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Acts 25:27 — Word Study

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N1904ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

BSAAbsurdalogos [irrational, against logic] forgar [it seems to me, I think] to meegō it seemsdokeō [appears, is apparent to me] [in] sendingpempō [to dispatch, to transfer] a prisonerdesmios [a captive, one held in bonds] not [not, lacking] alsokai theho againstkata himautos [toward him, regarding him] chargesaitia [causes, accusations] to specify.sēmainō [to signify, to indicate]

Word
Listen & take awayActs 25
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 27 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (sēmainō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Acts 25:27quick helps
In a sentenceFestus expresses that it is unreasonable to send a prisoner without clarifying the charges.
Who is speakingFestus, the Roman governor, addressing King Agrippa and others.
Where we areFestus is explaining his dilemma regarding the trial of Paul.
The hard wordἄλογον
Take awayLegal procedures require clarity and justification.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectἄλογος verbδοκέω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

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

Deep Study — Acts 25:27

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 — Festus Addresses King Agrippagenerated

24Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him, both here and in Jerusalem, crying out that he ought not to live any longer.
25But I found he had done nothing worthy of death, and since he has now appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.
26I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign one about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this inquiry I may have something to write.
27For it seems unreasonable to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”

Acts 25:27 reveals Festus's concern about the legal proceedings involving Paul. He acknowledges the pressure from the Jewish community and his own uncertainty about the charges against Paul. This context highlights the importance of due process and the need for clear accusations in legal matters, reflecting a commitment to justice and fairness in governance.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Proverbs 18:13He who answers a matter before he hears it— this is folly and disgrace to him.
2John 7:51“Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”

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

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.Proverbs 18:13 John 7:51

The Key Word ἄλογον, alogosgenerated

The word ἄλογος is an adjective meaning unreasonable or irrational. It is built from the prefix , meaning 'without', and λόγος, meaning 'reason'. This combination conveys a sense of something that lacks sound judgment or logic.

In this verse, Festus uses ἄλογον to describe the act of sending a prisoner without specifying the charges, indicating that such an action defies reason and proper legal protocol.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'For it seems unreasonable to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.' This is consistent with the KJV and ASV, which also use 'unreasonable' to convey the same meaning.

Other translations, like the BBE, use 'against reason', while the WEB opts for 'not to also specify the charges', highlighting slight variations in phrasing but agreeing on the core message of the verse.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main clause is governed by the verb δοκεῖ, it seems, which introduces Festus's judgment. It is followed by a noun phrase ἄλογον, unreasonable, describing the subject matter.

A subordinate clause follows, detailing the action Festus is concerned about: πέμποντα, sending, with another clause indicating the absence of the necessary specification of charges.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The word δοκεῖ (dokeō), meaning "it seems," appears in the Septuagint in a context that often relates to the inner thoughts or perceptions of a person, aligning with the Hebrew words for heart or mind. This choice emphasizes the subjective nature of the speaker's judgment in Acts 25:27.

The term μὴ (), meaning "not," is used in the LXX to negate statements, corresponding to the Hebrew אַל (al), which serves a similar function in denying or negating. This reinforces the speaker's assertion that it is unreasonable to proceed without clarity on the charges.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Acts 25:27 shows Festus questioning the logic of sending a prisoner without clear charges. He is caught between the demands of the Jewish leaders and the need for a fair trial, emphasizing the importance of clarity in legal proceedings.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Festus mean by saying it seems unreasonable?

Festus is expressing his concern that it is illogical to send a prisoner to the Emperor without clearly stating the charges against him, which is a fundamental aspect of justice.

Why is specifying charges important in legal matters?

Specifying charges is crucial because it ensures that the accused understands the reasons for their imprisonment and allows for a fair defense, aligning with legal standards.

How does this verse reflect on governance?

This verse highlights the responsibilities of leaders to uphold justice and clarity in legal proceedings, ensuring that actions taken are reasonable and justified.

What can we learn from Festus's dilemma?

Festus's situation teaches us the importance of transparency and accountability in leadership, especially when making decisions that affect others' lives.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways do I see the importance of clear communication in my own life?
  2. How can I ensure that I act justly and reasonably in my decisions?
  3. What are some situations where I might need to clarify my intentions or actions?
  4. How does understanding the legal process help me appreciate the justice system?

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Acts 25:27 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner,.... A man bound as if he was a malefactor, and guilty of some heinous crimes, to Rome, to be tried before Caesar: and not withal to signify the

Read John Gill on Acts 25 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

Read Robert Jamieson on Acts 25 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

So great a clamour, so hot a pursuit, and yet after all this the judge (who would willingly have condemned Paul, and gratified the Jews) knows not wherefore all this stir had been: but the more must he have been self-condemned, that durst not absolve or free a prisoner who was detained only by the power and multitude of his adversaries.

Read Matthew Poole on Acts 25 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

27 For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him. Ver. 27. For it seems to me unreasonable] And should not God’ s people be as careful to perform unto him a reasonable service, Romans 12:1, such as whereof they can render a sound and intelligible reason out of the word of God? Should they not prove what that good, and holy, and acceptable will of God is, Acts 25:21, by taking warrant from his word, and doing all to his glory? Is not this to do the works of God, John 6:28, and to do them in God, John 3:22, and for God, according to that, Quicquid agas propter Deum agas? καλονκαλως. And is not the contrary will worship, Colossians…

Read John Trapp on Acts 25 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 27. For it seemeth to me unreasonable, c.] Every reader must feel the awkward situation in which Festus stood. He was about to send a prisoner to Rome, to appear before Nero, though he had not one charge to support against him and yet he must be sent, for he had appealed to Caesar. He hoped therefore that Agrippa, who was of the Jewish religion, would be able to discern more particularly the merits of this case; and might, after hearing Paul, direct him how to draw up those letters, which, on sending the prisoner, must be transmitted to the emperor. This chapter ends as exceptionably as the twenty-first. It should have begun at Acts 25:13, and have been continued to the end of the…

Read AdamClarke on Acts 25 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23–27. Assembly of the Court and address of Festus

Read Cambridge on Acts 25 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For it seemeth to me unreasonable - Festus felt that he was placed in an embarrassing situation.

Read Albert Barnes on Acts 25 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

4. Agreement and Preparation for Paul’s Speech before Agrippa II., Acts 25:13-27.King Agrippa II., whose history we have given in our Hist. Revelation , 21:17, was now residing in his ancestral palace at Cesarea Philippi.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Acts 25 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

For it seems unreasonable to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”

WEBWorld English Bible2000

For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to also specify the charges against him.”

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

For it seems unreasonable to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”

NETBNew English Translation2006

For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating the charges against him.”

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

For it seemeth to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not withal to signify the charges against him.

RVARevised Version, American1894

For it seemeth to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not withal to signify the charges against him.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not also to signify the crimes laid against him.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

For me thinketh it vnreasonable to send a prisoner, and not to shewe the causes which are layde against him.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

for it seems to me senseless, sending a prisoner, not also to signify the charges against him.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

for it doth seem to me irrational, sending a prisoner, not also to signify the charges against him.'

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

for it seems to me irrational, sending a prisoner, not to also signify the charges against him.”

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

For it seems unreasonable for me to send a prisoner and to not also state the charges against him.”

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not to signify the things laid to his charge.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

It doesn't seem fair to me to send on a prisoner without explaining the charges made against him.”

BBEBible in Basic English1949

For it seems to me against reason to send a prisoner without making clear what there is against him.

Word by word, the decisions they made

πέμπονταpempō [in] sending G3992 2 different renderings
sendBBE BSB DRA FBV GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB ULB
sendingASV DBY LSV RVA WEB YLT
αἰτίαςaitia charges G156 4 different renderings
chargesASV BSB DBY FBV LSV MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB YLT
chargeDRA
causesGNV
reasonBBE
σημᾶναι.¶sēmainō to specify. G4591 2 different renderings
to signifyASV DBY DRA KJV NWB RVA YLT
specifyWEB

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.

clauseγάρforclausepredicateἄλογονAbsurdadverbialμοιto melinking verbδοκεῖit seemsnoun phrase · subjectclauseclause · adverbialverbπέμποντα[in] sendingobjectδέσμιονa prisoneradverbialμὴnotnoun phrase · objectκαὶalsonoun phraseτὰςthenoun phraseprepositional phraseκατ’againstαὐτοῦhimαἰτίαςchargesverbσημᾶναιto specify

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

Sine ratione enim mihi videtur mittere vinctum, et causas ejus non significare.

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

ܠܐ ܓܝܪ ܘܠܐ ܕܟܕ ܡܫܕܪܝܢܢ ܓܒܪܐ ܐܣܝܪܐ ܕܠܐ ܢܟܬܘܒ ܣܟܠܘܬܗ

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

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἄλογον γάρ μοι δοκεῖ πέμποντα δέσμιον μὴ καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ αἰτίας σημᾶναι.¶

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.

