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Matthew 23:11 — Word Study

Depth

N1904 δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

BSA<the>ho [most prominent] Andde the greatestmegas among yousu [who is, that is] will beeimi [must become, will be] yoursu [personal, devoted] servant.diakonos [one who attends to others]

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 23
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 11 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 (diakonos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 23:11quick helps
In a sentenceJesus teaches that true greatness comes through serving others.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing His disciples and the crowd.
Where we areIn a teaching moment about humility and leadership.
The hard wordμείζων
Take awayGreatness in the kingdom of God is measured by service.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subject verbεἰμί The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

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

Deep Study — Matthew 23:11

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 — Teaching on Humilitygenerated

10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.
11The greatest among you shall be your servant.
12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

Matthew 23:11 is part of Jesus' teaching on humility, where He contrasts the attitudes of the religious leaders with the values of His kingdom. He emphasizes that those who aspire to be great must serve others, turning conventional notions of leadership upside down. This teaching aligns with similar themes found in Matthew 20:26-27 and Luke 22:26-27.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Matthew 20:26–27It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
2Mark 10:43–44But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
3Luke 22:26–27But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves.
4John 13:14–15So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
51 Corinthians 9:19Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 9 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word μείζων, megasgenerated

The word μείζων is the comparative form of μέγας, meaning 'greater' or 'the greatest'. It is used to describe someone who holds a position of prominence or importance.

In this context, it refers to the one who is considered the greatest among the disciples, highlighting the expectation that such a person must take on the role of a servant.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible (BSB) as 'The greatest among you shall be your servant.' This is echoed in the KJV and ASV, which also use 'greatest'.

However, some translations, like the YLT, use 'the greater of you shall be your ministrant,' which shifts the focus slightly from 'greatest' to 'greater.' The BSB and others maintain a consistent rendering of 'the greatest.'


Sentence Structuregenerated

The sentence is structured around the linking verb ἔσται, will be, which connects the subject 'the greatest among you' to the predicate 'your servant.' This simple structure emphasizes the relationship between greatness and servanthood.

The noun phrases 'the greatest among you' and 'your servant' are clearly defined, with the first serving as the subject and the second as the complement, illustrating the core message of the teaching.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In Matthew 23:11, the Greek word μείζων (meizōn), meaning "the greatest," corresponds to the Hebrew גָּדוֹל (gadol), which also means "great." This connection emphasizes the significance of greatness in the context of leadership and service.

The term ὑμῶν (humōn), meaning "your," is derived from the Hebrew אַתָּ֫ה (attah), indicating a direct address to the audience. Lastly, διάκονος (diakonos), meaning "servant," is rendered from the Hebrew מֶ֫לֶךְ (melech), typically meaning "king." This juxtaposition of servant and king highlights the radical nature of true leadership in the Kingdom of God.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 23:11 teaches that those who want to be the greatest must be willing to serve others. Jesus is showing that true leadership in His kingdom is about humility and putting others first.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be the greatest servant?

Being the greatest servant means prioritizing the needs of others and serving them selflessly, as Jesus exemplified in His life and ministry.

How does this teaching contrast with worldly views of greatness?

Worldly views often equate greatness with power and authority, while Jesus teaches that true greatness comes from humility and service.

What examples of servanthood can we find in the Bible?

Examples include Jesus washing His disciples' feet in John 13:14 and Paul's description of himself as a servant of Christ in Romans 1:1.

How can I apply this teaching in my daily life?

You can apply this teaching by looking for opportunities to serve others in your community, workplace, or family, and by practicing humility in your interactions.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I serve others in my community?
  2. How can I cultivate a spirit of humility in my life?
  3. What does it look like to prioritize serving others over seeking personal greatness?
  4. How can I encourage others to adopt a servant mindset?

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

Early church writers reflect on this teaching of Jesus, emphasizing the importance of humility in leadership.

Origen of AlexandriaCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 185–253
Or otherwise; And if one minister the divine word, knowing that it is Christ that makes it to be fruitful, such a one professes himself a minister and not a master; whence it follows, He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON Matthew 12 c. 185–253
I wish everyone might hear this, and most of all deacons, priests and bishops, especially those who think to themselves that these were not the words written: “He who exalts himself will be humbled.” On this basis,
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 72 c. 347–407
Having warned them therefore against this grievous pest, and amended them, He instructs also how they may escape it; by humility. Wherefore He adds also, "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 23:11 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

But he that is greatest among you,.... Either who really is so, having more grace, and greater gifts bestowed upon him, than others; which doubtless was the case of some of the disciples, or who

Read John Gill on Matthew 23 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Read Robert Jamieson on Matthew 23 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Ver. 11. Shall be your servant] The word signifies one that is ready pressed to raise dust, to do his utmost endeavour with all possible expedition in any business that he is set about. Praefestinaus, expeditus, paratus, promptus.

