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Colossians 1:12 — Word Study

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N1904εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

BSAgiving thankseucharisteō [with gratitude and praise] to theho Fatherpatēr [our heavenly Parent] the [One]ho having qualifiedhikanoō [made us fit, enabled] youegō foreis theho sharemeris [be partakers, participate] of theho inheritanceklēros [divine legacy, promised gift] of theho saintshagios [holy ones, set apart believers] inen theho light,phōs [spiritual illumination, divine presence]

Word
Listen & take awayColossians 1
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 12 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (phōs) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Colossians 1:12quick helps
In a sentencePaul expresses gratitude to God for qualifying believers to receive their inheritance.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Colossians.
Where we areThis verse is part of a prayerful reflection on the spiritual blessings believers have received.
The hard wordἱκανώσαντι
Take awayBelievers are made fit for their divine inheritance through God's action.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectεὐχαριστέω verbεὐχαριστέω 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 — Colossians 1:12

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

Context — Thanksgiving for Spiritual Blessingsgenerated

11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully
12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:12 is part of a passage where Paul expresses gratitude to God for the blessings bestowed upon believers. He emphasizes that God has empowered them to participate in the inheritance reserved for the saints, highlighting the transition from darkness to light. This theme of thanksgiving is echoed throughout the letter, reinforcing the importance of recognizing God's work in their lives.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Colossians 3:15–17Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.
21 Chronicles 29:20Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.
3Psalm 79:13Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; from generation to generation we will declare Your praise.
4Psalm 107:21–22Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.
5Psalm 116:7Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.

The Key Word ἱκανώσαντι, hikanoōgenerated

The verb ἱκανόω, meaning 'to qualify,' indicates an action that makes someone fit or able. In this context, it refers to God enabling believers to receive their inheritance. The aorist participle suggests a completed action, emphasizing that God has already accomplished this qualification.

This word is used sparingly in the New Testament, appearing only twice, indicating its specific and significant role in describing God's enabling work in the lives of believers.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as qualified, which is also used in the KJV and ASV. These translations maintain the sense of being made fit for the inheritance.

Other translations, such as the YLT, use made us meet, which conveys a similar meaning but emphasizes the action of making fit rather than the state of being qualified. The variations in wording reflect different nuances of the same underlying Greek term.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is εὐχαριστοῦντες, giving thanks, which governs the entire clause. This participial phrase introduces the action of thanking God, with the subsequent clause providing the reason for this gratitude.

The structure includes a noun phrase τῷ πατρὶ (to the Father) as the indirect object, and the clause ὃς ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς (who has qualified you) as the subject, specifying the action of qualification that prompts the thanksgiving.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἱκανόω does not appear in the Septuagint, but its Hebrew equivalent can be found in contexts relating to making someone fit or suitable for a task or position, as seen in various passages where God equips His people.

The concept of inheritance is reflected in the Greek term κλῆρος, which corresponds to the Hebrew terms for inheritance found in the Old Testament, emphasizing the continuity of God's promises.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Colossians 1:12 expresses Paul's gratitude to God for making believers fit to share in the inheritance of the saints. This verse highlights the transition from darkness to light and the blessings that come from being part of God's family.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be qualified for the inheritance?

Being qualified for the inheritance means that God has made believers fit to receive the blessings and promises He has for them, which are often described in terms of eternal life and fellowship with Him.

Why is thanksgiving important in this context?

Thanksgiving is important as it acknowledges God's role in the believer's life and the blessings they have received, fostering a spirit of gratitude and recognition of His grace.

What does 'the inheritance of the saints' refer to?

The inheritance of the saints refers to the spiritual blessings and eternal life that believers receive as part of God's family, which includes a share in His kingdom.

How does this verse connect with other parts of Colossians?

This verse connects with other parts of Colossians by emphasizing themes of thanksgiving, spiritual blessings, and the transformative work of God in the lives of believers.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I express gratitude for the blessings I have received in my life?
  2. How does understanding my qualification for inheritance change my perspective on my relationship with God?
  3. What steps can I take to live as a partaker in the inheritance of the saints?
  4. How can I encourage others to recognize and give thanks for their spiritual blessings?

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

Early church Fathers provide insights on this verse, discussing the implications of God's qualification of believers for their inheritance.

Basil of Caesarea c. 330–379
For he himself has bound the strong man and stolen his goods, that is, humanity itself, whom our enemy had abused in every evil activity.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →
John ChrysostomHomily on Colossians 2 c. 347–407
"Unto all patience and longsuffering," he saith, "with joy, giving thanks" unto God. Then being about to exhort them, he makes no mention of what by and by shall be laid up for them;
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →
John ChrysostomHomily on Colossians 2 c. 347–407
"To Him who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." He hath said a great thing. What has been given, he saith, is of this nature; He hath not only given, but also made us strong to receive.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Colossians 1:12 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Giving thanks unto the Father,.... To God the Father, as the Vulgate Latin and the Syriac versions read the clause; and the Complutensian edition, and some copies, "God and the Father"; who is both

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

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: You (not "we," from Colossians 1:9) "giving thanks unto the Father." Note, Colossians

Read Robert Jamieson on Colossians 1 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Giving thanks unto the Father; he passeth from petitioning, , to thanksgiving to God the Father, upon the consideration of his grace manifested in his Son for our redemption. In the Ephesians, ,4, he began with election, here with effectual vocation; he acknowledgeth God the Father to be the object and author of what was wrought for us by his Son, and in us by his Spirit. Which hath made us meet; who hath made us capable of communion with himself, or ready and fit, which implies that by nature we are unready and unfit; so that merit cannot be drawn hence, and the Rhemists have done ill, contrary to the translation of the Syriac, to translate it, made us worthy: one copy hath, who hath…

Read Matthew Poole on Colossians 1 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Ver. 12. Of the saints in light] So that though cast into a dark dungeon, the saints may clap their hands upon their bosoms, as Oecolampadius upon his death bed did, and say, Hic sat lucis, Here within is plenty of divine light.

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

(12) Giving thanks unto the Father.—These words naturally follow the words “with joyfulness,” with which, indeed, they may be grammatically connected. But the “thankfulness” here is, as the context shows, the thankfulness of humility, sensible that from the Father’s love we have received all, and can but receive. Which hath made us meet.—The same word is used in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “who hath made us able ministers of the new covenant,” and corresponds to the word “sufficient” in St. Paul’s previous question (2 Corinthians 2:16), “Who is sufficient for these things?” The reference is clearly to God’s foreknowledge and call (as in Romans 8:29-30), in virtue of which “we are more than…

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

Verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father] Knowing that ye have nothing but what ye have received from his mere mercy, and that in point of merit ye can never claim any thing from him. Which hath made us meet] ικανωσαντι. Who has qualified us to be partakers, c. Instead of ικανωσαντι, some MSS. and versions have καλεσαντι, called and B (the Codex Vaticanus) has both readings. Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath called and qualified us to be partakers. Of the inheritance] ειςτηνμεριδατουκληρου. A plain allusion to the division of the promised land by lot among the different families of the twelve Israelitish tribes. The κληρος was the lot or inheritance belonging to the tribe; the μερις…

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

12. giving thanks] as the disciple is to do “in everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). So would the deep-felt “joy” be specially expressed. See on Colossians 1:3 above.unto the Father] Who is always revealed as the ultimate Object of thanksgiving, the eternal Fountain of the whole Redemption. Cp. e.g. Matthew 11:25; John 3:16; John 17:1; John 17:4; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3; Philippians 2:11; 1 Peter 1:3.—He is here viewed as the Father of the Son, not immediately as “our Father;” see Colossians 1:13.which hath made us meet] Who qualified us, or (Lightfoot), made us competent; i.e., gave us, as His redeemed ones in the Son (Colossians 1:14), title to and entrance on our spiritual…

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

Giving thanks to the Father - This is another mode by which we may “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” Colossians 1:10; to wit, by rendering appropriate thanks to God for his mercy.

