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Luke 15:3 — Word Study

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N1904Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

BSAHe spokelegō thende [at that time, next] topros themautos [his disciples, the crowd] <the>ho parableparabolē [story, illustration, a teaching comparison, saying, to explain, to illustrate] thisohutos [the following, a specific] saying;legō

Word
Listen & take awayLuke 15
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 3 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 (legō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Luke 15:3quick helps
In a sentenceJesus uses a parable to illustrate a deeper truth.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing his disciples and the crowd.
Where we areIn response to the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes.
The hard wordπαραβολὴν
Take awayJesus teaches through stories that reveal God's heart.
6 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectλέγω verbειπεν 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 15:3

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 Parable of the Lost Sheepgenerated

2So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3Then Jesus told them this parable:
4“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

Luke 15:3 shows Jesus responding to the Pharisees and scribes who criticized him for associating with sinners. In this context, He tells a parable, a story that conveys a moral lesson, to illustrate the value of each individual and God's desire for their restoration. This parable is part of a series of teachings where Jesus emphasizes compassion and redemption, as seen in the subsequent verses where He describes the joy in finding what was lost.


Cross References


The Key Word παραβολὴν, parabolēgenerated

The word παραβολὴ is a feminine noun meaning 'parable' or 'comparison'. It is derived from the root meaning to place beside, indicating a story that teaches a moral lesson through analogy. In this verse, it refers specifically to the story Jesus is about to tell, which is meant to illustrate a spiritual truth.

Parables were a common teaching method for Jesus, allowing Him to convey profound truths in relatable ways. This particular parable serves to highlight God's love for the lost and His joy in their return.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The translations generally agree on the use of parable for παραβολὴν, as seen in the BSB, KJV, and ASV. However, the YLT uses simile, while the BBE opts for story.

The phrase λέγων is rendered as saying in some versions like BBE and LSV, while the YLT maintains the participle form.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is εἶπεν, He spoke, which introduces the action of telling a parable. The structure includes a noun phrase as the object, παραβολὴν, and a participial phrase, λέγων, which indicates what He was doing while speaking.

This structure emphasizes the act of teaching through storytelling, a method Jesus frequently employed to engage His audience and convey spiritual truths.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

παραβολὴ appears in the Septuagint as a translation for the Hebrew word מָשָׁל (māšāl), meaning a proverb or parable. This connection highlights the tradition of using parables to impart wisdom and moral lessons in both the Old and New Testaments.

In the Septuagint, παραβολὴ is often associated with teachings that encourage reflection and understanding, similar to Jesus' use of parables.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Luke 15:3 shows Jesus telling a story to explain a deeper truth. This parable is part of His response to the Pharisees and scribes who were upset about Him spending time with sinners. Through this story, Jesus teaches about the value of each person and God's joy in bringing back those who are lost.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What is a parable?

A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, often through analogy or comparison.

Why did Jesus tell this parable?

Jesus told this parable to illustrate God's love for sinners and the joy of their restoration, addressing the criticism from the Pharisees.

How does this parable relate to the previous verses?

This parable directly responds to the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes, providing a counter-narrative that emphasizes compassion and redemption.

What can we learn from this parable?

We learn about the importance of every individual to God and the joy that comes from repentance and restoration.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I better appreciate the value of each person in my life, just as God does?
  2. In what ways can I reflect God's love and compassion towards those who feel lost or marginalized?
  3. What stories or experiences can I share that illustrate the joy of restoration?
  4. How can I apply the lessons from this parable in my daily interactions with others?

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

Tertullian reflects on the themes of patience and restoration found in Jesus' parables, emphasizing the shepherd's search for the lost sheep as a metaphor for God's care for sinners.

TertullianON PATIENCE 12 c. 155–220
There is a breadth of patience in our Lord’s parables, the patience of the shepherd that makes him seek and find the straying sheep. Impatience would readily take no account of a single sheep, but patience undertakes the wearisome search.
Early Church Fathers on Luke 15 →
TertullianOn Repentance c. 155–220
What meaning for us have those themes of the Lord's parables? Is not the fact that a woman has lost a drachma, and seeks it and finds it, and invites her female friends to share her joy, an example of a restored sinner? There strays,
Early Church Fathers on Luke 15 →
TertullianOf Patience c. 155–220
So, to, she is found in those holy examples touching patience in the Lord's parables. The shepherd's patience seeks and finds the straying ewe: for Impatience would easily despise one ewe;
Early Church Fathers on Luke 15 →

Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Luke 15:3 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And he spake this parable unto them,.... To the Pharisees, for their conviction and confutation; and to the publicans and sinners for their encouragement; and in vindication of himself; and not only

Read John Gill on Luke 15 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And he spake this parable unto them, saying, And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

Read Robert Jamieson on Luke 15 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ver. 3-7. See Poole on "", and See Poole on "", where we met with the same parable, though not related with so many circumstances. , which is the epiparabole, showeth us the principal thing which our Saviour by this parable designs to teach His hearers, and us also, viz. That Christ is so far from rejecting the greatest sinners, that repent, and flee unto his mercy, that, if it were possible, he should take a greater satisfaction in such an issue of Divine providence, than in all the glorified saints. No repenting sinner, let his sins be as many and as great as they can be, shall be unwelcome unto Christ, fleeing to him with a broken heart (resolved against his former courses) for pardon…

Read Matthew Poole on Luke 15 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, Ver. 3. See Matthew 18:12.

Read John Trapp on Luke 15 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. he spake this parable] Matthew 18:12-14. In these three parables we have pictures of the bewildered sinner (Luke 15:3-7); the unconscious sinner (Luke 15:8-10); the voluntary sinner (Luke 15:11-32).

Read Cambridge on Luke 15 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This parable - See the notes at Matthew 13:3.

