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Colossians 2:15 — Word Study

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N1904ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

BSAHaving disarmedapekduomai [stripped away, despoiled] theho rulersarchē [spiritual rulers, authorities] andkai theho authoritiesexousia [principalities, freedoms to act] He disgraced [them]deigmatizō [open, bold, display, show, celebrating victory] inen [through, in] public,parrēsia having triumphedthriambeuō over themautos inen it.autos [the instrument of His triumph]

Word
Listen & take awayColossians 2
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 15 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (autos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Colossians 2:15quick helps
In a sentencePaul explains that through the cross, Jesus disarmed spiritual powers and publicly shamed them.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul is writing to the Colossians about Christ's victory.
Where we areThis verse is part of a passage discussing the implications of Christ's work on the cross.
The hard wordἀπεκδυσάμενος
Take awayJesus' victory over spiritual forces is complete and public.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectἀπεκδύομαι verbἀπεκδύομαι The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

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

Deep Study — Colossians 2:15

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

Context — The Triumph of Christgenerated

14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:15 describes how Christ disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them by triumphing over them through the cross. This reflects the victory of Christ over sin and spiritual forces, emphasizing His authority and the significance of His sacrifice. The surrounding verses highlight the cancellation of our debts and the importance of not letting others judge us based on external rituals, pointing to the sufficiency of Christ's work.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Genesis 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. ”
2Psalm 68:18You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
3Isaiah 49:24–25Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?
4Isaiah 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
5Matthew 12:29Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

The Key Word ἀπεκδυσάμενος, apekduomaigenerated

The word ἀπεκδύομαι (*apekduomai*) means to strip off or divest oneself, often used metaphorically to indicate renouncing something. It is a middle deponent participle, suggesting an action taken by the subject on their own behalf. In this context, it signifies Jesus stripping away the power of spiritual rulers.

The passive sense of this word implies that these powers did not willingly relinquish their hold; rather, they were disarmed by Christ's decisive action on the cross.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'having disarmed the powers and authorities.' This wording is also found in the BSB and MSB, emphasizing the act of disarming.

However, translations differ on the rendering of ἀρχὰς and ἐξουσίας. The KJV and ASV use 'principalities' while the BBE and WEB opt for 'authorities.' The choice of 'public' or 'openly' for παρρησίᾳ varies similarly among versions.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἀπεκδυσάμενος, having disarmed, which governs the entire clause. It is followed by a noun phrase that identifies the object of disarmament, and then a second clause that describes the action taken by Jesus.

The structure is complex, with several phrases elaborating on the actions of Christ, including the public display of His triumph, which is emphasized through the participial phrase θριαμβεύσας, having triumphed.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In Colossians 2:15, the terms ἀρχὰς (archas) and ἐξουσίας (exousias) are used to describe the 'rulers' and 'authorities' that Christ disarmed. In the Septuagint, ἀρχή (archē) is often used to translate the Hebrew word רֹאשׁ (H7218), which conveys the idea of a head or chief, while ἐξουσία (exousia) translates various Hebrew terms, including דִּי (H1768) and מַלְכוּ (H4437), related to dominion and authority.

This choice of words in the LXX emphasizes the supremacy of Christ over all forms of power and governance, highlighting His victory over spiritual forces that oppose Him, as reflected in the context of His crucifixion.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Colossians 2:15 explains that Jesus disarmed spiritual powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them through His victory on the cross. This shows how He triumphed over evil forces, highlighting the significance of His sacrifice.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities?

It means that Jesus took away their power to accuse and control believers, rendering them ineffective against His followers.

How did Jesus make a public spectacle of them?

By His victory on the cross, Jesus demonstrated His authority over these powers, showcasing their defeat to the world.

What is the significance of the cross in this context?

The cross is portrayed as the instrument through which Jesus achieved victory, turning an instrument of shame into a symbol of triumph.

Why is this passage important for believers?

It reassures believers of their victory over sin and spiritual forces through Christ, encouraging them to live in the freedom He provides.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways do I see the power of Christ at work in my life today?
  2. How can I remind myself of the victory Jesus has won over spiritual forces?
  3. What does it mean for me to live in the freedom that Christ has provided?
  4. How can I share the message of Christ's triumph with others?

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

Several early church Fathers commented on the significance of Christ's victory as described in this verse. Their insights reflect on the implications of His triumph over death and evil.

Athanasius of Alexandria c. 296–373
But if a man is gone down even to Hades and stands in awe of the heroes who have descended there, regarding them as gods, yet he may see the fact of Christ’s resurrection and victory over death.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 2 →
Cyril of Jerusalem c. 313–386
Let us not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Let the cross, as our seal, be boldly made with our fingers upon our brow, and on all occasions; over the bread we eat, over the cups we drink; in our comings and in our goings; before sleep;
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 2 →
Augustine of Hippo 354–430
And where the devil could do something, there he met with defeat on every side. While from the cross he received the power to slay the Lord’s body outwardly, it was also from the cross that the inward power, by which he held us fast,
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 2 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Colossians 2:15 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

[And] having spoiled principalities and powers,.... Principalities of hell, the infernal powers of darkness, the devil that had the power of death, the accuser of the brethren, who often objected

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

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. [Alford takes apekdusamenos (G554) as in Colossians 3:9.

