Menu

Matthew 23:32 — Word Study

Depth

N1904καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

BSAAndkai you yourselvessu do fill upplēroō [to the brim, completely] theho measuremetron [a standard or limit, rebellion against God] of theho fatherspatēr [ancestors, forefathers, those who came before you] of you.su

Word
Listen & take awayMatthew 23
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 32 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 (su) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Matthew 23:32quick helps
In a sentenceJesus calls the Pharisees to complete the sinful actions of their ancestors.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing the Pharisees directly.
Where we areThis verse is part of a series of rebukes against the religious leaders.
The hard wordπληρώσατε
Take awayThe call to action is clear: they are to fill the measure of their forefathers' sins.
6 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them › clause subjectσύ verbπληρόω 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 23:32

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 Rebukes the Phariseesgenerated

31So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.

Matthew 23:32 is part of a larger passage where Jesus condemns the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and their role in the history of rebellion against God. He points out that they are not only following in the footsteps of their ancestors but are also about to complete the cycle of sin by their own actions. This verse highlights the seriousness of their choices and the consequences that come with them.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Genesis 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
2Numbers 32:14Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
3Zechariah 5:6–11“What is it?” I asked. And he replied, “A measuring basket is going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 3 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word πληρώσατε, plēroōgenerated

The verb πληρόω (plēroō) means to fill or fulfill. It is an aorist imperative, indicating a command that requires immediate action. This form suggests that Jesus is urging the Pharisees to take decisive steps in their rebellion, completing what their forefathers began.

In this context, the word carries a weighty implication: the Pharisees are being called to actively engage in the same sinful behavior that led to the murder of the prophets. The urgency of the command reflects the seriousness of their spiritual condition.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. The KJV and ASV use similar phrasing, maintaining the original meaning.

However, the NET Bible opts for ancestors instead of fathers, which reflects a slight variation in how the lineage is understood, but the core meaning remains intact across translations.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb is πληρώσατε, do fill up, which governs the whole clause. The subject is ὑμεῖς, you yourselves, making it clear who is being addressed.

The structure includes a noun phrase as the object, τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν, the measure of the sin of your fathers, indicating what they are to fill up. The sentence is straightforward, with a clear directive.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

μέτρον is used in the Septuagint to translate Hebrew terms for measure, indicating standards or limits. It connects to the broader biblical theme of accountability for actions.

The word πατέρων corresponds to the Hebrew for father, emphasizing the ancestral connection and the weight of their actions as a continuation of a legacy.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Matthew 23:32 shows Jesus telling the Pharisees to complete the measure of their fathers' sins. This means they are to finish what their ancestors started in rebelling against God, highlighting the seriousness of their actions.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to fill up the measure of sin?

It means to complete the actions of rebellion against God that have been passed down from their ancestors.

Why does Jesus address the Pharisees in this way?

He is highlighting their hypocrisy and warning them about the consequences of their actions, which mirror those of the prophets' murderers.

How does this verse connect to the broader themes in Matthew?

It emphasizes the ongoing struggle between Jesus and the religious leaders, showcasing their refusal to acknowledge their sinful heritage.

What can we learn from this verse today?

It serves as a reminder of the importance of recognizing our actions and their consequences, as well as the need for repentance.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways might I be repeating the mistakes of my ancestors?
  2. How can I ensure that my actions align with God's will rather than following a legacy of sin?
  3. What steps can I take to fill my life with positive actions instead of negative ones?
  4. How does understanding my spiritual heritage influence my faith today?

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

Various early church commentators reflect on this verse, discussing its implications for the Pharisees and their actions.

Glossa Ordinariaord. 12th c.
He means not only those there present, but the whole generation before and after, for all were one city and one body of the Devil.

Glossa Ordinaria interprets this as a collective indictment of the entire generation.

Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →
Origen of AlexandriaCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 185–253
And in the prophetic writings, the historical sense is the body, the spiritual meaning is the soul; the sepulchres are the letter and books themselves of Scripture.

Origen highlights the dual nature of scriptural interpretation, emphasizing the depth of meaning in Jesus' words.

Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →
Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 310–367
Because then they will fill up the measure of their fathers' purposes, therefore are they serpents, and an offspring of vipers.

Hilary points out the connection between the Pharisees' actions and their forefathers' intentions.

