Menu

Matthew 22:43 — Word Study

Depth

N1904Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων·

BSAHe sayslegō [spoke, declared] to them;autos Howpōs [in what way] thenoun DavidDaueid, Dauid, Dabid [the king of Israel, a man after God's heart] inen spiritpneuma [the divine breath or inspiration] does callkaleō Him Lord saying:legō [speaks, utters]

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 22
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 43 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (legō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 22:43quick helps
In a sentenceJesus questions how David can refer to the Messiah as 'Lord' if the Messiah is also his son.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing the Pharisees.
Where we areIn a dialogue where Jesus challenges the understanding of the Messiah's identity.
The hard wordΛέγει
Take awayDavid's acknowledgment of the Messiah's lordship highlights the divine nature of Jesus.
6 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subjectλέγω verbλέγω 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 22:43

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

Context — Jesus Questions the Phariseesgenerated

42“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” “David’s,” they answered.
43Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:
44‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
45So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”

Matthew 22:43 shows Jesus engaging with the Pharisees, asking them a profound question about David's words regarding the Messiah. This interaction highlights the complexity of Jesus' identity as both the Son of David and the Lord. The context reveals a deeper theological understanding of the Messiah that challenges the common perceptions of the time.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
12 Samuel 23:2The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.
2Mark 12:36Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
3Luke 2:26–27The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
4Acts 1:16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus.
5Acts 2:30–31But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.

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


The Key Word Λέγει, legōgenerated

The verb Λέγει (legō) means 'to say' or 'to speak.' It is a primary Greek verb used frequently in the New Testament to convey teachings and narrate events. In this verse, it indicates Jesus' authoritative declaration and the importance of the question He poses.

As a present active indicative verb, it shows an ongoing action, emphasizing that Jesus is actively speaking to the Pharisees. This highlights the immediacy of His challenge to their understanding of Scripture.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In the Berean Standard Bible, the phrase is rendered as He says, while the KJV and ASV use He saith. The YLT and WEB also maintain a similar structure.

The translations differ in their rendering of the verb Λέγει. The KJV and ASV use He saith, while the BSB and others prefer He says. This difference illustrates a choice between more archaic and contemporary language.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main finite verb in this verse is Λέγει, He says, which governs the entire statement. It is followed by a series of clauses that elaborate on the question posed to the Pharisees, including a prepositional phrase and a direct quotation.

The sentence structure is complex, with multiple clauses. The main clause introduces Jesus' statement, while subordinate clauses provide the context of the question regarding David's reference to the Messiah.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

Λέγει is used in the Septuagint to translate various Hebrew terms for speaking or declaring, including כֹּה (thus) and נְאֻם (utterance). This connection shows the continuity of the concept of divine speech from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

The use of Δαυὶδ in this context refers back to the Hebrew דָּוִד, indicating the same significant figure in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek translation.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 22:43 records Jesus asking the Pharisees how David could call the Messiah 'Lord' if the Messiah is his son. This question challenges their understanding of the Messiah's nature and relationship to David, emphasizing the divine authority of Jesus.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Jesus mean by asking how David calls the Messiah 'Lord'?

Jesus is highlighting the divine nature of the Messiah, indicating that He is more than just a descendant of David.

Why is it significant that David calls the Messiah 'Lord'?

It shows that the Messiah holds a position of authority and divinity, which is essential to understanding Jesus' identity.

How does this verse connect to the Old Testament?

Jesus references David's words, which are found in the Psalms, to illustrate the fulfillment of prophecy and the nature of the Messiah.

What can we learn from Jesus' question to the Pharisees?

We learn the importance of understanding Scripture deeply and recognizing the full identity of Jesus as both human and divine.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How does understanding Jesus as both David's son and Lord impact my faith?
  2. In what ways can I deepen my understanding of Scripture like the Pharisees were challenged to do?
  3. What does it mean for me to acknowledge Jesus' authority in my life?
  4. How can I share the significance of Jesus' identity with others?

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

Early church fathers comment on this verse to explore the implications of Jesus' question about David's words, emphasizing the significance of recognizing Jesus as both human and divine.

Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON Matthew 5.5 c. 185–253
It is very worthy for us to consider that our Savior willingly proposed to the Pharisees his question about the Christ, hoping that they might respond in a fitting manner. They were not able to respond adequately.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 22 →
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 71 c. 347–407
And that they may not say, that it was in flattery he so called Him, and that this was a human judgment, see what He saith,
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 22 →

Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 22:43 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

He saith unto them,.... Not denying it to be a truth they affirmed; but rather granting and allowing it: he argues upon it, though he tacitly refuses their sense and meaning of the phrase, thus, how

Read John Gill on Matthew 22 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 12:35-37.

Read Robert Jamieson on Matthew 22 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, Ver. 43. How then doth David in spirit] The Spirit possessed David after a sort, and by his mouth uttered what he would publish to the Church concerning the Godhead of Christ. "Holy men spake of old as they were acted by the Holy Ghost," as they were forcibly moved, or borne away, and, as it were, carried out of themselves by the Holy Ghost (φερομενοι), 2 Peter 1:21.

Read John Trapp on Matthew 22 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(43) Doth David in spirit call him Lord?—The words assume (1) that David was the writer of Psalms 110; (2) that in writing it, he was guided by a Spirit higher than his own; (3) that the subject of it was no earthly king of the house of David, but the far off Christ. On this point there was an undisturbed consensus among the schools of Judaism, as represented by the Targums and the Talmud. It was a received tradition that the Christ should sit on the right hand of Jehovah and Abraham on His left. Its application to the Christ is emphatically recognised by St. Peter (Acts 2:34), and by St. Paul, though indirectly (Colossians 3:1). In the argument of the Epistle to the Hebrews, it occupies…

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 22 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 43. How then doth David in spirit (or by the Spirit - by the inspiration of the Spirit of God) call him Lord? saying,

Read AdamClarke on Matthew 22 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

43. In spirit — That this signifies under divine inspiration is clear from Mark, who expresses it, “For David himself by the Holy Ghost said.” Our Lord decides that David was the author of the Psalm,

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Matthew 22 →

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

Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:

NETBNew English Translation2006

He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

He saith unto them, How then doth David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

RVARevised Version, American1894

He saith unto them, How then doth David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

NWBWebster's Bible1833

He saith to them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

GNVGeneva Bible1599

He sayd vnto them, How then doeth Dauid in spirit call him Lord, saying,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

He says to them, How then does David in Spirit call him Lord, saying,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

He saith to them, 'How then doth David in the Spirit call him lord, saying,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

He says to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying:

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

“But how can David under inspiration call him ‘Lord’?” Jesus asked them. “He says,

BBEBible in Basic English1949

He says to them, How then does David in the Spirit give him the name of Lord, saying,

Word by word, the decisions they made

Λέγειlegō He says G3004 2 different renderings
sayingASV DRA GNV KJV NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
he saysBBE BSB DBY FBV LSV MSB
λέγων·legō saying: G3004 2 different renderings
sayingASV DRA GNV KJV NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
he saysBBE BSB DBY FBV LSV MSB

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.

clauseclauseverbλέγειHe saysindirect objectαὐτοῖςto themclauseοὖνthenclauseadverbialΠῶςHowsubjectΔαυεὶδDavidprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinΠνεύματιspiritverbκαλεῖdoes callobjectαὐτὸνHimsecond objectΚύριονLordclause · adverbialclauseverbλέγωνsayingclauseverbΕἶπενSaidsubjectΚύριοςthe Lordnoun phrase · indirect objectτῷto thenoun phraseΚυρίῳLordμουof meclauseverbΚάθουSitprepositional phrase · adverbialἐκonnoun phraseδεξιῶν[the] right handμουof Meclauseἕωςuntilclauseἂν-clauseverbθῶI placenoun phrase · objectτοὺςthenoun phraseἐχθρούςenemiesσουof Youprepositional phrase · adverbialὑποκάτω[as] a footstoolnoun phraseτῶνfor thenoun phraseποδῶνfeetσουof You

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

Ait illis : Quomodo ergo David in spiritu vocat eum Dominum, dicens :

Jerome revised the Old Latin against the Greek from AD 382; the Latin west read this text for a thousand years.