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

And having spoiled; some render it, seeing he hath stripped or made naked, as runners and racers used to put off their clothes. Principalities and powers; hence some of the ancients read putting off his flesh (possibly by the carelessness of some scribes, writing that which signifies flesh instead of that which signifies principalities, in all the authentic copies); but besides that Christ hath not put off the human nature, only the infirmities of the flesh, , it doth not agree with what follows. One conceits that by principalities and powers are meant the ceremonies of the law, because of the Divine authority they originally had; and that Christ unclothed or unveiled them, and showed them…

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

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Ver. 15. He made a show of them] A plain allusion to the Roman triumphs. Christ made the devils a public spectacle of scorn and derision, as Tamerlane did Bajazet the Great Turk, whom he shut up in an iron cage made like a grate, in such sort, as that he might on every side be seen; and so carried him up and down, as he passed through Asia, to be of his own people scorned and derided.

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

(15) Having spoiled principalities and powers . . .—This verse is one of great difficulty. Not, indeed, in the main idea. The cross, as usual, is identified with the triumph over the powers of evil which it won. The very phrase “made a show,” is cognate to the words “put Him to open shame” applied to the Crucifixion (Hebrews 6:6). The apparent triumph of the “power of darkness” over Him was His real and glorious triumph over them. The general idea is familiar to us, telling, as in the noble old hymn Vexilla Regis— “How of the Cross He made a throne On which He reigns, a glorious king.” His forgiveness of the penitent thief was the first act of His all-saving royalty. Accordingly, taking (as…

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

Verse 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers] Here is an allusion to the treatment of enemies when conquered: they are spoiled of their armour, so much the word απεκδυειν implies; and they are exhibited with contumely and reproach to the populace, especially when the victor has the honour of a triumph; to the former of which there is an allusion in the words εδειγματισενενπαρρησια, making a public exhibition of them; and to the latter in the words θριαμβευσαςαυτους, triumphing over them. And the principalities and powers refer to the emperors, kings, and generals taken in battle, and reserved to grace the victor's triumph. It is very likely that by the αρχαςκαιεξουσιας…

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

15. having spoiled] “Having put off from Himself” (R.V.).—The Greek verb is apparently unknown before St Paul; classical illustration is impossible. Its literal meaning is “to strip off”; and its voice is middle. This voice, it is alleged, compels us to explain it of the Lord’s stripping off something from Himself, divesting Himself. And explanations vary between (a) that given in margin R.V., (“having put off from Himself His body”), supported by the Peshito Syriac version and (among other Fathers) by Ambrose, Hilary, and Augustine (see Lightfoot); and (b) that given in text R.V., advocated by Lightfoot, and supported by Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and other Fathers. In this last…

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

And having spoiled - Plundered as a victorious army does a conquered country. Notes, Colossians 2:8. The terms used in this verse are all military, and the idea is, that Christ has completely subdued our enemies by his death.

Read Albert Barnes on Colossians 2 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

RVARevised Version, American1894

having put off from himself the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And having despoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And hath spoyled the Principalities, and Powers, and hath made a shew of them openly, and hath triumphed ouer them in the same crosse.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

having spoiled principalities and authorities, he made a show of them publicly, leading them in triumph by it.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

having stripped the principalities and the authorities, he made a shew of them openly — having triumphed over them in it.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

having stripped the principalities and the authorities, He made a show of them openly—having triumphed over them by it.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

He disarmed the powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, by being victorious over them by the cross.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath exposed them confidently in open shew, triumphing over them in himself.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

He stripped away the power of spiritual rulers and authorities, and having publicly revealed what they were truly like, he led them captive behind him in victory.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Having made himself free from the rule of authorities and powers, he put them openly to shame, glorying over them in it.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἀπεκδυσάμενοςapekduomai Having disarmed G554 4 different renderings
despoiledASV NWB
having disarmedBSB MSB
having put offRVA
stripped awayFBV
ἀρχὰςarchē rulers G746 3 different renderings
principalitiesASV DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA WEB YLT
authoritiesBBE BSB MSB NETB ULB
spiritual rulersFBV
ἐξουσίαςexousia authorities G1849 2 different renderings
principalitiesASV DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA WEB YLT
authoritiesBBE BSB FBV MSB NETB ULB
ἐδειγμάτισενdeigmatizō He disgraced [them] G1165 3 different renderings
showASV DBY LSV NWB RVA WEB
openDRA
disgraceNETB
παρρησίᾳ,parrēsia public, G3954 3 different renderings
openlyASV BBE GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA WEB YLT
publicBSB MSB NETB ULB
publiclyDBY FBV

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.

clauseclause · adverbialverbἀπεκδυσάμενοςHaving disarmednoun phrase · objectnoun phraseτὰςtheἀρχὰςrulersκαὶandnoun phraseτὰςtheἐξουσίαςauthoritiesverbἐδειγμάτισενHe made a show [of them]prepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinπαρρησίᾳpublicclause · adverbialverbθριαμβεύσαςhaving triumphedobjectαὐτοὺςover themprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinαὐτῷit

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 expolians principatus, et potestates traduxit confidenter, palam triumphans illos in semetipso.

