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Colossians 3:19 — Word Study

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N1904Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

BSAyou who [are]ho Husbands,anēr [you married men] do loveagapaō [show esteem and goodwill towards] theho wivesgunē [the women who are your partners] andkai not [lest you] do be harshpikrainō [bitter, embittered] towardpros them.autos [towards your wives]

Word
Listen & take awayColossians 3
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 19 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 3:19quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs husbands to love their wives and warns them against being harsh.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing husbands in the Christian community.
Where we areIn the section discussing family relationships, specifically roles within marriage.
The hard wordἀγαπᾶτε
Take awayLove should be the guiding principle in marriage, free from bitterness.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subject verbἀγαπάω 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 3:19

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 — Instructions for Christian Householdsgenerated

18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
21Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become discouraged.

Colossians 3:19 is part of a broader passage that outlines the relationships within a Christian household, emphasizing mutual respect and love. Paul addresses wives and husbands, instructing them on how to fulfill their roles in a way that honors God. This verse specifically highlights the husband's responsibility to love his wife, reflecting the love Christ has for the church, as seen in Ephesians 5:25.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Genesis 2:23–24And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
2Genesis 24:67And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
3Proverbs 5:18–19May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
4Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
5Malachi 2:14–16Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

The Key Word ἀγαπᾶτε, agapaōgenerated

The verb ἀγαπᾶτε is in the present active imperative form, indicating a continuous action or command. It means to love in a way that shows esteem and goodwill, not just as a feeling but as an active choice to care for and support one's partner.

This command is directed at husbands, emphasizing that love should be a defining characteristic of their relationship with their wives. It calls for an ongoing commitment to nurture and cherish their spouses.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.' Other translations, like the KJV and ASV, also use 'love your wives, and be not bitter against them.'

While most translations agree on the command to love, they differ on the rendering of 'be not bitter.' The KJV and ASV use 'bitter,' while the NETB opts for 'embittered.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in the verse is ἀγαπᾶτε, do love, which governs the instruction to husbands. This is followed by a negative command introduced by μὴ, not, leading to the second verb πικραίνεσθε, do be harsh, indicating what husbands should avoid.

The structure contains two main clauses connected by καὶ, and, outlining both the command to love and the prohibition against harshness.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek word ἀνήρ is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew term for 'man' or 'husband' found in passages like Genesis 2:23, where it describes the first man.

The term γυνή corresponds to the Hebrew word for 'woman' or 'wife,' appearing in contexts that emphasize marital relationships, such as in Proverbs 5:18.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Colossians 3:19 instructs husbands to love their wives and not to be harsh with them. This highlights the importance of love in marriage and warns against bitterness, ensuring a healthy and supportive relationship.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean for husbands to love their wives?

It means to show esteem and goodwill towards them, actively caring for their needs and well-being.

Why does Paul warn husbands not to be harsh?

Being harsh can lead to bitterness and emotional pain, which undermines the love and respect that should characterize a marriage.

How can husbands demonstrate love in practical ways?

Husbands can demonstrate love through acts of kindness, support, and understanding, making their wives feel valued and cherished.

What is the significance of this instruction in the context of Christian marriage?

This instruction reflects the biblical model of marriage, where love and mutual respect are foundational, mirroring Christ's love for the church.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I actively show love to my spouse today?
  2. How can I ensure that I am not being harsh or bitter in my relationship?
  3. What are some examples of love that I can express in my marriage?
  4. How does understanding Christ's love for the church influence how I love my spouse?

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

Early church Fathers provide insights on this verse, discussing the reciprocal nature of love and the importance of avoiding bitterness in marriage.

John ChrysostomHomily on Colossians 10 c. 347–407
See how again he has exhorted to reciprocity. As in the other case he enjoineth fear and love, so also doth he here. For it is possible for one who loves even, to be bitter. What he saith then is this.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 3 →
Augustine of Hippo 354–430
God forbid that a man who possesses faith should, when he hears the apostle bid men “love their wives,” love that disordered sexual desire in his wife which he ought not to love even in himself.
Early Church Fathers on Colossians 3 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Colossians 3:19 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Husbands, love your wives,.... [See comments on Ephesians 5:25].

Read John Gill on Colossians 3 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Be not bitter - ill-tempered, provoking. Many polite abroad are rude at home, because they are not afraid there.

Read Robert Jamieson on Colossians 3 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The husband’ s duty is love, which the apostle doth ever inculcate from the most obliging considerations when he speaks of this relation; see , with ,33; to sweeten on the one hand the subjection of the wife, and to temper on the other hand the authority of the husband. And be not bitter against them; who, that upon his authority he may not grow insolent, the apostle forbids him frowardness with his wife, thereby requiring a conversation with her full of sweetness and amity: wrath and bitterness is to be laid aside towards all others, , with , much more towards his own wife, in whom he is to joy and delight, ,18,19 .

Read Matthew Poole on Colossians 3 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Ver. 19. Husbands, love your wives] He saith not, Rule over them, subdue them if they will not submit, but love them, and so win them to your will; make their yoke as easy as may be, for they stand on even ground with you, as yokefellows, though they draw on the left side. "Yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant," Malachi 2:14. He therefore that is free may frame his choice to his mind; but he that hath chosen must frame his heart to his choice. " Uxorem vir amato, marito pareat uxor: Coniugis illa sui cor, caput ille suae." And be not bitter against them] Nothing akin to Nabal, to those Chaldeans, a bitter and…

Read John Trapp on Colossians 3 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Be not bitter.—Properly, grow not bitter, suffer not yourselves to be exasperated. The word is used metaphorically only in this passage, literally in Revelation 8:11; Revelation 10:9-10.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Colossians 3 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 19. Be not bitter against them.] Wherever bitterness is, there love is wanting. And where love is wanting in the married life, there is hell upon earth.

Read AdamClarke on Colossians 3 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. Husbands] Cp. Ephesians 5:25-33; 1 Peter 3:7.love] A word deepened and hallowed indefinitely by the Gospel, in reference to matrimonial truth and tenderness. See our note on Ephesians 5:25.be not bitter] with the wretched irritability of a supposed absolute superiority and authority. “The husband’s primacy is not for dominion but for guidance, with sweetness, wisdom and peace” (Quesnel).—To be “bitter,” in the sense of angry, is a phrase of O.T. Greek. See the LXX. in e.g. Jeremiah 44 :(Heb. 37)15 (where A. V. reads “they were wroth”); Habakkuk 1:6.—Cp. Ephesians 4:31.

Read Cambridge on Colossians 3 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Husbands, love your wives ... - Notes, Ephesians 4:25-29.

