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Matthew 15:35 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

BSAAndkai [also, in addition] He having commandedkeleuō to theho crowdochlos [multitude, large group of people] to sit downanapiptō [recline, lean back] onepi [upon, against] theho ground [earth, soil, the land]

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 15
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 35 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 () — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
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Matthew 15:35quick helps
In a sentenceJesus commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing a large group of people.
Where we areThis verse is part of the account of the feeding of the four thousand.
The hard wordπαραγγείλας
Take awayJesus takes charge of the situation by instructing the crowd.
5 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause verbπαραγγέλλω 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 — Matthew 15:35

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 Feeding of the Four Thousandgenerated

34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
36Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
37They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Matthew 15:35 describes how Jesus, after asking about the loaves, instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground before performing a miracle. This moment is crucial as it sets the stage for the miraculous feeding that follows, illustrating Jesus' authority and care for the people. Similar accounts can be found in Matthew 14:19 and Luke 9:14.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Matthew 14:19–21And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
2Mark 6:39–40Then Jesus directed them to have the people sit in groups on the green grass.
3Luke 9:14–16(There were about five thousand men.) He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
4John 6:10“Have the people sit down,” Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word παραγγείλας, keleuōgenerated

The word παραγγέλλω is a verb meaning to command or order. It is derived from the combination of παρά (beside) and ἀγγέλλω (to announce), indicating a strong directive.

In this context, it shows Jesus' authority as He gives a clear instruction to the crowd. The aorist tense indicates a completed action, emphasizing that the command was given decisively.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The translations generally agree, with the Berean Standard Bible rendering it as instructed, while the KJV and ASV use commanded to convey the same sense of authority.

The differences arise primarily in the rendering of ὄχλῳ, where multitude is used in several translations like the KJV, while crowd appears in the BSB and others.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is παραγγείλας, He having commanded, which governs the action of instructing the crowd. The structure includes a noun phrase indicating the indirect object (ὄχλῳ) and a prepositional phrase describing where they should sit.

The sentence is straightforward, with a clear command followed by the action of sitting down, demonstrating the authority of Jesus over the crowd.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

ὄχλος corresponds to the Hebrew words for assembly or multitude, like קָהָל (assembly) and חַ֫יִל (strength). This connection emphasizes the gathering of people in both the Old and New Testaments.

γῆ is often used in the Septuagint to translate אֶ֫רֶץ (earth), showing the continuity of meaning from the Hebrew Scriptures.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 15:35 tells us that Jesus instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. This moment is part of the story where He later performs a miracle of feeding thousands, showing His care and authority over the people.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that Jesus instructed the crowd?

It shows His authority and leadership, as He takes charge of the situation to prepare for the miracle of feeding them.

Why did Jesus ask the crowd to sit down?

Sitting down likely prepared them for the meal He was about to provide, creating an atmosphere of order and anticipation.

How does this verse connect to the feeding miracles?

This instruction is a precursor to the miracle, indicating that Jesus was organizing the crowd for the event of feeding them.

What can we learn from Jesus' command to the crowd?

It teaches us about the importance of order and preparation in communal gatherings, especially when sharing resources.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I show leadership in my community like Jesus did with the crowd?
  2. What are ways I can prepare myself and others for receiving blessings?
  3. In what situations do I need to follow instructions more closely, as the crowd did?
  4. How can I cultivate a sense of order and anticipation in my gatherings with others?

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

Early church Fathers commented on this passage to draw out its implications for understanding Jesus' authority and the nature of His miracles.

Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON Matthew 11.19 c. 185–253
Be attentive to the difference between those things that are written in the various places in regard to the loaves. I think that this passage belongs to a different order than the others. Note the differences.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 15 →
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 53 c. 347–407
Now all the rest He doth as on the former occasion; thus He both makes them sit down on the ground, and He makes the loaves multiply themselves in the hands of the disciples.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 15 →

Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 15:35 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Not regarding the smallness of the provisions, nor any further consulting with his disciples; but knowing his own power to increase this

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

And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 7:31-37; Mark 8:1-10.

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

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Ver. 35. To sit down on the ground] He intended them not only a running banquet, a slight come off, but a full feast, a good meal, and therefore bade them sit down and feed their fill. It was indeed on the bare ground that they sat; but so do the greatest lords in Turkey to this day; they sit at meat, with their legs gathered under them, flat upon the ground; and their cheer, when they feast most sumptuously, is only rice and mutton, with fair water out of the river.

Read John Trapp on Matthew 15 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(35) He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.—Probably, with the same orderly precision as before, by hundreds and by fifties, the women and children, as we learn from Matthew 15:38, being in this instance also grouped together apart from the men.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 15 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32–38. Four thousand Men, besides women and children, are miraculously fed Mark 8:1-936. gave to his disciples] St Matthew uses the aorist, St Mark the more vivid imperfect “kept giving.”

Read Cambridge on Matthew 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

And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground.

NETBNew English Translation2006

After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground,

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;

RVARevised Version, American1894

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And he commanded the multitude to sit on the ground.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Then he commanded the multitude to sit downe on the ground,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And he commanded the crowds to lie down on the ground;

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And he commanded the multitudes to sit down upon the ground,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the ground,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Then Jesus commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And he commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Then he gave an order to the people to be seated on the earth,

Word by word, the decisions they made

παραγγείλαςkeleuō He having commanded G3853 2 different renderings
instructingNETB
he instructedBSB
ὄχλῳochlos crowd G3793 4 different renderings
multitudeASV DRA GNV KJV NWB RVA WEB
crowdBSB FBV MSB NETB ULB
crowdsDBY
peopleBBE
γῆν ground G1093 2 different renderings
groundASV BSB DBY DRA FBV GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
earthBBE

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseclauseclause · adverbialverbπαραγγείλαςHe having commandednoun phrase · indirect objectτῷtheὄχλῳcrowdsclause · objectverbἀναπεσεῖνto sit downprepositional phrase · adverbialἐπὶonnoun phraseτὴνtheγῆνgroundverbἔλαβενhaving takennoun phrase · objectnoun phraseτοὺςthenoun phraseἑπτὰsevenἄρτουςloavesκαὶandnoun phraseτοὺςtheἰχθύαςfishκαὶandclauseadverbialεὐχαριστήσαςhaving given thanksverbἔκλασενHe broke [them]καὶandclauseclauseverbἐδίδουwas givingnoun phrase · indirect objectτοῖςtoμαθηταῖςdisciplesδὲand theclausenoun phrase · subjectοἱ-μαθηταὶdisciplesnoun phrase · indirect objectτοῖςto theὄχλοιςcrowd

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 præcepit turbæ ut discumberent super terram.