Read Albert Barnes on Colossians 1 →

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

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

NETBNew English Translation2006

giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;

RVARevised Version, American1894

giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Giuing thankes vnto the Father, which hath made vs meete to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saintes in light,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Giving thanks to the Father who did make us meet for the participation of the inheritance of the saints in the light,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us for the participation of the inheritance of the holy ones in the light,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

We pray that you will joyfully give thanks to the Father, who has made you able to have a share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

May you happily praise the Father, who has made it possible for us to share in the inheritance of God's people who live in the light.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light;

Word by word, the decisions they made

εὐχαριστοῦντεςeucharisteō giving thanks G2168 2 different renderings
giving thanksASV BSB DBY DRA KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA WEB YLT
give thanksULB
μερίδαmeris share G3310 4 different renderings
be partakersASV DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA WEB
shareBSB FBV MSB NETB ULB
portionDBY
partBBE
κλήρουklēros inheritance G2819 2 different renderings
inheritanceASV BSB FBV GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
lotDRA
ἁγίωνhagios saints G40 2 different renderings
saintsASV BBE BSB DBY DRA KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
holy onesLSV

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.

clauseprepositional phrase · adverbialΔιὰBecause ofτοῦτοthisnoun phrase · subjectκαὶalsoἡμεῖςweprepositional phrase · adverbialἀφ’fromnoun phraseclausenoun phrase · adverbialἧςtheἡμέραςdayverbἠκούσαμενwe heardadverbialοὐnotverbπαυόμεθαceaseclause · objectclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialὑπὲρforὑμῶνyouverb phrase · verbπροσευχόμενοιprayingκαὶandαἰτούμενοιaskingclauseἵναthatclauseverbπληρωθῆτεyou may be filled withnoun phrase · adverbialτὴνthenoun phraseἐπίγνωσινknowledgenoun phraseτοῦof thenoun phraseθελήματοςwillαὐτοῦof Himprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseπάσῃallnoun phraseσοφίᾳwisdomκαὶandnoun phraseσυνέσειunderstandingπνευματικῇspiritualclause · adverbialverbπεριπατῆσαιto walkadverbialἀξίωςworthilynoun phrase · adverbialτοῦof theΚυρίουLordprepositional phrase · adverbialεἰςinnoun phraseπᾶσανallἀρεσκείανpleasingclause · adverbialclauseclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseπαντὶeverynoun phraseἔργῳworkἀγαθῷgoodverbκαρποφοροῦντεςbringing forth fruitκαὶandclauseverbαὐξανόμενοιgrowingnoun phrase · adverbialτῇin thenoun phraseἐπιγνώσειknowledgenoun phraseτοῦ-Θεοῦof Godclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνwithnoun phraseπάσῃallδυνάμειpowerverbδυναμούμενοιbeing strengthenedprepositional phrase · adverbialκατὰaccording tonoun phraseτὸthenoun phraseκράτοςmightnoun phraseτῆς-noun phraseδόξηςgloriousαὐτοῦof Himprepositional phrase · adverbialεἰςuntonoun phraseπᾶσανallnoun phraseὑπομονὴνenduranceκαὶandμακροθυμίανpatienceclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialμετὰwithχαρᾶςjoyverbεὐχαριστοῦντεςgiving thanksnoun phrase · objectnoun phrasenoun phraseτῷto theΠατρὶFathernoun phraseτῷthe [One]clauseverbἱκανώσαντιhaving qualifiedobjectὑμᾶςyouprepositional phrase · adverbialεἰςfornoun phraseτὴνthenoun phraseμερίδαsharenoun phraseτοῦof thenoun phraseκλήρουinheritancenoun phraseτῶνof theἁγίωνsaintsprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseτῷtheφωτίlightclauseclausesubjectὃςwhoverbἐρύσατοhas deliveredobjectἡμᾶςusprepositional phrase · adverbialἐκfromnoun phraseτῆςthenoun phraseἐξουσίαςdominionnoun phraseτοῦ-σκότουςof darknessκαὶandclauseverbμετέστησενtransferred [us]prepositional phrase · adverbialεἰςintonoun phraseτὴνthenoun phraseβασιλείανkingdomnoun phrasenoun phrasenoun phraseτοῦof thenoun phraseΥἱοῦSonnoun phraseτῆς-noun phraseἀγάπηςbelovedαὐτοῦof Himclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinwhomverbἔχομενwe havenoun phrase · objectnoun phraseτὴν-ἀπολύτρωσινredemptionnoun phraseτὴνthenoun phraseἄφεσινforgivenessnoun phraseτῶν-ἁμαρτιῶνof sinsclausesubjectὅς[He]linking verbἐστινisnoun phrase · predicatenoun phraseεἰκὼν[the] imagenoun phraseτοῦof thenoun phraseΘεοῦGodnoun phraseτοῦ-ἀοράτουinvisiblenoun phraseπρωτότοκος[the] firstbornnoun phraseπάσηςover allκτίσεωςcreationclauseὅτιbecauseclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinαὐτῷHimverbἐκτίσθηwere creatednoun phrase · subjectnoun phraseτὰ-noun phraseπάνταall thingsprepositional phraseprepositional phraseἐνinnoun phraseτοῖςtheοὐρανοῖςheavensκαὶandprepositional phraseἐπὶuponnoun phraseτῆςtheγῆςearthnoun phrasenoun phrasenoun phraseτὰtheὁρατὰvisibleκαὶandnoun phraseτὰtheἀόραταinvisiblenoun phrasenoun phraseεἴτεwhetherθρόνοιthronesεἴτεorκυριότητεςdominionsnoun phraseεἴτεorἀρχαὶrulersεἴτεorἐξουσίαιauthorities

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

gratias agentes Deo Patri, qui dignos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctorum in lumine :

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

ܬܘܕܘܢ ܠܐܠܗܐ ܐܒܐ ܕܐܫܘܝܢ ܠܡܢܬܐ ܕܝܪܬܘܬܐ ܕܩܕܝܫܐ ܒܢܘܗܪܐ

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

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
ὑμᾶς youNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WHTreg, TR, Byz

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.

Colossians 1:12εὐχαριστέωgiving thangiving thanksεὐχαριστέωto theto theπατήρFatherFatherπατήρthe [One]the [One]ἱκανόωhaving qualhaving qualifieἱκανόωσύyouyouσύεἰςforforεἰςthetheμερίςshareshareμερίςof theof theκλῆροςinheritanceinheritanceκλῆροςof theof theἅγιοςsaintssaintsἅγιοςἐνininἐνthetheφῶςlight,light,φῶςεὐχάριστοςAdj thankfAdj thankful, gεὐχάριστοςἱκανόςAdj sufficAdj sufficient,ἱκανόςμέροςn.n. a parn.n. a part, poμέροςἁγνόςAdj pure, Adj pure, chastἁγνόςθάλπωv. I cheriv. I cherish, nθάλπωεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκφαίνωv. I shinev. I shine, appφαίνωφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίκλάωv. I breakv. I breakκλάωπάντοτεAdv alwaysAdv always, at πάντοτετιμάωv. I valuev. I value at aτιμάωἈβραάμProp.n. AbProp.n. AbrahamἈβραάμἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνἹεροσόλυμαn.f. & n.nn.f. & n.n. JerἹεροσόλυμαεἰσέρχομαιv. I go inv. I go in, comεἰσέρχομαικλῆροςn.m. a lotn.m. a lot, porκλῆροςοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐ
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 Colossians 1:12

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

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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
εὐχαριστοῦντεςeucharisteō giving thanks G2168 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
38× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To thank means to express gratitude, as seen in Romans 1:21 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. This word is about being thankful and giving thanks, especially before meals, as in Matthew 15:36 and Mark 8:6.
Amplified meaning
with gratitude and praise
Tyndale gloss
to thank
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εὐχαριστέω, transliterated as eucharisteo, means to be thankful or to give thanks, particularly in a religious context. It is derived from the root related to gratitude and is commonly used in the New Testament, especially in relation to giving thanks before meals (e.g., Matthew 15:36). The entries indicate that it can also imply a sense of obligation or favor in earlier texts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

** εὐχαριστέω, -ῶ

[in LXX: Jth 8:25 Wi 18:2, II Mac 1:11 10:7 A II Mac 12:31 R, III Mac 7:16 * ;]

to be thankful, give thanks (chiefly in late writers and Inscr.; cf. Milligan, Th., 5; Ellic. on Col 1:12; Lft., Notes, 9): Ro 1:21, I Co 14:17, I Th 5:18; of giving thanks before meat, Mt 15:36 26:27, Mk 8:6 14:23, Lk 22:17, 19, Jo 6:11, 23, I Co 11:24; c. dat. pens., τ. θεῷ, Lk 17:16, Read the full entry →

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

εὐχαριστέω, -; 1 aor. εὐχαρίστησα (Acts xxvii. 35) and ηὐχαρίστησα (Ro. i. 21 GLT Tr WH; see reff. in εὐδοκέω, init.) ; 1 aor. pass. subj. 3 pers. sing. εὐχαριστηθῇ (2 Co. i. 11); (εὐχάριστος, q. V-) ; 1. to be grateful, feel thankful; so in the decree of the Byzantines in Dem. pro cor. p. 257, 2. 2. to give thanks (so Posid. ap. Athen. 5 p. 213 e.; Polyb., Diod., Philo, Joseph., Plut., Epictet., al.; ef. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 18 [W. 23 (22)]): τινί, esp. τῷ θεῷ, Lk. xvii. 16; Acts xxvii. 35; xxviii. 15; Ro. xiv. 6; xvi. 4; 1 Co. xiv. 18 [see below]; Phil. i. 3; Col. i. 3,12; Philem. 4; (τ. the acc. [hence as nom.] in the passive, iva... ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ὁ θεὸς εὐχαριστῆται, Philo, quis rer. div. her. 836). simply, so that τῷ θεῷ must be added mentally: Ro. i. 21; [1 Co. xiv. 17]; 1 Th. v. 18; esp. where the giving of thanks customary at the beginning of a feast, or in general before eating…

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

εὐχαριστέω was originally = ‘‘do a good turn to,” ‘‘oblige,’’ as in P Petr II. 2 (4)5 (c. B.c. 260) (= Witkowski?, p. 24) edxaptστήσεις μοι, ‘“gratiam meam merebis, gratiam tibi habebo,” 7b. 15 (3)7 (B.C. 241-39) τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσας εὐχαριστήσεις ἡμῖν, “by doing this you will oblige us” (Ed.), P Hib I. 665 (B.C, 228) ὥστε σε μὴ διὰ κενῆς εὐχαριστῆσαι ἡμῖν, “*so that you shall not oblige me to no purpose ”’ (Edd.), P Eleph 137 (B.C. 223-2) εὐχαριστήσεις οὖμ μοι σαυτοῦ τε 4 U εὐχάριστος ἐπιμελόμενος, ‘oblige me by taking care of yourself’’ (on the use of the fut. see Proleg. p. 177). In late Greek this passed readily into the meaning ‘‘be grateful,” ‘* give thanks ’’: cf. Lob. Phryn. p. 18 ‘‘pro gratias agere ante Polybium usurpavit nemo.” Thus we have P Amh IT. 133? (early ii/A.D.) πρὸ τῶν ὅλων ἀσπάζομαί σε kal εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι ἐδήλωσάς μοι στὴν (1. τὴν) ὑγείαν σου, P Oxy I. 71}. 35 (A.D.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐχαριστέω (eucharisteō) — to thank.