Read Albert Barnes on Colossians 3 →

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

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

RVARevised Version, American1894

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Husbands, loue your wiues, and be not bitter vnto them.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

the husbands! love your wives, and be not bitter with them;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

the husbands: love your wives, and do not be bitter with them;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter against them.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter towards them.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

You married men, love your wives and don't treat them badly.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Husbands, have love for your wives, and be not bitter against them.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἄνδρες,anēr Husbands, G435 2 different renderings
husbandsASV BBE BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
you married menFBV
πικραίνεσθεpikrainō do be harsh G4087 2 different renderings
bitterASV BBE DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
embitteredNETB

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.

clauseclausenoun phraseΟἱ-ἄνδρεςHusbandsclauseclauseverbἀγαπᾶτεlovenoun phrase · objectτὰςtheγυναῖκαςwivesκαὶandclauseadverbialμὴnotverbπικραίνεσθεbe harshprepositional phrase · adverbialπρὸςtowardαὐτάςthem

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

Viri, diligite uxores vestras, et nolite amari esse ad illas.

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

ܓܒܪܐ ܐܚܒܘ ܢܫܝܟܘܢ ܘܠܐ ܬܗܘܘܢ ܡܪܝܪܝܢ ܥܠܝܗܝܢ

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

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ μὴ πικραίνεσθε πρὸς αὐτάς.¶

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 3:19you who [aryou who [are]ἀνήρHusbands,Husbands,ἀνήρἀγαπάωdo lovedo loveἀγαπάωthetheγυνήwiveswivesγυνήκαίandandκαίμήnotnotμήπικραίνωdo be harshdo be harshπικραίνωπρόςtowardtowardπρόςαὐτόςthem.them.αὐτόςπικρόςAdj bitterAdj bitter, acrπικρόςἄνθρωποςn.m. a mann.m. a man, oneἄνθρωποςφιλέωv. I love,v. I love, kissφιλέωγίνομαιv. I come v. I come into γίνομαιοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦἸσραηλίτηςn.m. an Isn.m. an IsraeliἸσραηλίτηςγυνήn.f. a womn.f. a woman, wγυνήπλησίονAdv near, Adv near, nearbπλησίονἀνήρn.m. a maln.m. a male humἀνήργαμέωv. I marryv. I marryγαμέωπότεIrg.prt. wIrg.prt. when, πότεφοβέωv. I fear,v. I fear, am tφοβέωκοιλίαn.f. bellyn.f. belly, womκοιλίαἀλλήλωνRecip.pr. Recip.pr. one aἀλλήλωνἐπιστρέφωv. I turn v. I turn back ἐπιστρέφω
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 3:19

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.

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
Οἱho you who [are] G3588 Article · nominative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-NPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
ἄνδρες,anēr Husbands, G435 Noun · nominative · plural · masculine
216× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A man in the Bible refers to an adult male, often in contrast to a woman or child. It can also describe a husband, as seen in Matthew 1:16 and Romans 7:2. The term is used to address or describe individuals, such as a prophet or brother.
Amplified meaning
you married men
Tyndale gloss
man
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀνήρ (anēr) means 'man' in various contexts, distinguishing adult males from women and children. It can refer to a husband or a male person in general, and is often used in conjunction with other nouns or adjectives. The New Testament employs it similarly, as seen in verses like Matthew 1:16 and 1 Corinthians 13:11. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ,

[in LXX chiefly for אִישׁ, freq. אֱנוֹשׁ, also אָדָם, etc.;]

a man, Lat. vir.

As opp. to a woman, Ac 8:12, I Ti 2:12; as a husband, Mt 1:16, Jo 4:16, Ro 7:2, Tit 1:6.

As opp. to a boy or infant, I Co 13:11, Eph 4:13, Ja 3:2.

In appos. with a noun or adj., as ἀ. ἁμαρτωλός, Lk 5:8; ἀ. προφήτης, 24:19; freq. in terms of address, as ἀ. ἀδελφοί, Ac 1:16; and esp. with…

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

ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ, a man, Lat. vir. The meanings of this word in the N. T. differ in no respect fr. classic usage ; for it is employed 1. with a reference to sex, and so to distinguish a man from a woman; either a. asa male: Acts viii. 12; xvii.12; 1 Tim.ii.12; or b. asa husband: Mt.i.16; Mk. x.2; Jn. iv. 16 sqq.; Ro..vii. 2 sqq:; 1 Co. vii. 2 sqq.; Gal. iv. 27; 1 Tim. iii. 2,12; Tit. i. 6, etc.; a betrothed or future husband: Mt.i.19; Rev. xxi. 2, ete. 2. with a reference to age, and to distinguish an adult man from a boy: Mt. xiv. 21; xv. 38 (where ἄνδρες, γυναῖκες and παιδία are discriminated) ; with the added notion also of intelligence and virtue: 1 Co. xiii. 11 (opp. to νήπιος) ; Eph. iv. 13; Jas. iii. 2, (in the last two pass. τέλειος ἀνήρ). 3. univ. any male person, a man; so where tis might have been used: Lk. viii. 41; ix.38; Acts νἱ. 11; x.5,ete. where ἀνήρ and τὶς are united…

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

ἀνήρ. The special differentia of ἀνήρ : ἄνθρωπος survives in MGr (ἄντρας, ἄθρωπος), where even the old gen. sing. (ἀντρός) may still be found beside the ‘‘regular” τοῦ ἄντρα (Thumb Handbook, p. 48). Naturally there is nothing particular to record in the uses of this everyday word, which has in NT and Hellenistic generally much the same range as in class. Gk. Thus, taking the index to BGU IV., we can illustrate many of the uses noted for the NT in Grimm from documents of the Augustan period. So (1) husband by the perpetual phrase μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ ἀνδρός after the name of a woman, as 1126* (where ἀνδρός is written over an erased ὁμομητρίου ἀδελφοῦ), or in a marriage contract as τορϑ τηρεῖν τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρᾳ καὶ τὸν κοινὸν βίον δίκαια, while the document will also use ἀνήρ for irregular relations in the pledge μηδ᾽ ἄλλωι ἀνδρὶ συνεῖναι. Then under Grimm’s (3) we have 1189" of σημαινόμενοι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀνήρ (anēr) — man.