Acts 25:27ἄλογοςAbsurdAbsurdἄλογοςγάρforforγάρμοιto meto meμοιδοκέωit seemsit seemsδοκέωπέμπω[in] sendin[in] sendingπέμπωδέσμιοςa prisonera prisonerδέσμιοςμήnotnotμήκαίalsoalsoκαίthetheκατάagainstagainstκατάαὐτόςhimhimαὐτόςαἰτίαchargeschargesαἰτίασημαίνωto specify.to specify.σημαίνωἄλφαletter theletter the firsἄλφαδεσμόςn.m. & n.nn.m. & n.n. a bδεσμόςδείκνυμιv. I pointv. I point out,δείκνυμιστέλλωv. I arranv. I arrange, tστέλλωοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦαἰτέωv. I ask, v. I ask, requeαἰτέωζῷονn.n. an ann.n. an animalζῷονὡςAdv as, liAdv as, like asὡςὥσπερAdv just aAdv just as, asὥσπερτοιοῦτοςDem.pr. ofDem.pr. of suchτοιοῦτοςἀποκτείνωv. I put tv. I put to deaἀποκτείνωτὶςIndef.pr. Indef.pr. any oτὶςΤιμόθεοςn.m. Timotn.m. TimothyΤιμόθεοςθέλημαn.n. will,n.n. will, wishθέλημαΠαῦλοςn.m. Pauln.m. PaulΠαῦλοςεἷςAdj oneAdj oneεἷς
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 Acts 25:27

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.

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
ἄλογονalogos Absurd G249 Adjective · nominative · singular · neuter
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Acts than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for unreasonable or irrational refers to something that goes against logic or sound judgment, as seen in 2 Peter 2:12 and Jude 1:10. It describes actions or behaviors that are not based on reason.
Amplified meaning
irrational, against logic
Tyndale gloss
unreasonable
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἄλογος (i.e., *alogos*) is composed of the negative prefix and λόγος, meaning 'without reason' or 'irrational.' It describes things that are unreasonable, senseless, or speechless, and is used in the New Testament in 2 Peter 2:12 and Jude 10. The entries indicate a range of meanings from 'irrational' to 'brute,' with some lexicons noting its use in various contexts, including animals.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἄ-λογος, -ον

[in LXX: Ex 6:12 (שָׂפָה עָרֵל), Nu 6:12 (נָפַל), Jb 11:12, Wi 11:15, 16, IV Mac3*;]

without reason, irrational: ζῷα, II Pe 2:12, Ju 10.

contrary to reason: Ac 25:27 (v. MM, VGT, s.v.).†

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

ἄλογος. The adverb occurs in the curious acrostic papyrus of early i/A.D., P Tebt. 11. 278%, where the story of the loss of a garment is told in short lines, beginning with the successive letters of the alphabet— ἵζητῶι Kal οὐχ εὑρίσκωι. ἧρτε ἀλόγως. (1 seek, but do not find it. It was taken without cause.’ In P Fay 192 (Hadrian’s letter) the writer asserts that his death took place oltre ἀω[ρεὶ οὔτ]ε ἀλόγως οὔτε οἰκτρῶς οὔτε ἀπίροσ]δοκήτω[ς οὔτε ἀνοήτως, the sense of “unreasonably” seems clear, ἀλόγως being emphasized by ἀνοήτως, as ἀωρεί is by ἀπροσδοκήτως. So BGU I. 74° (a.D. 167) Kal γὰρ ἂν ἄλογον εἴη κτὰλ., P Lond 973 6111. (iii/A.p.) (=III. p. 213) μὴ δόξῃς με ἀλόγῳς [- - ., P Tebt II. 4205 (iii/A.p.) ἀλόγος (1. -ws) ἐξήλθατε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ. Later examples are P Lips I. ττ139 (iv/A.p.) and P Amh II. 145)6 (iv/v A.D.) ἐλυπήθην διότι ἀπεδήμησας ἀλόγως, “I am grieved because you went away…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἄλογος (alogos) — unreasonable.

ἄλογος, ον,

without λόγος, hence,

I. speechless, [Refs 5th c.BC+]. adverb -ως without speech, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —ἄ. ἡμέρα, = Latin dies nefastus, on which no business may be done, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

I. b lacking in eloquence, [LXX]

I.2. inexpressive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; unutterable, ={ἄρρητος}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. unreasoning, ἡδονή, ὄχλος, etc., [Refs 5th c.BC+]brutes, animals, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especiallyin late Greek, ἄλογον, τό, = horse, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II.2. not according to reason, irrational, ἄ. δόξα, opposed to ἡ μετὰ λόγου δ., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀλόγῳ πάθει τὴν ἄ. συνασκεῖν αἴσθησιν, instinctive feeling, in appreciating works of art, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἄλογος

alogos

from 1 (as a negative particle) and 3056; irrational:--brute,

unreasonable.

see GREEK for 1

see GREEK for 3056

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἄλογος, ον

Adj

unreasonable, senseless

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἄλογος alogos 3x

without speech or reason, irrational, brute, 2 Pet. 2:12; Jude 10; unreasonable, absurd, Acts 25:27*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἄλογος without λόγος, i. e.,

without speech, speechless, infans, Plat.:—adv. ἀλόγως, Soph.

unutterable, Lat. infandus, Plat.

without reason, irrational, id. Plat., etc.: τὰ ἄλογα brutes, animals, id. Plat., Xen.; (in modern Greek ἄλογον is a horse).

not reckoned upon, unexpected, Thuc.

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

A-NSN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%irrational
irrational67% · 2×absurd33% · 1×

3 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
predicate67%subject33%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
δέbut, on the othe
Article the
ὡςas, like as, how
ἄλογοςAbsurd
what comes after →
ζῷονan animal
γεννάωI beget, bring fἐπίσταμαιI know, understa
γάρfor
ἐγώ

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

Concordanceἄλογος · 3× in the New Testament
2 Peter Acts Jude
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 73c. AD 40

τῶν ὄντων τὰ μὲν οὔτ’ ἀρετῆς οὔτε κακίας μετέχει, ὥσπερ φυτὰ καὶ ζῷα ἄλογα, τὰ μὲν ὅτι ἄψυχά τέ ἐστι καὶ ἀφαντάστῳ φύσει διοικεῖται, τὰ δ’ ὅτι νοῦν καὶ λόγον ἐκτέτμηται·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.24c. AD 75–95

φανεῖται γὰρ σκοπουμένοις οὕτως οὐδὲν οὔτʼ ἄλογον αὐτοῖς οὔτε πρὸς τὴν μεγαλειότητα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἀνάρμοστον·

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
7th c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD
BGU 16 2614Herakleopolites22 BC–AD 5

ἐν πρώτοις σοι … ἐγβησομένων θαιαναμλη ἐρωτῶ δέ σέ μοι πέμψασθαι Ἡρακλῆν τὸν χωλὸν ἄλογος ησ … ι αὐτὸν καὶ νῦν γενέσθαι. … … … … ημ

SB 1 5235Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 14

τῆς Ἡρακλείδου μερίδος ἱερέων. τῆι λ τοῦ Παχὼν τοῦ μγ ἔτους Καίσαρος Νεστνῆφις Τεσήους ἄλογον ἀηδίαν μοι στησάμενος μετὰ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῦ ὕβρισέν με καὶ πλείους μοι πληγὰς ἐνέτεινεν

P.Ryl. 2 144Euhemeria (ArsinoitesAD 38

ἀπὸ τῆς κώμης ὑπὲρ οὗ ἔχω πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐνεχύρου, ὃς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἄλογον ἀηδίαν μοι ἐπιχειρήσας παρεχρήσατό μοι πολλὰ καὶ ἄσχημα καὶ ἐνειλούμενός μοι ἀπώλεσα πινακίδα καὶ

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
γάρgar for G1063 Conjunction
1,038× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Acts than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
For is a word used to explain or give a reason, often introducing a justification or clarification, as seen in Matthew 4:18 and Romans 7:1. It's a conjunction that connects ideas and provides additional information.
Amplified meaning
it seems to me, I think
Tyndale gloss
for
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γάρ,

co-ordinating particle, contr. of γε ἄρα,

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γάρ (gar) — for.

γάρ

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γάρ

gar

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

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

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

therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γάρ

Cj.

for

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γάρ gar 1x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

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

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

1,083 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 11 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,038 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςἐγώσύ
οὐNeg
οὐδείςno one, none, noαὐτόςλαλέωI speak, say
εἰμίI am, exist
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeλυπέωI pain, grieve, καθεύδωI sleep, am slee
οὗτος
εἰςαὐτόςδιά
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existκύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐγώ
γάρfor1038×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύἐν
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becἐνοὐNeg
αὐτός
Article theοὗτοςλέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theδιάἐν

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

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

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

ποιήσετε συνγεινόμενοι εἰς τοῦτον τόπον ἐν ἀσφαλείαι ὑπάρχοντα συντηρηθῆναι τοῦτον τῶι κυρίωι βασιλεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ πράσσοντες καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν διατηροῦντες … ε … παρὰ τῶν ἐπάνω

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
μοιegō to me G3165 Personal pronoun · first person · dative · singular
1,872× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
I/we
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐγώ, gen, etc., ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ (enclitic μου, μοι, με), pl. ἡμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς,

pers. pron.

I.

The nom. is usually emphatic, when expressed as subjc, as in Mt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Lk 3:16, al. But often there is no apparent emphasis, as Mt 10:16, Jo 10:17; ἰδοὺ ἐ. (= Heb. הִנֵּנִי, cf. I Ki 3:8), Ac 9:10; ἐ. (like Heb. אֲנִי), I am, Jo 1:23 (LXX), Ac 7:32 (LXX).