Read John Trapp on Matthew 23 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) He that is greatest among you.—Literally, the greater of you. The words admit of a two-fold meaning. Either (1), as in Mark 9:35, they assert a law of retribution—the man who seeks to be greatest shall be the servant of all; or (2) they point out the other law, of which our Lord’s own life was the highest illustration—that he who is really greatest will show his greatness, not in asserting it, but in a life of ministration. The latter interpretation seems to give on the whole the best meaning.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Matthew 23 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 11. Your servant.] διακονος, deacon. See on Matthew 20:26.

Read AdamClarke on Matthew 23 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. Cp. ch. Matthew 20:26-27. Seven woes denounced against the Scribes and Pharisees. 13–36.

Read Cambridge on Matthew 23 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 20:26. He that shall humble himself ... - God will exalt or honor him that is humble, and that seeks a lowly place among people. That is true religion, and God will reward it.

Read Albert Barnes on Matthew 23 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

11. Shall be your servant — The pope indeed styles himself servus servorum, servant of servants. And if the name fulfilled the thing this would be enough.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Matthew 23 →

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

The greatest among you shall be your servant.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

The greatest among you shall be your servant.

NETBNew English Translation2006

The greatest among you will be your servant.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

RVARevised Version, American1894

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

But he that is greatest among you, shall be your servant.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

But he that is greatest among you, let him be your seruant.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

But the greatest of you shall be your servant.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And the greater of you shall be your ministrant,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And the greater of you will be your servant,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

The greatest among you will be your servant.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

But let the greatest among you be your servant.

Word by word, the decisions they made

μείζωνmegas the greatest G3173 3 different renderings
greatestASV GNV KJV NWB RVA ULB WEB
the greatestBBE BSB DBY DRA FBV MSB NETB
greaterLSV YLT

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.

clauseδὲAndclausenoun phrase · subject-noun phraseμείζωνthe greatestὑμῶνamong youlinking verbἔσταιwill benoun phrase · predicateὑμῶνyourδιάκονοςservant

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

Qui major est vestrum, erit minister vester.

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

ܗܘ ܕܝܢ ܕܪܒ ܒܟܘܢ ܢܗܘܐ ܠܟܘܢ ܡܫܡܫܢܐ

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

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

δὲ μείζων ὑμῶν ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

Matthew 23:11<the><the>δέAndAndδέμέγαςthe greatesthe greatestμέγαςσύamong youamong youσύεἰμίwill bewill beεἰμίσύyouryourσύδιάκονοςservant.servant.διάκονοςδιώκωv. I pursuv. I pursue, peδιώκωἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνσεισμόςn.m. an ean.m. an earthquσεισμόςΒαβυλώνn.f. Babyln.f. BabylonΒαβυλώνἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςμετασχηματίζωv. I changv. I change theμετασχηματίζωπιστόςAdj trustwAdj trustworthyπιστός
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 23:11

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.

<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
ho <the> G3588 Article · nominative · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Amplified meaning
most prominent
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-NSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
δὲde And G1161 Conjunction
2,787× 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 is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%now
now33% · 974×however27% · 780×then21% · 620×and12% · 360×but5% · 154×other renderings2% · 49×

2,937 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,787 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέAnd2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
μείζωνmegas the greatest G3173 Adjective · nominative · singular · masculine
243× 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 great, describing something big or intense, like a large stone in Matthew 2:60 or a strong wind in John 6:18. It's used to show importance or magnitude. In the Bible, it's often used to describe God's power and love.
Tyndale gloss
great
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μέγας is an adjective meaning 'great' or 'large,' used to describe size, intensity, or importance. It can refer to physical dimensions, such as a stone or city, or to abstract qualities like love or fear. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, including Matthew 2:10 and Revelation 11:8. The word has comparative and superlative forms: μείζων (greater) and μέγιστος (greatest).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα,

[in LXX chiefly for גָּדוֹל, also for רַב, מַרְבֶּה (incl. μείζων), רֹב (μέγιστος);]

great;

of external form, bodily size, measure, extent: λίθος, Mt 2:60; δράκων, Re 12:3; ἰχθῦς, Jo 21:11; πόλις, Re 11:8; μάχαιρα, Re 6:4, al.