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

ܘܦܩܕ ܠܟܢܫܐ ܕܢܣܬܡܟܘܢ ܥܠ ܐܪܥܐ

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

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


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

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

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ παραγγείλας τῷ ὄχλῳ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ ἀναπεσεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
παραγγείλας He having commandedNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
τῷ to theNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
ὄχλῳ crowdNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

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.

Matthew 15:35καίAndAndκαίπαραγγέλλωHe having cHe having commaπαραγγέλλωto theto theὄχλοςcrowdcrowdὄχλοςἀναπίπτωto sit downto sit downἀναπίπτωἐπίononἐπίthetheγῆgroundgroundγῆπαράPrep. fromPrep. from, in παράἀνάPrep. and,Prep. and, apieἀνάἔχωv. I have,v. I have, holdἔχωἀναπίπτωv. I lie dv. I lie down, ἀναπίπτωμηδείςAdj no oneAdj no one, notμηδείςσπλαγχνίζομαιv. I have v. I have pity σπλαγχνίζομαιἱκανόςAdj sufficAdj sufficient,ἱκανόςπρασιάn.f. a comn.f. a company πρασιάπαραγγέλλωv. I notifv. I notify, coπαραγγέλλωκάθημαιv. I sit, v. I sit, am seκάθημαιθρόνοςn.m. a thrn.m. a throne, θρόνοςκατοικέωv. I dwellv. I dwell in, κατοικέωμήτεNeg.cj. noNeg.cj. nor, neμήτε
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 Matthew 15:35

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

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

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
καὶkai And G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Amplified meaning
also, in addition
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
παραγγείλαςkeleuō He having commanded G3853 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
31× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Matthew than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To order or command someone to do something, as seen in Acts 15:5 and 1 Corinthians 11:17. This word means to transmit a message or instruction. It is used when Jesus gives commands to his disciples in Matthew 10:5.
Tyndale gloss
to order
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

παραγγέλλω is built from παρά and ἀγγέλλω, meaning to transmit a message or to command. It covers a range of meanings from notifying to ordering, often seen in contexts of authority or instruction. In the New Testament, it appears in verses like Matthew 10:5 and 1 Timothy 6:13. Notably, some lexicons suggest a distinction in strength between παραγγέλλω and similar verbs like κελεύω.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

παρ-αγγέλλω

(< παρά, ἀγγὲλλω),

[in LXX for שׁמע pi., hi., etc.;]

to transmit a message (Æsch., Eur.).

to order, command (Hdt., Xen., al.): c. inf., Ac 15:5; c. acc. rei, I Co 11:17, II Th 3:4, I Ti 4:11 5:7; seq. ἵνα (M, Pr., 207; Bl., § 69, 4), Mk 6:8, II Th 3:12; c. dat. pers., Ac 17:30 R, txt., I Th 4:11; seq. λέγων, Mt 10:5; c. inf. aor.,

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

παρ-αγγέλλω ; impf. παρήγγελλον ; 1 aor. παρήγγειλα; (παρά and ἀγγέλλω) ; fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down ; ik prop. to transmit a message along from one to another [(cf. παρά, IV. 1)], to declare, announce. 2. to command, order, charge: w. dat. of the pers. 1 Th. iv. 11 [ef. Mk. xvi. WH (rejected) ‘Shorter Conclusion ᾽] ; foll. by λέγων and direct dise. Mt. x. 5; foll. by an inf. aor., Mt. xv.35 LT Tr WH; Mk. viii. 6; Lk. viii. 29; Acts x.42; xvi. 18; with μή inserted, Lk. v. 14; viii. 56; Acts xxiii. 22; 1 Co. vii. 10 [here Lehm. inf. pres.] ; foll. by an inf. pres., Acts xvi. 23; xvii.30 [here T Tr mrg. WH have ἀπαγγ.}; 2 Th. iii. 6; with μή inserted, Lk. ix. 21 [GL T Tr WH]; Acts i. 4; iv. 18; v.28 (παραγγελίᾳ παραγγέλλειν, to charge strictly, W. §54, 3; B.184 (199 sq.)), 40; 1 Tim. i. 3; vi. 17; τινί τι, 2 Th. iii. 4 [but T Tr WH om. L br. the dat.]; τοῦτο foll. by ὅτι, 2 Th. iii. 10…

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

παραγγέλλω is common in Ptolemaic papyri to describe the official summons before a court, e.g. P Par 4617 (B.c. 153) (= UPZ i. p. 338) γέγραφά σοι, ὅπω[ς] ᾿Απολλωνίωι παραγγείληις, P Grenf I. 40° (ii/B.c.) (= Chres¢. IL. p. 27) ἔκρινον γράψαι σοι ὅπως εἰδὼς παραγγείλης καὶ τοῖς] ἄλλοις ἱερεῦσι ἑτοίμους εἶναι, and P Tebt I. 14° (B.c. 114) ἔγραψας ἡμῖν “Hpav (/. “Hpart) . . . εὐθυνομένωι δὲ φόνωι καὶ ἄλλαις αἰτία ζιὃς παραγγεῖλαι ἀπαντᾶν ἐν ἡμέραι (ς) τρισὶν πρὸς τὴν περὶ τούτων ἐσομένην διεξαγωγήν, “‘you wrote to me that I was to give notice t» Heras who is arraigned for murder and other offences to appear in three days’ time for the decision to be made concerning these charges” (Edd.). Miscellaneous uses of the verb are—P Amh II. 30% (ii/B.c.) παρηγγείλαμεν τῆι Θεμβῶτος (/. Θεμβῶτι) ἐκχωρεῖν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας, “‘we ordered Thembos to depart out of the house,’” P Tebt 11. 3862 (B.c. 12) ἐν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

παραγγέλλω (parangellō) — to order.

παραγγ-έλλω,

future -ελῶ: aorist 2 infinitive passive παραγγελῆναι [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—pass on or transmit a message, σέλας παραγγείλασα Μακίστου σκοπαῖς (nisi to be read παρηγγάρευσε) [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. give orders, give the word of command, especially of a general, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τισὶ ὅπως with future, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. ὅπως ἂν.. give orders to the end that.., [Refs]: with accusative of things only, order, π. παρασκευὴν σίτου order corn to be supplied, [NT+5th c.BC+]passive, τὰ παραγγελλόμενα orders, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. recommend, exhort (not so strong as κελεύω), π. τινὶ πράσσειν τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

παραγγέλλω

paraggello

from 3844 and the base of 32; to transmit a message, i.e. (by

implication) to enjoin:--(give in) charge, (give) command(-ment),

declare.

see GREEK for 3844

see GREEK for 32

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

παραγγέλλω

v.

