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Mark 15:3 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

BSAAndkai [also, in addition] were accusingkatēgoreō [charge, blame] Himautos [Jesus, the Messiah] theho chief priestsarchiereus [high-priest, top Jewish leaders] of many things.polus [numerous, several, actions, sins]

Word
Listen & take awayMark 15
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 3 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (polus) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Mark 15:3quick helps
In a sentenceThe chief priests began to accuse Jesus of various charges.
Who is speakingThe chief priests, the top Jewish leaders of the time.
Where we areDuring Jesus' trial before Pilate, as recorded in the surrounding verses.
The hard wordκατηγόρουν
Take awayThe accusations against Jesus were numerous.
5 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them › clause subject verbκατηγορέω 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 — Mark 15:3

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

Context — Jesus Before Pilategenerated

2So Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things.
4Then Pilate questioned Him again, “Have You no answer? Look how many charges they are bringing against You!”
5But to Pilate’s amazement, Jesus made no further reply.

Mark 15:3 shows the chief priests actively accusing Jesus during His trial. This moment is crucial as it highlights the opposition Jesus faced from the religious leaders, who were intent on bringing Him to condemnation. The context reveals their determination to present multiple charges against Him, reflecting their hostility and the serious nature of the accusations, as also seen in Matthew 27:12 and Luke 23:2-5.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Matthew 27:12And when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He gave no answer.
2Luke 23:2–5And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”
3John 18:29–31So Pilate went out to them and asked, “What accusation are you bringing against this man?”
4John 19:6–7As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
5Mark 15:5But to Pilate’s amazement, Jesus made no further reply.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 7 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word κατηγόρουν, katēgoreōgenerated

The verb κατηγορέω means to accuse or charge someone, often in a judicial context. It is formed from κατά (against) and ἀγορεύω (to speak), indicating a formal accusation.

In this verse, the imperfect tense indicates that the action was ongoing — the chief priests were in the process of bringing multiple charges against Jesus, emphasizing their persistent efforts to undermine Him.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

This study uses the Berean Standard Bible (BSB) as the reference point. The BSB states that the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things, which is consistent with the American Standard Version (ASV).

The King James Version (KJV) adds that Jesus answered nothing, while the Young's Literal Translation (YLT) emphasizes the ongoing nature of the accusations by stating they were accusing Him.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in the verse is κατηγόρουν, were accusing, which governs the subject and the objects of the sentence. The structure is straightforward: the chief priests (subject) were accusing (verb) Him (object) of many things (second object).

The sentence is composed of a main clause followed by a noun phrase that identifies the subject, demonstrating a clear and direct accusation.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In Mark 15:3, the Greek word πολλά (polus), meaning "of many things," corresponds to the Hebrew word רַב (rab), which conveys the idea of "much, many, or great." This choice of words in the Septuagint reflects a similar emphasis on the multitude of accusations being brought against Him.

The use of πολλά in the LXX aligns with the Hebrew context, suggesting not just a quantity but also the weight of the charges, which adds to the gravity of the situation presented in the narrative.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Mark 15:3 tells us that the chief priests began to accuse Jesus of many things during His trial before Pilate. This reflects the serious charges they were bringing against Him, which is a key part of the events leading to His crucifixion.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What were the chief priests accusing Jesus of?

The specific accusations are not detailed in this verse, but they were numerous and serious enough to warrant a trial before Pilate.

Why did the chief priests want to accuse Jesus?

They sought to eliminate Jesus as a threat to their authority and influence, as He challenged their teachings and gained a following.

What does the term 'chief priests' refer to?

The term refers to the high priests and other leading priests in the Jewish religious hierarchy, who held significant power and influence over the people.

How does this verse connect to the overall narrative of Jesus' trial?

This verse highlights the hostility Jesus faced from the religious leaders, setting the stage for the events that would lead to His crucifixion.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What might have motivated the chief priests to bring multiple accusations against Jesus?
  2. How do the actions of the chief priests reflect the challenges faced by Jesus during His ministry?
  3. In what ways can I recognize and respond to unjust accusations in my own life?
  4. How does understanding the context of Jesus' trial deepen my appreciation for His sacrifice?

Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse

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

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

And the chief priests accused him of many things,.... As that he was a magician, and a blasphemer, and gave out that he was the Son of God; and that he made himself a king, and even forbad the people

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

And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

Read Robert Jamieson on Mark 15 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) But he answered nothing.—Many MSS. omit these words, but the fact is implied in Pilate’s question, and in “Jesus yet answered nothing,” in Mark 15:5.

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

3. And the chief priests accused him] After the first examination Pilate came forth to the Jewish deputation, standing before the entrance of the palace, and declared his conviction of the innocence of the Accused (John 18:38; Luke 23:4). This was the signal for a furious clamour on the part of the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrim, and they accused our Lord of many things, of (1) “stirring up the people,” and (2) “teaching falsely throughout all Judæa, beginning from Galilee even to Jerusalem” (Luke 23:5).

Read Cambridge on Mark 15 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

For explanation of this chapter, we refer generally to the notes on Matthew 27.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Mark 15 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

The chief priests accused him of many things.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Then the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And the chief priests accused him of many things.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And the chief priests accused him of many things.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And the hie Priestes accused him of many things.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And the chief priests accused him urgently.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And the chief priests were accusing him of many things, [but he answered nothing.]

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And the chief priests were accusing Him of many things, [but He answered nothing.]

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

The chief priests were presenting many charges against Jesus.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And the chief priests accused him in many things.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

The chief priests kept on making many accusations against him.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And the chief priests said a number of things against him.

Word by word, the decisions they made

κατηγόρουνkatēgoreō were accusing G2723 2 different renderings
accuseBSB MSB NETB
were accusingLSV YLT
πολλά.¶polus of many things. G4183 2 different renderings
many thingsASV BSB DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NWB RVA WEB YLT
manyFBV ULB

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseverbκατηγόρουνwere accusingobjectαὐτοῦHimnoun phrase · subjectοἱtheἀρχιερεῖςchief priestssecond objectπολλάof many things

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 accusabant eum summi sacerdotes in multis.

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

ܘܐܟܠܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܩܪܨܘܗܝ ܪܒܝ ܟܗܢܐ ܒܣܓܝܐܬܐ

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 κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ κατηγόρουν αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς πολλά.¶

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.

Mark 15:3καίAndAndκαίκατηγορέωwere accusiwere accusingκατηγορέωαὐτόςHimHimαὐτόςthetheἀρχιερεύςchief prieschief priestsἀρχιερεύςπολύςof many thiof many things.πολύςκατήγοροςn.m. a pron.m. a prosecutκατήγοροςἀρχήn.f. rulern.f. ruler, begἀρχήἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦθεραπεύωv. I care v. I care for, θεραπεύωἄρχωv. I beginv. I beginἄρχωἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωΚαϊάφαςn.m. Caiapn.m. CaiaphasΚαϊάφαςαὐλήn.f. courtn.f. court-yardαὐλήπλῆθοςn.n. a muln.n. a multitudπλῆθοςπάσχωv. I am acv. I am acted uπάσχω
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 Mark 15:3

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

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

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

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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 were accusing Him the chief priests of many things.
κατηγόρουνkatēgoreō were accusing G2723 Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · plural
23× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To accuse someone of doing something wrong, like in Romans 2:15 where people accuse themselves or in John 5:45 where Jesus is accused by Moses.
Amplified meaning
charge, blame
Tyndale gloss
to accuse
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κατηγορέω is a verb meaning to accuse or make an accusation, often in a judicial context. It is derived from κατά (against) and ἀγορεύω (to speak). The New Testament uses it in various forms, including in Matthew 12:10 and Acts 24:2, where it refers to bringing charges against someone. There is some variation in how the lexicons describe its grammatical constructions, particularly regarding the cases used with the verb.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κατηγορέω, -ῶ

(< κατά, ἀγορεύω),

[in LXX: Da LXX 6:5(6), I Mac 7:6, 25, II Mac 4:47 10:13, 21, IV Mac 9:14*;]

to make accusation, accuse,

in general: absol., Ro 2:15; c. gen. pers. (cl., WM, 254), Jo 5:45; irreg. c. acc. pers., Re 12:10;

before a judge: absol., Ac 24:2, 19; c. gen. pers., Mt 12:10, Mk 3:2, Lk 6:7 11:54 (WH, txt., R, om.), 23:2, 10, Jo 8:[6], Ac 25:5 28:19; id. c. acc. rei (cl., but v. WM, 254), Mk 15:3, 4; c. gen. rei (Dem.),

