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Mark 9:16 — Word Study

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N1904καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς γραμματεῖς· τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

BSAAndkai He askedeperōtaō [Jesus, the Master, questioned, inquired of] thoseho scribes:grammateus Whattis [which question, what matter] are you disputingsuzēteō [debating, arguing] withpros them?autos

Word
Listen & take awayMark 9
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 16 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 9:16quick helps
In a sentenceJesus asks the crowd about their dispute with the scribes.
Who is speakingJesus, addressing the crowd.
Where we areThis moment occurs after Jesus' transfiguration, amidst a crowd that has gathered.
The hard wordσυζητεῖτε
Take awayDisputes often arise when understanding is lacking.
4 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, Whedon & more — read them › clause verbἐπερωτάω 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 9:16

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 Healing of a Boy with an Unclean Spiritgenerated

15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were filled with awe and ran to greet Him.
16“What are you disputing with them?” He asked.
17Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute.
18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”

Mark 9:16 captures a moment when Jesus, after descending from the mountain, encounters a crowd in confusion. They are arguing with the scribes about a boy afflicted by a mute spirit. This question from Jesus seeks clarity amidst the turmoil, inviting the crowd to articulate their concerns and misunderstandings.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Mark 8:11Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.
2Luke 5:30–32But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word συζητεῖτε, suzēteōgenerated

The Greek verb συζητεῖτε (i.e., *suzēteō*) means to debate or discuss something with others. It is built from the prefix συν- (together) and the root ζητέω (to seek). This word emphasizes the act of jointly investigating or exchanging ideas, often in a context of inquiry and dispute.

In this verse, it indicates that the crowd is engaged in a discussion or argument with the scribes, highlighting the tension and confusion surrounding the situation. The present tense suggests an ongoing action, indicating that this debate is happening in real time.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which states: 'What are you disputing with them?' This wording is mirrored by the KJV and ASV, both of which maintain a similar phrasing.

However, differences arise in how the translations render the verb συζητεῖτε. The BSB and MSB use 'are you disputing,' while others like the GNV and YLT opt for 'dispute.' The WEB uses 'asking,' which shifts the focus slightly from the act of disputing.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἐπηρώτησεν, He asked, which governs the entire sentence. The sentence consists of a question directed towards the crowd, with a prepositional phrase indicating the object of the dispute.

The structure shows that the inquiry is directed at the subjects involved in the debate, emphasizing the interaction between Jesus, the crowd, and the scribes.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek verb ἐπηρώτησεν (eperōtaō), meaning 'He asked,' is used in Mark 9:16. In the Septuagint, it corresponds to the Hebrew שָׁאַל (sha'al), which also means 'to ask or inquire.' This choice emphasizes the act of inquiry, highlighting the questioning nature of Jesus in this context.

The term γραμματεῖς· (grammateus), translated as 'scribes,' is used in the LXX to render Hebrew terms like סָפַר (safar), meaning 'to recount or relate.' This connection suggests that the scribes were not just passive listeners but were actively involved in the discussion, potentially challenging Jesus' authority.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Mark 9:16 shows Jesus asking the crowd what they are arguing about with the scribes. This question highlights the confusion and conflict present in the situation, as the crowd is unsure how to resolve the matter concerning the boy.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does Jesus mean by asking about the dispute?

Jesus is prompting the crowd to clarify the nature of their argument with the scribes, indicating a desire for understanding and resolution.

Why were the scribes involved in the dispute?

The scribes were experts in the law and often engaged in discussions about interpretations of scripture, which may have led to disagreements with the crowd.

What was the crowd's concern?

The crowd was likely concerned about the boy's condition and the inability of the disciples to help him, which prompted the argument with the scribes.

How does this verse relate to the overall narrative?

This moment illustrates the challenges Jesus faced in His ministry, particularly in dealing with skepticism and misunderstanding among the people.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What are some disputes I have encountered in my own life that required clarification?
  2. How can I better communicate my concerns when I feel misunderstood?
  3. In what ways can I approach discussions with others to seek understanding rather than argument?
  4. How does this interaction between Jesus and the crowd inform my understanding of His character?

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

Bede comments on this passage, noting the interaction between Jesus and the crowd, emphasizing His role as a teacher and inquirer.

BedeOn the Gospel of Mark c. 673–735
And he asked them: What are you discussing among yourselves? And one from the crowd answered: Teacher, I brought my son to you, who has a mute spirit;

Bede highlights the moment Jesus asks about the discussion among the crowd, pointing to the importance of understanding in teaching.

