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Luke 11:25 — Word Study

Depth

N1904καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σχολάζοντα σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

BSAAndkai having comeerchomai [when it comes back, after a period of time] it finds [it]ehuriskō [its former dwelling place, a person's life] being unoccupied sweptsaroō [cleaned, emptied] andkai ordered.kosmeō [arranged, decorated, made tidy, restored to a state of harmony]

Word
Listen & take awayLuke 11
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 25 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 (kosmeō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Luke 11:25quick helps
In a sentenceAn unclean spirit returns to find its former dwelling empty and tidy.
Who is speakingJesus, teaching about the condition of a person after an unclean spirit leaves.
Where we areThe teaching on the return of an unclean spirit, found in the context of Jesus' ministry.
The hard wordσχολάζοντα
Take awayCleaning without filling can lead to a worse condition.
6 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subjectἔρχομαι verbἔρχομαι 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 — Luke 11:25

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

Context — The Return of the Unclean Spiritgenerated

24When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’
25On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.
26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”
27As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”

Luke 11:25 illustrates the return of an unclean spirit to its former dwelling. After leaving a man, the spirit seeks rest but finds none. It decides to return, only to discover that the house is now clean and orderly. This metaphor serves as a warning about spiritual emptiness, emphasizing the need for not just cleanliness but also for filling one's life with good works and spiritual substance.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Chronicles 24:17–22After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
2Psalm 36:3The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and well-doing.
3Psalm 81:11–12But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
4Psalm 125:5But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
5Matthew 12:44–45Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 8 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word σχολάζοντα, scholazontagenerated

The participle σχολάζω, derived from scholē, means to be unoccupied or devoted. It conveys the idea of being empty or at leisure, as seen in contexts where a house is left vacant.

In this verse, it describes the state of the house after the unclean spirit has left, highlighting that mere emptiness is not sufficient; the house must be filled with good to prevent a worse condition.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.' The KJV and ASV use 'swept and garnished,' which carries a similar meaning.

The translations agree on the essence of the verse, but differ slightly in wording. The Young's Literal Translation uses 'swept and adorned,' while the Webster Bible states 'swept and put in order.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb is εὑρίσκει, it finds, governing the entire clause. It is supported by the participial phrase ἐλθὸν, having come, which describes the action of the spirit returning.

The structure includes a series of participles that describe the state of the house: σεσαρωμένον and κεκοσμημένον, indicating it is both swept clean and ordered.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ἔρχομαι appears in the Septuagint, translating the Hebrew בּוֹא (H935), which means 'to come' or 'to go in.' This indicates a continuity of meaning in the context of arrival or return.

The term εὑρίσκω corresponds to the Hebrew מָצָא (H4672), meaning 'to find.' This connection emphasizes the act of discovery in both the Old and New Testaments.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Luke 11:25 describes a scenario where an unclean spirit returns to find its former dwelling place clean and tidy. This teaches that simply being free from evil is not enough; one must also fill their life with good to prevent worse conditions.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that the house is swept and put in order?

It means that the house, representing a person's life, is clean and tidy but empty of good works or spiritual substance.

Why does the unclean spirit return?

The spirit returns seeking rest, indicating a desire to reclaim its former dwelling.

What warning does this verse convey?

It warns that being cleansed of evil without filling one's life with good can lead to a worse situation.

How can one prevent the return of evil in their life?

By actively filling their life with good works and spiritual practices, ensuring it is not left empty.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What are some ways I can fill my life with good to prevent spiritual emptiness?
  2. In what areas of my life do I need to seek restoration and order?
  3. How can I help others who may be in a similar situation of spiritual emptiness?
  4. What practices can I adopt to ensure my life is not just clean but also filled with purpose?

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

Early church Fathers interpreted this verse to highlight the need for spiritual fullness, not just emptiness. Their insights are presented here from Origen and Bede.

Origen of AlexandriaCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 185–253
That is, to those who are of Israel, whom he saw possessing nothing divine in them, but desolate, and vacant for him to take up his abode there; and so it follows, And when he came, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Origen notes that the house represents Israel, which is empty of divine presence but ready for the spirit's return.

Early Church Fathers on Luke 11 →
BedeOn the Gospel of Luke c. 673–735
And when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished, that is, cleansed by the grace of baptism from the stain of sins, but not filled with the industry of good works.

Bede emphasizes that the house is cleansed by baptism but warns against the absence of good works.

Early Church Fathers on Luke 11 →

Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Luke 11:25 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. In Matthew it is also said to be "empty"; and so it is read here in the Arabic version; and in the Ethiopic version, "empty of men": but rather

Read John Gill on Luke 11 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. See the notes at Matthew 12:22-28.

Read Robert Jamieson on Luke 11 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Ver. 25. Swept and garnished] By a little formal repentance, and a few faint resolutions of reformation.

Read John Trapp on Luke 11 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24-26) When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man.—See Notes on Matthew 12:43-45. Here the only variations are (1) the omission of the house being “empty,” and (2) of the application of the parable to “this wicked generation.”

Read Charles John Ellicott on Luke 11 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. swept and garnished] The mischief and danger of the emancipated soul is that it is not occupied by a New Indweller. It has not tested the expulsive power of holy affections. It is ‘lying idle’ (σχολάζοντα, Matthew 12:44), i.e. ‘to let.’

Read Cambridge on Luke 11 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

§ 43. PARABLE OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT, Luke 11:24-26; Matthew 12:43-45.The entire passages, 14-26; 29-36, find their parallel in Matthew 12, but the order is evidently most perfectly observed in Matthew.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Luke 11 →

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

On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

NETBNew English Translation2006

When it returns, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And having come, he finds it swept and adorned.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and having come, it findeth [it] swept and adorned;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and having come, it finds [it] swept and adorned;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Having returned, it finds that house swept out and put in order.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

When it returns, it finds its old home is swept and tidy.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And when he comes, he sees that it has been made fair and clean.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἐλθὸνerchomai having come G2064 3 different renderings
comeASV DRA RVA
having comeDBY LSV YLT
he comesBBE

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseadverbialἐλθὸνhaving comeverbεὑρίσκειit finds [it]clause · objectclauseverbσεσαρωμένονsweptκαὶandclauseverbκεκοσμημένονput in order

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

Et cum venerit, invenit eam scopis mundatam, et ornatam.

