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Mark 8:5 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

BSAAndkai He was askingeperōtaō them;autos How manyposos [inquiring about the quantity] have youechō [possess or hold] loaves?artos [bread or food] <the>ho Andde they said;legō Seven.hepta

Word
Listen & take awayMark 8
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 5 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 (hepta) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Mark 8:5quick helps
In a sentenceJesus asks His disciples how many loaves they have, and they reply that they have seven.
Who is speakingJesus is asking the question, and the disciples respond.
Where we areThis moment occurs during the feeding of the four thousand, as described in Mark 8:1-10.
The hard wordἠρώτα
Take awayJesus is inquiring about their resources before performing a miracle.
4 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Whedon & more — read them › clause subject verbἐρωτάω 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 8:5

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

Context — The Feeding of the Four Thousandgenerated

4His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”
5“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.
6And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.
7They also had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed them and ordered that these be set before them as well.

Mark 8:5 occurs in a narrative where Jesus is addressing His disciples amidst a crowd of people. They are in a desolate place, and the disciples express concern about feeding the multitude. Jesus' question about the loaves sets the stage for the miracle that follows, demonstrating His awareness of their needs and His power to provide.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Mark 6:38“Go and see how many loaves you have,” He told them. And after checking, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
2Matthew 14:15–17When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
3Matthew 15:34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
4Luke 9:13But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

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


The Key Word ἠρώτα, eperōtaōgenerated

The verb ἐρωτάω (eperōtaō) means 'to ask' and is used in the context of seeking information or clarification. In this instance, it is in the imperfect tense, indicating that Jesus was in the process of asking the question.

This word can also convey a sense of beseeching or entreating, as seen in other New Testament passages. The use of this verb here emphasizes the personal and direct nature of Jesus' inquiry to His disciples.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The Berean Standard Bible renders the verse as, “How many loaves do you have?” with a straightforward inquiry. This is mirrored in the KJV and ASV, which both use similar phrasing.

The BBE translates the question as, “How much bread have you?” which shifts the focus slightly from loaves to bread in general. The translations agree on the essential meaning of Jesus' inquiry.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἠρώτα, He was asking, which governs the entire sentence. The structure includes an object, αὐτούς (them), and a subordinate clause that provides the content of the inquiry.

The second part of the verse features a response from the disciples, with εἶπαν (they said) as the verb, followed by the object ἑπτά (seven). This clear division of roles highlights the interaction between Jesus and His disciples.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The verb ἠρώτα (eperōtaō), meaning 'He was asking', is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew שָׁאַל (sha'al), which also means 'ask, inquire'. This connection emphasizes the act of inquiry that is central to the passage.

The noun ἄρτους; (artos), meaning 'loaves?', corresponds to the Hebrew לֶ֫חֶם (lechem), which means 'bread, food'. This choice highlights the physical sustenance being discussed, while ἑπτά (hepta), meaning 'Seven', translates the Hebrew שֶׁ֫בַע (sheva'), reinforcing the specific quantity of loaves available in the context of the miracle being performed.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Mark 8:5 shows Jesus asking His disciples how many loaves of bread they have. They respond that they have seven loaves. This simple exchange sets the stage for the miracle of feeding the multitude.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Jesus mean by asking how many loaves they have?

Jesus is assessing the resources available to feed the large crowd, demonstrating His concern for their physical needs.

Why does the Gospel mention the number of loaves?

The number of loaves is significant as it highlights the limited resources available before Jesus performs the miracle of multiplication.

How does this verse connect to the broader narrative of Jesus' miracles?

This inquiry precedes the miracle of feeding the four thousand, illustrating Jesus' ability to provide abundantly even from small beginnings.

What can we learn from the disciples' response?

The disciples' response reflects their limited understanding of Jesus' power, which serves as a reminder of the importance of faith in God's provision.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I recognize God's provision in my life, even when resources seem limited?
  2. In what ways can I respond to Jesus' inquiries about my own resources and abilities?
  3. How does this passage encourage me to trust in God's ability to provide for my needs?
  4. What steps can I take to share what I have with others, knowing that God can multiply it?

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

Bede comments on this passage, interpreting the significance of the seven loaves in the context of the New Testament's teachings.

BedeOn the Gospel of Mark c. 673–735
And he asked them: How many loaves do you have? They said: Seven. The seven loaves are well placed in the mystery of the New Testament, in which the septiform grace of the Holy Spirit, more fully revealed to all the faithful,
Early Church Fathers on Mark 8 →

Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Mark 8:5 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And he asked them, how many loaves have ye?.... [See comments on Matthew 15:34]; and they said, seven. Matthew adds, "and a few little fishes", which are here afterwards mentioned.

Read John Gill on Mark 8 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

Read Robert Jamieson on Mark 8 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. Ver. 5.

Read John Trapp on Mark 8 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

§ 69. — THE FEEDING THE FOUR , Mark 8:1-9.(See notes on Matthew 15:32-38.)

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Mark 8 →

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

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.

NETBNew English Translation2006

He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.”

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And hee asked them, Howe many loaues haue ye? And they said, Seuen.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And he was questioning them, 'How many loaves have ye?' and they said, 'Seven.'

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And He was questioning them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And he asked them: How many loaves have ye? Who said: Seven.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Seven,” they replied.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And he put the question, How much bread have you? And they said, Seven cakes.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἠρώταeperōtaō He was asking G2065 2 different renderings
he askedASV DBY DRA FBV KJV NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
askedBSB GNV MSB
ἔχετεechō have you G2192 3 different renderings
haveASV DBY DRA KJV NWB RVA YLT
you haveBSB FBV LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
have youBBE
ἄρτους;artos loaves? G740 2 different renderings
loavesASV BSB DBY DRA FBV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
breadBBE
εἶπαν·legō they said; G2036 2 different renderings
they saidASV BBE DBY GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
saidDRA

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseverbἠρώταHe was askingobjectαὐτούςthemclausenoun phrase · objectΠόσουςHow manyἄρτουςloavesverbἔχετεhave youclauseδὲAndclausesubjectοἱ-verbεἶπανthey saidclauseobjectἙπτάSeven

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 interrogavit eos : Quot panes habetis ? Qui dixerunt : Septem.