Syriac Peshittaby AD 400

ܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܘܐܝܟܢܐ ܕܘܝܕ ܒܪܘܚ ܩܪܐ ܠܗ ܡܪܝܐ ܐܡܪ ܓܝܪ

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

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων·

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων·

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων·

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων·

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων·

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ κύριον λέγων·

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι κύριον λέγων·

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι κύριον λέγων·

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
καλεῖ does callNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
αὐτὸν HimNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, TregTyn, TR, 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 22:43λέγωHe saysHe saysλέγωαὐτόςto them;to them;αὐτόςπῶςHowHowπῶςοὖνthenthenοὖνΔαυίδDavidDavidΔαυίδἐνininἐνπνεῦμαspiritspiritπνεῦμακαλέωdoes calldoes callκαλέωαὐτόςHimHimαὐτόςκύριοςLordLordκύριοςλέγωsaying:saying:λέγωφημίv. I sayv. I sayφημίἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦπνέωv. I blowv. I blowπνέωποῦIrg.adv. wIrg.adv. where,ποῦεἰςPrep. intoPrep. into, in,εἰςἐκPrep. fromPrep. from out,ἐκκελεύωv. I commav. I command, oκελεύωἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνδιδάσκαλοςn.m. a tean.m. a teacherδιδάσκαλοςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωπαραβολήn.f. a parn.f. a parable,παραβολήδύναμαιv. I am pov. I am powerfuδύναμαιἄραDisj.prt. Disj.prt. then,ἄραμένDisj.prt. Disj.prt. trulyμένὡσαννάHebr. hosaHebr. hosannaὡσαννάἐλεέωv. I pity,v. I pity, haveἐλεέωσυναγωγήn.f. an asn.f. an assemblσυναγωγή
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 22:43

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

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

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
Λέγειlegō He says G3004 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
2,255× 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
This word means to say or speak, and it is used by Jesus and others in the New Testament to share teachings and tell stories. It appears in Matthew 9:34 and John 1:29.
Amplified meaning
spoke, declared
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

λέγω (legō) — to say.

λέγω,

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

lego

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

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

5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech

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

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

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

shew, speak, tell, utter.

see GREEK for 2036

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 2980

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λέγω

v.

I say, speak

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

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

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

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

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

1,357 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 107 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb98%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,255 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
αὐτός
πρόςμαθητήςa learner, disciἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the otheγόνυa knee
ἀμήνHebr
ἀμήνHebrαὐτόςλέγωI say, speak
λέγωHe says2255×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeter
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNegἐάνCond
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπρόςαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὗτοςσύ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

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

P.Adl. 16Pathyris100 BC

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

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
αὐτοῖς·autos to them; G846 Personal pronoun · dative · plural · masculine
5,550× 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
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-DPM — Personal pronoun · 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

P-DPM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Dative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςto them;5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
πῶςpōs How G4459 Adverb · interrogative
118× 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
How is a question about the way something is done, as in Matthew 12:29, or an exclamation of surprise, like how much something is.
Amplified meaning
in what way
Tyndale gloss
how?!
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πῶς (transliterated as pōs) is an interrogative adverb meaning 'how' or 'in what manner.' It appears in direct questions, indirect discourse, and exclamations, often seeking clarification or expressing astonishment. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including Matthew 12:29 and John 3:4. Notably, Liddell-Scott mentions its use to express displeasure or doubt.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πῶς, interrog. adv., correl. of ὅπως,

prop., in direct questions, how?: c. indic., Mt 12:29, Mk 3:23, Lk 11:18, Jo 3:4, al.; καὶ π., Mk 4:13, Lk 20:44; π. οὖν, Mt 12:26; π. οὐ, Mt 16:11, Lk 12:56; in deliberative questions (cf. Bl., § 64, 6), c. subjc., Mt 23:33 26:54; π. οὖν, Ro 10:14; π. δέ, Read the full entry →

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

πῶς, (fr. obsol. OS, whence ποῦ, ποῖ, etc. [ef. Curtius § 631]), adv., [fr. Hom. down] ; I. in interroga tion; how? in what way ?— in a direct question, foll. by a. the indicative, it is the expression a. of one seeking information and desiring to be taught: Lk. 1.84; x. 26; Jn.iii.9; ix. 26; 1 Co. xv. 35 [cf. W. 266 (250)]; πῶς οὖν, Jn. ix. 10 Tdf. (but L WH br. οὖν), 19; Ro. iv. 10. B. of one about to controvert another, and emphatically deny that the thing inquired about has happened or been done: Mt. xii. 29; Mk. iii. 23; Lk xi.18; Jn. iii. 4,12; v.44,47; vi.52; ix.16; 1 Jn. iii. 17; iv. 20; Ro. iii. 6; vi. 2; 1 Co. xiv. 7, 9,16; 1 Tim. iii. 5; Heb. ii. 3; καὶ πῶς, Mk. iv. 13; Jn. xiv. 5 [here L txt. Tr WHom. καί]; πῶς οὖν, Mt. xii. 26; Ro. x. 14 RG; mas δέ, Ro. x. 14

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

πῶς, “*how,” 2 “in what manner,” (a) in direct questions— P Oxy IV. 7441? (B.c. 1) (= Selections, Ὁ. 33) πῶς Sivapal oe ἐπιλαθεῖν : “how can I forget you?” Cf. Ac 85! πῶς yap ἂν δυναίμην; which Field (Vo/es, p. 117) renders, ““Why, how can I?” For the exclamatory πῶς, as in Mk 1074, cf. Philemon fy. 2 ὦ πῶς πονηρόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου φύσις | τὸ σύνολον, Epict. Aan. 24. 3 Opare ὑμεῖς, πῶς ἄνισοί ἐστε kal ἀγνώμονες ; see further K. Rupprecht in Philologus \xxx. (V. F. xxxiv.), 1924, p- 207. (6) in indirect discourse—P Oxy IV. 745° (c. A.D. 1) οὐκ οἶδας yap πῶς μοι ἐχρήσατο ἐν ᾿Οξυρύγχοις, ‘‘ you don't know how he treated me at Oxyrhynchus(?),” P Tebt II. 4o8* (A.D. 3) ἐπιστάμενος πῶς σε τίθεμαι Ke φιλῶ, “since you know how I esteem and love you”’ (Edd.) (cf. Ac 2018), P Oxy II. 29474 (A.p. 22) (= Selections, p. 36) γράψον μοι πῶς πάλιν ἄνω Aadaxeverat, “‘ write me how his hair is growing…

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

πῶς (pōs) — how?!.

πῶς,

Ionic dialect κῶς, interrogative adverb of Manner, how? [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes to express displeasure, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; to express astonishment or doubt, π. εἶπα; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. λέγει; [Refs]; π. φῄ; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. τοῦτ᾽ ἔλεξα; [Refs 4th c.BC+]; π. τοῦτ᾽ εἶπες α; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also π. μὴ φῶμεν..; surely we must, [Refs]

__b in dialogue, to ask explanation, with a repetition of a word used by the previous speaker, δίκαια— Answ. π. δίκαι; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μὴ δίκαιος ὤν—Answ. π. μὴ δίκαιο; [Refs]; συμβολάς—Answ. π. συμβολά; [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; πῶς alone, how so, π., ὅς γε..; [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πῶς πώς

pos

adverb from the base of 4226; an interrogative particle of manner; in

what way? (sometimes the question is indirect, how?); also as

exclamation, how much!:--how, after (by) what manner (means), that.

(Occasionally unexpressed in English).

see GREEK for 4226

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πῶς

Adv. & Irg.adv.

how, in what manner

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv-I — Adverb · interrogative
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV-I ADVerb or adverb and particle combined Interrogative

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Represents various Hebrew and Greek words, interrogative, interjectional and relative. Its different uses refer to

(1) the manner or way, e.g. Ge 44:34, "How shall I go up to my father?" ('ekh); Mt 6:28, "how they grow" (pos); 1Co 15:35, "How are the dead raised?";

(2) degree, extent, frequently, "how great" (Da 4:3, mah; Mr 5:19, hosos, "how much"); "how many" (Mt 27:13, posos); "how much" (Ac 9:13, hosos); "how much more" (Mt 7:11, posos;

Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 65 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 68c. AD 40

ἡνίκα γὰρ ζῷα διαπλάττειν ἔδοξε τῷ δημιουργῷ, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τῇ τάξει φαυλότερά πως ἦν, ἰχθύες, τὰ δ’ ὕστατα ἄριστα, ἄνθρωποι, τὰ δ’ ἄλλα μέσα τῶν ἄκρων, ἀμείνω μὲν τῶν προτέρων, χείρω δὲ τῶν ἑτέρων, χερσαῖα καὶ πτηνά.

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

πῶς τὸ Σοδομιτῶν ἔθνος θεὸς κατεστρέψατο χολωθεὶς αὐτοῖς ἐφ' οἷς ἡμάρτανον.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.9c. AD 100

αἰσθάνεσθαι οὖν ὀφείλομεν, μὴ ὄντες ἀσύνετοι, τὴν γνώμην τῆς ἀγαθωσύνης τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, ὅτ̓ ἡμῖν λέγει, θέλων ἡμᾶς μὴ ὁμοίως πλανωμένους ἐκείνοις ζητεῖν, πῶς προσάγωμεν αὐτῷ.