ἀνήρ, ὁ, ἀνδρός, ἀνδρί, ἄνδρα,

vocative ἄνερ: plural ἄνδρες, -δρῶν, -δράσι [ᾰ], -dras: Aeolic dialect dative plural ἄνδρεσι[Refs 7th c.BC+] for οἱ ἄνδρε; the Ionic dialect crasis is ὡνήρ, ὧνδρες, [Refs 5th c.BC+] [Epic dialect Poets mostly use ᾱ in arsi, ᾰ in thesi; but in trisyllable forms with stem ἀνέρ- always ; so also Trag. in Lyric poetry, [Refs 5th c.BC+] in nominative by analogy; cf. Sanskrit nar- from I.-[Refs 5th c.BC+] ner-, nṛ- from nṛ-, Gk. ἀνδρ- from ṇr-):—man, opposed to woman (ἄνθρωπος being man as opposed to to beast), [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἄπαις without male children, [Refs 8th c.BC+] mostly of princes, leaders, etc., but also of free men; ἀ δήμου one of the people, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; with a qualifying word to indicate rank, ἀ. βουληφόρος[Refs 8th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀνήρ

aner

a primary word (compare 444); a man (properly as an individual

male):--fellow, husband, man, sir.

see GREEK for 444

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ

n.m.

a male human being, a man

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀνήρ anēr 216x

a male person of full age and stature, as opposed to a child or female, 1 Cor. 13:11; a husband, Mt. 1:16; a man, human being, individual, Lk. 11:31; used also pleonastically with other nouns and adjectives, Lk. 5:8; Acts 1:16

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀνήρ Root ΑΝΕΡ a man, Lat. vir (not homo):

a man, opp. to a woman, Hom., etc.

a man, opp. to a god, πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε id. Hom.

a man, opp. to a youth, a man in the prime of life, id. Hom., etc.; εἰς ἄνδρας ἐγγράφεσθαι to be enrolled among the men, Dem.

a man emphatically, a man indeed, ἀνέρες ἔστε, φίλοι Il.; πολλοὶ μὲν ἄνθρωποι, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἄνδρες many human beings, but few men, Hdt.

a man, opp. to his wife, a husband, Hom., etc.; αἰγῶν ἄνερ, Virgil's vir gregis, Theocr.

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

N-NPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Should have but one wife

Ge 2:24; Mr 10:6-8; 1Co 7:2-4

- Have authority over their wives

Ge 3:16; 1Co 11:3; Eph 5:23

- DUTY OF, TO WIVES

. To respect them

1Pe 3:7

. To love them

Eph 5:25-33; Col 3:19

. To regard them as themselves

Ge 2:23; Mt 19:5

. To be faithful to them

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%men
men40% · 86×man34% · 74×husband18% · 39×husbands6% · 13×other renderings2% · 5×

217 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 6 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
subject38%object18%adverbial13%predicate12%indirect object6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 216 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,γυνήa woman, wife, mαὐτός
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
καίand, even, also,πνεῦμαwind, breath, spΠαῦλοςPaul
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,εἰρήνηpeace, peace of αὐτός
αὐτός
πρόςἐκοἶδαI know, remember
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐσθίωI eatὁδόςa way, road, jouἀθέμιτοςillegal, unlawfu
ἀνήρHusbands,216×
what comes after →
Article the
τόποςa placeξηρόςdry, withered, dσυνίστημιI commend, prove
ἀδελφόςa brother
καίand, even, also,ἐγώδεῖit is necessary,
ὅς
ὄνομαname, character,ἵστημιI cause to standἔμπροσθεν
αὐτός
δίκαιοςjust, righteous,γαμέωI marryἐάνCond
οὗτος
ἀληθήςunconcealed, truὅσοςοὔτεNeg

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

Concordanceἀνήρ · 216× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Corinthians Luke Romans John Matthew Ephesians James 1 Timothy Mark 1 Peter Colossians

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.8c. AD 75–95

ἦσαν δέ τινες, οἳ πόθῳ τῆς ἱστορίας ἐπʼ αὐτήν με προύτρεπον, καὶ μάλιστα δὴ πάντων Ἐπαφρόδιτος ἀνὴρ ἅπασαν μὲν ἰδέαν παιδείας ἠγαπηκώς, διαφερόντως δὲ χαίρων ἐμπειρίαις πραγμάτων, ἅτε δὴ μεγάλοις μὲν αὐτὸς ὁμιλήσας πράγμασι καὶ τύχαις πολυτρόποις,…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD
P. Grenf. 1 21Pathyris127 BC

διέθετο ὑγιαίνων νοῶν φρονῶν Δρύτων Παμφίλου Κρὴς τῶν διαδόχων καὶ τοῦ ἐπιτάγματος ἱππάρχης ἐπʼ ἀνδρῶν· εἴη μέμ μοι ὑγιαίνοντι τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ κύριον εἶναι· ἐὰν δέ τι ἀνθρώπινον πάθω, καταλείπω

P.Grenf. 1 44Pathyris127 BC

διέθετο ὑγιαίνων νοῶν φρονῶν Δρύτων Παμφίλου Κρὴς τῶν διαδόχων καὶ τοῦ ἐπιτάγματος ἱππάρχης ἐπʼ ἀνδρῶν. εἴη μέμ μοι ὑγιαίνοντι τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ κύριον εἶναι. ἐὰν δέ τι ἀνθρώπινον πάθω, καταλείπω

P.Adl. 2Pathyris125 BC

Ἡλιοδώρου ἀγορανόμου. ὁμολογεῖ Πανερεῦς Γούνσιος Πέρσης καὶ Σενενοῦπις Φίβιος Περσίνη μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ ἑαυτῆς ἀνδρὸς Πανερεῦτος τοῦ προγεγραμμένου, Πανεβχούνει καὶ Ὥρωι καὶ Φίβει καὶ Πασήμει τοῖς τέσσαρσι τῶν ἐκ

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
ἀγαπᾶτεagapaō do love G25 Verb · present · active · imperative · second person · plural
143× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To love means to show esteem and goodwill towards someone, as seen in Matthew 5:43 and John 8:42. This love is not just a feeling, but an action that is demonstrated towards others. It is a key concept in the Bible.
Amplified meaning
show esteem and goodwill towards
Tyndale gloss
to love
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀγαπάω (i.e., *agapao*) means to love in a moral or social sense, often implying esteem and goodwill toward others. It is used in the New Testament to describe both human affection and divine love, such as God's love for humanity and the love Christians should have for one another. Lexicons note a distinction between ἀγαπάω and φιλέω (i.e., *phileo*), with the former suggesting a more deliberate, willful love.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — ἀγαπάω, φιλέω from a scan