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

κατηγορέω, -@; impf. κατηγόρουν ; fut. κατηγορήσω; 1 aor. κατηγόρησα ; pres. pass. κατηγοροῦμαι ; (κατά and ἀγορεύω, prop. to speak against [cf. κατά, III. 7] in court, in the assembly of the people), to accuse ; a. before a judge: absol. [to make accusation], Acts xxiv. 2, 19; τινός, to accuse one, Mt. xii. 10; Mk. iii. 2; Lk. vi. 7 T Trtxt. WI; xi.54 RL Trbr.; xxiii. 2,10; Jn. viii. 6; Acts xxv. 5; xxviii. 19; with the addition of a gen. of the thing of which 9ne is accused (as Dem. 515 fin.): Acts xxiv. 8; xxv. 11, (unless it be thought preferable to regard the relative in these instances as in the gen. by attraction [so B. § 132, 16 fin.], since the com. constr. in Grk. authors is κατήγ. ti τινος, cf. Matthiae § 370 Anm. 2 p. 849 sq., and § 378 p. 859; ef. W. § 80, 9 a.); τινὸς περί τινος, Acts xxiv. 13 (Thue. 8, 85; Xen. Hell. 1, 7, 2); w. gen. of pers. and ace. of the thing, Mk.…

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

κατηγορέω 9717 (A.D, 180-192) οὐ κατασχε[θ]ήσομαι τῇ [ὑ]ποσχέσει, “*T will not be bound by my promise " (Edd.), P Oxy ΠῚ. 532° (ii/A.D.) ὑπὸ κακοῦ συνειδότος κατεχόμενος, ‘being oppressed by an evil conscience’’ (Edd.), P Ryl IT. 11738 (A.D. 269) μὴ κατέχεσθαι τοῖς ἐκείνων ὀφε[ιλήμασι]ν, “ not be held responsible for their debts” (Edd.), and PSI IV. 299% (iii/A.D.) κατεσχέθην νόσῳ, “1 was held fast by disease” (cf. [Jn] 54). In A/zchel 13251 (iv-ii/B.c.) the verb is used of binding by a curse—Maviv καταδῶ καὶ κατέχω. (4) The verb is also = “"" lay hands on,” ‘‘ impress” for some public duty, as in P Giss I. 119 (A.p. 118) κατεσχέτί = 0)nv ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπιτρόπου ὥστε εἱερατεύειν τοῦ χειρεισμοῦ τῶν κυβερνητ(ῶν), and P Lond 342? (a.p. 185) (=II. p. 174) where a charge is laid against one Sempronius of attempting to lay hands on the relatives of the petitioner as boatoverseers—mpopaor τοῦ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κατηγορέω (katēgoreō) — to accuse.

κατηγορ-έω,

speak against, especially before judges, accuse, opposed to ἀπολογέομαι, with genitive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. τινὸς πρὸς τὴν πόλιν denounce him publicly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατηγόρεις [αὐτῶν] ὡς λέγοιεν you accused them of saying, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κ. τινὸς ὅτι[Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. κ. τί τινος bring as a charge against a person, accuse him of it, δείν᾽ ἔπη μου [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with infinitive, κ. τινὸς παθεῖν τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. with accusative of things only, allege in accusation, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be brought as an accusation against, κατηγορεῖτο τοὐπίκλημα τοῦτό μο; [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ πρῶτά μου ψευδῆ -ημένα the first false charges brought against me, [Refs 5th c.BC+]infinitive, σφέων..…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κατηγορέω

kategoreo

from 2725; to be a plaintiff, i.e. to charge with some

offence:--accuse, object.

see GREEK for 2725

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κατηγορέω

v.

I accuse, charge, prosecute

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κατηγορέω katēgoreō 23x

to speak against, accuse, Mt. 12:10; 27:12; Jn. 5:45

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

κατηγορέω ἀγορεύω to speak against, to accuse, τινός Hdt.; κατά τινος Xen.