Early Church Fathers on Matthew 23 →

Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Matthew 23:32 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Of their sins; for there were bounds and limits set how far they should proceed, and no further; as yet they had not got to the end of their iniquity:

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

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

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

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ver. 32. Fill ye up then the measure] Ironice dictum. Ironic saying. It gives us to understand that sinners are stinted, and cannot do what mischief they would. If at any time they exceed their commission (as they are apt) and help forward the affliction, as out of their innate malice they will, God will soon grow jealous for Jerusalem, and take them off, Zechariah 1:14-15. When wickedness hath filled her ephah, God will soon transport it into the land of Shinar, Zechariah 5:8-11. When it is once ripe in the field, God will not suffer it to shed, to grow again, but cuts it up by a just and seasonable vengeance.

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

(32) Fill ye up then . . .—The English fails to give the pathetic abruptness of the original: And ye—fill ye up the measure of your fathers. The thought implied is that which we find in Genesis 15:16, and of which the history of the world offers but too many illustrations. Each generation, as it passes, adds something to the ever-accumulating mass of evil. At last the penalty falls, as though the long-suffering of God had been waiting till the appointed limit had been reached, and the measure of iniquity was at last full.

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

Verse 32. Fill ye up then] Notwithstanding the profession you make, ye will fill up the measure of your fathers-will continue to walk in their way, accomplish the fulness of every evil purpose by murdering me; and then, when the measure of your iniquity is full, vengeance shall come upon you to the uttermost, as it did on your rebellious ancestors. The 31st verse should be read in a parenthesis, and then the 32d will appear to be, what it is, an Inference from the 30th. Ye will fill up, or fill ye up - πληρωσατε but it is manifest that the imperative is put here for the future, a thing quite consistent with the Hebrew idiom, and frequent in the Scriptures. So John 2:19, Destroy this temple…

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

Fill ye up, then ... - This is a prediction of what they were about to do.

Read Albert Barnes 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

Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

RVARevised Version, American1894

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Fulfill ye also ye measure of your fathers.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

and ye, fill ye up the measure of your fathers.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and ye — ye fill up the measure of your fathers.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and you fill up the measure of your fathers.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

You also fill up the measure of your fathers.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

So get on with it—finish it all off using your forefathers' methods!

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Make full, then, the measure of your fathers.

Word by word, the decisions they made

πατέρωνpatēr fathers G3962 2 different renderings
fathersASV BBE BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
ancestorsNETB

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.

clauseκαὶAndclausesubjectὑμεῖςyouverbπληρώσατεfill upnoun phrase · objectτὸthenoun phraseμέτρονmeasurenoun phraseτῶνof thenoun phraseπατέρωνfathersὑμῶνof 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

Et vos implete mensuram patrum vestrorum.

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

ܘܐܦ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܡܠܘ ܡܫܘܚܬܐ ܕܐܒܗܝܟܘܢ

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

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


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

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

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.

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 23:32καίAndAndκαίσύyou yourselyou yourselvesσύπληρόωdo fill updo fill upπληρόωthetheμέτρονmeasuremeasureμέτρονof theof theπατήρfathersfathersπατήρσύof you.of you.σύπλήρηςAdj fullAdj fullπλήρηςἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνγραφήn.f. a wrin.f. a writing,γραφήχαράn.f. joy, n.f. joy, gladnχαράμετρέωv. I measuv. I measure, eμετρέωκατάPrep. downPrep. down fromκατάτιμάωv. I valuev. I value at aτιμάωἈβραάμProp.n. AbProp.n. AbrahamἈβραάμ
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 23:32

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

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

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
καὶkai And G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
ὑμεῖςsu you yourselves G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · nominative · 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'.
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

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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+]…

Read the full entry →
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-2NP — Personal pronoun · second person · nominative · plural
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2NP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Nominative 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
σύyou yourselves2892×
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 .

