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Mark 8:9 — Word Study

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N1904ἦσαν δὲ οἱ φαγόντες ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

BSAThere wereeimi [existing, gathered] nowde <the>ho having eaten ofphagein abouthōs [approximately, nearly] four thousand;tetrakischilioi [a multitude of 4000, people, individuals] Andkai He sent awayapoluō [released, sent away] them.autos [them, the multitude]

Word
Listen & take awayMark 8
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 9 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 (autos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Mark 8:9quick helps
In a sentenceJesus fed a crowd of about four thousand men and then sent them away.
Who is speakingThe narrator recounts the actions of Jesus.
Where we areThis verse is part of the account of Jesus' feeding of the multitude.
The hard wordἀπολύω
Take awayJesus had compassion on the crowd and provided for their needs.
4 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Whedon & more — read them › clause subject verbεἰμί The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

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

Deep Study — Mark 8:9

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

8The people ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
9And about four thousand men were present. As soon as Jesus had dismissed the crowd,
10He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
11Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.

Mark 8:9 describes the moment after Jesus had performed a miracle, feeding about four thousand men. This event follows the feeding of the five thousand and demonstrates Jesus' continued compassion for the crowds. After providing for their physical needs, He dismissed them, showing His authority and care.


Cross References


The Key Word ἀπολύω, apoluōgenerated

The verb ἀπολύω means to release or send away. It is an aorist active indicative verb, indicating a completed action performed by Jesus.

In this context, it signifies that Jesus took action to dismiss the crowd after they had eaten, emphasizing His role as a provider and leader.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The Berean Standard Bible uses dismissing, while the KJV opts for sent away. Both convey the same action but differ in wording.

The translations agree on the number of men present, with slight variations in phrasing regarding their dismissal.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The verse contains two main clauses: the first states the presence of the crowd, while the second describes Jesus' action of sending them away. The finite verb ἦσαν (they were) governs the first clause, and ἀπέλυσεν (He sent away) governs the second.

The structure highlights the sequence of events: first, the crowd's presence is noted, followed by Jesus' action of dismissing them.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In the Septuagint, the word φαγόντες (phagein), meaning 'having eaten of', is used to translate the Hebrew word אָכַל (akal), which also means 'eat'. This choice emphasizes the action of consuming food, aligning with the context of a gathering where sustenance is provided.

The term τετρακισχίλιοι· (tetrakischilioi), meaning 'four thousand', corresponds to the Hebrew words for 'four' (אַרְבַּע arba) and 'thousand' (אֶ֫לֶף eleph). This numerical designation conveys the significant size of the crowd present, underscoring the miraculous nature of the event.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Mark 8:9 tells us that about four thousand men were present when Jesus fed them. After they had eaten, He sent them away, showing His care for their needs.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean that Jesus sent the crowd away?

It signifies that after providing for their needs, Jesus took action to dismiss them, demonstrating His authority.

Why were there about four thousand men?

This number indicates the size of the crowd that Jesus fed, highlighting the miraculous nature of the event.

How does this event compare to the feeding of the five thousand?

Both events showcase Jesus' ability to provide for large crowds, but they are distinct miracles with different numbers and contexts.

What can we learn from Jesus dismissing the crowd?

It teaches us about Jesus' compassion and His role as a leader who cares for the physical and spiritual needs of the people.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How does Jesus' provision for the crowd reflect His care for us today?
  2. What does it mean to be spiritually fed by Jesus, as the crowd was physically fed?
  3. In what ways can we show compassion to those in need around us?
  4. How can we respond to Jesus' authority in our lives, as the crowd did when He dismissed them?

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

Early church fathers comment on the significance of the number of men fed by Jesus, highlighting themes of faith and sustenance.

JeromeTRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK, HOMILY 78 c. 347–420
From the lesser number of men [four thousand], less remains; from the greater number [five thousand6], more is left over. Four thousand men—fewer certainly in number, but greater in faith.

Jerome notes the contrast in the numbers fed, suggesting that fewer men may indicate greater faith.

Early Church Fathers on Mark 8 →
BedeOn the Gospel of Mark c. 673–735
Now those who ate were about four thousand, and He sent them away. Well, four thousand, that even in the number itself they might show they were fed with evangelical food.

Bede remarks on the spiritual nourishment represented by the four thousand, emphasizing their need for evangelical food.

Early Church Fathers on Mark 8 →

Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Mark 8:9 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And they that had eaten were about four thousand,.... That is, men, besides women and children, as Matthew observes; [See comments on Matthew 15:38].

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

And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

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

9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. Ver. 9.

