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Colossians 1:18 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

BSAAndkai He himselfautos [the Son of God, Jesus Christ] iseimi theho headkephalē [ruler, leader] of theho bodysōma [His people] theho church;ekklēsia [assembly, community of believers] whohos, hē iseimi the beginning,archē [origin, source] firstbornprōtotokos [preeminent, supreme] out fromek theho dead,nekros [those who have passed away, the spiritually lifeless] so thathina may beginomai inen all thingspas [every aspect, all circumstances] He himselfautos holding preeminence;prōteuō [supreme authority, highest rank]

Word
Listen & take awayColossians 1
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 18 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 (prōteuō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Colossians 1:18quick helps
In a sentencePaul explains that Christ holds the highest position in the church and creation.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Colossian believers.
Where we areIn a passage emphasizing Christ's supremacy and role in the church.
The hard wordπρωτεύων
Take awayChrist is preeminent in all things.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectαὐτός verbεἰμί The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

1 of 23 occurs nowhere else in the New Testament — a word chosen on purpose.

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

Deep Study — Colossians 1:18

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

17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

Colossians 1:18 discusses the role of Christ as the head of the church, highlighting His authority and position as the beginning and firstborn from the dead. This verse is part of a larger section where Paul emphasizes the preeminence of Christ in all creation and His role in reconciling all things to Himself, as seen in the surrounding verses 17 and 20.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Colossians 1:24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
2Colossians 2:10–14And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
31 Corinthians 11:3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4Ephesians 1:10–22as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
5Ephesians 4:15–16Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

The Key Word πρωτεύων, prōteuōgenerated

The term πρωτεύων is a present active participle of πρωτεύω, meaning 'to hold the first place' or 'to have preeminence.' It indicates not just a rank but an active role in leadership and authority.

In this context, it emphasizes that Christ is not only first in order but also in importance, underscoring His supreme authority over all creation and the church.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'He may have preeminence.' The KJV and ASV use 'he might have the preeminence,' maintaining the same essential meaning.

Some translations differ in their choice of words: chief place (BBE) emphasizes rank, while supreme (FBV) highlights authority. The variations reflect different nuances of the same concept.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἐστιν, is, which governs the subject αὐτός, He, and connects to a series of noun phrases detailing Christ's roles: head of the body, the church; beginning; firstborn from the dead.

The structure includes several clauses that elaborate on Christ's identity and His significance within the church and creation, emphasizing His preeminence.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἐκκλησία (i.e., ekklēsia) is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for assembly, indicating a gathering of people for a common purpose, much like the church in the New Testament context.

ἀρχή is also present in the Septuagint, where it conveys the idea of beginning or origin, similar to its use here in relation to Christ.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Colossians 1:18 explains that Jesus is the head of the church and the firstborn from the dead, meaning He has the highest authority in all things. This shows His importance and role in both the church and creation.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that Christ is the head of the church?

Being the head means that Christ is the leader and authority over the church, guiding and directing His followers.

Why is Jesus referred to as the firstborn from the dead?

This title emphasizes His resurrection and preeminence over all who have died, marking Him as the first to rise to eternal life.

What does preeminence mean in this context?

Preeminence refers to Christ's supreme authority and importance in all aspects of creation and the church.

How does this verse relate to the concept of resurrection?

The verse connects Christ's resurrection to His authority, indicating that His victory over death establishes His preeminence.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways do I recognize Christ's authority in my life?
  2. How can I support the church as part of the body of Christ?
  3. What does it mean for Christ to be the beginning in my understanding of faith?
  4. How can I reflect the preeminence of Christ in my daily actions?

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

Early church fathers reference this verse to argue for Christ's resurrection and authority, emphasizing His role as the firstborn from the dead.

Clement of RomeLetter to the Corinthians (Clement) d. c. 99
Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord continually proves to us that there shall be a future resurrection, of which He has rendered the Lord Jesus Christ the first-fruits by raising Him from the dead.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →
IrenaeusAgainst Heresies Book II c. 130–202
Then, at last, He came on to death itself, that He might be "the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence".
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →
Hippolytus of RomeFragments - Dogmatic and Historical c. 170–235
He calls Him, then, "the first-fruits of them that sleep," as the "first-begotten of the dead." For He, having risen, and being desirous to show that that same (body) had been raised which had also died, when His disciples were in doubt,
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 1 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Colossians 1:18 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And he is the head of the body, the church,.... By "the church" is meant, not any particular congregated church, as the church at Colosse, or Corinth, or any other; but the whole election of grace,

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

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Relation of Christ to the Church, the new creation, as its Originator.

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

And he is the head of the body, the church: having spoken of Christ in reference to the creatures in general, or old creation, showing how he is the Creator, Preserver, and Governor thereof, the apostle doth here speak of him with a special reference to his church, or the new creation, whereof he shows here, , that he is the Head and Governor, his chosen and called being the proper subjects of his special kingdom, the choice body, unto which he doth more peculiarly relate, , for the guiding and governing of it, he being that to it which the head is to the natural body, and more especially in the two former respects: 1. Of their union to God, which was chiefly designed and expressed in those…

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

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Ver. 18. And he is the head] See the note on Ephesians 1:22. Angels are under Christ as a head of government, of influence, of confirmation, not of redemption, as we. (Elton.) The firstborn from the dead] sc. of those that rise to eternal life. Others rose, but to die again, and by virtue of his resurrection; as the firstborn among the Jews communicated his good things to his brethren.

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

[2. The Doctrine of Christ. (1) His AND of us all (Colossians 1:13-14). (2) His NATURE AS THE IMAGE OF THE GOD, the creator and sustainer of all things heavenly and earthly (Colossians 1:15-17). (3) His OF THE CHURCH (Colossians 1:18). (4) His , reconciling all to God, first generally stated, then applied especially to the Colossians (Colossians 1:19-23).] (13-23) In this we have the great characteristic section of this Epistle, distinguished from corresponding parts of the Epistle to the Ephesians by the explicit and emphatic stress laid upon the divine majesty of Christ. It corresponds very closely with the remarkable passage opening the Epistle to the Hebrews. In the Epistles of the…

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

Verse 18. He is the head of the body] What the apostle has said in the two preceding verses refers to the Divine nature of Jesus Christ; he now proceeds to speak of his human nature, and to show how highly that is exalted beyond all created things, and how, in that, he is head of the Church-the author and dispenser of light, life, and salvation, to the Christian world; or, in other words, that from him, as the man in whom the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwelt, all the mercy and salvation of the Gospel system is to be received. The beginning, the first-born from the dead] In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Christ is called the first-fruits of them that slept; and here, the chief and first-born from…

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

18–20. The thought continued. Greatness of the Redeemer as Head of the Church, Bearer of the Divine Plenitude, and Atoning Sacrifice18. And he is] The same words as just above, and a solemn echo of them. He, the same Person, is also, necessarily, all that is now to be stated. The Head of Nature is the Head of Grace; the Person one, the operations analogous though differing.the head] A word combining the thought of supremacy with that of the origination and conveyance of life and energy. The Son of God presides over His Church, but more—He is to it the constant Cause and mighty Source of spiritual vitality. “Because He lives, it lives also.” Its organization is rooted in Him, grows from Him…

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

And he is the head of the body, the church - Notes Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 5:23, note. Who is the beginning - In all things - alike in the work of creation and in the church.

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

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

NETBNew English Translation2006

He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he may have the pre-eminence.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And hee is the head of the body of the Church: he is the beginning, and the first begotten of the dead, that in all thinges hee might haue the preeminence.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And he is the head of the body, the assembly; who is [the] beginning, firstborn from among the dead, that he might have the first place in all things:

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And himself is the head of the body — the assembly — who is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all [things] — himself — first,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And He is the head of the body—the Assembly—who is a beginning, a firstborn out of the dead, that He might become first in all [things] Himself,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so he has first place among all things.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, having the highest position of those raised from the dead, so that he is supreme in everything.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.

Word by word, the decisions they made

κεφαλὴkephalē head G2776 2 different renderings
headASV BSB DBY DRA FBV GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
chiefBBE
ἐκκλησίας·ekklēsia church; G1577 2 different renderings
churchASV BBE BSB DRA FBV GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB
assemblyDBY LSV WEB YLT
πρωτότοκοςprōtotokos firstborn G4416 2 different renderings
firstbornASV BSB DBY DRA KJV LSV MSB NETB RVA ULB WEB
supremeFBV
γένηταιginomai may be G1096 2 different renderings
becomeLSV YLT
may becomeNETB
πᾶσινpas all things G3956 3 different renderings
all thingsASV BBE BSB DBY DRA KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
allGNV LSV YLT
everythingFBV

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.

clauseκαὶAndclausesubjectαὐτόςHelinking verbἐστινisnoun phrase · predicatethenoun phraseκεφαλὴheadnoun phrasenoun phraseτοῦof theσώματοςbodynoun phraseτῆςtheἐκκλησίαςchurchclausesubjectὅςwholinking verbἐστινisnoun phrase · predicateἀρχήbeginningnoun phraseπρωτότοκοςfirstbornprepositional phraseἐκout fromnoun phraseτῶνtheνεκρῶνdeadclauseἵναso thatclauselinking verbγένηταιmight besubjectαὐτὸςHeclause · predicateprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinπᾶσινall thingsverbπρωτεύωνholding preeminenceclauseὅτιbecauseclauseverbεὐδόκησενwas pleasedclause · objectclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinαὐτῷHimnoun phrase · subjectπᾶνallnoun phraseτὸtheπλήρωμαfullnessverbκατοικῆσαιto dwellκαὶandclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialδι’byαὐτοῦHimverbἀποκαταλλάξαιto reconcilenoun phrase · objectτὰ-πάνταall thingsprepositional phrase · adverbialεἰςtoαὐτόνHimselfclause · adverbialverbεἰρηνοποιήσαςhaving made peaceprepositional phrase · adverbialδιὰbynoun phraseτοῦthenoun phraseαἵματοςbloodnoun phraseτοῦof thenoun phraseσταυροῦcrossαὐτοῦof Himclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialδι’throughαὐτοῦHimnoun phrase · objectεἴτεwhethernoun phraseτὰthe thingsprepositional phraseἐπὶonnoun phraseτῆςtheγῆςearthεἴτεornoun phraseτὰthe thingsprepositional phraseἐνinnoun phraseτοῖςtheοὐρανοῖςheavens

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

Et ipse est caput corporis Ecclesiæ, qui est principium, primogenitus ex mortuis : ut sit in omnibus ipse primatum tenens :

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

ܘܗܘܝܘ ܪܫܐ ܕܦܓܪܐ ܕܥܕܬܐ ܕܐܝܬܘܗܝ ܪܫܐ ܘܒܘܟܪܐ ܕܡܢ ܒܝܬ ܡܝܬܐ ܕܢܗܘܐ ܩܕܡܝ ܒܟܠ

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

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων·

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
theWHNA28, NA27, SBL, Treg, Tyn, TR, Byz

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

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

Colossians 1:18καίAndAndκαίαὐτόςHe himselfHe himselfαὐτόςεἰμίisisεἰμίthetheκεφαλήheadheadκεφαλήof theof theσῶμαbodybodyσῶμαthetheἐκκλησίαchurch;church;ἐκκλησίαὅςwhowhoὅςεἰμίisisεἰμίthetheἀρχήbeginning,beginning,ἀρχήπρωτότοκοςfirstbornfirstbornπρωτότοκοςἐκout fromout fromἐκthetheνεκρόςdead,dead,νεκρόςἵναso thatso thatἵναγίνομαιmay bemay beγίνομαιἐνininἐνπᾶςall thingsall thingsπᾶςαὐτόςHe himselfHe himselfαὐτόςπρωτεύωholding preholding preeminπρωτεύωπρῶτοςAdj first,Adj first, befoπρῶτοςἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρσῴζωv. I save,v. I save, healσῴζωἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκArticle thArticle theἄρχωv. I beginv. I beginἄρχωκαλέωv. I call,v. I call, inviκαλέωοὗAdv where,Adv where, whitοὗεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςγωνίαn.f. a corn.f. a corner, γωνίανεκρόςAdj dead, Adj dead, a corνεκρόςπίναξn.m. a plan.m. a plate, pπίναξμέλοςn.n. a limn.n. a limb, meμέλοςεἴτεCj. and ifCj. and if, wheεἴτεὅδεDem.pr. thDem.pr. this heὅδε
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 1:18

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.