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 3rd c. BC 1st c. AD

Ζήνωνι. νυκτὸς ἐκ τοῦ σιτοβολῶνος ἀπόλωλεν σήσαμον καὶ λελέανται τῆι χειρί. διὸ οὐ δυνάμεθά πως ἐπιμετρήσαντες ἰδεῖν τὸ ἀπολωλὸς ἕως ἂν ὑμεῖς ἴδητε καὶ ἐναντίον ὑμῶν ἐπιμετρηθῆι.

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59455Philadelphia? (Arsinoites)249 BC–248 BC

οὐκ ἔχομεν ὀψώνιον οὐδὲ διαλελογισμένοι εἰσὶν ἡμῖν, καὶ σιτομετρίαν διμήνου οὐκ ἔχομεν. συνεπισκέψει οὖν πῶς ζῶμεν. ἔδωκαν δὲ ἡμῖν ἑκάστωι κεράμιον οἴνου καὶ σίτου ἑκάστωι ἔδωκαν εἰς τὸ

P.Cair. Zen. 3 59368Memphis (?)242 BC

ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, ὅπως μὴ ἐκεῖ καταστασιασθῶμεν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐκ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς αἰσθήσει πῶς τοὺς λοιποὺς τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ νομοῦ διατίθησιν.

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
οὖνoun then G3767 Conjunction
496× 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
This word means therefore or then, showing a consequence. It appears in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9 to connect ideas and events.
Tyndale gloss
therefore/then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὖν (oun) is a particle used to express consequence, sequence, or to resume a narrative. It translates to 'therefore,' 'then,' or 'accordingly,' and appears frequently in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9. It can also serve in exhortations and questions, indicating what follows logically from previous statements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὖν,

particle expressing consequence or simple sequence (never standing first in a sentence),

wherefore, therefore, then: Mt 3:10, Lk 3:9, Jo 8:38, Ac 1:21, Ro 5:9, al.; in exhortations, Mt 3:8, Lk 11:35, Ac 3:19, Ro 6:12, al.; in questions, Mt 13:28, Mk 15:12, Jo 8:[5], Ro 6:1, al.; continuing a…

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

οὖν ἃ conj. indicating that something follows from another necessarily; [al. regard the primary force of the particle as confirmatory or continuative, rather than illative; cf. Passow, or L.andS.s. v.; Kiihner § 508, 1 ii. p- 707 sqq.; Biiumlein p. 173 sqq.; Kriiger § 69, 52; Donaldson p. 571; Rost in a program “ Ueber Ableitung ” u.s.w. p.2; Klotz p. 717; Hartung ii. 4]. Hence it is used in drawing a conclusion and in connecting sentences together logically, then, therefore, accordingly, consequently, these things being so, [ (Klotz, Rost, al., have wished to derive the word fr. the neut. ptep. ὄν (cf. ὄντως) ; but see Baumlein or Kiihner u.s.); ef. W. § 53, 8]: Mt. iii. 10; x. 32 (since persecutions are not to be dreaded, and consequently furnish no excuse for denying me [οἵ. W. 455 (424)]); Mt. xviii. 4; Lk. iii.9; xvi. 27; In. viii. 38 (καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν, and ye accordingly, i. e.…

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

οὖν. This common particle, which occurs in the NT nearly 500 times, is used in our sources in a variety of connexions, the exact shade of meaning being determined by the context. (1) For the causal meaning ‘‘therefore” we may cite BGU II. 423" (ii/aA.p.) (= Sevectzons, p. 91) Kal καλῶς pol ἐστιν. ἐρωτῶ ce οὖν, κύριέ pou πατήρ, γράψον μοι ἐπιστόλιον πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας σου... , “it is well with me. I beg you, therefore, my lord father, write me a letter, first regarding your health ... ,” and P Oxy XIV. 16651 (iii/A.D.), where a son in urgent need of oil writes to his father—dvayxalws οὖν, ἐὰν ἔτι παρὰ σεαυτῷ χρ[ἴ]ον ἔχῃς, δήλωσον ἢ τῷ vie σου ἢ ᾧ ἐὰν σὺ βούλῃ τούτους μοι ἐν τάχει παρα[σ]χεῖν, ‘perforce, therefore, if you have still with you any unguent, instruct your son or any one else you wish to supply me with them speedily ” (Edd.). (2) Οὖν is very common in a looser…

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

οὖν (oun) — therefore/then.

οὖν,

Ionic dialect and Doric dialect ὦν (the latter in [Refs 8th c.BC+], adverb certainly, in fact, confirming something, frequently in contrast with something which is not confirmed, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] only in combination with γε (see. γοῦν), γάρ, οὔτε or μήτε, ὡς, ἐπεί, μέν, etc.:

1. really, φημὶ γὰρ οὖν κατανεῦσαι.. Κρονίωνα for I declare that Zeus did really promise.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τόφρα γὰρ οὖν ἑπόμεσθα.., ὄφρ᾽ for we followed them up to the very point, where.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Θηβαῖοι μὲν ταῦτα λέγουσι.., Πλαταιῆς δ᾽ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι.., ἐκ δ᾽ οὖν τῆς γῆς ἀνεχώρησαν at all events they did return, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so δ᾽ οὖν after a parenthesis; εἰ δή τις ὑμῶν οὕτως ἔχει,—οὐκ ἀξιῶ μὲν γὰρ ἔγωγε,—εἰ…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὖν

oun

apparently a primary word; (adverbially) certainly, or

(conjunctionally) accordingly:--and (so, truly), but, now (then), so

(likewise then), then, therefore, verily, wherefore.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὖν

Cj.

therefore, then

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὖν oun 499x

then, now then, Mt. 13:18; Jn. 19:29; then, thereupon, Lk. 15:28; Jn. 6:14; therefore, consequently, Mt. 5:48: Mk. 10:9; it also serves to mark the resumption of discourse after an interruption by a parenthesis, 1 Cor. 8:4. Sometimes it is not translated.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὖν really, at all events, used like γοῦν to dismiss a perplexing subject, οὔτ᾽ οὖν ἀγγελίῃς ἔτι πείθομαι, οὔτε θεοπροπίης ἐμπάζομαι Od.; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, Hdt.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν, εἴτε μὴ γενήσεται whether it shall be really so, or no, Eur.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν ἀληθὲς εἴτ᾽ οὖν ψεῦδος Plat.; εἰ δ᾽ ἔστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἔστι, θεός if he is, as he surely is, a god, id. Plat.

added to indef. Pronouns and Advs., like Lat. cunque, ὅστις whoever, ὁστισοῦν whosoever; ὅπως how, ὁπωσοῦν howsoever; ἄλλος ὁστισοὖν another, be he who he may; so, ὁποιοσοῦν, ὁποσοσοῦν, ὁπωσοῦν, ὁποθενοῦν…

Read the full entry →
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
79%therefore
therefore79% · 428×then19% · 104×other renderings1% · 7×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 496 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
διακονέωI wait at table,ἔχωI have, hold, poΣατανᾶςan adversary, Sa
μένDisj
Article theεἰCondπολύςmuch, many, ofte
τίςIrg
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakδιά
Article the
ἸακώβPropὕδωρwater
σύ
καίand, even, also,δεῖit is necessary,ἐρωτάωI ask, question,
οὖνthen496×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusἸουδαῖοςJewishμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgἸησοῦςJesus
καίand, even, also, nam
νίπτωI washἕτεροςanother, differeὁράωI see, look upon
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύοὗτος
σύ
πονηρόςevil, bad, wickeτέλειοςperfect, full-grἨλίαςElijah

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

Concordanceοὖν · 496× in the New Testament
John Acts Matthew Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter Galatians Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament23 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 110 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

τὸ μὲν οὖν κάλλος τῶν νοημάτων τῆς κοσμοποιίας οὐδεὶς οὔτε ποιητὴς οὔτε λογογράφος ἀξίως ἂν ὑμνῆσαι δύναιτο·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.6c. AD 75–95

ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερον διενοήθην, ὅτε τὸν πόλεμον συνέγραφον, δηλῶσαι τίνες ὄντες ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τίσι χρησάμενοι τύχαις ὑφʼ οἵῳ τε παιδευθέντες νομοθέτῃ τὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἄσκησιν ἀρετῆς πόσους τε πολέμους ἐν μακροῖς…

