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Colossians 1:15 — Word Study

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N1904ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

BSA[He]hos, hē [God's visible image, the divine Representation] iseimi [the] imageeikōn [likeness, representation] of theho Godtheos [the one true deity, Creator] <the>ho invisible,aoratos [not seen, unseen by humans] [the] firstbornprōtotokos [preeminent, having priority] over allpas [every, the entire] creation;ktisis [the act of creating, the thing created]

Word
Listen & take awayColossians 1
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 15 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 (ktisis) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Colossians 1:15quick helps
In a sentenceThe Son is the visible representation of the invisible God and holds a preeminent position over all creation.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians about the nature of Christ.
Where we areIn a theological exposition of Christ's supremacy, particularly in relation to creation.
The hard wordπρωτότοκος
Take awayJesus is not only God's image but also the firstborn, indicating His unique status.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectὅς verbεἰμί 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 1:15

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 — The Supremacy of Christgenerated

14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15 presents a profound declaration about Jesus Christ, identifying Him as the image of the invisible God and the firstborn over all creation. This verse asserts His divine nature and authority, emphasizing that everything was created through Him and for Him, as further elaborated in the following verses. Paul's intent is to affirm the preeminence of Christ in all things, which is foundational for understanding Christian faith and doctrine.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Exodus 24:10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
2Numbers 12:8I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
3Ezekiel 1:26–28Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man.
4John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
5John 14:9Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

The Key Word πρωτότοκος, prōtotokosgenerated

The term πρωτότοκος is an adjective derived from πρῶτος (first) and τίκτω (to bear), meaning 'firstborn.' It signifies not just birth order but also priority and preeminence, especially in the context of Jesus' relationship to creation.

In this verse, it highlights Jesus' unique status as the firstborn over all creation, which implies His authority and role as the agent of creation. This term is crucial for understanding the significance of Christ in the New Testament.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered similarly across several translations, with the BSB stating, "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." The KJV uses "the firstborn of every creature," which shifts the focus slightly but retains the essence of Christ's preeminence.

The differences arise in the rendering of κτίσεως: while the BSB and ASV use "creation," the KJV opts for "creature," reflecting a different nuance in understanding the scope of Christ's authority.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main clause is governed by the verb ἐστιν, is, which asserts the identity of the subject, ὅς, who. This is followed by a noun phrase that describes the subject's nature and two prepositional phrases that elaborate on His relationship to God and creation.

The structure emphasizes the identity of the Son as both divine and central to the act of creation, with the participial phrase πρωτότοκος adding a layer of meaning regarding His status.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

εἰκών appears in the Septuagint, often translating the Hebrew צְלֵם (image), which refers to likeness or representation. This connection underscores the continuity of the concept of God's image from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

The term πρωτότοκος also has roots in the Septuagint, where it translates the Hebrew בְּכוֹר, emphasizing the importance of the firstborn in biblical tradition and its application to Christ.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus, the Son of God, is the visible image of the invisible God and holds a special place as the firstborn over all creation. This means He is not only a reflection of God but also has a unique authority and role in creation.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that Jesus is the image of God?

It means that Jesus perfectly represents God to humanity, showing us what God is like in His nature and character.

Why is Jesus referred to as the firstborn?

This title signifies His preeminence and authority over all creation, indicating that He holds a unique position in relation to everything that exists.

How does this verse connect to the concept of creation?

It establishes that Jesus was not just present at creation but was actively involved in creating all things, highlighting His divine nature.

What implications does this have for understanding Jesus' role?

It affirms that Jesus is central to both God’s nature and the created order, making Him essential for understanding Christian faith.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How does understanding Jesus as the image of God change my view of Him?
  2. In what ways can I reflect the image of God in my own life?
  3. What does it mean for me personally that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation?
  4. How can I share the significance of Christ's preeminence with others?

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

Early church writings reflect on the significance of this verse, emphasizing Christ's divine nature and His role in creation as foundational to Christian belief.

Ignatius of AntiochEpistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians c. 35–108
Stand fast, brethren, in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in His love, in His passion, and in His resurrection. Do ye all come together in common, and individually, through grace, in one faith of God the Father,
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →
Ignatius of AntiochEpistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans c. 35–108
I Glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by Him has given you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →
Shepherd of HermasShepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9 c. 140
The Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a fellow-councillor with the Father in His work of creation: for this reason is He old.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Colossians 1:15 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Who is the image of the invisible God,.... Not of deity, though the fulness of it dwells in him; nor of himself, though he is the true God, and eternal life; nor of the Spirit, who also is God, and

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

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: They who have experienced "redemption" (Colossians 1:14) know Christ in the glorious character here, as above the highest

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

Having touched on the benefit of Christ’ s sacrifice, which implies his human nature, he doth here rise higher, to set forth the dignity of his person, (which made it satisfactory), both with respect to his Father and the creature. As to the former, he styles him his image, which is not to be understood of an artificial, accidental, or imperfect image, as that of the king on his coin, or as man was the feeble image of God, ; for the apostle’ s arguing Christ’ s dignity to redeem, would have no force in it, if Christ were no more than a mere man; but of a natural, substantial, and perfect image: as Seth was the natural image of his father Adam, of the same substance with him, ; so Christ…

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

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: Ver. 15. Who is the image] The express image of his person, Hebrews 1:2. Milk is not so like milk as this Son is like the Father. By whom also God (otherwise invisible) is manifested to us. And here, he that would see God must set the eyes of faith upon the manhood of Christ; for he "that seeth the Son, seeth the Father." When a man looketh into a crystal glass, it casteth no reflex to him; but put steel upon the back of it, it will cast a reflex. So put the humanity (as a back of steel) to the glass of the Godhead, and it casteth a comfortable reflex to us. As without this, if we look upon God, we see indeed some…

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

(15) The image of the invisible God.—This all important clause needs the most careful examination. We note accordingly (1) that the word “image” (like the word “form,” Philippians 2:6-7) is used in the New Testament for real and essential embodiment, as distinguished from mere likeness. Thus in Hebrews 10:1 we read, “The law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things;” we note also in Romans 1:23 the distinction between the mere outward “likeness” and the “image” which it represented; we find in 1 Corinthians 15:49 that the “image of the earthy” and “the image of the heavenly” Adam denote actual identity of nature with both; and in 2 Corinthians 3:18 the…

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

Verse 15. Who is the image of the invisible God] The counterpart of God Almighty, and if the image of the invisible God, consequently nothing that appeared in him could be that image; for if it could be visible in the Son, it could also be visible in the Father; but if the Father be invisible, consequently his image in the Son must be invisible also. This is that form of God of which he divested himself; the ineffable glory in which he not only did not appear, as to its splendour and accompaniments, but concealed also its essential nature; that inaccessible light which no man, no created being, can possibly see. This was that Divine nature, the fulness of the Godhead bodily, which dwelt in…

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

15–17. the thought continued: greatness of the redeemer as head of creation15. who is] Here opens, in closest connexion with the preceding matter, a confession of truth and faith about the Person of the Redeeming Son of God, the King of the redeemed. He appears in His relation to (a) the Eternal Father, (b) the created Universe, especially the Universe of spirits, (c) the Church of redeemed men. Every clause is pregnant of Divine truth, and the whole teaches with majestic emphasis the great lesson that the Person is all-important to the Work, the true Christ to the true salvation.the image] So 2 Corinthians 4:4. The Greek word (eicôn) occurs often in Biblical Greek, most frequently (in…

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

Who is the image of the invisible God - εἰκὼντοῦΘεοῦτοῦἀοράτου eikōn tou Theou tou aoratou. The objects. here, as it is in the parallel place in Ephesians 1:20-23, is to give a just view of the exaltation of the Redeemer.

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

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

NETBNew English Translation2006

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

RVARevised Version, American1894

who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature:

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Who is the image of the inuisible God, the first begotten of euery creature.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

who is image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

who is the image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

who is the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

The Son is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all creation.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

The Son is the visible image of the invisible God. He was before all creation,

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Who is the image of the unseen God coming into existence before all living things;

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἐστινeimi is G1510 2 different renderings
he isNETB ULB WEB
he wasFBV
πάσηςpas over all G3956 3 different renderings
allASV BBE DBY FBV LSV RVA ULB WEB YLT
everyDRA KJV NWB
over allBSB MSB NETB
κτίσεως·ktisis creation; G2937 2 different renderings
creationASV BSB DBY FBV LSV MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB YLT
creatureDRA GNV KJV NWB

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

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

qui est imago Dei invisibilis, primogenitus omnis creaturæ :

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

ܗܘ ܕܗܘܝܘ ܕܡܘܬܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܕܠܐ ܡܬܚܙܐ ܘܒܘܟܪܐ ܕܟܠܗܝܢ ܒܪܝܬܐ

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

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως·

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

Colossians 1:15ὅς[He][He]ὅςεἰμίisisεἰμίεἰκών[the] image[the] imageεἰκώνof theof theθεόςGodGodθεός<the><the>ἀόρατοςinvisible,invisible,ἀόρατοςπρωτότοκος[the] first[the] firstbornπρωτότοκοςπᾶςover allover allπᾶςκτίσιςcreation;creation;κτίσιςκτίζωv. I creatv. I create, foκτίζωArticle thArticle theἔοικαv. I am liv. I am like, rἔοικαἄλφαletter theletter the firsἄλφαπρῶτοςAdj first,Adj first, befoπρῶτοςοὗAdv where,Adv where, whitοὗἄνDisj.prt. Disj.prt. an unἄνἄχριAdv as farAdv as far as, ἄχριἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςφορέωv. I carryv. I carry, weaφορέωθηρίονn.n. a wiln.n. a wild beaθηρίονεὐχαριστέωv. I thankv. I thank, givεὐχαριστέωβασιλείαn.f. kingsn.f. kingship, βασιλείακτίσιςn.f. creatn.f. creation, κτίσιςεἴτεCj. and ifCj. and if, wheεἴτενεκρόςAdj dead, Adj dead, a corνεκρόςὑποτάσσωv. I placev. I place undeὑποτάσσωκατοικέωv. I dwellv. I dwell in, κατοικέω
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 1:15

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.