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
καὶkai And G2532 Conjunction
8,978× 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
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίAnd8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
αὐτόςautos He himself G846 Personal pronoun · nominative · singular · masculine
5,550× 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 pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Amplified meaning
the Son of God, Jesus Christ
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P-NSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςHe himself5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ho the G3588 Article · nominative · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-NSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
κεφαλὴkephalē head G2776 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
75× 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 head is the upper part of the body, but it can also mean a leader or a source, like Christ being the head of the church in 1 Corinthians 11:3. It's about control or authority.
Amplified meaning
ruler, leader
Tyndale gloss
head
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κεφαλή (kephalē) means 'head' and can refer to the literal head of a person or animal, as well as metaphorically to denote authority or superiority, such as in the context of a husband or Christ. It appears in various New Testament verses, including Matthew 5:36 and 1 Corinthians 11:3. The term also encompasses meanings related to the top or extremity of objects, like a corner-stone.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κεφαλή, -ῆς, ἡ,

[in LXX nearly always for רֹאשׁ;]

the head: Mt 5:36, Mk 6:24, Re 1:14 9:7, al. mult.; fig., ἄνθρακες ἐπὶ τὴν κ., Ro 12:20(LXX); αἷμα, Ac 18:6; metaph., of a husband, c. gen., I Co 11:3, Eph 5:23; of Christ, I Co 11:3, Eph 4:15 5:23, Col 1:18 2:10, 19; of things, κ. γωνίας, Mt…

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

κεφαλή, -ῆς, ἡ, Sept. for wN 1; the head, both of men: Mt. v. 36; Mk. vi. 24; Lk. vii. 38, 44 [Rec.], 46; Jn. xiii. 9; Acts xviii. 18; 1 Co. xi. 4; Rev. i. 14; iv. 4, and often; and of animals: Rev. ix. 7, 17, 19, etc.; on the phrases κλίνειν THY κ-» ἐπαίρειν THY K., See κλίνω, 1 and ἐπαίρω; on the saying in Ro. xii. 20, see under ἄνθραξ. Since the loss of the head destroys the life, κεφαλή is used in phrases relating to capital and extreme punishments: 80 in τὸ αἷμα ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν k. ὑμῶν (see αἷμα, 2 a. p. 15°), Acts xviii. 6, and similar phrases in class. Grk.; see Passow 8. v. p. 1717*; Pape s. v.3; [L. and S.s. ν. 1. 3 and 4]. Metaph. anything supreme, chief, prominent; of persons, master, lord: τινός, of a husband in relation to his wife, 1 Co. xi. 3; Eph. v. 23; of Christ, the lord of the husband, 1 Co. xi. 3 [ef. B. 124. 54. (109)]; of the church, Eph. iv. 15; v. 23; Col. ii. 19…

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

κεφαλή. For the literal sense of κεφαλή it is sufficient to quote PSI V. 455" (A.D. 178) ἐφῖδον τοῦτον... ἔχοντα ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς τραύματα τρία, and P Lond 478 (ii/A.p.) (=I. p- 81) κεφαλὴν κομόωσαν ἐθείραις. Cf. also P Par 5741*28 (iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 113) λόγος λεγόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, ‘an invocation to be uttered over the head (of the possessed one),” and the Christian amulet BGU III. 954° (vi/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 133) κλίνω τὴν κεφαλήν [μο]υ κα «τ: ἐνώπιόν σου. With Ac 18° we may compare BGU IV. 1024'"-17 (end of iv/A.D.) ἐκδέξι το[ίνυν] τὴην (Δ. τὴν) ἕως κεφ[αλῆ]ς τ[ι]Ἱμωρίαν, and to McNeile’s rendering of Mt 214 κεφαλὴν γωνίας, ‘‘the furthest extremity (not ‘the top’) of the corner,” a certain support is given by P Flor I. 508% (A.D. 268) ἐπ᾽ ἀπηλιωτικῆ[ς Ke]padis πρώτης μερίδος, apparently = ‘‘at the eastern extremity of the first division.’” In P Oxy II. 273!8…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κεφαλή (kephalē) — head.

κεφᾰλή, ἡ,

head of man or beast, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κεφαλῇ.. μείζονες taller in stature, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so μείων.. κεφαλήν[Refs 3rd c.BC+]

__a κατὰ κεφαλῆς, Epic dialect κὰκ κεφαλῆς, down over the head, κόνιν.. χεύατο κὰκ κεφαλῆς [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__b κατὰ κεφαλήν, Epic dialect κὰκ κεφαλήν on the head, Ἐρύλαον.. βάλε πέτρῳ μέσσην κὰκ κεφαλήν [Refs 8th c.BC+]: in Prose, from above, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: c.genitive, above, κ. κ. τινῶν γενέσθαι [Refs]; τὸ κ. κ. ὕδωρ, of rain water, [Refs 4th c.BC+] (-ῆς): in Architecture texts, upright, [Refs]; also, per head, each person (compare below 1.2), [LXX+4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κεφαλή

kephale

from the primary kapto (in the sense of seizing); the head (as the

part most readily taken hold of), literally or figuratively:--head.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κεφαλή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

the head

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κεφαλή kephalē 75x

the head, Mt. 5:36; 6:17; the head, top; κεφαλὴ γωνίας, the head of the corner, the chief corner-stone, Mt. 21:42; Lk. 20:17; met. the head, superior, chief, principal, one to whom others are subordinate, 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:22

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κεφαλή the head of man or beast, Hom., etc.; κατὰ κεφαλῆς, epic κὰκ κεφαλῆς, over the head, id. Hom.; κὰκ κεφαλήν on the head, Il.:— ἐς πόδας ἐκ κεφαλῆς from head to foot, id. Il.:— ἐπὶ κεφαλήν head foremost, head downwards, headlong, Hdt., Plat., etc.

the head, put for the whole person, Hom.; ἶσον ἐμῇ κεφαλῇ like myself, Il.; φίλη κ., Lat. carum caput, id. Il.: in bad sense, ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί Hdt.; ὦ μιαρὰ κ. Ar.

the head, i. e. the life, παρθέμενοι κεφαλάς setting their heads on the cast, Od.:—in imprecations, ἐς κεφαλὴν τρέποιτ᾽ ἐμοί on my head be it! Ar., etc.

generally, κ. σκορόδου a head of garlic, id. Ar.: the top or brim of a vessel, Theocr.: the coping of a wall, Xen.:—in pl. the head or source of a river…

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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

hed (ro'-sh, Aramaic re'sh, and in special sense gulgoleth, literally, "skull," "cut-off head" (1Ch 10:10), whence Golgotha (Mt 27:33; Mr 15:22; Joh 19:17); mera'ashah, literally, "head-rest," "pillow," "bolster" (1Ki 19:6); qodhqodh, literally, crown of the head (De 28:35; 33:16,20; 2Sa 14:25; Isa 3:17; Jer 48:45); barzel, "the head of an axe" (De…

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- The uppermost and chief member of the body

Isa 1:6; 2Ki 6:31

- All the other members necessary to

1Co 12:21

- The body supported and supplied by

Eph 4:16

- Put for the whole person

Ge 49:26; Pr 10:6

- Put for the life

Da 1:10; 1Sa 28:2

- PARTS OF MENTIONED

. The skull

2Ki 9:35; Mt 27:33

. The crown

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
75%head
head75% · 57×heads22% · 17×chief3% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object36%adverbial27%predicate27%subject9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 75 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
ἐπίθρίξa hairφέρωI carry, bear, b
εἰς
γίνομαιI come into bein
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
ὄφιςa serpentμέγαςβλασφημίαabusive or scurr
εἰμίI am, exist
Χριστόςanointed, the Meἀνήρa male human bei
ἑπτάIndec
Article the
κεφαλήhead75×
what comes after →
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,στέφανοςa crown, garlandἐπί
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἱμάτιονouter garmentεἷςone
Article the
Χριστόςanointed, the Meπούςthe footγυνήa woman, wife, m
σύ
ὀμνύωI swear, take anπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
γωνίαa corner, a secret p
παρά

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

Concordanceκεφαλή · 75× in the New Testament
Revelation Matthew 1 Corinthians Mark Luke Acts John Ephesians Colossians 1 Peter Romans
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 196 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 100c. AD 40

δι’ ἣν αἰτίαν οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι φιλόσοφοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦτον ἐξομοιοῦσι τῇ ἀμήτορι Νίκῃ καὶ Παρθένῳ, ἣν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Διὸς κεφαλῆς ἀναφανῆναι λόγος ἔχει, οἱ δὲ Πυθαγόρειοι τῷ ἡγεμόνι τῶν συμπάντων·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.50c. AD 75–95

ἀφείλετο δὲ καὶ τὸν ὄφιν τὴν φωνὴν ὀργισθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ κακοηθείᾳ τῇ πρὸς τὸν Ἄδαμον καὶ ἰὸν ἐντίθησιν ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτῷ πολέμιον ἀποδείξας ἀνθρώποις καὶ ὑποθέμενος κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς φέρειν τὰς πληγάς, ὡς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τοῦ τε κακοῦ τοῦ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.4c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ πάλιν ὁ προφήτης: Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. BC
ZPE 156 (2006), p. 199-216Soknopaiu Nesos (ArsinoitesAD 50

ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ποιήσω καθότι προγέγραπται. ἔγραψεν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ Κεφαλᾶς Στοτοήτιος διὰ τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι αὐτὸν γράμματα. Στοτοῆτις Σαταβοῦτος μητρὸς Θαήσιος ἠγόρακα καθὼς πρόκειται.