Read Albert Barnes on Luke 15 →

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

Then Jesus told them this parable:

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He told them this parable:

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Then Jesus told them this parable:

NETBNew English Translation2006

So Jesus told them this parable:

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

¶ And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And he spake unto them this parable, saying,

RVARevised Version, American1894

And he spake unto them this parable, saying,

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And he spoke this parable to them, saying,

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Then spake hee this parable to them, saying,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And he spoke to them this parable, saying,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And he spake unto them this simile, saying,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And He spoke to them this allegory, saying,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Jesus spoke this parable to them, saying,

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And he spoke to them this parable, saying:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

So Jesus told them this story as an illustration.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And he made a story for them, saying,

Word by word, the decisions they made

παραβολὴνparabolē parable G3850 4 different renderings
parableASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
sayingBBE LSV
simileYLT
illustrationFBV

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.

clauseδὲthenclauseverbεἶπενHe spokeprepositional phrase · adverbialπρὸςtoαὐτοὺςthemnoun phrase · objectnoun phraseτὴνtheπαραβολὴνparableταύτηνthisclause · adverbialclauseverbλέγωνsayingclausenoun phrasenoun phrasenoun phraseΤίςWhatἄνθρωποςmanprepositional phraseἐξofὑμῶνyouadjective phraseclauseclauseverbἔχωνhavingnoun phrase · objectἑκατὸνa hundredπρόβαταsheepκαὶandclauseverbἀπολέσαςhaving lostnoun phrase · objectprepositional phraseἐξofαὐτῶνthemἓνoneclauseοὐnotclauseclauseverbκαταλείπειleavesnoun phrase · objectτὰthenumeral phraseἐνενήκονταninetyἐννέαnineprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinnoun phraseτῇtheἐρήμῳopen fieldκαὶandclauseverbπορεύεταιgoesprepositional phrase · adverbialἐπὶafternoun phraseτὸthe [one]clauseverbἀπολωλὸςhaving been lostclauseἕωςuntilclauseverbεὕρῃhe findsobjectαὐτόit

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 ait ad illos parabolam istam dicens :

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

ܘܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܝܫܘܥ ܡܬܠܐ ܗܢܐ

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

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων·

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.

Luke 15:3ειπενHe spokeHe spokeειπενδέthenthenδέπρόςtotoπρόςαὐτόςthemthemαὐτός<the><the>παραβολήparableparableπαραβολήοὗτοςthisthisοὗτοςλέγωsaying;saying;λέγωεἶπονv. I say, v. I say, speakεἶπονπαραβάλλωv. I compav. I compare, aπαραβάλλωπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίἀλλήλωνRecip.pr. Recip.pr. one aἀλλήλωνἐπιστρέφωv. I turn v. I turn back ἐπιστρέφωἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωσυκῆn.f. a fign.f. a fig-treeσυκῆπαρατίθημιv. I set bv. I set beforeπαρατίθημιγενεάn.f. a genn.f. a generatiγενεάἄρχωνn.m. a ruln.m. a ruler, pἄρχωνἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνδιδάσκαλοςn.m. a tean.m. a teacherδιδάσκαλος
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 15:3

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.

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
Εἶπενlegō He spoke G2036 Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
1,988× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — λαλέω, λέγω, λαλιά, λόγος from a scan

In dealing with synonyms of the N. T. we plainly need not concern ourselves with such earlier, or even contemporary, uses of the words which we are discriminating, as lie altogether outside of the N. T. sphere, when these uses do not illustrate, and have not affected, their Scriptural employment. It follows from this that all those contemptuous uses of λαλεῖν as to talk at random, as one ἀθυρόστομος, or with no door to his lips, might do; of λαλιά, as chatter («Kpacia λόγου ἄλογος, Plato, Defin. 416)—for I cannot believe that we are to find this at John iv. 42—may be dismissed and set aside. The antithesis in the line of Eupolis (Meineke, /ragm. Com. Gr. p. 174), Λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν, does little or nothing to illustrate the matter in hand. The distinction which indeed exists between the words may in this way be made clear. There are two leading aspects under which speech…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

[in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Ge 22:16, al.;]

in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.

In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Ac 13:15 24:10; seq. orat. dir., Mt 9:34, Mk 3:11, Jo 1:29, al.; seq. ὅτι recit., Mk 3:21, Lk 1:24, Jo 6:14, al.; acc. et. inf., Lk 11:18, Jo 12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mt 11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman…

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

λέγω (in the N. T. only the pres. and impf. act. and pres. pass. are in use; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἔλεγαν, Jn. xi. 56 Tdf. [ef. ἔχω, init.]): I. in its earliest use in Hom. to lay (like Lat. lego, Germ. legen; οἵ. J. G. Miiller in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. for 1835, p. 127 sqq.; Curtius § 538) ; to cause to lie down, put to sleep; 1. to collect, gather; to pick out. 2. lo lay with, count with; to enumerate, recount, narrate, describe; [οἷ. Eng. tale, Germ. ztihlen). II. to put word to word in speaking, join words together, i. e. to say (how it differs fr. λαλεῖν, see under that word ad init.) ; once so by Hom. in 1]. 2, 222 [yet ef. Schmidt, Syn. i. ch. 1, §§ 20; 48, 2; L. and S. s. vy. B. II. 2]; often in Pind., and by far the most com. use in Attic; Sept. more than thirteen hundred times for 728; often also for D8} (saying, dictum); very rarely for 1393; and soin N.T. 1. univ. a. absol. to…

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

λέγω. (1). “‘I say, speak”: see e.g. P Par 47 {= Selections, Ῥ- 21 ff.), ¢. B.C. 153, which is addressed on the verso—mpds τοὺς τὴν ἀλήθεαν λέγοντες (—-as), P Fay 12378 (c. A.D. 100) γνώσομαι yap εἰ ἀληθῶς λέγι, “1 will find out whether he is speaking the truth,” P Ryl 11. 7615 (late li/A.D.) ἃ καὶ ἀναγνώσομαι λεγομένου τοῦ [π]ράγματος, “1 will read them when the case is argued” (Edd.), P Flor II. 1327 (A.D. 257) ἔλεζξ]αν πεποιηκέναι ταῦτα ἀγνοίᾳ, ‘they said they had done this in ignorance,” and the magical P Par 5741238 (iii/A.D.) (= Selectzons, p. 113) λόγος λεγόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, ‘ invocation to be uttered over the head (of the possessed one).”” For the phrase τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, cf. I Cor 11°, Weiss (Meyer 15 ad 1) cites a sepulchral inscr. of husband and wife from Rhodes, /J/Ae 149 (ii/B.c.) ταὐτὰ λέγοντες ταὐτὰ φρονοῦντες ἤλθομεν τὰν ἀμέτρητον ὁδὸν εἰς ᾿Αἴδαν. (2). Closely…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἶπον (eipon) — to say.

