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John 9:5 — Word Study

Depth

N1904ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

BSAWhilehotan [as long as, during the time that] inen [among, within] theho worldkosmos [orderly arrangement] I may be,eimi [exist, present] [the] lightphōs [luminousness, spiritual illumination] I ameimi [exist, present] of theho world.kosmos [creation]

Word
Listen & take awayJohn 9
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 5 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 (kosmos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
John 9:5quick helps
In a sentenceJesus states that He is the light of the world for as long as He is present in it.
Who is speakingJesus, speaking to His disciples and those around Him.
Where we areIn the midst of Jesus' ministry, emphasizing His role and purpose.
The hard wordφῶς
Take awayJesus brings spiritual illumination to the world.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectφῶς verbεἰμί The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

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

Deep Study — John 9:5

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 — Jesus Heals a Man Born Blindgenerated

4While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
7Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

John 9:5 occurs within the narrative of Jesus healing a man born blind. In this context, Jesus declares His identity as the light of the world, which contrasts with the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees and highlights His mission to bring spiritual sight to those in darkness. This statement sets the stage for the miracle that follows, illustrating the transformative power of His presence.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1John 1:4–9In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
2John 3:19–21And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
3John 8:12Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
4John 12:35–36Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
5Isaiah 42:6–7“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,

The Key Word φῶς, phōsgenerated

The Greek word φῶς is a noun meaning 'light.' It can refer to both natural light, such as sunlight, and metaphorical light, representing divine truth or spiritual illumination. In this context, it emphasizes Jesus' role in revealing truth and providing guidance to humanity.

As a nominative singular neuter noun, it signifies the subject of the sentence, indicating that Jesus is the source of light for the world. This light is essential for understanding and navigating spiritual realities, contrasting with the darkness of sin and ignorance.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." This wording is echoed in the WEB and KJV versions.

The ASV translates it as, "When I am in the world, I am the light of the world," which shifts the temporal nuance slightly. The YLT states, "when I am in the world, I am a light of the world," indicating a more indefinite article, while the BBE aligns closely with the BSB.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The structure of this verse includes two main clauses linked by the conjunction ὅταν, with the first clause indicating the condition of Jesus being in the world and the second asserting His identity as the light. The finite verb εἰμι (I am) serves as the linking verb in both clauses.

The first clause, "While I am in the world," sets the temporal context, while the second clause, "I am the light of the world," provides the main assertion about Jesus' identity. This structure emphasizes the relationship between Jesus' presence and His role as light.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

φῶς is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for light, such as in Genesis 1:3, where God commands, "Let there be light." This connection reinforces the idea of Jesus as the source of divine illumination.

The term κόσμος also appears in the Septuagint, often referring to creation or the ordered universe, aligning with its usage in this verse to denote the world that Jesus illuminates.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

John 9:5 shows Jesus declaring that He is the light of the world while He is present in it. This statement highlights His role in bringing spiritual truth and guidance to those around Him, especially in the context of healing a man born blind.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that Jesus is the light of the world?

Jesus being the light of the world signifies that He brings spiritual truth and understanding, illuminating the path for those who seek Him, as seen in passages like John 8:12.

How does this verse relate to the healing of the blind man?

This verse sets the stage for the miracle of healing the blind man, demonstrating Jesus' power to bring both physical and spiritual sight to those who are in darkness.

Why does Jesus emphasize His presence in the world?

By emphasizing His presence, Jesus indicates that His role as the light is temporary; while He is physically present, He actively reveals truth and dispels darkness.

What does the term 'world' imply in this context?

In this context, 'world' refers to the created order and human society, highlighting the environment in which Jesus brings illumination and truth.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways have I experienced the light of Christ in my life?
  2. How can I share the light of Jesus with others around me?
  3. What does it mean for me to walk in the light as a believer?
  4. How can I remain aware of the light of Christ in times of darkness or confusion?

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

Early church fathers referenced this verse to discuss Jesus' identity as the light and its implications for believers. Their insights provide depth to understanding His role in the world.

Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.28 c. 306–373
And he brought forth the light from the dust, just as he had done in the beginning, when there was a shadow of the heavens. “Darkness was spread out over everything.” He gave a command to the light, and it was born from the darkness.
Early Church Fathers on John 9 →
Theodore StratelatesFRAGMENTS ON John 71 d. 319
He calls himself light both because he enlightens the souls of those who believe and because he was about to open the eyes of the one who was blind from birth.
Early Church Fathers on John 9 →
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of John 56 c. 347–407
"As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." As also He said to others, "Believe while the light is with you." Wherefore then did Paul call this life "night" and that other "day"? Not opposing Christ,
Early Church Fathers on John 9 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on John 9:5 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

As long as I am in the world,.... Which had been now two or three and thirty years; but was not to be much longer. I am the light of the world; [See comments on John 8:12].