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

ܘܐܢ ܐܬܬ ܐܫܟܚܬܗ ܕܚܡܝܡ ܘܡܨܒܬ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σχολάζοντα σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
σχολάζοντα being unoccupiedWHNA28, NA27, SBL, Treg, Tyn, TR, Byz

Apparatus — SBL Greek New Testament, CC BY 4.0


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.

Luke 11:25καίAndAndκαίἔρχομαιhaving comehaving comeἔρχομαιεὑρίσκωit finds [iit finds [it]εὑρίσκωσχολάζωbeing unoccbeing unoccupieσχολάζωσαρόωsweptsweptσαρόωκαίandandκαίκοσμέωordered.ordered.κοσμέωσχολήn.f. leisun.f. leisure, aσχολήκόσμοςn.m. the wn.m. the world,κόσμοςσύρωv. I draw,v. I draw, dragσύρωταχύςAdv quicklAdv quickly, spταχύςἨλίαςn.m. Elijan.m. ElijahἨλίαςκρούωv. I knockv. I knockκρούωκαθεύδωv. I sleepv. I sleep, am καθεύδωκοσμέωv. I put iv. I put into oκοσμέωεὑρίσκωv. I findv. I findεὑρίσκωσαρόωv. I sweepv. I sweepσαρόωἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦ
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 Luke 11:25

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

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

And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
καὶkai And G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
ἐλθὸνerchomai having come G2064 Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · singular · neuter
635× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To come or go is the meaning of this word, used in many applications, such as in Matthew 8:9 and Romans 9:9. The KJV translates it in various ways, including come, go, and enter.
Amplified meaning
when it comes back, after a period of time
Tyndale gloss
to come/go
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἔρχομαι (i.e., *erchomai*) means 'to come' or 'to go.' It is used in various contexts, often indicating arrival or return, and can apply to both people and events. The New Testament frequently employs this term, notably in references to the coming of the Messiah (e.g., Mt 11:3). Lexicons note its use with various prepositions to indicate direction or purpose.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔρχομαι,

[in LXX very freq. for בּוֹא, also for הלךְ ni., אתה, etc., 34 words in all ;]

to come;

of persons, either as arriving or returning from elsewhere: Mt 8:9, Mk 6:31, Lk 7:8, Jo 4:27, Ro 9:9, al.; seq. ἀπό, Mk 5:35 7:1, Jo 3:2, al.; ἐκ, Lk 5:17, Jo 3:31, al.; εἰς, Mk 1:29, al.; διά seq. εἰς, Mk 7:31; ἐν (Cremer, 263 f., but v.s. ἐν), Ro 15:29,

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

ἔρχομαι, impy. ἔρχου. ἔρχεσθε, (for the Attic ἴθι, tre fr. εἶμι); impf. ἠρχόμην (for ἤειν and ya more com. in Attic) ; fut. ἐλεύσομαι; ---- (on these forms cf. [esp. Rutherford, New Phryn. p. 103 sqq.; Veitch 5. v.]; Matthiae § 234; Bttm. Ausf. Spr. ii. 182 sq.; Kriiger § 40 5. v.; Kiihner §343; W.§ 15s. v.; [B. 58 (50)]); pf. ἐλήλυθα; plpf. ἐληλύθειν; 2 aor. ἦλθον and (occasionally by LT Tr WH [together or severally ]—as Mt. vi. 10; [vii. 25, 27; x.13; xiv. 34; xxv. 86; Mk. i. 29; vi. 29; Lk. i. 59; ii. 16; v. 7; Vi. 17; viii. 35; x1. 2; xxiii. 33; xxiv. 1,23]; Jn. [1.39 (40); iii. 26]; iv. 27; [xii. 97; Acts xii. 10; [xiv. 24]; xxviii. 14 sq. etc.) in the Alexandrian form ἦλθα (see ἀπέρχομαι init. for reff.); Sept. for x13, rarely for ANN and 72; [fr. Hom. down] ; I. to come; 1. prop. a. of persons; a. univ. to come from one place into another, and used both of persons arriving,—as in…

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

ἔρχομαι. P Fay 123!5 (c A.D. 100) ἐλήλυθεν γὰρ Τεύφιλος ᾿Ιουδαῖος λέγων [ὅ]τι ἤχθην is γεωργίαν, ‘ Teuphilus the Jew has come saying, ‘I have been pressed in as a cultivator’” (Edd.) will serve as an instance of the ordinary use of this very common verb: the mention of the Jew Teuphilus (or Theophilus) is interesting. A few miscellaneous exx. may be added which illustrate NT constructions or phrases— with Jn 5*% cf. P Lond 427 (B.c. 168) (= I. p. 30, Se/ections, Ῥ. 10) εἰς πᾶν τι ἐληλυθυῖα διὰ τὴν τοῦ σίτου τιμήν, ‘ having come to the last extremity because of the high price of corn,” P Vat A® (B.c. 168) (= Witkowski’, p. 65) τοῦ παιδίου σου els τὰ ἔσχατα ἐληλυθότος, P Flor IL. 212° (A.D. 254) els τοσαύτην ἀτυχίαν ἦλθες. . . ὡς μὴ ἔχειν σε ἀρτά[β]ην μίαν λωτίνου: with Jn 939 cf. P Tor I. 1 ἴ1 39 (B.c. 116) ἔρχεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ κριτήριον : with Jn 18, cf. the late P Iand I. 21% (vi/vii A.D.)…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔρχομαι (erchomai) — to come/go.