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

ἐγώ, gen. ἐμοῦ, enclitic pod; dat. ἐμοί, enclitic μοί; acc. ἐμέ, enclitic μέ; plur. ἡμεῖς, ete.; personal pronoun, J. 1. The nominatives ἐγώ and ἡμεῖς, when joined to a verb, generally have force and emphasis, or indicate antithesis, as Mt. iii. 11; Mk.i. 8; Lk. iii. 16 (ἐγὼ pev... ὁ δέ); Mt. iii. 14 (ἐγὼ... ἔχω, καὶ σύν ; V. 22, 28, 39, and often; ἡμεῖς, contrasted with God, Mt. vi. 12; ἡμεῖς x. of Φαρισαῖοι, Mt. ix. 14; cf. W. § 22,6. But sometimes they are used where there is no emphasis or antithesis in them, as Mt. x. 16; Jn. x. 17; and in many edd. in Mk. i. 2; Lk. vii. 27; οἵ. B. §129, 12. ἰδοὺ ἐγώ, 1397, behold me, hereamT: Acts ix.10 (1S. iii. 8). ἐγώ, like 38, Jam: Jn. i. 23; Acts vii. 32, [ef. W.585 (544); B. 125 (109)]. 2. The enclitic (and monosyllabic) gen., dat., and ace. are connected with nouns, verbs, adverbs, but not with prepositions: ἔμπροσθέν pov, Jn. i. 15; ὀπίσω…

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

ἐγώ. Deissmann (ZAZ p. 134 ff.) has drawn attention to the parallels to the solemn use of the first personal pronoun in the Fourth Gospel that may be adduced from inscriptions and magical texts. Thus in an inscr. in honour of Isis from Ios, written in ii/iii A.p., the contents of which are preChristian, we find —Elows ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ τ[ύρανν]ος πάσης χόρας.. ἐγὼ νόμους ἀνθρώποις ἐθέμην . . ἐγώ εἰμι Kpdvov θυγάτηρ πρεσβυτάτη α΄. And similarly in the magical papyrus P Lond 4645 (iv/a.p.) (=I. p. 69) ἐγώ εἰμι ὃ ἀκέφαλος δαίμων . . ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀλήθεια ὁ μεισῶν ἀδικήματα γείνεσθαι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ α΄. With the construction of the phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί ; in Jn 24 we may compare BGU IV. 1141°8 (n.c. 14) ἐδίδουν αὐτῷ διαστολὰς μηδὲν αὐτῶι καὶ ἐκείνωι εἶναι : for its meaning see Ε΄. C. Burkitt in 77:5 xiii. p- 594f., where it is rendered, ‘‘ What have I and thou to do with that ?” On the difficult…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μέ (me) — me.

ἐγώ,

I: pronoun of the first person:—Epic dialect mostly ἐγών before vowels (so in Doric dialect, before consonants, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect ἱών [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:— strengthened ἔγωγε, I at least, for my part, indeed, for myself (more frequently in Attic dialect than in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: Doric dialect ἐγώνγα [Refs 7th c.BC+]: Boeotian dialect ἱώνγα [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἱώνει [Refs]; ἰώγα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: Laconian dialect and Tarentum dialect ἐγώνη, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II. oblique cases from a different root, genitive ἐμοῦ, enclitic μο; Ionic dialect and Epic dialect ἐμέο, ἐμεῦ, μευ, also ἐμέθεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Aeolic dialect ἔμεθεν [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect ἐμέος, ἐμεῦς, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect ἐμοῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+] — _dative_ ἐμοί, enclitic μοι (which may be compared with Sanskrit…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐγώ

me

a shorter (and probably originally) from of 1691; me:--I, me, my.

see GREEK for 1691

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐγώ egō 2x

I, gen., ἐμοῦ [μου], dat., ἐμοί [μοι], acc., ἐμέ [με]

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-1DS — Personal pronoun · first person · dative · singular
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-1DS Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: first Case: Dative Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
35%us
us35% · 717×me32% · 644×mine20% · 402×we ourselves6% · 124×my2% · 45×other renderings5% · 97×

2,029 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 27 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
δοκεῖdokeō it seems G1380 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
62× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To think means to have an opinion or suppose something, as in Matthew 24:44 and Luke 12:40. It involves having a thought or idea about something, which may or may not be true.
Amplified meaning
appears, is apparent to me
Tyndale gloss
to think
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δοκέω is a verb meaning to think, suppose, or seem, derived from the notion of opinion. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, often indicating subjective judgment or perception, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Luke 10:36. The entries suggest it can also imply a sense of reputation or being reputed, as seen in Galatians 2:6. There is a noted distinction in usage between δοκέω and related terms like ἡγέομαι and νομίζω, which convey different nuances of belief and judgment.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δοκέω, -ῶ

(< δόκος, opinion, < δέκομαι, Ion, form of δέχ-),

[in LXX for טוֹב, נָדַב, etc. ;]

to be of opinion, suppose: Mt 24:44, Lk 12:40, He 10:29; c. inf., Mt 3:9, Lk 8:18 24:37, Jo 5:39 16:2, Ac 12:9 27:13, I Co 3:18 7:40 8:2 10:12 14:37, Ga 6:3, Phl 3:4, Ja 1:26; c. acc et inf., I Co 12:23, II Co 11:16; seq. ὅτι, Mt 6:7 26:53, Mk 6:49,

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

δοκέω, -ὥ ; impf. ἐδόκουν ; 1 aor. ἔδοξα ; (akin to δέχομαι or δέκομαι, whence δόκος an assumption, opinion, [οἵ. Lat. decus, decet, dignus; Curtius § 15; cf. his Das Verbum, i. pp. 376, 3821}; [fr. Hom. down]; 1. to be of opinion, think, suppose : foll. by ace. with inf., Mk. vi. 49 [RG L Tr]; 2 Co. xi. 16; 1 Co. xii. 23 ; with an inf. relating to the same subject as that of δοκέω itself, Lk. viii. 18 (ὃ δοκεῖ ἔχειν) ; xxiv. 37 (ἐδόκουν πνεῦμα θεωρεῖν) ; In. v. 39; xvi. 2; Acts xii. 9; xxvii. 13; 1 Co. iil. 18; vii. 40; vili. 25 x. 12; xiv. 375 Gal. vi. 3; Phil. ni.4; Jas. 1. 26, μὴ δόξητε λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς do not suppose that ye may think, Mt. iii. 9; οἵ. Fritzsche ad loe. [0]]. by ὅτι, Mt. vi. 7; xxvi. 53; [Mk. vi. 49 T WH]; Lk. xii. 51; xiii. 2, 4; xix.11; Jn. v. 45; xi. 13, [81 T Tr WH]; xiii. 29; xx. 15; 1 Co. iv. 9; 2 Co. xii. 19; Jas.iv.5. so used that the object is easily…

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

δοκέω. The verb is naturally common, e.g. P Par 4015 (8.6. τ64-58) εἶπα αὐτῷ μὴ ἐμὲ ἀξιοῦν, ἀλλά, δόξαντα ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ εἶναι, παραγίνεσθαι, P Oxy VII. 1027° (i/A.D.) ὑπόμνημα ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἔδοξεν δυνήσασθαι ἐμποδισθῆναί μου τὴν πρᾶξιν, “ἃ memorandum by means of which he hoped that my execution might be prevented ” (Ed.), 26. 1032°8(A.p. 162) ἐάν σου τῇ τύχῃ δόξῃ, “if your fortune sees fit.” exx. of this last phrase we may cite P Petr I. 267 (B.c. 241) ἐάν σοι δοκεῖ, P Oxy IV. 718% (a.b. 180-02) ἐάν σοι δόξῃ, and 76. IX. 12208 (iii/A.b.) ἢ δοκῖ σοι, κύριέ pov, πέμψε por For other

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δοκέω (dokeō) — to think.

δοκέω

[Refs 8th c.BC+]imperfect ἐδόκουν, Epic dialect δοκέεσκον [Refs 6th c.AD+]: —middle, δοκέοντο [Refs 3rd c.AD+]: participle δοκεύμενος[Refs]: the future and other tenses are twofold:

1. future δόξω and aorist 1 ἔδοξα [Refs 5th c.BC+]perfect δέδοχα inferred from pluperfect ἐδεδόχεσαν [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—passive, aorist ἐδόχθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect δέδογμαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: pluperfect ἐδέδοκτο [Refs]

2. regular forms (chiefly Trag., Comedy texts, and late Prose), future δοκήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Doric dialect δοκησῶ or -ᾱσῶ[Refs 3rd c.BC+]aorist ἐδόκησα, Epic dialect δόκ- [Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect δεδόκηκα [Refs 4th c.BC+]:— passive, aorist ἐδοκήθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect δεδόκημαι [Refs 5th c.BC+].; but δεδοκημένος (which see) belongs to…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δοκέω

dokeo

a prolonged form of a primary verb, doko dok'-o (used only in an

alternate in certain tenses; compare the base of 1166) of the same

meaning; to think; by implication, to seem (truthfully or

uncertainly):--be accounted, (of own) please(-ure), be of reputation,

seem (good), suppose, think, trow.

see GREEK for 1166

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δοκέω

v.