εὐχᾰριστ-έω,

bestow a favour on, oblige, τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Δηλίων [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; τινι [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

2. to be thankful, return thanks, Decrees cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τοῖς Αθηναίοις [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἐπί τινι or περί τινος for a thing, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; especially to the gods, ἐπὶ τῷ ἐρρῶσθαί σε τοῖς θεοῖς εὐ. [NT+2nd c.BC+]:—passive, to be thanked, ηὐχαρίστηται κεραυνοῖς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to be received with thanks, [NT]

3. pray, τῷ θεῷ περί τινος [Refs 4th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐχαριστέω

eucharisteo

from 2170; to be grateful, i.e. (actively) to express gratitude

(towards); specially, to say grace at a meal:--(give) thank(-ful, -s).

see GREEK for 2170

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐχαριστέω

v.

I thank, give thanks

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐχαριστέω eucharisteō 38x

to thank, Lk. 17:16; absol. to give thanks, Mt. 15:36; 26:27; pass. to be made a matter of thankfulness, 2 Cor. 1:11

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εὐχαριστέω εὐχα^ριστέω, φυτ. -ήσω to be thankful, return thanks, ap. Dem.

from εὐχάριστος

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAP-NPM — Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
24%having given thanks
having given thanks24% · 9×i thank21% · 8×giving thanks16% · 6×we give thanks8% · 3×he gives thanks5% · 2×thank5% · 2×give thanks5% · 2×he gave thanks3% · 1×other renderings13% · 5×

38 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 13 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
verb82%adverbial18%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 38 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
ἰχθύςa fishποτήριονa drinking cupἸησοῦςJesus
ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, food
λαμβάνωI receive, takeἑπτάIndecArticle the
ποτήριονa drinking cup
λαμβάνωI receive, takeδέχομαιI take, receive,
ἐγώ
ὅςκαίand, even, also,
αὐτός
πούςthe foot
εὐχαριστέωgiving thanks38×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπατήρfather, Father,
κλάωI break
καίand, even, also,
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἀλλάbut, except
ματαιόωI become vainκαίand, even, also,Article the
δίδωμιI offer, give
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

Concordanceεὐχαριστέω · 38× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Romans Luke 1 Thessalonians Colossians John 2 Thessalonians Acts Ephesians Matthew Mark 2 Corinthians
Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Didache Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn Noah's Work as a Planter 130c. AD 40

ἑπόμενοι δὲ ἡμεῖς αὐτῷ λέγομεν, ὅτι οἰκειότατόν ἐστιν ἔργον θεῷ μὲν εὐεργετεῖν, γενέσει δὲ εὐχαριστεῖν μηδὲν ἔξω τούτου πλέον τῶν εἰς ἀμοιβὴν ἀντιπαρασχεῖν δυναμένῃ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.193c. AD 75–95

καὶ Ἅβραμος μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις εὐχαριστήσας τῷ θεῷ περιτέμνεται παραχρῆμα καὶ πάντες οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ παῖς Ἰσμαῆλος, οὗ κατʼ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν τρισκαιδέκατον ἔτος ἔχοντος αὐτὸς ἐνενηκοστὸν πρὸς τοῖς ἐννέα διῆγεν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 7.1c. AD 100

Οὐκοῦν νοεῖτε, τέκνα εὐφροσύνης, ὅτι πάντα ὁ καλὸς κύριος προεφανέρωσεν ἡμῖν, ἵνα γνῶμεν, ᾧ κατὰ πάντα εὐχαριστοῦντες ὀφείλομεν αἰνεῖν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 8th c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
O.Did. 322DidymoiAD 77–AD 92

Ἰούλιος Ἀντωνίωι τῶι ἀδελφῶι χαίρειν· ἐκομισάμην τὸν στατῆρα παρὰ Οὐαλερίου · λοιπόν, εὐχαριστῶ σοι. κόμισαι ὀβόλους ε παρὰ Κέλερος ἱππέως περὶ τοῦ ἡμιματίου τοῦ ἁλός. ἀσπάζου τοὺς

O.Did. 353DidymoiAD 77–AD 92

Ἑρέννις Λείβωνει τῷ ἀδελφῷ πλεῖστα χαίρειν· εὐχαριστῶ σοι πολλὰ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. οἶδα πῶς με φιλεῖς. μὴ οὖν, ἄδελφε, ἀμελήσῃς μου

O.Did. 355DidymoiAD 77–AD 92

Μάξιμος Μ … τῷ ἀδελφῷ πλεῖστα χαίρειν· εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ἄδελφε, ὅτι ἐμέλησέ σοι πῶς τὸν χαλκὸν ἐκπράξῃς καὶ ἂν ἀναβαίνῃἸοῦστος, δὸς αὐτῷ

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
τῷho to the G3588 Article · dative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians 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-DSM — Article · dative · singular · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-DSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
to 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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
πατρὶpatēr Father G3962 Noun · dative · singular · masculine
413× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A father is a male parent, like Joseph, the father of Jesus, as mentioned in Matthew 2:22 and Luke 1:17. It can also refer to a forefather or ancestor, like Abraham, as seen in Matthew 3:9 and John 8:39.
Amplified meaning
our heavenly Parent
Tyndale gloss
father
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πατήρ (patēr) means 'father' and can refer to a male parent, an ancestor, or even a metaphorical originator. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in relation to God as the Father of believers, as well as in the context of respect for elders or teachers. The term can also denote a broader familial or ancestral connection, as seen in references to forefathers.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πατήρ, πατρός, -τρί, τέρα,

[in LXX chiefly and very freq. for אָב;]

a father;

prop.,

of the male parent: Mt 2:22, Lk 1:17, Jo 4:53; anarth., He 12:7 (M, Pr., 82 f.); pl., of both parents (cl.), He 11:23; οἱ π. τ. σαρκός, He 12:9;

of a forefather or ancestor (in cl. usually in pl.; Hom., al.): Mt 3:9, Lk 1:73, Jo 8:39, al.; pl., Mt 23:30, 32, Lk 6:23, 26, Jo 4:20,

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

πατήρ [fr. τ. pa; lit. nourisher, protector, upholder ; (Curtius § 348)], πατρός, -rpl, -τέρα, voc. πάτερ [for which the nom. 6 πατήρ is five times used, and (anarthrous) πατήρ in Jn. xvii. 21 T Tr WH, 24 and 25 LT Tr WH; ef. B. § 129,5; W.§ 29,2; WH. App. p. 158], plur. πατέρες, πατέρων, πατράσι (Heb. i.1), πατέρας, 6,[fr. Hom. down], Sept. for 38, a father; 1. prop., i. q. generator or male ancestor, and either a. the nearest ancestor: Mt. ii. 22; iv. 21 sq.; viii. 21; Lk.i.17; Jn. iv.53; Acts vii. 143 1 Co. v. 1, etc.; of πατέρες τῆς σαρκός, fathers of the corporeal nature, natural fathers, (opp. to ὁ πατὴρ τῶν πνευμάτων), Heb. xii. 9; plur. of both parents, Heb. xi. 23 (not infreq. in prof. auth., ef. Delitzsch ad loc.); or Ὄ. a more remote ancestor, the founder of α race or tribe, progenitor of a people, forefather: 80 Abraham is called, Mt. iii. 9; Lk. i. 73; xvi. 24; Jn. viii.…

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

πατήρ. For the looser use οἵ πατήρ as a title or respect or honour, see P Oxy X. 1296 (iii/A.D.), where the writer

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πατήρ (patēr) — father.