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

ܘܫܐܠ ܐܢܘܢ ܗܘ ܟܡܐ ܠܚܡܝܢ ܐܝܬ ܠܟܘܢ ܐܡܪܝܢ ܠܗ ܫܒܥܐ

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 ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ αὐτούς· πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· ἑπτά.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

WordEditions carrying itMissing from
ἠρώτα He was askingNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz

Apparatus — SBL Greek New Testament, CC BY 4.0


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 8:5καίAndAndκαίἐρωτάωHe was askiHe was askingἐρωτάωαὐτόςthem;them;αὐτόςπόσοςHow manyHow manyπόσοςἔχωhave youhave youἔχωἄρτοςloaves?loaves?ἄρτος<the><the>δέAndAndδέειπονthey said;they said;ειπονἑπτάSeven.Seven.ἑπτάεἶπονv. I say, v. I say, speakεἶποναἴρωv. I raisev. I raise, lifαἴρωἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦὅςRel.pr. whRel.pr. who, whὅςἐπιμένωv. I remaiv. I remain, taἐπιμένωὅπωςAdv how, iAdv how, in ordὅπωςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωπεντακισχίλιοιAdj five tAdj five thousaπεντακισχίλιοικόφινοςn.m. a larn.m. a large baκόφινοςχρείαn.f. need,n.f. need, neceχρείακακῶςAdv badly,Adv badly, evilκακῶςκλάωv. I breakv. I breakκλάωπέντεIndec.num.Indec.num. fiveπέντεπληγήn.f. a blon.f. a blow, stπληγήἀστήρn.m. a stan.m. a starἀστήρ
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 8:5

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

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

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
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.
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 He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
ἠρώταeperōtaō He was asking G2065 Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · singular
63× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Mark than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To ask or request something, used in the Bible when Jesus is questioned by others, like in Luke 19:31 and John 8:7. It can also mean to pray or beseech. The KJV translates it as ask, beseech, or pray.
Tyndale gloss
to ask
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐρωτάω (i.e., *erōtaō*) means to ask or question. It is used in various contexts in the New Testament, often indicating a request or inquiry, as seen in verses like Luke 19:31 and John 14:16. The word can also imply a sense of beseeching or entreating, similar to αἰτέω (i.e., *aiteō*). There is a noted distinction between these two terms in their usage, particularly in John 16:23.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — αἰτέω, ἐρωτάω from a scan

TueEse words are often rendered by our Translators as though they covered the same spaces of meaning, the one as the other; nor can we object to their rendering, in numerous instances, αἰτεῖν and ἐρωτᾶν alike by our English ‘to ask.’ Yet sometimes they have a little marred the perspicuity of their translation by not varying their word, where the original has shown them the way. For example, the obliteration at John xvi. 23 of the distinction between αἰτεῖν and ἐρωτᾶν might easily suggest a wrong interpretation of the verse,—as though its two clauses were in near connexion, and direct antithesis,—being indeed in none. In our Version we read: ‘In that day ye shall ask Me nothing [ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε οὐδέν]. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask [ὅσα dv αἰτήσητε) the Father in my name, He will give it you.” Now every one competent to judge is agreed, that “ ye shall ask” of…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐρωτάω, -ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for שָׁאַל ;]

to ask, question (cl.): absol., Lk 19:31 22:68, Jo 8:7 c. acc pers., Jo 9:21 16:19, 30 18:21; seq. λέγων, Mt 16:13, Lk 23:3, Jo 1:19, 21 5:12 9:19 16:5; c. dupl. acc (WM, § 32, 4a), Mt 21:24, Mk 4:10, Lk 20:3, Jo 16:23 (M, Pr., 66n); c. acc pers., seq. περί, Lk 9:45, Jo 18:19.

In late Gk. (Milligan, NTD, 51; not, as Cremer, 716, Thayer, s.v., a "Hebraism"), = αἰτέω (q.v.), to ask, request: c. acc pers., Jo 14:16; seq. imperat.,

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

ἐρωτάω, -ῶ, [(1πῇ. -τᾶν L T Tr, -τᾷν RG WH; 5661, 2)7; impf. 3 pers. plur. ἠρώτων and (in Mt.xv. 23 LT Tr WH, Mk. iv. 10 Tdf.) ἠρώτουν, cf. B. 44 (38); [W. 85 (82); Tdf. Proleg. p. 122; Soph. Lex. p.41; WH. App. p. 166; Mullach, Griech. Vulgarspr. p. 252]; fut: ἐρωτήσω; 1 aor. ἠρώτησα; Sept. for Sxw; to ask, i. 6. 1. as in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down to question: absol., Lk. xxii. 68; Jn. viii. 7 [R]; τινά, Jn. ix. 21; xvi. 19, 30; [xviii. 21 where Rec. ézep.], ete.; with the addition of λέγων and the words of the questioner: Mt. xvi. 13; Lk. xix. 31 [om. λέγων; xxiii. 3 T Tr WH]; Jn.i. 19, 21; v.12; ix.19; xvi. 5; τινά τι [cf. W. § 32, 4 a.], Mt. xxi. 24; Mk. iv. 10; Lk. xx. 3; Jn. xvi. 23 [al. refer this to 2]; τινὰ περί τινος, Lk. ix. 45 [Lehm. ἐπερ.] ; Jn. xviii. 19. 2. to ask i.e. to request, entreat, beg, beseech, after the Hebr. >xvi, in a sense very rare in prof. auth. (Joseph.…

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

ἐρωτάω in the sense of ‘‘ask,” ‘‘ entreat,” is so amply vouched for in the Kow7 that it is quite unnecessary to bring in the influence of the Heb. Syw (Grimm): cf. eg. P Oxy II. 292! (c. A.D. Ζο)ἠρώτησα δὲ καὶ “Epplfajy τὸν ἀδελφὸν διὰ γραπτοῦ ἀνηγεῖϊ σθαί] σοι περὶ τούτου, P Ryl II. 2298 (A.p. 38) ἐρωτῶ σε ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου εὐθέως μοι πέϊμ)ψαι τὰς ἄλλας (ἀρτάβας) y, and from the inscrr. Sy// 3285 (B.c. 84) π]ρὸς ἐμὲ ἦλθ[εν Ely ᾿Απαμήᾳ ἠρώτησέν τε [ὅπως Av] ἐξουσlay αὐ[τ]ῷ [π]οιήσω ἐπὶ τοῦ συν βο]υλίο[υ (where see Dittenberger’s note). ᾿Ἑ!ρωτηθείς -- “being asked what your pleasure is’’ comes to mean ‘‘please,” e.g. P Oxy II. 269% (A.D. 57) ἐὰν δύνῃ ἐρωτηθεὶς ὄχλησον Διόσκορον, ‘if you can, please worry Dioscorus” (Edd.): cf. Abbott Jos. Gr. p. 468. For the conjunction with παρακαλῶ, as in 1 Th 41, cf. P Oxy II. 29428 (A.D. 22) ἐρωτῶ δέ σε καὶ παρακαλ[ῶ γράψει μοι ἀντιφώνησιν περὶ τῶν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐρωτάω (erōtaō) — to ask.

ἐρωτ-άω,

Epic dialect and Ionic dialect εἰρωτάω, contraction in [Refs 8th c.BC+] and best codices of [Refs 5th c.BC+]: imperfect ἠρώτων [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect εἰρώτευν [Refs 5th c.BC+]participle -τεῦντας variant in [Refs]: future -ήσω[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist I ἠρώτησα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἠρώτηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+] —used in _Attic dialect_ to supply the defective tenses of ἔρομαι:—ask, τινά τι something of one, ἅ μ᾽ εἰρωτᾷς [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—passive, to be asked, τι [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. ἐ. τι ask about a thing, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐ. ἐρώτημα to ask a question, [Refs]; τὰς πύστεις ἐρωτῶντες εἰ.. putting the question, whether.., [Refs 5th c.BC+] —passive, τὸ ἐρωτηθέν, τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ἀποκρίνασθαι, to answer the question, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —passive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐρωτάω

erotao

apparently from 2046 (compare 2045); to interrogate; by implication,

to request:--ask, beseech, desire, intreat, pray. Compare 4441.

see GREEK for 2046

see GREEK for 2045

see GREEK for 4441

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐρωτάω

v.