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

And about four thousand men were present. As soon as Jesus had dismissed the crowd,

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Those who had eaten were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

And about four thousand men who had eaten were present. And when Jesus had dismissed the crowd,

NETBNew English Translation2006

There were about four thousand who ate. Then he dismissed them.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And they were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And they were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he dismissed them.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

(And they that had eaten, were about foure thousand) so he sent them away.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And they [that had eaten] were about four thousand; and he sent them away.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and those eating were about four thousand. And he let them away,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and those eating were about four thousand. And He let them away,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

There were about four thousand people. Then he sent them away.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And they that had eaten were about four thousand; and he sent them away.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

There were four thousand people there. After sending them on their way,

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And there were about four thousand people: and he sent them away.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἦσανeimi There were G1510 2 different renderings
wereASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NWB RVA WEB YLT
there wereBBE FBV NETB ULB

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseδὲnowclauselinking verbἦσανThere werenoun phrase · predicateὡςaboutτετρακισχίλιοιfour thousandclauseκαὶAndclauseverbἀπέλυσενHe sent awayobjectαὐτούςthem

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

Erant autem qui manducaverunt, quasi quatuor millia : et dimisit eos.

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

ܐܝܬܝܗܘܢ ܗܘܘ ܕܝܢ ܐܢܫܐ ܕܐܟܠܘ ܐܝܟ ܐܪܒܥܐ ܐܠܦܝܢ

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

ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἦσαν δὲ οἱ φαγόντες ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἦσαν δὲ ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἦσαν δὲ οἱ φαγόντες ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἦσαν δὲ οἱ φαγόντες ὡς τετρακισχίλιοι· καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτούς.¶

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
οἱ <the>Treg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn
φαγόντες having eaten ofTreg, TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Tyn

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 8:9εἰμίThere wereThere wereεἰμίδέnownowδέ<the><the>ἐσθίωhaving eatehaving eaten ofἐσθίωὡςaboutaboutὡςτετρακισχίλιοιfour thousafour thousand;τετρακισχίλιοικαίAndAndκαίἀπολύωHe sent awaHe sent awayἀπολύωαὐτόςthem.them.αὐτόςὅςRel.pr. whRel.pr. who, whὅςἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόἐσθίωv. I eatv. I eatἐσθίωτέσσαρεςAdj fourAdj fourτέσσαρεςχίλιοιAdj a thouAdj a thousandχίλιοιἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦἄξιοςAdj worthyAdj worthy, worἄξιοςχορτάζωv. I feed,v. I feed, satiχορτάζωπίνωv. I drinkv. I drink, imbπίνωνήπιοςAdj an infAdj an infant, νήπιοςπλησίονAdv near, Adv near, nearbπλησίονσπυρίςn.f. a plan.f. a plaited σπυρίςπόσοςCorr./Irg.Corr./Irg.pr. hπόσοςΒαραββᾶςn.m. Barabn.m. BarabbasΒαραββᾶςβούλομαιv. I will,v. I will, inteβούλομαιἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάω
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 8:9

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.

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
ἦσανeimi There were G1510 Verb · imperfect · active · indicative · third person · plural
2,457× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Mark as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To be or exist, a basic verb used to describe something or someone, like God saying 'I am' in John 8:58.
Amplified meaning
existing, gathered
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰμί,

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

As substantive verb.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰμί (eimi) — to be.

εἰμί

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰμί

eimi

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

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

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

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

see GREEK for 1488

see GREEK for 1498

see GREEK for 1511

see GREEK for 1527

see GREEK for 2258

see GREEK for 2071

see GREEK for 2070

see GREEK for 2075

see GREEK for 2076

see GREEK for 2771

see GREEK for 2468

see GREEK for 5600

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰμί

v.

I am, exist

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰμί eimi 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
26%is
is26% · 619×are9% · 228×was7% · 176×being6% · 138×it is5% · 112×will be4% · 87×am3% · 80×were3% · 67×other renderings37% · 901×

2,408 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 139 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
linking verb87%verb13%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,457 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
ὅτιthat, since, becκαίand, even, also,ὅς
οὗτος
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
ὅς
ἐνἄνθρωποςa man, one of thθεόςGod, a god
ἐγώ
ὅτιthat, since, becλέγωI say, speakμετά
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
εἰμίThere were2457×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenΧριστόςanointed, the Meβασιλείαkingship, sovere
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegγάρfor
ἐν
Article theσύαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theτὶςἐκεῖthere, yonder, t
ἐγώ
εἰςἄξιοςworthy, worthy oὧδεhere

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

Concordanceεἰμί · 2,457× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 Corinthians Romans Revelation 1 John 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians

67 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
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

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

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
δὲde now 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
δέnow2787×
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
There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
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.

Read the full entry →
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

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
φαγόντεςphagein having eaten of G5315 Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
93× 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 Greek word means to eat, whether literally or figuratively, as seen in Matthew 14:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:21. It can also refer to partaking in food and drink, like in 1 Corinthians 9:4. The word is often used in the context of everyday life and community.
Tyndale gloss
to eat
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐσθίω (i.e., *esthio*) means 'to eat' and is used in various contexts, both literal and figurative. It is built from the root associated with eating and can imply consuming food in a regular manner or in a more metaphorical sense, such as devouring or squandering. The New Testament uses this term frequently, with a notable emphasis on eating in communal or ritual contexts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

φάγομαι Hellenistic for cl. ἔδομαι, v.s. ἐσθίω.