πᾰτήρ, ὁ,

genitive and dative πατέρος, πατέρι in Epic dialect and Lyric poetry, Attic dialect πατρός, πατρί (which is also the commoner form in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; accusative always πατέρ; vocative πάτερ: plural πατέρες, πατέρας, πατέρων (πατρῶν only [Refs 8th c.BC+]; dative πατράσι [ᾰ] (cf. Sanskrit locative plural pitṛ[snull]u, no dative plural occurs in [Refs 8th c.BC+], late Epic dialect πατέρεσσι [Refs 4th c.AD+]:— father, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πατρὸς πατήρ grandfather,[Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ πρὸς πατρός by the father's side, [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.; especially of God, the father of the Israelites, [LXX]; father of men, [NT]; father of Jesus Christ, [Refs]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πατήρ

pater

apparently a primary word; a "father" (literally or figuratively, near

or more remote):--father, parent.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ

n.m.

father, Father, ancestor

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πατήρ acc. always πατέρα gen. pl. rarely πατρῶν a father, Hom., etc.; πατρὸς πατήρ a grandfather, Il.; τὰ πρὸς πατρός ῀ πατρόθεν, by the father's side, Hdt.

among the gods Zeus is called πατήρ, πατὴρ Ζεύς, π. ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Hom., Hes.; so Ζεὺς π. Aesch.; Ζεῦ πάτερ καὶ θεοί Ar.

a respectful mode of addressing elderly persons, Od.

metaph. the father of anything, Lat. auctor, π. ἀοιδᾶν Pind., etc.

in pl. fathers, i.e. forefathers, Hom.; ἐξ ἔτι πατρῶν as an inheritance from one's fathers, Od.

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

N-DSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fa'-ther (Anglo-Saxon, Foeder; German, Vater; Hebrew 'abh, etymology uncertain, found in many cognate languages; Greek pater, from root pa, "nourisher," "protector," "upholder"):

1. Immediate Male Ancestor:

Immediate male ancestor. The father in the Hebrew family, as in the Roman, had supreme rights over his children, could dispose of his daughter in marriage (Ge 29), arrange his son's marriage (Ge 24), sell his children (Ex 21:7), but not his daughter to a stranger (Ne 5:5), had power of life and death, as in the case of Isaac (Ge 22), Jephthah's daughter (Jud 11:34), the sacrificing of his children to Molech (Le 18:21; 20:3-5), etc. Respect, reverence and affection for…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Father

A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Gen. 4:20, 21; comp. Job 38:28).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The position and authority of the father as the head of the family are expressly assumed and sanctioned in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures. It lies of course at the root of that so-called patriarchal government, (Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3) which was introductory to the more definite systems which followed, and which in part, but not wholly, superseded it. The father’s blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit, but his malediction special injury, on those on whom it fell, (Genesis 9:25,27; 27:27-40; 48:15,20; 49:1) ... and so also the sin of a parent was held to affect, in certain cases, the welfare of his descendants. (2 Kings…

Is often synonymous with ancestor, founder, or originator, as Ge 4:20-21 Joh 8:56 Ro 4:16. Joseph was a father to Pharoah, Ge 45:8, as his counselor and provider. God is the FATHER of men, as their Creator, De 32:6 Isa 63:16 64:8 Lu 3:38. But as we have forfeited the rights of children by our sins, it is only through Christ that we can call God by that endearing name, "our Father," Joh 20:17 Ro 8:15-17.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
86%father
father86% · 359×fathers12% · 51×other renderings2% · 9×

419 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
subject32%adverbial26%object21%predicate7%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 413 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,πρόςἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
θεόςGod, a godθάνατοςdeathἀδελφόςa brother
θεόςGod, a god
ἀπόArticle theἐν
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,προσεύχομαιI pray, pray forἸησοῦςJesus
σύ
ἐξομολογέωI consent fully,γράφωI writeπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
πατήρFather413×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theἐν
σύ
Article theκαίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theκύριοςlord, Lord, mastΧριστόςanointed, the Me
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theμετά
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastπαιδίονa little child, πέμπωI send

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

Concordanceπατήρ · 413× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke Acts Mark Romans 1 John Ephesians Hebrews 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 615 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.20c. AD 75–95

οὔτε γὰρ αὐτῷ ποτʼ ἂν γενέσθαι νοῦν ἀγαθὸν τῷ νομοθέτῃ ταύτης ἀπολειπομένῳ τῆς θέας, οὔτε τῶν γραφησομένων εἰς ἀρετῆς λόγον οὐδὲν ἀποβήσεσθαι τοῖς λαβοῦσιν, εἰ μὴ πρὸ παντὸς ἄλλου διδαχθεῖεν, ὅτι πάντων πατήρ τε καὶ δεσπότης ὁ θεὸς ὢν καὶ πάντα…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 31Pathyris105 BC

τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῷ μέρος δανείου οὗ ἔθετο Πατοῦς Ὥρου ὁ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Ταρεήσιος πατὴρ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἀρχείου χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς Ε καὶ τοὺς τούτων τόκους· ὃς

P.Grenf. 2 26Pathyris104 BC

Φαγώνι, τοῖς δ τοῦ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Ταρεήσιος τῆς Πατοῦτος τῆς Παοῦτος μητρὸς τοῦ προγεγραμμένου πατρὸς Ὥρου, ἀπέχειν καὶ μὴ ἐπικαλεῖν περὶ ὀφειλήματος συναλλαγμάτων Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλληνικῶν ἃ ἐξέτεισε Παοῦς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

Ψενμεγχείους ὡς ἐτῶν λε μέσου … πάντες τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Παθυρίτου τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν τῶι πατρὶ τοῦ Ὥρου γῆν ἀρουρῶν … ἐν τῶι ἄνω πεδίωι Κροκοδίλων πόλεως ἀπὸ σφραγῖδος μιᾶς

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
τῷho the [One] G3588 Article · dative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians 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-DSM — Article · dative · singular · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-DSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

wun.

See NUMBER.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
ἱκανώσαντιhikanoō having qualified G2427 Verb · aorist · active · participle · dative · singular · masculine
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To qualify or enable someone means to give them the ability or resources they need to succeed, like Paul did for the Christians in 2 Corinthians 3:6. It's about making someone competent or sufficient.
Amplified meaning
made us fit, enabled
Tyndale gloss
to qualify
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἱκανόω means to make sufficient or to qualify. It is derived from ἱκανός and is used in the New Testament to describe enabling or equipping someone for a task, as seen in 2 Corinthians 3:6 and Colossians 1:12. The entries suggest a range of meanings, including being empowered or made complete.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

† ἱκανόω, -ῶ

(< ἱκανός),

[in LXX chiefly for רַב;]

to make sufficient, render fit: c. dupl. acc., II Co 3:6; c. acc. pers. seq. εἰς, Col 1:12.†

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

ἱκανόω, τῶ: 1 aor. ikdvwoa; (ἱκανός): to make sufficient, render fit; with two acc., one of the obj. the other of the predicate: to equip one with adequate power to perform the duties of one, 2 Co. iii. 6; τινὰ εἴς τι, Col. i. 12. [Sept.; Dion. Hal., al.]

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἱκανόω (hikanoō) — to qualify.

ἱκᾰν-όω,

make sufficient, qualify, [NT]:—passive, to be empowered, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; to be made complete, brought to perfection, of the soul, τῷ περιέχοντι [Refs 4th c.AD+]

II. passive, to be satisfied, content, τινι [LXX+1st c.BC+]; ἱκανούσθω ὑμῖν, with infinitive, let it suffice you.., i.e. do it no more, [LXX]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἱκανόω

hikanoo

from 2425; to enable, i.e. qualify:--make able (meet).

see GREEK for 2425

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἱκανόω

v.

I make sufficient

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἱκανόω hikanoō 2x

to make sufficient or competent, qualify, 2 Cor. 3:6; Col. 1:12*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἱκανόω ἱκα^νόω, φυτ. -ώσω from ἱκανόω to make sufficient, qualify, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAP-DSM — Verb · aorist · active · participle · dative · singular · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-AAP-DSM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%has made competent
has made competent50% · 1×having qualified50% · 1×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
ὅς
Article the
πατήρfather, Father,
ἱκανόωhaving qualified
what comes after →
ἐγώ
διάκονοςa waiter, servan
σύ
εἰς

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

Concordanceἱκανόω · 2× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Colossians
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 10 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.

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
ὑμᾶςegō you G4771 Personal pronoun · first person · accusative · plural
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

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

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

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

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

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

P-1AP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: first Case: Accusative Number: Plural

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
εἰςeis for G1519 Preposition
1,766× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means toward or into, indicating direction or purpose, as seen in Matthew 8:23 and Mark 1:45. It can also imply a sense of movement or action. The KJV translates it in various ways.
Tyndale gloss
toward
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

εἰς is a preposition meaning 'into' or 'to,' used with the accusative case. It indicates direction, entrance, or limit, applicable to place, time, and figurative purposes. The New Testament frequently employs it to express movement toward locations or states, as seen in passages like Matthew 8:23. It can also denote relationships or results, such as 'for' or 'among.'

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰς,

prep. c. acc.,

expressing entrance, direction, limit, into, unto, to, upon, towards, for, among (Lat. in, c. acc.).

Of place.