Read John Gill on John 9 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Read Robert Jamieson on John 9 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Those words, As long as I am in the world, let us know what our Saviour meant by the day, mentioned , viz. the time he should be in the world. Saith he, So long as I am in the world, it is a part of my work to show light to the world. Christ indeed, though he hath left the world, is yet the light of the world; but he was the light of the world, that part of the world especially where he was, in a more eminent sense, so long as the world enjoyed his bodily presence in it.

Read Matthew Poole on John 9 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Ver. 5. I am the light of the world] See John 12:46. He is light essential, the Father of lights, the Sun of righteousness; who at his nativity was as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, in his life rejoiced as a strong man to run his race, Psalms 19:5; in his passion he was clouded, brake forth in his resurrection, darts out his beams of grace since his ascension, and shall finish all at his return to judgment.

Read John Trapp on John 9 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.—Better, when I am in the world. The thought is that the two things necessarily co-exist. He is the true Light, and this true Light cannot be in the world without shining in its darkness. (Comp. Note on John 1:5.) The thought is here closely connected with His teaching in the Temple but a short time before (John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world”), and also with the removal of physical and spiritual darkness which immediately followed.

Read Charles John Ellicott on John 9 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 5. I am the light of the world.] Like the sun, it is my business to dispense light and heat every where; and to neglect no opportunity that may offer to enlighten and save the bodies and souls of men. See John 8:12.

Read AdamClarke on John 9 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. As long as I am in the world] Better, Whensoever I am in the world; it is not the same construction as ‘so long as it is day.’ The Light shines at various times and in various degrees, whether the world chooses to be illuminated or not. Comp. John 1:5, John 8:12. Here there is special reference to His giving light both to the man’s eyes and to his soul. The Pharisees prove the truth of the saying that ‘the darkness comprehended it not.’I am the light of the world] Or, I am light to the world: no article. Contrast John 8:12.

Read Cambridge on John 9 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As long as I am in the world ... - As the sun is the natural light of the world, even while it sinks away to the west, so am I, although my days are drawing to a close, the light of the spiritual world.

Read Albert Barnes on John 9 →

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

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

WEBWorld English Bible2000

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

NETBNew English Translation2006

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

RVARevised Version, American1894

When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

As long as I am in the world, I am [the] light of the world.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

when I am in the world, I am a light of the world.'

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

when I am in the world, I AM [the] light of the world.”

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

While I'm here in the world I am the light of the world.”

BBEBible in Basic English1949

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

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.

clauseclauseὅτανWhileclauseprepositional phrase · predicateἐνinnoun phraseτῷtheκόσμῳworldlinking verbI shall beclauselinking verbεἰμιI amnoun phrase · predicateφῶς[the] lightnoun phraseτοῦof theκόσμουworld

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

quamdiu sum in mundo, lux sum mundi.

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

ܟܡܐ ܕܒܥܠܡܐ ܐܢܐ ܢܘܗܪܗ ܐܢܐ ܕܥܠܡܐ

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

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.

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.

John 9:5ὅτανWhileWhileὅτανἐνininἐνthetheκόσμοςworldworldκόσμοςεἰμίI may be,I may be,εἰμίφῶς[the] light[the] lightφῶςεἰμίI amI amεἰμίof theof theκόσμοςworld.world.κόσμοςὅτεAdv whenAdv whenὅτεκομίζωv. I bringv. I bring, recκομίζωεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκφαίνωv. I shinev. I shine, appφαίνωφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίκαταβολήn.f. a foun.f. a foundatiκαταβολήμισέωv. I hate,v. I hate, deteμισέωἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςἀπαίρωv. I take v. I take away,ἀπαίρωἀκάθαρτοςAdj uncleaAdj unclean, imἀκάθαρτοςσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγήἔρημοςAdj desertAdj deserted, dἔρημοςλάμπωv. I shinev. I shineλάμπωσκότοςn.m. & n.nn.m. & n.n. darσκότος
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 John 9:5

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.

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
ὅτανhotan While G3752 Conjunction
123× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
When or whenever refers to an uncertain future time, as in Matthew 6:2 and Mark 14:7, where it is used to describe expected events.
Amplified meaning
as long as, during the time that
Tyndale gloss
when(-ever)
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὅταν, derived from ὅτε and ἄν, functions as a temporal particle meaning 'whenever' with a conditional sense. It is often used in the New Testament with the subjunctive mood, indicating events expected to occur in an indefinite future, as seen in verses like Matthew 5:11 and Mark 3:11. The lexicons note its usage in various contexts, including with different verb tenses.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅταν (for ὅτ’ ἄν = ὅτε ἄν),

temporal particle, with a conditional sense, usually of things expected to occur in an indefinite future;

prop., whenever;

c. subjc. praes.: Mt 6:2, 5, Mk 14:7, Lk 11:36, Jo 7:27, Ac 23:35, I Co 3:4, al.; ἕως τ. ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ὅ., Mt 26:29, Mk 14:25; seq. τότε, I Th 5:3;