εἶπον

(present ἔπω is used by [Refs 2nd c.BC+]present in use is φημί, λέγω, ἀγορεύω (see. infr. IV), the future ἐρέω, ἐρῶ, the perfect εἴρηκα), Epic dialect and Lyric poetry ἔειπον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; subjunctive εἴπω (Epic dialect εἴπωμι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; optative εἴποιμ; infinitive εἰπεῖν, Epic dialect -έμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs]; participle εἰπών: also aorist 1 εἶπα (ἔειπα [Refs 5th c.BC+] as I said, [Refs 1st c.BC+] mostly in Ionic dialect Prose, also [Refs 4th c.BC+], and the 2nd pers. indicative and imperative of this form are preferred in Attic dialect, 2nd pers. singular indicative εἶπας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; imperative εἶπον (on the accent see[Refs 5th c.BC+], -ατον, -ατ; 3rd.pers. plural εἶπαν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; participle εἴπας [Refs 4th c.BC+], Aeolic dialect εἴπαις [Refs 5th c.BC+]; in compounds middle ἀπείπασθαι (which see), διείπασθαι (which see)…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

epo

a primary verb (used only in the definite past tense, the others being

borrowed from 2046, 4483, and 5346); to speak or say (by word or

writing):--answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on),

speak, tell. Compare 3004.

see GREEK for 2046

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 3004

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

to lay, to arrange, to gather; to say, Mt. 1:20; to speak, make an address or speech, Acts 26:1; to say mentally, in thought, Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8; to say in written language, Mk. 15:28; Lk. 1:63; Jn. 19:37; to say, as distinguished from acting, Mt. 23:3; to mention, speak of, Mk. 14:71; Lk. 9:31; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔπω εἶπον prob. made up by Nicander as present of εἶπον. to say, Nicander.

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

V-2AAI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

spok (1Ki 7:33).

See SEA, THE MOLTEN.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
39%said
said39% · 372×he said27% · 260×they said7% · 67×having said4% · 40×other renderings15% · 143×other renderings8% · 73×

955 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 73 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
δὲde then G1161 Conjunction
2,787× 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
This is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Amplified meaning
at that time, next
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δέ (de) is a post-positive particle in Greek, primarily used as a conjunction to connect clauses. It can express contrast (but, on the other hand) or continuation (and, also), and is often used to transition between ideas or to add emphasis. In the New Testament, it appears frequently in various contexts, such as contrasting statements or resuming interrupted discourse, with notable examples in Matthew and 2 Corinthians.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δέ (before vowels δ’; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, v. WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96),

post-positive conjunctive particle;

copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mt 1:2ff., II Co 6:15, 16, II Pe 1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Ro 3:21, 22, 9:30, I Co 2:6, Ga 2:2, Phl 2:8; in transition to something new, Mt 1:18 2:19, Lk 13:1, Jo 7:14, Ac 6:1, Read the full entry →

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

δέ (related to δή, as μέν to μήν, ef. Klotz ad Devar. ii. 2 p. 355), a particle adversative, distinctive, disjunctive, but, moreover, (W.§ 53, 7 and 10, 2); it is much more freq. in the historical parts of the N. T. than in the other books, very rare in the Epp. of John and the Apocalypse. {On its general neglect of elision (when the next word begins with a vowel) cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 96; WH. App. Ῥ 146; W.§5,1a.; B. p.10sq.] It is used ἘΠ ΟἹ δὲ univ. by way of opposition and distinction; it is added to statements opp. to a preceding statement: ἐὰν yap ἀφῆτε... ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε, Mt. vi. 14 sq.; ἐὰν de ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς κτλ. Mt. vi. 23; ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι, Mk. ii. 20; it opposes persons to persons or things previously mentioned or thought of, —either with strong emphasis: ἐγὼ δέ, Mt. v. 22, 28, 32, 34, 39,44; ἡμεῖς de, 1 Co. i. 23; 2 Co. x. 13; σὺ δέ, Mt. vi. 6; ὑμεῖς δέ, Mk. viii. 29; of δὲ…

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

δεῖ. For the conjunctive, as in Mt 26%, cf. P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) ἐάν σε δῇ (for δέῃ) τὸ εἱμάτιόν σου θεῖναι ἐνέχυρον. “even if you have to pawn your cloak” (Edd.). In P Tebt I. 585° (B.c. 111) we have ἐάν followed by the indicative— ἐὰν δεῖ σε συνπεσεῖν τῶι ᾿Ανικήτωι, σύνπεσαι, ‘if you must meet Anicetus, meet him” (Edd.): cf. Mayser G7. p. 325. Other examples of the verb are l’ Par 461® (B.C. 153) διὸ Kal ἡγούμενος δεῖν ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου μὲν μηθενὸς αὐτῶι διακριθῆναι» P Lille I. 267 (iii.B.c.) περὶ (corr. from πεερὶ) δὲ τούτου τοῦ μέρους δεήσει ἐπισχεῖν, P Tebt 11. 3414 (A.p. 140-1) δεήσι ἐπισταλῆναι εἰς δάνε[ι]α σπέρματα κατασπίο]ρᾶς KTA., “ΕἼ will be necessary to send on account of loans of seedcorn for the sowing,” etc., AécheZ 1001" © (Theran Doric —c. B.C. 200) no one may bring forward a proposal ὡς δεείσῃ διαλῦσαι τὸ κοινὸν εἰ τὰς θυσίας, P Flor II. 133" (A.D. 257) ἔδι μὲν ὑμᾶς μηδὲ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

I. answering to μέν (which see), τὴν νῦν μὲν Βοιωτίαν, πρότερον δὲ Καδμηίδα γῆν καλουμένην [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. without preceding μέν,

II.1. adversative, expressing distinct opposition, αἰεί τοι τὰ κάκ᾽ ἐστὶ φίλα.. μαντεύεσθαι, ἐσθλὸν δ᾽ οὔτε τί πω εἶπας[Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in Prose, οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ, ἐλευθερώσει δέ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. copulative,