After verbs of motion;

of entrance into: Mt 8:23 9:7, Mk 1:45, Lk 2:15 8:31, al.;

of approach, to or towards: Mk 11:1, Lk 6:8 19:28, Jo 11:31 21:6, al.;

before pl. and collective nouns, among: Mk 4:7 8:19, 20, Lk 11:49, Jo 21:23, al.;

Of a limit reached, unto, on, upon: Mt 8:18, 21:1, Mk…

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

εἰς, a Prep. governing the Accusative, and denoting entrance into, or direction and limit: into, to, towards, for, among. It is used A. Property I. of Place, after verbs of going, coming, sailing, flying, falling, living, leading, carrying, throwing, sending, etc. ; 1. of a place entered, or of entrance into a place, into; and 8. it stands before nouns designating an open place, a hollow thing, or one in which an object can be hidden: as εἰς (τὴν) πόλιν, Mt. xxvi. 18; xxviii. 11; Mk. i. 45, and often; εἰς r. οἶκον, Mt. ix. 7; συναγωγήν, Acts xvii. 10; πλοῖον, Mt. viii. 23; Jn. vi. 17; Acts xxi. 6; θάλασσαν, Mt. xvii. 27; ἄβυσσον, Lk. viii. 31; οὐρανόν, Lk. ii. 15; κόσμον, In. 1. 9; iii. 19, ete.; τὰ ἴδια, Jn. i. 11; xvi. 32; Acts xxi. 6; ἀποθήκην, Mt. iii. 12; εἰς ra ὦτα, Lk. i. 44; εἰς τὰς ζώνας or ζώνην, Mt. x. 9; Mk. vi. 8, etc.; εἰς ἀέρα, 1 Co. xiv. 9; eis πῦρ, Mk. ix. 22, ete.…

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

εἰς ἁλιέων εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδριί[αν (P Oxy II. 2943 = Selections, Ρ- 34): see further Pro/eg. pp. 234 f., 245. For εἰς in the wide sense in which we use ‘‘for” we may cite such passages as P Lille I. 261 (iii/B.c.) ἔγραψάς μοι περὶ τῆς εἰς THY σησαμείαν γῆς, 20." ἕως ἂν] μάθωμεν περὶ τῶν κ[εχρ]ηματισμένων εἰς τὸν νομόν, P Petr II. 11 (1)" (mid. iii/B.c.) (= Witkowski*, p. 8) ἀπὸ τούτου τὸ μὲν ἥμυσυ εἰς τὰ δέοντα ὑπελιπόμην, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν εἰς τὸ δάνειον κατέβαλον, P Lond 43? (ii/B.c.) (=I. p. 48, Witkowski’, p- 110) ἕξεις ἐφόδιον εἰς τὸ γῆρας, P Tebt I. 577 (8.6. 118) προστε]τάχασι δὲ καὶ τὰ els τὴν ταφὴν τοῦ “Amos, P Oxy I. 379 (A.D. 149) (= Selections, p. 49) ἐγένετο ἐνθάδε ἡ τροφεῖτις εἰς υἱὸν tod ΤΠεσούριος, ‘‘there was concluded here the nursing-contract for the son of Pesouris”; and the recurring formulae in a private account of ς. A.D. 15 τό. 1V. 736° θρύων εἰς τοὺς ἄρτους (ὀβολοὶ δύο)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰς (eis) — toward.

ἐν εἰς

or ἐς, PREP. WITH ACC. ONLY:—both forms are found in [Refs 8th c.BC+], Ionic dialect poets, and early metrical Inscrr.; ἐς is best attested in [Refs 5th c.BC+], and is found in nearly all early Ionic dialect Inscrr. (except [Refs 5th c.BC+]; and usually in Attic dialect Prose (except [Refs 5th c.BC+] is used before vowels for the sake of meter; ἐς was retained in the phrases ἐς κόρακας (whence the Verb σκορακίζω), ἐς μακαρίαν. Aeolic dialect poets have εἰς before vowels, ἐς before consonants, and this is given as the rule in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; compare ἐν, ἰν. The diphthong is genuine in Aeolic dialect εἰς, but spurious in Attic dialect-Ionic dialect) Radical sense into, and then more loosely, to:

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰς

eis

a primary preposition; to or into (indicating the point reached or

entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.);

also in adverbial phrases:--(abundant-)ly, against, among, as, at,

(back-)ward, before, by, concerning, + continual, + far more

exceeding, for (intent, purpose), fore,

+ forth, in (among, at, unto, -so much that, -to), to the

intent that, + of one mind, + never, of, (up-)on, + perish, + set at

one again, (so) that, therefore(-unto), throughout, til, to (be, the

end, -ward), (here-)until(-to), ...ward, (where-)fore, with. Often

used in composition with the same general import, but only with verbs

(etc.) expressing motion (literally or figuratively).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰς

Prep.

into, in, among, till, for

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εἰς

into, to c. acc.

PREP. WITH ACC. ONLY. Radical sense, into, and then to:

OF PLACE, the commonest usage, εἰς ἅλα into or to the sea, Hom., etc.:—properly opposed to ἐκ, ἐς σφυρὸν ἐκ πτέρνης from head to foot, Il.; εἰς ἔτος ἐξ ἔτεος from year to year, Theocr.:—then, with all Verbs implying motion or direction, ἰδεῖν εἰς οὐρανόν Il.; εἰς ὦπα ἰδέσθαι to look in the face, id. Il.:—in Hom. and Hdt. also c. acc. pers., where the attic use ὡς, πρός, παρά.

with Verbs which express rest in a place, when a previous motion into or to it is implied, ἐς μέγαρον κατέθηκε, i. e. he brought it into the house, and put it there, Od.; παρεῖναι ἐς τόπον to go to a place and be there, Hdt.

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

PREP PREPosition

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
33%into
into33% · 595×to32% · 570×for10% · 185×in9% · 160×unto4% · 69×toward2% · 44×other renderings8% · 145×other renderings2% · 29×

1,797 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial95%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,766 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
βάλλωI cast, throw, rεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inδέbut, on the othe
εἰσέρχομαιI go in, come in, en
καίand, even, also,μήNegαὐτός
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςοὗτος
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἐκκόπτωI cut out, cut oπόλιςa city
ἐγώ
εἰμίI am, existκαίand, even, also,δίδωμιI offer, give
εἰςfor1766×
what comes after →
Article the
αἰώνan age, a cycle οἶκοςa house, househoοὐρανόςthe sky, the hea
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,οὗτος
ἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem
καίand, even, also,εἰςὅτιthat, since, bec
ὅς
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἄνDisj
σύ
καίand, even, also,μήNegἐν

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

Concordanceεἰς · 1,766× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew John Mark Romans Revelation 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 Peter 1 Corinthians Ephesians

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 9c. AD 40

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

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

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 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 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις γῆς σιτοφόρου λεγομένης Νεχθαραῦτι θεοῦ μεγάλου παρὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἐτῶν δέκα εἰς τὰ ἐνλιπόντα αὐτῷ ἑτέρων , τεσσάρων εἰς συμπλήρωσιν ἐτῶν πέντε , ὥστε γεωργῆσαι ἧς

BGU 3 999Pathyris100 BC

καὶ ἀπηλιώτου τὸ λοιπὸν τῆς Εὐνόου οἰκίας λιβὸς ῥύμη ἐφ ᾧ ἀνοίξει τὴν θύραν εἰς τὴν Ὀρσηοῦς οἰκίαν ἢ οἳ ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντοθεν. ἐπρίατο Πετεσοῦχος Νεχθανούπιος ὡς ἐτῶν

P.Adl. 17Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC

ος, βορρᾶ γῆ Σχώτου τοῦ Τρύφωνος, ἀπηλιώτου τὸ λοιπὸν τῆς γῆς, λιβὸς ἡ φέρουσα εἰς τὸ Κρόνειον ὁδός, ἢ οἳ ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντοθεν. ἐπρίατο Ὧρος Νεχούτου Πέρσης τῆς

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
τὴνho the G3588 Article · accusative · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians 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-ASF — Article · accusative · singular · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
μερίδαmeris share G3310 Noun · accusative · singular · feminine
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A part or portion of something, like a region or district, as seen in Acts 16:12 where Luke and Paul travel to the region of Macedonia. It can also refer to a share or participation in something.
Amplified meaning
be partakers, participate
Tyndale gloss
part
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μερίς (meris) means a part or portion, often referring to a share or division. It appears in various contexts, including geographical divisions in Acts and metaphorical uses in the New Testament. The word is built from the root for 'part' and has a range that includes contributions and assigned shares. While most sources agree on its basic meanings, there is some debate about its geographical connotations.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μερίς, -ίδος, ἡ,

[in LXX chiefly חֵלֶק, חֶלְקָה;]

(as in cl.) a part, portion: Lk 10:42, Ac 8:21, II Co 6:15, Col 1:12.

In later Gk (v. MM, xvi), as geographical term, a division, district: Ac 16:12.†

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

μερίς, -ίδος, 9, (see μέρος), Sept. chiefly for ΡΠ, ΠΡ, 732; [fr. Antipho and Thue. down]; a part, i. 4. 1. a part as distinct from the whole: (τῆς) Μακεδονίας, Acts xvi. 12 [on which see Hort in WH. App. ad loc. ]. 2. an assigned part, a portion, share: Lk. x. 42 (see ἀγαθός, 2) ; ἔστι μοι μερὶς μετά τινος, Ihavea portion, i. e. fellowship, with one, 2 Co. vi. 15. οὐκ ἔστι μοι μερὶς ἣ κλῆρος ἔν τινι, I have neither part nor lot, take no share, in a thing, Acts viii. 21; ἱκανοῦν τινα els τὴν μερίδα τινός, to make one fit to obtain a share in a thing [i. e. partit. gen.; al. gen. of apposition], Col. i. 12.