Of intensity and degree: δύναμις, Ac 4:33; φόβος, Mk 4:41; ἀγάπη, Jo 15:13; ἄνεμος, Jo 6:18; κραυγή, Ac 23:9; φῶς, Mt 4:16; πυρετός,

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

μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα, [(τοϊαϊοα to Lat. magnus, ADEE Goth. maist (cf. τὸ πλεῖστον), etc.; Vaniéek p. 682; Cur tius ὃ 462)], ace. μέγαν. μεγάλην, μέγα; plur. pokes ται, -a; comp. μείζων, -ον, (acc. πιᾶξο. and fem. μείζονα, once contr. μείζω, Jn. v. 36 [RG T WH, but L Tr μείζων (cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 119)]; neut. plur. μείζονα, once contr. μείζω, Jn. i. 50 (51)) and pectorepos, 3 Jn. 4 (fr. the compar. μείζων), a poet. compar., on which see the remark quoted under ἐλαχιστότερος, cf. Matthiae § 136; superl. μέγιστος (found only in 2 Pet. i. 4); [fr. Hom. down]; Sept. for ὮΥΤΔ; also for 31; great; 1. predicated a. of the external form or sensible appearance of things (or of persons); in particular, of space and its dimensions, — as respects a. mass and weight: λίθος, Mt. xxvii. 60; Mk. xvi. 4; Rev. xviii. 21; ὄρος, Rey. viii. 8; ἀστήρ, ibid. 10; δράκων Rev. xii. 3,9; ἀετός, ibid. 14; δένδρον…

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

μέγας (B.C. 112) (= Selections, p. 30) μεγαλοίυϊπρεπέστερον ἐγδεχθήτωι, ‘let him be received with special magnificence ” (Edd.), PSI V. 4818 (v/vi a.p.) Tavptvyos ὃ μεγαλοπρεπέστί(ατος), and P Amh II. 154° (vi/vii A.D.) τοῦ peyadoπρε(πεστάτου) χαρτουλαρίου, ‘the most magnificent secretary.” For the subst. as a title of address cf. P Oxy VIII. 1163* (v/a.D.) ἐρωτηθὶς παρὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ μεγαλοπρεπίας ὅσα ἐχρῆν ἀνεδίδαξα αὐ τ]ὸν περὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας μεγαλο| πρεπίας, ‘Son the inquiry of his magnificence I told him what was fitting about your magnificence,” 76. I. 155° (vi/A.D.) ἐπειδὴ αἱ προσκυνοῦσαι τὴν ὑμετέραν μεγαλοπρί(έπειαν) καὶ τὰ παιδία ἀρρωστοῦσιν, ὡς ἔθος ἔχει τὸ ὑμῶν μέγεθος χαρίζεσθαί μου τοῦ λογαρίου, ‘since your magnificence’s obedient servants and their children are ill, I hope your highness will excuse my account” (Edd.). | , μεγαλύνω. With the use of this verb in the pass. in Phil…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μέγας (megas) — great.

μέγᾰς, μεγάλη [ᾰ], μέγα [ᾰ],

genitive μεγάλου, ης, ου, dative μεγάλῳ, ῃ, ῳ, accusative μέγᾰν, μεγάλην, μέγα [ᾰ]; dual μεγάλω, α, w; plural μεγάλοι, μεγάλαι, μεγάλα, etc.: the stem μεγάλο- is never used in singular nominative and accusative masculine and neuter, and only once in vocative masculine,

__A ὦ μεγάλε Ζεῦ [Refs 4th c.BC+]

__A.I big, of bodily size: frequently of stature, εἶδος.. μ. ἦν ὁράασθαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φῶτα μέγαν καὶ καλόν[Refs 5th c.BC+]; φύσιν τίν᾽ εἶχε φράζ; Answ. μέγας [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.I.b full-grown, of age as shown by stature, νῦν δ᾽ ὅτε δὴ μ. εἰμί [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later, elder of two persons of the same name, Wilcken [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; Σκιπίων ὁ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μέγας

megas

(including the prolonged forms, feminine megale, plural

megaloi, etc.; compare also 3176, 3187); big (literally or

figuratively, in a very wide application):--(+ fear) exceedingly,

great(-est), high, large, loud, mighty, + (be) sore (afraid), strong,

X to years.

see GREEK for 3176

see GREEK for 3187

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα

Adj. & Comp.adv.

large, great

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μέγας megas 243x

great, large in size, Mt. 27:60; Mk. 4:32; great, much, numerous, Mk. 5:11; Heb. 11:26; great, grown up, adult, Heb. 11:24; great, vehement, intense, Mt. 2:10; 28:8; great, sumptuous, Lk. 5:29; great, important, weighty, of high importance, 1 Cor. 9:11; 13:13; great, splendid, magnificent, Rev. 15:3; extraordinary, wonderful, 2 Cor.…

Read the full entry →
Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μέγας Radic. sense, opp. to μικρός, σμικρός, big, great, of men's stature, tall, Hom.; of women, καλή τε μεγάλη τε Od.:—also, great, full-grown, of age as shewn by stature, id. Od., Aesch.

vast, high, οὐρανός, ὄρος, πύργος Hom.