ἔρχομαι

[Refs 8th c.BC+]: imperfect ἠρχόμην [Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently in later Prose, [LXX+NT+2nd c.AD+]; in Attic dialect rare even in compounds, ἐπ-ηρχόμην [Refs 5th c.BC+]future ἐλεύσομαι, [Refs 8th c.BC+], Ionic dialect, Trag. [Refs 5th c.BC+], in Attic dialect Prose only in [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist, Epic dialect and Lyric poetry ἤλῠθον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but ἦλθον is more frequently even in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect infinitive ἐλθέμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs 8th c.BC+] unaugmented unless ἐξ-ελύθη [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Doric dialect ἦνθον [Refs 5th c.BC+]; participle ἐνθών [Refs 6th c.BC+]; subjunctive ἔνθῃ [Refs]; Laconian dialect ἔλσῃ, ἔλσοιμι, ἐλσών, [NT+5th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ἤλθοσαν [LXX+2nd c.BC+]; ἤλυθα [Refs 4th c.AD+]perfect ἐλήλῠθα (not in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; syncopated. plural ἐλήλῠμεν, -υτε, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔρχομαι

erchomai

middle voice of a primary verb

(used only in the present and imperfect tenses, the others being

supplied by a kindred (middle voice)

eleuthomai el-yoo'-thom-ahee, or (active)

eltho el'-tho,

which do not otherwise occur)

to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and

figuratively):--accompany, appear, bring, come, enter, fall out, go,

grow, X light, X next, pass, resort, be set.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔρχομαι

v.

I come, go

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔρχομαι erchomai 632x

to come, to go, to pass. By the combination of this verb with other terms, a variety of meaning results, which, however, is due, not to a change of meaning in the verb, but to the adjuncts. Ὁ ἐρχόμενος, He who is coming, the expected Messiah, Mt. 11:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔρχομαι to come or go, Hom., etc.

to come or go back, return, Od.; in full, αὖτις, ἄψ, πάλιν ἐλθεῖν id. Od.

c. acc. cogn., ὁδόν or κέλευθον ἐλθεῖν to go a journey, Hom., Aesch.; ἀγγελίην ἐλθεῖν to go a message, Il.

c. gen. loci, πεδίοιο ἐλθεῖν over or across the plain, id. Il.

c. part. fut., to denote the object, ἔρχομαι οἰσόμενος I go to fetch, id. Il.; μαρτυρήσων ἦλθον Aesch., etc.:—like an auxiliary Verb, ἔρχομαι λέξων I am going to tell, I intend to say (as in French je vais dire), Hdt.

the aor. part. ἐλθών is often added to another Verb, κάθηρον ἐλθών come and cleanse, Il., etc.

Post-Homeric phrases:

εἰς λόγους ἔρχεσθαί τινι to come to speech with, Hdt., Soph.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAP-NSN — Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · singular · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAP-NSN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kum: The translation of many Hebrew and Greek words. In the phrase "The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily upon him" (Jud 14:6,19; 15:14; 1Sa 10:10; 11:6; 16:13), the word is tsaleah; Jud 14:6; 15:14 "came mightily," which is the uniform translation of the Revised Version (British and American) (compare Jud 13:25 "to move," i.e. to disturb or stir up). In Jud 6:34; 1Ch 12:18; 2Ch 24:20, it is labhesh, "to clothe"; the Revised Version, margin "The Spirit .... clothed itself with Gideon" and .... "with Zechariah,"…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
14%coming
coming14% · 92×having come13% · 81×came11% · 73×come9% · 55×comes7% · 44×they came3% · 22×he came3% · 18×he comes2% · 16×other renderings38% · 241×

642 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 91 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
verb92%adverbial7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 635 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, existβροχήa heavy rain
Article the
εὐλογέωI blessεἰμίI am, existκαίand, even, also,
ὅτιthat, since, because
αὐτόςἀκούωI hear, listenνομίζωI think, suppose
αὐτός
μαθητήςa learner, disciλέγωI say, speakἐπί
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theὅτανwhen, whensoeverὅτεwhen
ἔρχομαιhaving come635×
what comes after →
πρός
αὐτόςσύἐγώ
Article the
ὥραan hour, seasonἸησοῦςJesusκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
εἰς
Article theτόποςa placeΚαφαρναούμProp
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theὁράωI see, look uponἔρχομαιI come, go
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theεἰςἡμέραa day

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

Concordanceἔρχομαι · 635× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke Mark Acts Revelation 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Romans Galatians Hebrews 1 John

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament24 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 423 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 27c. AD 40

καὶ γὰρ εὔλογον τῷ ὄντι πρῶτον αὐτὸν εἰς γένεσιν ἐλθεῖν, ἄριστόν τε ὄντα τῶν γεγονότων κἀκ τοῦ καθαρωτάτου τῆς οὐσίας παγέντα, διότι θεῶν ἐμφανῶν τε καὶ αἰσθητῶν ἔμελλεν οἶκος ἔσεσθαι ἱερώτατος.

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 5.9c. AD 100

ὅτε δὲ τοὺς ἰδίους ἀποστόλους τοὺς μέλλοντας κηρύσσειν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτοῦ ἐξελέξατο, ὄντας ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνομωτέρους, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθεν καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς, τότε ἐφανέρωσεν ἑαυτὸν εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Cair. Zen. 3 59469276 BC–227 BC

καὶ ἵνʼ ἀεὶ διδῶσιν οἱ ἐκεῖθεν ποιά τινα· τὴν δὲ τιμὴν αὐτοῦ ὡς ἂν ἔλθῃς δώσουσι. καί, εἰ δυνατόν, Ἕρμωνα πρόδομα λαβεῖν ἄχρι τῶν Λαμέδοντος.