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

ἐσθίω. P Giss I. 808 (ii/A.p.) τὰ [π]εριστερίδι[α καὶ ὀ]ρνυθάρια, ἃ οὐκ ἤωθα ἐσϑεῖν (1. ἐσθίειν), πέμ[ψον .. -, 25.19 ὅσα ποτὲ οὐκ ἔφαγον παρὰ σοῦ ἀφοσεστια (/. ἀφέστια 2), P Oxy IX. 118 519 (c. A.D. 200) παῖδα τὸν μεικρὸν δεῖ ἄρτον ἐσθίειν, and 76. X. 1297! (iv/A-D.) προ. εἰνάριον ἐλαίου, ἀνικαλύψαι (4 ἀνα-) αὐτὸν καὶ φάγαι, “fa . . . of oil for you to uncover and eat °—so the editors, who for the form φάγαι compare P Tor I. τ (p.c. 117) μετῆλθαι, BGU I. 2508 (time of Hadrian) ἐπενέγκαι. See also Sy// 807"* (after a.D. 138) ἄραι κόκκους στροβίλου καὶ φαγεῖν μετὰ μέλιτος ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας. On the constative force of φαγεῖν as distinguished from the durative ἐσθίειν cf. Proleg. p. 111, and for φάγομαι as an Hellenistic mixture of ἔδομαι and ἔφαγον cf. 24. p. 184 η8. MGr φαγί, “eating,” ‘‘repast.” Thumb (Hed/entsmus, p. 128 n.?) doubts the necessity of finding a Hebraism in ἐσθίειν ἀπό (Mk…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

φαγεῖν (phagein) — to eat.

φᾰγεῖν,

infinitive of ἔφαγον, with no present in use (except in late Gr., φαγεῖ [Refs]; φαγέοις in editions of [Refs 1st c.AD+], used as aorist 2 of ἐσθί; later 1st pers. plural ἐφάγαμεν [LXX]future is φάγομαι,[LXX+NT]; 2nd pers. singular φάγεσαι [LXX+NT]; future φαγήσω is see uncertain in [Refs 4th c.AD+]:—eat, devour, both of men and beasts, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: with genitive, eat of a thing, [LXX+8th c.BC+]

II. eat up, devour, squander, [Refs 8th c.BC+] and Sanskrit bhájati 'apportion, (middle) enjoy'.)

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐσθίω

phago

a primary verb (used as an alternate of 2068 in certain tenses); to

eat (literally or figuratively):--eat, meat.

see GREEK for 2068

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

φάγω

v.

I eat

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐσθίω esthiō 158x

to eat, Mt. 12:1; 15:27; ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν, to eat and drink, to eat and drink in the usual manner, follow the common mode of living, Mt. 11:18; also with the associated notion of supposed security, Lk. 17:27; to feast, banquet, Mt. 24:49; met. to devour, consume, Heb. 10:27; Jas. 5:3; from the Hebrew, ἄρτον ἐσθίειν, to eat bread, to take food, take the usual meals, Mt. 15:2

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAP-NPM — Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

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

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

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

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

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

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

Lamentations 3:1.

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

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

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
31%eat
eat31% · 30×ate9% · 9×do eat7% · 7×you may eat5% · 5×they ate4% · 4×may eat4% · 4×they may eat3% · 3×eat?3% · 3×other renderings33% · 32×

97 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 35 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
verb85%object8%adverbial5%subject2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 93 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
δίδωμιI offer, giveεἰμίI am, existἐνώπιονbefore the face
καίand, even, also, nam
θύωI sacrifice, kilεἰμίI am, existπορνεύωI fornicate, pra
τίςIrg
ἔχωI have, hold, poσύλέγωI say, speak
ἵναin order that, so th
ἑτοιμάζωI make ready, prΦαρισαῖοςa PhariseeπάσχαAram
μήNeg
οὐNegἐάνCondArticle the
ἐσθίωhaving eaten of93×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
πίνωI drink, imbibeχορτάζωI feed, satisfyἀπολύωI release, let g
Article the
πάσχαAramἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fσάρξflesh, body
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
καίand, even, also,κοινόςcommon, shared, Article the
ὅς
οὐNegσύ
ἐκ
Article theοὗτος

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

Concordanceἐσθίω · 93× in the New Testament
Luke Mark John Matthew 1 Corinthians Acts Revelation Romans 2 Thessalonians Hebrews James
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 174 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria The Epistle of Barnabas Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.90c. AD 40

ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φάγῃ, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.3c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ ἀποδόσθαι τὸ πρεσβεῖον αὐτῷ τοῦ φαγεῖν συνεργῷ χρησάμενος τῇ πείνῃ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἠνάγκαζε, κἀκεῖνος ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ προαχθεὶς παραχωρεῖ τῶν πρεσβείων αὐτῷ μεθʼ ὅρκων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 7.5c. AD 100