I notify, command, charge

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

παραγγέλλω parangellō 32x

to announce, notify; to command, direct, charge, Mt. 10:5; Mk. 6:8, 8:6; Lk. 9:21; to charge, entreat solemnly, 1 Tim. 6:13

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

παραγγέλλω fut. ελῶ aor1 -ήγγειλα perf. -ήγγελκα to transmit as a message, as by telegraph, παραγγείλασα σέλας Aesch.; μνήμην παραγγέλλοντες ὧν ἐκύρσατε Eur.; π. τὸ σύνθημα to pass on the watchword, Xen.

generally, to give the word, give orders, of the general, Hdt., Aesch., etc.; π. τινὶ ποιεῖν τι Hdt., Xen., etc.:—Pass., τὰ παραγγελλόμενα military orders, Thuc.; so, τὰ παρηγγελμένα Xen.

to order, recommend, exhort, π. τινὶ ποιεῖν τι Soph., etc.; τί τινι Eur.; ὅπως ἂν . . , to give orders to the end that . . , Plat.:—c. acc. rei only, to order, π. παρασκευὴν σίτου to order corn to be prepared, Lat. imperare frumentum, Hdt.; π. σιτία Thuc.; στρατείαν Aeschin.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
16%he instructed
he instructed16% · 5×having instructed9% · 3×they commanded6% · 2×we commanded6% · 2×we command6% · 2×do command6% · 2×command3% · 1×i command3% · 1×other renderings44% · 14×

32 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 22 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 31 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,ἐπιτιμάωI rebuke, chide,καλέωI call, invite,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτος
σύ
πρόςκαθώςjust as, as
οὗτος
σύκαίand, even, also,
παραγγέλλωHe having commanded31×
what comes after →
αὐτός
μηδείςno one, nothingλέγωI say, speakἵναin order that, s
Article the
ὄχλοςa crowdπερίδεσμοφύλαξa keeper of a pr
σύ
μήNegἐνὅτιthat, since, bec
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theποιέωI do, makeπαρακαλέωI summon, entrea
μηδείςno one, nothing
λέγωI say, speakἐκλαλέωI speak out, dis

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

Concordanceπαραγγέλλω · 31× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Timothy 2 Thessalonians Luke Mark 1 Corinthians Matthew 1 Thessalonians
Across the New Testament8 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.100c. AD 40

εἰ γὰρ ἀπὸ παντὸς ἐσθίειν παραγγέλλει τῶν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου μὴ φαγεῖν, δῆλον ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 5.1c. AD 75–95

Μωυσέος δὲ τὸν προειρημένον τρόπον ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀπογεγονότος Ἰησοῦς ἁπάντων ἤδη τῶν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ νενομισμένων τέλος ἐχόντων καὶ τοῦ πένθους λελωφηκότος παρήγγειλεν ἐπὶ στρατείαν ἕτοιμον εἶναι τὸ πλῆθος,

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 27.2c. AD 96

παραγγείλας μὴ ψεύδεσθαι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον αὐτὸς οὐ ψεύσεται: οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀδύνατον παρὰ τῷ θεῷ εἰ μὴ τὸ ψεύσασθαι.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 8th c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Fay. 91Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 99

δραχμὰς δέκα ἕξ , καὶ παρεμβαλῶ ἐν τῷ ἐλαιουργίῳ ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἐάν μοι παραγγείλῃς λαμβάνουσα παρὰ σοῦ Λουκίου τοὺς μισθοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμοίων παρεμβαλλουσῶν καὶ ἕκαστα ποιήσω καθὼς

P.Giss. 1 87Apollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 113–AD 120

λακ … ς ἀπονοίαι χρῶνται … τον τοις καὶ ἂν αὐτοὶ βλάπτωνται … παραγγέλλειν ἀνακοπῆναι … … ν σα … δε ἀμφισβητεῖν ἀλ… τε κατὰ πόλιν· ἐν δὲ

P.Wisc. 1 33ArsinoitesAD 147

ἄκρον ἐκδικίας τύχω. ἀντίγραφον τῆς ὑπογραφῆς. ὅταν διαγινώσκω τῶν πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν ἔντυχέ μοι, παραγγείλας τῷ Σαραπάμμωνι. ἔτους ια Θὼθ ι. διευτύχει. ἔτους ια … … … ἔχεις ὑπεγράφη.

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
τῷho to the G3588 Article · dative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew 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-DPM — Article · dative · plural · masculine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-DPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
ὄχλῳochlos crowd G3793 Noun · dative · plural · masculine
174× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Matthew than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A crowd is a large group of people, like in Matthew 5:1 where Jesus taught the crowd. It can also refer to a riot or a class of people.
Amplified meaning
multitude, large group of people
Tyndale gloss
crowd
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὄχλος (i.e., *ochlos*) refers to a moving crowd or multitude of people, often implying a throng or mob. It can denote the common people in a political sense, contrasting with the elite. The New Testament frequently uses it to describe gatherings of people, as seen in verses like Matthew 5:1 and John 7:49. The entries do not present significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὄχλος, -ου, ὁ,

[in LXX for הָמוֹן (chiefly in Da TH), חַיִל, קָהָל, etc.;]

a moving crowd or multitude of persons, a throng: Mt 9:23, Mk 2:4, Lk 5:1, Jo 5:13, al.; pl., Mt 5:1, Mk 10:1, Lk 3:7, and freq.; ὄ. ἱκανός, Mk 10:46, al.; τοσοῦτος, Mt 15:33; οὐ μετ’ ὄχλου, Ac 24:18; ἄτερ ὄχλου, Lk 22:6; πᾶς ὁ ὄ., Read the full entry →

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

ὄχλος, -ov, 6, in the N. T. only in the historical bks. and five times in the Rev.; asin Grk. writ. fr. Pind. and Aeschyl. down, a crowd, i. e. 1. a casual collection of people; a multitude of men who have flocked together in some place, a throng : Mt. ix. 23, 25; xv. 10, ete. ; Mk. ii. 4; iii. 9, and often; Lk. v. 1,19; vii. 9,ete.; Jn. v. 13; vi. 22, 24; vii. 20, 32,49, etc.; Actsxiv. 14; xvii. 8; xxi. 34; τὶς ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου, Lk. xi. 27; xii. 13; or ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου, xix. 39; ix. 38; ἀπὸ (for 1. 6. on account of [ef. ἀπό, 11. 2b.]) τ. ὄχλου, Lk. xix. 3; ἡ βία τ. ὄχλου, Acts xxi. 35; πολὺς ὄχλος and much oftener ὄχλος πολύς, Mt. xiv. 14; xx. 29; xxvi.47; Mk. v. 21, 24; vi. 34; ix. 14; xiv. 43 [here T Tr WH om. L Tr mrg. br. oh. ]; Lk. vii. 11; viii. 4; ix.37; Jn. vi. 2,5; xii. 12 [but here Tr mrg. br. WH prefix 6; cf. B. 91 (80)]; Rev. xix. 1,6; with the art. ὁ πολὺς ὄχλ.» the great…