P.Lond. 7 2009Philadelphia (Arsinoites)247 BC

καὶ ἐν τῶι β ἔτει … τῆι ζ εἰς τὴν η ἦλθεν μετά μεθυόντων … τινων καὶ ἔκρουσεν τὴν θύραν κελεύων ἄνοιξον ἵνα πίωμεν. ἐμοῦ δὲ

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

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

And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
εὑρίσκειehuriskō it finds [it] G2147 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
176× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Luke than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To find or discover something, like in Matthew 7:7-8, where Jesus teaches that those who seek will find. This word is about searching and finding, whether it's a physical object or a spiritual truth.
Amplified meaning
its former dwelling place, a person's life
Tyndale gloss
to find/meet
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εὑρίσκω (i.e., *heuriskō*) means 'to find' and can refer to both literal and figurative discoveries. It encompasses a range of meanings from locating something after a search to acquiring knowledge or understanding. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as finding people or truths (e.g., Matthew 7:7). The entries do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εὑρίσκω,

[in LXX chiefly for מצא, also for נשׂג hi., etc. ;]

to find, with or without previous search: absol., opp. to ζητέω, Mt 7:7, 8 Lk 11:9, 10; c. acc., Mt 2:8, Mk 1:37, Ac 13:22, II Ti 1:17, al.; pass., οὐχ εὑ., of disappearance, He 11:5, Re 16:20, al.; γῆ κ. τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα εὑρεθήσεται (for conjectures as to the meaning of this reading, v. Mayor, ICC, in l.), II Pe 3:10, WH, R, mg. Metaph.…

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

εὑρίσκω ; impf. εὕρισκον (Mk. xiv. 55 [RG ΤΊ; Lk. xix. 48 [RG‘I’]; Acts vii. 11 [exe. Tr WH]) and more rarely ηὕρισκον (cf. Kiihner § 343, i. 825 sq. [esp. Veitch s. v. fin. ] and reff. under evdoxéw) ; fut. εὑρήσω; pf. εὕρηκα; 1 aor. εὕρησα (which aor., unknown to the earlier Grks., occurs in Aesop. f. 131 [f. 41 ed. Furia, p. 333 ed. Cor.]; Maneth. 5, 137 and in Byzant. writ.; cf. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 721; W. 86 (82); [cf. B. 36 (31)]), Rev. xviii. 14 Ree. ; 2 aor. εὗρον, 1 pers. plur. in Alex. form | WH. App. Ρ. 164; B. 39 (34); W. § 13,1 (see ἀπέρχομαι) | εὕραμεν, Lk. xxiii. 2 T Tr WH, 3 pers. plur. εὗραν, Lk. viii. 35 Tr WH; Acts v. 10 Tr (in Sept. often εὕροσαν) ; Pass., pres. εὑρίσκομαι ; impf. 3 pers. sing. εὑρίσκετο, Heb. xi. 5 RG, ηὑρίσκετο 1, Τ Tr WH, (cf. Bleek and Delitzsch ad loe. [Veitch u. 5.7); 1 aor. εὑρέθην ; fut. εὑρεθήσομαι ; 2 aor. mid. εὑρόμην and later εὑράμην (Heb.…

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

εὑρίσκω. P Hib I. 485 (B.c. 255) οὐ γὰρ εὑρίσκω ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις, “for I cannot find the entry in the books” (Edd.), P Tebt I. 58° (B.c. 111) εὑρήκαμεν δὲ τὸν ἐπιδεδωκότα τὸ ὑπόμνηίμα), P Oxy IIT. 53218 (ii/A.D.) καὶ γὰρ ἐν Iladpe τότε σε εὗρον, P Iand 81 (ii/A.D.) ἐὰν τὸ χυτρί]ον εὕρωι (for form cf. Mayser Gr. p. 134 f.), διαπέμψ[ομαι διὰ το]ῦ ὀνολάτου dpep(pve[s: cf. for the passive P Rein 111} (B.c. 111) διὰ τὸ τοῦτον ἐκπεπτωκέναι Kal μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι, ‘because this man has left the country and is not to be found,” P Oxy IV. 743% (B.C. 2) καὶ εὑρέθη μήτε εἰληφὼς μήτε δεδωκώ(ς), “it was discovered that he had neither received nor paid anything,” and P Giss I. 47* (Hadrian) λείαν ἄξια εὑρῆσθαι. For a weaker sense, as in Mt 2737 a/., see P Tebt II. 3305 (ii/A.D.) παραγενομένου εἰς τὴν κώμην εὗρον τὴν οἰκίαν μου σεσυλημένην, P Gen I. 54%! (iv/A.D.) ἀπελθόντων ἡμῶν ἐκεῖσαι εὑρήκαμεν τὸν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὑρίσκω (ehuriskō) — to find/meet.

εὑρίσκω,

imperfect ηὕρισκον or εὕρ- [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future εὑρήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 2 εὗρον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural εὕροσαν [LXX+1st c.AD+]; Epic dialect infinitive εὑρέμεναι [Refs 8th c.BC+]: later aorist 1 εὕρησα [Refs 4th c.AD+]; εὗρα variant in [NT+2nd c.AD+]: perfect εὕρηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+], perfect imperative 2nd pers. singular εὕρηκε [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—middle, future εὑρήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 2 εὑρόμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist 1 εὑράμην [NT+8th c.BC+]:—passive, future εὑρεθήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ηὑρέθην or εὑρέθην [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.: perfect ηὕρημαι or εὕρ- [Refs 8th c.BC+] has only aorist active and middle, except ἔθ᾽ εὑρίσκω (variant{ἐφευρίσκω}) [Refs 8th c.BC+]: the augment is seldom found in Papyri, ηὕρισκεν [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; never in those of [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—find, εὗρεν δ᾽…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὑρίσκω

heurisko

heuro hyoo'-ro, which

(together with another cognate form)

heureo hyoo-reh'-o is used for it in all the tenses

except the present and imperfect

to find (literally or figuratively):--find, get, obtain, perceive,

see.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὑρίσκω

v.