vast, spacious, wide, πέλαγός, αἰγιαλός, etc., id. Hom.

of Degree, great, strong, mighty, of gods, id. Hom., etc.; μεγάλα θεά, of Demeter and Proserpine, Soph.; μέγας ηὐξήθη rose to greatness, Dem.; βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας, i. e. the King of Persia, le grand monarque, Hdt.; βασιλεὺς μέγας Aesch.; ὁ μ. ἐπικληθεὶς Ἀντίοχος the Great, Polyb.

great, strong, violent, etc., ἄνεμος, λαῖλαψ Hom.; of properties, passions, etc., id. Hom., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-NSM-C — Adjective · nominative · singular · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-NSM-C Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine Degree: Comparative

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
56%great
great56% · 137×greater15% · 36×loud14% · 34×greatest3% · 7×other renderings9% · 21×other renderings4% · 11×

246 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 27 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
subject27%adverbial26%predicate24%object22%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 243 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
πόλιςa cityκαίand, even, also,ΒαβυλώνBabylon
φωνήa sound, noise, voic
κράζωI cry aloud, shrἐνφωνέωI crow, shout, s
καίand, even, also, nam
ποιέωI do, makeἀποθήκηa repository, grτέDisj
γάρfor
τίςIrgεἰμίI am, exist
φόβοςfear, terror, revere
φοβέωI fear, am terriγίνομαιI come into beinὅτιthat, since, bec
μέγαςthe greatest243×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakθαυμαστόςwonderful, marve
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἌρτεμιςthe Persian or EκάθημαιI sit, am seated
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theὧδεhereἐν
ἐν
Article theγεννητόςbegotten, bornσύ
ἐπί
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

Concordanceμέγας · 243× in the New Testament
Revelation Luke Acts Matthew John Mark Hebrews 1 Corinthians 1 John James 1 Timothy 2 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament19 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 340 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

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

καὶ γὰρ λόγον καὶ ἀκοὴν ὑπερβάλλει μείζω καὶ σεμνότερα ὄντα ἢ ὡς θνητοῦ τινος ὀργάνοις ἐναρμοσθῆναι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.7c. AD 75–95

ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ μείζων ἦν ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ λόγου περιβολή, κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον χωρίσας ταῖς ἰδίαις ἀρχαῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ τέλει τὴν γραφὴν συνεμέτρησα·

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 85Pathyris114 BC

καὶ θεοῦ Φιλοπάτορος Νέου καὶ θεοῦ Εὐεργέτου καὶ θεῶν Φιλομητόρων Σωτήρων, ἱεροῦ πώλου Ἴσιδος μεγάλης μητρὸς θεῶν, ἀθλοφόρου Βερενίκης Εὐεργέτιδος, κανηφόρου Ἀρσινόης Φιλαδέλφου, ἱερείας Ἀρσινόης Φιλοπάτορος τῶν ὄντων ἐν

μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν τῶν λοιπῶν κρατουσῶν, Ἀρίστων Ἀθηνοδότου τῶν ἀπὸ Διὸς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης βιαιότερον ἐμβατεύσας εἰς τὸ δηλούμενον ἔδαφος τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος καὶ εἰς τὰ συνκύροντα τούτωι ἐν

P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

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 , τεσσάρων εἰς συμπλήρωσιν

<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
ὑμῶνsu among you G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
2,892× 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 Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Amplified meaning
who is, that is
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σύ is the second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you' in Greek. It has various forms: genitive σοῦ, dative σοί, and accusative σέ. The word can be used for emphasis or contrast, particularly in the New Testament, as seen in verses like Matthew 26:64. It also appears in various dialects and has enclitic forms.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

thou, you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, pl., ὑμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς (enclitic in oblique cases sing., except after prep. (BL, §48, 3), though πρὸς σέ occurs in Mt 25:39). Nom. for emphasis or contrast: Jo 1:30, 42 4:10 5:33, 39, 44, Ac 4:7, Eph 5:32; so also perhaps σὺ εἶπας, Mt 26:64, al. (M, Pr., 86); before voc., Mt 2:6, Lk 1:76, Jo 17:5, al.; sometimes without emphasis (M, Pr., 85f.), as also