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 2 23Latopolites109 BC

χαίρειν. τοῦ παρʼ Ἑρμώνακτος τῶν ὁμοτίμων τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ὑποδιοικητοῦ χρηματισμοῦ ἀντίγραφον ὑπόκειται. κατακολουθήσας οὖν τοῖς διʼ αὐτοῦ σημαινομένοις χρημάτισον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Παθύρει τραπέζης, συνυπογράφοντος Φίβιος τοῦ…

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος βεα … ρων … δια … στρατιωτῶν

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς Θηβαίδος. ὅπως οὖν εἰδότες εὐθαρσεῖς ὑπάρχητε ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι. ἔρρωσθε ἔτους λ Φαῶφι ιθ

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
ΔαυὶδDaueid, Dauid, Dabid David G1138 Noun · proper name, indeclinable
59× 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
David refers to King David of Israel, an important figure in the Bible, mentioned in Matthew 1:6 and Luke 1:32. He was an ancestor of Jesus. The term is also used to refer to the Messiah, as in Psalm 17:23. David was a king and a psalmist.
Amplified meaning
the king of Israel, a man after God's heart
Tyndale gloss
David
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word Δαυίδ refers to David, the King of Israel. It is indeclinable and appears in various contexts in the New Testament, including references to his lineage and titles such as the Messiah. The spelling variations noted include Δανείδ and Δαβίδ. Notably, Abbott-Smith and Liddell-Scott-Jones provide similar references, while Mounce mentions its frequency of 59 times.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

Δαυείδ (Rec. Δαβίδ), ὁ, indecl. (Heb. דָּוִד),

David, King of Israel: Mt 1:6; 12:3, et al.; σκηνὴ Δ., Ac 15:16; κλεὶς Δ., Re 3:7; θρόνος Δ., Lk 1:32; ῥίζα Δ., Re 5:5; βασιλεία Δ., Mk 11:10; υἱὸς Δ., the Messiah (Ps. Sol., 17:23; for other reff. in Jewish lit., v. Dalman, Words, 317), Mt 1:1 9:27, et al.; ἐν Δ., i.e. the Psalter, He 4:7

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

Δαυείδ. On the spelling of this name see J. H. Moulton Grammar of NT Greek 11. ὃ 45, and cf. below s.v. Σιλονανός.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

Δαυείδ, Δαυίδ, Δαβίδ (Daueid, Dauid, Dabid) — David.

Δαυείδ (Rec. Δαβίδ), ὁ, indecl. (Heb. דָּוִד),

David, King of Israel: Mat.1:6; 12:3, and al.; σκηνὴ Δ., Act.15:16; κλεὶς Δ., Rev.3:7; θρόνος Δ., Luk.1:32; ῥίζα Δ., Rev.5:5; βασιλεία Δ., Mrk.11:10; υἱὸς Δ., the Messiah (Ps. Sol., 17:23; for other reff. in Jewish lit., see Dalman, Words, 317), Mat.1:1 9:27, and al.; ἐν Δ., i.e. the Psalter, Read the full entry →

Strong's Greek Dictionary

Δαυίδ

Dabid

of Hebrew origin (1732); Dabid (i.e. David), the Israelite

king:--David.

see HEBREW for 01732

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

Δαυίδ, ὁ

Prop.n.

David

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Δαυίδ Dauid 59x

also spelled Δανείδ and Δαβίδ, David, pr. name, indecl., Mt. 1:6; Lk. 1:27; Acts 2:29; Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:28

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-PRI — Noun · proper name, indeclinable
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-PRI Indeclinable PRoper Noun

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

da'-vid (dawidh, or dawidh, "beloved"; Daueid, also in New Testament, Dauid, Dabid; see Thayer's Lexicon):

I. NAME AND GENEALOGY

II. EARLY YEARS

1. Shepherd

2. Slinger

3. Harpist

4. Poet

5. Psalmist

6. Tribesman

III. IN THE SERVICE OF SAUL

1. David First Meets Saul

2. His First Exploit

3. Envy of Saul and Flight of David

4. Jonathan and David

IV. DAVID IN EXILE

1. David as Outlaw

2. David Joins the Philistines

V. DAVID AS KING

1. Civil War

2. Conquests Abroad

3. Political Situation

4. The Ark

VI. DOMESTIC LIFE

1. His Wives and Children

2. Domestic Troubles

VII. HIS OFFICIALS

1. Prophets

2. Priests

3. Military Officers

4. Other Officials

5. Mutual Rivalry

VIII. PERSONAL CHARACTER OF DAVID

1. Chronicles

2. Psalms

3. Complex Character

4. Physical Courage

5. Moral Courage

6. Prudence

7. Strategy

8. Nobility

9. David in Relation to His Family

10. David in Relation to His Friends

11. His Success

12. His Foreign Friends

13. Nemesis

Easton's Bible Dictionary

David

Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25. As to his personal appearance, we only know that he was red-haired, with beautiful eyes and a fair face (1 Sam. 16:12; 17:42).

His early occupation was that of tending his father’s sheep on the uplands of Judah. From what we know of his after history, doubtless he frequently beguiled his time, when thus engaged, with his shepherd’s flute, while he drank in the many lessons taught him by the varied scenes spread around him. His first recorded exploits were his encounters with the wild beasts of the field. He mentions that with his own unaided hand he slew a lion and also a…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(well-beloved), the son of Jesse. His life may be divided into three portions: His youth before his introduction to the court of Saul; His relations with Saul; His reign. The early life of David contains in many important respects the antecedents of his future career. It appears that David was the youngest son, probably the youngest child, of a family of ten, and was born in Bethlehem B.C. 1085. The first time that David appears in history at once admits us to the whole family circle. The annual sacrificial feast is being held when Samuel appears, sent by God to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as they pass before him, (1 Samuel 16:6-10) Samuel sends for the youngest, David, who was "keeping the sheep," and anoints him. (1 Samuel 16:11-13) As David stood before Samuel we are enabled to…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Beloved, the youngest son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, born in Bethlehem B. C. 1085; one of the most remarkable men in either sacred of secular history. His life is fully recorded in 1Sa 16:1 1Ki 2:46. He was "the Lord’s anointed," chosen by God to be king of Israel instead of Saul, and consecrated to that office by the venerable prophet Samuel long before he actually came to the throne, 1Sa 16:1-13, for which God prepared him by the gift of his Spirit, and a long course of vicissitudes and dangers. In his early pastoral life he distinguished himself by his boldness, fidelity, and faith in God; and while yet a youth was summoned to court, as one expert in music, valiant, prudent in behavior, and comely in person. He…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
93%david
david93% · 55×david!3% · 2×other renderings3% · 2×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject34%adverbial27%predicate19%object15%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 59 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
υἱόςa son, descendent
ἐγώArticle theΧριστόςanointed, the Me
Article the
γεννάωI beget, bring fαὐτόςΝαθάμProp
ποιέωI do, make
τίςIrgὅς
σπέρμαseed, offspring
ἐκArticle the
οὖνtherefore, then
πῶςεἰCond
ΔαυίδDavid59×
what comes after →
Article the
βασιλεύςa king, ruler, eθυγάτηρa daughterπατήρfather, Father,
λέγωI say, speak
ἐναὐτόςArticle the
ἐλεέωI pity, have mercy o
ἐγώ
υἱόςa son, descendent
ἈβραάμProp
ὅτεwhen
πεινάωI am hungry, neeχρείαneed, necessity,

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

ConcordanceΔαυίδ · 59× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Acts Mark Revelation Romans Hebrews John 2 Timothy
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 280 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
Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas The Didache
The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 10.10c. AD 100

λαμβάνει δὲ τῶν αὐτῶν τριῶν δογμάτων γνῶσιν Δαυείδ καὶ λέγει: Μακάριος ἀνήρ, ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν, καθὼς καὶ οἱ ἰχθύες πορεύονται ἐν σκότει εἰς τὰ βάθη: καὶ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐκ ἔστη, καθὼς οἱ δοκοῦντες φοβεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον ἁμαρτάνουσιν…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 4.13c. AD 96

διὰ ζῆλος Δαυεὶδ φθόνον ἔσχεν οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ Σαοὺλ βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ ἐδιώχθη.