II.2. a in explanatory clauses, ξυνέβησαν.. τὰ μακρὰ τείχη ἑλεῖν (ἦν δὲ σταδίων μάλιστα ὀκτώ) [Refs 8th c.BC+]: when a substantive is followed by words in apposition, Ἀρισταγόρῃ τῷ Μιλησίῳ, δούλῳ δὲ ἡμετέρῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in answers, διπλᾶ λέγειν. —Answ. διπλᾶδ᾽ ὁρᾶν…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and,

etc.:--also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

a conjunctive particle, marking the superaddition of a clause, whether in opposition or in continuation, to what has preceded, and it may be variously rendered but, on the other hand, and, also, now, etc.; καὶ δέ, when there is a special superaddition in continuation, too, yea, etc. It sometimes is found at the commencement of the apodosis of a sentence, Acts 11:17. It serves also to mark the resumption of an interrupted discourse, 2 Cor. 2:10; Gal. 2:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δέ but: conjunctive Particle, with adversative force: it commonly answers to μέν, and may often be rendered by while, whereas, on the other hand, v. μέν:— but μέν is often omitted, δέ being used merely to pass on from one thing to another; ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς θάμβησεν, θάμβησαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι Il.; etc.; κινεῖ κραδίην κινεῖ δὲ χόλον Eur.

δέ is often redundant,

to introduce the apodosis, where it may be rendered by then, yet, εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώωσιν, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι if they will not give it, then I will take it, Il.; so at in Lat., si tu oblitus es, at Dii meminerint Catull.

to resume after interruption caused by a parenthesis, where it may be rendered by I say, now, so then, Hdt.

POSITION of δέ: properly second, being often put between the Art. and Subst., the prep. and case.

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
33%now
now33% · 974×however27% · 780×then21% · 620×and12% · 360×but5% · 154×other renderings2% · 49×

2,937 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,787 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
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέthen2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

Concordanceδέ · 2,787× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John Mark Romans 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians James 1 Timothy

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
πρὸςpros to G4314 Preposition
700× 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
A preposition showing direction or relationship, like towards or with something, as seen in Mark 5:11 and John 18:16. This means indicating movement or direction. It's about showing proximity or connection.
Tyndale gloss
to/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρός,

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

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

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

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

Of place,

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρός (pros) — to/with.

πρός,

preposition, expressing direction,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρός

pros

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession

to, or nearness at.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρός

Prep.

to, towards, with

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρός pros 700x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

WITH GEN.,

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

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

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

PREP PREPosition

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

732 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 32 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial93%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 700 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,Article theνύξthe night, night
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
αὐτός
ἄγωI leadφέρωI carry, bear, bμαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
ὑπέρσῶμαbody, fleshυἱόςa son, descenden
πρόςto700×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἐνἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theοὐNeg
ἀλλήλων
τίςIrgλέγωI say, speakμήNeg

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

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

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.4c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Amh. 2 48Pathyris107 BC

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

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

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

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
αὐτοὺςautos them G846 Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Luke as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Amplified meaning
his disciples, the crowd
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-APM — Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-APM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςthem5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
τὴνho <the> G3588 Article · accusative · singular · feminine
19,783× 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
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-ASF — Article · accusative · singular · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
παραβολὴνparabolē parable G3850 Noun · accusative · singular · feminine
50× 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
A parable is a story that teaches a moral lesson by comparing two things. Jesus often used parables in his teachings, like the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32.
Amplified meaning
story, illustration, a teaching comparison, saying, to explain, to illustrate
Tyndale gloss
parable
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word παραβολή (i.e., *parabolē*) means a placing beside or a comparison. It is often used in the New Testament to refer specifically to parables—fictitious narratives that convey moral or religious lessons, as seen in passages like Matthew 13:3 and Mark 4:2. The term can also denote proverbs or aphorisms, reflecting its broader use in literature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

παραβολή, -ῆς, ἡ

(< παραβάλλω),

[in LXX (cf. McNeile, Mt., 185): Nu 23:7, De 28:37, Ps 43 (44):14, Pr 1:6, Ez 12:22, al. (מָשָׁל), Si 47:17 (חִידָה), al. mutt. in Si, Wi 5:3;]

a placing beside, juxtaposition (Polyb., al.).

a comparing, comparison (Plat., Arist., al.).

a comparison, illustration, analogy, figure (Arist., al.): Mt 24:32, Mk 3:23, He 9:9 11:19; specif. of the pictures and narratives drawn from nature and human life which are characteristic of the synoptic teaching of our Lord, a parable: Mt 13:3, 10, Mk 4:2, 10, Lk 8:4, 9-11…

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

παραβολή, -ῆς, ἡ, (παραβάλλω, q. v.), Sept. for own ; 1. a placing of one thing by the side of another, juxtaposition, as of ships in battle, Polyb. 15, 2, 13; Diod. 14, 60. 2. metaph. a comparing, comparison of one thing with another, likeness, similitude, (Plat., Isocr., Polyb., Plut.): univ., Mt. xxiv. 32; Mk. xiii. 28; an example by which a doctrine or precept is illustrated, Mk. iii. 23; Lk. xiv. 7; a thing serving as a figure of something else, Heb. ix. 9; this meaning also very many interpreters give the word in Heb. xi. 19, but see 5 below; spec. a narrative, fictitious but agreeable to the laws and usages of human life, by which either the duties of men or the things of God, particularly the nature and history of God’s kingdom, are figuratively portrayed (cf. B. Ὁ. s. vv. Fable, Parable, (and reff. there ; add Aristot. rhet. 2, 20, 2 sqq. and Cope’s notes) ]: Mt. xiii. 3, 10…

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

παραβολή. Our sources throw no special light upon this word which in the NT is found only in the Synoptics = ‘* parable,” “*similitude,” and 67s in Heb (9%, 1119) = ‘‘ figure,” ‘‘ type.” For Heb 11*, where Isaac’s restoration was to Abraham a sort of resurrection, Moffatt (7CC ad 1) cites Aelian Var. Hist. ili. 33 describing Satyrus the flautist—tpémoy twa τὴν τέχνην ἐκφαυλιίζων παραβολῇ τῇ πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν. According to Quintil. v. 11. 23 “᾿ παραβολή, quam Cicero collationem vocat, longius res quae comparentur repetere solet.”’ See further, especially for the Biblical usage, Hatch, Essay\, p. 64 ff. In P Flor ΠῚ. 384°% (v/A.p. ?) τὰς τοῦ μηχανοστασίου παραβολάς, the editor understands π᾿ as = “ riparazioni.’