P.Sijp. 26Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 51

Πτολεμαῖος Φίλωνος, ἀπὸ ὑπερετῶν Χαιρήμων Καλλιστράτου, γίνονται γ Νέου Σεβαστοῦ Νεμεσίων Πτολεμαίου, Πεβῶς Ἁρυώτου, Κεφάλων ὁμοίως, γίνονται γ, γίνονται η, τὸ ἥμισυ δ

P. Princ. 1 1Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 51

α ὀβολὸν Ἡρακλῆς ὁμοίως Λεύκου … ἡμιωβέλιον χαλκοῦς 2 α ὀβολὸν Ἰσχυρίων Πανετβύιος … Κεφάλων Πανετβύιος

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
τοῦho of the G3588 Article · genitive · singular · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-GSN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
σώματοςsōma body G4983 Noun · genitive · singular · neuter
142× 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 for body refers to the whole physical person, used literally or figuratively in the Bible, as seen in Matthew 27:58 and 1 Corinthians 6:13.
Amplified meaning
His people
Tyndale gloss
body
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word σῶμα (lemma: sōma) means 'body' and can refer to both living and dead bodies, as well as the concept of a person or material substance. In the New Testament, it is used to describe the human body, the Church as the body of Christ, and even inanimate objects. The term contrasts with πνεῦμα (spirit) and ψυχή (soul), highlighting its physical nature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σῶμα, -τος, τό,

[in LXX for גְּוִיָּה ,בָּשָׂר, etc., and for Aram. נְבֵלָה ;]

a body.

Prop., of the human body,

as always in Hom. (opp. to δέμας), of the dead body: Mt 27:58, 59 Mk 15:43, al.;

of the living body: Lk 11:34, I Co 6:13, al.; ἐν σ. εἶναι, He 13:3; as the instrument of the soul, τὰ διὰ τοῦ σ., II Co 5:10; opp. to πνεῦμα, Ro 8:10, I Co 5:3 7:4, Ja 2:26; to ψυχή, Mt…

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

σῶμα, -τος, τό, (appar. fr. σῶς ‘entire’, [but cf. Curtius § 570; al. fr. r. ska, sko, ‘to cover’, ef. Vaniéek p. 1055; Curtius p. 696]), Sept. for “3, "3, etc.; nba3 (a corpse), also for Chald. BW2; α body; and 1. the body both of men and of animals (on the distinction between it and σάρξ see σάρξ, esp. 2 init.; (cf. Dickson, St. Paul's use of ‘ Flesh’ and ‘Spirit’, p. 247 sqq.]); a. as everywh. in Hom. (who calls the living body δέμας) and not infreq. in subseq. Grk. writ., a dead body or corpse: univ. Lk. xvii. 37; of a man, Mt. xiv. 12 RG; (Mk. xv. 45 R G];, Acts ix. 40; plur. Jn. xix. 31; τὸ σ. τινος, Mt. xxvii. 58 sq.; Mk. xv. 43; Lk. xxiii. 52,55; Jn. xix. 38, 40; xx. 12; Jude 9; οὗ the body of an animal offered in sacrifice, plur. Heb. xiii. 11 (Ex. xxix. 14; Num. xix. 3). b. as in Grk. writ. fr. Hesiod down, the living body : —of animals, Jas. iii. 3;—of man: τὸ σῶμα, absol.…

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

σῶμα, “ἐᾷ body” (1) properly of the human body (a) cf. P Cairo Zen I. 5903429 (B.c. 257) peta τῆς τοῦ σώματος ὑγιείας, and the common salutation, as in 24. 590369 (B.c. 257), εἰ τῶι τε σώματι Eppwoat καὶ τἄλλα σοι κατὰ γνώμη[ν] ἐστίν, εἴη ἂν ὡς ἡμεῖς θέλομεν. See also BGU IV. 120848 (B.c. 27-26) τὰ δὲ] ἄλλα χαριεῖ τοῦ σώμαί( τος) [ἐπι μείλόμενος) ty’ ὑγιένῃς, ὃ δὴ μέγιστον ἡγοῦμίαι, PSI VII. 8ογ33 (a.p. 280) where a prisoner petitions ἔχειν τὸ σῶμα ἐλεύθερον καὶ ἀνύβριστον, and the magic P Lond 121°89 (jji/A.D.) (=I. p. 103) διαφύλασσέ pov τὸ σῶμα τὴν ψυχὴν ὁλόκληρον. Cf. Aristeas 139 ἁγνοὶ καθεστῶτες κατὰ σῶμα καὶ κατὰ ψυχήν. The tripartite division of I Thess 559 is found in P Oxy VIII. 1161° (iv/a.p.), where the writer (a Christian) prays to our God and the gracious Saviour and His beloved Son, ὅπως οὗτοι πάντες β[ο]ηθήσωσιν ἡμῶν τῷ σώματι, τῇ ψυχῇ, τῴ... πν(εύματι). For the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σῶμα (sōma) — body.

σῶμα, ατος, τό

[Refs 4th c.AD+] dative plural σωμάτεσι [Refs 3rd c.BC+], body of man or beast, but in [Refs 8th c.BC+], always dead body, corpse (whereas the living body is δέμας), ὥς τε λέων ἐχάρη μεγάλῳ ἐπὶ σώματι κύρσας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ς. δὲ οἴκαδ᾽ ἐμὸν δόμεναι πάλιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so also in [NT+8th c.BC+]; νεκρὸν σ. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; μέγιστον σ... σποδου, ={σ. μέγιστον ὃ νῦν σποδός ἐστι}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. the living body, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γενναῖος τῷ σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εὔρωστος τὸ σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ σ. σῴζειν or -εσθαι save one's life, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; διασῴζειν or -εσθαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; περὶ τοῦ σ. ἀγωνίζεσθαι for one's life, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔχειν τὸ σ. κακῶς, ὡς βέλτιστα, etc., to be…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σῶμα

soma

from 4982; the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide

application, literally or figuratively:--bodily, body, slave.

see GREEK for 4982

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σῶμα, ατος, τό

n.n.

body, flesh

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σῶμα sōma 142x

the body of an animal; a living body, Mt. 5:29, 30; 6:22, 23, 25; Jas. 3:3; a person, individual, 1 Cor. 6:16; a dead body; corpse, carcass, Mt. 14:12; 27:52, 58; Heb. 13:11; the human body considered as the seat and occasion of moral imperfection, as inducing to sin through its appetites and passions, Rom. 7:24; 8:13; genr. a body, a material substance, 1 Cor. 15:37, 38, 40; the substance, reality, as opposed to ἡ σκιά, Col. 2:17; in NT…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σῶμα σῶμα, ατος, τό, deriv. uncertain the body of a man: in Hom. always the dead body, corpse, carcase, whereas the living body is δέμας.

the living body, Hes., Hdt., attic; τὸ ς. σώζειν or -εσθαι to save one's life, Dem., Thuc.; ἔχειν τὸ ς. κακῶς, ὡς βέλτιστα, to be in a bad, a good state of body, Xen.

body, as opp. to the soul (ψυχή), Plat., etc.; τὰ τοῦ ς. ἔργα bodily labours, Xen.; τὰ εἰς τὸ ς. τιμήματα bodily punishments, Aeschin.

periphr., ἀνθρώπου σῶμα ῀ ἄνθρωπος, Hdt.; esp. in Trag., σῶμα θηρός ῀ ὁ θήρ, Soph., etc.:—often of slaves, ς. αἰχμάλωτα Dem., etc

generally, a body, i. e. any material substance, Plat., etc.

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

N-GSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bod'-i:

I. PHILOLOGICAL:

Generally speaking, the Old Testament language employs no fixed term for the human body as an entire organism in exact opposition to "soul" or "spirit." Various terms were employed, each of which denotes only one part or element of the physical nature, such as "trunk," "bones," "belly," "bowels," "reins," "flesh," these parts being used, by synecdoche, for the whole: etsem = "bone," or "skeleton," hence, "body," is found in Ex 24:10 the King James Version; La 4:7; nephesh = "living organism" (Le 21:11; Nu 6:6,7,11; 19:11,13,16; Hag 2:13); nebhelah = "a flabby thing," "carcass" (

→ Called HOUSE 2Co 5:1

→ HOUSE OF CLAY Job 4:19

→ THE TEMPLE OF GOD 1Co 3:16; 6:3,15,19

→ Corruptible Job 17:14; 1Co 15:53,54

→ Resurrection of 1Co 15:19-54

→ See RESURRECTION

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%body
body90% · 130×bodies7% · 10×body?2% · 3×other renderings1% · 1×

144 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
subject29%adverbial29%object25%predicate17%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 142 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
ἐνὅλοςall, the whole, εἰμίI am, exist
εἷςone
ἐνπολύςmuch, many, ofteπόρνηa prostitute
καίand, even, also, nam
ψυχήthe soul, life, ἐπουράνιοςheavenly, celestῥέδηa chariot
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theεἷςoneποῖοςIrg
ἴδιοςone’s own, private,
Article theσπέρμαseed, offspring
σῶμαbody142×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusΧριστόςanointed, the Meἔνδυμαa garment, raime
σύ
φωτεινόςbright, luminousσκοτεινόςfull of darknessβάλλωI cast, throw, r
οὐNeg
οἶδαI know, rememberἐξουσιάζωI exercise authoπαρά
ἐγώ
πρόςεἰςArticle the
αὐτός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐνArticle 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

Concordanceσῶμα · 142× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew Luke Romans 2 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians John Hebrews James Mark Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 50 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 Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 30c. AD 40

τοσούτῳ γὰρ τὸ νοητὸν τοῦ ὁρατοῦ λαμπρότερόν τε καὶ αὐγοειδέστερον ὅσῳπερ ἥλιος, οἶμαι, σκότους καὶ ἡμέρα νυκτὸς καὶ [τὰ κριτήρια] νοῦς, ὁ τῆς ὅλης ψυχῆς ἡγεμών, ὀφθαλμῶν σώματος.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.60c. AD 75–95

οὐκ ἐπὶ νουθεσίᾳ δὲ τὴν κόλασιν ἔλαβεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ αὐξήσει τῆς κακίας, ἡδονὴν μὲν πᾶσαν ἐκπορίζων αὐτοῦ τῷ σώματι, κἂν μεθʼ ὕβρεως τῶν συνόντων δέῃ ταύτην ἔχειν·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 6.2c. AD 96