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

ܘܒܫܠܚ ܦܓܪܗ ܦܪܣܝ ܠܐܪܟܘܣ ܘܠܫܠܝܛܢܐ ܘܐܒܗܬ ܐܢܘܢ ܓܠܝܐܝܬ ܒܩܢܘܡܗ

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

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.¶

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

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


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

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

Colossians 2:15ἀπεκδύομαιHaving disaHaving disarmedἀπεκδύομαιthetheἀρχήrulersrulersἀρχήκαίandandκαίthetheἐξουσίαauthoritiesauthoritiesἐξουσίαδειγματίζωHe disgraceHe disgraced [tδειγματίζωἐνininἐνπαρρησίαpublic,public,παρρησίαθριαμβεύωhaving triuhaving triumpheθριαμβεύωαὐτόςover themover themαὐτόςἐνininἐναὐτόςit.it.αὐτόςἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόἄρχωv. I beginv. I beginἄρχωἔξεστι(ν)v. it is pv. it is permitἔξεστι(ν)δεῖγμαn.n. an exn.n. an exampleδεῖγμαεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκπᾶςAdj all, tAdj all, the whπᾶςἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦθροέωv. I distuv. I disturb, aθροέωἅπτωv. I touchv. I touch or hἅπτωσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωἄρσηνAdj maleAdj maleἄρσηνκτίσιςn.f. creatn.f. creation, κτίσιςποῖοςIrg.pr. ofIrg.pr. of whatποῖοςἀρχήn.f. rulern.f. ruler, begἀρχή
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 2:15

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

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

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
ἀπεκδυσάμενοςapekduomai Having disarmed G554 Verb · aorist · middle deponent · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To take off or strip something away is what this word means, like in Colossians 3:9 where it says to put off the old self.
Amplified meaning
stripped away, despoiled
Tyndale gloss
to take off
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀπεκδύομαι (*apekduomai*) means to strip off or divest oneself, often used in a metaphorical sense to indicate renouncing something. It is built from the prefix ἀπ- and the root δύω. The New Testament references include Colossians 3:9 and 2:15, where it conveys the idea of putting off the old self or despoiling a rival.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

*† ἀπ-εκ-δύω,

to strip off clothes or arms; mid., to strip off from oneself: Col 3:9; to strip, despoil (mid, for act., ICC, in l.; but cf. Lft., Ellic.), Col 2:15.†

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀπεκδύομαι (apekduomai) — to take off.

ἀπεκ-δύομαι,

future -δύσομαι [ῡ]: aorist 1 -εδῡσάμην:— strip off oneself: metaphorically, put off, τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον[NT]

II. strip off for oneself, despoil, τινά [Refs]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀπεκδύομαι

apekduomai

middle voice from 575 and 1562; to divest wholly oneself, or (for

oneself) despoil:--put off, spoil.

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 1562

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀπεκδύομαι

v.

I strip, divest, renounce

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀπεκδύομαι apekdyomai 2x

to put off, renounce, Col. 3:9; to despoil a rival, Col. 2:15*

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

V-ADP-NSM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%having disarmed
having disarmed50% · 1×having put off50% · 1×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἀλλήλων
εἰς
ἀπεκδύομαιHaving disarmed
what comes after →
Article the
ἀρχήruler, beginningπαλαιόςold, ancient, wo

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

Concordanceἀπεκδύομαι · 2× in the New Testament
Colossians
Across the New Testament1 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
τὰςho the G3588 Article · accusative · plural · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 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-APF — Article · accusative · plural · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
ἀρχὰςarchē rulers G746 Noun · accusative · plural · 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
spiritual rulers, authorities
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.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Nave's Topical Bible

→ (Appointed and removed by God)

→ See GOVERNMENT, GOD IN

→ Chastised Da 4

→ See NATION

→ Monarchical

See KINGS

→ Patriarchal Ge 27:29,37

→ INSTANCES OF

Nimrod Ge 10:8-10

Abraham Ge 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:21-32

Melchizedek Ge 14:18

Isaac Ge 26:26-31

Judah Ge 38:24

Heads of families Ex 6:14

Ishmael Ge 17:20

Esau, and the dukes of Edom Ge 36

Theocratic

See GOVERNMENT

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
ἀρχήrulers56×
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

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
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

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
τὰςho the G3588 Article · accusative · plural · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in 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-APF — Article · accusative · plural · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
ἐξουσίαςexousia authorities G1849 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
102× 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
Authority refers to the power or freedom to act, like the authority given to Jesus in John 10:18 or the freedom to exercise a gift in 1 Corinthians 9:12.
Amplified meaning
principalities, freedoms to act
Tyndale gloss
authority
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐξουσία (i.e., *exousia*) refers to power or authority, derived from the root meaning 'to be permitted.' It encompasses various forms of authority, including legal, governmental, and personal power, as well as the ability to act freely. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts related to Jesus' authority, apostolic power, and judicial authority, notably in Matthew and Luke.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐξουσία, -ας, ἡ

(< ἔξεστι),

[in LXX: IV Ki 20:13, Ps 113 (114):2 135 (136)8, 9, Is 39:2, Je 28 (51):28 (מֶמְשָׁלָה), freq. in Da for Aram. שָׁלְטָן, etc., Wi 10:14, Si 9:13, al. ;]

prop., liberty or power to act, freedom to exercise the inward force or faculty expressed by δύναμις (q.v.): I Co 9:12; ἐ. ἔχειν, II Th 3:9; id. seq. inf., Jo 10:18, I Co 9:4, 5; c. gen. obj., Ro 9:21; seq. ἐπί, c. acc., Re 22:14; περί, I Co 7:37.