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
ὅςhos, hē [He] G3739 Relative pronoun · nominative · singular · masculine
1,407× 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
The word which is a pronoun used to ask for or identify something, as seen in John 5:11. It can also be used to describe a person or thing, such as in Mark 15:23. This word helps to clarify or specify what is being talked about.
Amplified meaning
God's visible image, the divine Representation
Tyndale gloss
which
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ὅς is a pronoun meaning 'who,' 'which,' 'what,' or 'that.' It serves as both a demonstrative and a relative pronoun, agreeing in gender with its antecedent. The New Testament uses it in various constructions, including phrases like ὃς μὲν... ὃς δέ to indicate contrasting subjects. Notably, it can express purpose or cause in certain contexts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ,

the postpositive article (ἄρθρον ὑποτακτικόν).

As demonstr. pron. = οὗτος, ὅδε, this, that, also for αὐτός, chiefly in nom.: ὅς δέ, but he (cf. ἦ δὲ ὅς, freq. in Plat.), Mk 15:23, Jo 5:11; ὃς μὲν . . . ὃς δέ, the one . . . the other, Mt 21:35 22:5 25:15, Lk 23:33, Ac 27:14, Ro 14:5, I Co 11:21, II Co 2:16, Ju 22; neut., ὃ μὲν . . . ὃ δέ, the one . . . the other, some . . . some, Mt 13:8, 23, Read the full entry →

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

ὅς 455 ὅς iii. 5 [RG], 6; Heb. vi. 10; ix. 20; Jas. ii. 5; 1 In. iii. 24; Jude 15; for other exx. see below; ἐν ὥρᾳ 7 οὐ γινώoxet, Mt. xxiv. 50; τῇ παραδύσει 9 παρεδώκατε, Mk. vii. 13 ; add, Lk. ii. 20; v. 9; ix. 435 xii. 46; xxiv. 25; Jn. xvii. 5; Acts ii. 22; xvii. 31; xx. 38; 2 Co. xii. 21; 2Th.i. 4; Rev. xviii. 6; ef. W. § 24,1; [B. as above]. Rarely attraction oceurs where the verb governs the dative [but see below]: thus, κατέναντι οὗ ἐπίστευσε θεοῦ for xarévavre θεοῦ, ᾧ ἐπίστευσε (See κατέναντι). Ro. iv. 17; φωνῆς, ἧς ἔκραξα (for 7 (al. ἥν, οἴ. W. 164 (154 sq.) Β. 287 (217)}7), Acts xxiv. 21, οἵ. Is. vi. 4; (7γετο δὲ καὶ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ τε πιστῶν, οἷς ἥδετο καὶ ὧν ἠπίστει πολλούς, for καὶ πολλοὺς τούτων, οἷς ἠπίστει, Xen. Cyr. ὅ, 4, 39; ὧν ἐγὼ ἐντετύχηκα οὐδείς; for οὐδεὶς τούτων, οἷς ἐντετ. Plato, Gorg. p. 509 ἃ.; Protag. p. 361 6.; derep.7 p.531e.; παρ᾽ ὧν βοηθεῖς, οὐδεμίαν λήψει…

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

ος is found as a demonstrative pronoun in P Ryl II. 14415 (complaint of assault—a.D. 38) ὃς δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἄλογον ἀηδίαν μοι ἐπιχειρήσας παρεχρήσατό μοι πολλὰ καὶ ἄσχημα, ‘“whereupon he opposing me made a brutal and odious attack upon me and subjected me to much shameful mishandling” (Edd.): cf. Mk 15%, Jn 51. For ὃς μέν... ὃς δέ, “the one . . the other,” as in Mt 21° a/., see P Oxy IX. 1189? (c. A.D. 117) ἐπιστολὰς δύο ds ἔγραψα ἣν μὲν σοὶ ἣν δὲ Σαβείνῳ, and for ὃς δέ solétarium see PSI. IV. 313° (iii/iv A.D.) with the editor’s note. Ὃς ἄν (ἐάν) c. conj. = ‘‘ whosoever ” may be illustrated Ly P Par 4622 (B.c. 153) (= Witkowski*, p. 87), περὶ dv ἂν βούληι γράφε, P Grenf I. 30% (B.c. 103) ἐφ} οἷς ἂν οὖν ὑμῶν προσδέωνται, P Oxy IV. 743%% (B.C. 2) ἐν ols ἐὰν σοῦ προσδέηται, °° ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐὰν θέλῃς. For the comparative usage of ὃς ἄν and ὃς ἐάν, see Thackeray Gr. i. p. 68, cited s.v. ἄν.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅς (hos, hē) — which.

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ,

genitive οὗ, ἧς, οὗ, etc.; dative plural οἷς, αἷς, οἷς, etc.: Epic dialect forms, genitive ὅου (probably replacing Οο) in the phrases ὅου κλέος οὔ ποτ᾽ ὀλεῖται [Refs 8th c.BC+]; feminine ἕης [Refs 8th c.BC+]; elsewhere only ἧς [Refs]; dative plural οἷς, οἷσι, ᾗς, ᾗσι (never αἷς or αἷσι in [Refs 8th c.BC+] — _pronoun_ used,

__A as demonstrative by the side of οὗτος, ὅδε, and the Article ὁ, ἡ, τό: in post-Homeric Gr. this use survived only in a few special phrases.

__B as a Relat. by the side of the Article ὅ, ἥ, τό (see. ὁ, ἡ, τό, c):—this demonstrative and Relat. pronoun must not be confounded with the Possess. ὅς, ἥ, ὅν. (With Gr. Relat. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ cf. Sanskrit Relat. yas, yā, yad, Lithuanian jis, ji (he, she), Oslav. i, ja, je (he, she…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅς ἥ ὅ

hos

he hay, and neuter

ho ho

probably a primary word (or perhaps a form of the article 3588); the

relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what,

that:--one, (an-, the) other, some, that, what, which, who(-m, -se),

etc. See also 3757.

see GREEK for 3588

see GREEK for 3757

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅς, ἥ, ὅ

Rel.pr.

who, which, what, that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅς hos 1x

who, which, what, that, Mt. 1:16, 23, 25; in NT interrog. ἐφ’ ὅ, wherefore, why, Mt. 26:50; in NT ὅς μὲν ... ὅς δέ, for ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, Mt. 21:35; 2 Cor. 2:16

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Rel-NSM — Relative pronoun · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

R-NSM Part of Speech: Relative pronoun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ha: The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; transliterated in this Encyclopedia as "h." It came also to be used for the number 5. For name, etc., see ALPHABET.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%which
which25% · 356×whom20% · 291×who17% · 238×that14% · 199×what8% · 117×whatever2% · 30×whose2% · 29×other renderings10% · 145×other renderings2% · 25×

1,430 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 60 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
object40%subject29%adverbial26%indirect object3%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,407 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἐν
ἡμέραa dayαὐτόςἵναin order that, s
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἔχωI have, hold, poυἱόςa son, descenden
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,δοῦλος (II)
διά
ἐκεῖνοςΧριστόςanointed, the Meαὐτός
εἰς
καίand, even, also,ἐγώοἰκίαa house, househo
ὅς[He]1407×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theμεθερμηνεύωI translate, intκαίand, even, also,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existἔξεστι(ν)it is permitted,γινώσκωI come to know,
Article the
θεόςGod, a godυἱόςa son, descendenκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
καίand, even, also, nam
σύποιέωI do, makeαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
ἄνDisjἑξήκονταIndecτριάκονταIndec

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

Concordanceὅς · 1,407× in the New Testament
Acts Luke John Matthew Romans Mark Hebrews Revelation 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Colossians Ephesians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 33c. AD 40

ἵν’ οὖν μὴ αἰεὶ συμφερόμεναι στασιάζωσι καὶ πόλεμος ἀντ’ εἰρήνης ἐπικρατῇ τὴν ἀκοσμίαν ἐν κόσμῳ τιθείς, οὐ μόνον ἐχώρισε φῶς καὶ σκότος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅρους ἐν μέσοις ἔθετο διαστήμασιν, οἷς ἀνεῖρξε τῶν ἄκρων ἑκάτερον·

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

πῶς τὸ Σοδομιτῶν ἔθνος θεὸς κατεστρέψατο χολωθεὶς αὐτοῖς ἐφ' οἷς ἡμάρτανον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.8c. AD 100

Μωϋσῆ Μωϋσῆ, κατάβηθι τὸ τάχος, ὅτι ἠνόμησεν ὁ λαός σου, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ συνῆκεν Μωϋσῆς καὶ ἔριψεν τὰς δύο πλάκας ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ: καὶ συνετρίβη αὐτῶν ἡ διαθήκη, ἵνα ἡ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου Ἰησοῦ ἐγκατασφραγισθῇ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν…

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.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ Ψενανοῦπιν καὶ … … ελθεῖν ἐπὶ προ … ους καὶ γραψάτωσαν ἡμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐσπούδασας διὰ τὰς ἡμῶν παρακλήσεις καὶ ση

P.Adl. 15Pathyris (?)101 BC

ἐδάνεισεν Ὧρος Ὥρου Ὥρωι Νεχούτου ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος μελίχρως ὑποκλαστὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὖς ἀριστερὸν τετρημένον πυροῦ ἀρτάβας τεσσαράκοντα ἓξ κριθῆς ἑξήκοντα ἐννέα , ἴσους ἀτόκους, ὧν ἀπόδοσιν

P.Adl. 17Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC

τῆς ἐπιγονῆς τῶν ἐκ Παθύρεως ὡς ἐτῶν ν μέσος μελίχρως τετανὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὖς ἀριστερὸν τετρημένον χαλκοῦ ταλάντων πέντε . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
ἐστινeimi is G1510 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
2,457× 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
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

εἰμί is a Greek verb meaning 'to be' or 'to exist.' It serves various functions, such as a substantive verb for persons and things, and as a copula linking subjects and predicates. The New Testament frequently uses it in passages like John 1:1 and Matthew 24:3. Notably, it can also express possibility, as seen in Hebrews 9:5.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

with various uses and significations, like the English verb to be.