διὰ ζῆλος διωχθεῖσαι γυναῖκες Δαναΐδες καὶ Δίρκαι, αἰκίσματα δεινὰ καὶ ἀνόσια παθοῦσαι, ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς πίστεως βέβαιον δρόμον κατήντησαν καὶ ἔλαβον γέρας γενναῖον αἱ ἀσθενεῖς τῷ σώματι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD
P. Grenf. 1 21Pathyris127 BC

τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ ὧν ὀνόματα Μυρσίνην καὶ ταύτης … τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ θηλυκὰ β αἷς ὄνομα

P.Grenf. 1 44Pathyris127 BC

τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ ὧν ὀνόματα Μυρσίνην καὶ ταύτης … · τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ θηλυκὰ β αἷς

ἐγγαίων ὄντων δ ἔν τε τῶι Περιθήβας καὶ Παθυρίτηι, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων, ἐν οἷς καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Κόχλακος τῆς Ἀραβίας τοῦ δηλουμένου Παθυρίτου νομοῦ μέρους ἡμίσους

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
τῆςho the G3588 Article · genitive · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-GSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ἐκκλησίας·ekklēsia church; G1577 Noun · genitive · singular · feminine
114× 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 assembly refers to a group of people gathered together for a common purpose, like a church or community, as seen in Acts 19:32 and Hebrews 2:12. This term is used to describe both Jewish and Christian communities.
Amplified meaning
assembly, community of believers
Tyndale gloss
assembly
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐκκλησία (i.e., *ekklesia*) means an assembly or congregation, originally referring to a gathering of citizens called for public affairs. In the New Testament, it primarily denotes the Christian church, encompassing both local congregations and the broader body of believers. It is also used in the Septuagint for the assembly of Israel. The term reflects a progression from civic assembly to a spiritual community.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — Ἔκκλησία, συναγωγή, πανήγυρις from a scan

THERE are words whose history it is peculiarly interesting to watch, as they obtain a deeper meaning, and receive a new consecration in the Christian Church; words which the Church did not invent, but has assumed into its service, and employed in a far loftier sense than any to which the world has ever put them before. The very word by which the Church is named is itself an example—a more illustrious one could scarcely be found—of this progressive ennobling of a word.' For we have ἐκκλησία in three distinct stages of meaning—the heathen, the Jewish, and the Christian. In respect of the first, ἡ ἐκκλησία (ΞΞἔκκλητοι, Euripides, Orestes, ‘ Zezschwitz, in his very interesting Lecture, Profangrdcitét und Biblischer Sprachgeist, Leipzig, 1859, p. 5, has said excellently well, ‘ Das Christenthum wiire nicht als was es siegend iiber Griechenthum und Romerthum sich ausgewiesen, hitte es zu…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐκκλησία, -ας, ἡ

(< ἐκ-καλέω),

[in LXX chiefly for קָהָל, otherwise for one of its cogn. forms ;]

prop., an assembly of citizens regularly convened (in Thuc., ii, 22, opp. to σύλλογος, a concourse): Ac 19:32, 39, 41.

In LXX of the assembly, congregation, community of Israel (De 4:10 23:2, al.): Ac 7:38, He 2:12 (LXX).

NT, esp. of an assembly or company of Christians, a (the) church;

of gatherings for worship: I Co 11:18 14:19, 34, 35;

of local communities: Ac 8:3, I Co 4:17; with name…

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

ἐκκλησία, -as, 7, (fr. ἔκκλητος called out or forth, and this fr. ἐκκαλέω) ; prop. a gathering of citizens called out

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

ἐκκλησία. For the Biblical history of the word ἐκκλησία, which meant originally any public assembly of citizens summoned by a herald, it is sufficient to refer to Hort, Zhe Christian Ecclesia, p. τ ff. It is the LXX term fer the community of Israel, whether assembled or no. In the Gospels the word is confined to Mt 1618, 1817, where it denotes Christ's new ἐκκλησία, as distinguished from the old. Deissmann (ZAZ p. 112 ff.) has emphasized the significance of the fact that the Latin-speaking people of the West, to whom Christianity came, did not translate the word, but simply borrowed it, and cites an interesting bilingual inscr. of A.D. 103-4, found in the theatre of Ephesus, which refers to the gift by a Roman official of a silver image of Artemis (cf. Ac 19*4) and other statues—tva τίθηνται kat’ ἐκκλησίαν (cf. Ac 14%) ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ἐπὶ τῶν βάσεων, or, in the parallel text, z/a wt…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) — assembly.

ἐκκλησί-α, ἡ,

(ἔκκλητος) assembly duly summoned, less general than σύλλογος, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; applied to the Homeric Assemblies, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; to the Samian Assembly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to the Spartan, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to the meeting of the Amphictyons at Delphi, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; at Athens, ἐ. κύριαι, opposed to σύγκλητοι, Arist.[Refs 2nd c.AD+]; κυρία ἐ., at Amorgos, [Refs]; ἐ. συναγείρειν, συνάγειν, συλλέγειν, ἀθροίζειν, call an assembly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. γίγνεται an assembly is held, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. διαλύειν, ἀναστῆσαι, dissolve it, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. ἀνεβλήθη was adjourned, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐκκλησία

ekklesia

from a compound of 1537 and a derivative of 2564; a calling out, i.e.

(concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation

(Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or

saints in heaven or both):--assembly, church.

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 2564

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐκκλησία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

an assembly, congregation, church

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐκκλησία ekklēsia 114x

a popular assembly, Acts 19:32, 39, 41; in NT the congregation of the children of Israel, Acts 7:38; transferred to the Christian body, of which the congregation of Israel was a figure, the Church, 1 Cor. 12:28; Col. 1:18; a local portion of the Church, a local church, Rom. 16:1; a Christian congregation, 1 Cor. 14:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐκκλησία ἐκκλησία, ἡ, ἔκκλητος an assembly of the citizens regularly summoned, the legislative assembly, Thuc., etc.:—at Athens, the ordinary Assemblies were called κύριαι, the extraordinary being σύγκλητοι, ap. Dem.; ἐκκλ. συναγείρειν, συνάγειν, συλλέγειν, ἀθροίζειν to call an assembly, Hdt., etc.; ἐκκλ. ποιεῖν "to make a house, " Ar.; ἐκκλ. γίγνεται, καθίσταται an assembly is held, Thuc.; ἐκκλ. διαλύειν, ἀναστῆσαι to dissolve it, id. Thuc., etc.; ἀναβάλλειν to adjourn it, id. Thuc.

in NTest. the Church, either the body, or the place.

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

church:

I. PRE-CHRISTIAN HISTORY OF THE TERM

II. ITS ADOPTION BY JESUS

III. ITS USE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. In the Gospels

2. In Acts

3. In the Pauline Epistles

IV. THE NOTES OF THE CHURCH

1. Faith

2. Fellowship

3. Unity

4. Consecration

5. Power

V. ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH

1. The General and Prophetic Ministry

2. The Local and Practical Ministry

LITERATURE

The word "church," which is derived from kuriakos, "of or belonging to the Lord," represents in the English Versions of the Bible of the New Testament the Greek word ekklesia; Latin, ecclesia. It is with the signification of this word ekklesia as it meets us in the New Testament, and with the nature of the society which the word is there used to describe, that the present article is concerned.

I. Pre-Christian History of the Term.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Church

Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship.

In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia, which is synonymous with the Hebrew kahal of the Old Testament, both words meaning simply an assembly, the character of which can only be known from the connection in which the word is found. There is no clear instance of its being used for a place of meeting or of worship, although in post-apostolic times it early received this meaning. Nor is this word ever used to denote the inhabitants of a country united in the same profession, as when we say the “Church of England,” the “Church of Scotland,” etc.

We find the word ecclesia used in the following senses in the New Testament: (1.) It is translated “assembly” in the ordinary classical sense (

The Greek word translated church signifies generally an assembly, either common or religious; and it is sometimes so translated, as in Ac 19:32,39. In the New Testament it usually means a congregation of religious worshippers, either Jewish, as Ac 7:38, or Christians, as Mt 16:18 1Co 6:4. The latter sense is the more common one; and it is thus used in a twofold manner, denoting,

1. The universal Christian church: either the invisible church, consisting of those whose names are written in heaven, whom God knows, but whom we cannot infallibly know, Heb 12:23; or the visible church, made up of the professed followers of…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
65%church
church65% · 75×churches30% · 35×assembly3% · 3×other renderings2% · 2×

115 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
adverbial35%indirect object23%object20%subject12%predicate10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 114 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
ἐνλέγωI say, speakπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐν
σύἀλλάbut, exceptσιγάωI keep silent
ἑπτάIndec
Article theἑπτάIndec
αὐτός
οἶκοςa house, househo
οὖνtherefore, then
μένDisj
ἐκκλησίαchurch;114×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐννικάωI conquer, overc
καίand, even, also, nam
πύληa door, gateἐπίδιδάσκωI teach
γράφωI write
ὅδε
κατά
Article theὅλοςall, the whole, δικαιοσύνηjustice, justnes
ἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute, pay
ἘπαίνετοςEpaenetusσύ

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

Concordanceἐκκλησία · 114× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Corinthians Revelation 2 Corinthians Ephesians Romans Colossians 1 Timothy 3 John Galatians Matthew 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament17 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 43 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.8c. AD 40

5, 2), καὶ τοὺς θλαδίας καὶ ἀποκεκομμένους τὰ γεννητικὰ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ πόρνους τὴν ἑνὸς ἀρχὴν ἀποδιδράσκοντας, οἷς ἄντικρυς ἀπείρηται εἰς ἐκκλησίαν θεοῦ φοιτᾶν (Deut.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.84c. AD 75–95

ἐπὶ τούτοις οὖν συγκαλεῖ τὸ πλῆθος εἰς ἐκκλησίαν ἀκουσόμενον ὧν ὁ θεὸς εἴποι πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ συναθροισθέντων στὰς ἐπὶ ὑψηλοῦ τινος, ὅθεν ἔμελλον πάντες ἀκούσεσθαι, ὁ μὲν θεός, εἶπεν, ὦ Ἑβραῖοι, καθάπερ καὶ πρότερον εὐμενὴς προσεδέξατό με καὶ βίον τε…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.16c. AD 100

λέγει: Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀδελφῶν μου, καὶ ψαλῶ σοι ἀνάμεσον ἐκκλησίας ἁγίων.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 5th c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Lond. 2 p. 279-280 no. 412Berenikis Aigialu (Arsinoites)AD 351

ἀξιῶ, πραιπόσιτε κύριε, ἀπραγμόνως ἃ ἀφήρπασέν μου παρασχεθῆναί μοι· διάκων γὰρ τετύχηκα τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας. καὶ τούτου τυχὼν εἰσαεί σοι εὐχαριστήσω. διευτύχει. μετὰ τὴν ὑπατείαν Φλαουίων Σεργίου καὶ Νειγρεινιανοῦ