κ. τί τινος, to state or bring as a charge against a person, accuse him of it, Hdt., Soph., etc.

c. acc. rei only, to allege in accusation, allege, Lat. objicere, Eur., Xen., etc.:—Pass. to be brought as an accusation against, Soph., Thuc., etc.:—impers., c. inf., σφέων κατηγόρητο μηδίζειν a charge had been brought against them that they favoured the Medes, Hdt.; so, κατηγορεῖταί τινος ὡς βαρβαρίζει Xen.

absol. to be an accuser, appear as prosecutor, Ar., Plat.

to signify, indicate, prove, Lat. arguo, c. acc. rei, τι Xen.:c. gen. to tell of, Aesch.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-IAI-3P — Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · plural
imperfect active indicative — a continuing action in past time.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-IAI-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Imperfect Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
25%accuse
accuse25% · 6×accusing25% · 6×they may accuse13% · 3×he is accused4% · 1×they accuse4% · 1×make accusation4% · 1×they should accuse4% · 1×being accused4% · 1×other renderings17% · 4×

24 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 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
verb96%object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 23 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
ἐνεἰμίI am, existDisj
ἵναin order that, so th
θεραπεύωI care for, atteαὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
πάρειμιI am present, am
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becὅς
σύ
πόσος
κατηγορέωwere accusing23×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theὑπόλέγωI say, speak
κατά
αὐτόςπρόσωπονthe face, counte
σύ
πρόςΜωϋσῆςMoses
ἐγώ
οὐδείςno one, none, no
ὑπό
Article the

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

Concordanceκατηγορέω · 23× in the New Testament
Acts Luke John Mark Matthew Revelation Romans
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.67c. AD 40

7), ᾧ τὴν Αἰθιόπισσαν, τὴν ἀμετάβλητον καὶ κατακορῆ γνώμην, αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡρμόσατο, τολμᾷ καταλαλεῖν Μωυσῆ καὶ κατηγορεῖν, ἐφ’ ᾧ ὤφειλεν ἐπαινεῖσθαι (ibid.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.314c. AD 75–95

Λάβανος δὲ τοιαύτης αὐτῷ προρρήσεως γεγενημένης μεθʼ ἡμέραν τὸν Ἰάκωβον εἰς λόγους προκαλεσάμενος καὶ δηλώσας αὐτῷ τὸ ὄναρ, ἐπεὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἦλθε πεισθείς, ἤρξατο κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ προφέρων, ὅτι καὶ πένητα αὐτὸν ἐλθόντα πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ πάντων ἄπορον…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 5th c. AD
P.Phil. 4ArsinoitesAD 141

αὐτοῦ καὶ Σεραπίωνος ἐπικαλουμένου Δείου τούς τε ὄντας κατηγόρους καὶ εἴ τινες ἄλλοι βούλονται κατηγορεῖν, πέμψον παραχρῆμα εἰς ἐμέ. ἐρρῶσθαί σε θέλω. ἔτους κβ Ἀθὺρ ιγ. πρὸς ἃς ἀντέγραψα·

ου οὔτε ἐγγ … … μενούσης μου ἀπολογεῖσθαι … … … αγείνεται ὁ κατηγορῶν, ὁ δ’ οἰνο … … ἄπρατος γενέσθαι, αὐτὴ κατ … … ενη ἔτι καὶ

Γάλβα Αὐτοκράτορος Σεβαστοῦ Μεχεὶρ δ. ἀπὸ εἰσδόσεως ἀναγινωσκομεν … ξεννον δύο και … λαου κατηγόρων διʼ ἧς προσήγγειλαν τοὺς Πτολεμαιέων βουλευτὰς … … προτεταγμένην … νεωκορίαν πεπρακέναι ταλάντων δ.

And were accusing Him the chief priests of many things.
αὐτοῦautos Him G846 Personal pronoun · genitive · singular · masculine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Amplified meaning
Jesus, the Messiah
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-GSM — Personal pronoun · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-GSM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And were accusing Him the chief priests of many things.
οἱho the G3588 Article · nominative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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