As substantive verb.

Of persons and things, to be, exist: Ac 17:28, Jo 1:1 8:58 17:5, al; ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν (for past ptcp.), Re 1:4, 8 4:8 11:17 16:5 (v. Swete, Ap., 5; M, Pr., 228); τὰ (μὴ) ὄντα, Ro 4:17, I Co 1:28.

Of times, events, etc., to be, happen, take place: Mt 24:3, Mk 14:2 15:42, Lk 21:23, Jo 4:6, 23 5:10, al.

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

εἰμί (fr. ἔω, whence ἐμέ in inscriptions [7]; Aeol. ἐμμὲ (Curtius (yet ἔμμε, so G. Meyer) 8 564; Veitch p. 2287), impv. ἴσθι, ἔστω, less usual ἤτω, 1 Co. xvi. 22; Jas. v.12; Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 48,5; [1 Mace. x. 31; Ps. ciii. (civ.) 31]; Plat. rep. 2 p. 361 ¢. [here it has given place to ἔστω (or ἴτω), see Stallb. ad loc.; Veitch p. 200 sq.; 3 pers. plur. ἔστωσαν, Lk. xii. 35; 1 Tim. iii. 12], inf. εἶναι ; impf. —ace. to the more ancient and elegant form, ἦν, 2 pers. ἦσθα (Mt. xxvi. 69; Mk. xiv. 67), rarer form ἧς (Mt. RKV. 1235 dn ΧΙ: 9]. 92); xxI LS. Reyna 15 G@ ΕΣ Tr WH), 3 pers. ἦν, 1 pers. plur. jer, — ace. to the mid. form, com. in later Grk. [ef. Veitch p. 226], ἤμην (Mt. xxv. 35sq.; [on Acts xi. 11 ef. WH. Intr. § 404]; Gal.i.10, etc.), plur. ἤμεθα (Mt. xxiii. 30 G L T Tr WH; Acts xxvii. 37 L T Tr WH; [Gal. iv. 3 TWH Tr mrg.; Eph. ii. 3 T Tr WH; Bar. i. 19]); cf. Lob. ad Phryn.…

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

εἰμί. Middle forms in the flexion of εἰμί other than the present tense (cf. however MGr εἶμαι, -σαι, etc.) begin to appear very early in the dialects and are well established in the papyri. Thus the Ist sing. impf. ἤμην, which always takes the place of the class. ἢ in the NT (but see Ac 2018 D) may be illustrated from PSI IV. 36274 (B.c. 251-0) ἤμην δὲ πρὸς τῶι λαμβάνειν τὸν χαλκόν, P Magd 65 (B.c. 221) ἤμην γυμνός, P Par 57 (B.c. 129) ὧν ἤμην δι᾽ αὐτῶν [π]αραμε[μετ]ρηκ[υῖα, P Oxy IIT. 526% (ii/A.p.) οὐκ ἤμην ἀπαθὴς ἀλόγως σε καταλείπιν. For ist plur. ἤμεθα see P Petr IT. 4 (7)° (B.C. 255-4) τεθλιμμένοι ἤμεθα : cf. Ac 2737, Eph 23, as contrasted with the act. ἦμεν in Ac 111 (NB), 1612, Rom 7° a/.: the two forms are found together in Gal 4% (SDFG). The non-classical ἧς (Lob. Phryx. p. 149) is found sefzes in the NT as compared with ἦσθα (from an old perf. form ἤησθα), which is confined…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

(sum), Aeolic dialect ἔμμι [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Cretan dialect ἠμί [Refs]; 2nd pers. singular εἶ, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰς [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Doric dialect ἐσσί [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἐστί, Doric dialect ἐντί [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. dual ἐστόν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; 1st pers. plural ἐσμέν, Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰμέν (also in [Refs 5th c.BC+], Doric dialect εἰμές [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural εἰσί (-ίν), Epic dialect and Ionic dialect ἔασι (-ιν) [Refs 8th c.BC+], Doric dialect ἐντί [Refs 5th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Lyric poetry also in middle form ἔσσο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔστω (ἤτω [LXX+5th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ἔστωσαν, but ἔστων [Refs 8th c.BC+], and early Attic dialect Inscrr., [Refs 2nd c.BC+]subjunctive ὦ, ᾖς, ᾖ, Epic dialect ἔω [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. singular ἔῃ [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a

primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic):--am,

have been, X it is I, was. See also 1488, 1498, 1511, 1527, 2258,

2071, 2070, 2075, 2076, 2771, 2468, 5600.

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

to be, to exist, Jn. 1:1; 17:5; Mt. 6:30; Lk. 4:25, freq.; ἐστί[ν], it is possible, proper, Heb. 9:5; a simple linking verb (“copula”) to the subject and predicate, and therefore in itself affecting the force of the sentence only by its tense, mood, etc., Jn. 1:1; 15:1, freq.; it also forms a frequent circumlocution with the participles of the present and perfect of other verbs, Mt. 19:22; Mk. 2:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εἰμί The whole of the pres. ind. (except 2nd sg. εἶ) may be enclitic when εἰμί is the Copula; but the 3rd sg. is written ἔστι in certain cases of emphasis, e. g. ἔστι μοι, I have: when used as Verb Subst., it retains the accent in all persons. as Substantive Verb, to be, to exist, οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ οὗτος ἀνήρ, οὐδ᾽ ἔσσεται Od.; τεθνηῶτος, μηδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἐόντος id. Od.; οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι he is no more, Eur.; θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες Il.; ἐσσόμενοι posterity, id. Il.; ζώντων καὶ ὄντων Ἀθηναίων Dem.:—so of cities, etc., ὄλωλεν, οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἔστι Τροία (cf. Troja fuit), Eur.

of things, to be, exist, εἰ ἔστιν ἀληθέως [ἡ τράπεζα] Hdt.; ἕως ἂν ὁ πόλεμος ἦι so long as it last, Thuc.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%is
is26% · 619×are9% · 228×was7% · 176×being6% · 138×it is5% · 112×will be4% · 87×am3% · 80×were3% · 67×other renderings37% · 901×

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 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
linking verb87%verb13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,457 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίis2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

Concordanceεἰμί · 2,457× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation 1 John 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
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 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. 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 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν, μηνὸς Ἐπεὶφ κε. ἐν Παθύρει, ἐφʼ Ἑρμίου τοῦ παρὰ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν, μηνὸς Τῦβι ιη ἐν Παθύρει ἐφʼ Ἑρμίου τοῦ παρὰ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου. ἀπέδοτο

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
εἰκὼνeikōn [the] image G1504 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
23× 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
An image is a likeness or representation of something, like a statue or picture. In the Bible, it can refer to people being made in God's image, as in 1 Corinthians 15:49.
Amplified meaning
likeness, representation
Tyndale gloss
image
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εἰκών (lemma: eikōn) means an image or likeness, often used to denote a representation or resemblance, such as a statue or portrait. It appears in various New Testament contexts, including references to the image of God in man (1 Cor 11:7) and Christ (Col 1:15). The term implies a derived likeness from an archetype, distinguishing it from similar words like ὁμοίωμα.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — εἰκών, ὁμοίωσις, ὁμοίωμα from a scan

THERE is a twofold theological interest attending the distinction between εἰκών and the two words which are here brought into comparison with it; the first belonging to the Arian controversy, and turning on the fitness or unfitness of the words before us to set forth the relation of the Son to the Father ; while the other is an interest that, seeming at first sight remote from any controversy, has yet contrived to insinuate itself into more than one, namely, whether there be a distinction, and if so, what it is, between the ‘image’ (εἰκών) of God, 7m which, and the ‘ likeness’ (ὁμοίωσις) of God, after which, man was created at the beginning (Gen. i. 26). I need hardly remind those who will care to read this volume of the distinction drawn between the words during the course of the long Arian debate. Some there may be who are not acquainted with Lightfoot’s note on Col. i. 15 in his…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰκών, -όνος (cf. ἔοικα),

[in LXX chiefly for צֶלֶם ;]

an image, likeness: Mt 22:20, Mk 12:16, Lk 20:24, Ro 1:23, I Co 15:49, Re 13:14, 15 14:9, 11 15:2 16:2 19:20 20:4; opp. to σκιά, He 10:1; of man, εἰ. θεοῦ, I Co 11:7; of the regenerate, εἰ. τ. θεοῦ Col 3:10 (v. Lft., in l.); εἰ. τ. υἱοῦ τ. θεοῦ, Ro 8:29, Read the full entry →

