συνούσης μοι γυναικὸς Ταμάρωνος τῆς Ἡρακλείου υἱὸν Ἡρακλείδην γεγεννημένον τῶι β ἔτει Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Οὐεσπασιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ καὶ ὄντα ἐτῶν γ ἐπιδίδωμι τὴν ἀπογραφήν.

P.Mich. 3 203Pselkis (Nubien)AD 114–AD 116

Ἰουλλίου πάντα ἐκομισάμην καὶ διὰ τοῦ παιδαρίου Ἰουλίου κάλαθον ἐλαιῶν. γινώσκειν σε θέλω ὅτι ἐγεννήθη μοι ἄλλο παιδίον ἄρσενον ᾧ ὄνομα Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων θεῶν θελόντων. ἐὰν εὕρω εὐκαιρίαν ἐργασίαν

<the> And foolish and ignorant speculations do refuse knowing that they breed quarrels;
μάχας·machē quarrels; G3163 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
4× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in 2 Timothy than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for a battle or quarrel, describing a fight or controversy. In 2 Corinthians 7:5 and James 4:1, it refers to a struggle or strife, often between people.
Amplified meaning
strifes, contentions
Tyndale gloss
quarrel
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μάχη (machē) refers to a fight, battle, or conflict, often implying strife or contention. It is derived from the verb μάχομαι and is used in various contexts, including quarrels and disputes, as seen in 2 Corinthians 7:5 and James 4:1. The term can also denote a struggle or contest, extending beyond physical battles to include legal and rhetorical disputes.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — πόλεμος, μάχη from a scan

Πόλεμος and μάχη occur often together (Homer, 10. 1. 177; y. 891; Plato, Tim. 19 6; Job xxxviii. 23; Jam. iv. 1); and in like manner πολεμεῖν and μάχεσθαι. There is the same difference between them as between our own ‘war’ and ‘battle’ ; 6 πόλεμος Πελοποννησιακός, the Peloponnesian War ; ἡ ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχη, the battle of Marathon. Dealing with the words in this antithesis, namely that πόλεμος embraces the whole course of hostilities, μάχη the actual shock in arms of hostile armies, Pericles, dissuading the Athenians from yielding to the demands of the Spartans, admits that these with their allies were a match for all the other Greeks together in a single battle, but denies that they would retain the same superiority in a war, that is, against such as had their preparations of another kind (μάχῃ μὲν γὰρ μιᾷ πρὸς ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας δυνατοὶ Πελοποννήσιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἀντισχεῖν, πολεμεῖν δὲ…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μάχη, -ης, ἡ

(< μάχομαι),

[in LXX chiefly for רִיב;]

a fight.

a strife, contention, quarrel: II Co 7:5, II Ti 2:23, Ja 4:1; pl., Tit 3:9.†

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

μάχη, -ης, 9, [μάχομαι; fr. Hom. down], Sept. several times for 3°, 101, ete.; α fight, combat; 1. of those in arms, @ battle. 2. of persons at variance, disputants, ete., strife, contention; a quarrel: 2 Co. vii. 5; 2 Tim. ii. 23; Jas. iv. 1; about the law, Tit. iii. 9.

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

μάχη. The weaker sense οἵ μάχη, ‘contention,’ ‘ quarrel,” which alone is found in the NT (except perhaps in Jas 4'), may be illustrated from the curious mantic P Ry] I. 2820 (iv/A.D.) ἐὰν ὃ τρίτος ἅληται ἀηδίαν σημαίνι Kal μάχας | ἕξει διὰ θῆλυ, ἔχειν δηλοῖ ἔπειτα χαράς᾽ εὔχου Aci, ‘if the third toe quiver, it signifies trouble, and the man will have strife on account of a female, and afterwards gladness: pray to Dionysus” (Ed.): cf. from the inscrr. Sy// 737 (= 1109) 7 (before A.D. 178) μάχης δὲ ἐάν τις ἄρξηται ἢ εὑρεθῇ τις ἀκοσμῶν, and Aazbe/ 5225 (Thessalonica) where a claim is made of a man’s having lived without quarrelling with his companions—€[Tdp ]o[tjow δίχα μάχης ζήσας. In PSI I. 71* (vi/A.pD.) the word is used of what was evidently a serious brawl between two men—paxnv κεινήσαντες πρὸς On the μάχιμοι, native troops, see Chrest. I. i. p. 382, Meyer Aeerwesen, Ὁ. 64 ff.: the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μάχη (machē) — quarrel.