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

μερίς. The use of this word in Ac 1613 πρώτη τῆς μερίδος ΜακεSovias πόλις, which Hort objected to on the ground that ““wep(s never denotes simply a region, province, or any geographical division” (Motes*, p. 96), is now amply justified on the evidence of the papyri, as well as of later Greek writers | used as a title of Sarapis: Dieterich compares Lk 1214, generally (see W. M. Ramsay £x# V. vi. p. 320). An almost contemporary ex. is P Tebt II. 3024 (a.p. 71-2) τῆς Π[ολ]έμωνος μερίδος, “the division of Polemon” in the Arsinoite nome: cf. 26. 31518 (ii/A.p.) where a priest connected with temple finance is warned that a government inspector was on the point of coming ‘‘to his division ’— pleJAA[t]v Kal els τὴν με[ρί]δα σου ἔρχ[ςε]σθαι. | “‘take care to secure the share of Philopator.’’

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μερίς (meris) — part.

μερ-ίς, ίδος, ἡ,

(μέρος) part, portion, [LXX+5th c.BC+]: metaphorically, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; τὴν μ. τὴν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου portion of sacrificial meat allotted to a member of the court, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; share in a mine, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. contribution, quota, μερίδ᾽ εἰς σωτηρίαν ὑπάρχειν contribute to.., [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. plot of ground, [LXX+2nd c.BC+]

3. b region, district, [NT+3rd c.BC+]

3. c Astrology texts, ἡ κάτω μ. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

3. d metaphorically, province, [Refs 4th c.AD+] adThem.266b.

II. division, class, πολιτῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+]adThem.253c; especially in political sense, party, faction, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. ={μέρος} IV. 3, εἰς ἀρετῆς μερίδα τὸ ψεύσασθαι τιθέμενος [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μερίς

meris

feminine of 3313; a portion, i.e. province, share or (abstractly)

participation:--part (X -akers).

see GREEK for 3313

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μερίς, ίδος, ἡ

n.f.

a part, portion

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μερίς meris 5x

a part; a division of a country, district, region, tract, Acts 16:12; a portion, Lk. 10:42; an allotted portion, Col. 1:12; a portion in common, share, Acts 8:21; 2 Cor. 6:15*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μερίς μερίς, ίδος, ἡ, μέρος a part, portion, share, parcel, Plat.

a contribution, Dem.

a part, division, class, Eur., Dem.

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

N-ASF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shar.

See PLOW.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%part
part40% · 2×district20% · 1×share20% · 1×portion20% · 1×

5 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 4 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
predicate40%object20%subject20%adverbial20%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
πρῶτοςfirst, beforeεἰς
ἀγαθόςgood
Article the
σύ
εἰμίI am, exist
τίςIrg
Disj
μερίςshare
what comes after →
ἐκλέγωI choose, elect
ὅστις
οὐδέNeg
κλῆροςa lot, portion
ΜακεδονίαMacedonia
πόλιςa city
πιστόςtrustworthy, faithfu
μετά
Article the
κλῆροςa lot, portion

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

Concordanceμερίς · 5× in the New Testament
Acts 2 Corinthians Colossians Luke
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 56 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 135c. AD 40

ὃ γὰρ ἐνεφύσησεν, οὐδὲν ἦν ἕτερον ἢ πνεῦμα θεῖον ἀπὸ τῆς μακαρίας καὶ εὐδαίμονος φύσεως ἐκείνης ἀποικίαν τὴν ἐνθάδε στειλάμενον ἐπ’ ὠφελείᾳ τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν, ἵν’ εἰ καὶ θνητόν ἐστι κατὰ τὴν ὁρατὴν μερίδα, κατὰ γοῦν τὴν ἀόρατον ἀθανατίζηται.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.234c. AD 75–95

κομίζεται γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἔλαιον ὑπὸ τῶν τεθυκότων ἐπὶ μὲν βοῒ ἰνὸς ἥμισυ, ἐπὶ δὲ κριῷ μέρος τούτου τρίτον τοῦ μέτρου, καὶ τετάρτη μερὶς ἐπʼ ἀρνί·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 29.2c. AD 96

ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακώβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
P.Adl. 15Pathyris (?)101 BC

ἐὰν μὴ ἀποδῶι χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας τετρακοσίας , κριθῆς χιλίας τετρακοσίας , καὶ ἑβδόμην μερίδα τῶν γενημάτων πάντων· τὸ δὲ δάνειον τοῦτο ἀποδότω ὁ δεδανεισμένος Ὥρωι ἐν μηνὶ Παχὼν

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

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 ἐωνήσατο

P.Adl. 21Pathyris (?)99 BC

1 ἔτους ιζ Ἁθὺρ ε ἀπέδοτο Ἑτπεῆσις Πατῆτος τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτῆι μερίδα γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου καὶ ἀπʼ ἄλλης σφραγῖδος ἐν κώμηι Τμόνοβιτ ἐν ἀρούραις η τὴν

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
τοῦho of the G3588 Article · genitive · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians 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-GSM — Article · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

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
of 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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
κλήρουklēros inheritance G2819 Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
11× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A lot refers to a portion or share of something, often determined by chance. In the Bible, it can mean a person's inheritance or their part in God's kingdom, like in Acts 1:26 and Colossians 1:12.
Amplified meaning
divine legacy, promised gift
Tyndale gloss
lot
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κλῆρος refers to a lot or portion, often associated with casting lots, as seen in several New Testament passages like Matthew 27:35 and Acts 1:26. It can denote an allotment or inheritance, particularly in the context of the Kingdom of God (Colossians 1:12). The word is built from the idea of securing a share, and it also relates to the responsibilities of church leaders (1 Peter 5:3).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κλῆρος, -ου, ὁ,

[in LXX chiefly for נַחֲלָה, גּוֹרָל;]

a lot;

that which is cast or drawn: Mt 27:35, Mk 15:24, Lk 23:34, Jo 19:24(LXX), Ac 1:26;

that which is obtained by casting: Ac 1:17 8:21; of a part in the Kingdom of God (cf. Wi 5:5), Ac 26:18, Col 1:12; pl. of the "cure" of a presbyter, I Pe 5:3 (v. ICC, in l.).†

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

κλῆρος, -ov, 6, fr. Hom. down; Sept. mostly for ova and 17); α lot; i.e. 1. an object used in casting or drawing lots, which was either a pebble, or a potsherd, or a bit of wood, (hence κλῆρος is to be derived fr. κλάω τοῦ. Ellicott on Col. i. 12]): Acts i. 26 (see below); BadNew κλῆρ., Mt. xxvii. 35; Mk. xv. 24; Lk. xxiii. 34; Jn. xix. 24, (Ps. xxi. (xxii.) 19; Jon. i. 7, ete.) ; the lots of the several persons concerned, inscribed with their names, were thrown together into a vase, which was then shaken, and he whose lot first fell out upon the ground was the one chosen (Hom. 1]. 3, 316, 325; 7, 175, ete.; Liv. 23, 3 [but cf. B. Ὁ. Am.ed. 5. v. Lot ]); hence ὁ κλῆρος πίπτει ἐπί τινα, Acts i. 26 (Ezek. xxiv. 6; Jon. i. 7). 20 what is obtained by lot, allotted portion: λαγχάνειν and λαμβάνειν τὸν κλῆρον τῆς διακονίας, a portion in the ministry common to the apostles, Acts i. 17, 25 RG…

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

κλῆρος in its primary sense of ‘‘a lot” (cf. Mt 2735, Ac 135) is found in P Fay 1258 (ii/A.D.) καλῶς [ποιή]σεις, ἄδελφε, μὴ ἀμελήσας Told] κλήρου τοῦ στρατηγικοῦ, ‘you will do well, brother, not to neglect the ballot for the strategus”’ (Edd.— see their note ad 1): see also P Lond 1220 (a.p, 202-7) (= III. p. 114f.), a document endorsed κλῆρος mpakt(opos), which contains the names of two persons suitable for the post of πράκτωρ ἀργυρικῶν, to be submitted to the Prefect in order that one of them may be selected by lot—"! 8. πεμ"Αρρε[ιο]ς.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κλῆρος (klēros) — lot.