We have made no attempt to discriminate between these words in our English Version. And yet there is often a difference between them, well worthy to have been noted and reproduced, if this had lain within the compass of our language; being very nearly equivalent to that between ‘diligo’ and ‘amo’ in the Latin. To understand the exact distinction between these, will help us to understand that between those other which are the more immediate object of our inquiry. For this we possess abundant material in Cicero, who often sets the words in instructive antithesis to one another. Thus, writing to one friend of the affection in which he holds another (Hp. Fam. xiii. 47) : *Ut scires illum a-me non diligt solum, verum etiam amart;? and again (Ad Brut. 1): ‘L. Clodius valde me diligit, vel, ut ἐμφατικώτερον dicam, valde me amat.’? From these and other like passages (there is an ample…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀγαπάω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for אהב;]

to love, to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person, to prize and delight in a thing. Of human affection, to men: τ. πλησίον, Mt 5:43; τ. ἐχθρούς, ib. 44; to Christ, Jo 8:42; to God, Mt 22:37; c. acc. rei, Lk 11:43, Jo 12:43, Eph 5:25, II Tim 4:8, 10, He 1:9, I Pe 2:17, 3:10, II Pe 2:15, I Jo 2:15, Re 12:11.

Of divine love;

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

ἀγαπάω, -&; [impf. ἠγάπων] ; fut.dyarjow; 1 aor. ἦγάmoa; pé. act. [1 pers. plur. 7yampxapev 1 Jn. iv. 10 WH txt.], ptep. ἠγαπηκώς (2 Tim. iv. 8); Pass., [pres. dyaπῶμαι]; pf. ptep. ἤγαπημένος ; 1 fut. ἀγαπηθήσομαι; (akin to ἄγαμαι [Fick, Pt. iv. 12; see ἀγαθός, init.]); to love, to be full of good-will and exhibit the same: LK. vii. 47; 1 Jn. iv. 7 sq.; with ace. of the person, to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of: Mt. ν. 43 sqq-; xix. 19; Lk. vii. 5; Jn. xi. 5; Ro. xiii. 8; 2 Co. xi. 11; xii.15; Gal. v.14; Eph. v. 25, 28; 1 Pet. i. 22, and elsewhere; often in 1 Ep. of Jn. of the love of Christians towards one another; of the benevolence which God, in providing salvation for men, has exhibited by sending his Son to them and giving him up to death, dn. iii. 16; Ro. viii. 87; 2 Th. ii. 16; 1 Jn. iv. 11, 19; [noteworthy is Jude 1 L T Tr WH τοῖς ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ…

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

ἀγαπάω. The Pauline phrase in 1 Th 14 ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ [rod] θεοῦ, which in this exact form is not found elsewhere in the NT (cf. in the LXX Sir 45! ἠγαπημένον ὑπὸ (ἀπὸ N) θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων), is well illustrated by a similar

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀγαπάω (agapaō) — to love.

ἀγαπάω

(Doric dialect ἀγαπ-έω [Refs 4th c.BC+], Epic dialect aorist ἀγάπησα[Refs 8th c.BC+]: perfect ἠγάπηκα[Refs 5th c.BC+]

I. greet with affection (compare {ἀγαπάζω}), once in [Refs 8th c.BC+], Od.[same place]:—in Trag. only show affection for the dead, ὅτ᾽ ἠγάπα νεκρούς[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be regarded with affection, ξένων εὐεργεσίαις ἀγαπᾶται[Refs 5th c.BC+]:— generally, love, ὥσπερ.. οἱ ποιηταὶ τὰ αὑτῶν ποιήματα καὶ οἱ πατέρες τοὺς παῖδας ἀγαπῶσι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὡς λύκοι ἄρν᾽ ἀγαπῶσ᾽ poetical cited in [Refs]; ἐπιστήμην, τὰ χρήματα, etc., [Refs 4th c.BC+]; especially of children, αὐτὸν ἐτιθηνούμην ἀγαπῶσα[Refs]:—passive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in LXX of the love of God for man and of man for God, [LXX+NT] implying regard rather than affection, but the two are interchanged,[Refs 5th c.BC+]; φιλεῖσθαι defined…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀγαπάω

agapao

perhaps from agan (much) (or compare 5689); to love (in a social or

moral sense):--(be-)love(-ed). Compare 5368.

see GREEK for 5689

see GREEK for 5368

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀγαπάω

v.

I love

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀγαπάω agapaō 143x

to love, value, esteem, feel or manifest generous concern for, be faithful towards; to delight in, to set store upon, Rev. 12:11

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀγαπάω ἀγάπη of persons, to treat with affection, to caress, love, be fond of, c. acc., attic for ἀγαπάζω, Plat., etc.; Pass. to be beloved, id. Plat., Dem.

in NTest. to regard with brotherly love, v. ἀγαπή.

of things, to be well pleased or contented at or with a thing, c. dat., Dem., etc.; also c. acc. rei, id. Dem.; absol. to be content, Luc.: —ἀγ. ὅτι.., εἰ.., ἐὰν.., to be well pleased that . . ., Thuc., etc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAM-2P — Verb · present · active · imperative · second person · plural
present active imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

luv ('ahebh, 'ahabhah, noun; phileo, agapao, verb; agape, noun): Love to both God and man is fundamental to true religion, whether as expressed in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Jesus Himself declared that all the law and the prophets hang upon love (Mt 22:40; Mr 12:28-34). Paul, in his matchless ode on love (1Co 13), makes it the greatest of the graces of the Christian life--greater than speaking with tongues, or the gift of prophecy, or the possession of a faith of superior excellence; for without love all these gifts and graces, desirable and useful as they are in themselves, are as nothing, certainly of no permanent value in the sight of God. Not that either Jesus or Paul underestimates the faith from which all the graces proceed, for this grace is recognized as…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Love

This word seems to require explanation only in the case of its use by our Lord in his interview with “Simon, the son of Jonas,” after his resurrection (John 21:16, 17). When our Lord says, “Lovest thou me?” he uses the Greek word agapas; and when Simon answers, he uses the Greek word philo, i.e., “I love.” This is the usage in the first and second questions put by our Lord; but in the third our Lord uses Simon’s word. The distinction between these two Greek words is thus fitly described by Trench:, ”Agapan has more of judgment and deliberate choice; philein has more of attachment and peculiar personal affection. Thus the ‘Lovest thou’ (Gr. agapas) on the lips of the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word, as though his Lord were keeping him at a distance, or at least not inviting him to draw near, as in the…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

GOD IS LOVE; AND HE THAT DWELLETH IN LOVE DWELLETH IN GOD, AND GOD IN HIM, 1Jo 4:16. Love is a chief attribute of Jehovah, the length and breadth and height and depth of which are beyond comprehension, for they are infinite, Eph 3:18,19. Between the three Persons of the Godhead, love is unutterable full, perfect, and blissful; towards holy angels and Christians, God’s love is an infinite fatherly complacency and affection; towards sinners, it is immeasurable compassion. It is shown in all his works and ways, and dictated his holy law, but is most signally displayed in the gospel, Joh 3:16. "Herein is love."