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

παραβολή (parabolē) — parable.

παραβολ-ή, ἡ,

juxtaposition, comparison, τῶν βίων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν παραβολῇ by juxtaposition, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. comparison, illustration, analogy, τὴν π. ἀπρεπῆ πεποιῆσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. δὲ τὰ Σωκρατικά (distinguished from λόγος, apologue) [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. NT, parable, [NT]; type, Ep. Hebrew 9.9, 11.19.

4. by-word, proverb, [LXX+NT]; in bad sense, εἰς π. ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι [LXX]

5. objection to an argument, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. moving side by side, ἐκ παραβολῆς [νεῶν] μάχεσθαι to fight a sea-fight broadside to broadside, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

III. sidelong direction, obliquity, διὰ πολλῶν ἑλιγμῶν καὶ π. [Refs 1st c.AD+]

IV. venture, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

παραβολή

parabole

from 3846; a similitude ("parable"), i.e. (symbolic) fictitious

narrative (of common life conveying a moral), apothegm or

adage:--comparison, figure, parable, proverb.

see GREEK for 3846

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

παραβολή, ῆς, ἡ

n.f.

a parable, comparison

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

παραβολή parabolē 50x

a placing one thing by the side of another; a comparing; a parallel case cited in illustration; a comparison, simile, similitude, Mk. 4:30; Heb. 11:19; a parable, a short relation under which something else is figured, or in which that which is fictitious is employed to represent that which is real, Mt. 13:3, 10, 13, 18, 24, 31, 33, 34, 36, 53; 21:33, 45; 22:1; 24:32; in NT a type, pattern, emblem, Heb. 9:9; a sentiment, grave and significant precept, maxim, Lk. 14:7; an obscure and enigmatical saying, anything expressed in remote and ambiguous terms, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

παραβολή παραβολή, ἡ, παραβάλλω juxta-position, comparison, Plat.

a comparison, illustration, analogy, Arist.

a parable, i. e. a fictitious narrative by which some religious or moral lesson is conveyed, NTest.

a by-word, proverb, id. NTest.

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

N-ASF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

par'-a-b'-l:

1. Name

2. Historical Data

3. Christ's Use of Parables.

4. Purpose of Christ in Using Parables

5. Interpretation of the Parables

6. Doctrinal Value of the Parables

1. Name:

Etymologically the word "parable" (paraballo) signifies a placing of two or more objects together, usually for the purpose of a comparison. In this widest sense of the term there is practically no difference between parable and simile (see Thayer, Dictionary of New Testament Greek, under the word). This is also what substantially some of Christ's parables amount to, which consist of only one comparison and in a single verse (compare Mt 13:33,44-46). In the more usual and technical sense of the word, "parable" ordinarily signifies an imaginary story, yet one that in its details could have actually transpired, the purpose of the story being to illustrate and…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Parable

(Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Heb. mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote (1) a proverb (1 Sam. 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chr. 7:20), (2) a prophetic utterance (Num. 23:7; Ezek. 20:49), (3) an enigmatic saying (Ps. 78:2; Prov. 1:6). In the New Testament, (1) a proverb (Mark 7:17; Luke 4:23), (2) a typical emblem (Heb. 9:9; 11:19), (3) a similitude or…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another. --McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49) sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expanded into a…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Derived from a Greek word, which signifies, to compare things together, to form a parallel or similitude of them with other things.

What we call the Proverbs of Solomon, which are moral maxims and sentences, the Greeks call the Parables of Solomon. In like manner, when Job answers his friends, it is said he took up his "parable," Job 27:1 29:1. In the New Testament the word parable denotes sometimes a true history, or an illustrative sketch from nature; sometimes a proverb or adage, Lu 4:23; a truth darkly or figuratively expressed, Mt 15:15; a type, Heb 9:9; or a similitude, Mt 24:32. The parabolical, enigmatical…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%parable
parable60% · 30×parables34% · 17×symbol2% · 1×simile2% · 1×proverb2% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object56%adverbial34%second object4%subject4%predicate2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 50 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
ἐγώαὐτόςμανθάνωI learn, ascerta
ἐν
αὐτόςπολύςmuch, many, ofteτίςIrg
ἄλλοςother, another, diff
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakχωρίςapart from, with
καίand, even, also, nam
δέbut, on the othe
παραβολήparable50×
what comes after →
οὗτος
λέγωI say, speakμεταίρωI change my posiκαίand, even, also,
αὐτός
λαλέωI speak, sayγινώσκωI come to know, λέγωI say, speak
Article the
σπείρωI sow, spread, sὄχλοςa crowdστόμαthe mouth, speec
λέγωI say, speak
ὁράωI see, look uponαὐτόςκαίand, even, also,
λαλέωI speak, say
αὐτόςἀμπελώνa vineyard

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

Concordanceπαραβολή · 50× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Mark Hebrews
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 23 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Confusion of Tongues 99c. AD 40

παγκάλως δ’ ἔχει τὸ ἐν παραβολῆς εἴδει φάναι τὸν κόσμον ὡς εἶδος πλίνθου·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.44c. AD 75–95

καθʼ ἕκαστον γὰρ εἶδος δένδρου παραβολὴν εἶπεν ἀπὸ ὑσσώπου ἕως κέδρου, τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ περὶ κτηνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων ἁπάντων ζῴων καὶ τῶν νηκτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀερίων·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.10c. AD 100

εὐλογητὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοί, ὁ σοφίαν καὶ νοῦν θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν τῶν κρυφίων αὐτοῦ: λέγει γὰρ ὁ προφήτης παραβολὴν κυρίου: τίς νοήσει, εἰ μὴ σοφὸς καὶ ἐπιστήμων καὶ ἀγαπῶν τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 5th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Enteux. 2Krokodilopolis (Arsinoites219 BC