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

ἐξουσία, -as, 7, (fr. ἔξεστι, ἐξόν, q. v-), fr. Eur., Xen., Plato down; Sept. for mw and Chald. Ow; power. 1. power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; leave or permission: 1 Co. ix. 12, 18; ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν, 2 Th. iii. 9; with an inf. added indicating the thing to be done, Jn. x. 18; 1 Co. ix. 4 sq.; Heb. xiii. 10 [WH br. €&.]; foll. by an inf. with τοῦ, 1 Co. ix. 6 (LT Tr ΝῊ οπι. τοῦ) ; with a gen. of the thing or the pers. with regard to which one has the power to decide: Ro. ix. 21 (where an explanatory infin. is added [B. 260 (224)]); 1 Co. ix. 12; ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, permission to use the tree of life, Rev. xxii. 14 [see ἐπί, C. I. 2e.]; ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου θελήματος (opp. to ἀνάγκην ἔχειν [οἵ. W. § 30, 3 N.5]), 1 Co. vii. 37; ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ, [appointed, see τίθημι. 1 a. sub fin.] according to his own choice, Actsi. 7; ἐν τῇ σῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ὑπῆρχεν. i.e. at thy…

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

ἐξουσία. For the primary meaning of this important word ‘‘ power of choice,” ‘‘liberty of action,” cf. BGU IV. 11581 (8.6. 9), where it is joined with ἐγλογή--μένε(ιν) περὶ ἑατ(ὴν) Kopν(ηλίαν) τὴν ἐξουσία(ν) Kal ἐγλογὴ(ν) ἑαυτὸν πράσσειν τὸ κεφά[λ]αιοί(ν). Hence the common usage in wills, contracts, and other legal documents, to denote the ‘‘claim,’’ or “‘right,”’ or ‘‘control,’’ one has over anything, e.g. P Oxy II. 27215 (A.D. 66) ὁμολογ[ο]ῦμεν ἔχειν σε ἐξουσίζαν σε]αυτῆι τὴν ἀπία(τησΊ]ιν ποιεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῦ Ἡ ρακλήου τῶν προκειμένων ἀργ(υρίου) (δραχμῶν), BGU I. 183? (a.p. 85) ἔχειν αὐτὴν τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῶν ἰδίων πάντων, P Tebt II. 3105} (A.D. 248) ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὑπαρχόντων : see also Milligan ad 2 Thess 3°. For the definite idea of right given by law, see P Oxy II. 237%17 (a.p. 186) ἀξιῶ τοῦ νόμου διδόντος μοι ἐξουσίαν KTA. and 16. V2, ὙΠ]. ἀν of, also 26, 259138 (A.D. 23)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐξουσία (exousia) — authority.

ἐξουσ-ία, ἡ,

(ἔξεστι) power, authority to do a thing, with infinitive, χαίρειν καὶ νοσεῖν ἐ. πάρεστι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐξουσίαν ὁ νόμος δέδωκε permission to do.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς εἰρήνης ἐ. with the freedom permitted by peace, [Refs 4th c.BC+] power of life and death, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; πρᾶγμα οὗ τὴν ἐ. ἔχουσιν ἄλλοι control over.., [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; ἐ. τινός power over, licence in a thing, τοῦ λέγειν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν μεγάλῃ ἐ. τοῦ ἀδικεῖν[Refs]; κατὰ τὴν οὐκ ἐ. τῆς ἀγωνίσεως from want of qualification for.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]: absolutely, power, authority, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐξουσία

exousia

from 1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, i.e. (subjectively)

force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery

(concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control),

delegated influence:--authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right,

strength.

see GREEK for 1832

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐξουσία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

power, authority, weight

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐξουσία exousia 102x

power, ability, faculty, Mt. 9:8; 10:1; efficiency, energy, Lk. 4:32; liberty, licence, Jn. 10:18; Acts 5:4; authority, rule, dominion, jurisdiction, Mt. 8:9; 28:18; meton. pl. authorities, potentates, powers, Lk. 12:11; 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; right, authority, full power, Mt. 9:6; 21:23; privilege, prerogative, Jn. 1:12

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐξουσία ἐξουσία, ἡ, ἔξεστι power or authority to do a thing, c. inf., Thuc., Xen.; c. gen. power over, licence in a thing, Thuc., Plat.

absol. power, authority, might, as opp. to right, Thuc.: also licence, Dem.

an office, magistracy, Lat. potestas, Plat.

as concrete, also like Lat. potestas, the body of the magistrates, in pl., the authorities, NTest.

abundance of means, resources, Thuc.

pomp, Plut.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
72%authority
authority72% · 74×power9% · 9×authorities8% · 8×right6% · 6×other renderings6% · 6×