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

ὄχλος. In P Petr II. 4 (6)!® (B.c. 255-4) an official complains that on his way to work he had been hustled, and that, if care is not taken, he will be assaulted—8ivdv γάρ ἐστιν ἐν ὄχλωι ἀτιμάζεσθαι, ‘for it is a dreadful thing to be insulted before a crowd” (Ed.), and in 26. 4.51}. 23 (B.c. 246) ἄλλος ὄχ[λος ἐστεφ]ανωμένος is distinguished from various officials. A striking parallel to Mk 15%® (noted by the editor) is afforded by P Flor I. 618 (A.D. 85) (= Chest. II. p. 89), where the Egyptian Governor addresses a certain Phibion, who had been tried before him, in the words—&g.os μ[ὲ]ν ἧς μαστιγωθῆναι. . . χαρίζομαι δέ σε τοῖς ὄχλοις, ‘you deserved to be scourged, but I hand you over to the multitude.” [Note the use of ὄχλος in the plur., as frequently in Mt (e.g. 42°), with apparently the same meaning as the sing.] A Gnostic charm of iti/iv A.D., P Oxy XII. 1478, contains the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὄχλος (ochlos) — crowd.

ὄχλος, ὁ,

crowd, throng, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁ ὄ. τῶν στρατιωτῶν the mass of the soldiers, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὄχλῳ in numbers (for an army), [Refs]; οἱ τοιοῦτοι ὄ. undisciplined masses like these,[Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of the camp-followers, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. in political sense, populace, mob, opposed to δῆμος (people), [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δικαστηρίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὄ. and popular assemblies (in a contemptuous sense), [Refs 5th c.BC+] this is already in the mouths of the people, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

3. generally, mass, multitude, ὄ. τὸν πλεῖστον λόγων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵππων ὄ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]: in plural, the masses, καχεξία τις ὑποδέδυκε τοὺς ὄχλους [Refs 4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὄχλος

ochlos

from a derivative of 2192 (meaning a vehicle); a throng (as borne

along); by implication, the rabble; by extension, a class of people;

figuratively, a riot:--company, multitude, number (of people), people,

press.

see GREEK for 2192

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὄχλος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

a crowd

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὄχλος ochlos 175x

a crowd, a confused multitude of people, Mt. 4:25; 5:1; 7:28; spc. the common people, Jn. 7:49; a multitude, great number, Lk. 5:29; 6:17; Acts 1:15; by impl. tumult, uproar, Lk. 22:6; Acts 24:18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὄχλος ὄχλος, ὁ, a moving crowd, a throng, mob, Pind., Aesch., etc.; ὁ ὄχλος τῶν στρατιωτῶν the mass of the soldiers, Xen.; τῷ ὄχλῳ in point of numbers, Thuc.; οἱ τοιοῦτοι ὄχλοι undisciplined masses like these, id. Thuc.

in political sense, the populace, mob, Lat. turba, opp. to δῆμος, id. Thuc., Xen.

generally, a mass, multitude, ὄχλος λόγων Aesch.

like Lat. turba, annoyance, trouble, ὄχλον παρέχειν τινί to give one trouble, Hdt.; δι᾽ ὄχλου εἶναι, γενέσθαι to be or become troublesome, Ar., Thuc.

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

N-DPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%crowd
crowd60% · 105×crowds31% · 55×multitude4% · 7×other renderings3% · 6×other renderings2% · 3×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject55%object21%adverbial14%indirect object10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 174 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
πᾶςall, the whole, δέbut, on the otheφοβέωI fear, am terri
αὐτός
ἀκολουθέωI accompany, attπρόςμετά
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theσύνειμι (II)I come togetherἀκούωI hear, listen
πολύςmuch, many, often
ὁράωI see, look uponδέbut, on the otheπάλινagain, further,
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςπεδινόςlevelχῆροςa widow
ὄχλοςcrowd174×
what comes after →
πολύςmuch, many, often
καίand, even, also,ὥστεso that, therefoἀπό
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgοὐδέποτεNeg
Article the
ἵστημιI cause to standπροάγωI lead forth, goἱκανόςsufficient, wort
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakσπλαγχνίζομαιI have pity on
ὅτιthat, since, because
ἤδηnow, alreadyὡςas, like as, howἕξIndec

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

Concordanceὄχλος · 174× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Mark Acts John Revelation

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 17 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
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.76c. AD 40

διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ λαῶδες καὶ ὄχλον ἔχον ἐν ἡμῖν μέρος,

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.336c. AD 75–95

καὶ ὁ Ἡσαῦς ἀσπασάμενος αὐτὸν ἀνήρετο τῶν παίδων τὸν ὄχλον καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας, ἠξίου τε τότε μαθὼν περὶ αὐτῶν τὸ πᾶν καὶ αὐτὸς συμβαδίζειν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, Ἰακώβου δὲ προφασιζομένου τὸν κόπον τῶν ὑποζυγίων ὑπεχώρησεν εἰς Σάειραν·

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 25.1.16c. AD 140

ἕτεροι δὲ ἤρχοντο τὰς ῥάβδους χλωρὰς φέροντες ὡς ἔλαβον παρὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου: τὸ δὲ πλεῖον μέρος τοῦ ὄχλου τοιαύτας ῥάβδους ἐπεδίδουν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC 1st c. BC 3rd c. AD
O.Did. 341DidymoiAD 77–AD 92

ἐάν τι ἀκούσῃς περὶ ἡμῶν τῶν σουκεσσόρων ἀντίγραψόν μοι. ἐκόμισα κι… ον επεν… μὴ ὀχλοῦ … εραν

P.Oxy. 12 1481Oxyrhynchites (?)AD 101–AD 125

ἐλυπήθην ἀκούσας ὅτι ἤκουσας. οὐ γὰρ δεινῶς ἠσθένησα. μέμφομαι δὲ τὸν εἴπαντα σοι. μὴ ὀχλοῦ δὲ πέμπειν τι ἡμῖν. ἐκομισάμεθα δὲ τὰ θαλλία παρὰ τοῦ τοῦ Ἡρακλείδου. Διονυτᾶς δὲ