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
πληρώσατεplēroō do fill up G4137 Verb · aorist · active · imperative · second person · plural
86× 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 verb means to fulfill or make something complete, like filling a net or satisfying a need, as in Matthew 13:48 and Philippians 4:19, where it talks about filling every need.
Amplified meaning
to the brim, completely
Tyndale gloss
to fulfill
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πληρόω (plēroō) means to fill or fulfill, often used in both literal and figurative senses. It can refer to filling physical objects, completing tasks, or fulfilling prophecies, as seen in passages like Matthew 1:22. The word is derived from a root meaning to make full and covers a range of uses, including filling with influence or completing a period.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πληρόω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for מָלֵא;]

to fill, make full, fill to the full, c. acc.;

of things: pass. (σαψήνη, φάραγξ), Mt 13:48, Lk 3:5(LXX); fig., Mt 23:32; but chiefly of immaterial things: πᾶσαν χρείαν, Phl 4:19; ἦχος ἐπλήρωσε τ. οἶκον, Ac 2:2; c. gen. rei (cl.), Ac 5:28; pass., seq. ἐκ, Jo 12:3 (cf. B1., § 36, 4); π. τ. καρδίαν, Jo 16:6, Ac 5:3; metaph., of the all-pervading activity of Christ, Eph 4:10; mid., Eph…

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

πληρόω. The original meaning ‘‘fill,” ‘“‘fill to the full” (MGr πληρῶ) may be illustrated from the phrase in Sy// 633 θεῶι, λαμβανέτωι τὸ ἥμισίν. The meaning ‘‘ pay” is very common (MGr trAepjvw)—e.g. P Hib I. 401} (B.c. 261) δραχμὴν μίαν οὐθείς σοι μὴ TANPM, “no one will pay so much as I drachma” (Edd ), BGU IV. 105529 (B.c. 13) μέχρει TOD πληρωθῆναι τὸ Savoy, P Oxy I. 114% (ii/ili A.D.) κεῖται πρὸς β μνᾶς: πεπλήρωκα τὸν τόκον μέχρι τοῦ ᾿Εἰπεὶφ πρὸς στατῆρα τῆς μνᾶς, ‘it is pledged for two minae. I have paid the interest up to Epeiph, at the rate of a stater per mina” (Edd.), P Grenf IT. 774 (iti/iv A.D.) (= Selections, p. 120) ἐπλήρωσα [αὐ]τὸν [το]ὺς μισθοὺς τῆς παρακομιδῆς τοῦ σώματος, “I paid him the costs of the carriage of the body”; P Oxy XII. 1489° (late iii/A.D.) ἐνοχλεῖς μοι ὅτι ὀφείλεις ᾿Αγαθὸς(-- @) Δαίμονι χαλκόν: πεπλήρωσί-- κ)α αὐτόν, ‘you worry me about the money…

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

πληρόω (plēroō) — to fulfill.

πληρ-όω,

3rd.pers. plural imperfect ἐπληροῦσαν cited by [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future -ώσω: perfect πεπλήρωκα, Aeolic dialect participle πεπληρώκων [Refs] —middle, future πληρώσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐπληρωσάμην [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, future -ωθήσομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; future middle in passive sense, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—make full:

I. with genitive of things, fill full of, λάρνακας λίθων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κρατῆρα, πίστρα (i.e. οἴνου), [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be filled full, τινος of a thing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I.2. fill full of food, gorge, satiate, βορᾶς ψυχὴν ἐπλήρουν [Refs 5th c.BC+] glut one's rage, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be filled full of, satisfied, δαιτὸς -ωθείς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φόβου, ἐλπίδος, etc.…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πληρόω

pleroo

from 4134; to make replete, i.e. (literally) to cram (a net), level up

(a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse,

influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task),

verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:--accomplish, X after,

(be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full (come),

fully preach, perfect, supply.

see GREEK for 4134

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πληρόω

v.

I fill, fulfill, complete

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πληρόω plēroō 86x

pluperf., πεπληρώκει (3 sg), to fill, make full, fill up, Mt. 13:48; 23:32; Lk. 3:5; to fill up a deficiency, Phil. 4:18, 19; to pervade, Jn. 12:3; Acts 2:2; to pervade with an influence, to influence fully, possess fully, Jn. 16:6; Acts 2:28; 5:3; Rom. 1:29; Eph. 5:18; to complete, perfect, Jn. 3:29; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πληρόω πλήρης fut. mid. in pass. sense to make full:

c. gen. rei, to fill full of, Hdt., etc.:—Pass. to be filled full of, Aesch., etc.

to fill full of food, to gorge, satiate, βορᾶς ψυχὴν ἐπλήρουν Eur.; metaph., πληροῦν θυμόν to glut one's rage, animum explere, Soph., etc.

c. dat. to fill with, Eur.: Pass., πνεύμασιν πληρούμενοι filled with breath, Aesch.; πεπληρωμένος ἀδικίαι NTest.