P.Prag. 1 33ArsinoitesAD 391–AD 392

διάκονος καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀπὸ κώμης … Νικήτῃ Σαρμάτου ἐπιμελητῇ κάστρου τῆς … ἐπὶ τῆς παρελθούσης τετάρτης ἰνδικτίονος

P.Oxy. 72 4901OxyrhynchitesAD 408

τῇ θειοτάτῃ οἰκίᾳ διὰ Μαρίνου προνοητοῦ Αὐρήλιος Παμοῦν Μούιτος ἀπὸ ἐποικίου Κινήας διάκονος καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας χαίρειν. ὁμολογῶ ἐσχηκέναι παρὰ σοῦ ἀπὸ λόγου τῆς συμπεφωνημένης πρὸς ἀλλήλους τιμῆς οἴνου διπλῶν

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ὅςhos, hē who 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.
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

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
ὅςwho1407×
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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
the G3588
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
English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ἀρχή,archē beginning, G746 Noun · nominative · singular · feminine
56× 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 beginning refers to the start or origin of something, used in John 1:1 to describe the beginning of creation. It can also refer to a chief or leader in a particular context, such as a magistrate or ruler.
Amplified meaning
origin, source
Tyndale gloss
beginning
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀρχή (*archē*) means 'beginning' or 'origin' and can refer to the first cause of all things, including God and Christ. It also encompasses meanings related to authority and rule, as seen in contexts discussing spiritual powers and magistracies. The New Testament uses it in various forms, such as 'in the beginning' and 'from the beginning,' indicating its foundational role in theological discussions.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀρχή, -ῆς, ἡ,

[in LXX for קֶדֶם, רֹאשׁ, רֵאשִׁית, etc.;]

beginning, origin;

absol., of the beginning of all things: of God as the Eternal, the First Cause, Re 21:6 (cf. 1:8); similarly, of Christ, Re 22:13; of Christ as the uncreated principle, the active cause of creation, Re 3:14; in his relation to the Church, Col 1:18; ἐν ἀ., Jo 1:1, 2; ἀπ᾽ ἀ. (and ἀπ᾽ ἀ. κτισεως), Mt 19:4, 8 24:21, Mk 10:6 13:19, Jo 8:44, II Th 2:13, II Pe 3:4, I Jo…

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

ἀρχή, -7s, 7, (fr. Hom. down], in Sept. mostly equiv. to UND, MUN, monn; 1. beginning, origin; a. used absolutely, of the beginning of all things: ἐν ἀρχῇ, Jn. i. 1 sq. (Gen. i. 1); ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς. Mt. xix. 4 (with which ef. Xen. mem. 1, 4, 5 ὁ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιῶν ἀνθρώπους), 8; In. Vili. 44; 1 Jn. i. 1; ii. 13 sq.; iii. 8; more fully ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως or κύσμου. Mt. xxiv. 21 3 Mk. x. 6 3 xiii. 19; 2 Th. ii. 13 (where L[Trmrg. WH mrg.] ἀπαρχήν, 4- v-) ; 2 Pet. iii. 4; κατ᾽ apya , Heb. i. 10 (Ps. ci. (cii.) 20). b. ina relative sense, of the beginning of the thing spoken of: ἐξ ἀρχῆς, fr. the time when Jesus gathered disciples, Jn. vi. 64; xvi. 4; ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς. Jn. xv. 27 (since I appeared in public); as soon as instruction was imparted, 1 Jn. ii. [1], 24; iii. 11; 2 Jn. 5 sq.; more fully ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ edayyeXiov, Phil. iv. 15 (Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 47, 2 [see note in Gebh. and Harn. ad loc. and cf.]…

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

ἀρχή (ii/B.c., Amorgos), opposed to τόκος. For the more general sense of ‘ancient,’ recurrent in Mt 524, etc., we may comcompare the horoscope P Oxy II. 2355 (A.D. 20-50) where a date is given kat[a δὲ τοὺς] ἀρχαίους χρόνους, z.c. “old style”: see also P Fay 139° (late ii/a.D.), Prersigke 1011 (ii/A.D.), 3462 (A.D. 154-5), and P Grenf II. 67° (A.D. 237) (= Selections, p. 108). The reference is to the old Egyptian system of reckoning 365 days to the year without a leapyear, which continued to be used in many non-official documents even after the introduction of the Augustan calendar. The neuter = ‘‘ original condition” may be seen in OG/S 672°. (a.p. 80) where a river is dredged, etc., καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀπεκατεστάθη : similarly in 2 Cor 517, the ‘foriginal conditions” pass away before the fiat that καινὰ ποιεῖ πάντα (Rev 215). The standard of ‘‘antiquity” may be illustrated by Sy// 355"…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀρχή (archē) — beginning.

ἀρχή, ἡ,

(see. ἄρχω) beginning, origin, νείκεος ἀ.[Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to τέλος, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to τελευτή, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἀρχὴν ὑποθέσθαι lay a foundation, [Refs 5th c.BC+] (and passive, ἀρχαὶ βέβληνται[Refs 5th c.BC+]; source of action, [ὁ ἄνθρωπος] ἔχει ἀρχὴν ἐλευθέραν[Refs 3rd c.AD+]

__b with Preps. in adverbial usages, ἐξ ἀρχῆς from the beginning, from the first, from of old, [Refs 8th c.BC+]anew, afresh, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁ ἐξ ἀ. λόγος the original argument, [Refs]; τὰ ἐξ ἀ. the principal sum, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κατ᾽ ἀρχάς in the beginning, at first, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀρχή

arche

from 756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concretely) chief

(in various applications of order, time, place, or rank):--beginning,

corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality,

principle, rule.

see GREEK for 756

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀρχή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

ruler, beginning

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀρχή archē 55x

a beginning, Mt. 24:8; an extremity, corner, or, an attached cord, Acts 10:11; 11:5; first place, headship; high estate, eminence, Jude 6; authority, Lk. 20:20; an authority, magistrate, Lk. 12:11; a principality, prince, of spiritual existence, Eph. 3:10; 6:12; ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, ἐξ ἀρχῆς, from the first, originally, Mt. 19:4, 8; Lk. 1:2; Jn. 6:64; 2 Thess. 2:13; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀρχή ἄρχω a beginning, origin, first cause, Hom., etc.:—with Preps. ἐξ ἀρχῆς ῀ ἀρχῆθεν, from the beginning, from of old, Od., attic; ἐξ ἀρχῆς πάλιν anew, afresh, Ar.:—so, ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς Hdt., Trag.:— κατ᾽ ἀρχάς in the beginning, at first, Hdt.:—absol. in acc. ἀρχήν, to begin with, first, id. Hdt.; ἀρχὴν οὐ absolutely not, not at all, Lat. omnino non, id. Hdt., attic; with numerals, ἀρχὴν ἑπτά in all, Hdt.

the end, corner, of a bandage, rope, sheet, id. Hdt., Eur., NTest.

the first place or power, sovereignty, dominion, command, Hdt., attic; c. gen. rei, ἀρχὴ τῶν νεῶν, τῆς θαλάσσης Thuc., etc.

a sovereignty, empire, realm, Hdt., Thuc.

Read the full entry →
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

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

See TIME; ETERNITY.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%beginning
beginning74% · 42×rulers11% · 6×corners4% · 2×rule4% · 2×other renderings9% · 5×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial54%predicate18%object16%indirect object5%subject5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 56 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
ἀπό
Article theἀκούωI hear, listenεἰμίI am, exist
Article the
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesus
ἐν
εἰμίI am, existἐγώὅτιthat, since, bec
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
καταργέωI bring to naughὑπεράνωfar aboveκεφαλήthe head
ἐκ
γάρforσύ
ἀρχήbeginning,56×
what comes after →
Article the
εὐαγγέλιονthe good news, tσημεῖονa sign, miracle,ἸησοῦςJesus
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἐξουσίαpower, authorityἐν
κτίσιςcreation, creature,
ἄρσηνmaleὅς
ἵναin order that, so th
ἀγαπάωI loveἐν
ὠδίνthe pain of childbir
οὗτος

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

Concordanceἀρχή · 56× in the New Testament
1 John John Hebrews Acts Colossians Matthew Mark Ephesians Luke Revelation 2 John 1 Corinthians
Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 111 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 2c. AD 40

Μωυσῆς δ’ ἑκάτερον ὑπερβάς, τὸ μὲν ὡς ἄσκεπτον καὶ ἀταλαίπωρον καὶ ἀφιλόσοφον, τὸ δ’ ὡς κατεψευσμένον καὶ μεστὸν γοητείας, παγκάλην καὶ σεμνοτάτην ἀρχὴν ἐποιήσατο τῶν νόμων, μήτ’ εὐθὺς ἃ χρὴ πράττειν ἢ τοὐναντίον ὑπειπὼν μήτ’, ἐπειδὴ προτυπῶσαι τὰς…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.6c. AD 75–95

ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερον διενοήθην, ὅτε τὸν πόλεμον συνέγραφον, δηλῶσαι τίνες ὄντες ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τίσι χρησάμενοι τύχαις ὑφʼ οἵῳ τε παιδευθέντες νομοθέτῃ τὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἄσκησιν ἀρετῆς πόσους τε πολέμους ἐν μακροῖς…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.6c. AD 100

Τρία οὖν δόγματά ἐστιν κυρίου: ζωῆς ἐλπίς, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος πίστεως ἡμῶν: καὶ δικαιοσύνη, κρίσεως ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος: ἀγάπη εὐφροσύνης καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεως ἔργων δικαιοσύνης μαρτυρία.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 5th c. AD 7th c. AD
P. Gen. 1 7Arsinoites (?)AD 86

μὲν οὖν προσήκουσαι αὐτῷ τάξεις φυλαχθήτωσαν ὥσπερ οἱ πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἔστησαν κατὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔθος. πρὸς δὲ τοὺς κακῶς ὑπεσχημένους ἀναλημφθήτωσαν αἱ δοθεῖσαι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τιμαὶ ὡς ἔθος.

PapCongr. IV (Firenze 1935) p. 61-Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 158–AD 159

Ἥρωνος Ἀματίου ἐξηγητεύσαντος υσας τῆς Ἀρσινοειτῶν πόλεως ἀργυρίδιον κατὰ διαφόρους χρόνους· ὥστε τῷ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀξιώματι πεποιθώς, πολὺ ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων δυνάμενος, συνεχῶς ὕβρεις καὶ ἀδικίας μοι ἐπάγει, καίτοι

P.Diog. 16Ptolemais Euergetis(?) (Arsinoites)AD 207

μοι ἐξ ὀνόματος Διοσκοροῦτος Ἱέρακος ἀστῆς τὸ ἴσον ἐπιστέλλεται ὑμῖν διὰ Ἁρπάλου ὑπηρέτου τῆς ἀρχῆς ἵνʼ εἰ μηδὲν ἁπλῶς ἐναντιοῦται συνχρηματίσητε αὐτῇ ἐπὶ τῇ ὑποκειμένῃ οἰκονομίᾳ, κυρίου αὐτῆς ἐπιγραφομένου

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
πρωτότοκοςprōtotokos 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, supreme
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…

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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…

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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,
πρωτότοκοςfirstborn
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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ἐκek out from G1537 Preposition
913× 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 preposition 'out from' shows movement or origin, like in John 6:31 and Acts 9:3. It helps us understand where people or things come from or are going.
Tyndale gloss
out from
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐκ (ἐξ),

prep. c. gen.,

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

ἐκ, before a vowel ἐξ,

prep. c. gen.,

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

Of Place,

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐκ (ek) — out from.