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὅταν, a particle of time, comp. of ὅτε and ἄν, at the time that, whenever, (Germ. dann wann; wann irgend); used of things which one assumes will really occur, but the time of whose occurrence he does not definitely fix (in prof. auth. often also of things which one assumes ean occur, but whether they really will or not he does not know; hence like our in case that, as in Plato, Prot. p- 360 b.; Phaedr. p. 256 e.; Phaedo p. 68 d.); [ef. W. § 42,5; B. ὃ 139, 33]; a. with the subjunctive present: Mt. vi. 2,5; x. 23; Mk. xiii. 11 [here Ree. aor.]; xiv. 7; Lk. xi. 36; xii. 11; xiv. 12sq.; xxi. 7; dn. vil. 27; xvi. 21; Acts xxiii. 35; 1 Co. 1.4; 2 Co. xiii. 9; 1 Jn. v. 2; Rev. x. 7; xviii. 9; preceded by a specification of time: ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ὅταν etc., Mt. xxvi. 29; Mk. xiv. 25; foll. by τότε, 1 Th. ν. 3; 1 Co. xv. 28; i. q. as often as, of customary action, Mt. xv. 2; Jn. viii.…

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

ὅταν, ‘‘whenever,” is construed (1) c. subj. pres. in such passages as P Fay 109} (early i/A.D.) ὅταν πρὸς ἀνάνκαιν (Δ ἀνάγκην) θέλῃς παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ χρήσασθαί τι, εὐθύς σε οὐ κρατῶι, ‘‘whenever you from necessity want to borrow anything from me, I at once give in to you”’ (Edd.), P Oxy XIV. 167676 (iii/A.D.) τὸ σύνφορόν cov Tole ὅταν yap θέλῃς ἡμᾶς πάντοτε ἰδεῖν, ἥδιστά σε παραδεξόμεθα, ‘do what suits you; for when you wish to see us always, we shall receive you with the greatest pleasure ’’ (Edd.), and (2) c. subj. aor. in such passages as P Lips I. 10418 (c. B.C. 96-5) (= Witkowski*, p. 116) ὅταν ἡμῖν γρ]Ιάψης, ἔνψυχόν τι λαμβάνω, P Εν] 11. 233? (ii/A.D.) ὅταν δὲ ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ ἐκβῶμεν καὶ τὸ δῶμα ἀσφαλισθήσεται ἡ διαβάθρα καγγελωτὴ (4. καγκελλωτὴ) καὶ τὰ προσκήνια γενήσεται, “but when we reach a fortunate issue and the house is established, then a balustrade will be added to the stairway and…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅταν (hotan) — when(-ever).

ὅταν,

for ὅτ᾽ ἄν (ὅτε ἄν) as sometimes in codices: adverb of Time,

__A whenever, with a conditional force, so as nearly to ={ἐάν} (see. εἰ [Refs 5th c.BC+], referring to an indefinite future [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also of events like ly to recur,[Refs]: also in Epic dialect ὅτε κεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]: repeated for rhetorical effect, ὅ. ὡς ὑβρίζων, ὅ. ὡς ἐχθρὸς ὑπάρχων, ὅ. κονδύλοις, ὅ. ἐπὶ κόρρης [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__A.b later causal, since, ὅταν.. ᾖ since it is, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; in earlier examples the application to the particular case is less directly expressed, καὶ τοῦτο τυφλὸν ὅταν ἐγὼ βλέπω βραχύ this too (i.e. my staff) is blind when I am (= when its owner is) short-sighted, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅταν

hotan

from 3753 and 302; whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less

uncertainty); also causatively (conjunctionally) inasmuch as:--as long

(soon) as, that, + till, when(-soever), while.

see GREEK for 3753

see GREEK for 302

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅταν

Cj.

when, whensoever

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅταν hotan 123x

when, whenever, Mt. 5:11; 6:2; Mk. 3:11; Rev. 4:9, et al. freq.; in NT in case of, on occasion of, Jn. 9:5; 1 Cor. 15:27; Heb. 1:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὅταν for ὅτ᾽ ἄν (ὅτε ἄν), adverb of Time, whenever, Lat. quandocunque, foll. by Subjunct., Hom., etc.; in epic also ὅτε κεν Il.:— εἰς ὅτε κεν until such time as. . , Od.:— ὅταν τάχιστα, Lat. quum primum, Xen.