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

εἰκών, -dvos, (acc. εἰκόναν, Rey. xiii. 14 Lehm.; see ἄρσην ), ἡ, (EIKQ, q. v.); [fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down]; Sept. mostly for Dox ; an image, figure, likeness; a. Mt. xxii. 20; Mk. xii. 16; Lk. xx. 24; Ro. i. 23; 1 Co. xv. 49; Rev. xiii. 14 sq.; xiv. 9,11; xv. 2; xvi. 2; xix. 20; xx. 4; ἡ εἰκὼν τῶν πραγμάτων, the image of the things (sc. the heavenly things), in Heb. x. 1, is opp. to ἡ σκιά, just as in Cie. de off. 3, 17 solida et expressa effigies is opp. to umbra; εἰκὼν τ. θεοῦ is used of the moral likeness of renewed men to God, Col. iii. 10; εἰκὼν τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ the image of the Son of God, into which true Christians are transformed, is likeness not only to the heavenly body (cf. 1 Co. xv. 49; Phil. iii. 21), but also to the most holy and blessed state of mind, which Christ possesses : Ro. viii. 29; 2Co.iii. 18. b. metonymically, εἰκών twos, the image of one; one in whom the…

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

εἰκών is the term used for the αἰδυςγῤίϊογε of individuals in official documents, e.g. BGU IV. 10597 (bill of sale of a female slave—i/B.C.) ἧς τὰ ἔτη καὶ ai εἰκόνις ὑπόκεινται: cf. P Tebt I 327! (B.c. 145 ?) ὑποτετάχ[α]μεν δὲ Kall] τὴν εἰκόνα αὐ[τοῦ] καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τὸ ὄνομα, “we have, further, appended the description of him andthe name of his son,” P Strass I. 79!” (B.C. 16) ἐν @ at εἰκόνες αὐτῆς δηλοῦνίται. For a similar use of εἰκονισμός see P Ἀν] IT. 15634 (i/A.pD.) where the heading εἰκίονισμοί) is followed by the names and descriptions of various individuals. If Wilcken’s restoration can be accepted we have an interesting instance of the diminutive εἰκόνιον in BGU II. 423?" (ii)A.p.) (= Chrest. I. p. 566, Selections, Ρ- 92), where a soldier-son writing home to his father from Italy adds— ἔπεμψά σοι εἰἸκόνιν μ[ου] διὰ Hixrhpovos, “1 send you a little portrait of myself at the hands…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰκών (eikōn) — image.

εἰκών, ἡ,

genitive όνος, accusative όνα, etc.: poetry and Ionic dialect nominative εἰκώ is implied (though not found) in genitive εἰκοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—likeness, image, whether picture or statue, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of needlework, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; bust, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; εἰ. βασιλικαί, = Latin imagines imperatorum, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. image in a mirror, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. personal description, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

4. metaphorically, living image, representation, εἰ. ζῶσα τοῦ Διός [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; τοῦ θεοῦ [NT]

II. semblance, phantom, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; imaginary form, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; image in the mind, εἰκοὺς πατρός [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εἰκόνας σῆς ἀρετῆς thy virtue's counterparts, of children, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. similitude, comparison, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰκών

eikon

from 1503; a likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or

(figuratively) representation, resemblance:--image.

see GREEK for 1503

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰκών, όνος, ἡ

n.f.

an image, likeness, bust

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰκών eikōn 23x

a material image, likeness, effigy, Mt. 22:20; Mk. 12:16; a representation, exact image, 1 Cor. 11:7; 15:49; Rev. 13:14f.; resemblance, Rom. 1:23; 8:29; Col. 3:10; Heb. 10:1

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εἰκών *εἴκω, ἔοικα a likeness, image, portrait, Hdt., Aesch.

an image in a mirror, Eur., Plat.

a semblance, phantom, Eur., Plat., etc.: an image in the mind, id. Plat.

a similitude, simile, Ar., Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-NSF — Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-NSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

im'-aj (tselem; eikon): Its usage falls under 3 main heads.

(1) "Image" as object of idolatrous worship (translations about a dozen words, including maccekhah, "molten image" (De 9:12, etc.); matstsebhah, in the King James Version translated "image" or "pillar," in the Revised Version (British and American) always "pillar" (Ex 23:24, etc.); pecel, "graven image" (Ex 20:4, etc.); tselem, "image" (2Ki 11:18, etc.); eikon, "image" (e.g. Re 14:9));

(2) of man as made in the image of God; (3) of Christ as the image of God. Here we are concerned with the last two usages. For "image" in connection with idolatrous practices, see…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

[IDOL]

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

An exact and complete copy or counterpart of any thing. Christ is called "the image of God," 2Co 4:4 Col 1:15 Heb 1:3, as being the same in nature and attributes. The image of God in which man was created, Ge 1:27 was in his spiritual, intellectual, and moral nature, in righteousness and true holiness. The posterity of Adam were born in his fallen, sinful likeness, Ge 5:3; and as we have borne the image of sinful Adam, so we should be molded into the moral image of the heavenly man Christ, 1Co 15:47-49 2Co 3:18.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ For idols

→ See IDOLATRY

→ FIGURATIVE

Man created in, of God Ge 1:26,27; 5:1; 9:6; Jas 3:9

Regenerated into Ps 17:15; Ro 8:29; 2Co 3:18; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; 1Jo 3:1-3

Christ, of God Col 1:15; Heb 1:3

Of jealousy Eze 8:3,5

See IDOL

See IDOLATRY

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
83%image
image83% · 19×likeness9% · 2×an image4% · 1×form4% · 1×

23 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
object48%adverbial17%subject13%predicate13%second object4%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 23 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,προσκυνέωI worshipτίςIrg
εἰμίI am, exist
ὅς
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
τίςIrg
ὁμοίωμαa likeness, form, si
ἐν
κεφαλήthe head
Article the
εἰκών[the] image23×
what comes after →
Article the
θηρίονa wild beast, anθεόςGod, a godυἱόςa son, descenden
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,ζάωI live
οὗτος
καίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐπιγραφήan inscription, δόξαhonor, renown, g
φθαρτόςcorruptible, perisha
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th

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

Concordanceεἰκών · 23× in the New Testament
Revelation 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Colossians Romans Hebrews Luke Matthew Mark
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 28 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 The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 17c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.91c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ δεύτερος κελεύει μηδενὸς εἰκόνα ζῴου ποιήσαντας προσκυνεῖν·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.5c. AD 100

ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ἀδελφοί μου: εἰ ὁ κύριος ὑπέμεινεν παθεῖν περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ὢν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου κύριος ᾧ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου: Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ̓ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ̓ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν: πῶς οὖν ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὸ χειρὸς ἀνθρώπων παθεῖν;

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

ἕως δ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνός, καὶ συνεσφραγίσμεθα τῇ ἀμφοτέρων σφραγῖδι, τοῦ μὲν Ἀμμωνίου ἧς εἰκὼν Ἄμμωνος, τοῦ δὲ Ἑρμίου ἧς εἰκὼν Ἁρποκράτης. ἔτους κθ Καίσαρος Ἁθὺρ δ. Ἑρμίας καὶ

P.Laur. 4 153OxyrhynchitesAD 138–AD 161

μέρος … … Ἀντωνείνου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου … … ἄντικρυς Θεσμοφορείου … … … εικων κ 𐅵 τιμῆς … … Εὐάρχου πρεσβ

BGU 2 567AD 101–AD 200

πρὸς Ἑρέννιον Κρησκέντιον λοιπογραφίας ἐκφορίου πυροῦ μη δραχμὴ α … οὐδὲν περιεγένετο … … εικων Νείλου καὶ Ἡρακλ Διονυσίου πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαιρέσεως γεωργικῶς δραχμὴ α … ἕως … οὐδὲν

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
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

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
θεοῦtheos God G2316 Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
1,311× 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 simply means God, referring to the one true deity. It is used throughout the New Testament, including in Matthew 27:46 and Acts 14:11, to describe the supreme being and creator of the universe.
Amplified meaning
the one true deity, Creator
Tyndale gloss
God
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θεός (theos) means 'God' or 'a god' and is used in both singular and plural forms. It refers to the supreme deity in monotheistic contexts, as well as to lesser deities in polytheistic settings. The New Testament frequently employs this term, notably in verses like Matthew 27:46 and Acts 19:37. Some lexicons note its use as a title for rulers or magistrates, reflecting its broader application in ancient texts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (Ac 19:37 only; v. M, Pr., 60, 244), late voc., θεέ (Mt 27:46; cf. De 3:24, al.),

[in LXX chiefly for אֱלֹהִים, also for אֵל and other cognate forms, יהוה, etc.;]

a god or deity, God.

In polytheistic sense, a god or deity: Ac 28:6, I Co 8:4, II Th 2:4, al.; pl., Ac. 14:11 19:26, Ga 4:8, al.