πεντώβολον χαλκοῦς 2, οὓς συνηγόρακα Ἀμύνται ὥστε … … … ειαν ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς παραβολῆς, καὶ λαβὼν παρʼ ἐμοῦ ἀρραβῶνα δραχμὰς οϛ, ἐφʼ ὧι τὸ λοιπὸν … ἀποδώσω αὐτῶι

P.Flor. 3 384AlexandriaAD 489

ἀλληλεγγύων ποιουμένων τὴν τοῦ αυ … τ … ουχυλ ἐπισκευὴν καὶ τὰς τοῦ μηχανοστασίου παραβολὰς, χυλ … … ντος δὲ καὶ τὰ σχοινία καὶ τοὺς κάδους καὶ τὰς

SB 20 14444HermopolitesAD 710

Γεωργίου χρυσουποδέκτῃ ἀπὸ πόλεως Ἡρακλέους· ἐτάγη διὰ σοῦ ἐκ τοῦ εὑρεθέντος κατὰ σοῦ κατὰ παραβολὴν ἀρίθμια νομισμάτια ϛ, ἓξ μόνα· ἐγράφη μηνὸς Θὼθ θ ἰνδικτίονος η ὀγδόης ἔτους ϙα

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
ταύτηνohutos this G3778 Demonstrative pronoun · accusative · singular · feminine
1,388× 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
This refers to a specific person or thing, like when Jesus says 'this is my body' in Matthew 26:26 and Mark 14:22.
Amplified meaning
the following, a specific
Tyndale gloss
this/he/she/it
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὗτος (i.e., *houtos*) is a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this' or 'this one.' It is used to refer to something nearby or recently mentioned, often with a connotation of contempt in certain contexts. In the New Testament, it appears in various forms, such as in Matthew 3:17 and John 1:15, and can also serve to emphasize or clarify a subject.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο, gen., τούτου, ταύτης, τούτου,

[in LXX chiefly for זֶה, זֹאת;]

demonstr. pron. (related to ἐκεῖνος as hic to ille),

this;

as subst., this one, he;

absol.: Mt 3:17, Mk 9:7, Lk 7:44, 45, Jo 1:15, Ac 2:15, al.; expressing contempt (cl.), Mt 13:55, 56, Mk 6:2, 3, Jo 6:42, al.; εἰς τοῦτο, Mk 1:38, Ro 14:9; μετὰ τοῦτο (ταῦτα; V. Westc. on Jo 5:1), Jo 2:12 11:7, al.;

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

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο, demonstrative pron. [ef. Curtius p. 543], Hebr. 71, ΠΝ, this; used I. absolutely. 1. a. this one, visibly present here: Mt. iii. 17; xvii.5; Mk. ix. 7; Lk. vii. 44 sq.; ix. 35; 2 Pet.i.17. Mt.ix.3; xxi. 38; Mk. xiv. 69; Lk. 11. 34; xxiii. 2; Jn. i. 15, 30; vii. 25; ix. 8 54. 19; xviii. 21,50; xxi. 21; Actsii. 15; iv. 10; ix. 21; according to the nature and character of the person or thing mentioned, it is used with a suggestion —either of contempt, as Mt. xiii. 55 sq.; Mk. vi. 2 sq.: Lk. v. 21; vii. 39,49; Jn. vi. 42,52; vii. 15; or of admiration, Mt. xxi. 11; Actsix.21; οἵ, Wahl, Clavis apocryphor. V. T. p- 370% b. it refers to a subject immediately preceding, the one just named: Lk. i. 32; ii. 37 [RGL]; Jn. i. 2; vi. 71; 2 Tim. iii. 6,8, ete.; at the beginning of a narrative about one already mentioned, Mt. iii. 3; Lk. xvi. 1; Jn. i. 41 (42); ili. 2; xii. 21; xxi.…

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

οὗτος. A few of the prepositional phrases with this common demonstrative pron. may be illustrated διὰ τοῦτο, ‘on this account,” cf. P Ryl IT. 845 (a.p. 146) τὴν ἄνεσιν τὴν διὰ τοῦτο γενομένην τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, “the ensuing remission “ OUT@S, O’.TO@ of the lands’ (Edd.): ἐκ τούτου, ‘for this reason,’’ Jn 6° cf. 26. 81°4 (c, A.D, 104) ἐκ τούτου δὲ [φανεῖρόν ἐστιν [καὶ] μηδένα χρῇζειν, “‘it is evident from this that nobody wants it’’ (Edd.), BGU 11. 423!7 (ason to his father—ii/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 91) με ἐπαίδευσας καλῶς, Kal ἐκ τούτου ἐλπίζω ταχὺ προκόσί-- par τῶν θε[ῶ]ν θελόντων, “you have brought me up well, and for this reason I hope to be quickly promoted, if the gods will”: τούτου ἕνεκα, ‘‘ for this purpose,” cf. P Oxy I. 1138 (ii/a.p.) ἐὰν δ᾽ dpa μή, ; ἅμα τῷ vide μου ἐξέρχομαι τούτου ἕνεκα, “otherwise I and my son will come for this purpose’’ (Edd.): ἐπὶ τούτων, ““upon this,” ‘in…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὗτος (ohutos) — this/he/she/it.

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο,

genitive τούτου, ταύτης, τούτου, etc.: the dual feminine never in Attic dialect, see ὁ, ἡ, τό, [near the start]:—demonstrative pronoun, this, common from [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A ORIGIN and FORMS: οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο probably arose from a reduplication of the demonstrative ὁ, ἡ, τό with insertion of -υ- (= Sanskrit Particle u), e.g. ταῦτα from τα-υ-τα: Doric dialect genitive singular feminine τούτας [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc., the latter is uncertain in [Refs 5th c.BC+], as genitive singular neuter οὕτω [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; accusative singular feminine οὕταν [Refs 6th c.BC+] —In _Attic dialect_ οὗτος was frequently strengthened by the _demonstrative_ -ί, οὑτοσί, αὑτηί, τουτί, _genitive_ τουτουί, _dative_ τουτῳί, _accusative_ τουτονί; plural nominative οὑτοιί, neuter ταυτί, etc., this man here…

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο

Dem.pr.