πλ. ναῦν, τριήρη to man a ship, Hdt.; πληροῦτε θωρακεῖα man the breast-works, Aesch.; in Mid., πληροῦσθαι τὴν ναῦν to man one's ship, Xen.:—Pass., of the ships, Thuc.

of number, to make full or complete, τοὺς δέκα μῆνας Hdt.;—so in Mid., NTest.:—Pass. to be completed, Hdt., NTest.

πλ. δικαστήριον to fill it, Dem.

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAM-2P — Verb · aorist · active · imperative · second person · plural
aorist active imperative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-AAM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%may be fulfilled
may be fulfilled20% · 18×fulfilled8% · 7×it may be fulfilled7% · 6×filled6% · 5×has been fulfilled6% · 5×completed5% · 4×has filled2% · 2×fulfill2% · 2×other renderings44% · 39×

88 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 47 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 86 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
ἵναin order that, so th
γίνομαιI come into beinἀλλάbut, exceptἩρῴδηςHerod
δέbut, on the other ha
ὡςas, like as, howδιετίαtwo years
σύ
καίand, even, also,χαράjoy, gladnessὑπέρ
γραφήa writing, passage o
Article the
καίand, even, also, nam
βίαιοςstrong, violentἐγώ
πληρόωdo fill up86×
what comes after →
Article the
εἶπονI say, speakγραφήa writing, passaλόγοςa word, speech,
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἀδικίαunrighteousness
ἐν
Article theἹεροσόλυμαPropἑαυτοῦ
ὅς
λέγωI say, speakεἰμίI am, exist
σύ
Article theπᾶςall, 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

Concordanceπληρόω · 86× in the New Testament
Acts Matthew John Luke Romans Colossians Ephesians Philippians 2 Corinthians Mark Revelation 1 John
Across the New Testament17 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 50 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 Ignatius of Antioch The Shepherd of Hermas Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.4c. AD 40

πάντα γὰρ πεπλήρωκεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ διὰ πάντων διελήλυθεν καὶ κενὸν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ἔρημον ἀπολέλοιπεν ἑαυτοῦ.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.120c. AD 75–95

Σκίδνανται δὴ τὸ λοιπὸν ἐντεῦθεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀλλογλωσσίας τὰς ἀποικίας ποιησάμενοι πανταχοῦ, καὶ γῆν ἕκαστοι κατελάμβανον τὴν ἐντυχοῦσαν καὶ εἰς ἣν αὐτοὺς ἦγεν ὁ θεός, ὡς πληρωθῆναι πᾶσαν αὐτῶν ἤπειρον μεσόγεών τε καὶ παράλιον·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.12c. AD 100

καὶ εἶπεν κύριος, ἰδὼν τὸ καλὸν πλάσμα ἡμῶν: Λὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθυνέσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 7th c. AD 5th c. AD 2nd c. AD

ἀσφαλισθῆναι αὐτὰ καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ κεῖται ὥστε … … έτακται ἡμῖν πληρῶσαι ὑμᾶς σπουδάσαντας … … θαι πάντα. … ἔρρωσo … … ι … ἔτους μα

P.Lond. 2 p. 187-188 no. 293Dionysias (ArsinoitesAD 114

Θέρμιον τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῇ μέρος … οὗ μέτρα νότον ἐπὶ βορρᾶ πήχεις τεσσ … πληρωθῇ ἡ Θέρμιον τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῇ μέρος … ὅλων πηχισμῶν, τὴν δὲ Θαισᾶν καὶ αὐτὴν

P.Col. 8 218Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 139

μεμισθωμένας κατὰ μίσθωσιν τοῦ προδιεληλυθότος κα ἔτους θεοῦ Ἁδριανοῦ ἧς ὁ χρόνος ἐπληρώθη εἰς τὸ διεληλυθὸς α ἔτος ἀρούρας περὶ τὴν προκειμένην κώμην α … … αρα

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
τὸho the G3588 Article · accusative · singular · neuter
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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.