O.Claud. 4 889Mons ClaudianusAD 150–AD 154

τρεῖς. ἐὰν δὲ πέμπω ἕνα οὐκέτι ἔχω πέμψαι εἰς τὴν λατομίαν. οἶδας δὲ ὅτι ὄχλον πολὺν δαπανᾶ εἰς τὴν κατάστασιν. ἐγὼ δ …τα τὰ παρʼ ἐμε … … ηκα

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
ἀναπεσεῖνanapiptō to sit down G377 Verb · second aorist · active · infinitive
12× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To recline means to lean back or lie down, like at a meal in Luke 11:37 or on the ground in Matthew 15:35. Jesus reclined at the Last Supper in John 13:12.
Amplified meaning
recline, lean back
Tyndale gloss
to recline
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀναπίπτω is built from the prefix ἀνα- and the verb πίπτω, meaning to fall back or recline. It covers a range of meanings from physically lying down to reclining at meals, as seen in several New Testament verses like Luke 11:37 and John 13:25. There is a noted distinction between ἀναπίπτω and similar terms, particularly in how they indicate a change of position.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀνα-πίπτω,

[in LXX: Ge 49:9 (כּרע) To 2:1 7:8, Jth 12:10, Si 25:18 35 (32):2, Da TH Sus 37*;]

(cl.) to fall back.

In late writers = ἀνα-κλίνομαι, to recline for a repast (MM, VGT, s.v.): at table, Lk 11:37 14:10 17:7 22:14, Jo 13:12 21:20; on the ground, Mt 15:35, Mk 6:40 8:6, Jo 6:10; to lean back, Jo 13:25 (T, ἐπιπεσών; v.s. ἀνάκειμαι, ad fin.).†

SYN.: ἀνάκειμαι (q.v.), ἀνακλίνομαι.

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

ἀνα-πίπτω: 2 aor. ἀνέπεσον, 3 pers. plur. ἀνέπεσον Mk. vi. 40 (Τ Tr WH ἀνέπεσαν) : Jn. vi. 10 (LT Tr WH averecav), inf. ἀναπεσεῖν, impv. ἀνάπεσε Lk. xiv. 10 (Ree. ἀνάπεσον fr. 1 aor. ἀνέπεσα, [(Grsb. ἀνάπεσαι i. e. 1 aor. mid. impv.)]); Lk. xvii. 7 [RG ἀνάπεσαι, cf. WH. App. Ρ. 164; Ταῦ, Proleg. p. 123; see πίπτω]. ptep. ἀναπεσών ; cf. W. § 13, 1 p. 73 (71); [B. 39 (34) sq., 67 (59); fr. Eur. down]; to lie back, lie down: absol., Mk. vi. 40; Jn. vi. 10, (se. on the ground) ; ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, Mt. xv. 35; ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Mk. viii. 6. In later Grk. (cf. Lob. ad Phryn. p- 216; [W. 23 (22)]) for ἀνακλίνομαι to recline at table: Lk. xi. 37; xiv. 10; xvii. 7; xxii. 14; Jn. xiii. 12; xxi. 20 [al. refer this to the following signif.]. to lean back, Jn. xiii. 25 L Tr WH. [It denotes an act rather than a state, and in the last pass. differs from ἀνάκειμαι, vs. 23, by indicating a change of position.…

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

ἀναπίπτω. For the later meaning ‘‘ lie down, recline,” of which there is no instance in Attic Greek (Rutherford VP p. 294), see P Par 514 (B.c. 160) (= Selections p. 19), ἀναπίπτομαι ἐπ᾽ ἄχυρον . . . ἀναπίπτει καὶ αὐτός. (On the irregular voice, see Proveg. p. 159). Cf. LXX Gen 495 ἀναπεσὼν ἐκοιμήθης ὡς λέων : see Anz Swbsidia, p. 301 f. 3) ςς

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀναπίπτω (anapiptō) — to recline.

ἀναπίπτω,

poetry ἀμπ-, fall back, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; lay oneself back, like rowers, [Refs 5th c.BC+], compare e; of riders, ὑπτίους ἀναπεπτωκότας ἐλαύνειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. metaphorically, fall back, give ground, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; flag, lose heart, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ταῖς σπουδαῖς (vulgar form σπονδ-) ἀναπεπτωκέναι[Refs 1st c.BC+]

2. b perfect participle ἀναπεπτωκώς lifeless, of style, σχῆμα ἀ.[Refs 2nd c.AD+]

3. of a plan, to be given up, ἀνεπεπτώκει τὰ τῆς ἐξόδου[Refs 4th c.BC+]

4. ἀ. ἀπ᾽ οἴκων to be banished from one's house, poetical cited in Athenagoraspro Christo 22.

5. recline at meals, like{ἀνάκειμαι}, [NT+2nd c.AD+]

5. b take to one's bed in sickness, [Refs]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀναπίπτω

anapipto

from 303 and 4098; to fall back, i.e. lie down, lean back:--lean, sit

down (to meat).

see GREEK for 303

see GREEK for 4098

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀναπίπτω

v.

I lie down, recline, fall back upon

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀναπίπτω anapiptō 12x

to fall or recline backwards; to recline at table, etc., Lk. 11:37; to throw one’s self back, Jn. 21:20

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀναπίπτω to fall back, Aesch.

to fall back, give ground, Thuc.: to flag, lose heart, Lat. concidere animo, Dem.

of a plan, to be given up, id. Dem.

to recline at table, like ἀνάκειμαι, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAN — Verb · second aorist · active · infinitive
second aorist active infinitive — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5629

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%he reclined
he reclined25% · 3×recline17% · 2×sit down8% · 1×they sat down8% · 1×do recline8% · 1×do recline?8% · 1×reclined8% · 1×having leaned8% · 1×other renderings8% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 12 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
αὐτόςὅς
ὄχλοςa crowd
Article the
δέbut, on the other ha
εἰσέρχομαιI go in, come in
πορεύομαιI travel, journey, g
καλέωI call, invite,
παρέρχομαιI pass by
εὐθέωςimmediately, soo
ἀναπίπτωto sit down12×
what comes after →
ἐπί
Article the
πρασιάa company formed int
πρασιάa company formed
εἰς
Article the
καίand, even, also, nam
Article the
εἰμίI am, exist
δέbut, on the othe