I think, seem, appear, it seems

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δοκέω dokeō 62x

to think, imagine, suppose, presume, Mt. 3:9; 6:7; to seem, appear, Lk. 10:36; Acts 17:18; it seems; it seems good, best, or right, it pleases, Lk. 1:3; Acts 15:22, 25

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δοκέω = videor mihi, to think, suppose, imagine, expect, c. acc. et inf., δοκέω νικησέμεν Il.; οὔ σε δοκέω πείθεσθαι Hdt.; τεκεῖν δράκοντ᾽ ἔδοξεν she thought a serpent bare young ones, Aesch.; ἔδοξα ἰδεῖν, Lat. visus sum videre, methought I saw, Eur.; ἀείδειν δοκῶ I think to sing, Aesch.

absol. to have or form an opinion, περί τινος Hdt.; in parenthetic phrases, ὡς δοκῶ Trag.; πῶς δοκεῖς; how think you? Eur.

δοκῶ μοι in attic, just like δοκεῖ μοι, as Lat. videor mihi for videtur mihi, I seem to myself, methinks, c. inf., Hdt., etc.; also, I am determined, resolved, c. inf., Ar.

c. inf., also, to seem or pretend to be doing, Lat. simulo, or with a negat. to seem or pretend not to be doing, Lat. dissimulo; ἤκουσά του λέγοντος, οὐ δοκῶν κλύειν…

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
9%think you
think you9% · 6×it seemed good8% · 5×thinks6% · 4×thinking6% · 4×esteemed6% · 4×thought5% · 3×he seems3% · 2×it seems3% · 2×other renderings53% · 34×

64 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 33 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 62 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
τίςIrgδέbut, on the otheὅτιthat, since, bec
Article the
δέbut, on the otheὅτιthat, since, becὥστεso that, therefo
τὶς
εἰCondδέbut, on the othe
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἀποκτείνωI put to death, τίςIrg
μήNeg
καίand, even, also,ἵναin order that, s
δοκέωit seems62×
what comes after →
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὐNegφάντασμαan apparition, g
Article the
δέbut, on the otheυἱόςa son, descendenἀπόστολοςan apostle, a me
γάρfor
Article theὅτιthat, since, bec
σύ
γίνομαιI come into beinὅτιthat, since, bec
αὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, becπαιδεύωI discipline, ed

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

Concordanceδοκέω · 62× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians Acts John Galatians Hebrews 2 Corinthians James Mark Philippians
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

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

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 21c. AD 40

εἰ γάρ τις ἐθελήσειε τὴν αἰτίαν ἧς ἕνεκα τόδε τὸ πᾶν ἐδημιουργεῖτο διερευνᾶσθαι, δοκεῖ μοι μὴ διαμαρτεῖν σκοποῦ φάμενος, ὅπερ καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων εἶπέ τις, ἀγαθὸν εἶναι τὸν πατέρα καὶ ποιητήν·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.44c. AD 75–95

φύλλοις οὖν ἑαυτοὺς συκῆς ἐσκέπασαν καὶ ταῦτα πρὸ τῆς αἰδοῦς προβαλόμενοι μᾶλλον ἐδόκουν εὐδαιμονεῖν ὡς ὧν πρότερον ἐσπάνιζον εὑρόντες.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 8.1c. AD 100

Τίνα δὲ δοκεῖτε τύπον εἶναι, ὅτι ἐντέταλται τῷ Ἰσραὴλ προσφέρειν δάμαλιν τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἐν οἷς εἰσὶν ἁμαρτίαι τέλειαι, καὶ σφάξαντας κατακαίειν, καὶ αἴρειν τότε τὴν σποδὸν παιδία καὶ βάλλειν εἰς ἄγγη καὶ περιτιθέναι τὸ ἔριον τὸ κόκκινον ἐπὶ ξύλον ʽἴδε…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Edg. $1Arsinoites245 BC

αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀποδέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ παρείλκυκέν με ἕως τοῦ νῦν. δέομαι οὖν σου, εἴ σοι δοκεῖ, προστάξαι Ἀγήνορι τῶι στρατηγῶι ἀνακαλέσαι αὐτὸν καὶ, ἐὰν ἦι ἀληθῆ, ἐπαναγκάσαι αὐτὸν κομισάμενον τὰς

r … γενέθλια τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ βασιλίσσης οἴνου παλαιοῦ εὐώδους κεράμια ὅσα ἄν σοι δόξῃ, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἱερεῖα … προαπο … ν … εἰς τὴν ἑορτὴν

P.Edg. $1Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)241 BC

ἤρξατο Ἀμμώνιος τὰς ὠνὰς ἐπικηρύσσειν. γίνωσκε δὲ καὶ τὰ βαλανεῖα μισθούμενα ἀνυπόλογα παντὸς ὑπολόγου. ἔδοξεν οὖν μοι μηθὲν ὑποστῆναι ἕως τοῦ σε παραγενέσθαι. ἐὰν οὖν εὔκαιρόν σοι ἦι, παραγενοῦ,

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
πέμπονταpempō [in] sending G3992 Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
79× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To send someone or something from one place to another, used in Matthew 22:7 to describe sending an invitation. It can also mean to dispatch someone on a mission or task.
Amplified meaning
to dispatch, to transfer
Tyndale gloss
to send
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πέμπω, transliterated as pempō, means 'to send' and is used in various contexts, such as sending people, messages, or things. It appears in the New Testament to describe actions like sending messengers (e.g., Matthew 22:7) and is often associated with divine sending, as seen with figures like John the Baptist. The word has nuances of dispatching and conducting, and it can also imply sending with a purpose.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πέμπω,

[in LXX chiefly for שׁלח;]

to send;

of persons: c. acc., absol., Mt 22:7, Lk 7:19, Jo 1:22, II Co 9:3, al.; ptcp. seq. verb., Mt 14:10, Ac 19:31, al.; ptcp. seq. διά (= Heb. בְּיוֹד, I Ki 16:20, al.), Mt 11:2 (cf. Re 1:1); of teachers sent by God, Jo 1:33 4:34, Ro 8:3, al.; c. acc. et dat., I Co 4:17, Phl 2:19; seq. πρός, c. acc.,

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

πέμπω ; fut. πέμψω; 1 aor. ἔπεμψα [on its epistolary use (for the pres. or the pf.) see W. 278 (261); B. 198 (172): Bp. Lehtft. on Phil. ii. (25), 28; Philem. 11]; Pass., pres. πέμπομαι; 1 aor. ἐπέμφθην (Lk. vii. 10) ; fr. Hom. down; Sept. for nw; to send: twa, absol., one to do something, Mt. xxii. 7; Lk. vii. 19; xvi. 24; Jn.i. 22; vii. 18; xiii. 16,20; xx. 21 [Treg. mrg. amooréAX.]; 2 Co. ix. 3; Phil. ii. 23, 28, ete.; τινά or τινάς is omitted where the ptep. is joined to another finite verb, as πέμψας ἀπεκεφάλισε τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην, he sent (a deputy) and beheaded John, Mt. xiv. 10; add, Acts xix. 31; xxiii. 30, (for other exx. see ἀποστέλλω, 1 d.); in imitation of the Hebr. 79 V3 Now (1S. xvi. 20; 2S. xi. 14; xii. 25; 1K. ii. 25) we find πέμψας διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, he sent by his disciples (unless with Fritzsche, and Bornemann, Schol. in Lue. p. lxv., one prefer to take πέμψας absol.…

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

πέμπω. It is not necessary to do more than cite a few exx. of this common verb—P Hib I. 5415 (c. B.c. 245) (= Chrest. I. Ῥ. 563) κόμισαι δὲ Kal τὸν ἔριφον παρὰ ᾿Αριστίωνος καὶ πέμψον ἡμῖν, ‘get the kid also from Aristion and send it to me,’ P Par 63: 17(B.c. 164) (=P Petr III. p. 18) a 2 πενθέω ἐν τῶι πεμφθέντι σοι Tap ἡμῶν ὑπομνήματι, “in the minute sent to you by us,” P Tebt I. 225 (B.c. 112) πεπομφότες τῆι κα ἐπὶ τὰ σπέρματα, “having sent on the 2151 for the seed,” 26. II. 414° (ii/A.D.) t μὴ ὅτι ἠσθένηκα, πάλαι πεπόνφην cot, “had it not been for the fact that I was ill, I would have sent them to you long ago’’ (Edd.), and P Iand 108f. (iii/A.D.) ἐπένσαμέν σοι ταύτην τὴν ἐπ]ιστολὴν διὰ τῶν φυλάκων [ἐκπορευομένων, ἐπειδὴ δι᾿ ἄλλ]ου οὐ δυνάμεθα πένσαι σοι, with the editor’s note, where there are also collected a number of instances of the dropping of the 24 π, e.g. P Oxy III. 5281…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πέμπω (pempō) — to send.