103 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
object56%adverbial19%subject14%predicate8%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 102 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,δίδωμιI offer, giveαὐτός
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
οὐNegκαίand, even, also,ἀποκτείνωI put to death,
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςδύναμιςmight, power, maἀρχήruler, beginning
αὐτός
δίδωμιI offer, give
ποῖοςIrg
ἐν
ἐξουσίαauthorities102×
what comes after →
Article the
σκότοςdarknessArticle theπνεῦμαwind, breath, sp
οὗτος
ποιέωI do, makeἵναin order that, sἅπαςall, the whole
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
ἐπίκαίand, even, also,Article the
καίand, even, also, nam
δύναμιςmight, power, maArticle theἐπιτροπήcommission, full
ἐπί
Article theπᾶςall, 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

Concordanceἐξουσία · 102× in the New Testament
Revelation Luke 1 Corinthians Matthew Mark John Acts Romans Colossians Ephesians 2 Corinthians 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament16 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 18 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 The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.95c. AD 40

ἡ δὲ παραίνεσις γίνεται δι’ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν κλήσεων καὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, „ἐνετείλατο“ γὰρ „κύριος ὁ θεός“, ἵνα, εἰ μὲν πείθοιτο ταῖς παραινέσεσιν, ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐεργεσιῶν ἀξιωθείη, εἰ δὲ ἀφηνιάζοι, ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ὡς δεσπότου καὶ ἐξουσίαν…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.156c. AD 75–95

δυνάμεως γὰρ αὐτοῖς παρούσης καὶ προνοῆσαι τῆς κατʼ αὐτοὺς εὐταξίας, ταύτης δʼ ὑστεροῦντας φανεροὺς γίνεσθαι μηδʼ ὅσα πρὸς τὸ χρησιμώτερον ἡμῖν συνεργοῦσι κατὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ κελεύοντος ἰσχὺν ὑπουργεῖν, ᾧ καλῶς ἔχει μόνῳ τὴν…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.1c. AD 100

Ἡμερῶν οὖν οὐσῶν πονηρῶν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος ἔχοντος τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὀφείλομεν ἑαυτοῖς προσέχοντες ἐκζητεῖν τὰ δικαιώματα κυρίου,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 41Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 46

προκειμένοις πᾶσι. εὐτύχει. … ἐπὶ ταῖς προκειμέναις ἀργυρίου διακοσίαις ὀγδοήκοντα ὀκτώ, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐξουσίας οὔσης σοι ἑτέροις μεταμισθοῦν καμιτ … γ παντὶ χρόνωι. ἔτους ζ Τιβερίου Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος

APF 6 (1920), p. 85Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 120–AD 121

ἔτους Ἁδριανοῦ τοῦ κυρίου Ἐπὶφ ὑπομνηματισμοὶ περιέχουσι, διʼ ὧνπερ πράγματος ὑπερτεθέντος εἰς τὴν μείζονα ἐξουσίαν συνέβη, καθὼς ἅπαντες προφέρονται, καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ παιδίον, εἴτε ἦν τῆς Ἀπίας τῆς καὶ

P.Bodl. 1 34Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 158–AD 159

πρὸς ἐμὲ τὸν μεμισθωμένον. οὐχ ἕξω δὲ κοινωνὸν οὐδὲ μίσθιον γενόμενον τῆς ὠνῆς ὑποτελῆ, ἐξουσίας σοι οὔσης ἑτέροις μεταμισθοῦν, ὁπότε ἐὰν αἱρῇ, ἐὰν φαίνηται ἐπιχωρῆσαι.

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
ἐδειγμάτισενdeigmatizō He disgraced [them] G1165 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To exhibit or show something, like a public display, as seen in Matthew 1:19 and Colossians 2:15. This word means to make a show of something. It is used to describe a public display of something.
Amplified meaning
open, bold, display, show, celebrating victory
Tyndale gloss
to disgrace
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δειγματίζω is built from δεῖγμα and means to make a show of or to expose. It appears in the New Testament in Matthew 1:19 and Colossians 2:15, where it conveys the idea of making an example of someone or something. The entries suggest a focus on public display and disgrace, but do not indicate significant disagreement among lexicographers.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

*† δειγματίζω

(< δεῖγμα),

a rare word (ICC, ll. c.), to make a show of, to expose: Mt 1:19 (Rec. παραδ-, q.v.), Col 2:15.†

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

δειγματίζω : 1 aor. eSerypdtica; (δεῖγμα); to make an example of, to show as an example; twa, to expose one to disgrace (cf. παραδειγματίζω, θεατρίζω) : Mt. i. 19 LT Tr WH; Col.ii.15. A word unknown to Grk. writ. [ΟΕ Act. Petr. et Paul. § 33; W. 25 (24); 91 (87); δειγματισμός occurs on the Rosetta stone, line 30; Boeckh, Inserr. 4697. Comp. : mapa-deryparita.]

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

δειγματίζω δεήσει μου, of a petition to the Praefect Apollonius. For petitions addressed to the Emperor cf. CP Ilerm 6! ὑπὲρ τοιούτων ὁποῖα προ[σην]έγκαμεν τὴν δέησιν ποιούμεθα : the statement follows, with θ]ειότατε αὐτοκράτωρ in the next line. So 2b 119 versolii 4, where Gallienus replies ka[Ae]t δὲ καὶ ἡ το[ῦ δι]καίου τάξις ὡς καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς παρὰ σοῦ δεήσεως ἑτοίμως [δ]ιδίόϊναι τήν χάριν. It is clear that the word is a strong one, even if the language of exaggeration will sometimes employ it where ‘‘request’’ would express the sense: thus BGU I. 180!” (a.p. 172) δικαίαν δέ[ησ]ιν ποιούμενος, I Gen 1. 1619 (A.p. 207) δ]έησίν σοι προσφέpopev, Κύριε. The noun and its original verb δέομαι retain connexion with the idea of ‘‘need”’; and δέησις was thus ready for its special NT use of ‘‘entreaty”’ towards God—we recall Trench’s epigram defining prayer as ‘the mighty utterance of a mighty…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δειγματίζω (deigmatizō) — to disgrace.