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

Concordanceἀναπίπτω · 12× in the New Testament
John Luke Mark Matthew
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaOn Drunkenness 167c. AD 40

πολὺ γὰρ σκότος τῶν ὄντων καὶ σωμάτων καὶ πραγμάτων κατακεχυμένον οὐκ ἐᾷ τὴν ἑκάστου φύσιν ἰδεῖν, ἀλλὰ κἂν βιασάμενός τις ὑπὸ περιεργίας ἢ τοῦ φιλομαθοῦς ἐθελήσῃ διακῦψαι, καθάπερ οἱ πεπηρωμένοι προσπταίων τοῖς ἐν ποσί, πρίν τι λαβεῖν, ἀναπεσὼν…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 8.282c. AD 75–95

μέσου δʼ αὐτοῦ περιληφθέντος τῶν πολεμίων ἡ μὲν στρατιὰ κατέδεισε καὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἀνέπεσεν, ὁ δʼ Ἀβίας παρεθάρρυνε καὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχειν ἐν τῷ θεῷ παρεκάλει·

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
ἐπὶepi on G1909 Preposition
886× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A preposition meaning upon, to, or against, often used to show location or direction, like in Matthew 6:10 where Jesus teaches us to pray for God's will to be done on earth. It can also indicate a sense of time or order.
Amplified meaning
upon, against
Tyndale gloss
upon/to/against
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπί (epi) is a preposition that indicates a relationship of superposition, often translated as 'on,' 'upon,' or 'over.' It can govern the genitive, dative, or accusative cases, covering meanings related to place, time, authority, and various figurative uses. In the New Testament, it frequently appears with the accusative case, especially in contexts of motion or direction, such as in Matthew 14:28.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπί (before a smooth breathing ἐπ’, before a rough breathing ἐφ’),

prep. c. gen., dat., acc. (acc. most freq. in NT),

with primary sense of superposition, on, upon.

C. gen.,

of place, answering the question, where?

of the place on which, on, upon: ἐπὶ (τ.) γῆς, Mt 6:10, 19, al.; τ. κεφαλῆς, I Co 11:10; τ. νεφελῶν, Mt 24:30, al.; like ἐν, in constr. praegn. after verbs of motion: βάλλειν, Mk 4:26; σπείρειν, ib. 31; ἔρχεσθαι, He 6:7, al.; fig., ἐπ’ ἀληθείας (MM, s.v. ἀ.); of the subject of thought or speech, Ga 3:16; of power or authority, over, πάντων,

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

ἐπί, [before a rough breathing ἐφ᾽ (occasionally in Mss. én’; see 6. g. Ps. exly. (exlvi.) 3), and also in some instances before a smooth breathing (as ἐφ᾽ ἐλπίδι, Acts ii. 26 L; Ro. viii. 20 (21) Tdf.); 566 ἀφεῖδον. It neglects elision before proper names beginning with a vowel (exe. Αἴγυπτον Acts vii. 10, 18) and (at least in Tdf.’s txt.) before some other words, see the Proleg. p. 94 sq.; cf. W. §5,1a.; B. p. 10], a preposition [fr. the Skr. local prefix dpi; Curtius $335], joined to the gen., the dat., and the ace. ; its primary signification is upon (Lat. super; [cf. W. 374 (350) note). A. with the Genitive [cf. W. § 47, g.; B. 336 (289)]; I. of Place; and 1. of the place on which; a. upon the surface of (Lat. in or super with the abl., Germ. auf with the dat.); after verbs of abiding, remaining, standing, going, coming, etc.; of doing anything: ἐπὶ κλίνης, Mt. ix. 2; Lk. xvii. 34…

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

ἐπὶ ξένης εἶναι, and P Giss I. 2115 μένε ἐπὶ ἑαυτοῦ, “stay at home.” The sense of ‘‘near,’’ “‘in the vicinity of”’ appears in P Ryl II. 127° (A.D. 29) κοιμωμένον μον ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας: cf. Ac 5°% and see Jn 6᾽", 211 ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, where the rendering ‘“‘ near the sea,’ or, as we should say, “fon the shore,” is to be preferred (cf. Abbott /ok. Gr. p- 261). In P Lond 11688 (a.p. 18) (= III. p. 136) ἐν τοῖς ἀπὸ A(Bos μέρεσι ἐπὶ ταῖς οὔσαις γειτνίαις, ἐπί is almost = ἐν." The local force still underlies the meaning of such a phrase as ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας (cf. Mk 1214) in the census paper P Oxy II. 255}5 (A.D. 48) (= Selections, p. 47), where it is stated that the return is ‘“‘sound”’ and rests “on a true basis "᾿-ἐ]ξ [ὑ]γιοῦς kal ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας. Cf. also P Lille I. 264 (iii/B.c.) τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν γ[ῆν ἑτο]ιμάζω, εἰ μὴ ἀκολουθεῖς ἅπαντα καθὼς ἐπὶ τῆς διαγραφῆς τ[ο]ῦ [εἰς τὸ] τε ἔτος σπόρου μεμισθῶσϑαι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπί (epi) — upon/to/against.

ἐπί,

Thess. (before τ) [Refs 3rd c.BC+], to denote the being upon or supported upon a surface or point.

__A WITH GEN.:

__A.I of Place,

__A.I.1 with Verbs of Rest, upon, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: without a Verb expressed, ἔγχεα ὄρθ᾽ ἐ. σαυρωτῆρος (i.e. σταθέντα) [Refs]; ἔκλαγξαν ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων the arrows on his shoulders, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with Verbs of Motion, where the subject rests upon something, as on a chariot, a horse, a ship, φεύγωμεν ἐφ᾽ ἵππων on our chariot, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὴν κλεῖδα περιφέρειν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ to carry the key about on his person, [Refs 5th c.BC+] walk on tiptoe, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of places, upon, if the place is an actual support, [Refs]; ἐ. τοῦ εὐωνύμον on the left, ἐ. τῶν πλευρῶν on the flanks, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but most frequently, in, rarely in [Refs 8th c.BC+] in the country. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐπ᾽ οἰκήματος κατίσαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπί

epi

a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time,

place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive

case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on,

etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon,

etc.:--about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as

(touching), at, beside, X have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a

place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf

of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward),

with. In compounds it retains essentially the same import, at, upon,

etc. (literally or figuratively).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπί

Prep.

on, to, against, on the basis of, at

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπί epi 890x

(1) with the gen., upon, on, Mt. 4:6; 9:2; 27:19; in, of locality, Mk. 8:4; near upon, by, at, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 21:1; upon, over, of authority, Mt. 2:22; Acts 8:27; in the presence of, especially in a judicial sense, 2 Cor. 7:14; Acts 25:9; in the case of, in respect of, Jn. 6:2; Gal. 3:16; in the time of, at the time of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπί

on, upon with gen., dat., and acc.

prep. with gen., dat., and acc.: Radic. signf. upon.