πέμπω,

Epic dialect infinitive -έμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: Ionic dialect imperfect πέμπεσκε [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future πέμψω [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Doric dialect πεμψῶ [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; Epic dialect infinitive πεμψέμεναι [Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist ἔπεμψα, Epic dialect πέμψα [Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect πέπομφα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: pluperfect ἐπεμπόμφει, Ionic dialect -εε, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle (not in early Prose, except in compounds ἀπο-, μετα-, προ-πέμπομαι), future πέμψομαι only falsa lectio in [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐπεμψάμην [Refs]:—passive, future πεμφθήσομαι [Refs 1st c.BC+]: aorist ἐπέμφθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: 3rd.pers. singular perfect πέπεμπται [Refs 5th c.BC+]; participle πεπεμμένος [Refs 4th c.BC+]: pluperfect ἐπέπεμπτο [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—send, frequently of persons, as messengers, spies, etc., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of troops, [Refs 4th c.BC+] send…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πέμπω

pempo

apparently a primary verb; to dispatch (from the subjective view or

point of departure, whereas hiemi (as a stronger form of eimi) refers

rather to the objective point or terminus ad quem, and 4724 denotes

properly, the orderly motion involved), especially on a temporary

errand; also to transmit, bestow, or wield:--send, thrust in.

see GREEK for 4724

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πέμπω

v.

I send

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πέμπω pempō 79x

to send, to despatch on any message, embassy, business, etc., Mt. 2:8; 11:2; 14:10; to transmit, Acts 11:29; Rev. 1:11; to dismiss, permit to go, Mk. 5:12; to send in or among, 2 Thess. 2:11; to thrust in, or put forth, Rev. 14:15, 18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πέμπω to send, despatch, Il., etc.; of a ship, to convey, carry, Od.; c. dupl. acc., ὁδὸν π. τινά to conduct one on his way Soph.

to send forth or away, dismiss, like ἀποπέμπω, to send home, Hom.; χρὴ ξεῖνον παρεόντα φιλεῖν, ἐθέλοντα δὲ πέμπειν, "welcome the coming, speed the parting guest, " Od.

of missiles, to discharge, shoot forth, Hes.

of words, to send forth, utter, Aesch., Soph.

to conduct, convoy, escort, Lat. deduco, Hom., etc.; ὁ πέμπων absol., of Hermes, Soph.:— πομπὴν πέμπειν to conduct a procession, Hdt., Thuc.; π. χορούς Eur., Xen.: in Pass., πέμπεσθαι Διονύσωι to be carried in procession in his honour, Hdt.

to send with one, give as provision for a journey, Od., Hdt., etc.

like ἀναπέμπω, to send up, produce, Soph.

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

V-PAP-ASM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
42%having sent
having sent42% · 33×send13% · 10×do send6% · 5×i sent6% · 5×sent5% · 4×i will send4% · 3×i have sent4% · 3×will send4% · 3×other renderings16% · 13×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 79 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
ἀλλάbut, exceptθέλημαwill, wish, desiκαίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
ὀργίζωI irritate, provἐκεῖνοςἐγώ
αὐτός
οὐδείςno one, none, noἐκοὗτος
ὅς
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,
ἐγώ
χρείαneed, necessity,ὅς
πέμπω[in] sending79×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, καίand, even, also,εἰς
αὐτός
εἰςοὗτοςπρός
Article the
στράτευμαan armyδέbut, on the otheυἱόςa son, descenden
πρός
σύArticle theαὐτός
σύ
παράΤιμόθεοςTimothyἵναin order that, s

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

Concordanceπέμπω · 79× in the New Testament
John Acts Luke Philippians Revelation Matthew 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 1 Peter 2 Corinthians 2 Thessalonians Colossians
Across the New Testament16 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaThat the Worse Attacks the Better 14c. AD 40

οὐκ ἂν οὖν ἀφθόνου θεραπείας ὑπαρχούσης υἱὸν ἠξίου πέμπειν, οὗ μάλιστα ἐκήδετο, ἐπὶ πρᾶξιν, ἣν καὶ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων ἄν τις ῥᾳδίως κατώρθωσεν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.12c. AD 75–95

οὐδὲ γὰρ πᾶσαν ἐκεῖνος ἔφθη λαβεῖν τὴν ἀναγραφήν, ἀλλὰ μόνα τὰ τοῦ νόμου παρέδοσαν οἱ πεμφθέντες ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξήγησιν εἰς τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν·

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Fay. 110Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 94

τόν ποτε ἡγούμενον τόκους ἐτῶν β δραχμὰς ρκ. καὶ τὰς θύρας ἐπιστησάτωσαν οἱ τέκτονες· πέμπω δέ σοι τὰ σχοινία. τὰς δὲ ὠλένας τοῦ ἐλαιουργίου διπλᾶς ποίησον, τὰς δὲ τῶν

P.Fay. 116Euhemeria (ArsinoitesAD 104

ἐκείνου τοῦ μετεώρου ἕως πεντεκαιδεκάτης τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος μηνὸς Χύακ, καὶ ἐὰν δύνῃ ἀρτάβην ἐλᾶς πέμψαι α… πέμψεις ἵνα τῶι ἀδελφῶι πέμψωμεν. μὴ οὖν ἄλλως ποιήσῃς. ἐὰν ἀποχωρῶ πέμψω πρὸς

P.Fay. 117Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 108

τὸν βασιλικὸν διαδέχεσθαι τὴν στρατηγείαν Ἐράσου ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς τοῦ κρατίστου ἡγεμόνος. ἐάν συ δόξῃ πέμψαι αὐτῷ ἐλᾶς ἀρτάβην α καὶ ἰχθύδιον ἐπεὶ χρείαν αὐτοῦ ἔχομεν. πέμψεις ἡμῖν εἰς οἶκον

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
δέσμιονdesmios a prisoner G1198 Noun · accusative · singular · masculine
16× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Acts than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A prisoner is someone held captive, often in chains or bonds, like those mentioned in Matthew 27:15 and Acts 16:25. This term is used to describe people being held against their will.
Amplified meaning
a captive, one held in bonds
Tyndale gloss
prisoner
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word δέσμιος (desmios) means 'bound' or 'captive,' primarily referring to a prisoner. It is derived from the root for 'binding' and is used in the New Testament to describe individuals in captivity, such as in Matthew 27:15 and Mark 15:6. The lexicons consistently define it as a prisoner or one who is bound, without significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δέσμιος, -ον (also -α, -ον;

< δεσμός), [in LXX for אסר;]

binding.

bound, captive; ὁ δ., as subst., a prisoner: Mt 27:15, 16, Mk 15:6, Ac 16:25, 27 23:18 25:14, 27 28:16 (Rec.) 17, He 10:34 13:3; ὁ δ. τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Eph 3:1, II Ti 1:8, Phm 1, 9; ὁ δ. ἐν κυρίῳ, Eph 4:1.†

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

δέσμιος, -ov, 6, bound, in bonds, a captive, a prisoner, [fr. Soph. down]: Mt. xxvii. 15 sq.; Mk. xv. 6; Acts xvi. 25, 27; xxiii. 18; xxv. 14, 27; xxviii. 16 [RG], 17; Heb. x. 34 GLT Tr txt. WH; xiii. 3; ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ, whom Christ, i. 6. his truth which I have preached, has put in bonds (W. 189 (178) ; [B. 169 (147) ]), Eph. iii. 1; 2 Tim.i.8 ; Philem. 1, 9; in the same sense ὁ δέσμιος ἐν κυρίῳ, Eph. iv. 1; [ef. Bp. Lghtft. on Philem. 13].

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

δέσμιος in its NT sense of ‘* prisoner” may be illustrated from P | Tebt I. 2218. (n.c. 112) δέσμ[ιο]ν αὐτὸν ἐξαπόστειλον πρὸς ἡμᾶς, P Oxy III. 580 (ii/a.p.) eis ἐπιτή]ρ[ησιν] τῶν κατὰ (corr. from παρὰ) φυλακὴν δεσμίων δίδωμι τὸν ὑπογεγραμμένο(ν) ὄντα εὔπορον καὶ [ἐπιτήδ]ειον ...

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέσμιος (desmios) — prisoner.

δέσμ-ιος, ον,

binding: metaphorically, binding as with a spell, enchaining, with genitive, ὕμνος ἐξ Ἐρινύων δ. φρενῶν [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II. passive, bound, captive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; on leash, [κύων] probably in [Refs]; δ. φυγών, ={ἐκ δεσμῶν}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέσμιος

desmios

from 1199; a captive (as bound):--in bonds, prisoner.

see GREEK for 1199

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέσμιος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

one bound, a prisoner

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέσμιος desmios 16x

one bound, a prisoner, Mt. 27:15, 16; Mk. 15:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δέσμιος δεσμός binding: metaph. binding as with a spell, enchaining, c. gen., ὕμνος δ. φρενῶν Aesch.

pass. bound, in bonds, captive, Soph., Eur., etc.