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
94%when
when94% · 116×whenever6% · 7×other renderings1% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial15%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 123 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
προσήλυτοςa proselyteλόγοςa word, speech, ἑαυτοῦ
ἵναin order that, so th
τόποςa placeποιέωI do, makeἀδικίαunrighteousness
σύ
καίand, even, also,ὀφθαλμόςthe eyeπρός
αὐτός
ἐπαισχύνομαιI am ashamedδέbut, on the otheκαλέωI call, invite,
Χριστόςanointed, the Messia
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheArticle the
ὅτανWhile123×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
ἔρχομαιI come, goπαραδίδωμιI hand over, delArticle the
ἔρχομαιI come, go
Article theἐνεἰς
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenἰσχυρόςstrong, mighty, ἀκάθαρτοςunclean, impure
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
οὗτοςπᾶςall, the whole, νεφέληa cloud
γάρfor
ἐκἔθνοςa race, people, λέγωI say, speak

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

Concordanceὅταν · 123× in the New Testament
Luke Mark Matthew John 1 Corinthians Revelation 2 Corinthians Acts Colossians Romans 1 John 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament17 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 31c. AD 40

καὶ ἔστιν ὑπερουράνιος ἀστήρ, πηγὴ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀστέρων, ἣν οὐκ ἂν ἀπὸ σκοποῦ καλέσειεν ἄν τις παναύγειαν, ἀφ’ ἧς ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι πλάνητές τε καὶ ἀπλανεῖς ἀρύτονται, καθ’ ὅσον ἑκάστῳ δύναμις, τὰ πρέποντα φέγγη, τῆς ἀμιγοῦς καὶ καθαρᾶς…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 3.41c. AD 75–95

ὃν οὐ καλῶς ἔχει περιορᾶν, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἢ λαβεῖν ἰσχὺν καὶ παρελθεῖν εἰς εὐπορίαν καὶ αὐτὸν τῆς πρὸς ἡμᾶς κατάρξαι μάχης θαρρήσαντας τῷ μηδὲν αὐτοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν ἀπαντᾶν καταλύειν ἀσφαλὲς καὶ σῶφρον δίκην αὐτοὺς καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.14c. AD 100

ἔτι δὲ κἀκεῖνο, ἀδελφοί μου, νοεῖτε: ὅταν βλέπετε μετὰ τηλικαῦτα σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα γεγονότα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ οὕτως ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι αὐτούς: προσέχωμεν, μήποτε, ὡς γέγραπται, πολλοὶ κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοὶ εὑρεθῶμεν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD
P.Lips. 1 104Pathyrites (?)96 BC

πάντες. περὶ ὧν ἂν αἱρῆσθε γράφετέ μοι. χάριν σοι ἔχω ἐφʼ αἷς γράφεις ἐπιστολαῖς. ὅταν ἡμῖν γράψῃς ἔνψυχόν τι λαμβάνω· ἐπισκοπεῖται ὑμᾶς Ἀλμέντις, Ψενοσῖρις, Φῖβις, Πατοῦς … Φάφις Ἐσθώτης

P.Fay. 109Euhemeria (Arsinoites)11 BC

r Πισάις Ἡρακλήῳ χαίρειν. ὅταν πρὸς ἀνάγκην θέλῃς παρʼ ἐμοῦ χρήσασθαί τι, εὐθύς σε οὐ κρατῶ, καὶ νῦν παρακληθεὶς

P.Hamb. 1 70Arsinoites (?)AD 145

Πτολέμας, ὁμολογῶ, ἐάν τις ζήτησις γένηται περὶ τῶν περιγεινομένων αὐτῶν ἢ ἑτέρου τινὸς αὐτῶν, ὅταν τὸν λόγον δίδομεν τῷ ἀφήλικι, ἐγὼ αὐτὸς τὰ περὶ τούτων ἐγβιβάσω ἰδίαις δαπάναις καὶ

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Amplified meaning
among, within
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
τῷho the G3588 Article · dative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

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

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

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
κόσμῳkosmos world G2889 Noun · dative · singular · masculine
185× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for world can mean an orderly arrangement or decoration, but also refers to the world and its inhabitants, as seen in Acts 17:24 and Romans 4:13.
Amplified meaning
orderly arrangement
Tyndale gloss
world
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κόσμος (kosmos) is derived from a root meaning 'order' or 'decoration.' It encompasses a range of meanings from 'ornament' to 'the universe' and 'mankind.' In the New Testament, it refers to the material world, human society, and worldly affairs, with verses such as 1 Peter 3:3 highlighting its use for adornment. The term also carries ethical connotations, often contrasting the godly with the ungodly.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — κόσμος, αἰών from a scan