T-NPM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
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 were accusing Him the chief priests of many things.
ἀρχιερεῖςarchiereus chief priests G749 Noun · nominative · plural · masculine
122× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The high-priest was a top Jewish leader, and Jesus is also called the high-priest in Hebrews 2:17 and 3:1. This term refers to the main priest in the Jewish temple. In the Bible, it is used in Mark 2:26 and 14:47.
Amplified meaning
high-priest, top Jewish leaders
Tyndale gloss
high-priest
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀρχιερεύς (i.e., *archiereus*) means 'high priest' or 'chief priest.' It is composed of elements meaning 'chief' and 'priest.' The term appears in the New Testament, notably in references to the high priestly role in Jewish tradition, including Christ's role as high priest. The plural form refers to chief priests, including former high priests and their families.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀρχ-ιερεύς, -έως, ὁ,

[in LXX for כֹּהֵן, הַגָּדוֹל כּ״, הָרֹאשׁ כּ״;]

high-priest: Mk 2:26 14:47, al.; of Christ: He 2:17 3:1, al.

In pl., chief priests, including ex-high-priests and members of high-priestly families: Mt 2:4, Mk 8:31, al. (Cremer, 294; DCG, i, 297 f.; MM, s.v.).

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

ἀρχ-ιερεύς, -έως, 6, chief priest, high-priest. 1. He who above a others was honored with the title of priest, the chief of the priests, 917137 j3 (Lev. xxi. 10; Num. xxxv. 25, [later UNI 7113, 2 K. xxv. 18; 2 Chr. xix. 11, εἴς. }) : Mt. xxvi. 3, and often in the Gospels, the Acts, and the Ep. to the Heb. It was lawful for him to perform the common duties of the priesthood; but his chief duty was, once a year on the day of atonement, to enter the Holy of holies (from which the other priests were excluded) and offer sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people (Lev. xvi.; Heb. ix. 7, 25), and to preside over the Sanhedrin, or supreme Council, when convened for judicial deliberations (Mt. xxvi. 3; Acts xxii. ὃ; xxiii. 2). According to the Mosaic law no one could aspire to the high-priesthood unless he were of the tribe of Aaron, and descended moreover from a high-priestly family…

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

ἀρχιερεύς. P Leid G4 (end of ii/B.c.) τοῖς ἐπιστάταις τῶν ἱερ[ῶ]ν καὶ ἀρχιερεῦσι seems to define the term in Egypt, but it had also more special use. P Tebt II. 315% (ii/a.p.) τὸν ἀπιθοῦντα μετὰ φρουρᾶς τῷ ἀρχιερῖ πέμπιν is indeterminate. But in 24. 2042, according to Wilcken and the editors, the same official, known as ἀρχιερεὺς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας καὶ Αἰγύπτου πάσης, is addressed as idiologus, ‘‘administrator of the Private accounts’’ (Edd.). Prezszgke 305° has υἱοῦ Τρήσεως ἀρχιερέως (A.D. 210), in a dedication. AZ/ichel 1231 (early i/p.c.) ᾿Αρχιερεὺς μέ[γ]ας rededicates to Ζεὺς "OdPros (of Olba in Cilicia) buildings once constructed by Seleucus Nicator: we are reminded of the phrase in Heb 414. ᾿Αρχιερεύς and ἀρχιερεὺς μέγιστος were the regular terms in the East for translating the title pov/t/ex maximus, borne by the Emperors: see ZA, p. 369 f., where Deissmann refers to the evidence from…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus) — high-priest.

ἀρχῐερ-εύς, έως, ὁ:

Ionic dialect ἀρχῐέρεως, εω, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:— arch-priest, chief-priest, [same places], frequently in Inscrr., νήσου[Refs 1st c.AD+], etc.:—at Rome, = pontifex, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; ἀ. μέγιστος, = pontifex maximus, [Refs]:—at Jerusalem, high-priest, [LXX+NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀρχιερεύς

archiereus

from 746 and 2409; the high-priest (literally, of the Jews, typically,

Christ); by extension a chief priest:--chief (high) priest, chief of

the priests.

see GREEK for 746

see GREEK for 2409

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀρχιερεύς, έως, ὁ

n.m.

high priest, chief priest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀρχιερεύς archiereus 122x

a high-priest, chief-priest

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀρχιερεύς an arch-priest, chief-priest, Hdt.:— at Rome, the Pontifex Maximus, Plut.:—at Jerusalem, the high-priest, NTest.