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

N-ASM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
71%prisoner
prisoner71% · 12×prisoners29% · 5×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object38%subject31%predicate19%adverbial13%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
ἐγώαὐτόςἐκφεύγωI flee out, away
ὄχλοςa crowd
Article the
τότεthen
δέbut, on the othe
εἷςone
αὐτός
ΦῆλιξFelix
ὑπό
δέσμιοςa prisoner16×
what comes after →
ὅς
θέλωI will, wish, deπαραιτέομαιI make excuse, r
Χριστόςanointed, the Messia
ἸησοῦςJesus
ἐπίσημοςnotable, conspicuous
λέγωI say, speak
ΠαῦλοςPaul
προσκαλέωI summon
μήNeg
καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceδέσμιος · 16× in the New Testament
Acts Ephesians Hebrews Matthew Philemon 2 Timothy Mark
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 Clement of Rome Philo of Alexandria
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 10.150c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τοῦ μὲν ἀρχιερέως καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἐκέλευσεν ἐκεῖ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀποτεμεῖν, αὐτὸς δὲ πάντας τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους καὶ τὸν Σαχχίαν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα δέσμιον ἐπήγετο καὶ Ἰωσάδακον τὸν ἀρχιερέα ὄντα υἱὸν Σαραία τοῦ ἀρχιερέως, ὃν ἀπέκτεινεν ὁ…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 59.4c. AD 96

τοὺς ἐν θλίψει ἡμῶν σῶσον, τοὺς ταπεινοὺς ἐλέησον, τοὺς πεπτωκότας ἔγειρον, τοῖς δεομένοις ἐπιφάνηθι, τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς ἴασαι, τοὺς πλανωμένους τοῦ λαοῦ σου ἐπίστρεψον: χόρτασον τοὺς πεινῶντας, λύτρωσαι τοὺς δεσμίους ἡμῶν, ἐξανάστησον τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας,…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Tebt. 1 22Kerkeosiris (Arsinoites)113 BC

σου ἀπολέγοντος αὐτόν. περὶ δὲ τοῦ φυλακίτου ἐὰν τε διάξῃ ἀντιποιούμενος περὶ τῶν σπερμάτων δέσμιον αὐτὸν ἐξαπόστειλον πρὸς ἡμᾶς. ἔρρωσο. ἔτους ϛ Φαῶφι κα. προσταυσως

P.Oxy. 3 580 descr.OxyrhynchosAD 101–AD 200

1 … εἰς ἐπιτήρησιν τῶν κατὰ φυλακὴν δεσμίων δίδωμι τὸν ὑπογεγραμμένον ὄντα εὔπορον καὶ ἐπιτήδειον vestiges

ZPE 106 (1995), p. 219- no. 12Philadelphia bzw. Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 215–AD 216

Ἰουλίῳ Ἰσιδώρῳ στρατηγῷ Ἀρσινοίτου Ἡρακλείδου μερίδος παρὰ Αὐρηλίου Πασίωνος κωμογραμματέως Φιλαδελφείας. εἰς τὸ καταστῆσαι δεσμίους πεμπομένους εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν τῷ λαμπροτάτῳ ἡγεμόνι Αὐρηλίῳ Σεπτιμίῳ Ἡρακλείτῳ δίδωμι τοὺς…

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
μὴ not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Acts than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Amplified meaning
not, lacking
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

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

As a neg. adv., not;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

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

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

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

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

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

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

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

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

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

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
καὶkai also G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts 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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ol'-so: In the Greek kai, when it is equivalent to "also" or "even," is always placed before the word or phrase which it is intended to emphasize (e.g. Ac 12:3; 1 Joh 4:21). Mt 6:14 should therefore read, "Your heavenly Father will forgive you also"; Lu 6:13, "Whom also he named apostles"; Heb 8:6, "The mediator of a better covenant also"; and 1Th 4:14, `If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also (we believe that) those who are fallen asleep in Jesus, God will bring with Him.'

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
καίalso8978×
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

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
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 Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-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
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
κατ᾽kata against G2596 Preposition
473× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
According to means following or matching something. In the Bible, it's used to talk about things happening in line with God's plan or will, like in Matthew 8:32 and Mark 5:13.
Tyndale gloss
according to
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κατά (kata) is a preposition used with the genitive and accusative cases, primarily meaning 'down' or 'against.' It indicates direction, motion, or relation, appearing in various contexts such as 'down from' (e.g., Mt 8:32) and 'against' (e.g., Mk 9:40). The word also conveys meanings like 'throughout' and 'according to.' Lexicons note its frequent use in the New Testament, with some variations in application.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κατά (bef. a vowel κατ’, καθ’; on the freq. neglect of elision, v. Tdf., Pr., 95; WH, App., 146a),

prep. c. gen., acc.,

down, downwards.

C. gen. (WM, § 47, k; Bl., § 42, 2).

C. gen. rei, in local sense;

down, down from: Mt 8:32, Mk 5:13, Lk 8:33, I Co 11:4;

throughout (late usage; Bl., § 42, 2): κ. ὅλης κ.τ.λ., Lk 4:14 23:5, Ac 9:31 10:37;

in a peculiar adjectival phrase: ἡ κ. βάθους πτωχεία, deep or extreme poverty, II Co 8:2.

C. gen. pers., usually in hostile sense;

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

κατά, [on its neglect of elision before a vowel see Tf. Proleg. p. 95; cf. W. § 5, 1a.; B.10; WH. App. p. 1405], a preposition denoting motion or diffusion or direction from the higher to the lower; as in class. Grk., joined with the gen. and the acc. I. With the Genitive (W. § 47, k. p. 381 (357); [B. § 147, 20]); 1. prop. a. down from, down: κατὰ κατά 8 τοῦ κρημνοῦ, Mt. viii. 32; ΜΚ. v.13; Lk. viii. 33; κατέχεεν κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς (so that it flowed down from his head [οἷς W. 381 (357) note]; but it is more correct here to omit κατά with LT Tr WH; see καταχέω), Mk. xiv. 3; hence κατὰ κεφαλῆς (a veil hanging down from his head) ἔχων, 1 Co. xi. 4 ([Δ. V. having his head covered] cf. καταπέτασμα [or rather κάλυμμα (q. v.), but 566 ἔχω I. 1b.]). Ὁ. down upon (down into) anything: Acts xxvii. 14 [W. 381 (357) note!; ef. B.D. Am. ed. s. ν. Crete]; trop. 7 κατὰ βάθους πτωχεία reaching down…

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

κατά, the favourite preposition of Polybius, by whom it is often used in place of ἐν, eis, and περί (Krebs Pra. p. 4), is also found with considerable variety of application in the NT, where it occurs 73 times c. gen., and 391 times c. acc. (cf. Proleg. p. 105). Brugmann (Awrze Vergletchende Grammazk, p. 479) considers that the earliest use of the word was “‘along ” something, so as to remain in connexion and contact with the object, and from this most of the senses found in the NT can be derived. I. (1) Turning to the construction c. gen. we find that the meaning ‘‘along” has passed into ‘‘down,” a usage not found in ΜΟΥ, in such passages as P Petr II. 18(26)!° (B.c. a ἐπιπεσὼν ἔτυπτεν [ad]t[o]v κατὰ τοῦ τραχήλου, Chest. τοῦ πνοήν: ἐξ Mt 8%, r Cor 114, 2 Cor 8%. (2) This in turn becomes ‘‘ against,” as in Mt τοῦδ, Mk 14°5, e.g. P Eleph 115 (B.c. 311-0) (= Se/ections, p. 4) ὅπου ἂν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κατά (kata) — according to.

κατά [κᾰτᾰ],

poetry καταί accusative to [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: preposition with genitive or accusative:— downwards.

__A WITH GEN.,

__A.I denoting motion from above, down from, βῆ δὲ κατ᾽ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων, κατ᾽ Ἰδαίων ὀρέων, βαλέειν κ. πέτρης, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; καθ᾽ ἵππων ἀΐξαντε[Refs 5th c.BC+] — for κατ᾽ ἄκρης see.{ἄκρα}: Μοῖσα κ. στόματος Χέε νέκταρ [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

__A.II denoting downward motion,

__A.II.1 down upon or over, κ. Χθονὸς ὄμματα πήξας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of the dying, κατὰ.. ὀφθαλμῶν κέχυτ᾽ ἀχλύς a cloud settled upon the eyes, [Refs]; φᾶρος κὰκ κεφαλῆς εἴρυσσε down over.. , [Refs 8th c.BC+]; [κόπρος] κ. σπείους κέχυτο.. πολλή [Refs]; ὕδωρ κ. Χειρός, see at {Χεί; μύρον κ. τῆς κεφαλῆς καταχέαντες} [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κατά

kata

a primary particle; (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in

varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or

accusative) with which it is joined):--about, according as (to),

after, against, (when they were) X alone, among, and, X apart, (even,

like) as (concerning, pertaining to touching), X aside, at, before,

beyond, by, to the charge of, (charita-)bly, concerning, + covered,

(dai-)ly, down, every, (+ far more) exceeding, X more excellent, for,

from ... to, godly, in(-asmuch, divers, every, -to, respect of), ...

by, after the manner of, + by any means, beyond (out of) measure, X

mightily, more, X natural, of (up-)on (X part), out (of every), over

against, (+ your) X own, + particularly, so, through(-oughout,

-oughout every), thus, (un-)to(-gether, -ward), X uttermost,

where(-by), with. In composition it retains many of these

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κατά

Prep.