ἐπειδὴ ἐμὲ ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν μέλλοντα τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ καινοῦ προσφέρειν τὴν σάρκα μου μέλλετε ποτίζειν χολὴν μετὰ ὄξους, φάγετε ὑμεῖς μόνοι, τοῦ λαοῦ νηστεύοντος καὶ κοπτομένου ἐπὶ σάκκου καὶ σποδοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 5th c. AD 3rd c. AD 7th c. AD 1st c. AD
SB 1 5252Nilopolis (Arsinoites)AD 65

δραχμῶν πεντακοσίων καὶ κεραμίων κενωμάτων πεντήκοντα καὶ κατὰ μῆνα ἄρτους πέντε καὶ ἡμικοτύλιον καὶ φαγεῖν ἐκθέτου οὔσης τῆς προθέσεως, τοῦ σπονδείου τοῦ Ἐπὶφ ἀφʼ ὥρας ὀγδόης τῆς ἐνάτης Αἰγυπτίων

BIFAO 41 (1941), p. 175-176 no. 19Wâdi FawâkhirAD 1–AD 200

ἐάν σοι δόξῃ πέμψαι μοι αὐτό, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἐμὸν ἔδωκα καὶ οὐκ ἔχω πόθεν φάγῃ ὁ ἵππος. οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐ μὴ ὀμόσῃς κατὰ τοῦ δακτυλίου η εστιν μυρία

P.Mich. 8 473Alexandria (?)AD 101–AD 125

Ἀλεξάνδρειαν μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ μου. τούτου χάριν μανία αὐτὸν ἔσχηκεν, ἐπεὶ οὐκ εὐδόκηκεν αὐτὸν φαγεῖν τὰ ἐπιμήνια σὺν τοῖς παρʼ αὐτοῦ. ἐὰν ὁ θεὸς θέλῃ καὶ λάβῃς τὰ ἐπιμήνια

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
ὡςhōs about G5613 Adverb
502× 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
This word means as or when, showing a comparison or timing. It's used in many verses, like Mark 4:26 and 1 Corinthians 3:15, to show how things are done. It helps explain how or when something happens.
Amplified meaning
approximately, nearly
Tyndale gloss
as/when
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὡς is an adverb and conjunction derived from the relative pronoun ὅς. It is used in various contexts to mean 'as,' 'like,' or 'when,' and can indicate manner, comparison, or time. In the New Testament, it appears frequently to express similarity or to introduce clauses, such as in comparisons or temporal phrases. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὡς, adverbial form of the relative pron. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.

As relat. adv. of manner, as, like as, just as, even as;

with a demonstrative, like οὕτως, expressed or understood: οὕτως . . . ὡς, Mk 4:26, I Co 3:15, Eph 5:28, Ja 2:12, al.; ὡς . . . οὕτως, Ac 8:32, I Co 7:17, al.; elliptically (sc. οὕτως, οὕτω), c. nom., Mt 6:29, al.; c. acc., Mt 19:19, Mk 12:31, al.; c. prep., Mt 26:55, Read the full entry →

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

ὡς [ Treg. (by mistake) in Mt. xxiv. 38 ὥς; cf. W. 462 (431); Chandler § 934, and reff. in Ebeling, Lex. Hom. s. v. p. 494

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

ὡς. Ι. = “45: P Goodsp Cairo 44 (ii/B.c.) (= Selections, Ῥ- 24) εἰ tppwoar . .. εἴη dv ὡς αἱρούμεθα, “if you are well, it will be as we desire,” BGU I. 1637 (A.D. 108) καὶ yap ἄλλοι ὡς πληγέντες ὑπὸ αὐτοῦ ἀναφόριον δεδώκασι, “for others have given information (from time to time) ἃ5 having been assaulted by him,” P Flor I. 5618 (A.p. 234) ὡς καθήκει, and BGU IV. το. 1 (iv/y A.D.) κα]ταβληθῆναι ὡς φονέα. 2. = “that,” ‘ how,” after verbs of saying, thinking, etc.: P Tebt I. τοῦ (B.c. 119) φρόντισον ὡς τὰ τῆς ὑποσχέσεως ἐκπληρωθήσεται, “take care that the terms of his agreement are fulfilled” (Edd.), and P Tebt II. 4101? (i/A.D.) μν[ἤ]σθητι o[s] ἐν τῷ Τρ[ιστόμῳ pe ἐφιλοτ[ιυἹμοῦ σὺν ἐμοὶ μεῖναι, ‘remember how zealous you were at Tristomos to remain with me” (Fdd.). 3. Ὁ. ind. with dy, as in Σ Cor 125, cf. P Par 4615 (B.C. 152) ὡς ἂν εὐκαιρήσω, παραχρῆμα παρέσομαι πρός σε. 4. c. conj. with…

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

ὡς (hōs) — as/when.