I ask, question, request

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐρωτάω erōtaō 63x

to ask, interrogate, inquire of, Mt. 21:24; Lk. 20:3; in NT to ask, request, beg, beseech, Mt. 15:23; Lk. 4:38; Jn. 14:16

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐρωτάω ἔρομαι to ask, τινά τι something of one, Od., Soph., etc.:—Pass. to be asked, τι Xen.

ἐρ. τι to ask about a thing, Aesch.:— Pass., τὸ ἐρωτηθέν, τὸ ἐρωτώμενον the question, Thuc., Xen.

to enquire of a person, question him, Od., Eur., etc.:—Pass. to be questioned, id. Eur.

= αἰτέω, to ask, i. e. to beg, solicit, NTest.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
13%asking
asking13% · 8×asked10% · 6×they asked8% · 5×they were asking6% · 4×ask5% · 3×we implore5% · 3×will ask5% · 3×he asked3% · 2×other renderings46% · 29×

63 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 34 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 63 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
γένοςoffspring, familμέγαςαὐτός
αὐτός
μαθητήςa learner, disciλέγωI say, speakὁράωI see, look upon
ἐγώ
τίςIrgὅτιthat, since, becπροσκαλέωI summon
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἐάνCondοὗτος
σύ
τὶςἐκ
ἐρωτάωHe was asking63×
what comes after →
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπερί
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, ΠιλᾶτοςPilateμαθητήςa learner, disci
σύ
κἀγώἔχωI have, hold, poοὖνtherefore, then
δέbut, on the other ha
σύτὶςαὐτός
οὐNeg
μήNegπερί

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

Concordanceἐρωτάω · 63× in the New Testament
John Luke Acts Matthew Mark 1 Thessalonians 1 John 2 John 2 Thessalonians Philippians
Across the New Testament10 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 29 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 77c. AD 40

ὧν τὸ μὲν παρασκευάζουσιν αἱ χορηγίαι καὶ ἀφθονίαι τῶν πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν, τὸ δὲ ἡ θεωρία τῶν κατ’ οὐρανόν, ἀφ’ ἧς πληχθεὶς ὁ νοῦς ἔρωτα καὶ πόθον ἔσχε τῆς τούτων ἐπιστήμης·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.165c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ φοβηθεὶς ἠρώτα τὴν Σάρραν, τίς τε εἴη καὶ τίνα τοῦτον ἐπάγοιτο, πυθόμενός τε τὴν ἀλήθειαν Ἅβραμον παρῃτεῖτο·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.6c. AD 100

ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐρωτῶ ὑμᾶς ὡς εἶς ἐξ ὑμῶν ὤν, ἰδίως δὲ καὶ πάντας ἀγαπῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ψυχήν μου, προσέχειν νῦν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ μὴ ὁμοιοῦσθαί τισιν ἐπισωρεύοντας ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν λέγοντας, ὅτι ἡ διαθήκη ἐκείνων καὶ 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 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. BC 3rd c. BC

ὁ ἐπίτροπος ἔγνωκε ὅτι ἔχει τ … … … … … ἐνέχυρον, ἄν σε ἐρωτήσῃ περὶ τῶν σιδηρίων α … … … ἀσφαλισθῆναι αὐτὰ καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ κεῖται

P.Tebt. 2 410Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 16

Λυσιμάχῳ τῶι κωμογραμματεῖ. μνήσθητι ὡς ἐν τῷ Τριστόμῳ με ἐφιλοτιμοῦ σὺν ἐμοὶ μεῖναι. ἐρωτῶ σε ταχύτερον συσχεῖν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἵνα κδ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ ὁ Σωτήριχος ἀνθομολογήσηται περὶ

P.Ryl. 2 229ArsinoitesAD 38

αὐτὸς δῷ ἑτέραν καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους μοι πέμψηι. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἔπεμψάς μοι ἀρτάβας γ ἐρωτῶ σε ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου εὐθέως μοι πέμψαι τὰς ἄλλας ἀρτάβας γ καὶ τὸ ὀψάριον,

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
αὐτούς·autos them; G846 Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · 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'.
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-APM — Personal pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-APM Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
πόσουςposos How many G4214 Correlative or interrogative pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
27× 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 asks about the amount or quantity of something, like in Matthew 6:23 and Mark 9:21. It seeks to know how much, how great, or how many of something exists.
Amplified meaning
inquiring about the quantity
Tyndale gloss
how much/many?
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πόσος (posos) is an interrogative adjective meaning 'how much,' 'how great,' or 'how many.' It can refer to quantity, magnitude, distance, time, or value, and appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as in Matthew and Hebrews. The lexicons consistently describe its range of use without significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πόσος, -η, -ον,

adj. of number, magnitude, degree, etc.,

how much, how great, how many: Mt 6:23, II Co 7:11; of time, Mk 9:21; neut., absol., Lk 16:5, 7; dat., πόσῳ, adverbially, how much, Mt 12:12; id. seq. μᾶλλον, Mt 7:11 10:25, Lk 11:13 12:24, 28, Ro 11:12, 24, Phm 16, He 9:14; π. χείρονος τιμωρίας, He 10:29; pl., Read the full entry →

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

πόσος, -n, -ov, [(cf. Curtius § 631), fr. Aeschyl. down, Lat. quantus], how great: Mt. vi. 23; 2 Co. vii. 11; πόσος χρόνος, how great (a space) i. e. how long time, Mk. ix. 21; neut. how much, Lk. xvi. 5, 7; πόσῳ, (by) how much, Mt. xii. 12; πόσῳ μᾶλλον, Mt. vii.11; x. 25; Lk. xi. 13; xii. 24, 28; Ro. xi. 12, 24; Philem. 16; Heb. ix. 14; πόσῳ χείρονος τιμωρίας, Heb. x. 29; plur. how many: with nouns, Mt. xv. 34; xvi. 9sq.; Mk. vi. 38; viii. 4, 19 sq. ; Lk. xv. 17; Acts xxi. 20; πόσα, how grave, Mt. xxvii. 13; Mk. xv. 4.