down from, against, according to, throughout, during

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κατά kata 473x

down from, Mt. 8:32; down upon, upon, Mk. 14:3; Acts 27:14; down into; κατὰ βάθους, profound, deepest, 2 Cor. 8:2; down over, throughout a space, Lk. 4:14; 23:5; concerning, in cases of pointed allegation, 1 Cor. 15:15; against, Mt. 12:30; by, in oaths, Mt. 26:63; with an acc. of place, in the quarter of, about, near, at, Lk. 10;32; Acts 2:10; throughout, Read the full entry →

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-genst' (kata; enantion; pros): Preposition expressing contrast. When used of direction, equivalent to "toward" (Mt 10:35; 12:14, etc.); when of position, meaning "opposite," "facing," "in front of" (1Ki 7:5; Ge 15:10, Ro 8:31); when of action, "opposed to" (Mt 5:11; 26:59; 1Co 4:6); "in resistance to" (Heb 12:4); "provision for" (Greek eis, literally, "unto, toward" (1Ti 6:19)). Sometimes also applied to what breaks an established order as "customs" (

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
45%according to
according to45% · 215×against12% · 57×in9% · 42×every5% · 24×by5% · 23×on3% · 13×other renderings15% · 72×other renderings7% · 34×

480 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 48 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial86%object5%predicate5%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 473 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,πᾶςall, the whole, ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
αὐτός
ποιέωI do, makeγυνήa woman, wife, mλαλέωI speak, say
καίand, even, also, nam
ἑκατόνIndecμέγαςσύ
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, exceptἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
μετάσυλλαμβάνωI seize, appreheγίνομαιI come into bein
κατάagainst473×
what comes after →
Article the
νόμοςa law, the Mosaiἔργονwork, labor, actαὐτός
σάρξflesh, body
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ζάωI liveοὐNeg
ἴδιοςone’s own, private,
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,δέbut, on the othe
ἡμέραa day
ἐνεἰμίI am, existκαίand, even, also,
αὐτός
ὅπωςhow, in order thκαίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speak

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

Concordanceκατά · 473× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Luke Hebrews Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Ephesians Mark Galatians Colossians Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.7c. AD 75–95

ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ μείζων ἦν ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ λόγου περιβολή, κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον χωρίσας ταῖς ἰδίαις ἀρχαῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ τέλει τὴν γραφὴν συνεμέτρησα·

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

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

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

ἐπρίατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς Πανοβχούνιος ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐπρίατο Πακοῖβις Πατοῦτος ὡς ἐτῶν λ χαλκοῦ δραχμῶν τρισχιλίων . προπωληταὶ καὶ βεβαιωταὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Νεχούτης καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

μελίχρως τετανὸς μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
αὐτοῦautos him G846 Personal pronoun · genitive · singular · masculine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Amplified meaning
toward him, regarding him
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-GSM — Personal pronoun · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-GSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςhim5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
αἰτίαςaitia charges G156 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
20× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Acts than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A cause or charge is a reason or motive for something, like in Matthew 19:3 where the Pharisees question Jesus about divorce.
Amplified meaning
causes, accusations
Tyndale gloss
cause/charge
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

αἰτία (aitia) refers to a cause, reason, or charge, often implying guilt or accusation. It can denote a legal context, such as a crime or case for punishment, as seen in various New Testament passages like Matthew 19:3 and Acts 25:18. The term encompasses both logical reasons and legal accusations, with some sources indicating a distinction between simple accusations and those proven in court.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — ἐπιτιμάω, ἐλέγχω, αἰτία, ἔλεγχοΞ from a scan

OnE may ‘rebuke’ another without bringing the rebuked to a conviction of any fault on his part; and this, either because there was no fault, and the rebuke was therefore unneeded or unjust; or else because, though there was such fault, the rebuke was ineffectual to bring the offender to own it; and in this possibility of ‘rebuking’ for sin, without ‘ convincing’ of sin, lies the distinction between these two words. In ἐπιτιμᾶν lies simply the notion of rebuking ; which word can therefore be used of one unjustly checking or blaming another; in this sense Peter ‘began to rebuke’ his Lord (ἤρξατο ἐπιτιμᾶν, Matt. xvi. 22; cf. xix. 13; Luke xviii. 39):—or ineffectually, and without any profit to the person rebuked, who is not thereby brought to see his sin; as when the penitent robber ‘rebuked ’ (ἐπετίμα) his fellow malefactor (Luke xxiii. 40; cf. Mark ix. 25). But ἐλέγχειν is a much more…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αἰτία, -ας, ἡ,

[in LXX: Ge 4:13 (עָוֹן), Pr 28:17 (עָשַׁק), and freq. in Wi, II, III Mac;]

cause, reason, occasion, case: Mt 19:3, Lk 8:47, Ac 10:21 22:24 28:20, II Ti 1:6, 12, Tit 1:13, He 2:11 ; εἰ οὕτως ἐστιν ἡ αἰ. (cf. Lat. si ita res se habet, and v. MM. VGT, s.v.), Mt 19:10.

In forensic sense,

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

αἰτία, -as, 7); 1. cause, reason: Acts x. 21; xxii. 24; xxviii. 20; κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν for every cause, Mt. xix. 3; 8¢ ἣν αἰτίαν for which cause, wherefore, Lk. viii. 47; 2 Tim. i. 6,12; Tit. i. 13; Heb. 11. 11; ef. Grimm on 2 Mace. iv. 28. 2. cause for which one is worthy of punishment; crime of which one is accused: Mt. xxvil. 37; Mk. xv. 26; Jn. xviii. 38; xix. 4, [6; Acts xxiil. 28]; αἰτία θανάτου [A. V. cause of death] crime deserving the punishment of death, Acts xiii. 28; xxviii. 18. 3. charge of crime, accusation: Acts xxv. 18, 27. (All these signif. in prof. writ. also; [but L. and S. now make signif. 3 the primary].) In Mt. xix. 10 the words εἰ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μετὰ τῆς γυναικός find a simple explanation in a Latinism (causa i. q. res: si ita res se habet, ete.) if the case of the man with his wife is…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αἰτία (aitia) — cause/charge.

αἰτί-α, ἡ,

responsibility, mostly in bad sense, guilt, blame, or the imputation thereof, i.e. accusation, first in [Refs 8th c.BC+] —Phrases: αἰτίαν ἔχειν bear responsibility for, τινός[Refs 5th c.BC+]; but usually to be accused, τινός of a crime, φόνου[Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; followed by ὡς.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; by ὡς with participle, [Refs]; ὑπό τινος by some one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν αἰτίᾳ εἶναι or γίγνεσθαι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; αἰτίαν ὑπέχειν lie under a charge, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; λαβεῖν ἀπό τινος[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν αἰτίῃ ἔχειν hold one guilty, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρειν τινί impute the fault to one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀνατιθέναι, προστιθέναι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀπολύειν τινὰ τῆς αἰτίης to acquit of guilt, [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αἰτία

aitia

from the same as 154; a cause (as if asked for), i.e. (logical) reason

(motive, matter), (legal) crime (alleged or proved):--accusation,

case, cause, crime, fault, (wh-)ere(-fore).

see GREEK for 154

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αἰτία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

a cause, reason, charge

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αἰτία aitia 20x

cause, motive, incitement; accusation, crime, case

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

αἰτία αἰτέω a charge, accusation, Lat. crimen, and then the guilt or fault implied in such accusation, Pind., Hdt.:—Phrases: αἰτίαν ἔχειν to be accused, τινός of a thing, id. Pind., etc.;—reversely, αἰτία ἔχει με id. Pind.; ἐν αἰτίαι εἶναι or γίγνεσθαι Xen., etc.; αἰτίαν ὑπέχειν to lie under a charge, Plat.; αἰτίαν φέρεσθαι Thuc.; αἰτίαις ἐνέχεσθαι Plat.:—opp. to these are ἐν αἰτίαι ἔχειν or δι᾽ αἰτίας to hold one guilty, accuse, Hdt., Thuc., etc.; ἐν αἰτίαι βάλλειν Soph.; αἰτίαν νέμειν τινί id. Soph., etc.

in good sense, εἰ εὖ πράξαιμεν, αἰτία θεοῦ the credit is his, Aesch.; οἳ ἔχουσι ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν who have this as their characteristic, Plat.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

char'-jiz (dapanao, "to spend"): "Be at charges for them" (Ac 21:24, the King James Version "with them"), i.e. pay the sacrificial expenses of these poorer Nazirites (compare Josephus, Ant, XIX, xvi, 1).