μᾰχ-η, ἡ,

(μάχομαι) battle, combat, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes of single combat, [Refs]; μ. καὶ δηϊοτής[Refs 5th c.BC+] fight a battle, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἀντιάζειν τινὶ μάχαν[Refs 5th c.BC+]; μ. συμβάλλειν τινί engage battle with.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; διὰ μάχης τινὶ ἀπικέσθαι, ἔρχεσθαι, ἥκειν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εἰς μάχην πρός τινα ἐλθεῖν, μολεῖν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μάχῃ κρατῆσαι conquer in battle, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μάχη τινός battle with an enemy, Αἴαντος δ᾽ ἀλέεινε μ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]: plural, strifes, ἔρις τε.. πόλεμοί τε μάχαι τε [Refs 8th c.BC+]: generally, contention, strife, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; μ. νομικαί [NT]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μάχη

mache

from 3164; a battle, i.e. (figuratively) controversy:--fighting,

strive, striving.

see GREEK for 3164

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μάχη, ης, ἡ

n.f.

strife, contention, quarrel

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μάχη machē 4x

a fight, battle, conflict; in NT contention, dispute, strife, controversy, 2 Cor. 7:5; 2 Tim. 2:23; Tit. 3:9; Jas. 4:1*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μάχη μά^χη, ἡ, μάχομαι battle, fight, combat, Hom., etc.; μάχαι ναῶν sea fights, Pind.:—with Verbs, μάχην μάχεσθαι to fight a battle, Il., attic; μάχην ἀρτύνειν, ἐγείρειν, ὀρνύμεν, ὀτρύνειν Il.; μάχην συνάπτειν or συμβάλλειν τινί to engage battle with one, Aesch., Eur.; also, διὰ μάχης τινὶ ἀπικέσθαι, ἔρχεσθαι, ἥκειν, μολεῖν Hdt., attic; μάχην νικᾶν to win a battle, Xen.:— μάχη τινός battle with an enemy, Il., etc.

in pl. quarrels, strifes, wranglings, id. Il., Plat.

= ἀγών, a contest for a prize in the games, Pind.: generally a struggle, Xen.

a mode of fighting, way of battle, Hdt., Xen.

a field of battle, Xen.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
75%quarrels
quarrels75% · 3×conflicts25% · 1×

4 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
subject50%object50%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 4 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
ἔξωθενfrom without, outsid
θλίβωI make narrow, p
γεννάωI beget, bring forth
ὅτιthat, since, bec
καίand, even, also, nam
ἔριςcontention, stri
πόθενIrg
καίand, even, also,
μάχηquarrels;
what comes after →
ἔσωθενfrom within, inside
φόβοςfear, terror, re
νομικόςabout law, one learn
περιΐστημιI stand around,
ἐν
σύ

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

Concordanceμάχη · 4× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians 2 Timothy James Titus
Across the New Testament4 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
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn Drunkenness 99c. AD 40

ποῦ γὰρ ἀλλαχόθι ἔριδες, μάχαι, φιλονεικίαι, πάνθ’ ὅσα ἔργα ἀκαθαιρέτου πολέμου, πλὴν ἐν τῷ μετὰ σώματος βίῳ, ὃν ἀλληγορῶν καλεῖ στρατόπεδον;

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.153c. AD 75–95

Ταβαῖος γὰρ καὶ Γάδαμος καὶ Τααῦος καὶ Μαχᾶς ἐκ Ῥούμας παλλακῆς αὐτῷ γεγόνασι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
O.Krok. 2 299KrokodiloAD 98–AD 117

τοῦ μύρου· οὔ μοι εἴρηκε Παράβολος ἀγoράσαι σοι . μὴ οὖν αὐτὰς ἀφῇς ποιεῖν μάχας ἀλλὰ ὃ ἄν σοι φαίνηται. ἔρρωσο.

P.Coll.Youtie 1 58Apollonopolites (?)AD 207

1 διεγραψεν Παπρεμῖτις Πετεσθέως μητρὸς Μαχη τέλους βυρσοδεψῶν ιε ἔτους Σεουήρου καὶ Ἀντωνίνου τῶν κυρίων Εὐσεβῶν Σεβαστῶν δραχμὰς δ ὀβολὸν

P.Ant. 1 43AntinoitesAD 276–AD 400

r Πανουπ Ταειομ τῇ συμβίῳ πλεῖστα χαίρειν. … ἐλθὲ ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ ὄντως οὐκ ἔστιν μάχη ἀνὰ μέσον ἀλλήλων· ἔδωκά σοι λωδίκιον καὶ μνᾶς παλαιοῦ καὶ τυλάριν μέγα … καὶ

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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