δειγμᾰτ-ίζω,

make a show of, [NT]; make an example of, [NT]; furnish a sample, in passive, [Refs 1st c.BC+]; δειγματισθήσεται.. ἀπολέσθαι will be proved to.., [Refs 4th c.AD+]

2. make trial of, test, [Refs]

II. intransitive, appear, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

δειγματίζω

deigmatizo

from 1164; to exhibit:--make a shew.

see GREEK for 1164

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δειγματίζω

v.

I hold up as an example

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δειγματίζω deigmatizō 2x

to make a public show or spectacle of, Mt. 1:19; Col. 2:15*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δειγματίζω δεῖγμα to make a show of, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAI-3S — Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
aorist active indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%he disgraced
he disgraced50% · 1×disgrace50% · 1×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
θέλωI will, wish, de
ἐξουσίαpower, authority, we
Article the
δειγματίζωHe disgraced [them]
what comes after →
βούλομαιI will, intend, desi
λάθρᾳsecretly
ἐν
παρρησίαfreedom, confide

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

Concordanceδειγματίζω · 2× in the New Testament
Colossians Matthew
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC
PSI 4 442Philadelphia (Arsinoites)276 BC–227 BC

ταῦτα ἀπεργάσασθαι καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς προσδιέφθειρεν ταπιδυφάντας. εἰ οὖν σοι δοκεῖ καὶ ἐάσῃς με δειγματίσαι πρὸς αὐτούς, τῶν ιδ ἀμφιτάπων δώσω σοι ἀμφιτάπους πλείους δύο . ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔγνω

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
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.
Amplified meaning
through, in
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
Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
παρρησίᾳ,parrēsia public, G3954 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
31× 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 boldness or freedom in speaking, like the apostles in Acts 4:13 and 2 Corinthians 3:12, who spoke openly about Jesus.
Tyndale gloss
boldness
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

παρρησία is built from πᾶς (all) and ῥῆσις (speech), covering meanings like freedom of speech, boldness, and confidence. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as Acts 4:13 and John 7:13. The lexicons note its use in both positive and negative senses, with some indicating a shift from boldness in speech to general confidence.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

παρρησία, -ας, ἡ

(< πᾶς + ῥῆσις, speech),

[in LXX: Le 26:13 (μετὰ π., קוֹמְמִיּוּת), Pr 1:20 10:10, Wi 5:1, al.;]

freedom of speech, plainness, openness, freedom in speaking (Eur., Plat., al.): Ac 4:13, II Co 3:12; παρρησίᾳ, adverbially, freely, openly, plainly, Mk 8:32, Jo 7:13, 26 10:24 11:14 16:29 18:20; opp. to ἐν παροιμίαις, Jo 16:25; ἐν π., Eph 6:19; μετὰ π., Ac 2:29 4:29, 31 28:31.

In LXX (I Mac 4:18, Wi 5:1, al.), FlJ, and NT, also (from the absence of fear which accompanies freedom of speech), confidence, boldness:

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

παρρησία, -as, 7, (πᾶν and pros; cf. ἀρρησία silence, κατάρρησις accusation, πρόρρησις prediction) ; 1. freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech, (Kur., Plat., Dem., al.): ἡ π. τινός, Acts iv. 13; χρῆσθαι παρρησίᾳ, 2 Co. iii. 12; παρρησίᾳ adverbially,— freely: λαλεῖν, Jn. vii. 13, 26; xviii. 20 ;— openly, frankly, i. e. without concealment: Mk. viii. 32; Jn. xi. 14; — without ambiguity or cireumlocution: εἰπὲ ἡμῖν παρρησίᾳ (Philem. ed. Meineke p. 405), Jn. x. 24;— without the use of figures and comparisons, opp. to ἐν παροιμίαις : Jn. xvi. 25, and RG in 29 (where L TTr WH ἐν παρρησίᾳ); ἐν παρρησίᾳ, Sreely, Eph. vi. 19; pera παρρησίας, Acts xxviil. 31 ; εἰπεῖν, Acts ii. 29; λαλεῖν, Acts iv. 29, 31. 2. free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance, (1.Mace. iv. 18; Sap. ν. 1 ; Joseph. antt. 9, 10,4; 15, 2, 7; [οἷν W. 23]): Phil. i. 20 (opp. to αἰσχύνεσθαι, cf.…