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
35%cause
cause35% · 7×reason15% · 3×guilt15% · 3×charge10% · 2×accusation10% · 2×charges5% · 1×cause?5% · 1×case5% · 1×

20 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
adverbial40%object40%subject20%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 20 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
εἰμίI am, existαὐτόςἐπιγραφήan inscription,
ὅς
διά
αὐτός
ἐνκατά
οὐδείςno one, none, nothin
ὅτιthat, since, becκατήγοροςa prosecutor, ac
μηδείςno one, nothing
καίand, even, also,Article the
αἰτίαcharges20×
what comes after →
αὐτός
γράφωI writeἐπιγράφωI write upon, in
διά
ὅς
θάνατοςdeath
εὑρίσκωI findὑπάρχωI am, exist, am
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ἅπτωI touch or handle
αὐτός

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

Concordanceαἰτία · 20× in the New Testament
Acts John Matthew 2 Timothy Hebrews Luke Mark Titus
Across the New Testament8 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 21c. AD 40

εἰ γάρ τις ἐθελήσειε τὴν αἰτίαν ἧς ἕνεκα τόδε τὸ πᾶν ἐδημιουργεῖτο διερευνᾶσθαι, δοκεῖ μοι μὴ διαμαρτεῖν σκοποῦ φάμενος, ὅπερ καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων εἶπέ τις, ἀγαθὸν εἶναι τὸν πατέρα καὶ ποιητήν·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.1c. AD 75–95

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

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 44.2c. AD 96

διὰ ταύτην οὖν τὴν αἰτίαν πρόγνωσιν εἰληφότες τελείαν κατέστησαν τοὺς προειρημένους, καὶ μπταξὺ ἐπινομὴν δεδωκασιν, ὅπως, ἐὰν κοιμηθῶσιν, διαδέξωνται ἕτεροι δεδοκιμασμὲνοι ἅνδρες τὴν λειτουργίαν αὐτῶν.

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

Αἰγύπτου λέγει· τῆς κατʼ οἰκίαν ἀπογραφῆς ἐνεστώσης ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν πᾶσιν τοῖς καθʼ ἥντινα δήποτε αἰτίαν ἀποδημοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῶν νομῶν προσαγγέλλεσθαι ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἐφέστια ἵνα καὶ τὴν συνήθη

P.Flor. 1 44Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 158

ἀφημέρου οὐδʼ ἀποκοίτου ἀνεὺ τῆς τοῦ Δημήτριου γνώμης ἐὰν δὲ ἀποστῆ ἔκ τινος δὲ αἰτίας, ἄλλον ἀντὶ αὐτοῦ παραστήσουσιν αὐτοὶ ἐξ ἀλληλενγύης. τὰς τῆς χρήσεως κεφαλαίου ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς ἑκατὸν

P.Berl.Cohen 14AD 151–AD 200

καὶ Ἁδριανὸν τὸν ἀδελφόν. ἀσπαζ … μινον τὸν συνστρατιώτην … καὶ ἀντίγραψόν μοι τὴν αἰτίαν … … ες αὐτῆς ἐπιστολῆς πρὸ τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ὀφφικίων . ἀναδώσεις Ἑρμίωι τὴν

Absurd for to me it seems [in] sending a prisoner not also the against him charges to specify.
σημᾶναι.¶sēmainō to specify. G4591 Verb · aorist · active · infinitive
6× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Acts than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To signify means to show or indicate something, like a sign or signal. In the Bible, it's used in Acts 25:27 and Revelation 1:1. It helps explain or point out important things.
Amplified meaning
to signify, to indicate
Tyndale gloss
to signify
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σημαίνω (sēmainō) means to indicate or signify, derived from σῆμα (a sign). It covers a range of meanings, including giving a sign, making known, and signaling actions, as seen in Acts 11:28 and Revelation 1:1. The entries indicate its use in both general and specific contexts, but do not present significant disagreement among lexicons.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σημαίνω

(< σῆμα, a sign),

[in LXX for רוּעַ hi., תָּקַע, etc. ;]

to give a sign, signify, indicate: c. acc. rei, Ac 25:27, Re 1:1 (cf. MM, xxii); c. acc. et inf., Ac 11:28; seq. quæst. indir., Jo 12:33 18:32 21:19.†

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

σημαίνω ; impf. ἐσήμαινον (Acts xi. 28 L WHtxt.); 1 aor. ἐσήμανα, for ἐσήμηνα which is the more com. form in the earlier and more elegant Grk. writ. (see Matthiae § 185; Kiihner ὃ 343s. v.; [Veitch 5. v.]; Lob. ad Phryn. p- 24sq.; W.§15s.v.; Β. 41 (35)); (fr. σῆμα a sign); fr. [Hom.], Aeschyl., Hdt. down; 10 give a sign, to signify, indicate: ri, Acts xxv. 27; foll. by indir. dise., Jn. xii. 33; xviii. 32; xxi. 19; 1. 4. to make known: absol. Rev. i. 1; foll. by acc. w. inf. Acts xi. 28.

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

σημαίνω, “indicates; τ ΘΟ ἡ: cf iP) Par 5.05 (Bc. 165) διὰ τίῆ]ς ἐπι[στο]λῆς mpon. . . . σημῆναί plor] τὴ[ν] φιλοτιμίαν, P Grenf I. 3015 (B.c. 103) (= Witkowski’, p. 107) διὰ γραμμάτων ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι, BGU III. 1009

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σημαίνω (sēmainō) — to signify.

σημαίνω,

[Refs 8th c.BC+]; σᾱμαίνω, [Refs]: Ionic dialect imperfect σημαίνεσκον [Refs 4th c.AD+]: future σημᾰνῶ [Refs 5th c.BC+], Ionic dialect -ᾰνέω[Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist ἐσήμηνα[Refs 5th c.BC+], Epic dialect σήμηνα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but in codices of [NT+5th c.BC+]: perfect σεσήμαγκα [Refs 4th c.BC+] —middle, future σημᾰνοῦμαι, Ionic dialect -έομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐσημηνάμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, future σημανθήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future middle in passive sense, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐσημάνθην [Refs 4th c.BC+]: perfect σεσήμασμαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular σεσήμανται [Refs 5th c.BC+], infinitive σεσημάνθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: (σῆμα):—show by a sign, indicate, point out, τέρματα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τοῦτον σημήνας after indicating the person, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. εὔδια πάντα (i.e. εἶναι) [Refs 3rd c.BC+] —middle…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σημαίνω

semaino

from sema (a mark; of uncertain derivation); to indicate:--signify.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σημαίνω

v.

I signify, indicate

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σημαίνω sēmainō 6x

to indicate by a sign, to signal; to indicate, intimate, Jn. 12:33; 18:32; 21:19; to make known, communicate, Acts 11:28; Rev. 1:1; to specify, Acts 25:27*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σημαίνω σῆμα to shew by a sign, indicate, make known, point out, Hom., etc.

absol. to give signs, make signals, Il., Trag.

to give a sign or signal to do a thing, Il.; c. inf., Hdt., etc.; μὴ σημήναντός σου without any order from you, Plat.:—c. gen. to bear command over, τινός or ἐπί τισι Hom.: absol. to give orders, id. Hom.; σημαίνων ῀ σημάντωρ, Soph.

in war, to give the signal of attack, Thuc.; ση. τῆι σάλπιγγι Xen.; ση. ἀναχώρησιν to make signal for retreat, Thuc.:—impers., σημαίνει (sc. ὁ σαλπιγκτής) signal is given, τοῖς Ἕλλησι ὡς ἐσήμηνε when signal was given for the Greeks to attack, Hdt.; ἐσήμαινε πάντα παραρτέεσθαι signal was given to make all ready, id. Hdt.

to signify, indicate, announce, declare, Eur., Hdt., attic

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAN — Verb · aorist · active · infinitive
aorist active infinitive — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-AAN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5658

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%signifying
signifying50% · 3×he signified33% · 2×specify17% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 6 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
δέbut, on the otheὅς
ἍγαβοςAgabus
ὄνομαname, character,
αἰτίαa cause, reason, cha
αὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
τάχοςquickness, speed
σημαίνωto specify.
what comes after →
ποῖοςIrg
θάνατοςdeath
διά
Article the
ἀποστέλλωI send forth, send,
διά

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

Concordanceσημαίνω · 6× in the New Testament
John Acts Revelation
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 17 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
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.308c. AD 75–95

πάλιν οὖν γίνονται παῖδες αὐτῇ, Ἰσσαχάρης μὲν σημαίνων τὸν ἐκ μισθοῦ γενόμενον, Ζαβουλὼν δὲ ἠνεχυρασμένον εὐνοίᾳ τῇ πρὸς αὐτήν, θυγάτηρ δὲ Δεῖνα.

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 2nd c. BC 1st c. AD
P.Oxy. 73 4957Sesphtha (Oxyrhynchites)AD 147

ἡγεμονεύσαντος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ διελθόντος θ ἔτους Ἀντωνίνου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου κατ’ οἰκίαν ἀπογραφὴν σημαίνω ἐμαυτὸν ἀναγραφόμενον ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς Σέσφθα ἐν τοῖς ἐπὶ κώμης ἀναλαμβανομένοις αὐτὸν ἐμὲ Λεοντᾶν

P.Freib. 4 65AD 101–AD 200

μοι διὰ τοῦ παιδαρίου καὶ αὔριον ἐλεύσομαι. ἐὰν δέ τις τῶν δημοσίων ἔλθῃ θέλων σημᾶναι, ὡς ἐὰν θέλῃς αὐτοῖς ὁμείλησον ε… … … των

Chrest.Wilck. 72LykopolitesAD 234

πρεσβυτέρων διαδεχομένων τὴν κωμογραμματείαν Θηβαικῆς καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὴν τόπων· δηλοῦμεν μηδὲν εὑρεῖν ἀνῆκον σημᾶναι παρὰ τῇ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου καὶ ἀρχιερέως ἐπιτροπῇ τοῦ ὄντος μηνὸς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ιγ

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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