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-ASN — Article · accusative · singular · neuter
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-ASN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
μέτρονmetron measure G3358 Noun · accusative · singular · neuter
14× 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
Measure means a standard or limit, like a ruler or a measuring cup, used to figure out how much of something there is, as seen in Matthew 23:32 and Revelation 21:15.
Amplified meaning
a standard or limit, rebellion against God
Tyndale gloss
measure
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μέτρον is a neuter noun meaning 'measure' or 'measuring instrument.' It encompasses various contexts, from physical measures of length and volume to figurative uses indicating limits or standards, as seen in Matthew 7:2 and Luke 6:38. The term can also refer to a specific portion or degree, as noted in Romans 12:3 and Ephesians 4:7. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μέτρον, -ου, τό,

[in LXX chiefly for מִדָּה, also for אֵיפָה, etc.;]

that which is used for measuring, a measure;

a vessel: fig., Mt 23:32, Lk 6:38; ἐκ μ., by measure, Jo 3:34;

a rod or rule: Re 21:15, 17; fig., Mt 7:2, Mk 4:24.

That which is measured, measure: c. gen. rei, Ro 12:3, II Co 10:13, Eph 4:7, 13, 16.†

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

μέτρον, -ου, τό; Sept. chiefly for 79, [ef. μήτηρ], measure; 1. aninstrument for measuring; a. a vessel for receiving and determining the quantity of things, whether dry or liquid: in proverb. disc., μετρεῖν μέτρῳ, of the measure of the benefits which one confers on others, Lk. vi. 38; μέτρον πεπιεσμένον καὶ σεσαλευμένον, fig. equiv. to most abundant requital, ibid. ; πληροῦν τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων, to add what is wanting in order to fill up their ancestors’ prescribed number of crimes, Mt. xxiii. 32 [see πληρόω, 2. ἃ.}; ἐκ μέτρου [A. V. by measure; see ἐκ, V. 3] 1. 6. sparingly, In. iii. 34 (also ἐν μέτρῳ, Ezek. iv. 11). b. a graduated staff for measuring, measuring-rod: Rev. xxi. 15; with ἀνθρώπου added [man’s measure], such as men use, Rev. xxi. 17; hence in proverb. 4156. the rule or standard of judgment: Mt. vii. 2; Mk. iv. 24. 2. delermined extent, portion measured off, measure or…

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

μέτρον. The varied uses of μέτρον, ‘‘a measure,” may be illustrated by P Amh II. 43° (B.c. 173) repayment of a loan in wheat that is ‘‘new, pure, free from all adulteration ”— μέτρωι δικαίωι τῶι πρὸς TO βασιλικὸν χαλκοῦν μετρήσει καὶ σκυτάληι [δ]ικαίαι, ““ by just measure calculated by the royal bronze standard, and with just measurement and rule”’ (Edd.), P Par 3273 (B.c. 162) (= Witkowski’, p. 67) ἐπιλελῆσθαι τὰ μέτρα τῶν ὀθονίων, 74.24 ἀπόστειλ[ό)ν μοι τὰ μέτρα τῶν ὀθονίων, P Oxy IV. 717% (late 1.8.6.) συμβάλλω] αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸ χαλκοῦν μέτρον ἐν τῶι συνεδρείωι, P Fay 8915 (A.D. 9) μέτρωι τετάρτωι, ‘the quarter measure” (cf. 26. go14 (A.D. 234) μέτρῳ évSexapérpw), P Ryl 11. 156° (i/A.D.) ἐν ols kapdpa ὧν μέτρα βορρᾶ ἐπὶ νότον μέχρι .. .» P Tebt II. 41738 (iii/A.p.) μέτρη[σ]ον τὸν ἐρεγμόν, εἴδε πόσα μέτρα [é]xt, “‘ measure the pulse and see how many measures there are” (Edd.): for further…

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

μέτρον (metron) — measure.

μέτρον, τό,

that by which anything is measured:

1. measure, rule, μέτρ᾽ ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πάντ᾽ ἄνδρα πάντων χρημάτων μ. εἶναι is a measure of all things, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

1. b in Mathematics texts, measure, divisor, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

2. measure of content, whether solid or liquid, δῶκεν μέθυ, χίλια μ. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; at Samos, of the μέδιμνος, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; in Egypt, of the ἀρτάβη, μ. δοχικόν [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; μέτροις καὶ σταθμοῖς by measure and weight, Decrees cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; in the widest sense, either weight or measure, Φείδωνος τοῦ τὰ μ. ποιήσαντος Πελοποννησίοισι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μ. οἰνηρά, σιτηρά, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

μέτρον

metron

an apparently primary word; a measure ("metre"), literally or

figuratively; by implication, a limited portion (degree):-- measure.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μέτρον, ου, τό

n.n.