Holy love in man would make the whole heart and soul supremely delight in and obey God, and cordially and practically love all beings according to their character-the good…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ OF CHILDREN FOR PARENTS

See CHILDREN

→ OF GOD, LOVE OF

→ OF MAN FOR GOD Ex 20:6; De 5:10; 6:5; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1,13,22; 13:3; 30:6,16,20; Jos 22:5; 23:11; Ps 18:1; 31:23; 37:4; 45:10,11; 63:5,6; 69:35,36; 73:25,26; 91:14; 97:10; 116:1; 145:20; Pr 8:17; 23:26; Isa 56:6,7; Jer 2:2,3; Mt 22:37,38; Mr 12:29,30,32,33; Lu 11:42;

Across the New Testament22 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 123 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.129c. AD 40

ἀλλ’ οὗτος μέν, ὡς ἔφην, ἔχων τὸ πάθος ἰᾶσθαι αὐτὸ πειρᾶται τοῖς λεχθεῖσι σωτηρίοις φαρμάκοις, Μωυσῆς δὲ ὅλον τὸν θυμὸν ἐκτέμνειν καὶ ἀποκόπτειν οἴεται δεῖν τῆς ψυχῆς, οὐ μετριοπάθειαν ἀλλὰ συνόλως ἀπάθειαν ἀγαπῶν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.64c. AD 75–95

τούτων Ἰώβηλος μὲν ἐξ Ἄδας γεγονὼς σκηνὰς ἐπήξατο καὶ προβατείαν ἠγάπησεν, Ἰούβαλος δέ, ὁμομήτριος δʼ ἦν αὐτῷ, μουσικὴν ἤσκησε καὶ ψαλτήρια καὶ κιθάρας ἐπενόησεν, Ἰουβῆλος δὲ τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἑτέρας γεγονότων ἰσχύι πάντας ὑπερβαλὼν τὰ πολεμικὰ διαπρεπῶς…

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
4th c. AD 6th c. AD 5th c. AD 7th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Oxy. 50 3555OxyrhynchosAD 1–AD 200

Θερμουθίου τῆς Πλουτάρχου τῶν ἀπʼ Ὀξυρύγχων πόλεως. θεραπαινίδιόν μου οἰκογενές, οὗ ἔστιν ὄνομα Πεῖνα, ἠγάπησα καὶ ἐτημέλησα ὡς θυγάτριον ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι τοῦ ἡλικίας γενόμενον ἔχειν με γηροβοσκόν, γυναῖκα ἀβοήθητον

P.Oxy. 46 3313OxyrhynchosAD 101–AD 200

καὶ ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν τὰ παιδία ὡς ἴδια τέκνα καὶ πλέον τῶν ἡμῶν τιμῶμεν καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν αὐτὰ καὶ οὕτως χαίρομεν ἴσα σοι καὶ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτῶν. περὶ ὧν ἄλλων θέλεις

P.Lond. 6 1918Herakleopolites bzw. KynopolitesAD 330–AD 340

r τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ καὶ ἠγαπημένῳ πατρὶ ἄπα Παιηοῦτι Χαρίσιος πλεῖστα χαίρειν. πρὸ μὲν πάντων ἀσπάζομαί σε πολλὰ ἐν κυρίῳ,

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
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

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
γυναῖκαςgunē wives G1135 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
214× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A woman, either married or unmarried, and sometimes specifically a wife, as in Matthew 11:11 and Romans 7:2. This term is also used as a term of respect and endearment.
Amplified meaning
the women who are your partners
Tyndale gloss
woman
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word γυνή (i.e., *gunē*) means 'woman' and can refer to any female, including wives and unmarried women. It is used in various contexts in the New Testament, such as addressing women with respect or affection. The term also specifically denotes a wife and appears in passages like Matthew 1:20 and 14:3. Lexicons note that it can imply different nuances depending on the context.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γυνή, -αικός, ἡ,

[in LXX for אִשָּׁה ;]

a woman, married or unmarried: Mt 11:11 14:21, al.; ὕπανδρος γ., Ro 7:2; γ. χήρα, Lk 4:26; in vocat., γύναι implies neither reproof nor severity, but is used freq. as a term of respect and endearment, Mt 15:28, Jo 2:4, 4:21 19:26.

a wife: Mt 1:20, I Co 7:3, 4 al.; γ. ἀπολύειν, Mk 10:2, al.; γ. ἔχειν Mk 6:18; γ. λαβεῖν, Mk 12:19; γ.…

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

γυνή, -αικός, ἡ; 1. univ. a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow: Mt. ix. 20; xiii. 33; xxvii. 55; Lk. xiii. 11; Acts v. 14, ete.; ἡ μεμνηστευμένη τινὶ γυνή, Lk. ii. 5 RG; ἡ ὕπανδρος γυνή, Ro. vii. 2 ; γυνὴ xnpa, Lk. iv. 26 (1 K. vii. 2 (14); xvii. 9; femina vidua, | Nep. praef. 4). 2. a wife: 1 Co. vii. 3 sq. 10, 13 sq.; | Eph. ν. 22, ete.; γυνή τινος, Mt. v. 31 sq. ; xix. 3,5; Acts v. 1, 7; 1 Co. vii. 2; Eph. v. 28; Rev. ii. 20 [G L WH mrg.], ete. of a betrothed woman: Mt. i. 20, 24. ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ πατρός his step-mother: 1 Co. v. 1 (38 NW, Lev. xviii. 8). ἔχειν γυναῖκα : Mt. xiv.4; xxii. 28; Mk. vi. 18; xii. 23; Lk. xx. 33; see ἔχω, I. 2b. fin. γύναι, as a form of address, may be used — either in indignation, Lk. xxii. 57; or in admiration, Mt. xv. 28; or in kindness and favor, Lk. xiii. 12; Jn. iv. 21; or in respect, Jn. ii. 4; xix. 26, (as in Hom. Il. 3, 204; Od.…

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

γυνή. This old noun retains from Homer down to MGr—where it has only changed its declension (ἡ yvvaika)—the two meanings of ‘‘woman”’ and ‘‘ wife”: it is superfluous to illustrate the one or the other, as we should get no light on the only questions that arise in NT, such as which word to use in rendering Mt 578. The meeting of two words characteristic of that passage does, however, make it worth while to quote Wiinsch 4 58° (iii/A.D.), where Domitiana prays that her lover may be wholly devoted to her, μηδεμίαν ἄλλην γυναῖκα μήτε παρθένον ἐπιθυμοῦντα. That γυναῖκα = ‘* married woman” in Mt /.c. is anyhow probable. The phrase of Mk 1215 ἢ etc., may be paralleled in the oldest word is | | the Κοινή. yovla extant Greek papyrus, P Eleph 1° (B.c. 311) (= Selections, p. 2) λαμβάνει Ἡρακλείδης Δημητρίαν Koray γυναῖκα γνησίαν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός κτλ. The irregularity of the word’s flexion naturally…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γυνή (gunē) — woman.