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

πόσος, “how great?” plur. ‘‘how many?’’: cf. P Oxy IV. 7424 (B.C. 2) ἀπόστειλόν plo]t πόσας δέσμας παρείληφες, “‘send me word how many bundles you have received,” P Fay 1221 (c. a.D. 100) δήλωσόν μοι πόσαι ἐξέβησαν, ‘(inform me how many (artabae) came out,” P Tebt II. 41718 (iii/a.D.) εἴδε πόσα μέτρα [ἔχι, ‘see how many measures there are,” and the late P Amh II. 153%? (vi/vii A.D.) γράψον pot εὐθέως ὅτι π[όϊσα (sc. πρόβατα) ἀρρενικά ἐστιν καὶ πόσα θηλικά, ““νυεῖξε me at once how many males there are, and how many females.’’ For πόσου, “αἱ what price,” cf. PSI V. 508° (B.C. 256-5) πόσου ἕκαστόν ἐστιν, and P Oxy XII. 14918 (early iv/A.D.) ἀξιῶ σε μαθεῖν πόσου ἡμῖν συναλλάσσει κριθήν, “1 beg you to find out at what price he is contracting to get barley for me.” See also Kaibel 110° (ii/A.D.) ζω]ῆς δ᾽ ἐς πόσον ἦλίθες ; For the subst. ποσότης we may quote P Oxy X. 1293° (A.D. 117-38) περὶ…

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

πόσος (posos) — how much/many?.

πόσος,

Ionic dialect κόσος, η, ον, interrogative adjective of what quantity?

1. of Number, how many? κόσοι τινές εἰσι οἱ Αακεδαιμόνιοι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: with singular Nouns, how great? how much? π. πλῆθος νεῶ; [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. of Distance, how far? πόσον ἄπεστιν ἐνθένδε τὸ στράτευμ; [Refs]; π. τις ὁδὸς εἴη[Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. of Time, how long? π. τινὰ χρόνο; [Refs 5th c.BC+]

4. of Value, how much? πόσον δίδω; [Refs]at what price? [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπὶ πόσ;[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐκ πόσου is falsa lectio for{ὁπόσου} in [Refs 4th c.BC+]

5. of Degree, how great? πόθο; πόσος τι; [Refs 5th c.BC+]: neuter adverb πόσο; πόσ; to what amount? [Refs 5th c.BC+]

8.

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

πόσος

posos

from an absolute pos (who, what) and 3739; interrogative pronoun (of

amount) how much (large, long or (plural) many):--how great (long,

many), what.

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πόσος, η, ον

Corr./Irg.pr.

how much, how great, how many

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πόσος posos 27x

How great? How much? Mt. 6:23; Lk. 16:5, 7; 2 Cor. 7:11; πόσῳ, adverbially before a comparative, How much? By how much? Mt. 7:11; 10:25; Heb. 10:29; of time, How long? Mk. 9:21; of number, pl. How many? Mt. 15:34; 16:9, 10

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πόσος πόσος;, ionic and aeolic κόσος, η, ον interrog. adj. corresponding to the relat. ὅσος and demonstr. τόσος, Lat. quantus? of what quantity? opp. to πηλίκος (which refers to bulk), often with τις added:

of Number, how many? Hdt., attic: with sg. Nouns, how great? how much? π. τι πλῆθος; Aesch.

of Distance, how far? Xen.

of Time, how long? Soph., etc.

of Value, how much? Ar.; πόσου; for how much? at what price? Lat. quanti? id. Ar.; so, ἐπὶ πόσῳ; Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Q-APM — Correlative or interrogative pronoun · accusative · plural · masculine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

Q-APM Part of Speech: correlative or interrogative pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

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

MANY, adjective men'ny.

1. Numerous; comprising a great number of individuals.

Thou shalt be a father of many nations. Genesis 17:4.

Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 1 Corinthians 1:26.

MANY are the afflictions of the righteous. Psalms 34:12.

It is often preceded by as or so, and followed by so, indicating an equal number.

As many books as you take, so many shall be charged to your account.

So many laws argue so many sins.

It is followed by as.

As many as were willing-hearted brought bracelets. Exodus 34:1.

It precedes an or a, before a noun in the singular number.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene.

2. In low language, preceded by too, it denotes powerful or much; as, they are too many for us.

MANY, noun men'ny. A multitude; a great number of individuals; the people.

O thou fond many

The vulgar and the many are fit only to be led or driven.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
52%how much
how much52% · 14×how many33% · 9×how many things7% · 2×how great!4% · 1×how long4% · 1×

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial41%object37%subject11%second object7%predicate4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 27 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
λέγωI say, speakἐρωτάωI ask, question,πατήρfather, Father,
σύ
τέκνονa child, descend
καίand, even, also, nam
πεντακισχίλιοιfive thousandτετρακισχίλιοιfour thousand
σκότοςdarkness
Article the
ἐπικαλέωI call by an additio
ΒεελζεβούλProp
πόσοςHow many27×
what comes after →
μᾶλλονmore, rather
Article theσύοὗτος
κόφινοςa large basket
λαμβάνωI receive, takeκλάσμαa fragment
σπυρίςa plaited basket
λαμβάνωI receive, takeπλήρωμαfullness, fulfil
σύ
καταμαρτυρέωI give evidence κατηγορέωI accuse, charge
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, f

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

Concordanceπόσος · 27× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke Mark Hebrews Romans 2 Corinthians Acts Philemon
Across the New Testament8 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 61c. AD 40

εἰς πόσα δ’ ἄλλα φαίην ἂν ἔγωγε τῶν ἡμῖν μὲν ἀδηλουμένων — οὐ γὰρ πάντα τῷ θνητῷ γένει γνώριμα —, πρὸς δὲ τὴν τοῦ ὅλου συνεργούντων διαμονήν, ἃ θεσμοῖς καὶ νόμοις, οὓς ὥρισεν ὁ θεὸς ἀκινήτους ἐν τῷ παντί, συμβαίνει πάντῃ τε καὶ πάντως ἐπιτελεῖσθαι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.6c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 19.8c. AD 100

κοινωνήσεις ἐν πᾶσιν τῷ πλησίον σου καὶ οὐκ ἐρεῖς ἴδια εἶναι: εἰ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ κοινωνοί ἐστε, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς φθαρτοῖς;

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. BC 3rd c. AD 7th c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Fay. 122Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 100

μέτρῳ δὲ τετραχοινίκωι τὸ σίναπι μέτρησον ελ … … ὑπογραφὴν αεφυτοσι, καὶ δήλωσόν μοι πόσαι ἐξέβησαν ἵνα εἰδῶ. ἔπεμψά σοι ὑποδείγματα μεγάλωνὑποδείγματα μεγάλων τεσσαράκοντα εἰς τὴν μηχανὴν τῆς Χαλώθεως.