I find

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὑρίσκω heuriskō 176x

to find, to meet with; Mt. 18:28; 20:6; to find out, to detect, discover, Lk. 23:2, 4, 14; to acquire, obtain, win, gain, Lk. 1:30; 9:12; to find mentally, to comprehend, recognize, Acts 17:27; Rom. 7:21; to find by experience, observe, gather, Rom. 7:18; to devise as feasible, Lk. 5:19; 19:48

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εὑρίσκω to find, Hom., etc.:—c. part. to find that, Hdt.; and in Pass., ἢν εὑρεθῆις δίκαιος ὤν Soph.

c. inf., εὕρισκε πρῆγμά οἱ εἶναι found that the thing for him was, Hdt.

to find out, discover, Hom., etc.; cf. εὕρημα II:—so in Mid. to find out for oneself, Od.

to devise, invent, Aesch., etc.:—Mid., τὰ δ᾽ ἔργα τοὺς λόγους εὑρίσκεται deeds make themselves words, i. e. speak for themselves, Soph.

to find, get, gain, procure, Pind., Soph., etc.:—Mid. to get for oneself, bring on oneself, κακὸν εὕρετο Od.; αὐτὸς εὑρόμην πόνους Aesch.

of merchandise, to find a purchaser, to fetch, earn, πολλὸν χρυσίον εὑροῦσα having fetched a large sum, Hdt.; ἀποδίδοται τοῦ εὑρόντος sells for what it will fetch, Xen.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
14%found
found14% · 25×having found12% · 21×they found8% · 14×he found6% · 10×will find6% · 10×you will find5% · 9×finds4% · 7×finding3% · 6×other renderings42% · 75×

177 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 56 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
verb96%linking verb2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 176 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
ζητέωI seek, search fἔρχομαιI come, goἀπόλλυμιI destroy, lose,
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,τόποςa placeδέbut, on the othe
μήNeg
καίand, even, also,οὐNegArticle the
αὐτός
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastσυνέρχομαιI come or go witστόμαthe mouth, speec
ὅς
ἀγρόςa field, the couπᾶςall, the whole, ἕωςuntil, as far as
εὑρίσκωit finds [it]176×
what comes after →
αὐτός
καθεύδωI sleep, am sleeκαίand, even, also,ἐν
Article the
σῶμαbody, fleshψυχήthe soul, life, παιδίονa little child,
ἐν
αὐτόςArticle theγαστήρthe womb, stomac
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theὅπουwhere, whitherἄρχωI begin
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theεἷςoneἐκεῖthere, yonder, t

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

Concordanceεὑρίσκω · 176× in the New Testament
Luke Acts Matthew John Revelation Mark 2 Corinthians Hebrews Romans 1 Corinthians 1 Peter 2 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 253 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 79c. AD 40

ἅμα τῇ πρώτῃ γενέσει τὰς εἰς τὸ ζῆν παρασκευὰς ἁπάσας εὗρεν ἄνθρωπος, εἰς διδασκαλίαν τῶν ἔπειτα, μόνον οὐκ ἄντικρυς βοώσης τῆς φύσεως, ὅτι μιμούμενοι τὸν ἀρχηγέτην τοῦ γένους ἀπόνως καὶ ἀταλαιπώρως ἐν ἀφθονωτάτῃ τῶν ἀναγκαίων εὐπορίᾳ διάξουσιν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.10c. AD 75–95

Εὗρον τοίνυν, ὅτι Πτολεμαίων μὲν ὁ δεύτερος μάλιστα δὴ βασιλεὺς περὶ παιδείαν καὶ βιβλίων συναγωγὴν σπουδάσας ἐξαιρέτως ἐφιλοτιμήθη τὸν ἡμέτερον νόμον καὶ τὴν κατʼ αὐτὸν διάταξιν τῆς πολιτείας εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν μεταβαλεῖν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 7.8c. AD 100

καὶ ὅταν γένηται οὕτως, ἄγει ὁ βαστάζων τὸν τράγον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἀφαιρεῖ τὸ ἔριον καὶ ἐπιτίθησιν αὐτὸ ἐπὶ φρύγανον τὸ λεγόμενον ῥαχήλ, οὗ καὶ τοὺς βλαστοὺς εἰώθαμεν τρώγειν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ εὑρίσκοντες: οὕτω μόνης τῆς ῥαχοῦς οἱ καρποὶ γλυκεῖς εἰσιν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Cair. Zen. 4 59598247 BC–246 BC

r … Ζήνωνι χαίρειν. περὶ ὧν μοι ἐνετείλω περί τε τοῦ γαυνάκου καὶ οὐχ εὑρήκαμεν, οὐδὲ γνάφαλλα ὡσαύτως. χαλκοῦς οὔ φησι ὁ δεῖνα λαβεῖν εἰς τὸ φόρετρον τοῦ ὀρόβου.

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59354Philadelphia (Arsinoites)245 BC

καθότι ἔγραψας, ἀπεστάλκαμεν κομίζοντα Ζωίλον ἐρίφους δεδαρμένους β, ὄρτυγας λδ, περιστεριδεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἠδυνάσθημεν εὑρεῖν παρευρέσει ἡιτινιοῦν. περὶ τῶν σχαδόνων εἴπαμεν Νέστωι. ἀπέσταλκεν οὖν τῆι κϛ, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔφη.

r Δημοκράτης Ζήνωνι χαίρειν. τὰ σκήνεια τῆς σκηνῆς εὕρηκα βεβρωμένα, ἑωράκην δὲ ἐν τοῖς Δημέου καὶ παρʼ Ἑλένωι ἰτέινα ὀρθὰ καὶ ἐπιτήδεια. καλῶς

And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
σχολάζοντα being unoccupied G4980
2× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Meaning
To be devoted or empty, like a house that is unoccupied in Matthew 12:44. It can also mean to have time for something or to be at leisure, as in 1 Corinthians 7:5.
Tyndale gloss
be devoted/empty
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word σχολάζω (i.e., *scholazō*) is derived from σχολή and means to be at leisure or to have time for something. It encompasses being unoccupied, devoting oneself to a task, or being empty, as seen in 1 Corinthians 7:5 and Matthew 12:44. The lexicons indicate a range of uses, from idleness to dedicated study, particularly in educational contexts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σχολάζω

(< σχολή),

[in LXX: Ex 5:8, 17, Ps 45 (46):10 (רפה ni., hi.) * ;]

to be at leisure, hence, to have time or opportunity for, to devote oneself to, be occupied in: I Co 7:5; of things, to be unoccupied, empty (Plut., Eur., al.): οἶκος, Mt 12:44, Lk 11:25 (T [WH], R, om.).†

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

σχολάζω ; 1 aor. ΒΕ] πο. σχολάσω, 1 Co. vii. 5G LT Dr Wis; (σχολή, ἃ: νι}; 1. to cease from labor; to loiter. 2. to be free from labor, to be at leisure, to be idle ; τινί, to have leisure for a thing, i.e. to give one’s self to a thing: ἵνα σχολάσητε (Rec. σχολάζητε) τῇ προσεὐχῇ, 1 Co. vii. 5 (for exx. fr. prof. auth. see Passow s.v.; [L. and 5. s. v. III.]). 3. of things; e. g. of places, to be unoccupied, empty: οἶκος σχολάζων, Mt. xii. 44; [Lk. xi. 25 WH br. Tr mrg. br.], (τόπος, Plut. Gai. Grac. 12; of a centurion’s vacant office, Eus. ἢ. 6. 7, 15; in eccl. writ. of vacant eccl. offices, [also of officers without charge; cf. Soph. Lex. s. v.]).