a measure, measuring rod

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μέτρον metron 14x

measure, Mt. 7:2; Mk. 4:24; Lk. 6:38; Rev. 21:17; measure, standard, Eph. 4:13; extent, compass, 2 Cor. 10:13; allotted measure, specific portion, Rom. 12:3; Eph. 4:7, 16; ἐκ μέτρον, by measure, with definite limitation, Jn. 3:34

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μέτρον μέτρον, ου, τό, that by which anything is measured:

a measure or rule, Il.; ἄνδρα πάντων χρημάτων μ. εἶναι is a measure of all things, Plat.

a measure of content, whether solid or liquid, δῶκεν μέθυ, χίλια μέτρα Il.; εἴκοσι μέτρα ἀλφίτου Od.

measure, length, size, μέτρα κελεύθου the length of the way, Od.; μέτρον ἑξήκοντα σταδίους Thuc.; μέτρον ἥβης full measure, i. e. the prime, of youth, Il.; μέτρα μορφῆς one's size and shape, Eur.

due measure or limit, proportion, μέτρα φυλάσσεσθαι Hes.; κατὰ μέτρον id. Hes. ὑπὲρ μέτρον Theogn.; πλέον μέτρου Plat.;— μέτρῷ μετρίως, Pind.

metre, opp. to μέλος (tune)and ῥυθμός (time), Ar., Plat.

a verse, Plat.

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

N-ASN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Measure

Several words are so rendered in the Authorized Version. (1.) Those which are indefinite. (a) Hok, Isa. 5:14, elsewhere “statute.” (b) Mad, Job 11:9; Jer. 13:25, elsewhere “garment.” (c) Middah, the word most frequently thus translated, Ex. 26:2, 8, etc. (d) Mesurah, Lev. 19:35; 1 Chr. 23:29. (e) Mishpat, Jer. 30:11, elsewhere “judgment.” (f) Mithkoneth and token, Ezek. 45:11. (g) In New Testament metron, the usual Greek word thus rendered (

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See SHEKELS, TALENT, BATH, or Ephah, EPHAH, etc.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ (The following modern equivalents of ancient measurements are based upon the latest research, and are as correct as is possible at this time)

→ DRY

1. A bushel, about a peck Mt 5:15; Mr 4:21; Lu 11:33

2. A cab, or kab, about two quarts 2Ki 6:25

3. A cor, equal to one homer or ten ephahs, equal to about eleven and one-ninth bushels 1Ki 4:22; 5:11; 2Ch 2:10; 27:5; Ezr 7:22

4. An ephah, equal to three seah, and in liquid, to a bath, containing about a bushel and a half

Across the New Testament8 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 53 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 35c. AD 40

ἐπεὶ δὲ φῶς μὲν ἐγένετο, σκότος δ’ ὑπεξέστη καὶ ἀνεχώρησεν, ὅροι δ’ ἐν τοῖς μεταξὺ διαστήμασιν ἐπάγησαν ἑσπέρα καὶ πρωΐα, κατὰ τἀναγκαῖον τοῦ χρόνου μέτρον ἀπετελεῖτο εὐθύς, ὃ καὶ ἡμέραν ὁ ποιῶν ἐκάλεσε, καὶ ἡμέραν οὐχὶ πρώτην, ἀλλὰ μίαν, ἣ λέλεκται…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.230c. AD 75–95

σύνεσις δὲ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐφύετʼ αὐτῷ τοῦ δὲ ταύτης μέτρου πολὺ κρείττων, καὶ πρεσβυτέραν διεδείκνυεν ταύτης τὴν περιουσίαν ἐν ταῖς παιδιαῖς, καὶ μειζόνων τῶν ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς γενησομένων ἐπαγγελίαν εἶχε τὰ τότε πραττόμενα.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 13.2c. AD 96

οὕτως γὰρ εἶπεν: Ἐλεᾶτε, ἵνα ἐλεηθῆτε: ἀφίετε, ἵνα ἀφεθῇ ὑμῖν: ὡς ποιεῖτε, οὕτω ποιηθήσεται ὑμῖν: ὡς δίδοτε, οὕτως δοθήσεται ὑμῖν: ὡς κρίνετε, οὕτως κριθήσεσθε: ὡς χρηστεύεσθε, οὕτως χρηστευθήσεται ὑμῖν: ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε, ἐν αὐτῷ μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Athen.. 14Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 22