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

N-NPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- First notice of persons acting as

Ge 4:3,4

- During patriarchal age heads of families acted as

Ge 8:20; 12:8; 35:7

- After the exodus young men (first-born) deputed to act as

Ex 24:5; 19:22

- The sons of Aaron appointed as, by perpetual statute

Ex 29:9; 40:15

- All except seed of Aaron excluded from being

Nu 3:10; 16:40; 18:7

- Sanctified by God for the office

Ex 29:44

- Publicly consecrated

Ex 28:3; Nu 3:3

- CEREMONIES AT CONSECRATION OF

. Washing in water

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
53%chief priests
chief priests53% · 65×high priest44% · 54×other renderings3% · 4×

123 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 6 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject54%adverbial22%object12%predicate6%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 122 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
αὐτόςδέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the
καίand, even, also, nam
πρεσβύτεροςelderἀπόστολοςan apostle, a me
εἰμίI am, exist
ὅςὅτιthat, since, bec
οὖνtherefore, then
Article theἔχωI have, hold, po
ἀρχιερεύςchief priests122×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theγραμματεύςa scribe, town-cπρεσβύτεροςelder
Article the
λέγωI say, speakδοῦλος (II)δέbut, on the othe
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτός
διαρρήγνυμιI tear asunder
Article the
ἐμπαίζωI mock
μετάπρός

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

Concordanceἀρχιερεύς · 122× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Mark John Hebrews Luke

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2.56c. AD 40

τούτου χάριν ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται ἐν τῷ ποδήρει (cf.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.11c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν ἀρχιερέων οὐδενὸς ἀρετῇ δεύτερος Ἐλεάζαρος τῷ προειρημένῳ βασιλεῖ ταύτης ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς ὠφελείας οὐκ ἐφθόνησε πάντως ἀντειπὼν ἄν, εἰ μὴ πάτριον ἦν ἡμῖν τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν τῶν καλῶν ἀπόρρητον.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 36.1c. AD 96

Αὕτη ἡ ὁδός, ἀγαπητοί, ἐν ᾖ εὕρομεν τὸ σωτήριον ἡμῶν, Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν ἀρχιερέα τῶν προσφορῶν ἡμῶν, τὸν προστάτην καὶ βοηθὸν τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Mert. 1 11Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 39–AD 40

Γαίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ ἀρχιερεῖ Γαίῳ Ἰουλίῳ Ἀσκλᾷ ἐξηγητῇ καὶ στρατηγῶι παρὰ Ἁρπαήσιος τοῦ Δικράνους τῶν ἀπὸ Φιλαδελφείας γεωργοῦ

P.Ryl. 2 149Euhemeria (ArsinoitesAD 39

Γαίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ ἀρχιερεῖ Γαίωι Ἰουλίωι Ἀσκλᾶι ἐξηγητῇ καὶ στρατηγῶι παρὰ Πεθεῦτος πρεσβυτέρου τοῦ Πεναῦτος δημοσίου γεωργοῦ τῶν

P. Oslo 3 78 [49360]ArsinoitesAD 136

ctr Αὐτοκράτωρ Καῖσαρ, θεοῦ Τραϊανοῦ Παρθικοῦ υἱός, θεοῦ Νέρουα υἱωνός, Τραιανὸς Ἁδριανὸς Σεβαστός, ἀρχιερεὺς μέγιστος, δημαρχικῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ κ, αὐτοκράτωρ τὸ β, ὕπατος τὸ γ, πατὴρ πατρίδος λέγει·

And were accusing Him the chief priests of many things.
πολλά.¶polus of many things. G4183 Adjective · accusative · plural · neuter
413× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means much or many, and is used to describe things like large crowds, as in Mark 5:24, or a great amount of time, as in Matthew 25:19. It emphasizes the magnitude of something.
Amplified meaning
numerous, several, actions, sins
Tyndale gloss
much
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πολύς (polus) means much or many, covering a range of contexts from quantity to degree and value. It appears as an adjective and can also function as a noun or adverb. In the New Testament, it is used to describe large numbers of people or things, as seen in verses like Matthew 9:37 and John 6:10. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ,