κλῆρος

__A, Doric dialect κλᾶρος [Refs 5th c.BC+], ου, ὁ:— lot, κλῆρον ἐσημήναντο ἕκαστος, ἐν δ᾽ ἔβαλον κυνέῃ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κλήρῳ πεπαλάσθαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντας ἀνέφεδρος ἐπαγκρατίασε τοὺς κ., i.e. he never drew a bye, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; κλήρου κατὰ μοῖραν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κλάροισι θεοπροπέων divining by lots, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2 casting of lots, drawing of lots, κ. τίθεσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; = Latin sortitio provinciarum, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

__A.3 λαβὼν πίστιν.. κλήρου uncertain meaning in [Refs 1st c.AD+]

__A.II that which is assigned by lot, allotment of land, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. ἱππικός [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; περὶ τοῦ λάχους τριάκοντα καὶ ἑπτὰ κλάρων [Refs 2nd…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κλῆρος

kleros

probably from 2806 (through the idea of using bits of wood, etc., for

the purpose; a die (for drawing chances); by implication, a portion

(as if so secured); by extension, an acquisition (especially a

patrimony, figuratively):--heritage, inheritance, lot, part.

see GREEK for 2806

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κλῆρος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a lot, portion

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κλῆρος klēros 11x

a lot, die, a thing used in determining chances, Mt. 27:35; Mk. 15:24; Lk. 23:34; Jn. 19:24; Acts 1:26; assignment, investiture, Acts 1:17; allotment, destination, Col. 1:12; a part, portion, share, Acts 8:21; 26:18; a constituent portion of the Church, 1 Pet. 5:3*

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

N-GSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

in-her'-i-tans (nahalah, "something inherited," "occupancy," "heirloom," "estate," "portion"): The word is used in its widest application in the Old Testament Scriptures, referring not only to an estate received by a child from its parents, but also to the land received by the children of Israel as a gift from Yahweh. And in the figurative and poetical sense, the expression is applied to the kingdom of God as represented in the consecrated lives of His followers. In a similar sense, the Psalmist is represented as speaking of the Lord as the portion of his inheritance. In addition to the above word, the King James Version translations as inheritance, morashah, "a possession," "heritage" (De 33:4; Eze 33:24); yerushshah, "something occupied," "a patrimony," "possession" (

Smith's Bible Dictionary

[HEIR]

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The laws of inheritance among the Hebrews were very simple. Land might be mortgaged, but could not be alienated, Nu 36:6-9. See JUBILEE. The only permanent right to property was by heritage, or lineal succession. The eldest son had a double portion. Females had no territorial possession; but if a man left no sons, his daughters inherited-on condition of their marrying into a family within the tribe to which their father belonged. If a man had no children, his land passed to distant relatives, according to a law laid down in Nu 27:8-11. The Law of Moses rendered wills unnecessary; they were introduced, however, at a later period, Ga 3:15 Heb 9:17. Property was sometimes…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Provisions for inheritance under Levirate marriages Ge 38:7-11; Nu 36:6-9; De 25:5-10; Ru 3:1-8; 4:7-17

→ UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO Ge 15:3; 21:9-11; 24:36; 25:5,6; 48:21,22; Nu 27:6-11; De 21:15-17; 1Ki 21:3; 2Ch 21:3; Job 42:15; Pr 17:2; 20:21;

Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 75 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 64c. AD 40

Ἤδη δ’ ὕδατος καὶ ἀέρος τὰ προσήκοντα τῶν ζῴων γένη καθάπερ τινὰ κλῆρον οἰκεῖον ἀπειληφότων, πάλιν ἐκάλει τὴν γῆν εἰς τὴν τοῦ ὑπολειφθέντος μέρους γένεσιν — ὑπολέλειπτο δὲ μετὰ τὰ φυτὰ ζῴων τὰ χερσαῖα — καί φησιν·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.174c. AD 75–95

Μωυσῆς δὲ προσελθόντων αὐτῷ τῶν πρώτων τῆς Μανασσίτιδος φυλῆς καὶ δηλούντων μὲν ὡς τεθνήκοι τις τῶν φυλετῶν ἐπίσημος ἀνὴρ Σωλοφάντης ὄνομα, παῖδας μὲν οὐ καταλιπὼν ἄρσενας θυγατέρας δέ τοι, καὶ πυθομένων εἰ τούτων ὁ κλῆρος ἔσοιτο, φησίν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.6c. AD 100

Περιέσχεν με συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων, ἐκύκλωσάν με ὡσεὶ μέλισσαι κηρίον, καί: Ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον.

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 2nd c. BC
P.Cair. Zen. 3 59424Philadelphia (Arsinoites)251 BC–202 BC

r Διονύσιος Κελεήσει … κλήρου γενη … … ἐπιστολὴν ἀσφ … … καὶ κέλευε α … … … ἀπομετρης

P.Aberd. 63ArsinoitesAD 101–AD 102

γεωργῷ χαίρειν. ἀπέχω παρὰ σοῦ τὸ ἐκφόριον τοῦ διεληλυθότος τετάρτου ἔτους οὗ γεωργεῖς μου κλήρου περὶ τὸ Νέστου ἐποίκιον καὶ οὐδέν σοι ἐνκαλῶ διὰ τὸ ἀποβεβηκέναι τῆς μισθώσεως ἀπὸ

P.Aberd. 65Kerkesucha (Arsinoites)AD 208–AD 209

6 χαίρειν. ὁμολογῶ ἀπέχειν παρὰ σοῦ τὰ ἐκφόρια ἀφʼ ὧν γεωργεῖς περὶ Κερκεσοῦχα κλήρου κατοικικοῦ ἀρουρῶν … … καὶ οὐδέν σοι ἐνκαλῶ περὶ οὐδένος ἁπλῶς πράγματος μέχρι τοῦ

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
τῶνho of the G3588 Article · genitive · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians 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-GPM — Article · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

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
of 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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
ἁγίωνhagios saints G40 Adjective · genitive · plural · masculine
234× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
In the Bible, this word means holy or set apart, describing God and things dedicated to Him. It appears in Luke 1:49 and John 17:11, highlighting God's purity and majesty.
Amplified meaning
holy ones, set apart believers
Tyndale gloss
holy
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

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

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

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἅγιος, -α, ον

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

[in LXX chiefly for קֹ֫דֶשׁ;]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἅγιος (hagios) — holy.

ἅγιος [ᾰ], α, ον,

devoted to the gods:

I. in good sense, sacred, holy:

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

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

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

ἅγιος (hagios) — holy: saint.

ἅγιος [ᾰ], α, ον,

devoted to the gods:

I. in good sense, sacred, holy:

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἅγιος

hagios

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

pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially,

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

see GREEK for 53

see GREEK for 2282

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἅγιος, ία, ον

Adj

set apart, holy, sacred

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἅγιος hagios 233x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sants: In the King James Version 3 words are thus rendered:

(1) qadhosh (in Da the same root occurs several times in its Aramaic form, qaddish);

(2) chacidh, and

(3) hagioi.

Of these words (2) has in general the meaning of righteousness or goodness, while (1) and (3) have the meaning of consecration and divine claim and ownership. They are not primarily words of character, like chacidh, but express a relation to God as being set apart for His own. Wherever qadhosh refers to angels, the rendering "holy one" or "holy ones" has been substituted in the Revised Version (British and American) for the King James Version "saint" or "saints," which is the case also in Ps 106:16 margin (compare 34:9), and in 1Sa 2:9, as the translation of chacidh.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ See RIGHTEOUS

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial45%subject16%object16%predicate14%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 234 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spεἰςπᾶςall, the whole,
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
ἐνπίμπλημιI fillκαίand, even, also,
εἰμίI am, exist
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spἵναin order that, s
καίand, even, also, nam
δίκαιοςjust, righteous,δυνατόςpowerful, able, προφήτηςa prophet, poet
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
αὐτόςἐλάχιστοςthe smallest, leἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute,
ἅγιοςsaints234×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἄμωμοςblamelessπῦρfire, trials
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύωνa dogἀναγινώσκωI read
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
βλασφημέωI speak evil agaδιδάσκωI teachἐπί
εἰμίI am, exist
ἀκούωI hear, listenὅστιςὅτιthat, since, bec
ἐν
Χριστόςanointed, the MeArticle theἀγάπηlove

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 438 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 89c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.125c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 5th c. AD 8th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Col. 3 58Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)249 BC

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

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

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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

A principal thing to notice about this preposition, which in the King James Version represents about 16 Hebrew and as many Greek words and prepositions, is that, in hundreds of cases (especially in the Old Testament, but frequently also in the New Testament) in the Revised Version (British and American) the rendering is changed to more exact forms ("to," "unto," "by," "upon," "at," "with," "among," "for," "throughout," etc.; compare e.g. Ge 6:16; 13:8; 17:7,9,12; 18:1; Ex 8:17; Le 1:9, etc.); while, nearly as often, "in" is substituted for divergent forms of the King James Version (e.g. Ge 2:14; 17:11; 31:54; 40:7; 49:17; Ex…

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
τῷho the G3588 Article · dative · singular · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians 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-DSN — Article · dative · singular · neuter
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-DSN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

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

giving thanks to the Father the [One] having qualified you for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light,
φωτί,phōs light, G5457 Noun · dative · singular · neuter
72× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Light refers to any kind of luminousness, natural or artificial, and is used in the Bible to describe the light of the sun or a lamp. In Matthew 17:2 and John 11:9-10, it describes Jesus shining like the sun.
Amplified meaning
spiritual illumination, divine presence
Tyndale gloss
light
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

φῶς (i.e., *phos*) means 'light' and can refer to both natural and artificial sources. It is used in various contexts, including physical light from the sun or lamps, as well as metaphorical light representing divine truth or spiritual illumination. The New Testament employs it to describe God's presence, the glory of Christ, and the moral clarity of believers. Notably, it appears in verses like Matthew 17:2 and 2 Corinthians 4:6.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — φῶς, φέγγος, φωστήρ, λύχνος, λαμπάς from a scan