γῠνή,

Doric dialect γυνά, Boeotian dialect βανά (see entry), ἡ, genitive γυναικός, accusative γυναῖκα, vocative γύναι (γυνή [Refs 6th c.BC+]: Aeolic dialect dative plural γυναίκεσσι [Refs 7th c.BC+]:—woman, opposed to man,[Refs 8th c.BC+] substantive, γ. ταμίη[Refs 8th c.BC+]; γρηΰς (which see), ἀλετρίς (which see), δμῳαὶ γυναῖκες [Refs 8th c.BC+]: vocative, as a term of respect or affection, mistress, lady, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φαντὶ γυναῖκες the lasses say, [Refs]; πρὸς γυναικός like a woman, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὅρκους γυναικὸς εἰς ὕδωρ γράφω [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. wife, spouse, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to ἑταίρα, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; γ. γνησία, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; also, concubine, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γυνή

gune

probably from the base of 1096; a woman; specially, a wife:--wife,

woman.

see GREEK for 1096

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γυνή, αικός, ἡ

n.f.

a woman, wife, my lady

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γυνή gynē 215x

a woman, Mt. 5:28, et al.; a married woman, wife, Mt. 5:31, 32; 14:3, et al.; in the voc. ὦ γύναι, O woman! an ordinary mode of addressing females under every circumstance; met. used of the Church, as united to Christ, Rev. 19:7; 21:9

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γυνή Prob. from same Root as γίγνομαι. a woman, Lat. femina, opp. to man, Hom., etc.; with a second Subst., γυνὴ ταμίη housekeeper, δέσποινα γ., δμωαὶ γυναῖκες, etc., id. Hom.:—in voc. often as a term of respect, mistress, lady, Theocr.:— πρὸς γυναικός like a woman, Aesch.

a wife, spouse, opp. to παρθένος, Hom., Xen.

a mortal woman, opp to a goddess, Hom.

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
Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Not to be selected from among the ungodly

Ge 24:3; 26:34,35; 28:1

- DUTIES OF, TO THEIR HUSBANDS

. To love them

Tit 2:4

. To reverence them

Eph 5:33

. To be faithful to them

1Co 7:3-5,10

. To be subject to them

Ge 3:16; Eph 5:22,24; 1Pe 3:1

. To obey them

1Co 14:34; Tit 2:5

. To remain with them for life

Ro 7:2,3

- SHOULD BE ADORNED

. Not with ornaments

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
41%woman
woman41% · 90×wife32% · 71×women15% · 33×wives5% · 11×other renderings2% · 5×other renderings5% · 11×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject43%object23%adverbial16%predicate6%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 214 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,αὐτόςἀπολύωI release, let g
καίand, even, also, nam
τέDisjδέbut, on the otheἈβιάProp
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theκεφαλήthe headπᾶςall, the whole,
αὐτός
ἔχωI have, hold, poπροσέρχομαιI come near, conλέγωI say, speak
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
καίand, even, also,
γυνήwives214×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀνήρa male human beiἀδελφόςa brotherγάρfor
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπαιδίονa little child, μήNeg
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,μήNegδίδωμιI offer, give
ἐν
μοιχείαadulteryμέσοςmiddle, in the mκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
μήNeg
ζητέωI seek, search fφοβέωI fear, am terriἅπτωI touch or handl

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

Concordanceγυνή · 214× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Luke Matthew John Acts Revelation Mark 1 Timothy Ephesians 1 Peter Colossians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 424 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 124c. AD 40

πάλιν δ’ αὖ γυναιξὶν ἡ φορὰ τῶν καταμηνίων εἰς ἑπτὰ τὰς πλείστας ἡμέρας χορηγεῖται.

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

περὶ Σάρρας τῆς Ἁβράμου γυναικός, καὶ πῶς τὸν βίον κατέστρεψεν.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 13.2c. AD 100

ἀκούσατε οὖν περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τί λέγει ἡ γραφή: Ἐδεῖτο δὲ Ἰσαὰκ περὶ Ῥεβέκκας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι στεῖρα ἦν: καὶ συνέλαβεν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 25Pathyris104 BC

ὠνὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἥν ἔθετο διʼ Ἐσπνούθιος Αἰγυπτίου μονογράφου Κροκοδίλων πόλεως Τνεφερῶτι τῇ τοῦ Νεχθανούπιος γυναικὶ ἀντὶ τῆς παρακεχωρημένης ἐν τῆι ἄνω σφραγῖδι ἀρούρας μιᾶς ἡμίσους τετάρτου ὑφʼ ὑμῶν· καὶ

P.Grenf. 2 26Pathyris104 BC

εἰς τὸν Ταρεήσιος λόγον τῆς αὐτοῦ μητρὸς τοῖς δανεισταῖς Χαιρήμωνι καὶ Ἐσθλαδᾷ καὶ Πνήφει γυναικὶ καὶ ἀδελφῇ· καὶ μὴ ἐπελεύσεσθαι Ὧρον μηδʼ ἄλλον μηδένα τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν

P.Grenf. 2 30Pathyris103 BC

τὰ προγεγραμμένα. τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν τὸ ὀφείλημα ὃ ὤφειλεν Ἁρπὼς Παβῦτος καὶ ἡ τούτου γυνὴ Ταρεῆσις. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
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

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
μὴ not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× 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
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Amplified meaning
lest you
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