this, he, she, it

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὗτος houtos 1x

this, this person or thing, Mt. 3:3, 9, 17; 8:9; 10:2; 24:34, et al. freq.; used by way of contempt, this fellow, Mt. 13:55; 27:47; αὐτὸ τοῦτο, this very thing, this same thing, 2 Cor. 2:3; 7:11; εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο, and elliptically, αὐτὸ τοῦτο, for this same purpose, on this account, Eph. 6:18, 22; 2 Pet. 1:5; καὶ οὗτος, and moreover, Lk. 7:12; 16:1; 20:30; καὶ τοῦτο, and that too, 1 Cor. 6:6, 8; tοῦτο μὲν ... τοῦτο δέ, partly ... partly, Heb.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὗτος demonstr. Pron. this, Lat. hic, to designate the nearer of two things, opp. to ἐκεῖνος, the more remote (cf. ὅδε), Hom., etc.

when, of two things, one precedes and the other follows, ὅδε generally refers to what follows, οὗτος to what precedes, Soph., etc.

so also, οὗτος is used emphat., generally in contempt, while ἐκεῖνος (like Lat. ille) denotes praise, ὁ πάντ᾽ ἄναλκις οὗτος, i. e. Aegisthus, id. Soph.; οὗτος ἀνήρ Plat.; τούτους τοὺς συκοφάντας id. Plat.

in attic law-language, οὗτος is commonly applied to the opponent, whether plaintiff or defendant, whereas in Lat. hic was the client, iste the opponent, Dem.

often much like an adv., in local sense (cf. ὅδε init.), τίς δ᾽ οὗτος κατὰ νῆας ἔρχεαι; who art thou here that comest . . ? Il.; often in attic, τίς οὑτοσί; who's this…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Dem-ASF — Demonstrative pronoun · accusative · singular · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

D-ASF Part of Speech: Demonstrative pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
55%this
this55% · 781×these things16% · 231×these14% · 196×he3% · 49×other renderings5% · 73×other renderings7% · 94×

1,424 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 49 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
subject36%object32%adverbial26%predicate4%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,388 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
αὐτόςδέbut, on the otheλέγωI say, speak
διά
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
ἐν
καίand, even, also,γάρforοὔτεNeg
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakεἰςγάρfor
ὅτιthat, since, because
λέγωI say, speakοἶδαI know, rememberγράφωI write
οὗτοςthis1388×
what comes after →
Article the
λόγοςa word, speech, θεόςGod, a godἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ὅς
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theκατακρίνωI condemnεἰμίI am, exist
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakεἰμίI am, existαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
σύArticle theαὐτός

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

Concordanceοὗτος · 1,388× in the New Testament
John Acts Luke Matthew Mark 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation Hebrews 2 Corinthians 1 John 2 Peter

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

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

Counted over the 2,054 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 12c. AD 40

ἀλλ’ ὅ γε μέγας Μωυσῆς ἀλλοτριώτατον τοῦ ὁρατοῦ νομίσας εἶναι τὸ ἀγένητον — πᾶν γὰρ τὸ αἰσθητὸν ἐν γενέσει καὶ μεταβολαῖς οὐδέποτε κατὰ ταὐτὰ ὄν — τῷ μὲν ἀοράτῳ καὶ νοητῷ προσένειμεν ὡς ἀδελφὸν καὶ συγγενὲς ἀιδιότητα, τῷ δ’ αἰσθητῷ γένεσιν οἰκεῖον…

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

ὡς πύργος, ὃν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμησαν, καὶ ὡς τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν μετέβαλε καὶ ὁ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ τοῦτο γέγονε, Βαβυλὼν ἐκλήθη.

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

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

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

ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ὡς ἐτῶν λ χαλκοῦ δραχμῶν τρισχιλίων . προπωληταὶ καὶ βεβαιωταὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Νεχούτης καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

εὐθύριν χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα.

He spoke then to them <the> parable this saying;
λέγων·legō saying; G3004 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
2,255× 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
This word means to say or speak, and it is used by Jesus and others in the New Testament to share teachings and tell stories. It appears in Matthew 9:34 and John 1:29.
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

λέγω (legō) is a primary Greek verb meaning 'to say' or 'to speak.' It encompasses a range of uses, including expressing thoughts, making declarations, and narrating events. The New Testament frequently employs it in direct speech and as a way to convey meaning, such as in Matthew 27:11. Abbott-Smith notes its distinction from similar verbs like λαλέω.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — λαλέω, λέγω, λαλιά, λόγος from a scan

In dealing with synonyms of the N. T. we plainly need not concern ourselves with such earlier, or even contemporary, uses of the words which we are discriminating, as lie altogether outside of the N. T. sphere, when these uses do not illustrate, and have not affected, their Scriptural employment. It follows from this that all those contemptuous uses of λαλεῖν as to talk at random, as one ἀθυρόστομος, or with no door to his lips, might do; of λαλιά, as chatter («Kpacia λόγου ἄλογος, Plato, Defin. 416)—for I cannot believe that we are to find this at John iv. 42—may be dismissed and set aside. The antithesis in the line of Eupolis (Meineke, /ragm. Com. Gr. p. 174), Λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν, does little or nothing to illustrate the matter in hand. The distinction which indeed exists between the words may in this way be made clear. There are two leading aspects under which speech…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

[in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Ge 22:16, al.;]

in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.

In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Ac 13:15 24:10; seq. orat. dir., Mt 9:34, Mk 3:11, Jo 1:29, al.; seq. ὅτι recit., Mk 3:21, Lk 1:24, Jo 6:14, al.; acc. et. inf., Lk 11:18, Jo 12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mt 11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman…

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

λέγω (in the N. T. only the pres. and impf. act. and pres. pass. are in use; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἔλεγαν, Jn. xi. 56 Tdf. [ef. ἔχω, init.]): I. in its earliest use in Hom. to lay (like Lat. lego, Germ. legen; οἵ. J. G. Miiller in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. for 1835, p. 127 sqq.; Curtius § 538) ; to cause to lie down, put to sleep; 1. to collect, gather; to pick out. 2. lo lay with, count with; to enumerate, recount, narrate, describe; [οἷ. Eng. tale, Germ. ztihlen). II. to put word to word in speaking, join words together, i. e. to say (how it differs fr. λαλεῖν, see under that word ad init.) ; once so by Hom. in 1]. 2, 222 [yet ef. Schmidt, Syn. i. ch. 1, §§ 20; 48, 2; L. and S. s. vy. B. II. 2]; often in Pind., and by far the most com. use in Attic; Sept. more than thirteen hundred times for 728; often also for D8} (saying, dictum); very rarely for 1393; and soin N.T. 1. univ. a. absol. to…