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

σύ, pron. of the second pers. (Dor. and Aeol. τύ, Boeot. Tov), gen. σοῦ, dat. σοί, ace. σέ (which oblique cases are enclitic, unless a preposition precede; yet πρός σε is written [uniformly in Ree. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18), in Grsb. (exe. Jn. xxi. 22, 23), in Treg. (exc. Mt. xxvi. 18; Acts xxiii. 30), in Lchm. (exe. Mt. xxvi.18; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; xxi. 22, 23; Acts xxiii. 30), in Tdf. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18; Lk. i. 19; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; Jn. xxi. 22; Acts xxiii. 18, 30; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Tit. iii. 12); also by WH in Mt. xxv. 39], see ἐγώ, 2; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 62 sq. [W. §6, 3; B. 31 (27)]); plur. ὑμεῖς, εἴς. : Lat. tu, ete., vos, ete.; thou, ete., ye,ete. The nominatives ov and ὑμεῖς are expressed for emphasis — before a vocative, as σὺ Βηθλεέμ, Mt. ii. 6; σὺ παιδίον (Leian. dial. deor. 2, 1), Lk. i. 76; add, Jn. xvii. 5; Acts i. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 11, etc.; ὑμεῖς of Φαρισαῖοι, Lk. xi. 39…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

thou: pronoun of the second person:—Epic dialect nominative τύνη [ῡ] [Refs 8th c.BC+] (Laconian dialect τούνη [Refs 5th c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect σύ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τύ [ῠ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τού [short syllable] [Refs 6th c.BC+] (also τούν [Refs]σύ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]—Gen. σοῦ, [Refs], elsewhere only Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; enclitic σου, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (also in Lyric poetry, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (which also occurs in Lyric poetry, [Refs 7th c.BC+], and as enclitic σευ, [Refs 8th c.BC+], σεο (enclitic) [Refs] σευ (enclitic) [Refs]:—Doric dialect τεῦ, τευ, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; rarely τέο, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τεῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τεοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοι variant in [Refs]; enclitic τεος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; other Doric dialect forms are τίω, τίως, both [Refs 3rd c.BC+]—Dat. σοί, [Refs 8th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

the person pronoun of the second person singular; thou:-- thou. See

also 4571, 4671, 4675; and for the plural 5209, 5210, 5213, 5216.

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, Mt. 1:20; 2:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2GP — Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2GP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Genitive Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 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
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 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
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύamong you2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

Concordanceσύ · 2,892× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Acts Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans 1 Thessalonians Revelation Hebrews Colossians

16 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
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 450 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of 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 1.101c. AD 75–95

παύσομαι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ μετὰ τοσαύτης ὀργῆς τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν εἰσπραττόμενος καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον σοῦ παρακαλοῦντος.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

τοῦ ἀποδοθῆι τὸν ἐπεσταλμένον ἡμῖν κατὰ μῆνα πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Πηλουσίωι θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

παρὰ Πετεύριος διεθέντος μου ὑπάρξει σοι εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δεκάπεντε, τάλαντα ιε. εὐτύχει .

<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
ἔσταιeimi will be G1510 Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · third person · singular
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Amplified meaning
must become, will be
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

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

As substantive verb.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-FDI-3S — Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · third person · singular
future middle deponent indicative — an action still to come.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-FDI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Future Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

See TESTAMENT.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ THE MENTAL FACULTY

Freedom of, recognized by God Ge 4:6-10; De 5:29; 1Ki 20:42; Isa 1:18-20; 43:26; Jer 36:3,7; Joh 7:17

See BLESSINGS, CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE

See CHOICE

See CONTINGENCY

→ OF GOD, THE SUPREME RULE OF DUTY Mt 6:10; 12:50; 26:39,42; Mr 3:35; 14:36; Lu 11:2; 22:42; Joh 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; Ac…

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

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
ὑμῶνsu your G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
2,892× 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 Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Amplified meaning
personal, devoted
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σύ is the second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you' in Greek. It has various forms: genitive σοῦ, dative σοί, and accusative σέ. The word can be used for emphasis or contrast, particularly in the New Testament, as seen in verses like Matthew 26:64. It also appears in various dialects and has enclitic forms.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

thou, you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, pl., ὑμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς (enclitic in oblique cases sing., except after prep. (BL, §48, 3), though πρὸς σέ occurs in Mt 25:39). Nom. for emphasis or contrast: Jo 1:30, 42 4:10 5:33, 39, 44, Ac 4:7, Eph 5:32; so also perhaps σὺ εἶπας, Mt 26:64, al. (M, Pr., 86); before voc., Mt 2:6, Lk 1:76, Jo 17:5, al.; sometimes without emphasis (M, Pr., 85f.), as also