ἀρταβῶν τεσσαράκοντα τριῶν τὸ δὲ ἔσχατον ἔτος πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν εἴκοσι πέντε , πάσας δὲ μέτρῳ τετάρτῳ ἐκ πόρων καὶ θαλλοῦ κατʼ ἔτος ἄρτων ἀρτάβης μιᾶς , πάντα δὲ ἀκίνδυνα

P.Amh. 2 90ArsinoitesAD 159

ἔτει ὁμοίως πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν τεσσαράκοντα καὶ θαλλοῦ κατʼ ἔτος ὁμοίως πυροῦ ἀρτάβης μιᾶς πάντων μέτρῳ δρόμωι τετραχοινίκῳ ἀνυπολόγων καὶ ἀκινδύνων, καὶ ἐπιτελέσομεν τὰ κατʼ ἔτος ἔργα πάντα ὅσα καθήκει

P.Amh. 2 91ArsinoitesAD 159

τοῦ κυρίου, ἐκφορίου τοῦ παντὸς κατʼ ἔτος τῶν ὅλων ἀρουρῶν ἀσπερμεὶ πυροῦ ἀρταβῶν τεσσαράκοντα μέτρῳ δρόμῳ τετραχοινίκῳ ἀνυπολόγων καὶ ἀκινδύνων, καὶ ἐπιτελέσω τὰ κατʼ ἔτος ἔργα χωματισμοὺς ποτισμοὺς ὑποσχισμοὺς

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
τῶνho of the G3588 Article · genitive · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Matthew as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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.

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-GPM — Article · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

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
of the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
πατέρωνpatēr fathers G3962 Noun · genitive · plural · masculine
413× 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 father is a male parent, like Joseph, the father of Jesus, as mentioned in Matthew 2:22 and Luke 1:17. It can also refer to a forefather or ancestor, like Abraham, as seen in Matthew 3:9 and John 8:39.
Amplified meaning
ancestors, forefathers, those who came before you
Tyndale gloss
father
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πατήρ (patēr) means 'father' and can refer to a male parent, an ancestor, or even a metaphorical originator. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often in relation to God as the Father of believers, as well as in the context of respect for elders or teachers. The term can also denote a broader familial or ancestral connection, as seen in references to forefathers.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πατήρ, πατρός, -τρί, τέρα,

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

a father;

prop.,

of the male parent: Mt 2:22, Lk 1:17, Jo 4:53; anarth., He 12:7 (M, Pr., 82 f.); pl., of both parents (cl.), He 11:23; οἱ π. τ. σαρκός, He 12:9;

of a forefather or ancestor (in cl. usually in pl.; Hom., al.): Mt 3:9, Lk 1:73, Jo 8:39, al.; pl., Mt 23:30, 32, Lk 6:23, 26, Jo 4:20,

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

πατήρ [fr. τ. pa; lit. nourisher, protector, upholder ; (Curtius § 348)], πατρός, -rpl, -τέρα, voc. πάτερ [for which the nom. 6 πατήρ is five times used, and (anarthrous) πατήρ in Jn. xvii. 21 T Tr WH, 24 and 25 LT Tr WH; ef. B. § 129,5; W.§ 29,2; WH. App. p. 158], plur. πατέρες, πατέρων, πατράσι (Heb. i.1), πατέρας, 6,[fr. Hom. down], Sept. for 38, a father; 1. prop., i. q. generator or male ancestor, and either a. the nearest ancestor: Mt. ii. 22; iv. 21 sq.; viii. 21; Lk.i.17; Jn. iv.53; Acts vii. 143 1 Co. v. 1, etc.; of πατέρες τῆς σαρκός, fathers of the corporeal nature, natural fathers, (opp. to ὁ πατὴρ τῶν πνευμάτων), Heb. xii. 9; plur. of both parents, Heb. xi. 23 (not infreq. in prof. auth., ef. Delitzsch ad loc.); or Ὄ. a more remote ancestor, the founder of α race or tribe, progenitor of a people, forefather: 80 Abraham is called, Mt. iii. 9; Lk. i. 73; xvi. 24; Jn. viii.…

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

πατήρ. For the looser use οἵ πατήρ as a title or respect or honour, see P Oxy X. 1296 (iii/A.D.), where the writer

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πατήρ (patēr) — father.