Of the one true God;

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

θεός, -οὔ, ὁ and ἡ, voc. θεέ, once in the N. T., Mt. xxvii. 46; besides in Deut. iii. 24; Judg. [xvi. 28;] xxi. 3; [2 S. vii. 25; Is. xxxviii. 20]; Sir. xxiii. 4; Sap. ix. 1; 3 Mace. vi. 3; 4 Mace. vi. 27; Act. Thom. 44 sq. 57; Eus. h. 6. 2, 23,16; [5, 20,7; vit. Const. 2,55, 1.59]; ef. W. §8, 2 ο.; [B. 12 (11)]; ({on the eight or more proposed derivations see Vaniéek p. 386, who follows Curtius (after Doderlein) p. 513 sqq. in connecting it with a root meaning to supplicate, implore; hence the implored ; per contra cf. Max Miiller, Chips ete. iv. 227 sq.; L. and 8. s. v. fin.]); [fr. Hom. down]; Sept. for 58, ΟΝ and m7; a god, a goddess; 1. a general appellation of deities or divinities: Acts xxviii. 6; 1 Co. viii. 4; 2 Th. ii. 4; once ἡ θεός, Acts xix. 37 G LT Tr WH; θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου, Acts xii. 22; ἄνθρωπος ὧν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν, Jn. x. 33; plur., of the gods of the…

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

θεός. For the application of the title θεός to the Ptolemaic kings it is sufficient to recall Brit. Mus. Inscrr. IV. 1 No. 906% (B.C. 284-273) where a votive offering is dedicated in honour of Πτολεμαίου τοῦ σωτῆρος καὶ θεοῦ, and the description of Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes) on the Rosetta stone—OG/S gol? (B.C. 196) ὑπάρχων θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ Kal θεᾶς : cf. Deissmann LAE, p. 348 and the full discussion by E. Kornemann ‘‘ Zur Geschichte der antiken Herrscherkulte” in Beztrdge zur alten Geschichte [Klio] i., p. 51 ff. (Leipzig, 1902). The same practice is still more strikingly illustrated in the Imperial period, as when in an inscr. from the Fayum district, dated March 17th, B.c. 24, Augustus is described as θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ (OG/S 6557), or as when a votive inscr. is addressed to Nero—daya0a(t) θεῶ(ι) (Cos 927): see Deissmann 7s. p. 349. With this may be compared the frequent use for Augustus of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θεός (theos) — God.

θεός, ὁ,

Boeotian dialect θιός, Laconian dialect σιός (see. below), [Refs 5th c.AD+], Cretan dialect θιός [Refs], Doric dialect also θεύς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; vocative (only late) θεός, also θεέ [LXX+NT]; but classical in compound names, Ἀμφίθεε, Τιμόθεε:—God, the Deity, in general sense, both singular and plural (εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ θεοὺς καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ θεὸν ἁρμόζει μεταφέρειν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σὺν θ. εἰρημένον [Refs 5th c.BC+]: so in plural, σύν γε θεοῖσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐ θεῶν ἄτερ pi.[Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὑπὲρ θεόν against his will,[Refs 4th c.BC+]; θεῶν συνεθελόντων, βουλομένων, [Refs 5th c.BC+]bless you! good heavens! for heaven's sake! [Refs 8th c.BC+]: doubled in poets, θεὸν θεόν τις ἀγλαϊζέτω [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θεοί (Cretan dialect θιοί) as an opening formula in Inscrr. (i.e. τύχην ἀγαθὴν διδοῖεν), [Refs].1, etc.: in Prose also with the Article, ὁ θ.…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

θεός

theos

of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with 3588) the supreme

Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:--X exceeding,

God, god(-ly, -ward).

see GREEK for 3588

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θεός, οῦ, ὁ

n.f. & n.m.

God, a god

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θεός theos 1x

a deity, Acts 7:43; 1 Cor. 8:5; an idol, Acts 7:40; God, the true God, Mt. 3:9, et al. freq.; God, possessed of true godhead, Jn. 1:1; Rom. 9:5; from the Hebrew, applied to potentates, Jn. 10:34, 35; τῷ θεῷ, an intensive term, from the Hebrew, exceedingly, Acts 7:20, and, perhaps, 2 Cor. 10:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θεός θεός, ὁ, God, Hom., both in general sense, Θεὸς δώσει God will grant, and in particular sense, θεός τις a god; πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Hom.:—things are said to happen σὺν θεῷ, σύν γε θεοῖσιν by the will of God, id. Hom., etc.; οὐκ ἄνευ θεοῦ, Lat. non sine diis, Od.; οὐκ ἄνευθε θεοῦ Il.; οὐ θεῶν ἄτερ Pind.;— ἐκ θεόφι Il.;— ὑπὲρ θεόν against his will, id. Il.;— κατὰ θεόν τινα, Lat. divinitus, Eur.:—as an oath, πρὸς θεῶν by the gods, in God's name, Trag.; θεὸς ἴστω Soph., etc.

θεός as fem. for θεά, θέαινα, a goddess, Hom.; θήλεια θεός Il.; ἡ νερτέρα θ. Proserpine, Soph.; often in oaths, νὴ τὼ θεώ id. Soph.; ναὶ τὼ σιώ, with the Spartans, of Castor and Pollux, Xen.; with the Boeotians, of Amphion and Zethus, id.…

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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

god ('Elohim, 'El, [`Elyon], Shadday, Yahweh; Theos):

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE GENERAL IDEA

1. The Idea in Experience and in Thought

2. Definition of the Idea

3. The Knowledge of God

4. Ethnic Ideas of God

(1) Animism

(2) Fetishism

(3) Idolatry

(4) Polytheism

(5) Henotheism

(6) Pantheism

(7) Deism

(8) Semitic Monolatry

(9) Monotheism

II. THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. The Course of Its Development

2. Forms of Its Manifestation

(1) The Face or Countenance of God

(2) The Voice and Word of God

(3) The Glory of God

(4) The Angel of God

(5) The Spirit of God

(6) The Name of God

(7) Occasional Forms

3. The Names of God

(1) Generic

(2) Attributive

(3) Yahweh

4. Pre-prophetic Conceptions of God

(1) Yahweh Alone Is the God of Israel

(a) His Early Worship

(b) Popular Religion

(c) Polytheistic Tendencies

(i) Coordination

(ii) Assimilation

(iii) Disintegration

(d) No Hebrew Goddesses

(e) Human Sacrifices

Easton's Bible Dictionary

God

(A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew ’El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of ’Eloah_, plural _’Elohim. The singular form, Eloah, is used only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by “LORD,” printed in small capitals. The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argument to prove it. He who disbelieves this truth is spoken of as one devoid of understanding (Ps. 14:1).

The arguments generally adduced by theologians in proof of the being of God are:

(1.) The a priori argument, which is the testimony afforded by reason.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(good). Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures two chief names are used for the one true divine Being--ELOHIM, commonly translated God in our version, and JEHOVAH, translated Lord . Elohim is the plural of Eloah (in Arabic Allah); it is often used in the short form EL (a word signifying strength , as in EL-SHADDAI, God Almighty, the name by which God was specially known to the patriarchs. (Genesis 17:1; 28:3; Exodus 6:3) The etymology is uncertain, but it is generally agreed that the primary idea is that of strength, power of effect , and that it properly describes God in that character in which he is exhibited to all men in his works, as the creator, sustainer and supreme governor of the world. The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea that it…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

This name, the derivation of which is uncertain, we give to that eternal, infinite, perfect, and incomprehensible Being, the Creator of all things, who preserves and governs all by his almighty power and wisdom, and is the only proper object of worship. The proper Hebrew name for God is JEHOVAH, which signifies He is. But the Jews, from a feeling of reverence, avoid pronouncing this name, substituting for it, wherever it occurs in the sacred test, the word ADONAI, Lord; except in the expression, ADONAI JEHOVAH, Lord Jehovah, for which they put, ADONAI ELOHIM, Lord God. This usage, which is not without an element of superstition, is very ancient, dating its origin some centuries before Christ; but there is no good ground for assuming its existence in the days of the inspired Old Testament writers. The proper word for God is ELOHIM, which is plural in its form, being thus used to signify…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
96%god
god96% · 1289×other renderings3% · 34×other renderings1% · 19×

1,342 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 14 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject31%adverbial26%object24%predicate12%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,311 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
βασιλείαkingship, sovereλόγοςa word, speech, υἱόςa son, descenden
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπαράδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnes
ἀπό
εἰρήνηpeace, peace of ὅτιthat, since, becἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἈβραάμPropἸσαάκPropΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegυἱόςa son, descendenοὗτος
θεόςGod1311×
what comes after →
Article the
δίδωμιI offer, giveπαντοκράτωρruler of the uniπατήρfather, Father,
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπατήρfather, Father, αὐτός
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,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

Concordanceθεός · 1,311× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Revelation John 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 John Matthew Mark 1 Peter

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

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

Counted over the 1,637 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
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.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς πύργος, ὃν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμησαν, καὶ ὡς τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν μετέβαλε καὶ ὁ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ τοῦτο γέγονε, Βαβυλὼν ἐκλήθη.

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
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

αὐτῷ μέρος ἧς ἐμισθώσατο σὺν Πακοίβι Σχώτου καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις γῆς σιτοφόρου λεγομένης Νεχθαραῦτι θεοῦ μεγάλου παρὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἐτῶν δέκα εἰς τὰ ἐνλιπόντα αὐτῷ ἑτέρων , τεσσάρων εἰς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

1 βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου θεοῦ Φιλομήτορος καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεᾶς Φιλαδέλφου ἔτους ἑκκαιδεκάτου ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἡμῖν Φιλόξενος ὁ ἀδελφὸς διʼ ὧν κεκόμικεν ἡμῖν Ὄρσης γραμμάτων περὶ τοῦ τὸν μέγιστον Θεὸν Σωτῆρα βασιλέα ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
τοῦho <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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
ἀοράτου,aoratos invisible, G517 Adjective · genitive · singular · masculine
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
Invisible things are not seen with our eyes. The Bible uses this word in Romans 1:20 and Colossians 1:15-16 to describe God and spiritual things.
Amplified meaning
not seen, unseen by humans
Tyndale gloss
invisible
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀόρατος is an adjective meaning 'unseen' or 'invisible,' derived from the root for sight. It appears in various contexts, including references to God in the New Testament (Romans 1:20, Colossians 1:15, 1 Timothy 1:17, Hebrews 11:27). The term also has roots in earlier Greek literature, indicating its long-standing usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀόρατος, -ον

(< ὁράω),

[in LXX: Ge 1:2 (תֹּהוּ), Is 45:3 (מִסְתָּר), II Mac 9:5*;]

unseen, invisible: Ro 1:20, Col 1:15, 16, I Ti 1:17, He 11:27.†

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

ἀ-όρατος, -ov, (dpdw), either, not seen i. 6. unseen, or that cannot be seen i. e. invisible. In the latter sense of God in Col. i. 15; 1 Tim.i.17; Heb. xi. 27; τὰ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ his (God’s) invisible nature [perfections], Ro. i. 20; τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, Col. i. 16. (Gen. i. 2; Is. xlv. 3; 2 Macc. ix.5; Xen., Plat., Polyb., Plut., al.)