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

σύ, pron. of the second pers. (Dor. and Aeol. τύ, Boeot. Tov), gen. σοῦ, dat. σοί, ace. σέ (which oblique cases are enclitic, unless a preposition precede; yet πρός σε is written [uniformly in Ree. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18), in Grsb. (exe. Jn. xxi. 22, 23), in Treg. (exc. Mt. xxvi. 18; Acts xxiii. 30), in Lchm. (exe. Mt. xxvi.18; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; xxi. 22, 23; Acts xxiii. 30), in Tdf. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18; Lk. i. 19; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; Jn. xxi. 22; Acts xxiii. 18, 30; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Tit. iii. 12); also by WH in Mt. xxv. 39], see ἐγώ, 2; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 62 sq. [W. §6, 3; B. 31 (27)]); plur. ὑμεῖς, εἴς. : Lat. tu, ete., vos, ete.; thou, ete., ye,ete. The nominatives ov and ὑμεῖς are expressed for emphasis — before a vocative, as σὺ Βηθλεέμ, Mt. ii. 6; σὺ παιδίον (Leian. dial. deor. 2, 1), Lk. i. 76; add, Jn. xvii. 5; Acts i. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 11, etc.; ὑμεῖς of Φαρισαῖοι, Lk. xi. 39…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

thou: pronoun of the second person:—Epic dialect nominative τύνη [ῡ] [Refs 8th c.BC+] (Laconian dialect τούνη [Refs 5th c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect σύ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τύ [ῠ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τού [short syllable] [Refs 6th c.BC+] (also τούν [Refs]σύ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]—Gen. σοῦ, [Refs], elsewhere only Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; enclitic σου, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (also in Lyric poetry, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (which also occurs in Lyric poetry, [Refs 7th c.BC+], and as enclitic σευ, [Refs 8th c.BC+], σεο (enclitic) [Refs] σευ (enclitic) [Refs]:—Doric dialect τεῦ, τευ, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; rarely τέο, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τεῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τεοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοι variant in [Refs]; enclitic τεος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; other Doric dialect forms are τίω, τίως, both [Refs 3rd c.BC+]—Dat. σοί, [Refs 8th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

the person pronoun of the second person singular; thou:-- thou. See

also 4571, 4671, 4675; and for the plural 5209, 5210, 5213, 5216.

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, Mt. 1:20; 2:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2GP — Personal pronoun · second person · genitive · plural
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2GP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Genitive Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 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
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 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
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyour2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

Concordanceσύ · 2,892× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Acts Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans 1 Thessalonians Revelation Hebrews Colossians

16 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
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 450 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of 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 1.101c. AD 75–95

παύσομαι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ μετὰ τοσαύτης ὀργῆς τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν εἰσπραττόμενος καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον σοῦ παρακαλοῦντος.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

τοῦ ἀποδοθῆι τὸν ἐπεσταλμένον ἡμῖν κατὰ μῆνα πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Πηλουσίωι θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

παρὰ Πετεύριος διεθέντος μου ὑπάρξει σοι εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δεκάπεντε, τάλαντα ιε. εὐτύχει .

<the> And the greatest among you will be your servant.
διάκονος.diakonos servant. G1249 Noun · nominative · singular · masculine
30× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A servant is someone who attends to others, like a waiter or a Christian teacher, as seen in Matthew 20:26. It is about putting others first and helping them.
Amplified meaning
one who attends to others
Tyndale gloss
servant
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word διάκονος (i.e., *diakonos*) means 'servant' or 'minister' and is used in various contexts, including as a technical term for a church officer, specifically a deacon or deaconess. It is built from an uncertain origin and conveys the idea of someone who serves others, often in a religious capacity. The New Testament frequently employs this term to describe those who serve in the church, such as in Philippians and 1 Timothy.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — θεράπων, δοῦλος, διάκονος, οἰκέτης, ὑπηρέτης from a scan

THE only passage in the N. T. in which θεράπων occurs is Heb. iii. 5: ‘‘ And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant” (ὡς θεράπων). The allusion here to Num. xii. 7 is manifest, where the Septuagint has given θεράπων as its rendering of 12; it has done the same elsewhere (Exod. iv. 10; Deut. iii. 24; Josh. i. 2), yet has not made this its constant rule, frequently rendering it not by θεράπων, but by δοῦλος, out of which latter rendering, no doubt, we have at Rev. xv. 8, the phrase, Μωῦσῆς ὃ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ. It will 1 Lampe: ‘Christus est Vitis vera, ... et qua talis preponi, quin et opponi, potest omnibus aliis qui etiam sub hoe symbolo in scriptis propheticis pinguntur.’ Six) SYNONYUS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 20 not follow that there is no difference between δοῦλος and θεράπων ; nor yet that there may not be occasions when the one word would be far more fitly employed…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

διάκονος, -ου, ὁ, ἡ

(derivation unknown),

[in LXX for נַעַר, שָׁרַת pi.: Es 6:3, 5, א B Es 1:10 2:2, Pr 10:4, 4 Mac 9:17 * ;]

in general, a servant, attendant, minister: Mt 20:26 22:13 23:11, Mk 9:35 10:43, Jo 2:5, 9, I Co 3:5, Ga 2:17, Eph 6:21, Col 4:7; δ. θεοῦ, Ro 13:4, II Co 6:4