[in LXX chiefly for רַב and cognate forms;]

as adj., much, many, great, of number, space, degree, value, time, etc.: ἀριθμός, Ac 11:21; ὄχλος, Mk 5:24; θερισμός, Mt 9:37; χόρτος, Jo 6:10; χρόνος, Mt 25:19; γογγυσμός, Jo 7:12; πόνος, Col 4:13; δόξα, Mt 24:30; σιγή, Ac 21:40; pl., προφῆται, Mt 13:17; ὄχλοι, Mt 4:25; δαιμόνια, Read the full entry →

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

πολύς, πολλή (fr. an older form πολλός, found in Hom., Hes., Pind.), πολύ; [(cf. Curtius § 375)]; Sept. chiefly for 39; much; used a. of multitude, number, etc., many, numerous, great: ἀριθμός, Acts xi. 21; λαός, Acts xviii. 10; ὄχλος, Mk. v. 24; vi. 34; [viii.1 LT Tr WH]; Lk. vii. 11; viii. 4; Jn. vi. 2,5; Rev. vii. 9; xix. 6, etc.; πλῆθος, Mk. iii. 7sq.; Lk. v. 6; Acts xiv. 1, ete.; 1. q. abundant, plenteous [A. V. often much], καρπός, Jn. xii. 24; xv. 5,8; θερισμός, (the harvest to be gathered), Mt. ix. 37; Lk. x. 2; γῆ, Mt. xiii. 5; Mk. iv. 5; χόρτος, Jn. vi. 10; οἶνος, 1 Tim. iii. 8; plur. πολλοὶ τελῶναι, Mt. ix. 10; Mk. ii. 15; πολλοὶ προφῆται, Mt. xiii. 17; Lk. x. 24; σοφοί, 1 Co. i. 26; πατέρες, 1 Co. iv. 15; δυνάμεις, Mt. vii. 22; xiii. 58, ete.; ὄχλοι, Mt. iv. 25; viii. 1; xii. 15 [but here L TWH om. Trbr. ὄχ.7; Lk. v. 15, ete.; δαιμόνια, Mk.i. 34; and in many otherexx.; with…

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

πολύς, “much,” plur. ‘‘many’’: P Petr I. 2905 (iii/B.c.) χάρις τοῖς θεοῖς πολλὴ εἰ ὑγιαίνεις, ‘‘much thanks to the gods if you are well,” P Ryl II. 2435 (ii/A.D.) τοῦτο οὐ μόνον ἡμεῖν yevapevov ἀλλὰ Kal πολλοῖς, ‘this has happened not to us only but to many ” (Edd.), and 16. 238* (A.p. 262) διὰ πολλὰς χρείας, “for various needs’ (Edd.). The word is very conimon in epistolary greetings (πολλὰ χαίρειν : exx. from B.C. 118 to ili/iv A.D. in Exler Eprstolography p. 27 f.) and in rhetorical prefaces (Sirach proem.), and consequently, as Cadbury suggests (in Jackson and Lake Beginnings of Christianity Part I. Vol. ii. p. 492 f.), πολλοί must not be pressed to mean “ἡ Ac 243, 10, For the adverbial πολλά, which ‘‘ lies between πολύ and πολλάκις : it is ‘much’ with the idea of plurality and repetition introduced’’ (Hort ad Jas 32), cf. P Heid 622 (iv/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 127) πολλὰ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πολύς (polus) — much.

πολύς,

Attic dialect πολλή, πολ; genitive πολλοῦ, ῆς, ou=; dative πολλῷ, ῇ, ; accusative πολύν, πολλήν, πολύ:—Ionic dialect πολλός [Refs 6th c.BC+], πολλή, πολλόν [Refs 6th c.BC+]; also in Trag., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; accusative πολλόν, πολλήν, πολλόν: [Refs 5th c.BC+] uses the Ionic dialect forms, but codices have πολύν [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—both sets of forms are found in Epic dialect, also genitive singular πολέος [Refs 8th c.BC+], once contraction πολεῖς [Refs]; dative πολέσι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; accusative πολέας (trisyllable) [Refs 8th c.BC+] (frequently with variant{πολεῖς} [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in later Epic dialect πολέες is used as feminine, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—Epic dialect also have πουλύς (once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; these forms are found in codices of [Refs 5th c.BC+] — Lyric poetry and Trag. (Lyric poetry) sometimes use Epic dialect forms, dative singular…