ἐκ,

before a vowel ἐξ, also

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐκ

ek

or ex ex

a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or

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

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

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

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

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

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

through,

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

with the same general import; often of completion.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐκ, ἐξ

Prep.

from out, out from among, from

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐκ ek 915x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐκ

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

out of, from. c. gen.

OF PLACE:

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

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

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

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

933 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 26 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial69%predicate15%subject11%object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 913 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,ὅτιthat, since, becἀνάστασιςa rising again,
αὐτός
ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, ἀνίστημιI raise up, set καταβαίνωI go down, come
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegArticle theτίςIrg
εἷςone
καίand, even, also,ὅτιthat, since, becαὐτός
ἐκout from913×
what comes after →
Article the
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaθεόςGod, a godστόμαthe mouth, speec
αὐτός
εἰμίI am, existArticle theκαίand, even, also,
νεκρόςdead, a corpse
ἀνίστημιI raise up, set ἐγείρωI wake, arouse, καίand, even, also,
σύ
παραδίδωμιI hand over, delμεριμνάωI am anxious, diἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
πίστιςfaith, belief, trust
ζάωI liveἸησοῦςJesusἀλλάbut, except

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
τῶνho the G3588 Article · genitive · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
νεκρῶν,nekros dead, G3498 Adjective · genitive · plural · masculine
128× 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 dead, meaning something or someone is lifeless, either physically or spiritually, as seen in Matthew 28:4 and Revelation 1:18.
Amplified meaning
those who have passed away, the spiritually lifeless
Tyndale gloss
dead
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

νεκρός is an adjective meaning 'dead,' derived from a root associated with corpses. It describes both literal death and metaphorical states, such as spiritual death or being inactive. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, including references to the dead (e.g., Mt 11:5) and spiritual conditions (e.g., Ro 6:13). The word can also function as a noun, referring to the dead as a group.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

νεκρός, -ά, -όν,

[in LXX chiefly for מֵת;]

dead,

as adj.,

prop.: Ac 5:10 20:9, Ja 2:26, Re 1:18, al.; ὡσεὶ ν., Mt 28:4, Mk 9:26, Re 1:17; of that which is subject to death, Ro 8:10.

Metaph.,

of persons: Lk 15:24, 32; of those immersed in worldly cares, Mt 8:22, Lk 9:60; of spiritual death, Jo 5:25, Ro 6:13,

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

νεκρός, -d, -dv, (akin to the Lat. neco, nex [fr. ἃ r. signifying ‘to disappear’ ete.; cf. Curtius § 93; Fick i. p. , 123; Vanitek p. 422 sq.]), Sept. chiefly for n>; dead, » i.e. 1. prop. a. one that has breathed his last, lifeless: Mt. xxviii. 4; Mk. ix. 26; Lk. vii. 15; Acts v. 10; xx. 9; xxviii. 6; Heb. xi. 35; Rev.i. 17; ἐπὶ νεκροῖς, if men are dead (where death has occurred [see ἐπί, B. 2 ἃ. €. p. 233

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

νεκρός (nekros) — dead.

νεκρός, ὁ

(of a woman, [Refs 4th c.BC+], corpse, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: as substantive, in early writers always of mankind, νεκροὺς συλήσετε τεθνηῶτας [Refs 8th c.BC+]: frequently of those killed in battle, τοὺς ν. ὑποσπόνδους ἀνείλοντο [Refs 5th c.BC+]; later, of a fish, ν. ἰχθύος [Refs 1st c.AD+]

2. dying person, μυχθισμὸς νεκρῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. metaphorically, ὁ υἱός μου ν. ἦν καὶ ἀνέζησε [NT]

4. in plural, the dead, as dwellers in the nether world, κλυτὰ ἔθνεα νεκρῶν [NT+8th c.BC+]

II. as adjective νεκρός, ά, όν, dead, first in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ν. σώματα Mitteis [Refs 5th c.BC+] (but also τὰ τῶν ν. σώματα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: comparative -ότερος[Refs 1st c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

νεκρός

nekros

from an apparently primary nekus (a corpse); dead (literally or

figuratively; also as noun):--dead.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

νεκρός, ά, όν

Adj

dead, a corpse

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

νεκρός nekros 128x

dead, without life, Mt. 11:5; 22:31; met. νεκρός τινι, dead to a thing, no longer devoted to, or under the influence of a thing, Rom. 6:11; dead in respect of fruitlessness, Jas. 2:17, 20, 26; morally or spiritually dead, Rom. 6:13; Eph. 5:14; dead in alienation from God, Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13; subject to death, mortal, Rom. 8:10; causing death and misery, fatal, having a destructive power, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

νεκρός νεκρός, οῦ, ὁ, = νέκυς a dead body, corpse, Hom., etc.: —in pl. the dead, as dwellers in the nether world, Od.; τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ν. their own dead, of those killed in battle, Thuc.

as adj., νεκρός, ή, όν, dead, Pind.:— comp. -ότερος Anth.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ded (muth; nekros): Used in several senses:

(1) as a substantive, denoting the body deprived of life, as when Abraham speaks of burying his dead (Ge 23);

(2) as a collective noun including all those that have passed away from life (as Re 20:12). In several passages dead in this sense is used in contrast to the quick or living (as Nu 16:48). This collective mode of expression is used when resurrection is described as "rising from the dead";

(3) as an adjective, coupled with body, carcass or man, as De 14:8 the King James Version;

(4) most frequently it is used as a complement of the verb "to be," referring to the condition of being deceased or the period of death, e. g. 2Sa…

Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 34 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Polycarp The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.108c. AD 40

„Ζῶμεν τὸν ἐκείνων θάνατον, τεθνήκαμεν δὲ τὸν ἐκείνων βίον," ὡς νῦν μέν, ὅτε ζῶμεν, τεθνηκυίας τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ὡς ἂν ἐν σήματι τῷ σώματι ἐντετυμβευμένης, εἰ δὲ ἀποθάνοιμεν, τῆς ψυχῆς ζώσης τὸν ἴδιον βίον καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένης κακοῦ καὶ νεκροῦ συνδέτου τοῦ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.55c. AD 75–95

ἔνθεν ὁ Κάις παροξυνθεὶς ἐπὶ τῷ προτετιμῆσθαι τὸν Ἄβελον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κτείνει τὸν ἀδελφὸν καὶ τὸν νεκρὸν αὐτοῦ ποιήσας ἀφανῆ λήσειν ὑπέλαβεν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.6c. AD 100

οἱ προφῆται, ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ ἔχοντες τὴν χάριν, εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπροφήτευσαν: αὐτὸς δέ, ἵνα καταργήσῃ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν δείξῃ, ὅτι ὲν σαρκὶ ἕδει αὐτὸν φανερωθῆναι, ὑπέμεινεν,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. BC 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Mich. 5 228Areos Kome (Arsinoites)AD 47

εἰς τὰ παρατυχόντα μέρη τοῦ σώματος ἐγκύῳ οὔσῃ ὥστε παρʼ αὐτῇ ἐκτέτρωται τὸ βρέφος νεκρὸν ὥστε αὐτὴν κατακλινῆ εἶναι καὶ κινδυνεύειν τοῦ ζῆν. διὸ ἀξιῶ γράψαι τοῖς τῆς Ὠξυρύνχων

P.Fouad 1 75ArsinoitesAD 64

τετελευτηκέναι καὶ ἤδη εὐτυχῆσθαιτῷ Φαῶφι τῆι ἐνάτηι ἀπʼ ὠμοτοκετοῦ· ἔτεκεν γὰρ ὀκτὼ μηνῶν παιδίον νεκρὸν καὶ τέσσαρας ἡμέρας ἐπέζωσε καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τετελεύτηκεν καὶ περιεστάλη ὑφʼ ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ

PSI 8 967AD 1–AD 200

δυνασθῶ ἀναπλεῦσαι βουλεύομαι αὐτὴν ὥδε θάψαι πρόσδεξαι αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ ἄρτι ἐρχομένῳ πλοίῳ τῶν νεκρῶν πέμψον μοι ταχύτερον ἵνα ἰσχύσω ἀναβῆναι μετὰ τὴν ἑορτήν. ταῦτα λέγει Ἀφροδισία τῷ πατρὶ

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ἵναhina so that G2443 Conjunction
669× 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 'in order that' or 'to', showing purpose or result, as seen in Acts 19:4 and Romans 11:31. It's used to express a goal or outcome. In Ephesians 1:17, it's used to describe a purpose.
Tyndale gloss
in order that/to
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἵνα is primarily a conjunction meaning 'in order that' or 'that,' indicating purpose or intention. It can also function as an adverb of place, meaning 'where' or 'whither.' In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, often introducing clauses that express purpose, such as in Matthew 1:22. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings or usages.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἵνα,

adverb (poët., Hom., al.),

of place, where, whither.

of circumstance, when.

Conjunction,

prop., final, denoting purpose or end (cl.), that, in order that, usually the first word in the clause, but sometimes (cl. also) preceded by an emphatic word (Ac 19:4, Ro 11:31 (?), Ga 2:10, al.);

c. optat. (so in cl. after historic tenses): after a pres., Eph 1:17 (but WH, mg., subjc.; v. Burton, § 225, Rem., 2);

c. subjc.: after a pres., Mk 4:21, Lk 6:34, Jo 3:15, Ac 2:25,

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

ἵνα, I. an adv. of Place. fr. Hom. down, esp. in the poets; a. where; in what place. b. to what place; whither. Of the former signification C. F. A. Fritzsche (on Mt. p. 836; differently in Fritzschiorum Opusce. p. 186 sqq-.) thought he had found two examples in bibl. Greek, and H. A. W. Meyer agrees with him. The first viz. iva μὴ φυσιοῦσθε, 1 Co. iv. 6, they explain thus: where (i. e. in which state of things viz. when ye have leatned from my example to think humbly of yourselves) the one is not exalted to the other’s disadvantage; the second, iva αὐτοὺς ζηλοῦτε, Gal. iv. 17, thus: where ye zealously court them; but see II. 1 d. below. “ iva I. a final Conjunction (for from local direction, indicated by the adverb, the transition was easy te mental direction or intention) denoting pur pose and end: to the intent that; to the end that, in order that; ἵνα pn, that not, lest; it is used…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἵνα (hina) — in order that/to.