The DidacheThe Didache 9.2c. AD 100

πρῶτον περὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου: Εὐχαριστοῦμέν σοι, πάτερ ἡμῶν, ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁγίας ἀμπέλου Δαυεὶδ τοῦ παιδός σου, ἦς ἐγνώρισας ἡμῖν διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ παιδός σου: σοὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
7th c. AD 6th c. AD 8th c. AD 5th c. AD
P.Lond. 5 1793HermopolitesAD 471

Ἀνθεμίου τῶν αἰωνίων Αὐγούστων ἑκουσίως καὶ αὐθαιρέτως ἐγγυᾶσθαι καὶ ἀναδεδέχθαι μονῆς καὶ ἐμφανείας Αὐρήλιον Δαυεὶδ Σιφίου ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς κώμης ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸν παραμεῖναι τῇ κώμῃ καὶ ἀποκρίνασθαι ὑπὲρ

Stud.Pal. 8 1323ArsinoitesAD 401–AD 600

τὸ πεντακούκιν τοῦ υἱοῦ Δαῦιδ λίτραι ιδ οὐγκίαι γ γράμματα ιζ

P.Flor. 3 280Aphrodites Kome (Antaiopolites)AD 514

ὑπατείας Φλαυίου Σενάτορος τοῦ λαμπροτάτου Τῦβι γ ὀγδόης ἰνδικτίονος. Αὐρήλιος Δαυεὶδ υἱὸς Βίκτορος Κωσταντίου ἀπὸ πρωτοκωμητῶν κώμης Ἀφροδίτης τοῦ Ἀνταιοπολίτου νομοῦ ἑξῆς ὑπογράφων Αὐρηλίῳ Ἀπολλῶτι

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
ἐνen in G1722 Preposition
2,743× 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
This word is a preposition that means in, on, or among something. It's used in many places, like Matthew 7:3 and Luke 7:37, to describe a location or relationship. It can also mean by, with, or during.
Tyndale gloss
in/on/among
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐν,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἐν (en) — in/on/among.

ἐν,

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

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

__A WITH DAT.

__A.I OF PLACE,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐν

en

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one, X quickly,

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

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

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

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

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

preposition.

see GREEK for 1519

see GREEK for 1537

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐν

Prep.

in, on, among

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐν en 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐν

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

Lat. in.

PREP. WITH DAT.:

OF PLACE

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

in, upon, ἐν οὔρεσι Hom., etc.

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

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

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

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
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
πνεύματιpneuma spirit G4151 Noun · dative · singular · neuter
379× 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
The Greek word for spirit or breath refers to the vital principle or mental disposition of a person, as seen in John 3:8 and 1 Corinthians 5:5. It can also mean a superhuman spirit, like the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:2.
Amplified meaning
the divine breath or inspiration
Tyndale gloss
spirit/breath: spirit
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πνεῦμα (i.e., *pneuma*) means 'spirit' or 'breath' and is derived from the verb πνέω (to blow). It encompasses various meanings, including air in motion, the vital principle of life, and spiritual beings such as angels and demons. In the New Testament, it frequently refers to the Holy Spirit and the human spirit, appearing in contexts that contrast it with the body or flesh.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — πνοή, πνεῦμα, ἄνεμος, θύελλα from a scan

From the words into comparison with which πνεῦμα is here brought, it will be evident that it is proposed to deal with it in its natural and earthly, not in its supernatural and heavenly, meaning. Only I will observe, that on the relations between πνοή and πνεῦμα in this its higher sense there is a discussion in Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xiii. 22; cf. De Anim. et huj. Orig. i. 14, 19. The first three words of this group, as they designate not things heavenly but things earthly, differ from one another exactly as, according to Seneca, do in the Latin ‘aér,’ ‘spiritus,’ ‘ ventus’ (Nat. Qu. v. 13) : ‘Spiritum a vento motus' separat; vehementior enim spiritus ventus est; invicem spiritus leviter fluens aer.’ Πνοή and πνεῦμα occur not seldom together, as at Isai. xlii. 5; lvii. 16; πνοή conveying the impression of a lighter, gentler, motion of the air than πνεῦμα, as ‘aura’ than ‘ventus.’…

Read the full entry →
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πνεῦμα, -τος, τό,

(< πνέω),

[in LXX chiefly and very freq. for רוּחַ;]

of air in motion;

wind: Jo 3:8; pl., He 1:7(LXX);

breath: π. ζωῆς, Re 11:11; π. τοῦ στόματος, fig., II Th 2:8 (cf. Ps 32 (33):6).

Of the vital principle, the spirit (Arist., Polyb., al.): Lk 8:55, Jo 19:30, Ac 7:59, al.; opp. to σάρξ, Mt 26:41, Mk 14:38, I Co 5:5, al.; to σῶμα, Ro 8:10, I Co 6:17 7:34,

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

πνεῦμα, -τος, τό, (πνέω), Grk. writ. fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down; Hebr. may, Lat. spiritus; i. 6. 1. a movement of air, (gentle) blast; a. of the wind: ἀνέμων πνεύματα, Hat. 7,16, 1; Paus. 5, 25; hence the wind itself, Jn. iii. 8; plur. Heb. i. 7, (1 K. xviii. 45; xix. 11; Job i. 19; Ps. ciii. (civ.) 4, etc.; often in Grk. writ.). b. breath of the nostrils or mouth, often in Grk. writ. fr. Aeschyl. down: πνεῦμα τοῦ στόματος, 2 Th. ii. 8 (Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 6, ef. Is. xi. 4); mv. ζωῆς, the breath of life, Rev. xi. 11 (Gen. vi. 17, cf. πνοὴ ζωῆς, il. 7). [πνεῦμα and πνοή seem to have been in the main coincident terms; but avon became the more poetical. Both retain a suggestion of their evident etymology. Even in class. Grk. πνεῦμα became as freq. and as wide in its application as ἄνεμος. (Schmidt ch. 55, 7; Trench § lxxiii.) ] 2. the spirit, i.e. the vital principle by which the body 18…

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

πνεῦμα. This is a notable ex. of those words, whose meaning has been so deepened and enriched through Christian influences, that we cannot expect our sources to throw much light on their use in the NT. One or two points may, however, be noted. Thus for the more literal meaning of the word we may cite P Oxy VI. 9047 (v/A.D.), where a certain Flavius petitions a praeses on the ground ὡς λοιπὸν εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς σωτηρίας πνεῦμα δυστυχῖν pe, “so that at last the very breath of my life is in danger” (Edd.). In P Leid Wii 2 (ii/iii A.D.) (= II. p. 157) reference is made to a book which περιέχει γέννησιν πνεύματος, πυρὸς Kal okdTo(=ov)s, ‘contains the creation of spirit, fire and darkness.” The same document αν. 4 shows οὐ ἀντιτάξεταί μοι πᾶν πνεῦμα, οὐ δαιμόνιον, οὐ συνάτ(--άντ)ημα. Reminiscent of LXX Numb 1622, 2716, isthe Jewish ‘‘ prayer for vengeance” from Rheneia, Sy// 816 (=#1181)*, which…

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

πνεῦμα (pneuma) — spirit/breath: spirit.

πνεῦμα, ατος, τό,

(πνέω) blast, wind, first in [Refs 6th c.BC+]: frequently in Trag., etc., ἀνέμων πνεύματα πάντων [Refs 4th c.BC+]; θαλάσσας.. πνεύματι λάβρῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+] is commoner in Poets; [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κατὰ πρύμναν ἵσταται τὸ π.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατὰ πνεῦμα στῆναι τοῦ ἄρρενος to leeward of him, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; but κατὰ π. προσιόντες down wind, [Refs]; πνεύματος ἀνείλησις, ἐκπύρωσις, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; as an element, air, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

2. metaphorically, θαλερωτέρῳ π. with more genial breeze or influence, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; αἰδοίῳ π. χώρας with air or spirit of respect on the part of the country, [Refs]; π. ταὐτὸν οὔποτ᾽.. ἐν ἀνδράσιν φίλοις βέβηκεν the…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πνεῦμα

pneuma

from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by

analogy or figuratively, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by

implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or

(superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the

Holy Spirit:--ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind. Compare 5590.

see GREEK for 4154

see GREEK for 5590

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πνεῦμα, ατος, τό

n.n.

wind, breath, spirit

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πνεῦμα pneuma 379x

wind, air in motion, Jn. 3:8; breath, 2 Thess. 2:8; the substance spirit, Jn. 3:6; a spirit, spiritual being, Jn. 4:24; Acts 23:8, 9; Heb. 1:14; a bodiless spirit, specter, Lk. 24:37; a foul spirit, δαιμόνιον, Mt. 8:16; Lk. 10:20; spirit, as a vital principle, Jn. 6:63; 1 Cor.…

Read the full entry →
Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πνεῦμα πνεῦμα, ατος, τό, πνέω a blowing, πνεύματα ἀνέμων Hdt., Aesch.: alone, a wind, blast, Trag., etc.

metaph., θαλερωτέρῳ πν. with more genial breeze or influence, Aesch.; λύσσης πν. μάργῳ id. Aesch.; πν. ταὐτὸν οὔποτ᾽ ἐν ἀνδράσιν φίλοις βέβηκεν the wind is constantly changing even among friends, Soph.

like Lat. spiritus or anima, breathed air, breath, Aesch.; πν. βίου the breath of life, id. Aesch.; πν. ἀθροίζειν to collect breath, Eur.; πν. ἀφιέναι, ἀνιέναι, μεθιέναι to give up the ghost, id. Eur.; πνεύματος διαρροαί the wind-pipe, id. Eur.

that is breathed forth, odour, scent, id. Eur.

spirit, Lat. afflatus, Anth.: inspiration, NTest.

the spirit of man, id. NTest.