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

παρρησία. ‘In accordance with its etymology παρρησία is used especially of ‘‘freedom,’’ ‘‘ boldness” zz speech, but it readily passes into the more general meaning ‘‘ confidence,’’ as in Heb 38, 1 Jn 228, Job 2719, Zest. xzt. patr. Reub iv. 2. This may be illustrated from P Par 63%%! 7 (B.c. 165) καλῶς ἔχειν ὑπέλαβον ταύτην ἔτι τὴν παρησίαν (for spelling, cf. Winer-Schmiedel Gy. p. 56) ἀγαγεῖν πρός σε. P Oxy VIII. 1100!° (A.D. 206) με]τὰ παρρησίας (cf. Ac 2831), unfortunately in a broken context, and Kazse/ 1096 παρησίαν ὁμοίαν οὐκ ἔχων βροτοῖς. Cf. also Aristeas 125 συμβουλευόντων παρρησίᾳ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον τῶν φίλων, ‘since friends unreservedly offer advice for one’s best interests ” (Thackeray). In OG/S 3231° (B C. 159-8) εὐδοκι[μη]κὼς ἐν ταῖς χρείαις ἁπάσαις κιεκ]όσμηκε τὸν αὑτοῦ [β]ίον τῆι καλλίστηι παρρησίαι. the word seems to be equivalent to ““ liberality,” and in Vett. Val. p.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

παρρησία (parrēsia) — boldness.

παρρησί-α, ἡ,

(πᾶς, ῥῆσις) outspokenness, frankness, freedom of speech, claimed by the Athenians as their privilege, ἐλεύθεροι παρρησίᾳ θάλλοντες οἰκοῖεν πόλιν κλεινῶν Ἀθηνῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔχειν π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δημοκρατίας οὔσης οὐκ ἔστι π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; περὶ παρρησίας, title of work by Philodemus.

2. in bad sense, licence of tongue, ἡ εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. freedom of action, [Refs 5th c.AD+]; π. ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου power of life and death, [Refs]; licence, permission, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; παρρησίᾳ ἐκτέμνεται τὸ δέρμα without fear, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; ἤγαγον ὑμᾶς μετὰ παρρησίας openly, [LXX]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

παρρησία

parrhesia

from 3956 and a derivative of 4483; all out-spokenness, i.e.

frankness, bluntness, publicity; by implication, assurance:--bold (X

-ly, -ness, -ness of speech), confidence,

X freely, X openly, X plainly(-ness).

see GREEK for 3956

see GREEK for 4483

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

παρρησία, ας, ἡ

n.f.

freedom, confidence

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

παρρησία parrēsia 31x

freedom in speaking, boldness of speech, Acts 4:13; παρρησίᾳ, as an adv., freely, boldly, Jn. 7:13, 26; so μετὰ παρρησίας, Acts 2:29; 4:29, 31; license, authority, Phlm. 8; confidence, assurance, 2 Cor. 7:4; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 3:6; 10:19; openness, frankness, 2 Cor. 3:12; παρρησίᾳ, and ἐν παρρησίᾳ, adverbially, openly, plainly, perspicuously, unambiguously, Mk. 8:32; Jn. 10:24

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

N-DSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
42%boldness
boldness42% · 13×confidence19% · 6×publicly10% · 3×plainly10% · 3×public6% · 2×openly6% · 2×freedom3% · 1×openness3% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial58%object32%subject7%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 31 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
αὐτόςνῦνnow, already, atἐγώ
μετά
λέγωI say, speakσύθεόςGod, a god
Article the
ἔχωI have, hold, poἐάνCondοὖνtherefore, then
ἐγώ
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusπολύςmuch, many, ofte
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
μετάἐν
παρρησίαpublic,31×
what comes after →
λαλέωI speak, say
καίand, even, also,περίArticle the
καίand, even, also, nam
ἸωάννηςJohnπροσαγωγήapproach, accessArticle the
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
ἐπιτάσσωI give order, coπρόςἐν
Article the
λόγοςa word, speech, θρόνοςa throne, seat
πρός
σύ

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

Concordanceπαρρησία · 31× in the New Testament
John Acts 1 John Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Timothy Colossians Mark Philemon Philippians
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 12c. AD 40

καὶ ὅταν γε μόνος ἰδίᾳ τῷ θεῷ προσέρχηται, μετὰ παρρησίας φησὶ μὴ εἶναι εὔλογος — ἴσον τῷ μὴ τῶν εὐλόγων καὶ πιθανῶν ἐφίεσθαι —, πεπονθέναι δὲ τοῦτο πρὸ τῆς ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτης, ἀφ’ οὗ τὸν θεὸν ἄρξασθαι διαλέγεσθαι ὡς θεράποντι αὐτῷ (Exod.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.52c. AD 75–95

τῆς δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα κοινωνίας ἀπόλαυσιν ἐχούσης ἀκίνδυνον καὶ προσέτι πολλὴν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν παρρησίαν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 34.1c. AD 96

Ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἐργάτης μετὰ παρρησίας λαμβάνει τὸν ἄρτον τοῦ ἔργου αὐτοῦ, ὁ νωθρὸς καὶ παρειμένος οὐκ ἀντοφθαλμεῖ τῷ ἐργοπαρέκτῃ αὐτοῦ,

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 4th c. AD
P.Mich. 8 502KoptosAD 101–AD 200

τοῦτο μόνον. παρακληθείς, ἄδελφε, διαλλάγηθί μοι ὅπως χρήσωμαι καὶ ἐν τῇ στρατείᾳ τῇ σῇ παρρησίᾳ. τὸ δὴ λοιπὸν μὴ εἶχές με μηδʼ ἑξῆς ἀδελφῷ ἐξ οὗ ἐπεξενώθην; ἀλλʼ ἔχω