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ

Adj

much, many, often

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πολύς polys 416x

great in magnitude or quantity, much, large, Mt. 13:5; Jn. 3:23; 15:8; pl. many, Mt. 3:7; in time, long, Mt. 25:19; Mk. 6:35; Jn. 5:6; οἱ πολλοί, the many, the mass, Rom. 5:15; 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:33; τὸ πολύ, much, 2 Cor. 8:15; πολύ, as an adv., much, greatly, Mk. 12:27; Lk. 7:47; of…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πολύς the ionic declension πολλός, ή, όν is retained by the attic in all cases, except the nom. and acc. masc. and neut. Hom. uses both ionic and attic forms. of Number, many, opp. to ὀλίγος, Hom., etc.;— with nouns of multitude, πουλὺς ὅμιλος Od.; πολλὸν πλῆθος Hdt., etc.:—also of anything often repeated, πολλὸν ἦν τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος id. Hdt.; πολλὸς αἰνεόμενος id. Hdt.; τούτῳ πολλῷ χρήσεται τῷ λόγῳ often, Dem.

of Size, Degree, Force, much, mighty, great, Il., etc.; π. ὕπνος deep sleep, Od.; π. ὑμέναιος a loud song, Il., etc.:—rarely of a single person, μέγας καὶ πολλὸς ἐγένεο Hdt.; ἢν πολλῇ ῥυῇ if she flow with full stream, metaph. from a river, Eur.; πολλῷ ῥέοντι Dem.; from the wind, πολὺς ἔπνει was blowing strong, id. Dem.; often with a Partic., πολλὸς ἦν λισσόμενος…

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

A-APN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%many
many52% · 196×great17% · 66×much17% · 65×many things6% · 21×other renderings6% · 23×other renderings2% · 7×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject36%adverbial29%object22%predicate10%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 354 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,ὅςεἰς
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἀπώλειαdestruction, ruiἀπέρχομαιI come or go awa
ὄχλοςa crowd
αὐτόςὁράωI see, look uponκαίand, even, also,
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theὁράωI see, look uponμετά
αὐτός
παρακαλέωI summon, entreaἀκολουθέωI accompany, attλαλέωI speak, say
πολύςof many things.413×
what comes after →
Article the
δέbut, on the otheπρῶτοςfirst, beforeσυναναβαίνωI go up with
καίand, even, also, nam
ὡςas, like as, howθεραπεύωI care for, atteεὐθέωςimmediately, soo
δέbut, on the other ha
εἰμίI am, existἐκτέραςa wonder, porten
γάρfor
ἔρχομαιI come, goεἰμίI am, existπάσχωI am acted upon,
μᾶλλονmore, rather
Article theκράζωI cry aloud, shrσύ

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

Concordanceπολύς · 413× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Mark Matthew John 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation Hebrews 1 Timothy 1 Thessalonians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 335 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome 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 1.1c. AD 75–95

Τοῖς τὰς ἱστορίας συγγράφειν βουλομένοις οὐ μίαν οὐδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁρῶ τῆς σπουδῆς γινομένην αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς καὶ πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων διαφερούσας.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 38Pathyrites171 BC

τῶι προγεγραμμένωι ἱερῶι, ὁ ἐνκεκλημένος προσπηδήσας μοι ἐνώπιόν τινων ἔτυπτεν ἧι εἶχεν ῥάβδωι πληγαῖς πλειόσιν εἰς τὸ τυχὸν μέρος τοῦ σώματός μου. ὅ τε περιεβλήμην, ὀθόνιον κατέρηξεν, περὶ ὦν

P.Grenf. 1 42Diospolis Parva170 BC–169 BC

νυνὶ παρεφεδρευόντων ἐν Διὸς πόλει τῆι μικρᾶι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῶι ἐν Πτολεμαίδι ὑπαίθρωι. πολλὰς χρείας μισθοφόρων ἱππέων παρεσχημένων ἡμῶν ἤδη πολλάκις κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον καὶ κινδύνους μεγάλους

μέρους ἡμίσους ἀπὸ ἐδάφους ἀμπελῶνος ἀρουρῶν β ἡμίσους ἢ ὅσαν ἂν ἦι ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον καὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ ἀπηλιώτου αὐτοῦ παραδείσου καὶ φρεάτων καὶ ἐποικίων καὶ ληνῶνος καὶ γῆς

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

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