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

ἀόρατος. P Leid Wii 97 (occult) has ἀ. among divine epithets, also vil. 41 of fire (!). From Hellenistic times comes the Milesian

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀόρατος (aoratos) — invisible.

ἀόρᾱ-τος, ον,

unseen, invisible, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ ἀόρατον the unseen world, the unseen, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]obscure, [NT+2nd c.AD+]. adverb -τως[Refs 1st c.AD+]

II. active, not having seen, without experience of, παντὸς κακοῦ, δεινοῦ, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀόρατος

aoratos

from 1 (as a negative particle) and 3707; invisible:--invisible

(thing).

see GREEK for 1

see GREEK for 3707

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀόρατος, ον

Adj

unseen, invisible

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀόρατος aoratos 5x

invisible, Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:15, 16; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀόρατος unseen, not to be seen, invisible, Plat., etc.

act. without sight, Luc.

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

A-GSM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
80%invisible
invisible80% · 4×invisible qualities20% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject40%predicate20%indirect object20%object20%

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
γάρfor
Article the
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκαίand, even, also,
ἄφθαρτοςimperishable, incorr
αἰώνan age, a cycle
ἀόρατοςinvisible,
what comes after →
αὐτός
ἀπό
πρωτότοκοςfirst-born
πᾶςall, the whole,
εἴτεand if, whether
θρόνοςa throne, seat
μόνοςonly, solitary, deso
θεόςGod, a god
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
ὁράωI see, look upon

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

Concordanceἀόρατος · 5× in the New Testament
Colossians 1 Timothy Hebrews Romans
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 12c. AD 40

ἀλλ’ ὅ γε μέγας Μωυσῆς ἀλλοτριώτατον τοῦ ὁρατοῦ νομίσας εἶναι τὸ ἀγένητον — πᾶν γὰρ τὸ αἰσθητὸν ἐν γενέσει καὶ μεταβολαῖς οὐδέποτε κατὰ ταὐτὰ ὄν — τῷ μὲν ἀοράτῳ καὶ νοητῷ προσένειμεν ὡς ἀδελφὸν καὶ συγγενὲς ἀιδιότητα, τῷ δ’ αἰσθητῷ γένεσιν οἰκεῖον…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 12.76c. AD 75–95

ἐκαινούργησαν δὲ ὥστε τρίπτυχον οἱονεὶ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ὅλης κατασκευάσαι τραπέζης τῆς ἁρμονίας πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν μερῶν οὕτω συνδεδεμένης, ὡς ἀόρατον εἶναι καὶ μηδʼ ἐπινοεῖσθαι τὰς συμβολάς.

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 20.5c. AD 96

Τῷ μόνῳ θεῷ ἀοράτῳ, πατρὶ τῆς ἀληθείας, τῷ ἐξαποστείλαντι ἡμῖν τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, δἰ οὗ καὶ ἐφανέρωσεν ἡμῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὴν ἐπουράνιον ζωήν, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
πρωτότοκοςprōtotokos [the] firstborn G4416 Adjective · nominative · singular · masculine
8× 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
The firstborn child held a special place in biblical families, as seen in Luke 2:7. Jesus is also referred to as the firstborn of all creation, emphasizing his priority and importance, as stated in Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:6.
Amplified meaning
preeminent, having priority
Tyndale gloss
firstborn
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρωτότοκος is derived from πρῶτος (first) and τίκτω (to bear), meaning 'first-born.' It is used in the New Testament to refer to both literal first-born children and metaphorically to Christ's preeminence, as seen in passages like Luke 2:7 and Colossians 1:15. The term also appears in contexts discussing the spiritual status of believers, such as in Romans 8:29 and Hebrews 12:23.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρωτότοκος, -ον

(< πρῶτος, τίκτω),

[in LXX chiefly for בְּכוֹר;]

first-born: Lk 2:7; pl., He 11:28. Metaph., of the priority of Christ (originally perh. a Messianic title, cf. Ps 88 (89):28, He 1:6; v. ICC on Col 1:15): He 1:6; π. πάσης κτίσεως, Col 1:15; ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, Ro 8:29; π. (ἐκ) τ. νεκρῶν, Col 1:18, Re 1:5; pl., of the elect, ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων, He 12:23.†

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

πρωτότοκος, -ov, (πρῶτος, τίκτω), Sept. for 433, jfirstborn; a. prop.: τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτ. Mt. i. 25 (where τὸν πρωτότ. is omitted by L T Tr WH but found in cod. Sin. [see Tdf., WH., ad loc.]); Lk. ii. 7; τὰ πρωτότοκα αὐτῶν (gen. of the possessor [(?); αὐτῶν is more naturally taken w. θίγῃ (W. § 30, 8 6.), as by Prof. Grimm himself s. v. @ryyavw]), the first-born whether of man or of beast, Heb. xi. 28 (πᾶν πρωτότοκον . . ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους. Ex. xii. 29; Ps. civ. (ev.) 36; [Philo de cherub. § 16; Poll. 4, 208]). b. trop. Christ is called rpwrdroxos πάσης κτίσεως (partit. gen. [see below], as in τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν προβάτων, Gen. iv. 4; τῶν βοῶν, Deut. xii. 17; τῶν υἱῶν σου, Ex. xxii. 29), who came into being through God prior to the entire universe of created things [R. V. the firstborn of all creation] (see κτίσις, 2 b.), Col. i. 15; —this passage does not with certainty prove that…

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

πρωτότοκος, “* firstborn.” taken out of the list of purely ‘‘ Biblical’ words, Deissmann (LAE, p. 88) cites the undated pagan sepulchral inscr. Kaibel 4604 ipeds yap εἰμι πρωτοτόκων ἐκ τελεθβ] ὧν 0] (= τελετ[ῶν] ἢ), ‘for Iam a priest by the rites of the firstborn,” and notes that the editor suggests that in the family of the deceased the firstborn always exercised the office of priest. He also refers to a Christian metrical epitaph from ii/iil Kaibel 730° πρωτότοκον, διετές, with reference to a firstborn ‘‘sun-child’’ (ἡλιόπαις), 1.6. child born on a Sunday, who died at the age of two years. Note further a sacrificial decree of c. B.c. 200, Sy/? 615 (=*1024)"", in which mention is made of ὗν ἐνκύμονα πρωτότοκον, and a decree of adoption of a.p. 381, P Lips 5981" (=Archiv iii. p. 173) mpld]s τὸ εἶναί cov vild]y γνήσιον Kal πρωτότοκον ὡς ἐξ ἰδίου αἵματος γεννηθέντα σοι, and the magical P…

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

πρωτότοκος (prōtotokos) — firstborn.

πρωτοτόκ-ος

(paroxytone), Doric dialect πρᾱτοτόκος, ον, bearing or having borne her first-born, μήτηρ π., of a heifer, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὗς, ταὧς, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of women, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. proparoxytone πρωτότοκος, ον, passive,first-born, [LXX+NT+4th c.AD+]; π. ἐγὼ ἢ σύ [LXX]

II.2. metaphorically, π. πάσης κτίσεως [NT]; of Homer, opposed to Nicander, [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρωτότοκος

prototokos

from 4413 and the alternate of 5088; first-born (usually as noun,

literally or figuratively):--firstbegotten(-born).

see GREEK for 4413

see GREEK for 5088

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρωτότοκος, ον

Adj

first-born

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρωτότοκος prōtotokos 8x

first-born, Lk. 2:7; Heb. 11:28; in NT prior in generation, Col. 1:15; a firstborn head of a spiritual family, Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6; firstborn, as possessed of the peculiar privilege of spiritual generation, Heb. 12:23

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρωτότοκος cf. πρωτοτόκος τίκτω pass. first-born, Anth., NTest.

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

A-NSM-S Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine Degree: Superlative

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Smith's Bible Dictionary

Under the law, in memory of the exodus (when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain), the eldest son was regarded as devoted to God, and was in very case to be redeemed by an offering not exceeding five shekels, within one month from birth. If he died before the expiration of thirty days, the Jewish doctors held the father excused, but liable to the payment if he outlived that time. (Exodus 13:12-15,16; Leviticus 27:6) The eldest son received a double portion of the father’s inheritance, (21:17) but not of the mother’s. Under the monarchy the eldest son usually, but no always, as appears in the case of Solomon, succeeded his father in the kingdom. (1 Kings 1:30; 2:22) The male first-born of animals was also devoted to God.…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

This phrase is not always to be understood literally; it is sometimes taken for the prime, most excellent, most distinguished of things, Ps 89:27 Ro 8:29 Heb 1:4-6. Thus Jesus Christ is "the firstborn of every creature," Col 1:15, inasmuch as he was the "Only begotten" of the Father before any creature was produced. He is "the firstborn from the dead," Col 1:18, because he is the beginning, and the author of the resurrection of all who die in faith.