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

σχολάζω, “have leisure’’: cf. P Hib I. 55° (s.c. 250) o]¥ yap σχολάζω μένειν πλείονα χρί[όνον, ‘‘ for I have no leisure to remain longer’’ (Edd.), PSI V. 5307 (iii/B.c.) καλῶς δ᾽ ἂν ποήσαις ὑποζύγιον δοὺς ἐὰν ἣι σχολάζον, BGU I. 9319 (i/ili A.D.) ἐὰν... δύνατόν σοι ἢ, μετ᾽ αὐτῆς κατέλθῃς πρὸς ἐμέ, ἐὰν δὲ μὴ σχολάζῃς, διαπέμψεις αὐτὴν διὰ τῆς (4 ἐσχόλαζον) ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ μέμφομαί σε πολλά, and P Oxy VII. 1070% (iii/A.p.) ἐν τῷ παρόντι οὐ σχολάζομεν ἑτέροις ἐξερχόμενοι, ‘Sat present we are not at leisure and are visiting others’’ (Ed.). For the derived meaning ‘‘ have leisure for,’’ and hence “devote myself to,’’ as in 1 Cor 75, cf. P Lond V. 183614 (iv/A.D.), where the writer asks that Sarapion should be freed from his present duties, and so τοῖς ἡμῶν [πρ]άγμασι σχολάζειν, “be at leisure for our affairs,” and an unpublished Bremen papyrus of Roman times (cited by GH ad P Oxy…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σχολάζω (scholazō) — be devoted/empty.

σχολ-άζω,

Boeotian dialect σχολ-άδδω [Refs]:— to have leisure or spare time, to be at leisure, have nothing to do, σὺ δ᾽ ἢν σχολάσῃς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; διὰ τὸ μὴ σχολάζειν ὑπὸ πολέμων because they have no leisure left by the wars, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σ. καλῶς spend one's leisure well, [Refs]: with infinitive, have leisure or time to do a thing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. loiter, linger, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. σ. ἀπό τινος have rest or respite from a thing, cease from doing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀπὸ τοῦ Κρώμνου were set free from the operations at K., [Refs 1st c.AD+]

III. with dative, have leisure, time, or opportunity for a thing, devote one's time to a thing, πάντα τὸν βίον ἐσχόλακεν [ἐν] τούτῳ [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σ. φιλοσοφίᾳ, μουσικῇ, etc., [Refs 2nd…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σχολάζω

scholazo

from 4981; to take a holiday, i.e. be at leisure for (by implication,

devote oneself wholly to); figuratively, to be vacant (of a

house):--empty, give self.

see GREEK for 4981

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σχολάζω

v.

I have leisure, stand empty

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σχολάζω scholazō 2x

to be unemployed, to be at leisure; to be at leisure for a thing, to devote one’s self entirely to a thing, 1 Cor. 7:5; to be unoccupied, empty, Mt. 12:44*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σχολάζω σχολάζω, φυτ. -άσω σχολή to have leisure or spare time, to be at leisure, Thuc., etc.:—c. inf. to have leisure or time to do a thing, Xen.

to loiter, linger, delay, Eur., Dem.

σχ. ἀπό τινος, Lat. vacare a re, to have rest or respite from a thing, cease from doing, Xen.

σχολάζειν τινί, Lat. vacare rei, to have leisure or opportunity for a thing, to devote one's time to it, Dem.; πρός τι Xen.

also c. dat. pers. to devote himself to, τοῖς φίλοις id. Xen.: esp. of scholars, σχ. τινί to devote oneself to a master, attend his lectures, id. Xen.; and absol. to give lectures, Plut.

of a place, to be vacant or unoccupied, id. Plut.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%being unoccupied
being unoccupied67% · 2×you may be devoted33% · 1×

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
εὑρίσκωI find
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ἵναin order that, so th
καιρόςfitting season,
σχολάζωbeing unoccupied
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
σαρόωI sweep
Article the
προσευχήprayer, a place

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

Concordanceσχολάζω · 2× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
O.Krok. 2 314KrokodiloAD 98–AD 117

οὐ δύναμαι σχολάσαι … τον· ἔπειτα σ … … μοι περὶ … … οὐ σχολάζω· καλῶς ποιήσεις ποιήσας μοι ἡμιαρτάβιον ἄρτων τῆς τιμῆς καὶ πέμψας μοι ὅτι οὐκ ἔχω

P.Vet.Aelii 18Ankyron (?) (Herakleopolites)AD 222–AD 255

τοῦ σε ἐλθεῖν ἢ ταχέως ἀντιγράψαι μοι … μισθῶσαι Περδίκου ἐπ … … οὐ σχολάζω. οἴδατε γὰρ καὶ ὑμεῖς … … ργίας ταύτης ἀσχολίας καὶ περὶ τῶν πρακτόρων τῶν

P.Flor. 3 365AD 201–AD 300

μου … ἐνθάδε παραμεῖναι καὶ ὅτι … αι … ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ οὐ σχολάζω πρὸς σὲ ἐλθεῖν. πέμψεις μου τὴν ἀδελφὴν διὰ τοῦ ἀναδιδομένου σοι ταῦτα τὰ γράμματά