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

λέγω. (1). “‘I say, speak”: see e.g. P Par 47 {= Selections, Ῥ- 21 ff.), ¢. B.C. 153, which is addressed on the verso—mpds τοὺς τὴν ἀλήθεαν λέγοντες (—-as), P Fay 12378 (c. A.D. 100) γνώσομαι yap εἰ ἀληθῶς λέγι, “1 will find out whether he is speaking the truth,” P Ryl 11. 7615 (late li/A.D.) ἃ καὶ ἀναγνώσομαι λεγομένου τοῦ [π]ράγματος, “1 will read them when the case is argued” (Edd.), P Flor II. 1327 (A.D. 257) ἔλεζξ]αν πεποιηκέναι ταῦτα ἀγνοίᾳ, ‘they said they had done this in ignorance,” and the magical P Par 5741238 (iii/A.D.) (= Selectzons, p. 113) λόγος λεγόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, ‘ invocation to be uttered over the head (of the possessed one).”” For the phrase τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, cf. I Cor 11°, Weiss (Meyer 15 ad 1) cites a sepulchral inscr. of husband and wife from Rhodes, /J/Ae 149 (ii/B.c.) ταὐτὰ λέγοντες ταὐτὰ φρονοῦντες ἤλθομεν τὰν ἀμέτρητον ὁδὸν εἰς ᾿Αἴδαν. (2). Closely…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

λέγω (legō) — to say.

λέγω,

__B pick up, etc.: tenses for signification 1 and 11, future λέξω [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist ἔλεξα [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—middle, future in passive sense λέξομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐλεξάμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect ἐλέγμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, aorist ἐλέχθην [Refs 8th c.BC+]-; post-[Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect εἴλοχα (κατ-, συν-), passive εἴλεγμαι, in these senses rarely λέλεγμαι (see. the compounds); also future λεγήσομαι (συλ-): aorist 2 ἐλέγην (κατ-, συν-):—gather, pick up, ὀστέα.. λέγωμεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; αἱμασιάς τε λέγων picking out stones for building walls, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—middle, gather for oneself, ἐπὶ δὲ ξύλα πολλὰ λέγεσθε [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

lego

a primary verb; properly, to "lay" forth, i.e. (figuratively) relate

(in words (usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas 2036 and

5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech

respectively; while 4483 is properly to break silence merely, and 2980

means an extended or random harangue)); by implication, to mean:--ask,

bid, boast, call, describe, give out, name, put forth, say(-ing, on),

shew, speak, tell, utter.

see GREEK for 2036

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 2980

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λέγω

v.

I say, speak

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

to lay, to arrange, to gather; to say, Mt. 1:20; to speak, make an address or speech, Acts 26:1; to say mentally, in thought, Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8; to say in written language, Mk. 15:28; Lk. 1:63; Jn. 19:37; to say, as distinguished from acting, Mt. 23:3; to mention, speak of, Mk. 14:71; Lk. 9:31; Read the full entry →

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
35%saying
saying35% · 480×says13% · 175×i say12% · 164×he says9% · 122×say5% · 70×he was saying3% · 42×they say2% · 31×other renderings17% · 225×other renderings4% · 48×

1,357 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 107 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
verb98%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,255 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
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
αὐτός
πρόςμαθητήςa learner, disciἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the otheγόνυa knee
ἀμήνHebr
ἀμήνHebrαὐτόςλέγωI say, speak
λέγωsaying;2255×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeter
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNegἐάνCond
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπρόςαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὗτοςσύ

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

Concordanceλέγω · 2,255× in the New Testament
Luke John Matthew Mark Acts Revelation Hebrews Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians James Galatians

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

Across the New Testament25 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,290 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 5c. AD 40

οὐ μὴν διὰ τοῦθ’ ἡσυχαστέον, ἀλλ’ ἕνεκα τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς καὶ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἐπιτολμητέον λέγειν, οἴκοθεν μὲν οὐδέν, ὀλίγα δ’ ἀντὶ πολλῶν, ἐφ’ ἃ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην διάνοιαν φθάνειν εἰκὸς ἔρωτι καὶ πόθῳ σοφίας κατεσχημένην.

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

ὅπως Ἅβραμος ὁ πρόγονος ἡμῶν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς κατέσχε τὴν τότε μὲν Χαναναίαν νῦν δὲ Ἰουδαίαν λεγομένην.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.4c. AD 100

πεφανέρωκεν γὰρ ἡμῖν διὰ πάντων τῶν προφητῶν, ὅτι οὕτε θυσιῶν οὔτε ὁλοκαυτωμάτων οὔτε προσφορῶν χρῄζει, λέγων ὅτε μέν:

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῷ μέρος ἧς ἐμισθώσατο σὺν Πακοίβι Σχώτου καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις γῆς σιτοφόρου λεγομένης Νεχθαραῦτι θεοῦ μεγάλου παρὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἐτῶν δέκα εἰς τὰ ἐνλιπόντα αὐτῷ ἑτέρων ,

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἑτερᾶς· νότου γῆ Τακοίμιος, βορρᾶ γῆ Χενσθώτου, ἀπηλιώτου Ἀείους, λιβὸς περίχωμα, τῆς δʼ ἄλλης λεγομένης Πκρώ· νότου γῆ Σενπελαίας, βορρᾶ γῆ Πανᾶτος ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς Ἀραμείους, ἢ οἳ ἂν

P.Adl. 16Pathyris100 BC

οἱ Φίβιος τοῦ Πανεχάτου υἱοί, ἀπηλιώτου ὁδὸς βασιλική, λιβὸς γῆ Ψεμμώνθου τοῦ Πανεχάτου, ἄλλης λεγομένης Φαμούνιος νότου γῆ Παθώτου τοῦ Πατοῦτος, βορρᾶ γῆ Πατσεοῦτος τοῦ Φίβιος, ἀπηλιώτου ποταμός, λιβὸς

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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