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

N-DSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

spir'-it (ruach; pneuma; Latin, spiritus):

1. Primary and Figurative Senses

(1) As Wind, Breath

(2) As Anger or Fury

(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man

2. Shades of Meaning

(1) As Life-Principle

(2) As Surviving Death

(3) Spiritual Manifestations

3. Human and Divine Spirit

(1) The Human as Related with the Divine

(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity

4. Old Testament Applications

5. Various Interpretations

1. Primary and Figurative Senses:

(1) As Wind, Breath:

Used primarily in the Old Testament and New Testament of the wind, as in Ge 8:1; Nu 11:31; Am 4:13 ("createth the wind"); Heb 1:7 (angels, "spirits" or "winds" in margin); often used of the breath, as…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Spirit

(Heb. ruah; Gr. pneuma), properly wind or breath. In 2 Thess. 2:8 it means “breath,” and in Eccl. 8:8 the vital principle in man. It also denotes the rational, immortal soul by which man is distinguished (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 5:5; 6:20; 7:34), and the soul in its separate state (Heb. 12:23), and hence also an apparition (Job 4:15; Luke 24:37, 39), an angel (Heb. 1:14), and a demon (Luke 4:36; 10:20). This…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A word employed in various senses in Scripture.

1. For THE HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who inspired the prophets, animates good men, pours his unction into our hearts, imparts to us life and comfort; and in whose name we are baptized and blessed, as well as in that of the Father and the Son. When the adjective Holy is applied to the term Spirit, we should always understand it as here explained; but there are many places whether it must be taken in this sense, although the term Holy is omitted. See HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT.

2. BREATH, respiration; or the principle of animal life, common to men and animal: this God has given, and this he recalls when he takes away life, Ec 3:21. See SOUL.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Called “the inner man,” Ro 7:22; Eph 3:16

→ See ANGELS

→ See DEMONS

→ See HOLY SPIRIT

→ See MAN, A SPIRIT

→ See SATAN

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%spirit
spirit90% · 346×spirits8% · 31×other renderings2% · 8×

385 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
adverbial39%subject29%object21%predicate7%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 379 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheτίςIrg
ἐν
βαπτίζωI dip, submerge,δέbut, on the otheἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
Article theγάρforσύ
αὐτός
Article theθυγάτριονa little daughteλέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also, nam
πίνωI drink, imbibeἸσραήλPropμάστιξa scourge, lash,
πνεῦμαspirit379×
what comes after →
Article the
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,ἀκάθαρτοςunclean, impureθεόςGod, a god
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
καίand, even, also,Article theἀτενίζωI direct my gaze
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theδύναμιςmight, power, maἀλήθειαtruth
ἐγώ
ἐπίἐπιτάσσωI give order, coοὗτος
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theἅγιοςset apart, holy,καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceπνεῦμα · 379× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Corinthians Luke Romans John Revelation Mark Matthew Galatians 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 173 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.27c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 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
7th c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD 5th c. AD 6th c. AD

ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου τριάδος πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος βασιλείας τοῦ θειοτάτου καὶ εὐσεβεστάτου ἡμῶν δεσπότου Φλαυίου Φωκᾶ τοῦ αἰωνίου Αὐγούστου Αὐτοκράτορος καὶ

Tyche 20 (2005), p. 1-9HerakleopolitesAD 603

r ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῆς δεσποίνης ἡμῶν τῆς θεοτόκου καὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων, βασιλείας τοῦ θειοτάτου καὶ

SB 1 4740ArsinoitesAD 602–AD 610

ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου τριάδος πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῆς δεσποίνης

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
καλεῖkaleō does call G2564 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
148× 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
This word means to call or invite someone, like calling out to them loudly. It's used in Matthew 20:8 and Mark 3:31 to describe calling people to come and follow. This word can also mean to invite someone to a special event or to join in something.
Tyndale gloss
to call: call
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

καλέω is a Greek verb meaning 'to call' or 'to summon.' It encompasses a range of uses, including inviting someone to a meal or event, calling someone by name, and metaphorically inviting people to partake in spiritual blessings. The New Testament frequently employs this term, notably in Matthew and Romans. Notably, Liddell-Scott mentions its use in legal contexts, which is not highlighted in other entries.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καλέω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for קרא;]

to call, summon: c. acc. pers., Mt 20:8 25:14, Mk 3:31, Lk 19:13, Ac 4:18; seq. ἐκ, Mt 2:15(LXX); metaph., I Pe 2:9.

to call to one's house, invite: Lk 14:16, I Co 10:27, Re 19:9; εἰς τ. γάμους, Mt 22:3, 9, Lk 14:8, 9, Jo 2:2; ὁ καλέσας,

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

καλέω, -@; impf. ἐκάλουν; fut. καλέσω (W. § 13, 3c.); 1 aor. ἐκάλεσα; pi. κέκληκα; Pass., pres. καλοῦμαι; pf. 3 pers. sing. κέκληται (1 Co. vii. 18 LT Tr WH; [Rev. xix. 13 L T Tr WH)), ptep. κεκλημένος ; 1 aor. ἐκλήθην ; 1 fut. κληθήσομαι ; [fr. Hom. down]; Hebr. xp; Lat. voco; i. e. 1. to call (Germ. rufen τὰ βοάω, fin.]) ; a. to call aloud, utter in a loud voice: ἄχρις οὗ τὸ σήμερον καλεῖται, as long as the word ‘to-day’ is called out or proclaimed, Heb. iii. 13; τινά, to call one to approach or stand before one, Mt. xx. 8; xxii. 3 (where εἰς τοὺς γάμους seems to belong to τοὺς κεκλημένους) : Mt. xxv. 14; [Mk. iii. 31 LT Tr WH]; Lk. xix. 13; τὰ ἴδια πρόβατα κατ᾽ ὄνομα, his own sheep each by its name, Jn. x. 3 (where LT Tr WH φωνεῖ); used of Christ, calling certain persons to be his disciples and constant companions, Mt. iv. 21 (note what precedes in 19: δεῦτε ὀπίσω pov); Mk. i. 20; to…

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

καλέω. For this verb = ‘‘summon,” “invite,” as in Mt 22° a/., see P Oxy XII. 1487" (iv/A.D.) καλῖ σε Θέων vids ᾿Ωριγένους εἰς τοὺς γάμους THs ἀδελφῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῇ αὔριον, and similarly 26. 14861 (iv/A.p.). In both instances it is noticeable that καλῖ takes the place of the earlier ἐρωτᾷ, cf. 73. 1484, 1485. See also P Hamb I. 295 (A.D. 89) κληθέντων τινῶν . καὶ μὴ ὑπακουσάντων. The participle is common = “‘called,’’ ‘‘named,”’ as in Lk 7 a/., e.g. P Petr 11. 4531 20 (B.C. 246) els φρούριον τὸ καλούμενον [ΠΠἸοσιδέον, Osty , καλος 1210 (Roman) Πασήμιο(ς) ΠΠκῶτο(ς) καλ(ούμενος), BGU I. 3497 (A.D. 313) ἐν κλήρῳ καλουμένου (1. — évw) ᾿Αφρικιανός and P Oxy X. 12737 (A.D. 260) περιτραχήλιον μανιάκην,. καλούμενον, ‘a necklace of the kind called maniaces’’ (Edd.). With the usage in Gal 115 we may compare CP Herm I. 251-7’ Αντωνῖνος κληθήσεται and 24. 261: εἰ δοκεῖ σίοι] κληθῆναι... αὐτούς, where…

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

καλέω (kaleō) — to call: call.