WITH GEN.:

of Place,

with Verbs of Rest, upon or on, κεῖσθαι ἐπὶ χθονός Il.; ἐφ᾽ ἵππου on horse-back, etc.; ἐπὶ γῆς upon earth, Soph.; ἐπ᾽ ἀγροῦ in the country, Od.; also at or near, ἐπὶ Λήμνου off Lemnos, Hdt., etc.:—with Verbs of motion, the sense is pregnant, ἐπ᾽ ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν drew the ship upon the land and left it there, Il., etc.; ἀναβῆναι ἐπὶ τῶν πύργων Xen.

not strictly of Place, μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς to remain in the command, id. Xen.; ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων engaged in business, Dem.: —of ships, ὁρμεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἀγκύρας to ride at (i. e. in dependence on an) anchor, Hdt.

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

PREP PREPosition

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

On

Light; the sun, (Gen. 41:45, 50), the great seat of sun-worship, called also Bethshemesh (Jer. 43:13) and Aven (Ezek. 30:17), stood on the east bank of the Nile, a few miles north of Memphis, and near Cairo, in the north-east. The Vulgate and the LXX. Versions have “Heliopolis” (“city of the sun”) instead of On in Genesis and of Aven in Ezekiel. The “city of destruction” Isaiah speaks of (19:18, marg. “of Heres;” Heb. ‘Ir-ha-heres, which some MSS. read Ir-ha-heres, i.e., “city of the sun”) may be the name given to On, the prophecy being that the time will come when that city which was known as the “city of the sun-god” shall become the “city of destruction” of the sun-god, i.e., when idolatry shall cease, and the worship…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(abode or city of the sun), a town of lower Egypt, called BETH-SHEMESH in (Jeremiah 43:13) On is better known under its Greek name Heliopolis. It was situated on the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point of the Delta, and about twenty miles northeast of Memphis. The chief object of worship at Heliopolis was the sun, whose temple, described by Strabo, is now only represented by the single beautiful obelisk, of red granite so feet 2 inches high above the pedestal which has stood for more than 4000 years, having been erected by Usirtesen, the second king of the twelfth dynasty. Heliopolis was anciently famous for its learning, and Eudoxus and Plato studied under its priests. The first mention of this place in the Bible is in the history of Joseph, to whom we read Pharaoh gave "to wife Asenath the daughter…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See HELIOPOLIS.

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

pain; force; iniquity

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
28%upon
upon28% · 258×on22% · 203×to8% · 77×in7% · 62×over7% · 59×at6% · 57×against4% · 38×for4% · 37×other renderings13% · 116×

907 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 46 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
adverbial91%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 886 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
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaαὐτόςλευκόςwhite, bright
αὐτός
δέbut, on the otheφιάληa shallow and flκεφαλήthe head
κάθημαιI sit, am seated
Article theκαίand, even, also,γυνήa woman, wife, m
πίπτωI fall, fall under
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,Article the
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ὁδόςa way, road, jouγάρforκαίand, even, also,
ἐπίon886×
what comes after →
Article the
γῆthe earth, soil,κεφαλήthe headθρόνοςa throne, seat
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theὅτιthat, since, bec
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theὅςκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,Article theπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theὅς

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

Concordanceἐπί · 886× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Revelation Matthew Mark John Romans Hebrews 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter

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 29c. AD 40

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

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

ὡς Ἅβραμος ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους ἐκστρατεύσας ἐνίκησε καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Σοδομιτῶν ἔσωσε καὶ τὴν λείαν ἣν ἔλαβον ἀφείλετο.

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

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

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

ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐωνήσατο παρὰ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Τοτόηους ἐν τῷ ιε ἔτει Παῦνι γ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀρχείου, μιᾶς μὲν ἐν τῷ ἀπὸ λιβὸς πεδίωι, γείτονες· νότου γῆ Πατοῦτος τοῦ

P.Lond. 3 p. 18 no. 678Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC–99 BC

καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν μηνὸς Χοιὰκ … ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἐπὶ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου τῆς ἄνω τοπαρχίας τοῦ Παθυρίτου. ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Σχώτου ἱερεὺς Σούχου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα. ἔτους ιϛ Τῦβι λ. τέτακται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει τράπεζαν ἐφʼ ἧς Παγκράτης δεκάτης ἐνκυκλίου διʼ Ἀπολλωνίου τελώνου Πακοῖβις

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
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 Matthew 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
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He having commanded to the crowd to sit down on the ground
γῆν ground G1093 Noun · accusative · singular · feminine
250× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for earth or ground, referring to soil, a region, or the entire globe, as seen in Luke 21:35 and Acts 1:8.
Amplified meaning
earth, soil, the land
Tyndale gloss
earth: soil
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word γῆ () means 'earth' or 'land' and is used in various contexts, including the physical ground, cultivated land, and regions or countries. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often contrasting with 'heaven' or 'sea.' The lexicons indicate a consensus on its meanings, which encompass both the solid part of the globe and the concept of territory.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γῆ, γῆς, ἡ,

[in LXX for אֶרֶץ, אֲדָמָה, etc.;]

the earth, world: Lk 21:35, Ac 1:8, He 11:13, Re 3:10, al.; opp. to οὐρανός, Mt 5:18 11:25, Mk 13:27, al.

land;

opp. to sea or water: Mk 4:1, Lk 5:3, Jo 6:21, al.;

as subject to cultivation: Mt 13:5, Mk 4:8, Lk 13:7,

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

γῆ; gen. γῆς, 7, (contr. fr. yéa, poet. γαῖα), Sept. very often for γι and ΤΣ, earth; 1. arable land: Mt. xiii. 5, 8, 23; Mk. iv. 8, 20, 26, 28, 31; Lk. xiii. 7; xiv. 35 (34); Jn. xii. 24; Heb. vi. 7; Jas. v. 7; Rev. ix. 4; of the earthy material out of which a thing is formed, with the implied idea of frailty and weakness: ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός, 1 Co. xv. 47. 2. the ground, the earth as a standing-place, (Germ. Boden) : Mt. x. 29; xv. 35; xxiii. 85; xxvii. 51; Mk. viii. 6; ix. 20; xiv. 35; Lk. xxii. 44 [L br. WH reject the pass.]; xxiv. 5; Jn. viii. 6, 8, [i.e Rec.]; Acts ix. 4, 8. 3. the main /and, opp. to sea or water: Mk. iv. 1; vi. 47; Lk. ν. 8; viii. 27; Jn. vi. 21; xxi. 8 sq. 11; Rev. xii. 12. 4. the earth as a whole, the world (Lat. terrarum orbis); a. the earth as opp. to the heavens: Mt. v. 18, 35; vi.10; xvi.19; xviii. 18; xxiv. 35; Mk. xiii. 31; Lk. ii. 14; Jn. xii. 32; Acts ii. 19…