Ati these words are rendered, some occasionally, some always, in our Version, by ‘light’; thus, dos at Matt. iv. 16; Rom. xiii. 12, and often; φέγγος at Matt. xxiv. 29; Mark xiii. 24; Luke xi. 33 (it does not occur again) ; φωστήρ at Phil. ii. 15 ; Rev. xxi. 11 (where only it occurs) ; λύχνος at Matt. vi. 22; John v. 35; 2 Pet.i. 19, and elsewhere; though this often by ‘ candle’ (Matt. v. 15; Rev. Xxli. 5); and λαμπὰς at Acts xx. 8, though elsewhere rendered ‘lamp’ (Matt. xxv. 1; Rev. vill. 10), and ‘ torch’ (John xviii. 3). The old grammarians distinguish between φῶς and φέγγος (which are but different forms of one and the same word), that φῶς is the light of the sun or of the day, φέγγος the light or lustre of the moon. The Attic writers, to whom this distinction must belong, if to any, themselves only imperfectly observe it. Thus, in Sophocles φέγγος is three or four times ascribed…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

φῶς (Att.. contr. from φάος; < φάω), gen., φωτός, τό,

[in LXX chiefly for אוֹר ;]

light (opp. to τὸ σκότος, ἡ σκοτία): Mt 17:2, 5, Jo 11:9, 10, II Co 4:6; ἡλίου, Re 22:5; of a lamp, Lk 8:16 11:33, Jo 5:35, Re 18:23; of a supernatural heavenly light, Ac 9:3 12:7 22:6, 9, 11 26:13; hence, ἄγγελος φωτός, II Co 11:14; ὁ κλήρος τ. ἁγίων ἐν τ. φ., Col 1:12; of the divine glory, Re 21:24; by meton., of that which gives light: of fire, Read the full entry →

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

φῶς, φωτός. τό, (contr. fr. φάος, fr. φάω to shine), fr. Hom. (who [as well as Pind.] uses the form φάος) down, Hebr. 18, light (opp. to τὸ σκότος, ἡ σκοτία) ; 1. prop. a. univ.: ὁ θεὸς ὁ εἰπὼν ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψαι, 3 Co. iv. 6 (Gen. i. 3); λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς, Mt. xvii. 2; νεφέλη φωτός [Grsb. txt.] i. e. consisting of light, i. q. φωτεινή in RLT Tr WH, Mt. xvii. 5; τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου, of the sun, Jn. xi. 9; τὸ φῶς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ, the light (i.e. illumining power) is not in him, consequently he does not see or distinguish the things about him, Jn. xi. 10; the light emitted bya lamp, Lk. viii. 16; [xi.33L Tr txt. WH]. a heavenly light, such as surrounds angels when they appear on earth: hence ἄγγελος φωτός, 2 Co. xi. 14, and illumines the place where they appear, Acts xii. 7; a light of this kind shone around Paul when he was converted to Christ, Acts xxii. 6, [9], 11[W. 371 (848)]; with…

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

φῶς. For ‘‘light” opposed to “" darkness,” see P Leid Wi. 4 (ii/iii a.p.) (=I1. p. 101) φωτὸς καὶ σκότους. In the imprecatory curse Sy// 891 (= ὃ 1240)" the prayer is uttered that the victim shall enjoy μηδὲ οἴκου, μὴ φωτός, μὴ χρήσεως, μηδὲ κτήσεως. The plur. is applied to ‘‘ windowlights” in P Lond 1179°* (ii/A.p.) (=III. p. 146) φῶτα θυρίδων, and to “‘torches,” as in Ac 167%, in BGU III. 909} (A.D. 359) ἐπελθόντες. . . TH ἡμετέρᾳ οἰκίᾳ καὶ φῶτα ἐπενεγκ[όν]τες ἐνέπρησαν αὐτὴν ἐκ θεματίου. Cf. 20. IV. 120 110 (A.D. 2) where φωτί takes the place οἵ πυρί or φλογί - εὕρωμεν τὰς θύρας τοῦ ἱεροῦ Σαράπειδος θεοῦ μεγίστου ὑφημένας (1 ὑφημμένας) φωτί. This last passage may illustrate Mk 1454 θερμαινόμενος πρὸς τὸ φῶς, where we should translate with the AV ‘‘warmed himself at the ». see C. H. Turner Comm. ad ἢ. in Gore’s New Commentary. The subst. is applied metaph. to those who impart light…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φῶς (phōs) — light.

φῶς,

contraction for φάος, light (which see). φῴς, ἡ, plural φῷδες, contraction from φωΐς (which see).

Strong's Greek Dictionary

φῶς

phos

from an obsolete phao (to shine or make manifest, especially by rays;

compare 5316, 5346); luminousness (in the widest application, natural

or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative):--fire,

light.

see GREEK for 5316

see GREEK for 5346

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φῶς, φωτός, τό

n.n.

light, a source of light

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φῶς phōs 73x

light, Mt. 17:2; 2 Cor. 4:6; daylight, broad day, Mt. 10:27; Lk. 12:3; radiance, blaze of light, Mt. 4:16; Acts 9:3; 12:7; an instrument or means of light, a light, Mt. 6:23; Acts 16:29; a fire, Mk. 14:54; Lk. 22:56; from the Hebrew, the light of God’s presence, 2 Cor. 11:14; Read the full entry →

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

lit ('or, ma'or; phos; many other words):

1. Origin of Light

2. A Comprehensive Term

(1) Natural Light

(2) Artificial Light

(3) Miraculous Light

(4) Mental, Moral, Spiritual Light

3. An Attribute of Holiness

(1) God

(2) Christ

(3) Christians

(4) The Church

4. Symbolism

5. Expressive Terms

1. Origin of Light:

The creation of light was the initial step in the creation of life. "Let there be light" (Ge 1:3) was the first word of God spoken after His creative Spirit "moved" upon the primary material out of which He created the heavens and the earth, and which lay, until the utterance of that word, in the chaos of darkness and desolation. Something akin, possibly, to the all-pervasive electro-magnetic activity of the aurora borealis penetrated the chaotic night of the world. The ultimate focusing of light (on the 4th day of creation,

Light

The offspring of the divine command (Gen. 1:3). “All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse were habitually described among the Hebrews under imagery derived from light” (1 Kings 11:36; Isa. 58:8; Esther 8:16; Ps. 97:11). Light came also naturally to typify true religion and the felicity it imparts (Ps. 119:105; Isa. 8:20; Matt. 4:16, etc.), and the glorious inheritance…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

One of the most wonderful, cheering, and useful of all the works of God; called into being on the first of the six days of creation, by his voice: "Let there be light;" and there was light. No object better illustrates whatever is pure, glorious, spiritual, joyful, and beneficent. Hence the beauty and force of the expressions, "God is light," 1Jo 1:5, and "the Father of lights," Jas 1:17; Christ is the "Sun of righteousness," and "the light of the world," Joh 1:9 8:12. So also the word of God is "a light," Ps 119:105; truth and Christians are lights, Joh 3:19 12:36; prosperity is "light," Es 8:16; and heaven is full of…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Created Ge 1:3-5; Isa 45:7; 2Co 4:6

→ Miraculous Mt 17:2; Ac 9:3

→ FIGURATIVE AND SYMBOLICAL 1Ki 11:36; Ps 27:1; 119:105,130; Pr 6:23; Ec 2:13; Isa 8:20; 49:6; 58:8; 60:19,20; Mt 4:16; 5:14,16; Lu 2:32; 11:34; 16:8;

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

Counted over the 102 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.27c. AD 75–95

ταύτης δʼ ὑπʼ ὄψιν οὐκ ἐρχομένης, ἀλλὰ βαθεῖ μὲν κρυπτομένης σκότει, πνεύματος δʼ αὐτὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπιθέοντος, γενέσθαι φῶς ἐκέλευσεν ὁ θεός.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 3.4c. AD 100

τότε ῥαγήσεται πρώϊμον τὸ φῶς σου, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτιά σου ταχέως ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ προπορεύσεται ἔμπροσθέν σου ἡ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ περιστελεῖ σε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 5th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Fay. 213 descr.Euhemeria (Arsinoites)3 BC

Ἀπολλώνιος Ὥρῳ καὶ … φωτι γεωργοῖς χαίρειν· ἀπέχω παρʼ ὑμῶν τὰ ἐκφόρια τοῦ ὀγδόου καὶ εἰκοστοῦ ἔτους ἀφʼ ὧν

BGU 4 1201Busiris (Herakleopolites)AD 2

λειτουργίας καὶ θυσίας τῶν θεῶν εὕρομεν τὰς θύρας τοῦ ἱεροῦ Σαράπειδος θεοῦ μεγίστου ὑφημμένας φωτί. καὶ ἡμῶν ἀνακραξάντων εἰς τὴν κώμην πρὸς βοήθειαν κατεπήδησεν ὁ γυμνασίαρχος τῆς κώμης καὶ

P.Mil.Vogl. 2 99Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 119

ἣν ἐξεν … ρ … αὐτῶν α … … … ὧν κεκλήρωνται θύρας καὶ φῶτα θυρίδων τρία , τὸν δὲ Ὧρον Τεσενούφεως ἑαυτῶι ἀνοίγειν … υ κεκλη

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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