κᾰλέω,

Aeolic dialect κάλημι (which see), Epic dialect infinitive καλήμεναι [Refs 8th c.BC+]: Ionic dialect imperfect καλέεσκον [Refs]; 3rd.pers. singular κάλεσκε [Refs 3rd c.BC+]: future, Ionic dialect καλέω [Refs 8th c.BC+], Attic dialect καλῶ [LXX+5th c.BC+]aorist 1 subjunctive): aorist 1 ἐκάλεσα, Epic dialect ἐκάλεσσα, κάλεσσα, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (late Epic dialect ἔκλησα [Refs 2nd c.BC+]: perfect κέκληκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle, Attic dialect future καλοῦμαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; later καλέσομαι (ἐκ-, ἐπι-) uncertain reading in [Refs 4th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἐκαλεσάμην [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect καλεσσάμην [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, future κεκλήσομαι [LXX+8th c.BC+]: aorist ἐκλήθην [Refs 7th c.BC+]perfect κέκλημαι, Epic dialect 3rd.pers. plural κεκλήαται [Refs 3rd c.BC+], Ionic dialect κεκλέαται [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect 3rd.pers. plural…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καλέω

kaleo

akin to the base of 2753; to "call" (properly, aloud, but used in a

variety of applications, directly or otherwise):--bid, call (forth),

(whose, whose sur-)name (was (called)).

see GREEK for 2753

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καλέω

v.

I call, invite, name

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καλέω kaleō 148x

to call, call to, Jn. 10:3; to call into one’s presence, send for a person, Mt. 2:7; to summon, Mt. 2:15; 25:14; to invite, Mt. 22:9; to call to the performance of a certain thing, Mt. 9:13; Heb. 11:8; to call to a participation in the privileges of the Gospel, Rom. 8:30; 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:9; 7:18; to call to an office or dignity, Heb. 5:4; to name, style, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

καλέω καλέσω is aor1 subj. to call, summon, Hom., etc.: Mid. to call to oneself, id. Hom.

to call to a repast, to invite, Od.; κ. ἐπὶ δεῖπνον Hdt., Xen.; κληθέντες πρός τινα invited to his house, Dem.

to call on, invoke, τοὺς θεούς Hdt., attic; so in Mid., Aesch., etc.:—but ἀράς, ἅς σοι καλοῦμαι curses, which I call down on thee, Soph.:—in Pass., of the god, to be invoked, Aesch.

as law-term, of the judge, to cite or summon before the court, Ar., Dem.; πρὶν τὴν ἐμὴν [δίκην] καλεῖσθαι before it is called on, Ar.

of the plaintiff, in Mid., καλεῖσθαί τινα to sue at law, Lat. vocare in jus, id. Ar., etc.

to call by name, to call, name, Il., Trag.:— ὄνομα καλεῖν τινά to call him a name (i. e. by name), Od.; so, without ὄνομα, τί νιν καλοῦσα τύχοιμ᾽ ἄν; Aesch.:—Pass., τύμβωι δ᾽…

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Call

(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Gen. 4:26). Thus men are said to “call upon the name of the Lord” (Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2).

(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex. 31:2; Isa. 22:20; Acts 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Matt. 9:13; 11:28; 22:4).

Nave's Topical Bible

→ PERSONAL

By Christ Isa 55:5

→ TO SPECIAL RELIGIOUS DUTY

OF ABRAHAM Ge 12:1-3; Isa 51:2; Heb 11:8

MOSES Ex 3:2,4,10; 4:1-16; Ps 105:26; Ac 7:34,35

AARON AND HIS SONS Ex 4:14-16

See above, and Ps 105:26; Ex 28:1; Heb 5:4

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
16%being called
being called16% · 24×called10% · 15×having called7% · 10×invited7% · 10×calling5% · 7×will be called5% · 7×call4% · 6×you were called4% · 6×other renderings42% · 62×

147 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 45 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
verb59%linking verb40%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 148 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
ὄροςa mountainλέγωI say, speakἸούδαςJudah, Judas, Ju
καίand, even, also, nam
υἱόςa son, descendenὅςαὐτός
αὐτός
ἐπίτροποςa steward, guardδοῦλος (II)πρός
ὅς
κλῆσιςa calling, summoσύκαίand, even, also,
θεόςGod, a god
υἱόςa son, descendenφίλοςτέκνονa child, descend
καλέωdoes call148×
what comes after →
Article the
ὄνομαname, character,μάγοςa sorcerer, magiυἱόςa son, descenden
σύ
σπέρμαseed, offspringArticle theεἰς
αὐτός
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
καίand, even, also, nam
δίδωμιI offer, giveπῶςὅς
ἐν
Article theεἷςoneοὗτος

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

Concordanceκαλέω · 148× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Acts 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation 1 Peter Hebrews Galatians Mark 1 Thessalonians Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 254 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 15c. AD 40

ἑκάστῃ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀπένειμεν ἔνια τῶν τοῦ παντὸς τμημάτων τὴν πρώτην ὑπεξελόμενος, ἣν αὐτὸς οὐδὲ πρώτην, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς ἄλλαις συγκαταριθμῆται, καλεῖ, μίαν δ’ ὀνομάσας ὀνόματι εὐθυβόλῳ προσαγορεύει, τὴν μονάδος φύσιν καὶ πρόσρησιν ἐνιδών τε καὶ…

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

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.9c. AD 100

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 5th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Cair. Goodspeed 9Pathyris100 BC–99 BC

παρὰ Πατῆτος τοῦ Πανεβχώνιος. ἐκμισθωθείσης μοι τῆς νήσου καλουμένης Περχμασσινηιτ εἰς τὸ ιϛ ἔτος πυροῦ ἀρτάβας τεσσαράκοντα πέντε γίνονται πυροῦ ἀρτάβαι με ὄρνιθας

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

ὅλης τῆς γῆς· νότου γῆ Πατοῦτος τοῦ Ψεμμώνθου βορρᾶ γῆ Φαμούνιος ἀπηλιώτου κοιλὰς διῶρυξ καλούμενος πλα … Παθύρεως λιβὸς ὄρος ἢ οἳ ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντοθεν. ἐπρίατο Εὔνους Ἀσκληπιάδου

P.Corn. 40Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 105

αὐτῇ … … ὡς ἐτῶν τριάκοντα τριῶν οὐλὴ … μηδὲν τὴν Ἀθηνάριον μηδὲν … καλεῖν μηδὲν καλέσειν τῶι Φιλιππωι … … πωαι ἐπεγράφη α … π … … ἑαυτῆς

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
αὐτὸν Him G846
5,550× 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
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%him
him52% · 3025×them25% · 1488×it6% · 323×her4% · 250×other renderings10% · 587×other renderings3% · 188×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
πρός
λέγωI say, speakἔρχομαιI come, goδέbut, on the othe
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςεὑρίσκωI find
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakοὗτοςὁράωI see, look upon
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςσύθεόςGod, a god
αὐτόςHim5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
κύριον Lord G2962
718× 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 lord or master, used to address God or a person in authority, showing respect and power. In the New Testament, it appears in Matthew 9:38 and Mark 12:9. It signifies a controller or ruler.
Tyndale gloss
lord: God
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κύριος is a Greek word meaning 'lord' or 'master,' derived from the concept of authority. It is used in various contexts, referring to God, Jesus, and earthly masters. In the New Testament, it often denotes divine authority, as seen in verses like Matthew 12:8. The term can also express respect when addressing others, such as teachers or magistrates.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — κύριος, δεσπότης from a scan

A MAN, according to the later Greek grammarians, was δεσπότης in respect of his slaves (Plato, Legg. vi. 756 e), therefore οἰκοδεσπότης, but κύριος in regard of his wife and children ; who in speaking either to him or of him, would give him this title of honour; “as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord” (κύριον αὐτὸν καλοῦσα, I Pet. ili. 6: ef. Plutarch, De Virt. Mul. 5. vv. Μίκκα καὶ Meyoro). There is a certain truth in this distinction. Undoubtedly there lies in κύριος the sense of an authority owning limitations—moral limitations it may be; it is implied too that the wielder of this authority will not exclude, in wielding it, a consideration of their good over whom it is exercised; while the δεσπότης exercises a more unrestricted power and absolute domination, confessing no such limitations or restraints. He who addresses another as δέσποτα, puts an emphasis of submission into his…

Read the full entry →
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κύριος, -α, -ον (also -ος, -ον),

[in LXX (subst.) chiefly for יהוה, also for אָדוֹן, בַּעַל, etc.;]

having power (κῦρος) or authority; as subst., ὁ κ., lord, master;

in general: c. gen. rei, Mt 9:38 20:8, Mk 12:9 13:35, Lk 19:33; τ. σαββάτου, Mt 12:8, Mk 2:28, Lk 6:5; c. gen. pers., δούλου, etc., Mt 10:24, Lk 14:21, Ac 16:16, al.; absol., opp. to οἱ δοῦλοι,