And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
σεσαρωμένονsaroō swept G4563 Verb · perfect · passive · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
3× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Luke than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To sweep means to clean an area by removing dirt or debris, like sweeping a floor, as seen in Matthew 12:44 and Luke 15:8.
Amplified meaning
cleaned, emptied
Tyndale gloss
to sweep
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word σαρόω (*saroō*) means 'to sweep' and is derived from a form of σαίρω (*sairō*). It appears in the New Testament in contexts related to cleaning or sweeping, specifically in Matthew 12:44, Luke 11:25, and Luke 15:8. The passive form can imply being swept clean or exhausted.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* σαρόω, -ῶ

late form of σαίρω,

to sweep: c. acc, Lk 15:8; pass., Mt 12:44, Lk 11:25.†

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

σαρόω , σάρδιον, ““sard ’’ (Rev 45, 217°), a red stone, perhaps the ““ οοῦnelian”: cf. Sy// 5883 (c. σάρδιον. B.C. 180) δακτύλιον χρυσοῦν

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σαρόω (saroō) — to sweep.

σᾰρόω,

= σαίρω (B), sweep clean, τὴν οἰκίαν [NT+2nd c.AD+]:—passive, οἶκος σεσαρωμένος [NT]: metaphorically, to be swept clean, exhausted, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II. passive, of the thing swept, κῦμα.. μεταξὺ χοιράδων σαρούμενον [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

σαρόω

saroo

from a derivative of sairo (to brush off; akin to 4951); meaning a

broom; to sweep:--sweep.

see GREEK for 4951

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σαρόω

v.

I sweep

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σαρόω saroō 3x

to sweep, to clean with a broom, Mt. 12:44; Lk. 11:25; 15:8*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σαρόω from σά^ρον σα^ρόω, = σαίρω II to sweep clean, NTest.:— Pass., perf. part. σεσαρωμένος id. NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-RPP-ASM — Verb · perfect · passive · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-RPP-ASM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: peRfect Voice: Passive Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%swept
swept67% · 2×she sweeps33% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 3 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
σχολάζωI have leisure, λύχνοςa lamp
εὑρίσκωI find
ἔρχομαιI come, go
σαρόωswept
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
κοσμέωI put into order
Article the
οἰκίαa house, househo

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

Concordanceσαρόω · 3× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew
Across the New Testament2 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίand8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And having come it finds [it] being unoccupied swept and ordered.
κεκοσμημένον.kosmeō ordered. G2885 Verb · perfect · passive · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
10× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To arrange or decorate something means to put it in order or make it look nice. In the Bible, this word is used to describe preparing a room or trimming a wick in Matthew 25:7 and Luke 11:25.
Amplified meaning
arranged, decorated, made tidy, restored to a state of harmony
Tyndale gloss
to arrange
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word κοσμέω (i.e., *kosmeo*) means to arrange, order, or adorn. It encompasses both literal and metaphorical uses, such as preparing a feast or embellishing one's character. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts like decorating homes or honoring others. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κοσμέω, -ῶ

(< κόσμος),

[in LXX for עדה, תּקן, etc.;]

to order, arrange, prepare (in Hom. esp. of marshalling armies): Mt 25:7 (cf. Si 50:9, al.).

to adorn, furnish: οἶκον, pass., Mt 12:44, Lk 11:25; μνημεῖα, Mt 23:29; τὸ ἱερόν, pass., Lk 21:5; θεμέλιοι, Re 21:19; νύμφην, pass., Re 21:2; ἑαυτάς, seq. ἐν, I Ti 2:9. Metaph., c. acc. pers., I Pe 3:5; c. acc. rei, Tit…

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

κοσμέω, -ῶ; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἐκόσμουν; 1 aor. ἐκόσμησα; pf. pass. κεκόσμημαι; (κόσμος) ; 1. to put in order, arrange, make ready, prepare: τὰς λαμπάδας, put in order [A. V. trim], Mt. xxv. 7 (δόρπον, Hom. Od. 7, 13; τράπεζαν, Xen. Cyr. 8, 2,6; 6,11; Sept. Ezek. xxiii. 41 for 31, Sir. xxix. 26; προσφοράν, Sir. 1. 14, and other exx. elsewhere). 2. to ornament, adorn, (so in Grk. writ. fr. Hesiod down; Sept. several times for KOT LOS 7773!) ; prop.: οἶκον, in pass., Mt. xii. 44; Lk. xi. 25; τὰ μνημεῖα, to decorate [A.V. garnish], Mt. xxiii. 29 (τάφους, Xen. mem. 2, 2,13); τὸ ἱερὸν λίθοις καὶ ἀναθέμασι, in pass. Lk. xxi. 5; τοὺς θεμελίους τοὺ τείχους λίθῳ τιμίῳ, Rev. xxi. 19; τινά (with garments), νύμφην, pass. Rev. xxi. 2; ἑαυτὰς ἔν τινι, 1 Tim. ii. 9 (on this pass. see καταστολή, 2). metaph. i. 4. to embellish with honor, gain honor, (Pind. nem. 6, 78; Thue. 2, 42; κεκοσμ. τῇ ἀρετῇ…

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

κοσμέω. In P Oxy XII. 1467° (A.D. 263) reference is made to certain laws which entitle women ‘‘ who are honoured with the right of three children” —rtats γυναιξὶν ταῖς τῶν τριῶν τέκνων δικαίῳ Kekoopnpéeva[t]s—to act without a guardian. The metaphorical use of the verb, as in Tit 219. is seen in Cagnat IV. 288° (ii/B.c.) κ[εκ]όσμηκε τὸν αὑτοῦ [β]ίον THe καλλίστηι παρρησίαι, and in the important Pyzene 105°6 (B.C. 9), where Augustus is described as ‘‘ having made war to cease, and established order everywhere "--τὸν παύσαντα piv πόλεμον, κοσμήσοντα [δὲ πάντα. Epict. iii. 1. 2 τὸ λογικὸν ἔχεις ἐξαίρετον" τοῦτο «κόσμει καὶ καλλώπιζε" τὴν κόμην δ᾽ ἄφες τῷ πλάσαντι ὡς αὐτὸς ἠθέλησεν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κοσμέω (kosmeō) — to arrange.