P.Fam.Tebt. 19ArsinoitesAD 118

βαστάσωσι μετὰ τὴν σὴν κρίσιν. Κρονίων· δαπάνας ἐποιήσαμεν. Ἀπολωνίδης ὁ στρατηγός· ὁ κωμογραμματεὺς ἐπικρινεῖ πόσαι ἐγένοντο δαπάναι καὶ ταύτας ποιήσει ἀπολαβεῖν συγκομιζομένου τὰ θέρεια. ἀνέγνων

P.Flor. 2 170Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 252

νῦν οὖν διάπεμψαι ἵνα μὴ ὡς τοιούτῳ σοι χρησώμεθα εἰ περὶ τῶν οὐδαμίνων ἀμελεῖτε πόσῳ μᾶλλον τῶν ἀναγκαιοτέρων. β ἔτους Μεσορὴ θ. Ἡρωνείνῳ φροντιστῇ Θεαδελφείας

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
ἔχετεechō have you G2192 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
709× 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
This Greek word means to have or hold something, like a possession or ability. It is used in many ways, such as having power or being with someone. The Bible uses it in Revelation 5:8 and 14:6.
Amplified meaning
possess or hold
Tyndale gloss
to have/be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἔχω, transliterated as echō, means 'to have' or 'to hold' and is used in various contexts, including possession, ability, and condition. It appears frequently in the New Testament, often relating to physical possession or metaphorical concepts like keeping faith or emotions. Notably, it can also refer to being pregnant, as seen in Matthew 1:18. The entries do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἔχω,

[in LXX for אָצֵל (ἐχόμενος), בַּעַל, יֵשׁ, etc., 59 words in all;]

(on the Aktionsart of the various tenses, v. M, Pr., 110, 145, 150, 183),

to have, as in cl., in various senses and constructions.

Trans.;

to have, hold, hold fast, etc.;

to hold, as, in the hand: Re 5:8 14:6, al.; ἐν τ. χειρί, Re 1:16 10:2, al.;

of arms and clothing, = φέρω, φορέω, to bear, wear: Mt 3:4 22:12, al.; so freq. pres. ptcp. (LS, s.v., A, I, 6; Bl., § 74, 2), Mk 11:13, Jo 18:10, Re 9:17, al.;

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

ἔχω ; fut. ἕξω ; impf. εἶχον, [1 pers. plur. εἴχαμεν, 2 Jn. ἔχω 266 5 T Tr WH], 8 pers. plur. εἶχαν (Mk. viii. 7 L T Tr WH; Rey. ix. 8 LT Tr WH; but ef. [ Soph. Lex., Intr. p. 38; Tdf. Proleg. p. 123; WH. App. p. 165]; B. 40 (35)) and εἴχοσαν (LT Tr WH in Jn. xv. 22, 24; but ef. Bitm. in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1858, pp. 485 sqq. 491; see his N. T. Gr. p. 43 (37); [Soph. Lex., Intr. p. 39; Τὰ Proleg. p. 124; WH. App. p. 165; ef. δολεόω ]) ; pres. mid. ptep. ἐχόμενος ; to have,—with 2 aor. act. ἔσχον; pf. ἔσχηκα; I. Transitively. have (hold) in the hand: τὶ ἐν τῇ χειρί, Rev. i. 16; vi. 5; x. 2; xvii. 4; and simply, Rev. v. 8; viii. 3, 6; xiv. 6, ete.; Heb. viii. 3. Ὁ. in the sense of wearing (Lat. gestare) ; of garments, arms and the like: τὸ ἔνδυμα, Mt. iii. 4; xxii. 12; κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων, sc. τί, having a covering hanging down from the head, i.e. having the head covered [B. $130, 5; W. §…

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

ἔχω. It may be well to illustrate some of the less usual forms of this common verb. The future σχήσω (cf. Kithner-Blass Gr. 1. ii. p. 112 n.8) is restored by the editor in OGZS 751° (ii/ B.C.) ἐπεὶ θλιβέντες ἐμ πλείοσιν ἀσθενῶς [σχή]σετε. For the 2 aor. with 1 aor. termination (cf. Ac 757 D συνἐσχαν) see BGU 11. 4518 (i/ii A.D.) ἀναγκαίως ἔσχαμεν δ[ι7᾽ ἐπιστολῆς σε ἀσπάσεσθαι, and for ἔσχοσαν cf. OG/S 315°" (B.C. 164-159) ὑφοψίαν μοχθηράν, ἣν Kal περὶ Tod ἀδελφοῦ ἔσχοσαν. In 20. 2237 (iii/B.c.) we have αὐτοὶ ἀπολογισάμενοι περί τε τῆς εὐνοίας ἣν διὰ παντὸς εἰσχήκατε εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν οἰκίαν, and for similar forms see the editor's note ® to 2b. 323. For the trans. use of the verb see such passages as P Oxy IV. 743!® (B.c. 2) εἰ καὶ m[p]ds ἄλλους εἶχον πρᾶγμα, βοηθὸν αὐτοῦ γ[εἸνέσθαι διὰ ἣν ἔχομε(ν) πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς φιλίαν, BGU I. 228(a.p. 114) (= «ϑελδείζογις, p. 74), which illustrate 1 Cor…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἔχω (echō) — to have/be.

ἔχω,

__A2nd pers. singular ἔχεισθα conjecture in [Refs 7th c.BC+]; 2nd pers. singular subjunctive ἔχῃσθα [Refs 8th c.BC+]imperfect εἶχον, Epic dialect ἔχον [Refs 8th c.BC+], Ionic dialect and poetry ἔχεσκον [Refs 8th c.BC+]future ἕξω, Epic dialect infinitive ἑξέμεναι [Refs 3rd c.BC+] (of momentary action, especially in sense check, see below [Refs 4th c.BC+], not found in Attic dialect Inscrr. or [Refs]; 2nd pers. singular σχήσησθα [Refs]aorist 1 ἔσχης α falsa lectio in [Refs 3rd c.AD+]aorist 2 ἔσχον, imperative σχές [Refs 5th c.BC+] only in Oracle texts cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; subjunctive σχῶ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural σχοίησαν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive σχεῖν [Refs 8th c.BC+], Epic dialect σχέμεν [Refs] (in Alexandr. Gr. 3rd.pers. plural imperfect and aorist 2 εἴχοσαν [NT+3rd c.BC+], see at {Σχέθω}: perfect ἔσχηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἔχω

echo

scheo skheh'-o; (used in certain tenses only)

a primary verb; to hold (used in very various applications, literally

or figuratively, direct or remote; such as possession; ability,

contiuity, relation, or condition):--be (able, X hold, possessed

with), accompany, + begin to amend, can(+ -not), X conceive, count,

diseased, do + eat, + enjoy, + fear, following, have, hold, keep, +

lack, + go to law, lie, + must needs, + of necessity, + need, next, +

recover, + reign, + rest, + return, X sick, take for, + tremble, +

uncircumcised, use.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἔχω

v.