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

κύριος, -ov, 6, (prop. an 2dj. κύριος, -a, - 1, also of two term.; prop. i. q. ὁ ἔχων κῦρος, having power or author ity), [fr. Pind. down], he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; master, lord; used a. univ. of the possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner, (Sept. for }}18, 5y3): with gen. of the thing, as τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος, Mt. xx. 8; xxi. 40; Mk. xii. 9; Lk. xx. 15; rod θερισμοῦ, Mt. ix. 38; Lk. x. 2; τῆς οἰκίας, the master, Mk. xiii. 35 (Judg. xix. 12); τοῦ πώλου, Lk. xix. 33; τοῦ σαββάτου, possessed of the power to determine what is suitable to the sabbath, and of releasing himself and others from its obligations, Mt. xii. 8; Mk. ii. 28; Lk. vi. 5. with gen. of a pers., one who has control of the person, the master [A. V. lord]; in the household: δούλου, παιδίσκης, οἰκονόμου, Mt. x. 24; Lk. xii. 46 sq.; xiv. 21; xvi. 3, 5; Acts xvi. 16, 19…

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

κύριος BGU III. ο49᾽ (c. A.D. 300) κυρίῳ μου ἀδελφῷ “Hpa, a sister (and probably wife) —P Oxy IV. 7441 (B.c. 1) (= Selections, p. 32) Ἱλαρίωνα (/.—tov)”"Adure τῆι ἀδελφῆι πλεῖστα Χαίρειν, and even a son—zd. I. 123} (iii/iv A.D.) κυρίῳ pov vid Διονυσοθέωνι. (3) It is, however, with the religious use of κύριος that we are specially concerned, and in keeping with the conception of ‘‘lordship,’’ which was so characteristic of Oriental religions, we may begin by noticing its common use in connexion with the cult of the Egyptian God Sarapis. Letters frequently begin with some such formula as—rpd μὲν πάντων εὔχομαί σε ὑιαίνειν (1. by—) καὶ τὸ προσκύνημά cov ποιῶ παρὰ τῷ κυρίῳ Σιαράπιδι, ‘before all else I pray for your health, and I supplicate the lord Sarapis on your behalf”’ (P Fay 127°—ii/iii a.p.), and we may add, owing to the striking resemblance of phraseology to 1 Cor 1024 such…

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

κύριος (kurios) — lord: God.

κύριος [ῡ], α, ον,

also ος, ον [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—Thess. κῦρρος [Refs 8th c.BC+]:

I. of persons, having power or authority over, with genitive, Ζεὺς ὁ πάντων κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πρὶν ἄν σε κ. στήσω τέκνων put thee in possession of.., [Refs 5th c.BC+], of the god to whom a temple is dedicated, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; τῶν αὑτοὺ κ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θανάτου κ. τινός with power of life and death over, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. κύριός εἰμι with infinitive, I have authority to do, am entitled to do, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; οὗτος κ. ὁρκωμοτεῖν (probably to be read instead of -ῶν) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; -ώτεροι δοῦναι better able to give, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also κ. τοῦ μὴ μεθυσθῆναι having power not to.., [Refs]: with accusative et infinitive, κ. εἶναι ἢ τοίαν εἶναι [πόλιν] ἢ τοίαν [Refs 5th…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

κύριος

kurios

from kuros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun)

controller; by implication, Master (as a respectful title):-- God,

Lord, master, Sir.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κύριος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

lord, Lord, master, sir

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κύριος kyrios 717x

a lord, master, Mt. 12:8; an owner, possessor, Mt. 20:8; a potentate, sovereign, Acts 25:26; a power, deity, 1 Cor. 8:5; the Lord, Jehovah, Mt. 1:22; the Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 24:42; Mk. 16:19; Lk. 10:1; Jn. 4:1; 1 Cor. 4:5; freq.; κύριε, a term of respect of various force, Sir, Lord, Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Lord

There are various Hebrew and Greek words so rendered.

(1.) Heb. Jehovah, has been rendered in the English Bible LORD, printed in small capitals. This is the proper name of the God of the Hebrews. The form “Jehovah” is retained only in Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4, both in the Authorized and the Revised Version.

(2.) Heb. ‘adon, means one possessed of absolute control. It denotes a master, as of slaves (Gen. 24:14, 27), or a ruler of his subjects (45:8), or a husband, as lord of his wife (18:12).

The old plural form of this Hebrew word is ’adonai. From a superstitious reverence for the name “Jehovah,” the Jews, in reading their Scriptures, whenever that name…

Smith's Bible Dictionary

[GOD]

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

This name belongs to God by preeminence; and in this sense ought never to be given to any creature. Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, the Son of God, and equal with the Father, is often called Lord in Scripture, especially in the writing of Paul. The word LORD, in the English Bible, when printed in small capitals, stands always for JEHOVAH in the Hebrew. See JEHOVAH.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ A prince Jos 13:3; Jud 3:3; 1Sa 5:8; 6:4

→ See GOD

→ See JESUS

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
86%lord
lord86% · 647×master6% · 47×other renderings3% · 22×other renderings5% · 37×

753 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject31%adverbial30%object17%predicate4%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 718 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
αὐτόςὄνομαname, character,χάριςgrace, favor, ki
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
ἐν
εἰμίI am, existσύδέbut, on the othe
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakκαλέωI call, invite, πρός
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώπατήρfather, Father, ὅτιthat, since, bec
κύριοςLord718×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesusκαίand, even, also,κάθημαιI sit, am seated
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἀμπελώνa vineyardδέbut, on the othe
ἸησοῦςJesus
Χριστόςanointed, the Meκαίand, even, also,μετά
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegσωτήρa savior, delive
αὐτός
χρείαneed, necessity,εἰCondλέγωI say, speak

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

Concordanceκύριος · 718× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John Romans 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Thessalonians Revelation 2 Thessalonians Mark

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament23 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome Josephus
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.48c. AD 40

„οὐ φυτεύσεις σεαυτῷ ἄλσος, πᾶν ξύλον παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ“ (Deuter.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.265c. AD 75–95

Τῶν δὲ Ἰσάκου παίδων Ἡσαῦς, περὶ ὃν μάλιστα ὁ πατὴρ ἐσπουδάκει, τεσσαράκοντα γεγονὼς ἔτη γαμεῖ Ἄδαν τὴν Ἥλωνος καὶ Ἀλιβάμην τὴν Εὐσεβεῶνος δυναστευόντων ἐν Χαναναίοις ἀνδρῶν θυγατέρας, ἑαυτὸν ποιήσας τῆς περὶ τὸν γάμον ἐξουσίας κύριον καὶ μηδὲ τῷ…

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 4th c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Grenf. 1 33Thebais104 BC

ὡς ἐτῶν κζ μέση μελίχρως λεύκωμα ὀφθαλμόν, μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύρριν αἱ τρεῖς τῶν Ψεμμίνιος μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ ἑαυτῶν ἀδελφοῦ Παχνούβιος τοῦ προγεγραμμένου καὶ συνπωλουμένου, ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπαρχούσης αὐτοῖς πατρικῆς γῆς

P.Cair. Cat. 10353 descr.Krokodilopolis (Arsinoites108 BC–99 BC

Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου τῆς ἄνω τοπαρχίας τοῦ Παθυρίτου. ὁμολογεῖ Πετεσοῦχος Πετεαρσεμθέως Τορτομίννει Σχώτου Περσίνη μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ ἑαυτῆς υἱοῦ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Ἁρπαήσιος ἐκ τῶν φρουρῶν περὶ τοῦ ἐὰν βεβαιώσῃ αὐτῶι

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

τῆς Βελλέους ὡς ἐτῶν κβ μέσης μελιχρόου στρογγυλοπροσώπου εὐθύρινος οὐλὴ μετώπῳ ἐκ δεξιῶν μετὰ κυρίου Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Ψενμεγχείους ὡς ἐτῶν λε μέσου … πάντες τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Παθυρίτου τὴν

He says to them; How then David in spirit does call Him Lord saying:
λέγων·legō saying: G3004 Verb · present · active · participle · nominative · singular · masculine
2,255× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means to say or speak, and it is used by Jesus and others in the New Testament to share teachings and tell stories. It appears in Matthew 9:34 and John 1:29.
Amplified meaning
speaks, utters
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

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

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

Read the full entry →
Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

λέγω (legō) — to say.

λέγω,

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

lego

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

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

5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech

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

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

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

shew, speak, tell, utter.

see GREEK for 2036

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 2980

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

λέγω

v.

I say, speak

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

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

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

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

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

1,357 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 107 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb98%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,255 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
αὐτός
πρόςμαθητήςa learner, disciἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theοὗτοςἐγώ
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article theδέbut, on the otheγόνυa knee
ἀμήνHebr
ἀμήνHebrαὐτόςλέγωI say, speak
λέγωsaying:2255×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciἸησοῦςJesusΠέτροςPeter
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becοὐNegἐάνCond
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπρόςαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theοὗτοςσύ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

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

P.Adl. 16Pathyris100 BC

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

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.

Donate