κοσμ-έω,

order, arrange, especially set an army in array, marshal it, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, ἐπεὶ κόσμηθεν ἅμ᾽ ἡγεμόνεσσιν ἕκαστοι [Refs]; πένταχα κοσμηθέντες marshalled in five bodies, [Refs]; of a population, διὰ τρίχα κοσμηθέντες [Refs 8th c.BC+] —middle, κοσμησάμενος πολιήτας having arranged his men, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so after Homer, κ. στρατόν (variant for{κοιμήσων}) [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. generally, arrange, prepare, δόρπον ἐκόσμει [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, δεῖπνον κεκόσμηται [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δεῖ οὕτω κοσμηθῆναι ὅκως.. [Refs 3rd c.AD+]; τὸ κοσμηθὲν αἷμα, ={τὸνοἰκεῖον κόσμον κτησάμενον}, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κοσμέω

kosmeo

from 2889; to put in proper order, i.e. decorate (literally or

figuratively); specially, to snuff (a wick):--adorn, garnish, trim.

see GREEK for 2889

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κοσμέω

v.

I put into order, adorn

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κοσμέω kosmeō 10x

pluperfect, ἐκεκόσμητο (3 sg), to arrange, set in order; to adorn, decorate, embellish, Mt. 12:44; 23:29; to prepare, put in readiness, trim, Mt. 25:7; met. to honor, dignify, Tit. 2:10

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κοσμέω κοσμός to order, arrange, Hom., etc.: esp. to set an army in array, marshal it, Il.:— Mid., κοσμησάμενος πολιήτας having arranged his men, id. Il.

generally, to arrange, prepare, δόρπον Od.; ἔργα Hes., etc.

to dispose, order, rule, govern, Hdt., Soph., etc.; τὰ κοσμούμενα orderly institutions, set order, Soph.

in Crete, to be Cosmos (κόσμος ΙΙΙ), rule as such, Arist.

to deck, adorn, equip, furnish, dress, esp. of women, Hhymn., Hes., etc.: Mid., κοσμέεσθαι τὰς κεφαλάς to adorn their heads, Hdt., etc.

metaph. to adorn, embellish, Eur., Thuc., etc.

to honour, pay honour to, Soph., Eur., etc.

in Pass. to be assigned or ascribed to, ἐς τὸν Αἰγύπτιον νόμον αὗται [αἱ πόλεις] ἐκεκοσμέατο Hdt.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-RPP-ASM — Verb · perfect · passive · participle · accusative · singular · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-RPP-ASM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: peRfect Voice: Passive Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%adorning
adorning20% · 2×adorned20% · 2×ordered20% · 2×they may adorn10% · 1×adorn10% · 1×trimmed10% · 1×it has been adorned10% · 1×

10 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 7 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 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
σαρόωI sweepπροφήτηςa prophet, poetἐκεῖνος
θεόςGod, a god
ἐγώεἰς
ἀνάθημαan offering dedicate
καίand, even, also,
σωφροσύνηsanity, sobriety
καίand, even, also,
νύμφηa bride, daughter-in
ὡςas, like as, how
κοσμέωordered.10×
what comes after →
Article the
μνημεῖονa tomb, sepulcheλαμπάςa torch, lamp, lἀνήρa male human bei
ἑαυτοῦ
μήNegὑποτάσσωI place under, s
λέγωI say, speak
ἐν
πᾶςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceκοσμέω · 10× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Revelation 1 Peter 1 Timothy Titus
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 7 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaThat the Worse Attacks the Better 42c. AD 40

εἰ δέ τις τὴν μὲν ψυχὴν ἀρεταῖς ἁπάσαις κεκόσμηται, τέχνας δὲ λόγων οὐκ ἐμελέτησεν, ἡσυχίᾳ χρώμενος ἀσφάλειαν γέρας ἀκίνδυνον εὑρήσεται, παρελθὼν δ’ ὡς Ἄβελ εἰς σοφιστικὸν ἀγῶνα πρὶν διερηρεῖσθαι πεσεῖται.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 9.93c. AD 75–95

τὴν δʼ ἀρχὴν αὐτὸς παρέλαβε δραστήριός τε ὢν ἀνὴρ καὶ πολλὴν ἔχων παρὰ τῶν Σύρων εὔνοιαν καὶ τοῦ δήμου τῶν Δαμασκηνῶν, ὑφʼ οὗ μέχρι νῦν αὐτός τε ὁ Ἄδερ καὶ Ἀζάηλος ὁ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἄρξας ὡς θεοὶ τιμῶνται διὰ τὰς εὐεργεσίας καὶ τῶν ναῶν οἰκοδομίας, οἷς…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 2.8c. AD 96

τῇ παναρέτῳ καὶ σεβασμίῳ πολιτείᾳ κεκοσμημένοι πάντα ἐν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ ἐπετελεῖτε: τὰ προστάγματα καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ κυρίου ἐπὶ τὰ πλάτη τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν ἐγέγραπτο.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 5th c. AD
P.Oxy. 43 3088OxyrhynchosAD 128

Σεβαστοῦ, Φαμενὼθ κε. ἀντίγραφον. Φλάυιος Τιτιανὸς Ὀξυρυγχειτῶν τῇ πόλει χαίρειν. ἀποδέχομαι ὑμᾶς τὴν πατρίδα κοσμεῖν προῃρημένους καὶ ἐπιτρέπω κατασκευάζειν τὸ βαλανεῖον ἔκ τε τῶν ἤδη συνειλεγμένων χρημάτων, ὥς φατε,

ZPE 171 (2009), p. 175-180OxyrhynchitesAD 437

Ἐπίμαχον υἱὸν … ης ἱκανὸν ὄντα καὶ ἐπιτήδειον, δυνάμενον … … ντα καὶ σώφρονα, κεκοσμημένον … σ … ην παρὰ πάντων αὐτῷ ἐπενηνε … τοῦ ἁγίου τόπου οἰκονομ

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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