Κόσμος our Translators have rendered ‘ world’ in every instance but one (1 Pet. iii. 3); αἰών often, though by no means invariably so; for (not to speak of εἰς αἰῶνα) see Ephes. ii. 2, 7; Col.i. 26. It may be a question whether we might not have made more use of ‘age’ in our Version: we have employed it but rarely,—only, indeed, in the two places which I have cited last. ‘Age’ may sound to us inadequate now: but it is quite possible that, so used, it would little by little have expanded and adapted itself to the larger meaning of the Greek word for which it stood. One must regret that, by this or some other like device, our Translators did not mark the difference between κόσμος (=mundus), the world contemplated under aspects of space, and αἰών (=seculum), the same contemplated under aspects of time; for the Latin, no less than the Greek, has two words, where we have, or have acted as…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κόσμος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX: Ge 2:1, De 4:19 17:3, Is 24:21 40:26 (צבא), Ex 33:5, 6, Je 2:32 4:30, Ez 7:20 16:11 23:40 (עֲדִי), Is 61:10 (כְּלִי), al., Wi 2:24 and freq., Si 6:30, al;]

order (Hom., Plat., al.).

ornament, adornment, esp. of women (Hom., al.): I Pe 3:3.

Later, the world or universe, as an ordered system (Plat., al.): Ac 17:24, Ro…

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

κόσμος, -ου, ὃ; 1. in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order. 2. asin Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, ornament, decoration, adornment: évdicews ἱματίων, 1 Pet. iii. 3 (Sir. vi. 30; xxi. 21; 2 Mace. ii. 2: Sept. for nay of the arrangement of the stars, ‘the heavenly hosts,’ as the ornament of the heavens, Gen. ii. 1; Deut. iv. 19; xvii. 3; Is. xxiv. 21; xl. 26; besides occasionally for “y; twice for NINDA, Prov. xx. 29; Is. iii. 19). 3. the world, i. e. the universe (quem κόσμον Graeci nomine ornamenti appellarunt, eum nos a perfecta absolutaque elegantia mundum, Plin. h. n. 2, 3; in which sense Pythagoras is said to have been the first to use the word, Plut. de place. philos. 2, 1, 1 p. 886 ¢.; but ace. to other accounts he used it of the heavens, Diog. L. 8, 48, of which it is used several times also by other Grk. writ. [see Menag. on Diog.…

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

κόσμος. Interesting exx. of ὁ κόσμος, ‘‘ the world,” are afforded by OG/S 4583 (c. B.C. 9) (= Priene 105), where the birthday of the divine Augustus is referred to as the beginning of good news to the world—ptev δὲ τῶι κόσμωι τῶν δι᾽ αὐτὸν εὐανγελίζων ἡ γενέθλιος] τοῦ θεοῦ, and Sy// 376%! where, on the occasion of the proclamation of the freedom of all the Greeks at the Isthmian games in a.D. 67, the Emperor Nero is described as 6 τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου κύριος Νέρων. With the hyperbolical usage in Rom 15. we may compare a sepulchral inscr, from Egypt, in which a certain Seratus states that he lies between mother and brother—éy καὶ ἡ σωφροσύνη κατὰ τὸν κόσμον λελάληται (Archiv ν. p. 169, No. 245): see also P Lond 98110 (iv/a.p.) (= III. p. 242, Chrest. I. p. 157) ἡ yap εὐφημία σου, πάτερ, περιεκύκλωσεν τὸν κ[όσ]μον ὅλον ὡς ἀγαθὸν marépa—a letter to a bishop. Other exx. of the word are ΟΟ 15…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κόσμος (kosmos) — world.

κόσμος, ὁ,

order, κατὰ κόσμον in order, duly, εὖ κατὰ κ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐ κατὰ κ. shamefully, [Refs 8th c.BC+] to sit in order, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κ. φέρειν bear becomingly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κόσμῳ οὐδενὶ κοσμηθέντες in no sort of order, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φεύγειν, ἀπιέναι οὐδενὶ κ., [Refs], etc.; ἀτάκτως καὶ οὐδενὶ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκέτι τὸν αὐτὸν κ. no longer in the same order, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: generally, of things, natural order, γίνεται τῶν τεταρταίων ἡ κατάστασις ἐκ τούτου τοῦ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. good order, good behaviour [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. χείρ, of a beggar, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; κοῖλος μήν short month, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἐξηγεομένων.. τὸν κ. αὐτοῦ the…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κόσμος

kosmos

probably from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration;

by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its

inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)):--adorning, world.

see GREEK for 2865

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κόσμος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

the world, universe

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κόσμος kosmos 186x

(1) pr. order, regular disposition; ornament, decoration, embellishment, 1 Pet. 3:3; (2) the world, the material universe, Mt. 13:35; the world, the aggregate of sensitive existence, 1 Cor. 4:9; the lower world, the earth, Mk. 16:15; the world, the aggregate of mankind, Mt. 5:14; the world, the public, Jn. 7:4; in NT the present order of things, the secular world, Jn. 18:36; the human race external to the Jewish nation, the heathen world, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κόσμος κόσμος, ου, order, κόσμῳ and κατὰ κόσμον in order, duly, Il., etc.; μὰψ ἀτὰρ οὐ κατὰ κόσμον id. Il.; οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ in no sort of order, Hdt., attic

good order, good behaviour, decency, Aesch., Dem.