ὡς:—

Summary:

__A as adverb of Manner.

__A.Aa ὧς and ὥς (with accent), so, thus.

__A.Ab ὡς (without accent) of the Relat. pronoun ὅς, as.

__A.Ac ὡς Relat. and Interrog., how.

__A.Ad ὡς temporal, when.

__A.Ae ὡς Local, where,

__B ὡς, as CONJUNCTION.

__C,D various usages. adverb of Manner:

__A.Aa ὥς, Demonstr., ={οὕτως}, so, thus, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Ionic dialect Prose, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὥς simply ={οὕτως}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2 καὶ ὧς even so, nevertheless, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐδ᾽ ὧς not even so, [Refs 8th c.BC+] are used in Trag. and Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κἂν ὧς, εἴπερ μέλει σοι, ἀπόστειλόν μοί τινα [Refs 4th c.AD+]; δουλεύων καθὼς καὶ ὧς [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; Thess. καὶ οὗς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; for this phrase the accentuation ὧς[Refs 2nd…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὡς

hos

probably adverb of comparative from 3739; which how, i.e. in that

manner (very variously used, as follows):--about, after (that),

(according) as (it had been, it were), as soon (as), even as (like),

for, how (greatly), like (as, unto), since, so (that), that, to wit,

unto, when(-soever), while, X with all speed.

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὡς

Adv

as, like as, how, while, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὡς hōs 504x

conjunction formed from the relative pronoun ὅς, used as a comparative part. and conj., as, correlatively, Mk. 4:26; Jn. 7:46; Rom. 5:15; as, like as, Mt. 10:16; Eph. 5:8; according as, Gal. 6:10; as, as it were, Rev. 8:8; as, Lk. 16:1; Acts 3:12; before numerals, about, Mk. 5:13; conj. that, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὡς thus, as, so that, since

A. ADVERB of Manner, either ὥς (with accent) Demonstr. so, thus, Lat. sic;— or ὡς (without accent) Relat. as, Lat. ut. B. ὡς, as CONJUNCTION. C, D. various usages.

of Manner:

ὥς, Demonstr. = οὕτως, so, thus, Lat. sic, Hom., Hdt.; rare in attic:— καὶ ὥς, even so, nevertheless, οὐδ᾽ ὥς, μηδ᾽ ὥς, not even so, in no wise, Hom., Soph.

in Comparisons, ὥς . . , ὡς . . , so . . as . . , Lat. sic . . ut . . , Il., Plat.

thus, for instance, Od.

ὡς, Relat., as, Lat. ut, first in Hom.; οὕτως ὡς, Lat. sic ut; but the antec. is often omitted: similes are commonly introduced by ὡς ὅτε, ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε, where ὅτε often seems superfluous, ἤριπε δ᾽, ὡς ὅτε πύργος [ἤριπε] Il.:—this ὡς takes the accent at the end of a clause or when it follows the word dependent on it; θεὸς δ᾽ ὣς τίετο δήμῳ Il.; οἱ δὲ φέβοντο, βόες ὥς…

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-bout': The use of this word as a preposition, in the sense of "around," is confined to the Old Testament. In the New Testament, generally an adverb, for Greek hos or "hosei." The Revised Version (British and American) adopts it in several idiomatic translations of mello, referring to what is about to be, i.e. on the point of occurring, or immediately impending, amending the King James Version, in Ac 5:35; 27:2; Re 12:4, etc.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%as
as60% · 310×like16% · 84×when8% · 41×how4% · 21×about4% · 20×other renderings6% · 33×other renderings1% · 7×

516 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 22 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
adverbial31%predicate12%object4%subject4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 502 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
πρόσωπονthe face, counteπούςthe footδιδάσκωI teach
σύ
πλησίονnear, nearby, a καρδίαthe heart, innerἀποστέλλωI send forth, se
καίand, even, also, nam
πολύςmuch, many, ofteαὐτόςλαόςa people, the cr
ἀλλάbut, except
γαμίζωI give in marriaθέλωI will, wish, deφανερῶςclearly, openly
εἰμίI am, exist
ὥραan hour, seasonὅτιthat, since, becοὐNeg
ὡςabout502×
what comes after →
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἥλιοςthe sun, sunlighφῶςlight, a source
δέbut, on the other ha
πληρόωI fill, fulfill,γίνομαιI come into beinἀκούωI hear, listen
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἐνἐγώ
φωνήa sound, noise, voic
ὕδωρwaterβροντήthunderἐν
ἐν
Article theοὐρανόςthe sky, the heaκρυπτόςhidden, secret