I have, hold, possess

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἔχω echō 708x

pluperfect., ἐσχήκειν, to hold, Rev. 1:16; to seize, possess a person, Mk. 16:8; to have, possess, Mt. 7:29, et al. freq.; to have, have ready, be furnished with, Mt. 5:23; Jn. 5:36; 6:68; to have as a matter of crimination, Mt. 5:23; Mk. 11:25; to have at command, Mt. 27:65; to have the power, be able, Mt. 18:25; Lk. 14:14; Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-2P — Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
29%having
having29% · 211×has9% · 62×have8% · 58×you have7% · 52×i have5% · 36×we have5% · 35×he has3% · 24×had3% · 21×other renderings30% · 217×

716 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 97 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
verb99%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 709 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
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
Article the
ἄγγελοςan angel, messenαὐτόςκαίand, even, also,
μήNeg
Article theδέbut, on the otheπρόβατονa sheep
ὅς
καίand, even, also,ἐνεἰμίI am, exist
χρείαneed, necessity, bus
οὐNegαὐτόςὅς
ἔχωhave you709×
what comes after →
Article the
ἑπτάIndecυἱόςa son, descendenδέbut, on the othe
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegὅς
ἐν
Article theἑαυτοῦΧριστόςanointed, the Me
οὖςthe ear
ἀκούωI hear, listen
ἐξουσίαpower, authority, we
Article theἀλλάbut, exceptἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p

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

Concordanceἔχω · 709× in the New Testament
Revelation John Luke Matthew Mark 1 Corinthians Acts Hebrews 1 John Romans 2 Corinthians 1 Timothy

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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 11c. AD 40

ἀπεριμάχητον δὲ δόγμα καὶ ἀνωφελὲς ἀναρχίαν ὡς ἐν πόλει κατασκευάζον τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ τὸν ἔφορον ἢ βραβευτὴν ἢ δικαστὴν οὐκ ἔχοντι, ὑφ’ οὗ πάντ’ οἰκονομεῖσθαι καὶ πρυτανεύεσθαι θέμις.

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.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.5c. AD 100

λογισάμενος οὖν τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐὰν μελήσῃ μοι περὶ ὑμῶν τοῦ μέρος τι μεταδοῦναι ἀφ̓ οὗ ἔλαβον, ὅτι ἔσται μοι τοιούτοις πνεύμασιν ὑπηρετήσαντι εἰς μισθόν, ἐσπούδασα κατὰ μικρὸν ὑμῖν πέμπειν, ἵνα μετὰ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν τελείαν ἔχητε τὴν γνῶσιν.

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 6th c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Gen. 1 20Pathyris110 BC

ἔτους η Μεχεὶρ β, ἐπὶ Σώσου ἀγορανόμου. ὁμολογεῖ Ἁρκοννῆσις Φιγήριος Πέρσης τῶν μισθοφόρων ἱππέων ἔχειν παρὰ Ναομσήσιος τῆς Σπεμμίνιος εἰς λύτρα τετάρτης μερίδος γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου ἐν τῆι κάτω

P.Bad. 2 3Pathyris110 BC

Μεχεὶρ β ἐν Παθύρει ἐπὶ Σώσου ἀγορανόμου. ὁμολογεῖ Ἁρκοννῆσις Φιγήριος Πέρσης τῶν μισθοφόρων ἱππέων ἔχειν παρὰ Ναομσήσιος τῆς Σπεμμίνιος εἰς λύτρα τετάρτης μερίδος γῆς ἠπείρου σιτοφόρου ἐν τῇ κάτω

P.Adl. 4Ptolemais (Oberägypten)110 BC

Ψεμμῖνις … ου Ὥρωι Νεχούτου χαίρειν. ὁμολογῶ ἔχειν παρὰ σοῦ χαλκοῦ νομίσματος τάλαντα τρῖα ἄτοκα ?. ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ἃ προσωφείλετό σοι

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
ἄρτους;artos loaves? G740 Noun · accusative · plural · masculine
97× 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 refers to bread, like the loaves Jesus multiplied in Matthew 4:3. It can also mean food in general or a loaf of bread, and is used to describe Christ as the bread of life in John 6:33.
Amplified meaning
bread or food
Tyndale gloss
bread
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἄρτος (i.e., *artos*) means bread or a loaf, primarily made from wheat. It is used in various contexts in the New Testament, including references to the bread of the Last Supper (Mt 26:26) and general food (Mt 6:11). The entries highlight its metaphorical use, particularly in relation to Christ as the 'bread of life' (John 6:35).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἄρτος, -ου, ὁ,

[in LXX chiefly for לֶחֶם;]

bread, a loaf: Mt 4:3, 4, Mk 3:20, al.; ἄρτοι τ. προθέσεως, bread of the setting forth, i.e. the shewbread. Metaph., ὁ ἄ. τ. θεοῦ, τ. ζωῆς, ref. to Christ, Jo 6:33, 35; in general, food: Mt 6:11, al.; ἄ. φαγεῖν (Heb. אֲכֹל לֶחֶם), to eat (MM, s.v.), Lu 14:1, al.

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

ἄρτος, -ov, 6, (fr. APO to fit, put together, [cf. Etym Magn. 150, 36—but doubtful]), bread; Hebr. ὉΠ: 1. food composed of flour mixed with water and baked ; the Israelites made it in the form of an oblong or round cake, as thick as one’s thumb, and as large as a plate or platter (cf. Win. RWB. 5. v. Backen; [BB.DD.]); hence it was not cut, but broken (see κλάσις and κλάω) : Mt. iv. 3; vii. 9; xiv.17,19; Mk. vi.36 [T Tr WH om. Lbr.], 37 sq.; Lk. iv. 3; xxiv. 30; Jn. vi. 5 sqq.; Acts xxvii. 35, and often; ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως. loaves consecrated to Jehovah, see πρόθεσις ; on the bread used at the love-feasts and the sacred supper [W. 35], ef. Mt. xxvi. 26; Mk. xiv. 22; Lk. xxii. 19; Acts ii. 42,46; xx. 7; 1 Co. x. 16 sq.; xi. 26-28. 2. As in Grk. writ., and like the Hebr. om, food of any kind; Mt. vi. 11; Mk. vi. 8; Lk. xi. 3; 2 Co. ix. 10; ὁ ἄρτος τῶν τέκνων the food served to the…

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

ἄρτος is frequently found with καθαρός = ‘pure or ‘‘ white bread,” e.g. P Tebt II. 468 οἴνου κε(ράμιον) ἃ, ἄρτων κα(θαρῶν) ἃ (= 10 Choenices? Edd.). P Oxy IV. 736%6 (a lengthy private account, ¢. A.D. 1) ἄρτου καθαροῦ παιδ(ῶν) ἡμιωβέλιον) ‘pure bread for the children $ obol,” P Giss

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἄρτος (artos) — bread.

ἄρτος, ὁ,

cake or loaf of wheat-bread, mostly in plural, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἄρτος οὖλος a whole loaf, [Refs]; collectively, bread, δούλιον ἄρτον ἔδων[Refs 7th c.BC+]; opposed to μᾶζα (porridge), [Refs 5th c.BC+] —Freq. in all writers.

II. ἄρτος· βόλος τις, καὶ ὁ Ἀθηναίων ξένος, [Refs 5th c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἄρτος

artos

from 142; bread (as raised) or a loaf:--(shew-)bread, loaf.

see GREEK for 142

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἄρτος, ου, ὁ

n.m.

bread, a loaf, food

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἄρτος artos 97x

bread; a loaf or thin cake of bread, Mt. 26:26; food, Mt. 15:2; Mk. 3:20; bread, maintenance, living, necessaries of life, Mt. 6:11; Lk. 11:3; 2 Thess. 3:8

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἄρτος Deriv. uncertain. a cake or loaf of wheat-bread (barley-bread is μᾶζα), mostly in pl., Od.; ἄρτος οὖλος soft bread, id. Od.