P.Oxy. 8 1100OxyrhynchosAD 206

των τ … … ν διασειόντων τῶν εἰς ταῦτα ὑπηρη … … μετὰ παρρησίας, καὶ ἂν ἐλεγχθῶσι, τῆς προσηκούσης τεύξονται τιμωρίας. εἰ δὲ … … … ροιντο τοῖς

ἀναστάντος καὶ διὰ τῶν θεωμένων ἐλθόντος κατὰ μέσον τοῦ θεάτρου, ἐφώνησαν· Ἰσίδωρε ἡ βία παρρησία· τίς ὁ φθόνος τῆς εἰρήνης; τὸν ἀναστάσεως … … … ωνι ἔχεις αὐτόν· στρατηγέ,

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
θριαμβεύσαςthriambeuō having triumphed G2358 Verb · aorist · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Colossians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To triumph means to celebrate a victory with a big parade, like the Romans did. In the Bible, it's used to describe God giving us victory over sin. Paul wrote about it in 2 Corinthians 2:14.
Tyndale gloss
to triumph
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θριαμβεύω is built from the root of θρίαμβος, referring to a triumph or festal hymn. It means to triumph or lead in triumph, often used metaphorically in the New Testament, notably in 2 Corinthians 2:14 and Colossians 2:15. There is some disagreement among lexicographers regarding its causative sense, particularly in its application in 2 Corinthians.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

*† θριαμβεύω

(< θρίαμβος, 1. a festal hymn to Bacchus. 2. The Roman triumphus),

to triumph (and rarely, c. acc., to triumph over; so perh. Col 2:15, but v. infr.).

to lead in triumph: c. acc. pers., II Co 2:14; hence, generally, to make a spectacle or show of: Col 2:15 (but v. supr.; cf. MM, Exp., xv; and esp. Field, Notes, 181).†

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

θριαμβεύω ; 1 aor. ptep. θριαμβεύσας ; (θρίαμβος, a hymn sung in festal processions in honor of Bacchus; among the Romans, a triumphal procession [ Lat. (riumphus, with which word it is thought to be allied; ef. Vaniéek p. 317]); 1. to triumph, to celebrate a triumph, (Dion. Hal., App., Plut., Hdian., al.) ; τινά, over one (as Plut. Thes. and Rom. comp. 4): Col. ii. 15 (where it signifies the victory won by God over the demoniacal powers throuch Christ’s death). 2. by a usage unknown to prof. auth., with a Hiphil or causative force (cf. W. p. 23 and § 38, 1 [ef. B. 147 (129)]), with the ace. of a pers., to cause one to triumph, i.e. metaph. to grant one complete success, 2 Co. ii. 14 [but others reject the causative sense; see Mey. ad loc.; Bp. Lehtft. on Col. 1. ¢.].

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θριαμβεύω (thriambeuō) — to triumph.

θρῐαμβ-εύω,

perfect τεθριάμβευκα [Refs 1st c.AD+]: (θρίαμβος):—triumph, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἀπό τινος triumph over, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; also θ. ἐπὶ νίκῃ [Refs 1st c.AD+]

II. lead in triumph, of conquered enemies, τινα [NT]:—passive, -εύεσθαι ὑπό τινος [Refs 1st c.AD+]

II.2. lead in triumph, as a general does his army, metaphorically, ἡμᾶς ἐν Χριστῷ [NT]

III. divulge, noise abroad, [Refs 9th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

θριαμβεύω

thriambeuo

from a prolonged compound of the base of 2360; and a derivative of 680

(meaning a noisy iambus, sung in honor of Bacchus); to make an

acclamatory procession, i.e. (figuratively) to conquer or (by

Hebraism) to give victory:--(cause) to triumph (over).

see GREEK for 2360

see GREEK for 680

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θριαμβεύω

v.

I lead around, make a spectacle of

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θριαμβεύω thriambeuō 2x

pr. to celebrate a triumph; trans. to lead in triumph, celebrate a triumph over, Col. 2:15; in NT to cause to triumph, or, to render conspicuous, 2 Cor. 2:14*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θριαμβεύω θριαμβεύω, θρίαμβος to triumph, Plut., etc.; θρ. ἀπό τινος or κατά τινος Lat. triumphare de aliquo, id. Plut.; also, θρ. τινά NTest.

to lead in triumph, τινά Plut.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAP-NSM — Verb · aorist · 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-AAP-NSM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%leading in triumph
leading in triumph50% · 1×having triumphed50% · 1×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
πάντοτεalways, at all times
Article the
παρρησίαfreedom, confidence
ἐν
θριαμβεύωhaving triumphed
what comes after →
ἐγώ
ἐν
αὐτός
ἐν

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

Concordanceθριαμβεύω · 2× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Colossians
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
αὐτοὺςautos over them G846 Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · 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-APM — Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-APM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Plural 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
αὐτόςover them5550×
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

Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
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
Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities He disgraced [them] in public, having triumphed over them in it.
αὐτῷ.¶autos it. G846 Personal pronoun · dative · 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 instrument of His triumph
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-DSM — Personal pronoun · dative · singular · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-DSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Dative 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
αὐτόςit.5550×
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

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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