ἵνα,

adverb,

I. of Place,

I.1. in that place, there, once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.2. elsewhere relative, in which place, where,[Refs 8th c.BC+]: rarely in Attic dialect Prose, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵ. ἡ Νίκη (i.e. ἐστίν) [Refs 8th c.BC+] [same place]; ἵν᾽ ἄν with subjunctive, wherever, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; as indirect interrogative, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. b after [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἔμαθε ἵ. ἦν κακοῦ in what a calamity, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵν᾽ ἕσταμεν χρείας[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. c with Verbs of motion, whither, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

II. of circumstance, γάμος.., ἵ. χρή at which, when, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἵ. μὲν ἐξῆν αὐτοῖς.., ἐνταῦθα.. when it was in their power, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. ={ἐάν}, uncertain in [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἵνα

hina

probably from the same as the former part of 1438 (through the

demonstrative idea; compare 3588); in order that (denoting the purpose

or the result):--albeit, because, to the intent (that), lest, so as,

(so) that, (for) to. Compare 3363.

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 3588

see GREEK for 3363

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἵνα

Cj.

in order that, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἵνα hina 663x

that, in order that, Mt. 19:13; Mk. 1:38; Jn. 1:22; 3:15; 17:1; ἵνα μή, that not, lest, Mt. 7:1; in NT equivalent to ὥστε, so that, so as that, Jn. 9:2; also, marking a simple circumstance, the circumstance that, Mt. 10:25; Jn. 4:34; 6:29; 1 Jn. 4:17; 5:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἵνα Adverb,

of Place,

demonstr. in that place, there, only in Il. 10. 127.

relat., = ὅπου, in which place, where, Hdt., etc.;—so, ἵνα τε Il.; ἵνα περ Hom.:—c. gen., ἵνα γῆς in whatever part of the land, Hdt.; ἔμαθε ἵνα ἦν κακοῦ in what a calamity, id. Hdt.; οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἵν᾽ εἶ κακοῦ Soph.

= ὅποι, with Verbs of motion, whither, Od.; ὁρᾷς ἵν᾽ ἥκεις Soph.

of circumstance, when, at which, Od.

Final Conjunction, = ὅπως, that, in order that, Lat. ut, Hom.:

with subj.,

after principal tenses of ind., id. Hom., etc.

after historical tenses, in similes, where the aor. refers to any possible time, Od.

after opt. and ἄν, ἔδωκε μένος, ἵνα γένοιτο she gave him vigour, that he might become, Il.

with opt., after historical tenses, Hom., etc.

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

so (co', although the Hebrew might be pointed cewe'; Assyrian Sib'u; Septuagint Segor, Soa; Manetho, Seuechos; Latin Sevechus; Herodotus (ii. 137 ff), Sabakon): In all probability the "Sabaeo" of Herodotus, the Shabaka, who founded the Ethiopian dynasty, the XXVth of Egyptian kings. His date is given as 715-707 BC (Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, III, 281 ff), but we may suppose that before his accession to the throne he was entitled to be designated king, as being actually regent. To this So, Hoshea, king of Israel, made an appeal for assistance to enable him to throw off the yoke of the Assyrian Shalmaneser IV (2Ki 17:3). But Hoshea's submission to So brought him no advantage, for Shalmaneser came up throughout all the land and laid siege to Samaria. Not long after the fall of Samaria, So ventured upon an eastern campaign, and…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

So

(Nubian, Sabako), an Ethiopian king who brought Egypt under his sway. He was bribed by Hoshea to help him against the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:4). This was a return to the policy that had been successful in the reign of Jeroboam I.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

"So, king of Egypt," is once mentioned in the Bible -- (2 Kings 17:4) So has been identified by different writers with the first and second kings of the Ethiopian twenty-fifth dynasty, called by Manetho, Sabakon (Shebek) and Sebichos (Shebetek).

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

King of Egypt, made an alliance with Hoshea king of Israel, and promised him assistance; but was unable to prevent Shalmaneser king of Assyria from taking Samaria and subverting the kingdom, B. C. 721, 2Ki 17:4. See PHARAOH.

So is believed to have been the Servetus or Sabaco II of secular history, the second king of the Ethiopian or twenty-fifth dynasty, and the predecessor of Trihakah. A singular fact has been brought to light by the recent explorations at Nineveh, corroborating the Scripture record the more forcibly, because unexpected and direct. The Bible shows that Egypt and Assyria, though remote, were often in conflict during the height of the Assyrian ruins power, and that So was at war with Shalmaneser. After war comes the treaty of peace; and as the Bible prepares us to suppose such treaties were made, the Assyrian ruins…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
56%that
that56% · 382×so that40% · 271×other renderings4% · 24×

677 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 10 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
adverbial8%object3%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 669 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
παρακαλέωI summon, entreaἐπιτιμάωI rebuke, chide,δίδωμιI offer, give
σύ
λαλέωI speak, sayδιάδίδωμιI offer, give
ἐγώ
δίδωμιI offer, giveὑπέρπερί
ἀλλάbut, except
αὐτόςκόσμοςthe world, univeἐγώ
εἰμίI am, exist
τίςIrgἐγώἱκανόςsufficient, wort
ἵναso that669×
what comes after →
μήNeg
Article theτὶςεἰς
Article the
γραφήa writing, passaχαράjoy, gladnessλόγοςa word, speech,
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theσύαὐτός
ἐν
αὐτόςἐγώὅς
εἰμίI am, exist
μετάεἷςoneἅγιοςset apart, holy,

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

Concordanceἵνα · 669× in the New Testament
John Mark 1 Corinthians Luke 2 Corinthians Revelation Matthew Romans Ephesians Hebrews 1 John Acts

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 300 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 The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 15c. AD 40

ἑκάστῃ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀπένειμεν ἔνια τῶν τοῦ παντὸς τμημάτων τὴν πρώτην ὑπεξελόμενος, ἣν αὐτὸς οὐδὲ πρώτην, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς ἄλλαις συγκαταριθμῆται, καλεῖ, μίαν δ’ ὀνομάσας ὀνόματι εὐθυβόλῳ προσαγορεύει, τὴν μονάδος φύσιν καὶ πρόσρησιν ἐνιδών τε καὶ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.71c. AD 75–95

ἵνα καὶ τῆς πλινθίνης ἀφανισθείσης ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπομβρίας ἡ λιθίνη μείνασα παράσχῃ μαθεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα δηλοῦσα καὶ πλινθίνην ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἀνατεθῆναι.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Edg. $1Alexandria259 BC–257 BC

καὶ θεῶν μὴ ὀκνήσῃς διελθὼν εἰς ἐμπόριον καὶ ἀγοράσας, οὐθὲν γὰρ ἄλλο ἡμᾶς ἐπικωλύει, ἵνα μὴ ὑστερήσωμεν τῆς ἐργασίας. τὰς δὲ τιμὰς τούτων λαβὲ παρὰ Ἀπολλοφάνους. τὸ γύναιον ἐπίτοκον

vestiges … ἵνα μηθὲν ἐν τούτοις ἀγνοηθῆι … … Ἑρμίαι τῶν διαδόχων καὶ ἐπιμελητῆι, παρὰ Δρύτωνος τοῦ

P.Bour. 11Pathyris89 BC

ἕκαστος τῶν παρὰ σοὶ σιτοποιησάμενος πυροῦ ἀρτάβην μίαν ἐν ἑτοίμωι ἔσται αὐτοῖς ὁ ἄρτος, ἵνα δὲ καὶ κριθὴ ὑπάρξηι ἐπιμε … … ηγησαιἐμμέτρως αἴτησαιἐμμε … … τησαι ἔρρωσο ἔτους

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
γένηταιginomai may be G1096 Verb · second aorist · middle deponent · subjunctive · third person · singular
668× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A versatile word meaning to be, become, or come into being, used in John 1:15 and 1 Corinthians 15:37.
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γίνομαι (ginomai) is a versatile Greek verb meaning to come into being, be born, or arise. It covers a wide range of uses, from the creation of things to events occurring. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as birth (e.g., Romans 1:3), occurrences in nature (e.g., John 12:29), and actions being performed (e.g., Matthew 21:42). It can also express the idea of becoming or changing states.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γίνομαι, Ion. and κοινή for Att. γίγν- (M. Pr., 47; Bl., §6, 8 Mayser, 166 f.),

[in LXX chiefly for היה ;]

of persons, things occurrences, to come into being, be born, arise, come on: Jo 1:15 8:58, I Co 15:37; a first appearance in public, Mk 1:4, Jo 1:6, al.; seq. ἐκ (of birth), Ro 1:3, Ga 4:4; διά, Jo 1:3; βροντή, Jo 12:29; σεισμός, Re 6:12; γογγυσμός, Ac 6:1; χαρά, Ac 8:8, many other similar exx.; ἡμέρα, Lk 22:66, al.; ὀψέ, Read the full entry →

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

γίνομαι (in Ionic prose writ.and in com. Grk. fr. Aristot. on for Attic γίγνομαι) ; [impf. ἐγινόμην ; fut. γενήσομαι ; 2 aor. ἐγενόμην (often in 3 pers. sing. optat. γένοιτο ; [ptep. yevapevos, Lk. xxiv. 22 Tdf. ed. 7]), and, with no diff. in signif., 1 aor. pass. ἐγενήθην, rejected by the Atticists (cf. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 108 sq.; [Thom. Mag. ed. Ritschl p. 75, 6 sq.]), not rare in later Grk., common in Sept. (Acts iv. 4; 1 Th. ii. 14; 1 Co. xv. 10, etc.), impv. γενηθήτω (Mt. vi. 10; xv. 28, ete.) ; pf. γεγένημαι and γέγονα, 3 pers. plur. γέγοναν L T Tr WH in Ro. xvi. 7 and Rey. xxi. 6 (cf. [Tdf. Proleg. p. 124; WH. App. p. 166; Soph. Lex. p. 37 sq.; Curtius, Das Verbum, ii. 187]; W. 36 and 76 (73) sq-; Mullach p. 16; B. 43 (37 sq.)), [ptep. γεγονώς] ; plpf. 3 pers. sing. ἐγεγόνει (Jn. vi. 17 [not Tdf.];. Acts iv. 22 [where L T Tr WH γεγόνει, cf. W. § 12, 9; B. 33 (29); Tdf.’s note on…

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

γίνομαι {Ξ ΠῚ. p. 210) γενοῦ πρὸς "Ata τὸν ποιμένα καὶ δέξαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δραχμὰς διακοσίας, P Flor II. 180 (a.p. 253) ἐὰν γένηται πρός σε Διόσκορος, α΄. Γίνομαι sometimes supplies an aorist fir εἰμί : ἐγενόμην is normally ingressive (= became), but has to serve on occasion for summary (‘‘constative ’’) aorist as well—cf. Prolfeg. p. 109. Thus P. Flor III. 382% (cited ad 72.) might be translated ‘the son whom I neither have nor ever had,’’ as well as ‘‘ nor was ever born to me.” Lk 13? is an instance of this summary use. It appears in a very common technical usage, by which γενόμενος, with the tithe of an official, etc., denotes “ex-’’: where the title forms a verb, the aor, the perf.) partic. of this is used instead. arch” is γυμνασιαρχήσας. For the periphrasis cf. P Oxy I. 3811 (a.p. 49-50) (= Selections, p. 53) καθὰ π|ζα]ρῆλθον ἐπὶ τοῦ γενομένου τοῦ νομοῦ στρατηγοῦ Ilaciwyvos, “1…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γίνομαι (ginomai) — to be.