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

Concordanceὡς · 502× in the New Testament
Revelation Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John 2 Corinthians 1 Peter Hebrews Mark Romans Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
τετρακισχίλιοι·tetrakischilioi four thousand; G5070 Adjective · nominative · plural · masculine
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means four thousand, like the number of people Jesus fed in Matthew 15:38 and Mark 8:9. It appears in several accounts of Jesus' miracles.
Amplified meaning
a multitude of 4000, people, individuals
Tyndale gloss
four thousand
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word τετρακισχίλιοι (*tetrakischilioi*) means 'four thousand.' It is composed of the multiplicative prefix for 'four times' and the word for 'thousand.' This term appears in several New Testament passages, specifically in Matthew 15:38, 16:10, Mark 8:9, 20, and Acts 21:38.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

τετρακισ-χίλιοι, -αι, -α

four thousand: Mt 15:38 16:10, Mk 8:9, 20, Ac 21:38.†

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

τετρακισ-χίλιοι, -ar, -a, (τετράκις and χίλιοι), four thousand: Mt. xv. 38; xvi. 10; Mk. viii. 9,20; Acts xxi. 38. [(Hdt., Arstph., Thuc., al.)]

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

τετρακισχίλιοι, “*four thousand’’ (Mt 1538 a/.): PSI V. 480° (v/vi A.D.) εἰς πλήρωσιν τ]ῶν Tet pakioyxeAlwy ἀρταβῶν τῶν πραθέντων αὐτῷ.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

τετρακισχίλιοι (tetrakischilioi) — four thousand.

τετρᾰκισ-χίλιοι [ῑλ], αι,

a, four thousand, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: Laconian dialect τετρᾰκινχήλιοι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Cyrenaic τετρᾰκιχήλιοι [Refs]; Boeotian dialect πετρᾰκισχείλιη feminine, which see).

Strong's Greek Dictionary

τετρακισχίλιοι

tetrakischilioi

from the multiplicative adverb of 5064 and 5507; four times a

thousand:--four thousand.

see GREEK for 5064

see GREEK for 5507

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

τετρακισχίλιοι, αι, α

Adj

four thousand

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

τετρακισχίλιοι tetrakischilioi 5x

four thousand, Mt. 15:38; 16:10; Mk. 8:9, 20; Acts 21:38*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

τετρακισχίλιοι τετρα^κι_σ-χίλιοι, αι, α, four thousand, Hdt., attic

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

A-NPM Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

See FOUR.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%four thousand
four thousand100% · 5×

5 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 1 different way. 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
predicate40%object40%adverbial20%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 5 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
ἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fεἰςἔρημοςdeserted, desola
εἰμίI am, exist
ἐσθίωI eat
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
δέbut, on the othe
τετρακισχίλιοιfour thousand;
what comes after →
ἀνήρa male human being,
χωρίςapart from, withArticle the
καίand, even, also, nam
πόσοςἀπολύωI release, let g
πόσος
σπυρίςa plaited basket

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

Concordanceτετρακισχίλιοι · 5× in the New Testament
Matthew Mark Acts
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 6 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
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Life of Moses 1.304c. AD 40

τετρακισχιλίους δέ φασι πρὸς τοῖς δισμυρίοις ἀναιρεθῆναι μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ, συναναιρεθέντος εὐθὺς τοῦ κοινοῦ μιάσματος, ὃ πᾶσαν τὴν στρατιὰν ἐκηλίδου.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.155c. AD 75–95

ἀπόλλυνται μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν τάξεων ἄνδρες οὐκ ἐλάττους τετρακισχιλίων καὶ μυρίων.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 5th c. AD 6th c. AD 2nd c. AD
P.Wisc. 1 9OxyrhynchosAD 183

, ἐστιν τὸ ἥμισυ μέροςτούτων ἀρούραι ἔννεα ἕκτον ἐνενηκοστόεκτον . παραχωρητικοῦ τούτων ἀργυρίου δραχμῶν τετρακισχιλίων , ἀφʼ ὧν αὐτὸς ἀπέχω παρά σου ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς τρισχιλίας ἑξακοσίας ἐπὶ τῷ τὰς

SB 6 9619Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 184

τρόπον καὶ οὐδενὶ ἐνποιήσομαι οὐδὲ περὶ τούτων οὐδὲ περὶ ἄλλου, ὃ ἀπέσχον … δραχμῶν τετρακισχιλίων οὔτε περὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδενὸς πράγματος οὔτε περὶ δραχμῶν ἑξακοσίων τόκων … κεχάρακται Παῦνι

SB 6 9201OxyrhynchosAD 203

καὶ αὐτοῦ Τῦβι τόκους τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ δευτέρου ἔτους κεφαλαίου ταλάντων τριῶν καὶ δραχμῶν τετρακισχιλίων πεντακοσίων , μὴ ἐλαττουμένης μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς τόν τε Σαραπίωνα καὶ Ταῦριν ἐν τῇ

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
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,

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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…

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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)…

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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+]

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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