πᾰτήρ, ὁ,

genitive and dative πατέρος, πατέρι in Epic dialect and Lyric poetry, Attic dialect πατρός, πατρί (which is also the commoner form in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; accusative always πατέρ; vocative πάτερ: plural πατέρες, πατέρας, πατέρων (πατρῶν only [Refs 8th c.BC+]; dative πατράσι [ᾰ] (cf. Sanskrit locative plural pitṛ[snull]u, no dative plural occurs in [Refs 8th c.BC+], late Epic dialect πατέρεσσι [Refs 4th c.AD+]:— father, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πατρὸς πατήρ grandfather,[Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὰ πρὸς πατρός by the father's side, [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.; especially of God, the father of the Israelites, [LXX]; father of men, [NT]; father of Jesus Christ, [Refs]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πατήρ

pater

apparently a primary word; a "father" (literally or figuratively, near

or more remote):--father, parent.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ

n.m.

father, Father, ancestor

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πατήρ acc. always πατέρα gen. pl. rarely πατρῶν a father, Hom., etc.; πατρὸς πατήρ a grandfather, Il.; τὰ πρὸς πατρός ῀ πατρόθεν, by the father's side, Hdt.

among the gods Zeus is called πατήρ, πατὴρ Ζεύς, π. ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Hom., Hes.; so Ζεὺς π. Aesch.; Ζεῦ πάτερ καὶ θεοί Ar.

a respectful mode of addressing elderly persons, Od.

metaph. the father of anything, Lat. auctor, π. ἀοιδᾶν Pind., etc.

in pl. fathers, i.e. forefathers, Hom.; ἐξ ἔτι πατρῶν as an inheritance from one's fathers, Od.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-GPM — Noun · genitive · plural · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-GPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
86%father
father86% · 359×fathers12% · 51×other renderings2% · 9×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject32%adverbial26%object21%predicate7%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 413 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,πρόςἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
θεόςGod, a godθάνατοςdeathἀδελφόςa brother
θεόςGod, a god
ἀπόArticle theἐν
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,προσεύχομαιI pray, pray forἸησοῦςJesus
σύ
ἐξομολογέωI consent fully,γράφωI writeπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
πατήρfathers413×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theἐν
σύ
Article theκαίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theκύριοςlord, Lord, mastΧριστόςanointed, the Me
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theμετά
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastπαιδίονa little child, πέμπωI send

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

Concordanceπατήρ · 413× in the New Testament
John Matthew Luke Acts Mark Romans 1 John Ephesians Hebrews 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 615 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.20c. AD 75–95

οὔτε γὰρ αὐτῷ ποτʼ ἂν γενέσθαι νοῦν ἀγαθὸν τῷ νομοθέτῃ ταύτης ἀπολειπομένῳ τῆς θέας, οὔτε τῶν γραφησομένων εἰς ἀρετῆς λόγον οὐδὲν ἀποβήσεσθαι τοῖς λαβοῦσιν, εἰ μὴ πρὸ παντὸς ἄλλου διδαχθεῖεν, ὅτι πάντων πατήρ τε καὶ δεσπότης ὁ θεὸς ὢν καὶ πάντα…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.7c. AD 100

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 6th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 31Pathyris105 BC

τὸ ἐπιβάλλον αὐτῷ μέρος δανείου οὗ ἔθετο Πατοῦς Ὥρου ὁ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Ταρεήσιος πατὴρ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἀρχείου χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς Ε καὶ τοὺς τούτων τόκους· ὃς

P.Grenf. 2 26Pathyris104 BC

Φαγώνι, τοῖς δ τοῦ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Ταρεήσιος τῆς Πατοῦτος τῆς Παοῦτος μητρὸς τοῦ προγεγραμμένου πατρὸς Ὥρου, ἀπέχειν καὶ μὴ ἐπικαλεῖν περὶ ὀφειλήματος συναλλαγμάτων Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλληνικῶν ἃ ἐξέτεισε Παοῦς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

Ψενμεγχείους ὡς ἐτῶν λε μέσου … πάντες τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Παθυρίτου τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν τῶι πατρὶ τοῦ Ὥρου γῆν ἀρουρῶν … ἐν τῶι ἄνω πεδίωι Κροκοδίλων πόλεως ἀπὸ σφραγῖδος μιᾶς

And you yourselves do fill up the measure of the fathers of you.
ὑμῶν.su of 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'.
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

Read the full entry →
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…

Read the full entry →
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+]…

Read the full entry →
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
σύof you.2892×
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 .

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