the form, fashion of a thing, Od., Hdt.

of states, order, government, Hdt., Thuc.

an ornament, decoration, embellishment, dress, Il., etc.; esp. of women, Lat. mundus muliebris, id. Il., Hes., etc.:—in pl. ornaments, Aesch., etc.

metaph. honour, credit, Hdt., Soph., etc.

a regulator, title of the chief magistrate in Crete, Arist.

the world or universe, from its perfect order, Lat. mundus, Plat., etc.

mankind, as we use "the world," NTest.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The earth on which we dwell, 1Sa 2:8; its inhabitants, Joh 3:16, or a large number of them, Joh 12:19. In several places it is equivalent to "land," meaning the Roman Empire, or Judea and its vicinity, Lu 2:1 4:3 Ac 11:28. It also denotes the objects and interests of time and sense, Ga 6:14 1Jo 2:15.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ See EARTH

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
98%world
world98% · 183×other renderings2% · 4×

187 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
adverbial34%subject23%object21%predicate18%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 185 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
εἰςἐνἐκ
καταβολήa foundation, deposi
ἀπόπρό
ἐν
εἰμίI am, existεἴδωλονan idol, false gφωστήρa light, brillia
ἀρχήruler, beginning
ἀπό
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
κόσμοςworld185×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theὅςἀγαπάωI love
οὗτος
ἔρχομαιI come, goβλέπωI look, seeεἰς
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐγώκαίand, even, also,φῶςlight, a source
Article the
δέbut, on the otheἀκολουθέωI accompany, attποίημαa thing made
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existδύναμαιI am powerful, aφείδομαιI spare, abstain

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

Concordanceκόσμος · 185× in the New Testament
John 1 John 1 Corinthians Romans Matthew 2 Peter Hebrews James Colossians 1 Peter 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament20 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 24 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 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.argc. AD 75–95

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.12c. AD 100

ὁ κύριος ἀπροσωπολήμπτως κρινεῖ τὸν κόσμον.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Oxy. 76 5098OxyrhynchosAD 1–AD 100

τοῦ κόσμου φυλάξας … … βοηθείας υ … … … ον … δὲ καὶ τοῦ μηδενα

P. Münch. 3 80Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 103–AD 114

τῶν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τέκνων μέρη δύο ἀκολούθως τῇ τῶν … ων γνώμῃ παρέξ γυναικείου κόσμου, ἐφʼ ὃν χρόνον περίεστι ὁ εἷς καὶ ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ὁλοσχερῆ ἐξουσίαν πωλεῖν ὑποτίθεσθαι χρᾶσθαι

P.Mil.Vogl. 2 84Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 138

δὲ δυσὶ θυγατρᾶσι Ταορσενούφι καὶ Τεφορσάϊτι, χωρὶς οὗ προφέρεται κατεσκευακέναι αὐταῖς χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου κόσμου καὶ ἱματισμοῦ, δοῦναι εἰς θαλλισμοῦ λόγον ἑκάστῃ ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς ε … , πρὸς τοὺς

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
ὦ,eimi I may be, G1510 Verb · present · active · subjunctive · first person · singular
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Amplified meaning
exist, present
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

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

As substantive verb.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAS-1S — Verb · present · active · subjunctive · first person · singular
present active subjunctive — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAS-1S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Subjunctive Person: first Number: Singular

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

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
linking verb87%verb13%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίI may be,2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
φῶςphōs [the] light G5457 Noun · nominative · singular · neuter
72× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Light refers to any kind of luminousness, natural or artificial, and is used in the Bible to describe the light of the sun or a lamp. In Matthew 17:2 and John 11:9-10, it describes Jesus shining like the sun.
Amplified meaning
luminousness, spiritual illumination
Tyndale gloss
light
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

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

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

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

[in LXX chiefly for אוֹר ;]

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φῶς (phōs) — light.

φῶς,

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

Strong's Greek Dictionary

φῶς

phos

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

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

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

light.

see GREEK for 5316

see GREEK for 5346

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φῶς, φωτός, τό

n.n.

light, a source of light

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

φῶς phōs 73x

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

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

N-NSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

1. Origin of Light

2. A Comprehensive Term

(1) Natural Light

(2) Artificial Light

(3) Miraculous Light

(4) Mental, Moral, Spiritual Light

3. An Attribute of Holiness

(1) God

(2) Christ

(3) Christians

(4) The Church

4. Symbolism

5. Expressive Terms

1. Origin of Light:

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

Light

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

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

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

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Created Ge 1:3-5; Isa 45:7; 2Co 4:6

→ Miraculous Mt 17:2; Ac 9:3

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.27c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