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
ἀπέλυσενapoluō He sent away G630 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
66× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means to release or set free, like when Jesus healed a woman in Luke 13:12. It can also mean to forgive or let go, as in Luke 6:37. In some cases, it refers to divorce or separation, as in Matthew 5:31-32.
Amplified meaning
released, sent away
Tyndale gloss
to release: release
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀπολύω (i.e., *apoluo*) is built from the prefix ἀπο- and the root λύω. It covers a range of meanings including to release, dismiss, and divorce, as well as to forgive or let go. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as forgiving debts (Matthew 18:27) and dismissing a wife (Matthew 1:19).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπο-λύω,

[in LXX for שׁוּב, etc., freq. in I-IV Mac;]

to set free, release: Lk 13:12, Jo 19:10, al.; a debtor, Mt 18:27; metaph., of forgiveness, Lk 6:37.

to let go, dismiss (Field, Notes, 9 f.): Mt 15:23, Lk 2:29 9:12, Ac 19:41, al.; of divorce, τ. γυναῖκα: Mt 1:19 5:31, 32 19:3, 8, 9, Mk 10:2, 4, 11, Lk 16:18; with ref. to Gk. and Rom. (net Jewish) custom, τ. ἄνδρα:

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

ἀπο-λύω ; [impf. dméAvov]; fut. ἀπολύσω : 1 aor. ἀπέAvoa; Pass., pf. ἀπολέλυμαι ; 1 aor. ἀπελύθην ; [fut. ἀπολυθήσομαι] ; impf. mid. ἀπελυόμην (Acts xxviii. 25) ; used in the N. T. only in the historical books and in Heb. xiii. 23; fo loose from, sever by loosening, undo, [see ἀπό, Veils 1. to set free: τινά twos (so in Grk. writ. even fr. Hom. down), to liberate one from a thing (as from a bond), Lk. xiii. 12 (ἀπολέλυσαι [thou hast been loosed i.e.] be thou free from [ef. W. § 40, 4] τῆς ἀσθενείας [LT ἀπὸτ. ἀσθ.7). 2. to let go, dismiss, (to detain no longer) ; τινά, a. ἃ suppliant to whom liberty to depart is given by a decisive answer: Mt. xv. 23; Lk. ii. 29 (‘me whom thou hadst determined to keep on earth until I had seen the salvation prepared for Israel, ef. vs. 26, thou art now dismissing with my wish accomplished, and this dismission is at the same time dismission also from…

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

ἀπολύω. This common verb, in the sense “" dismiss,” ‘‘send away ona mission” (as Ac 13°, and probably Heb 1333) may be illustrated by P Par 49! (B.c. 164-58) (= Witkowski? p- 70) ἀπέλυσα εἴπας αὐτῶι ὀρθρίτερον ἐλθεῖν. In P Lond 4276 (see above under ἀπολαμβάνω) it is used of departure from seclusion in the Serapeum—trép τοῦ ἀπολελύσθαι σε ἐκ τῆς κατοχῆς : cf. P Petr II. ττ(1)8 (iii/B.c.) (= Selections, p- 7) ὅπως τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος σχολῆς ἀπολυθῶ, “in order that I may be relieved from my present occupation,” BGU I. 2714 (ii/a.p.) (= Se/ectéons, p. 101) ὥστε ἕως σήμερον μηδέν᾽ ἀπολελύσθαι τῶν μετὰ σίτου, “so that up till to-day

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀπολύω (apoluō) — to release: release.

ἀπολύω

[see. λύω], future -λύσω, etc.: future passive

__A ἀπολελύσομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—loose from, ἱμάντα θοῶς ἀπέλυσε κορώνης[Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὄφρ᾽ ἀπὸ τοίχους λῦσε κλύδων τρόπιος the sides of the ship from the keel, [Refs]; undo, ἀπὸ κρήδεμνον ἔλυσεν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2 set free, release, relieve from, ἀ. τινὰ τῆς φρουρῆς[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀ. τῆς μετρήσεως save them from the trouble of measuring, [Refs 4th c.BC+]:— passive, to be set free, τῶν δεινῶν, φόβου, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2.b frequently in legal sense, ἀ. τῆς αἰτίης acquit of the charge, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to καταψηφίζω, [Refs 5th c.BC+]infinitive, ἀ. τινὰ μὴ φῶρα εἶναι acquit of being a thief, [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀπολύω

apoluo

from 575 and 3089; to free fully, i.e. (literally) relieve, release,

dismiss (reflexively, depart), or (figuratively) let die, pardon or

(specially) divorce:--(let) depart, dismiss, divorce, forgive, let go,

loose, put (send) away, release, set at liberty.

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 3089

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀπολύω

v.