γίγνομαι,

Ionic dialect and after [Refs 4th c.BC+] γίνομαι [ῑ], (Attic dialect Inscrr. have γιγν- in fifth and fourth cententury,[Refs]; Thess. γίνυμαι [Refs]; Boeotian dialect γίνιουμαι [Refs]future γενήσομαι: aorist ἐγενόμην (ἐγενάμην [LXX] (προ-) Decrees Byzantine cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+], Ionic dialect 2nd pers. singular γένευ [Refs 8th c.BC+], 3rd.pers. singular γενέσκετο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect γέντο [Refs 8th c.BC+] (gṇ-το): perfect γέγονα [Refs 8th c.BC+]: 3rd.pers. plural γέγοναν [NT]: pluperfect ἐγεγόνει [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ἐγεγόνεε [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect forms (as if from perfect γέγᾰα), 2nd pers. plural γεγάᾱτε [Refs 8th c.BC+]pluperfect ἐκ-γεγάτην [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; infinitive γεγάμεν [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; participle γεγᾰώς -ᾰυῖα, plural -ᾰῶτες, -ᾰυῖαι [Refs 8th c.BC+], contraction γεγώς, -ῶσα [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γίνομαι

ginomai

a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be

("gen"-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used

with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.):--arise, be

assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be)

come (to pass), continue, be divided, draw, be ended, fall, be

finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled, + God forbid, grow, happen,

have, be kept, be made, be married, be ordained to be, partake, pass,

be performed, be published, require, seem, be showed, X soon as it

was, sound, be taken, be turned, use, wax, will, would, be wrought.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γίνομαι

v.

I come into being, am born

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γίνομαι ginomai 669x

pluperfect, ἐγενόει (3rd sg), to come into existence; to be created, exist by creation, Jn. 1:3, 10; Heb. 11:3; Jas. 3:9; to be born, produced, grow, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 8:58, et al.; to arise, come on, occur, as the phenomena of nature, etc.; Mt. 8:24, 26; 9:16, et al.; to come, approach, as morning or evening, Mt. 8:16; 14:15, 23; to be appointed, constituted, established, Mk. 2:27; Gal.…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2ADS-3S — Verb · second aorist · middle deponent · subjunctive · third person · singular
second aorist middle deponent subjunctive — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2ADS-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Subjunctive Person: third Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
9%it came to pass
it came to pass9% · 64×became4% · 28×there was3% · 23×do be3% · 22×came3% · 19×having become3% · 18×was3% · 18×having been3% · 17×other renderings69% · 468×

677 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 180 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
verb57%linking verb42%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 668 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
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeἐκεῖthere, yonder, tεἰμίI am, exist
Article the
δύναμιςmight, power, maεἰμίI am, existαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
ὄψιοςlateοὗτοςὡςas, like as, how
μήNeg
ἵναin order that, sοὐNegθεόςGod, a god
αὐτός
ἱμάτιονouter garmentδιάκλάδοςa branch
γίνομαιmay be668×
what comes after →
Article the
δύναμιςmight, power, maθέλημαwill, wish, desiἔσχατοςlast, at the las
ἐν
Article theσύεἷςone
δέbut, on the other ha
ἐνArticle theἡμέραa day
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegἐκφύωI put forth, cau
εἰς
Article theκεφαλήthe headδένδρονa tree

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

Concordanceγίνομαι · 668× in the New Testament
Luke Acts Matthew Mark John 1 Corinthians Revelation Romans Hebrews 1 Thessalonians Galatians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 11c. AD 40

πρὸς δὲ τὸ μὴ γεγονὸς οἰκείωσις οὐδεμία τῷ μὴ πεποιηκότι.

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

ὡς ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐγένετο καὶ ὃν τρόπον Νῶχος σωθεὶς ἐν λάρνακι μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν κατῴκησεν ἐν τῷ Σινάρῳ πεδίῳ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.11c. AD 100

γενώμεθα πνευματικοί, γενώμεθα ναὸς τέλειος τῷ θεῷ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 22Thebais119 BC

ἔχω εἰς τὸν Ἑρμίου λόγον περὶ πῆς τοπογραμματείας τοῦ νγ ἔτους χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δέκα. γίνεται τάλαντα ι. καὶ περὶ τῆς κωμογραμματείας ὁμοίως χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δέκα. γίνεται τάλαντα ι. καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

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

P.Adl. 10Pathyris102 BC

λ εὐμεγέθης μελίχρως τετανὸς μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὐλὴ φαλάνθῳ ἀριστερῶι χαλκοῦ νομίσματος τάλαντα δέκα δύο, γίνεται τάλαντα ιβ, ἄτοκα, ἡμερῶν τριάκοντα ἀπὸ μηνὸς Παῦνι ιθ. τὸ δὲ δάνειον τοῦτο ἀποδότω

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
πᾶσινpas all things G3956 Adjective · dative · plural · neuter
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 aspect, all circumstances
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-DPN — Adjective · dative · plural · neuter
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-DPN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Thompson Chain Reference topics

(1) Commanded

Mt 7:12; 28:20; 1Co 13:7; 16:14; Eph 4:15; 5:20; Php 2:14

Col 3:14; 1Th 5:21; 2Ti 4:5; Tit 2:7

(2) General References to

Ps 8:6; Jer 17:9; Mt 19:26; 21:22; Mr 9:23; Ro 8:28,32

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
πᾶςall things1242×
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.

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
αὐτὸςautos He himself G846 Personal pronoun · nominative · singular · masculine
5,550× 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 pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P-NSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςHe himself5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He himself is the head of the body the church; who is the beginning, firstborn out from the dead, so that may be in all things He himself holding preeminence;
πρωτεύων·prōteuō holding preeminence; G4409 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
1× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be first means to have the highest rank or influence, as seen in Colossians 1:18. It describes having preeminence over others.
Amplified meaning
supreme authority, highest rank
Tyndale gloss
be first
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρωτεύω means to be first or hold the first place, derived from πρῶτος. It covers the idea of preeminence and leadership, as seen in Colossians 1:18. The term appears in various contexts, including classical literature, where it denotes being first in rank or influence.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρωτεύω

(< πρῶτος),

[in LXX: Es 5:11, II Mac 6:18 13:15*;]

to be first, pre-eminent, have the first place: Col 1:18.†

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

πρωτεύω; (πρῶτος); to be first, hold the first place, [A. V. have the pre-eminence]: Col. i. 18. (From Xen. and Plat. down.)

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

πρωτεύω. This NT ἅπ. εἰρ. (Col 115) ‘‘hold the chief place,” ‘* am preeminent,’’ may be illustrated from P Lips I. 4o0%-16 (iv/v A.D.) ἀνὴρ ἀξιόπιστος ἐμαρτύρησεν πρωτεύων τῆς “Ἕρμουπολιτῶν, P Oxy XVI. 1983 (A.D. 535) εὐκλεεστάτῳ πατρικίῳ πρωτεύοντι, 16. VIII. 11068 (vi/A.D.) παρεγγύησον τοῖς πρωτεύουσιν ἀποσχέσθαι τοῦ τοιούτου τολμήματος, “cinstruct their leaders to abstain from any such outrage ”’ (Ed.), and Kazéel 4893 (iv/B.c.). With the use in Col /.c. we may compare Plut. A/or. p. 9 σπεύδοντες τοὺς παῖδας πρωτοκαθεδρία 55 ἐν πᾶσι τάχιον πρωτεῦσαι. A less pleasing sentiment is found in Menander /ragm. p. 140— οἶκος δ᾽ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα πρωτεύει γυνή, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις πώποτ᾽ οὐκ ἀπώλετο, “never does a house fail to come to grief, where woman takes the lead in everything:’’ For the similar form Sevrepevw (as in Esth 48) cf. P Passalacqua?® (iii/B.c.) (= Witkowski’, p. 54) περὶ Ilerovotpw…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρωτεύω (prōteuō) — be first.

πρωτεύω,

(πρῶτος) to be the first, hold first place, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἱ πρωτεύοντες the primates or chief men in a city, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; hold position of πρῶτος (which see), [Refs]; π. τοῦ ἔθνους [Refs]

II. with a modal word added, to be first in a thing, καρτερίᾳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν τούτοις (i.e. ἐπιτηδεύμασιν) [Refs]

II.2. with genitive person, to be first of or among, Ἑλλήνων [Refs]; τῶν ῥητόρων [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. ={προτερέω}, excel, π. τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ταῖς κυνηγεσίαις [Refs 1st c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρωτεύω

proteuo

from 4413; to be first (in rank or influence):--have the preeminence.

see GREEK for 4413

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρωτεύω

v.

I have preeminence, am chief

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρωτεύω prōteuō 1x

to be first, to hold the first rank or highest dignity, have the preeminence, be chief, Col. 1:18*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρωτεύω πρωτεύω, φυτ. -σω πρῶτος to be the first, hold the first place, Plat., etc.:— to be first in a thing, καρτερίᾳ Xen.; βδελυρίᾳ Aeschin.; περὶ κακίαν id. Aeschin.

c. gen. pers. to be first of or among, τῶν ῥητόρων id. Aeschin.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pre-em'-i-nens: Superiority, especially in noble or excellent qualities. The word stands for: (1) mothar, "what is over and above," "excellence"; "Man hath no preeminence above the beasts" (Ec 3:19); (2) proteuo, "to be first"; "That in all things he (= Christ) might have the preeminence" (Col 1:18); (3) ho philoproteuon, is translated "who loveth to have the preeminence," literally "who loveth to be first" (of Diotrephes, 3 Joh 1:9).

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%holding preeminence
holding preeminence100% · 1×

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

Concordanceπρωτεύω · 1× in the New Testament
Colossians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus
JosephusThe Life 124c. AD 75–95

Σίμων δʼ ἦν ὁ παρακαλῶν αὐτούς, πρωτεύων μὲν τῆς πόλεως, ὡς φίλῳ δὲ καὶ ἑταίρῳ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ χρώμενος.

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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