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

γῆ. The rare plural forms of this word which are found in the LXX may be illustrated from the Ptolemaic papyri of 1i/B.c., e.g. BGU III. 993329 (νος 128-7) γῶν τε καὶ οἰκιῶν, P Tor I. 12° (B.c. 116) ἕνεκεν τοῦ kal τῶν γῶν μὴ μετεσχηκέναι αὐτήν, P Tebt I. 6% (B.c. 140-39) yas τε καὶ ἕτερα : see Thackeray G7. i. p. 143. In MGr, beside ἢ γῆ, we have the indeclinable ἢ γῆς, τῆς γῆς, etc. : see Thumb Handbook, p. 57. The familiar Biblical ἔπὶ γῆς appears in P Ryl 11. $78 (early iii/A.b.) 6 αὐτὸς ὁριοδείκτης ἐπέδειξα ἐπὶ γῆς (restored from 1.*), “1 the said surveyor have verified it on the spot”: the editors suggest that ἐπὶ γῆς should be read in P Thead 54% and 55%. It may be observed that γῆ in papyri is regularly ‘‘land” in small or moderate quantities, a sense never found in NT, where γῆ is always antithetic to sky or sea, or denotes a district or country, The LXX and papyri, in their use…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γῆ (gē) — earth: planet.

γῆ, ἡ,

occasionally in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: dual γαῖν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; γῶν [Refs 2nd c.BC+]:—earth (including land and sea, [Refs 7th c.BC+] opposed to heaven, or land opposed to sea, Γῆ τε καὶ Ἠέλιος καὶ Ἐρινύες [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τίς γ; [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κατὰ γῆν on land, by land, opposed to ναυσί, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to ἐκ θαλάσσης, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπὶ γῆς on earth, opposed to νέρθε, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατὰ γῆς below the earth, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: genitive with local Adverbs, ἵνα γῆς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ποῦ, ποῖ, ὅποι γ., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. earth, as an element, [Refs 6th c.BC+]

2. b γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ αἰτεῖν, as tokens of submission, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

γῆ

ge

contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the

solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants

in each application):--country, earth(-ly), ground, land, world.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γῆ, γῆς, ἡ

n.f.

the earth, soil, land

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γῆ gē 250x

earth, soil, Mt. 13:5; Mk. 4:8, et al.; the ground, surface of the earth, Mt. 10:29; Lk. 6:49, et al.; the land, as opposed to the sea or a lake, Lk. 5:11; Jn. 21:8, 9, 11; the earth, world, Mt. 5:18, 35, et al.; by synec. the inhabitants of the earth, Mt. 5:13; 6:10; 10:34; a land, region, tract, country, territory, Mt. 2:20; 14:34;by way of eminence, the chosen land, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γῆ earth opp. to heaven, or land opp. to sea, Hom., etc.; κατὰ γῆν on land, by land, Thuc.; κατὰ γῆς Xen.:— ἐπὶ γῆς on earth, Soph.; κατὰ γῆς below the earth, Trag.:—the gen. with local adverbs, ἵνα γῆς, ποῦ γῆς, ubi terrarum, where in (in what quarter of) the world, where on earth, Soph., etc.

earth, as an element, opp. to air, water, fire, Plat.

a land, country, Aesch., etc.; γῆν πρὸ γῆς from land to land, id. Aesch.

the earth or ground as tilled, Soph., Plat.

a lump of earth, in the phrase γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ αἰτεῖν, γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ διδόναι, in token of submission, Hdt.

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
Nave's Topical Bible

→ Man made from Ge 2:7; 3:19,23; Job 4:19; 33:6

→ Animals made from Ge 2:19

→ Vegetables come from Ge 2:9

→ Cursed Ge 3:17; 5:29

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
67%earth
earth67% · 170×land19% · 48×ground7% · 18×soil4% · 11×other renderings3% · 8×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial59%subject18%object15%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 250 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
ἐπίεἰςκαίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaΖαβουλώνPropἔκπαλαιfrom of old, lon
ἐπί
καίand, even, also,εἴτεand if, whetherεἰμίI am, exist
ἐκ
ἐξέρχομαιI go out, come oἐγώἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ἐν
πάροικοςa stranger, foreσημεῖονa sign, miracle,παροικίαa sojourning
γῆground250×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἐπίγίνομαιI come into bein
Article the
καλόςbeautiful, good,ἀγαθόςgoodἔργονwork, labor, act
εἰμίI am, exist
δέωI bindλύωI loose, untie, καίand, even, also,
ὅτιthat, since, because
ὑποπόδιονa footstoolκρύπτωI hide, conceal,ἀποκρύπτωI hide away, con
ἐκ
Article theὕδωρwater

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

Concordanceγῆ · 250× in the New Testament
Revelation Matthew Acts Luke Mark John Hebrews James 2 Peter Colossians Ephesians 1 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament14 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,727 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 26c. AD 40

Φησὶ δ’ ὡς „ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν", τὴν ἀρχὴν παραλαμβάνων | οὐχ ὡς οἴονταί τινες τὴν κατὰ χρόνον·

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 2.7c. AD 100

λέγει δὲ πάλιν πρὸς αὐτούς: Μὴ ἐγὼ ἐνετειλάμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, προσενέγκαι μοι ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίας;

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 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC 1st c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

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 ἐωνήσατο παρὰ

P.Lond. 3 p. 18 no. 678Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC–99 BC

μελίχρως μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν ἀδύνατος ὄμμασι τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτῶι ἐν τῶι ἄνω πεδίωι περὶ Πάθυριν γῆν ἤπειρον σιτοφόρον ἀρουρῶν … ἧς γείτονες νότουπλατεῖαὁδός, βορρᾶ … περίχωμα … προπεπρα

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

ξ μέσος μελίχρως τετανὸς ἀναφάλακρος μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπαρχούσης αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου ἀδιαιρέτου ἐν τῷ ἀπὸ βορρᾶ πεδίωι Παθύρεως τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῷ μέρος ἕβδομον·

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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