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

N-APM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Smith's Bible Dictionary

[BREAD]

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Miracle of the five Mt 14:15-21; 16:9; Lu 9:12-17

→ Miracle of the seven Mt 15:34-38; 16:10

→ See BREAD

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
62%bread
bread62% · 61×loaves32% · 32×loaf3% · 3×other renderings3% · 3×

99 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
object68%adverbial13%subject9%predicate8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 97 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
εἰμίI am, existκαίand, even, also,λαμβάνωI receive, take
πέντεIndec
Article theμήNegἔχωI have, hold, po
λαμβάνωI receive, take
καίand, even, also,ἐπιλανθάνομαιI forget, neglecαὐτός
ὅτιthat, since, because
λέγωI say, speakὀλιγόπιστοςof little faithἀλλήλων
ἑπτάIndec
Article the
ἄρτοςloaves?97×
what comes after →
Article the
πρόθεσιςthe show-bread, δέbut, on the otheτέκνονa child, descend
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theδίδωμιI offer, giveδύο
οὐNeg
ἔχωI have, hold, poλαμβάνωI receive, takeἀρκέωI am sufficient,
εὐχαριστέωI thank, give thanks
κλάωI breakArticle the
ἐγώ
Article theδέbut, on the othe

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

Concordanceἄρτος · 97× in the New Testament
John Matthew Mark Luke 1 Corinthians Acts 2 Thessalonians 2 Corinthians Hebrews
Across the New Testament9 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 149 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 Didache The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 3.81c. AD 40

ἄρτους γὰρ καὶ οἶνον προσφέρει, ἅπερ Ἀμμανῖται καὶ Μωαβῖται τῷ βλέποντι παρασχεῖν οὐκ ἠθέλησαν, οὗ χάριν ἐκκλησίας εἴργονται καὶ συλλόγου θείου·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.197c. AD 75–95

ἐπινευσάντων δὲ ἄρτους τε προσέταξεν εὐθὺς ἐκ σεμιδάλεως γενέσθαι, καὶ μόσχον θύσας καὶ ὀπτήσας ἐκόμισεν αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τῇ δρυῒ κατακειμένοις·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 3.3c. AD 100

διάθρυπτε πεινῶσιν τὸν ἄρτον σου, καὶ γυμνὸν ἐὰν ἴδῃς περίβαλε: ἀστέγους εἴσαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκον σου, καὶ ἐὰν ἴδῃς ταπεινόν, οὐχ ὑπερόψῃ αὐτόν, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων τοῦ σπέρματός σου.

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 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Athen.. 14Philadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 22

ἀρταβῶν εἴκοσι πέντε , πάσας δὲ μέτρῳ τετάρτῳ ἐκ πόρων καὶ θαλλοῦ κατʼ ἔτος ἄρτων ἀρτάβης μιᾶς , πάντα δὲ ἀκίνδυνα παντὸς κινδύνου, τὰ δʼ ἔργα πάντα καὶ τὴν

P.Mich. 2 126Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 46–AD 49

ἀπέχει τὸν φόρον καὶ βεβαιοῖ. ὑπογραφεὺς Σεραπίων Πτολαιμαίου. Σαμβαθ ἐπὶ Σαμβα … το … ἄρτοι ϛ. Θερμούθι α Ταορσεῦτι α Ταορσενούφι β ἑκάστῃ τῶν γραῶν α

P.Fay. 119Euhemeria (Arsinoites)AD 103

ἀλέκτορας δέκα ἀγοράσας καὶ εἰς τὰ γενέσια Γεμέλλης πέμψεις ὀψάρια καὶ … … καὶ ἄρτον πυροῦ ἀρτάβην α.

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
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
<the>19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
δὲde And G1161 Conjunction
2,787× 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
This is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

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

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

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
εἶπαν·legō they said; G2036 Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
1,988× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — λαλέω, λέγω, λαλιά, λόγος from a scan

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

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἶπον (eipon) — to say.

εἶπον

(present ἔπω is used by [Refs 2nd c.BC+]present in use is φημί, λέγω, ἀγορεύω (see. infr. IV), the future ἐρέω, ἐρῶ, the perfect εἴρηκα), Epic dialect and Lyric poetry ἔειπον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; subjunctive εἴπω (Epic dialect εἴπωμι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; optative εἴποιμ; infinitive εἰπεῖν, Epic dialect -έμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs]; participle εἰπών: also aorist 1 εἶπα (ἔειπα [Refs 5th c.BC+] as I said, [Refs 1st c.BC+] mostly in Ionic dialect Prose, also [Refs 4th c.BC+], and the 2nd pers. indicative and imperative of this form are preferred in Attic dialect, 2nd pers. singular indicative εἶπας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; imperative εἶπον (on the accent see[Refs 5th c.BC+], -ατον, -ατ; 3rd.pers. plural εἶπαν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; participle εἴπας [Refs 4th c.BC+], Aeolic dialect εἴπαις [Refs 5th c.BC+]; in compounds middle ἀπείπασθαι (which see), διείπασθαι (which see)…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

epo

a primary verb (used only in the definite past tense, the others being

borrowed from 2046, 4483, and 5346); to speak or say (by word or

writing):--answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on),

speak, tell. Compare 3004.

see GREEK for 2046

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 3004

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔπω εἶπον prob. made up by Nicander as present of εἶπον. to say, Nicander.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAI-3P — Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · third person · plural
second aorist active indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAI-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
39%said
said39% · 372×he said27% · 260×they said7% · 67×having said4% · 40×other renderings15% · 143×other renderings8% · 73×

955 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 73 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

And He was asking them; How many have you loaves? <the> And they said; Seven.
ἑπτά.hepta Seven. G2033 Adjective · nominative
88× 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 number seven, used in the Bible to describe completeness or perfection, as seen in Matthew 12:45 and Mark 8:5.
Tyndale gloss
seven
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἑπτά (i.e., *hepta*) means 'seven' and is an indeclinable numeral. It appears in various New Testament passages, including Matthew and Acts. The entries note its use as a mystical number and in references to specific groups or concepts, but there is no significant disagreement among the lexicons.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπτά, οἱ, αἱ, τά

indecl.,

seven: Mt 12:45 18:22 (cf. ἑβδομηκοντάκις), Mk 8:5, al.; οἱ ἐ, Ac 21:8

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

ἑπτά. As we have no fresh light from our sources, it lies outside our sphere to discuss the uses of this number in the NT, but reference may be made to the notes by Allen on Mk 16%, and by Moffatt (in ΞΟ 7) on Rev 51. Note also Ac 1219 Ὁ κατέβησαν τοὺς { βαθμούς and Ey. Petr. 8 ἐπέχρισαν ἑπτὰ σφραγῖδας. MGr ἑφτά shows the aspirate in compensation for the loss (in pronunciation) of the rough breathing.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἑπτά (hepta) — seven.