I release, let go, send away, divorce

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀπολύω apolyō 66x

pr. to loose; to release from a tie or burden, Mt. 18:27; to divorce, Mt. 1:19; to remit, forgive, Lk. 6:37; to liberate, discharge, Mt. 27:15; to dismiss, Mt. 15:23; Acts 19:40; to allow to depart, to send away, Mt. 14:15; to permit, or, signal departure from life, Lk. 2:29; mid. to depart, Acts 28:25; pass. to be rid, Lk.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀπολύω to loose from, τί τινος Od.: to undo, id. Od.

to set free from, release or relieve from, τινὰ τῆς φρουρῆς, τῆς ἐπιμελείας Hdt., Xen.; τι ἀπό τινος Plat.:—Pass. to be set free from, Thuc.

in legal sense, ἄπ. τῆς αἰτίης to acquit of the charge, Hdt., Xen.:—c. inf., ἀπ. τινὰ μὴ φῶρα εἶναι to acquit one of being a thief, Hdt.: then absol. to acquit, Ar.

to let go free on receipt of ransom, hold to ransom, Il.:—Mid. to ransom, redeem, χρυσοῦ by payment of gold, id. Il.

to discharge or disband an army, Xen.:—generally, to dismiss, Ar.

to divorce a wife, NTest.

Mid. to redeem, v. supr. II.

to do away with charges against one, Lat. diluere, Thuc., Plat.:— absol., ἀπολυόμενος in defence, Hdt.

like Pass. (c. II), to depart, Soph.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
9%release
release9% · 6×i may release8% · 5×send away6% · 4×do dismiss6% · 4×released5% · 3×divorce5% · 3×he released5% · 3×they let go3% · 2×other renderings55% · 36×

66 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 38 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
verb91%object6%adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 66 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
ἐσθίωI eatἀποστάσιονrepudiation, divτετρακισχίλιοιfour thousand
αὐτός
οὖνtherefore, thenἕωςuntil, as far asἐάνCond
ἄνDisj
ὅς
Article the
πᾶςall, the whole, καίand, even, also,
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςῥαβδοῦχοςa lictor, Roman οὗτος
ἀπολύωHe sent away66×
what comes after →
Article the
γυνήa woman, wife, mὄχλοςa crowdἀνήρa male human bei
αὐτός
Article theνῆστιςfasting, withoutὅτιthat, since, bec
σύ
Article theΒαραββᾶςBarabbasἐν
δέbut, on the other ha
αὐτόςἐγώArticle the
μετά
εἰρήνηpeace, peace of ὅς

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

Concordanceἀπολύω · 66× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke Mark John Hebrews
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaAgainst Flaccus 96c. AD 40

εἶτ’ ἐπειδὴ μὲν ἐγνωρίσθησαν ἑτέρου γένους, ἀπελύοντο — πολλὰς γὰρ ὡς Ἰουδαίας ἀκριβῆ μὴ ποιούμενοι τῆς ἀληθείας τὴν ἔρευναν συνελάμβανον —, εἰ δ’ ἐφάνησαν ἡμέτεραι, προσέταττον οἱ ἀντὶ θεατῶν τύραννοι καὶ δεσπόται γεγονότες κρέα χοίρεια διδόναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 2.73c. AD 75–95

τῇ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ προειρημένῃ γενέθλιον τεθυκὼς ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν σιτοποιῶν ἀνεσταύρωσε, τὸν δὲ οἰνοχόον τῶν δεσμῶν ἀπολύσας ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑπηρεσίας κατέστησεν.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 9.1.6c. AD 140

Ἀπολυσάτω, φησίν, αὐτὴν καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐφ̓ ἑαυτῷ μενέτω: ἐὰν δὲ ἀπολύσας τὴν γυναῖκα ἑτέραν γαμήσῃ, καὶ αὐτὸς μοιχᾶται.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Diog. 5ArsinoitesAD 138

χαλκῆν ἐκσφράγισμα στήλης χαλκῆς ἀνακειμένης ἐν Ῥώμῃ διʼ ἧς ἐδηλοῦτο στρατευσάμενον αὐτὸν καὶ ἐντίμως ἀπολελύσθαι περιέχουσαν οὕτως· … … … ωνδ … μ … δ … … Μάρκῳ

P.Fay. 106Bakchias (Arsinoites)AD 139–AD 142

κεχρονισμένον εἰς … ἔτος Ἀντωνίνου τοῦ κυρίου Φαρμοῦθι … , Ἡλιόδωρος εἶπεν· κέκρικεν … ἀπολύσας. Γαίωι Ἀουιδίωι Ἡλιοδώρωι ἐπάρχῳ Αἰγύπτου παρὰ Μάρκου Οὐαλερίου Γεμέλλου ἰατροῦ. παρὰ τὰ ἀπηγορευμένα ἀχθεὶς

P.Mil.Vogl. 2 87Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 150–AD 151

καὶ χόρτου, σὲ δὲ ἀντεχόμενον καὶ ἑτέροις μεταμισθοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἔτους· ἐὰν φαίνηται ἀπολῦσαι. Κρονίων ἐτῶν ξϛ οὐλὴ χειρὶ ἀριστερᾷ. ἔτους ιδ Ἀντωνείνου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου.

There were now <the> having eaten of about four thousand; And He sent away them.
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'.
Amplified meaning
them, the multitude
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

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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