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

διάκονος, -ov, 6, 7, (of uncert. origin, but by no means, as was formerly thought, compounded of διά and κόνις, so as to mean prop. ‘raising dust by hastening’; cf. ἐγκονεῖν ; for a in the prep. διά is short, in διάκονος lone. Bum. Lexil. i. p. 218 sqq. [Eng. trans. p. 231 sq.] thinks it is derived fr. obsol. διάκω i. q. διήκω [allied with διώκω ; cf. Vanicek p. 3687); one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master; a servant, attendant, minister ; 1. uniy.: of the servant of a king, Mt. xxii. 13; with gen. of the pers. served, Mt. xx. 26; xxiii. 11; Mk. ix. 35; x. 43, (in which pass. it is used fig. of those who advance others’ interests even at the sacrifice of their own) ; τῆς ἐκκλησίας, of one who does what promotes the welfare and prosperity of the church, Col. i. 25; διάκονοι τοῦ θεοῦ, those through whom God carries on his administration on earth, as magistrates, Ro.…

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

διάκονος. For the word in its general sense cf. P Flor II. 121? (6. A.D. 253) ἐπεὶ ἔδοξεν τοῖς [δεκαπρώτοις })] τὸν διάκονον ἙΠ[ρηναῖον ? ἐπ᾽ Ἰένιαυτὸν χρησι[μεύειν ἡμῖν ἢ. There is now abundant evidence that the way had been prepared for the Christian usage of this word by its technical application to the holders of various offices, as in the i/B.c. J/agn 217, where the dedicators of a statue to Hermes are described as κομάκτορες, κήρυκες and διάκονοι. connotation belongs to the word in 2. 109 (ce. A definitely religious B.C. 100) where the remains of a list of temple officials concludes with μάγειρος . . διάκονος. Fora similar combination the editor refers to JG IX. 1, 486 (ii/iB.c.) and IV. 774 (ili/B.c.), and to these examples Thieme (p. 17 f.), from whom the above citations are taken, adds C/G II.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

διάκονος (diakonos) — servant.

διάκονος [ᾱ],

Ionic dialect διήκονος, ὁ, later διάκων (which see):— servant, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; messenger, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. attendant or official in a temple or religious guild, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—especially in the Christian church, deacon, [NT+4th c.AD+]: feminine, deaconess, [NT]

II. as adjective, servile, menial, ἐπιστήμη [Refs 5th c.BC+]: irregular comparative διᾱκονέστερος [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

διάκονος

diakonos

probably from an obsolete diako (to run on errands; compare 1377); an

attendant, i.e. (genitive case) a waiter (at table or in other menial

duties); specially, a Christian teacher and pastor (technically, a

deacon or deaconess):--deacon, minister, servant.

see GREEK for 1377

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

διάκονος, οῦ, ὁ, ἡ

n.f. & n.m.

a waiter, servant, administrator

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

διάκονος diakonos 29x

one who renders service to another; an attendant, servant, Mt. 20:26; 22:13; Jn. 2:5, 9; one who executes a commission, a deputy, Rom. 13:4; Χριστοῦ, Θεοῦ, ἐν κυρίῳ, etc. a commissioned minister or preacher of the Gospel, 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 6:4; a minister charged with an announcement or sentence, 2 Cor. 3:6; Gal. 2:17; Col. 1:23; a minister charged with a significant characteristic, Rom.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

διάκονος Akin to διάκτορος: both perh. from διώκω. a servant, waiting-man, Lat. minister, Hdt., etc.: a messenger, Aesch., Soph.:—as fem., Dem.

a minister of the church, a deacon, NTest.: as fem. a deaconess, id. NTest.

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

N-NSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sur'-vant ('ebhedh; doulos): A very common word with a variety of meanings, all implying a greater or less degree of inferiority and want of freedom:

(1) The most frequent usage is as the equivalent of "slave" (which see), with its various shades in position (Ge 9:25; 24:9; Ex 21:5; Mt 10:24; Lu 17:7, and often); but also a hired workman where "hired servant" translates Hebrew and Greek expressions which differ from the above.

(2) An attendant in the service of someone, as Joshua was the "servant" the Revised Version (British and American) "minister" of Moses (Nu 11:28).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

[SLAVE]

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

This word sometimes denotes a man who voluntarily dedicates himself to the service of another. Thus Joshua was the servant of Moses; Elisha of Elijah; and Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Paul were servants of Jesus Christ. The servants of Pharaoh, of Saul, and of David, were their subjects in general, and their court officers and counselors in particular. The Philistines, Syrians, and other nation were servants of David, that is, they obeyed and paid him tribute. The servants of God are those who are devoted to his service and obey his holy word.