ἑπτά, οἱ, αἱ, τά,

indeclinable seven, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; as a mystical number, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; αἱ ἑ. νῆσοι the seven largest islands, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τὰ ἑ. θεάματα the [Refs 1st c.BC+]; οἱ ἑ. σοφισταί the [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἱ ἑ. alone, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

2. οἱ ἑ., board of magistrates at Olbia, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; οἱ ἑ. ἄνδρες, = Latin septemviri epulones, [Refs 5th c.BC+] sept[macutenull], cf. Sanskrit saptá, Latin septem (fancifully connected with σέβομαι, [Refs 1st c.AD+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἑπτά

hepta

a primary number; seven:--seven.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἑπτά, οἱ, αἱ, τά

Indec.num.

seven

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἑπτά hepta 88x

seven, indecl. numeral, Mt. 15:34, 37; by Jewish usage for a round number, Mt. 12:45; Lk. 11:26

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἑπτά seven, Lat. septem, Hom., etc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-NUI — Adjective · nominative
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-NUI Indeclinable NUmeral (Adjective)

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sev'-'-n (shebha`; hepta).

See NUMBER.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Seven

This number occurs frequently in Scripture, and in such connections as lead to the supposition that it has some typical meaning. On the seventh day God rested, and hallowed it (Gen. 2:2, 3). The division of time into weeks of seven days each accounts for many instances of the occurrence of this number. This number has been called the symbol of perfection, and also the symbol of rest. “Jacob’s seven years’ service to Laban; Pharaoh’s seven fat oxen and seven lean ones; the seven branches of the golden candlestick; the seven trumpets and the seven priests who sounded them; the seven days’ siege of Jericho; the seven churches, seven spirits, seven stars, seven seals, seven vials, and many others, sufficiently prove the importance of this sacred number” (see Lev. 25:4;

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The frequent recurrence of certain numbers in the sacred literature of the Hebrews is obvious to the most superficial reader, but seven so far surpasses the rest, both in the frequency with which it recurs and in the importance of the objects with which it is associated, that it may fairly be termed the representative symbolic number. The influence of the number seven was not restricted to the Hebrews; it prevailed among the Persians, ancient Indians, Greeks and Romans. The peculiarity of the Hebrew view consists in the special dignity of the seventh, and not simply in that of seen. The Sabbath being the seventh day suggested the adoption of seven as the coefficient, so to say, for their appointment of all sacred periods; and we thus find the 7th month ushered in by the Feast of Trumpets, and signalized by the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Great Day of Atonement; 7…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

As from the beginning this was the number of days in the week, so it often has in Scripture a sort of emphasis attached to it, and is very generally used as a round or perfect number. Clean beasts were taken into the ark by sevens, Ge 7:1-24. The years of plenty and famine in Egypt were marked by sevens, Ge 41:1-57. With the Jews, not only was there a seventh day Sabbath, but every seventh year was a Sabbath, and after every seven times seven years came a jubilee. Their great feasts of unleavened bread and of tabernacles were observed for seven days; the number of animals in many of their sacrifices was limited to seven. The golden candlestick had seven branches. Seven priests with seven trumpets went around the walls of Jericho seven days, and seven times on the seventh day. In…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
98%seven
seven98% · 86×other renderings2% · 2×

88 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 3 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
object41%subject31%adverbial11%predicate10%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 88 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,ἔχωI have, hold, poἐκ
κεφαλήthe head
ἔχωI have, hold, poκαίand, even, also,ἑπτάIndec
λέγωI say, speak
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,
ἡμέραa day
διατρίβωI tarry, continuαὐτοῦhere, thereἐπιμένωI remain, tarry,
ἑαυτοῦ
μετάπονηρόςevil, bad, wicke
ἑπτάSeven.88×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
κέραςa hornὀλίγος& AdvεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come in
ἄγγελοςan angel, messenger
Article theὅςἑπτάIndec
ἐκκλησίαan assembly, congreg
εἰμίI am, existArticle theεἰς
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spirit
Article theὅς
ἀστήρa star
ὅςἄγγελοςan angel, messenἐν

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

Concordanceἑπτά · 88× in the New Testament
Revelation Matthew Mark Acts Luke Hebrews
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 189 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 91c. AD 40

διχῶς ἑβδομὰς λέγεται, ἡ μὲν ἐντὸς δεκάδος, ἥτις ἑπτάκις μονάδι μόνῃ μετρεῖται συνεστῶσα ἐκ μονάδων ἑπτά, ἡ δ’ ἐκτὸς δεκάδος, ἀριθμὸς οὗ πάντως ἀρχὴ μονὰς κατὰ τοὺς διπλασίους ἢ τριπλασίους ἢ συνόλως ἀναλογοῦντας ἀριθμούς, ὡς ἔχει ὁ ἑξηκοντατέσσαρα…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.63c. AD 75–95

Ἀνώχου δὲ Ἰαράδης υἱὸς ἦν, ἐκ δὲ τούτου Μαρουῆλος, οὗ γίνεται παῖς Μαθουσάλας, τοῦ δὲ Λάμεχος, ᾧ παῖδες ὑπῆρξαν ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ἐκ δύο γυναικῶν αὐτῷ φύντες Σελλᾶς καὶ Ἄδας.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 3.8.2c. AD 140

ἐμβλέψασά μοι ὑπεμειδίασεν καὶ λέγει μοι: Βλέπεις ἑπτὰ γυναῖκας κύκλῳ τοῦ πύργου;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Athen.. 23Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 82

ζ, ἐν Θεαδελφίαι τῆς Θεμίστου μερίδος τοῦ Ἀρσινοΐτου νομοῦ. ὁμολογοῦσιν Δῖος ὡς ἐτῶν εἴκοσι ἑπτὰ οὐλὴ δακτύλῳ πρώτῳ χειρὸς ἀριστερᾶς καὶ Ὦσις ὡς ἐτῶν εἴκοσι τεσσάρων οὐλὴ ποδὶ ἀριστερῶι

P.Alex. 7Dionysias (Arsinoites)AD 113

τέσσαρας καὶ τοὺς τόκους ἀποδότωσαν οἱ δεδανεισμένοι τῷ Διοσκόρῳ ἐν μηνὶ Τῦβι τοῦ εἰσίοντος ἕπτα καὶ δεκάτου ἔτους Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Νέρουα Τραιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ Δακικοῦ μηδὲν ἐλαττουμένου τοῦ Διοσκόρου

P.Amh. 2 121ArsinoitesAD 160

Ἁθὺρ η. διέγραψε Σαβεῖνος Ζωσίμου ὑπὲρ ζυτηρᾶς κατʼ ἄνδρα τοῦ διεληλυθότος κγ ἔτους δραχμὰς ἑπτὰ τετρώβολον, γίνονται δραχμαὶ ζ τετρώβολον. κδ ἔτους Ἁθὺρ η. διέγραψε Σαβεῖνος Ζωσίμου γεωργὸς ιζ

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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