BGU 4 1201Busiris (Herakleopolites)AD 2

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

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

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

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
εἰμιeimi I am G1510 Verb · present · active · indicative · first person · singular
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Amplified meaning
exist, present
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

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

As substantive verb.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-1S — Verb · present · active · indicative · first person · singular
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-1S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: first Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Thompson Chain Reference topics

(Divine Name)

Ex 3:14; Joh 8:58; Re 1:18

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

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
linking verb87%verb13%

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίI am2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

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

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

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
τοῦho of the G3588 Article · genitive · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

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

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

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

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

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

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

Lamentations 3:1.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

While in the world I may be, [the] light I am of the world.
κόσμου.kosmos world. G2889 Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
185× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for world can mean an orderly arrangement or decoration, but also refers to the world and its inhabitants, as seen in Acts 17:24 and Romans 4:13.
Amplified meaning
creation
Tyndale gloss
world
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κόσμος (kosmos) is derived from a root meaning 'order' or 'decoration.' It encompasses a range of meanings from 'ornament' to 'the universe' and 'mankind.' In the New Testament, it refers to the material world, human society, and worldly affairs, with verses such as 1 Peter 3:3 highlighting its use for adornment. The term also carries ethical connotations, often contrasting the godly with the ungodly.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — κόσμος, αἰών from a scan

Κόσμος our Translators have rendered ‘ world’ in every instance but one (1 Pet. iii. 3); αἰών often, though by no means invariably so; for (not to speak of εἰς αἰῶνα) see Ephes. ii. 2, 7; Col.i. 26. It may be a question whether we might not have made more use of ‘age’ in our Version: we have employed it but rarely,—only, indeed, in the two places which I have cited last. ‘Age’ may sound to us inadequate now: but it is quite possible that, so used, it would little by little have expanded and adapted itself to the larger meaning of the Greek word for which it stood. One must regret that, by this or some other like device, our Translators did not mark the difference between κόσμος (=mundus), the world contemplated under aspects of space, and αἰών (=seculum), the same contemplated under aspects of time; for the Latin, no less than the Greek, has two words, where we have, or have acted as…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κόσμος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX: Ge 2:1, De 4:19 17:3, Is 24:21 40:26 (צבא), Ex 33:5, 6, Je 2:32 4:30, Ez 7:20 16:11 23:40 (עֲדִי), Is 61:10 (כְּלִי), al., Wi 2:24 and freq., Si 6:30, al;]

order (Hom., Plat., al.).

ornament, adornment, esp. of women (Hom., al.): I Pe 3:3.

Later, the world or universe, as an ordered system (Plat., al.): Ac 17:24, Ro…

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

κόσμος, -ου, ὃ; 1. in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order. 2. asin Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down, ornament, decoration, adornment: évdicews ἱματίων, 1 Pet. iii. 3 (Sir. vi. 30; xxi. 21; 2 Mace. ii. 2: Sept. for nay of the arrangement of the stars, ‘the heavenly hosts,’ as the ornament of the heavens, Gen. ii. 1; Deut. iv. 19; xvii. 3; Is. xxiv. 21; xl. 26; besides occasionally for “y; twice for NINDA, Prov. xx. 29; Is. iii. 19). 3. the world, i. e. the universe (quem κόσμον Graeci nomine ornamenti appellarunt, eum nos a perfecta absolutaque elegantia mundum, Plin. h. n. 2, 3; in which sense Pythagoras is said to have been the first to use the word, Plut. de place. philos. 2, 1, 1 p. 886 ¢.; but ace. to other accounts he used it of the heavens, Diog. L. 8, 48, of which it is used several times also by other Grk. writ. [see Menag. on Diog.…

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

κόσμος. Interesting exx. of ὁ κόσμος, ‘‘ the world,” are afforded by OG/S 4583 (c. B.C. 9) (= Priene 105), where the birthday of the divine Augustus is referred to as the beginning of good news to the world—ptev δὲ τῶι κόσμωι τῶν δι᾽ αὐτὸν εὐανγελίζων ἡ γενέθλιος] τοῦ θεοῦ, and Sy// 376%! where, on the occasion of the proclamation of the freedom of all the Greeks at the Isthmian games in a.D. 67, the Emperor Nero is described as 6 τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου κύριος Νέρων. With the hyperbolical usage in Rom 15. we may compare a sepulchral inscr, from Egypt, in which a certain Seratus states that he lies between mother and brother—éy καὶ ἡ σωφροσύνη κατὰ τὸν κόσμον λελάληται (Archiv ν. p. 169, No. 245): see also P Lond 98110 (iv/a.p.) (= III. p. 242, Chrest. I. p. 157) ἡ yap εὐφημία σου, πάτερ, περιεκύκλωσεν τὸν κ[όσ]μον ὅλον ὡς ἀγαθὸν marépa—a letter to a bishop. Other exx. of the word are ΟΟ 15…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κόσμος (kosmos) — world.