After the destroying angel had slain the firstborn of the Egyptians, God ordained that all the Jewish firstborn, both of men and of beasts for service, should be consecrated to…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Of man and beast, reserved to himself by God Ex 13:2,12-16; 22:29,30; 34:19,20; Le 27:26; Nu 3:13; 8:17,18; De 15:19-23; Ne 10:36

→ Redemption of Ex 13:13; 34:20; Le 27:27; Nu 3:40-51; 18:15-17

→ Levites taken instead of firstborn of the families of Israel Nu 3:12,40-45; 8:16-18

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%firstborn
firstborn100% · 9×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object38%predicate38%adverbial25%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰσάγωI lead in, bringὀλοθρεύωI destroy
αὐτός
εἰμίI am, exist
ἀόρατοςunseen, invisible
Article the
ἀρχήruler, beginning
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐκκλησίαan assembly, congreg
καίand, even, also,
πρωτότοκος[the] firstborn
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
σπαργανόωI wrap in swaddl
ἐν
πολύςmuch, many, ofte
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
κτίσιςcreation, creatu
ἐκ
Article the
εἰς
Article the

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

Concordanceπρωτότοκος · 8× in the New Testament
Hebrews Colossians Luke Revelation Romans
Across the New Testament5 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 86 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 Polycarp The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.48c. AD 40

„ἐὰν δὲ γένωνται ἀνθρώπῳ δύο γυναῖκες, μία αὐτῶν ἠγαπημένη καὶ μία αὐτῶν μισουμένη, καὶ τέκωσιν αὐτῷ καὶ γένηται υἱὸς πρωτότοκος τῆς μισουμένης, ...

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.54c. AD 75–95

θῦσαι τῷ θεῷ δόξαν αὐτοῖς ὁ μὲν Κάις τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γεωργίας καὶ φυτῶν καρποὺς ἐπήνεγκεν, Ἄβελος δὲ γάλα καὶ τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν βοσκημάτων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 13.5c. AD 100

καὶ εἶπεν Ἰωσὴφ πρὸς Ἰακώβ: Μετάθες σου τὴν δεξιὰν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Μανασσῆ, ὅτι πρωτότοκός μου υἱός ἐστιν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Lips. 1 28HermopolisAD 381

γηδίοις καὶ οἰκοπέδοις καὶ ἐνδομενικοῖς διαφόροις εἴδεσι πρὸς τὸ εἶναι σοῦ υἱὸν γνήσιον καὶ πρωτότοκον ὡς ἐξ ἰδίου αἵματος γεννηθέντα σοι, ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ Σιλβανὸς παρειληφέναι παρὰ σοῦ τῆς

P. Köln Gr. 7 326 a fr. 4 RoHerakleopolisAD 601–AD 800

εἰρημένος Σέργιος τὸν προγεγραμμένον … ν αὐτ ιγν … ο … … ἴδιον καὶ πρωτότοκον αὐτοῦ υἱὸν τὴν πᾶσαν τῶν ἀκινήτων αὐτοῦ πραγμάτων ἐργασίαν ἐκτελέσαι καὶ τὴν ἅπασαν τῶν

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
πάσηςpas over all G3956 Adjective · genitive · singular · feminine
1,242× 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 means all or every, as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 7:8, where it refers to everything or all people, emphasizing the universal nature of God's message.
Amplified meaning
every, the entire
Tyndale gloss
all
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πᾶς (i.e., *pas*) means 'all' or 'every' and appears in various forms, including masculine, feminine, and neuter. It is used in the New Testament to denote totality, as in 'all things' or 'every kind,' and can function as an adjective or pronoun. Notably, it can also imply 'the whole' when used with definite articles, as seen in verses like Matthew 28:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, gen., παντός, πάσης, παντός,

[in LXX chiefly for כֹּל;]

all, every.

As adj.,

c. subst. anarth., all, every, of every kind: Mt 3:10 4:23, Mk 9:49, Lk 4:37, Jo 2:10, Ac 27:20, Ro 7:8, Re 18:17, al. mult.; pl., all, Ac 22:15, Ro 5:12, He 1:6, al.; of the highest degree, π. ἐξουσία (προθυμία, χαρά), Mt 28:18,

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

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, en. παντός, πάσης, παντός, [dat. plur. Lchm. πᾶσι ten times, -σιν seventy-two times; Tdf. -σι five times (see Proleg. p. 98 sq.), -ow seventy-seven times; Treg. -ow eighty-two times; WH -ox fourteen times, -ow sixty-eight times; see N, v (ἐφελκυστικόν)], Hebr. 75, [fr. Hom. down], all, every; it is used I. adjectively, and 1. with anarthrous nouns; a. any, every one (86. of the class denoted by the noun annexed to mas); with the Singular: as πᾶν δένδρον, Mt. iii. 10; πᾶσα θυσία, Mk. ix. 49 [T WH Tr mrg. om. Tr txt. br. the cl.]; add, Mt. v.11; xv. 13; Lk. iv. 37; Jn.ii. 10; xv.2; Acts ii.43; v.42; Ro. xiv. 11; 1 Co. iv. 17; Rev. xviii. 17, and very often; πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἀνθρώπου, Ro. ii. 9 (πᾶσα ἀνθρ. ψυχή, Plat. Phaedr. p- 249e.); πᾶσα συνείδησις ἀνθρώπων, 2 Co. iv. 2; mas λεγόμενος θεός, 2 Th. ii. 4; πᾶς ἅγιος ἐν Χριστῷ, Phil. iv. 21sqq. with the Plural, all or any that are…

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

παῖς. In Gnomon 41 (¢. A.D. 150) it is laid down—éav Αἰγύπτιος ἐκ κοπρίας [ἀν]έληται παῖδα καὶ τοῦτον υἱοποιήσηται, μετὰ θάνατον τεταρτολο[ γεῖτ]αι, ““1Γ an Egyptian shall take up a child from the dungheap, and adopt him as a son, he shall be mulcted after his death to the extent of one fourth of his property.” For παῖς applied to a female child see P Strass I. 41° (A.D. 250) ἐκδικῆσαι τὰ τῆς παιδός, and P Oxy 1 5215 (A.D. 325) εΠδαμὲν τὴν παῖδα ἔχουσαν κατὰ τῶν εἰσχίων ἀμυχὰς μετὰ πελιωμάτων (see 76. II. p. 319), ““νγῈ saw that the girl had wounds on her hips with livid spots”: cf. Lk 8° (for voc. of address see Pro/eg. pp. 70, 235). The word is commonly applied to slaves, as in Lk 77 a/., e.g. P Lille 27 (iii/B.c.), where 11 male slaves are enumerated under the heading παῖδες, then 2 female slaves, and then again 3 male slaves: cf. P Strass I. 405 (a. p. 569) Κολλοῦθος Βίκτορος…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πᾶς (pas) — all.

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν,

__AAeolic dialect παῖς, παῖσα [Refs 7th c.BC+] feminine πάνσα [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect and Delph. πάντεσσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also Locrian dialect πάντεσιν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πάντοις [Refs 2nd c.BC+] as accusative masculine in [LXX+7th c.BC+], etc. (but in compounds sometimes long in Attic dialect, [Refs].]—Coll. pronoun, when used of a number, all; when of one only, the whole; of the several persons in a number, every.

__A.I in plural, all, πάντες τε θεοὶ πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντες ὅσοι.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντας ᾧ ἂνπεριτυγχάνῃ, for ὅσοις ἄν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with the Article, see.below [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πᾶς

pas

including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all,

any, every, the whole:--all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one),

X daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X

thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν

Adj

all, the whole, every kind of

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πᾶς pas 1x

all; in the sg. the whole, entire, usually when the substantive has the article, Mt. 6:29; 8:32; Acts 19:26; every, only with an anarthrous subst., Mt. 3:10; 4:4; pl. all, Mt. 1:17, et al. freq.; πάντα, in all respects, Acts 20:35; 1 Cor. 9:25; 10:33; 11:2; by a Hebraism, a negative with πᾶς is sometimes equivalent to οὐδείς or μηδείς, Mt. 24:22; Lk. 1:37; Acts 10:14; Read the full entry →

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

A-GSF Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ol: Used in various combinations, and with different meanings.

(1) All along, "Weeping all along as he went" (Jer 41:6), i.e. throughout the whole way he went, feigning equal concern with the men from Shiloh, etc., for the destruction of the Temple, so as to put them off their guard.

(2) All in all, "That God may be all in all" (1Co 15:28, Greek: panta en pasin, "all things in all (persons and) things"). "The universe, with all it comprises, will wholly answer to God's will and reflect His mind" (Dummelow).

(3) All one, "It is all one" (Job 9:22), "it makes no difference whether I live or die."

(4) At all, "If thy father miss me at all" (1Sa 20:6), "in any way," "in the least."