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

As a neg. adv., not;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

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

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

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

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

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

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

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

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

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

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
πικραίνεσθεpikrainō do be harsh G4087 Verb · present · passive · imperative · second person · plural
4× 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 embitter means to make something bitter, either literally or figuratively, as seen in Revelation 10:9. It can also refer to causing emotional pain or anger. This concept is used in Colossians 3:19.
Amplified meaning
bitter, embittered
Tyndale gloss
to embitter
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πικραίνω means to make bitter, both literally and metaphorically. It can refer to causing bitterness in taste or fostering bitter feelings, as seen in Revelation 10:9 and Colossians 3:19. The word is derived from πικρός, meaning bitter. There is a note in the entries about its use in both a literal and figurative sense, particularly in the context of emotions.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πικραίνω

(< πικρός),

[in LXX for מרר, קצף, etc.;]

to make bitter: Re 10:9; pass., Re 8:11 10:10; metaph., to embitter (LXX): pass., seq. πρός, Col 3:19.†

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

πικραίνω: fut. πικρανῶ ; Pass., pres. πικραίνομαι ; 1 aor. émixpavOnv; (πικρός, q- V-) 5 1. prop. to make bitter: τὰ ὕδατα, pass., Rev. viii. 11; τὴν κοιλίαν, to produce a bitter taste in the stomach (Vulg. amarico), Rev. x 9 sq. 2. trop. to embitter, exasperate, i.e. render angry, indignant ; pass. to be embittered, irritated, (Plat., Dem.,al.) : πρός teva, Col. iii. 19 (Athen. 6 p. 242 ο.; ἐπί τινα, Ex. xvi. 20; Jer. xliv. (xxxvii.) 15; 1 Esdr. iv. 31; [ἔν τινι, Ruth i. 20]); contextually i. q. to visit with bitterness, to grieve, (deal bitterly with), Job xxvii. 2; 1 Mace. iii. 1. [Come.: παρα-πικραίνω.]

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

πικραίνω. With the pass. ‘‘am embittered’’ in Col 31", cf. the compd. in P Lille I. 7:9 (iii/B.c.) προσπικρανθείς μοι.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πικραίνω (pikrainō) — to embitter.

πικρ-αίνω,

make sharp or keen, especially to the taste, π. τὴν κοιλίαν make it bitter, [NT]:— passive, τὸ στόμα πικραίνεται [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. metaphorically, embitter, irritate, τὴν ψυχήν [LXX]; τὴν ἀκοήν affect it harshly, opposed to γλυκαίνω, [Refs 1st c.BC+]; make harsh, νόμους conjecture in [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—passive, to be exasperated, embittered, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁ ζωγράφος πονεῖ τι καὶ π. vexes himself, [LXX+4th c.BC+]; ἔν τισι[LXX]; also ἐπικράνθη μοι it grieved me, [Refs]

3. of style, make harsh or rugged, διάλεκτον [Refs 1st c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

πικραίνω

pikraino

from 4089; to embitter (literally or figuratively):--be (make) bitter.

see GREEK for 4089

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πικραίνω

v.

I embitter

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πικραίνω pikrainō 4x

to embitter, render bitter, Rev. 10:9; pass. to be embittered, be made bitter, Rev. 8:11; 10:10; met. pass. to be embittered, to grow angry, harsh, Col. 3:19*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πικραίνω πικραίνω, πικρός to make sharp or bitter to the taste, NTest.

metaph. in Pass. to be exasperated, foster bitter feelings, Plat., Theocr.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PPM-2P — Verb · present · passive · imperative · second person · plural
present passive imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PPM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Passive Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%do be harsh
do be harsh25% · 1×they were made bitter25% · 1×it will make bitter25% · 1×made bitter25% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 4 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
μήNeg
καίand, even, also,
ὅτιthat, since, because
ὕδωρwater
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτός
αὐτός
ἐσθίωI eat
πικραίνωdo be harsh
what comes after →
πρός
αὐτός
σύ
Article the
Article the
κοιλίαbelly, womb, the

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

Concordanceπικραίνω · 4× in the New Testament
Revelation Colossians
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 8 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
The Shepherd of Hermas
The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 10.1.5c. AD 140

ἐὰν γὰρ λάβῃς ἀψινθίου μικρὸν λίαν καὶ εἰς κεράμιον μέλιτος ἐπιχέῃς, οὐχὶ ὅλον τὸ μέλι ἀφανίζεται, καὶ τοσοῦτον μέλι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐλαχίστου ἀψινθίου ἀπόλλυται καὶ ἀπόλλυσι τὴν γλυκύτητα τοῦ μέλιτος, καὶ οὐκέτι τὴν αὐτὴν χάριν ἔχει παρὰ τῷ δεσπότῃ, ὅτι…

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
πρὸςpros toward G4314 Preposition
700× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Colossians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A preposition showing direction or relationship, like towards or with something, as seen in Mark 5:11 and John 18:16. This means indicating movement or direction. It's about showing proximity or connection.
Tyndale gloss
to/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρός is a preposition that indicates direction, proximity, or relation. It can be used with the genitive to denote motion from a place, with the dative for local proximity, and with the accusative to express motion towards a place or object. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as Acts 27:34 for benefit and Mark 5:11 for proximity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρός,

prep. c. gen., dat., acc.

C. gen., of motion from a place, from the side of, hence metaph., in the interests of, Ac 27:34 (cf. Page, in l.).

C. dat., of local proximity, hard by, near, at: Mk 5:11, Lk 19:37, Jo 18:16 20:11, 12, Re 1:13.

C. acc., of motion or direction towards a place or object, to, towards.

Of place,

after verbs of motion or of speaking and other words with the idea of direction: ἔρχομαι, ἀναβαίνω, πορεύομαι, λέγω, ἐπιστολή, etc., Mt 3:14, Mk 6:51, Lk 11:5, Jo 2:3,

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

πρός, a preposition, i.q. Epic mpori, from πρό and the adverbial suffix τι, (cf. the German vor . . . hin [Curtius § 381]); it is joined I. with the AccusaTIvE, to, towards, Lat. ad, denoting direction towards athing, or position and state looking towards a thing (W. § 49h. p. 404 (378)): it is used 1. of the goal or limit towards which a movement is directed: πρός twa or τι, a. prop. after verbs of going, departing, running, coming, ete.: ἄγω, Jn. xi. 15; ἀναβαίνω, Mk. vi. 51; Jn. xx. 17; Acts xv. 2; ἀνακάμπτω, Mt. ii. 12; Acts xvili. 21; ἀνέρχομαι, Gal. i. 17 [1]. Tr mrg. arépy.]; ἀπέρχομαι, Mt. » xiv. 25 [Rec.]; Mk. iii. 13, etc.; πρὸς ἑαυτόν, to his house, Lk. xxiv. 12 [T om. L Trbr. WH reject the ys.; Tr reads mp. αὐτόν ; some connect the phrase w. θαυμάζων (see 2 Ὁ. below) ]; Jn. xx. 10 [Ὁ Tr αὐτούς, WH air. (cf. s. v. αὑτοῦ sub fin.)]; γίνεσθαι πρός τινα, to come to one, 1 Co.…