κόσμος, ὁ,

order, κατὰ κόσμον in order, duly, εὖ κατὰ κ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐ κατὰ κ. shamefully, [Refs 8th c.BC+] to sit in order, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κ. φέρειν bear becomingly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κόσμῳ οὐδενὶ κοσμηθέντες in no sort of order, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φεύγειν, ἀπιέναι οὐδενὶ κ., [Refs], etc.; ἀτάκτως καὶ οὐδενὶ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκέτι τὸν αὐτὸν κ. no longer in the same order, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: generally, of things, natural order, γίνεται τῶν τεταρταίων ἡ κατάστασις ἐκ τούτου τοῦ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. good order, good behaviour [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. χείρ, of a beggar, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; κοῖλος μήν short month, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἐξηγεομένων.. τὸν κ. αὐτοῦ the…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κόσμος

kosmos

probably from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration;

by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its

inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)):--adorning, world.

see GREEK for 2865

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κόσμος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

the world, universe

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κόσμος kosmos 186x

(1) pr. order, regular disposition; ornament, decoration, embellishment, 1 Pet. 3:3; (2) the world, the material universe, Mt. 13:35; the world, the aggregate of sensitive existence, 1 Cor. 4:9; the lower world, the earth, Mk. 16:15; the world, the aggregate of mankind, Mt. 5:14; the world, the public, Jn. 7:4; in NT the present order of things, the secular world, Jn. 18:36; the human race external to the Jewish nation, the heathen world, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κόσμος κόσμος, ου, order, κόσμῳ and κατὰ κόσμον in order, duly, Il., etc.; μὰψ ἀτὰρ οὐ κατὰ κόσμον id. Il.; οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ in no sort of order, Hdt., attic

good order, good behaviour, decency, Aesch., Dem.

the form, fashion of a thing, Od., Hdt.

of states, order, government, Hdt., Thuc.

an ornament, decoration, embellishment, dress, Il., etc.; esp. of women, Lat. mundus muliebris, id. Il., Hes., etc.:—in pl. ornaments, Aesch., etc.

metaph. honour, credit, Hdt., Soph., etc.

a regulator, title of the chief magistrate in Crete, Arist.

the world or universe, from its perfect order, Lat. mundus, Plat., etc.

mankind, as we use "the world," NTest.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The earth on which we dwell, 1Sa 2:8; its inhabitants, Joh 3:16, or a large number of them, Joh 12:19. In several places it is equivalent to "land," meaning the Roman Empire, or Judea and its vicinity, Lu 2:1 4:3 Ac 11:28. It also denotes the objects and interests of time and sense, Ga 6:14 1Jo 2:15.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ See EARTH

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
98%world
world98% · 183×other renderings2% · 4×

187 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
adverbial34%subject23%object21%predicate18%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 185 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
εἰςἐνἐκ
καταβολήa foundation, deposi
ἀπόπρό
ἐν
εἰμίI am, existεἴδωλονan idol, false gφωστήρa light, brillia
ἀρχήruler, beginning
ἀπό
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
κόσμοςworld.185×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theὅςἀγαπάωI love
οὗτος
ἔρχομαιI come, goβλέπωI look, seeεἰς
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐγώκαίand, even, also,φῶςlight, a source
Article the
δέbut, on the otheἀκολουθέωI accompany, attποίημαa thing made
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existδύναμαιI am powerful, aφείδομαιI spare, abstain

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

Concordanceκόσμος · 185× in the New Testament
John 1 John 1 Corinthians Romans Matthew 2 Peter Hebrews James Colossians 1 Peter 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament20 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 24 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 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.argc. AD 75–95

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.12c. AD 100

ὁ κύριος ἀπροσωπολήμπτως κρινεῖ τὸν κόσμον.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Oxy. 76 5098OxyrhynchosAD 1–AD 100

τοῦ κόσμου φυλάξας … … βοηθείας υ … … … ον … δὲ καὶ τοῦ μηδενα

P. Münch. 3 80Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites)AD 103–AD 114

τῶν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τέκνων μέρη δύο ἀκολούθως τῇ τῶν … ων γνώμῃ παρέξ γυναικείου κόσμου, ἐφʼ ὃν χρόνον περίεστι ὁ εἷς καὶ ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ὁλοσχερῆ ἐξουσίαν πωλεῖν ὑποτίθεσθαι χρᾶσθαι

P.Mil.Vogl. 2 84Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 138

δὲ δυσὶ θυγατρᾶσι Ταορσενούφι καὶ Τεφορσάϊτι, χωρὶς οὗ προφέρεται κατεσκευακέναι αὐταῖς χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου κόσμου καὶ ἱματισμοῦ, δοῦναι εἰς θαλλισμοῦ λόγον ἑκάστῃ ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς ε … , πρὸς τοὺς

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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