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
62%all
all62% · 789×all things12% · 156×every12% · 150×everyone6% · 76×everything3% · 34×other renderings3% · 40×other renderings2% · 19×

1,264 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 28 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject40%adverbial30%object21%predicate5%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,242 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
αὐτόςσύλόγοςa word, speech,
ἐν
καίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, exceptἐγώ
Article the
αὐτόςὅςArticle the
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδείκνυμιI point out, shoπροσφέρωI bring to, offe
ἐπί
καίand, even, also,ἐγώεἰμίI am, exist
πᾶςover all1242×
what comes after →
Article the
ἔθνοςa race, people, λαόςa people, the crπιστεύωI believe, have
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theχορτάζωI feed, satisfyδιά
σύ
εἰμίI am, existἐνκαίand, even, also,
γάρfor
Article theσύοὗτος
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςὅς

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

Concordanceπᾶς · 1,242× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians Romans Mark John Revelation Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 10c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ πατὴρ ἐκγόνων καὶ δημιουργὸς τῶν δημιουργηθέντων στοχάζεται τῆς διαμονῆς καὶ ὅσα μὲν ἐπιζήμια καὶ βλαβερὰ μηχανῇ πάσῃ διωθεῖται, τὰ δὲ ὅσα ὠφέλιμα καὶ λυσιτελῆ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ἐκπορίζειν ἐπιποθεῖ·

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

ὡς οἱ Νώχου ἔγγονοι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπῴκησαν.

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

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

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

γῆ Σενπελαίας, βορρᾶ γῆ Πανᾶτος ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς Ἀραμείους, ἢ οἳ ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντων πάντοθεν. ἐπρίατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς Πανοβχούνιος ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

[He] is [the] image of the God <the> invisible, [the] firstborn over all creation;
κτίσεως·ktisis creation; G2937 Noun · genitive · singular · feminine
19× 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
The Greek word for creation, referring to the act of creating or the thing created. It is used in the Bible to describe God's creation of the world, like in Mark 10:6 and Romans 1:20. This term emphasizes the idea of something being made or created.
Amplified meaning
the act of creating, the thing created
Tyndale gloss
creation
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κτίσις is derived from κτίζω and refers to the act of creating or the result of that act, encompassing both the creation of the universe and individual created things. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts related to creation (e.g., Mark 10:6, Romans 1:20) and can denote institutions or ordinances. The lexicons agree on its meanings, with no significant disagreements noted.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κτίσις, -εως, ἡ

(< κτίζω),

[in LXX: Ps 103 (104):24 (קִנְיָן), Pr 1:13 A (הוֹן), To 8:5, Wi 2:6, Si 16:17, III Mac 2:2, al.;]

a founding, settling, foundation (cl.).

In LXX and NT,

the act of creating, creation: Mk 10:6 (Swete, in l.), Mk 13:19, Ro 1:20, II Pe 3:4;

that which has been created, creation: Ro 1:25 8:39, He 4:13; καινὴ κ., II Co 5:17, Ga 6:15; πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κ. (Hort., in l.), I…

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

κτίσις, -ews, ἧ, (κτίζω), in Grk. writ. the act of founding, establishing, building, etc.; in the N. T. (Vulg. everywhere creatura [yet Heb. ix. 11 creatio]) 1. the act of creating, creation: τοῦ κόσμου, Ro. i. 20. 2. i. q. κτίσμα, creation i. 6. thing created, [ οἴ. W.32]; used a. of individual things and beings, a creature, a creation: Ro. i. 25; Heb. iv.13; any created thing, Ro. viii. 39; after a rabbin. usage (by which a man converted from idolatry to Judaism was called NWIN 793 [ef. Schdttgen, Horae Hebr. i. 328, 704 sq.]), καινὴ κτίσις is used of a man regenerated through Christ, Gal. vi. 15; 2 Co. v.17. b. collectively, the sum or aggregate of created things: Rev. iii. 14 (on which see ἀρχή, 3; [ἡ κτίσις τ. ἀνθρώπων, Teaching of the Twelve etc. c. 167); ὅλη ἡ κτίσις, Sap. xix. 6; πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις, Judith xvi. 14; and without the art. (cf. Grimm on 3 Mace. [ii. 2] p. 235; [Bp.…

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

κτίσις. Syil 608% (i/B.c.) τοὺς γεγ[ενημένους] ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως κατὰ γένος ἱερεῖς τοῦ Ι]ο[σειδώ]νος, 26. 3917 (A.D. 133) ἔτους Ὑ τῆς καθιερώσεως τοῦδε τοῦ ᾿Ολυμπίου καὶ τῆς κτίσεος τοῦ Π]ανελληνίου. In connexion with the NT usage for the Creation (Mk τοῦ a/.), Hicks (C2 i. p. 7) draws attention to κτίσις as the regular term for the founding of a city, e.g. Polyb. ix. 1. 4.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κτίσις (ktisis) — creation.

κτίσ-ις [ῐ], εως, ἡ,

(κτίζω) founding, settling, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. loosely, ={πρᾶξις}, κούφα κ. an easy achievement, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. creation, κ. κόσμου [NT]

II. created thing, creature, [LXX+NT]

III. authority created or ordained, [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

κτίσις

ktisis

from 2936; original formation (properly, the act; by implication, the

thing, literally or figuratively):--building, creation, creature,

ordinance.

see GREEK for 2936

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κτίσις, εως, ἡ

n.f.

creation, creature, institution

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κτίσις ktisis 19x

(1) pr. a framing, founding; (2) in NT creation, the act of creating, Rom. 1:20; creation, the material universe, Mk. 10:6; 13:19; Heb. 9:11; 2 Pet. 3:4; a created thing, a creature, Rom. 1:25; 8:39; Col. 1:15; Heb. 4:13; the human creation, Mk. 16:15; Rom. 8:19, 20, 21, 22; Col. 1:23; a spiritual creation, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κτίσις κτί^σις, εως κτίζω a founding, foundation, ἀποικιῶν Isocr., etc.

loosely, = πρᾶξις, a doing, an act, Pind.

a creating, the creation of the universe, NTest.

that which was created, the creation, id. NTest.

an authority created or ordained, id. NTest.

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

N-GSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kre-a'-shun (bara' "to create"; ktisis, "that which is created," "creature"):

1. Creation as Abiding

2. Mistaken Ideas

3. True Conception

4. The Genesis Cosmogony

5. Matter not Eternal

6. "Wisdom" in Creation

7. A Free, Personal Act

8. Creation and Evolution

9. Is Creation Eternal?

10. Creation ex nihilo

11. From God's Will

12. Error of Pantheism

13. First Cause a Necessary Presupposition

14. The End--the Divine Glory

LITERATURE

1. Creation as Abiding:

Much negative ground has been cleared away for any modern discussion of the doctrine of creation. No idea of creation can now be taken as complete which does not include, besides the world as at first constituted, all that to this day is in and of creation. For God creates not being that can exist independently of Him, His preserving agency being inseparably connected with His creative power. We have long ceased to think of God's creation as a machine…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Creation

“In the beginning” God created, i.e., called into being, all things out of nothing. This creative act on the part of God was absolutely free, and for infinitely wise reasons. The cause of all things exists only in the will of God. The work of creation is attributed (1) to the Godhead (Gen. 1:1, 26); (2) to the Father (1 Cor. 8:6); (3) to the Son (John 1:3; Col. 1:16, 17); (4) to the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps. 104:30). The fact that he is the Creator distinguishes Jehovah as the true God (

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(The creation of all things is ascribed in the Bible to God, and is the only reasonable account of the origin of the world. The method of creation is not stated in Genesis, and as far as the account there is concerned, each part of it may be, after the first acts of creation, by evolution, or by direct act of God’s will. The word create (bara) is used but three times in the first chapter of Genesis-- (1) as to the origin of matter; (2) as to the origin of life; (3) as to the origin of man’s soul; and science has always failed to do any of these acts thus ascribed to God. All other things are said to be made . The order of creation as given in Genesis is in close harmony with the order as revealed by geology, and the account there given, so long before the records of the rocks were read or the truth discoverable by man, is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible was inspired by God.…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

(1.) the act by which God calls into existence things not previously in being-material or spiritual, visible or invisible, Ps 148:5 Re 4:11;

(2.) the molding or reconstituting things, the elements of which previously existed; and

(3.) the things thus "created and made," 2Pe 3:4 Re 3:14 5:13. It is probably in the first of these senses the word "created" is to be understood in Ge 1:1, though some understand it in the second sense. In either case the idea of the eternity of matter is to be rejected, as contrary to sound reason and to the teachings of Scripture, Pr 8:22-31

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
79%creation
creation79% · 15×created thing11% · 2×creature5% · 1×institution5% · 1×

19 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
subject42%adverbial26%predicate16%indirect object11%object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19 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
πᾶςall, the whole, λατρεύωI serve, worshipἀποκαραδοκίαeager expectatio
ἀρχήruler, beginning
ἀπόδέbut, on the othe
καινόςfresh, new
Χριστόςanointed, the Meἀλλάbut, except
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
πρωτότοκοςfirst-bornἐν
ἀπό
αὐτός
κτίσιςcreation;19×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀποκάλυψιςan unveiling, unἀρχαῖοςoriginal, primitὑπό
ἄρσηνmale
καίand, even, also,
ὅς
κτίζωI create, form,
κόσμοςthe world, universe
Article the
παρά
Article the

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

Concordanceκτίσις · 19× in the New Testament
Romans Mark Colossians Hebrews 1 Peter 2 Corinthians 2 Peter Galatians Revelation
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Didache The Epistle of Barnabas
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 16.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς ἀγῶνας ἤγαγε πεντετηρικοὺς Ἡρώδης ἐπὶ τῇ Καισαρείας κτίσει.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 15.3c. AD 100

τὸ σάββατον λέγει ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς κτίσεως: Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνετέλεσεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καὶ κατέπαυσεν ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 34.6c. AD 96

λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή: Μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτῷ, καὶ χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐκέκραγον, Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος κύριος σαβαώθ, πλήρης πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ.

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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