In its primary sense, the word usually means in the Bible either a hired servant, or one whose service was the property of his master for a limited time and under various restrictions. Joseph is the first whom we read of as sold into bondage, Ge 37:27,28. The households of some of the early…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Distinguish a bondservant (Greek: doulos), who was a slave, from a hired servant (Greek: diakonos), who was not a slave

→ BOND

Laws of Moses concerning Ex 21:1-11,20,21,26,27,32; Le 19:20-22; 25:6,10,35-55; De 15:12,14,18; 24:7

Kidnapping forbidden De 21:10-14; 24:7; 1Ti 1:10; Re 18:13

Fugitive, not to be returned to his master De 23:15,16

David erroneously supposed to be a fugitive slave 1Sa 25:10

Instances of fugitive

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%servant
servant50% · 15×servants27% · 8×deacons10% · 3×minister7% · 2×ministers3% · 1×minister?3% · 1×

30 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 6 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
predicate53%subject23%adverbial10%indirect object7%second object3%object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 30 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
σύ
εἰμίI am, existὑπέρ
Article the
καίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speakαὐτός
γάρfor
θεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐγώκαλόςbeautiful, good,
ΠαῦλοςPaul
εἰμίI am, existἐγώ
διάκονοςservant.30×
what comes after →
Article the
ἐμόςἐκκλησίαan assembly, conΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
σύἔκδικοςavenging, an aveεἷςone
ἐν
ὑπομονήendurance, steadκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Χριστόςanointed, the Messia
εἰμίI am, existἸησοῦςJesus
κατά
Article the

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

Concordanceδιάκονος · 30× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Colossians Romans 1 Timothy John Matthew Ephesians Mark 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians Galatians Philippians
Across the New Testament12 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 5 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 Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria Polycarp The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Posterity of Cain 165c. AD 40

ἁπαλαῖς γὰρ ἔτι ταῖς τῶν νέων ψυχαῖς οἱ τραγῳδίαν τὸν βίον τύφων ἐρώντων νομίζοντες κεκιβδηλευμένους χαρακτῆρας ἐναπομάττονται, διακόνοις ἀκοαῖς χρώμενοι, ὧν μυθικὸν λῆρον καταχέαντες καὶ μέχρι διανοίας αὐτῶν ἐντήξαντες θεοπλαστεῖν τοὺς τὰ φρονήματα…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.298c. AD 75–95

Ἰακώβου δὲ ἀσμένως ταῦτα ἀκούσαντος καὶ φήσαντος ἡδέως πάντα μένων παρʼ αὐτῷ πόνον εἰς ἡδονὴν ὑπομενεῖν τὴν ἐκείνου, μισθὸν δὲ ὑπὲρ τούτου λαβεῖν ἀξιοῦντος τὸν Ῥαχήλας γάμον διά τε τὰ ἄλλα τιμῆς ἀξίας παρʼ αὐτοῦ τυγχάνειν οὔσης, καὶ ὅτι διάκονος τῆς…

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 42.4c. AD 96

κατὰ χώρας οὖν καὶ πόλεις κηρύσσοντες καθίστανον τὰς ἀπαρχὰς αὐτῶν, δοκιμάσαντες τῷ πνεύματι, εἰς ἐπισκόπους καὶ διακόνους τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν.

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 5th c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Berl.Leihg. 1 8Lagis oder Trikomia (Arsinoites)AD 163

ὀβολοὶ ιϛ Ἀπίων Διοδώρου ὀβολοὶ κ Παπνεπτῦνις ὀβολοὶ κ Τρύφων Εἰρηναίου ὀβολοὶ ιβ Πᾶσεις Διάκονος ὀβολοὶ ιβ Κολλοῦθος Πανεῦτος δραχμαὶ δ ὀβολοὶ ιζ Φουῶνσις Ὥρου δραχμαὶ δ ὀβολοὶ ι

P.Flor. 2 121Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 249

παρὰ Ἀλυπίου. ἐπεὶ ἔδοξεν τοῖς δεκαπρώτοις τὸν διάκονον Εἰρηναῖον ἐπ ἐνιαυτὸν χρησιμεύειν ἡμῖν γενέσθω παρὰ ς … ποταμίτῃ οὖσι λαβὼν δραχμὰς τέσσερας

P.Coll.Youtie 2 77Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 324

αἱ περὶ ἐμὲ πληγαὶ δηλοῦσιν, καὶ εἰ μὴ βοηθείας ἔτυχον ὑπὸ τῶν παραγενομένων Ἀντωνίνου διάκονος καὶ Ἰσὰκ μοναχοῦ τάχα ἂν τέλεόν με ἀπώλεσαν. ὅθεν ἐπιδίδωμι τάδε τὰ ἔνγραφα ἀξιῶν

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

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