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

πρός reference to place PSI IV. 31178 (iv/A.D.?) πρ]ὸς τὴν Aavitk.ay τῆς κοίλης Dupials. Headlam (on Herodas VII. 123) holds that τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν in Mk 2? ‘‘is surely idiomatic (not vulgar as Moulton thinks) ‘spots which commanded the door’”: cf. Mt 310, Lk 35. For πρός, ‘‘with,” as in Jn ΤΡ, Heb 41%, cf. Epict. iv. 9. 13 πρὸς ὃν οὐδείς ἐστί σου πιθανώτερος (see Sharp Ξε, p. 92). And for the possibility that the difficult πρός in Mk 63, οἷ", 14%, Jn 1}, 1 Jn 1?, is to be explained as an Aramaism, see Rendel Harris Prologue to S. John’s Gospel p. 8f., and Burney Avamaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel p. 28 f. (6) of time = ‘‘for’’ (a time) and no longer—BGU I. 1131? (A.D. 143) βουλόμενος παρεπιδημεῖν πρὸς καιρόν (cf. Lk 818), P Oxy I. 6714 (A.D. 338) πρὸς ὀλίγον εἰσχύει, ‘‘withstands but for a short time” (cf. Jas 4), and P Flor III. 282° (A.D. 520) πρὸς ὅλον χρόνον. (c) of mental…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρός (pros) — to/with.

πρός,

preposition, expressing direction,

__A on the side of, in the direction of, hence with genitive, dative, and accusative, from, at, to: Epic dialect also προτί and ποτί, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] usually with accusative, more rarely with dative, and each only once with genitive, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—dialectal forms: Doric dialectποτί (which see) and ποί, but Cretan dialect πορτί [Refs], Argive προτ(ί) [Refs 7th c.BC+] πός [Refs 4th c.BC+]., also sometimes in Asia Minor in compounds, see at {ποσάγω},{ποσφέρω}; Aeolic dialect πρός [Refs 7th c.BC+]; πρές [Refs 6th c.AD+]; Pamphylian περτ (ί) [Refs] (With προτί, πρός cf. Sanskrit práti 'towards, near to, against, back, etc.', Slavonic protiv[ucaron], Lett. pret 'against', Latin pretium: ποτί (which see) and πός are not cognate) [Refs 4th c.BC+] refers to that from which something…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρός

pros

a strengthened form of 4253; a preposition of direction; forward to,

i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to;

with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the

accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the

destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is

predicated):--about, according to , against, among, at, because of,

before, between, (where-)by, for, X at thy house, in, for intent, nigh

unto, of, which pertain to, that, to (the end that), X together, to

(you) -ward, unto, with(-in). In the comparative case, it denotes

essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession

to, or nearness at.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρός

Prep.

to, towards, with

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρός pros 700x

from; met. for the benefit of, Acts 27:34; with a dative, near, by, at, by the side of, in the vicinity of, Mk. 5:11; Lk. 19:37; with an accusative, used of the place to which anything tends, to, unto, towards, Mt. 2:12; 3:5, 13; at, close upon, Mt. 3:10; Mk. 5:22; near to, in the vicinity of, Mk. 6:45; after verbs of speaking, praying, answering to a charge, etc., to, Mt. 3:15; 27:14; of place where, with, in, among, by, at, etc., Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρός prep. with gen., implying motion from a place; with dat., abiding at a place; with acc., motion to a place

WITH GEN.,

of Place, from, from forth, Hom., Soph.

on the side or quarter of, νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος islands looking (as it were) from Elis, i. e. towards Elis, Od.; πρὸς τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἵδρυται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ Στρύμονος lies more towards (i. e. nearer) the Hellespont than the Strymon, Hdt.; ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο πρὸς Ὀλύνθου Thuc., etc.:—often with words denoting the points of the compass, δύω θύραι εἰσίν, αἱ μὲν πρὸς βορέαο, αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς νότου one looking north wards, the other south wards, Od.; so, οἰκέουσι πρὸς νότου ἀνέμου Hdt., etc.

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

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
69%to
to69% · 506×with7% · 48×for6% · 42×toward4% · 30×against3% · 21×at3% · 20×unto2% · 18×other renderings5% · 37×other renderings1% · 10×

732 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 32 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
adverbial93%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 700 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
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,Article theνύξthe night, night
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
αὐτός
ἄγωI leadφέρωI carry, bear, bμαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
ὑπέρσῶμαbody, fleshυἱόςa son, descenden
πρόςtoward700×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἐνἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theοὐNeg
ἀλλήλων
τίςIrgλέγωI say, speakμήNeg

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

Concordanceπρός · 700× in the New Testament
Luke Acts John Mark Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Hebrews Romans Ephesians 1 Thessalonians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.4c. AD 75–95

τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον ἡμῖν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γενόμενον καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ πράξεις καὶ τὸ τέλος οἷον ἀπέβη πείρᾳ μαθὼν ἐβιάσθην ἐκδιηγήσασθαι διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῷ γράφειν λυμαινομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.3c. AD 100

τούτων οὖν μενόντων τὰ πρὸς κύριον ἁγνῶς, συνευφραίνονται αὐτοῖς σοφία, σύνεσις, ἐπιστήμη, γνῶσις.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Grenf. 1 28Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)109 BC

r … πυρὸν νέον καθαρὸν ἄδολον μέτρωι ὧι καὶ παρείληφεν καὶ ἀποκαθεστάμενον εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδίοις ἀνηλώμασιν. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῶι ἐν τῶι ὡρισμένωι χρόνωι ἢ μὴ ποιῆ

P.Amh. 2 48Pathyris107 BC

παρεχέτω τὸν οἶνον μόνιμον ἕως Ἁθὺρ λ τοῦ δεκάτου ἔτους, καὶ ἀποκαταστησάτω εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῖς ἰδίοις. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῷ ἐν τῷ ὡρισμένῳ χρόνῳ ἀποτεισάτω ἑκάστου κεραμίου

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

πᾶσι χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διὰ παντὸς εὐημερεῖν. ὑγιαίνομεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος

you who [are] Husbands, do love the wives and not do be harsh toward them.
αὐτάς.¶autos them. G846 Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · feminine
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
towards your wives
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-APF — Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-APF Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

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
αὐτόςthem.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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