Early Church Fathers on Mark 9 →

Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Mark 9:16 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

And he asked the Scribes,.... The Vulgate Latin renders it, "he asked them"; and the Ethiopic version, he said unto them; meaning either that he asked the disciples when he came to them, or else the

Read John Gill on Mark 9 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

Read Robert Jamieson on Mark 9 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14-29) And when he came to his disciples.—See Notes on Matthew 17:14-21. The narrative of St. Mark here becomes much the fullest of the three. He alone mentions, e.g., in this verse, the presence of the scribes disputing with the disciples, and in the next, the “running” and the “greeting” with which the multitude received our Lord as He came down from the mountain, and the question in Mark 9:16 as to the cause of the dispute.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Mark 9 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

§ 76. — HEALING THE CHILD OF A DEAF AND DUMB DEMON, Mark 9:14-29.(See notes on Matthew 17:14-21.)

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Mark 9 →

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

“What are you disputing with them?” He asked.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

He asked the scribes, “What are you asking them?”

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

“What are you disputing with them?” He asked the scribes.

NETBNew English Translation2006

He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And he asked them, What question ye with them?

RVARevised Version, American1894

And he asked them, What question ye with them?

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Then hee asked the Scribes, What dispute you among your selues?

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And he asked them, What do ye question with them about?

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And he questioned the scribes, 'What dispute ye with them?'

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And He questioned the scribes, “What do you dispute with them?”

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

He asked his disciples, “What are you arguing with them about?”

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And one of the multitude, answering, said: Master, I have brought my son to thee, having a dumb spirit.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

“What are you arguing with them about?” Jesus asked them.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And he said, What are you questioning them about?

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἐπηρώτησενeperōtaō He asked G1905 4 different renderings
he askedASV BSB DBY KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
he questionedLSV YLT
askedFBV GNV
questioningBBE
συζητεῖτεsuzēteō are you disputing G4802 5 different renderings
questionASV DBY KJV NWB RVA
disputeGNV LSV YLT
arguingFBV NETB ULB
are you disputingBSB MSB
questioningBBE

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.

clauseκαὶAndclauseverbἐπηρώτησενHe askedobjectαὐτούςthemclauseobjectΤίWhatverbσυνζητεῖτεare you disputingprepositional phrase · adverbialπρὸςwithαὑτούςthem

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

Et respondens unus de turba, dixit : Magister, attuli filium meum ad te habentem spiritum mutum :

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

ܘܡܫܐܠ ܗܘܐ ܠܣܦܪܐ ܡܢܐ ܕܪܫܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܥܡܗܘܢ

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

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


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

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

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτούς τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν γραμματεῖς· τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς;¶

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν γραμματεῖς· τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς 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
αὐτούς thoseNA28, NA27, Tyn, SBL, WH, TregTR, Byz
γραμματεῖς· scribes:TR, ByzNA28, NA27, SBL, WH, Treg, Tyn
αὐτούς;¶ them?NA28, NA27, Tyn, WH, Treg, TR, ByzSBL

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 9:16καίAndAndκαίἐπερωτάωHe askedHe askedἐπερωτάωαὐτόςthosethoseαὐτόςγραμματεύςscribes:scribes:γραμματεύςτίςWhatWhatτίςσυζητέωare you disare you disputiσυζητέωπρόςwithwithπρόςαὐτόςthem?them?αὐτόςἐπίPrep. on, Prep. on, to, aἐπίἀήρn.m. airn.m. airἀήρἑαυτοῦRefl.pr. hRefl.pr. himselἑαυτοῦγράμμαn.n. a letn.n. a letter, γράμμασύνPrep. withPrep. withσύντὶςIndef.pr. Indef.pr. any oτὶςπρόPrep. befoPrep. beforeπρόΦαρισαῖοςn.m. a Phan.m. a PhariseeΦαρισαῖοςἐπερωτάωv. I interv. I interrogatἐπερωτάωοὐκέτιNeg.adv. nNeg.adv. no lonοὐκέτιὑποκριτήςn.m. a hypn.m. a hypocritὑποκριτήςἆραIrg.prt. aIrg.prt. a partἆραεἶπονv. I say, v. I say, speakεἶπονγραμματεύςn.m. a scrn.m. a scribe, γραμματεύςἄρχωv. I beginv. I beginἄρχωἀλλήλωνRecip.pr. Recip.pr. one aἀλλήλωνἐπιστρέφωv. I turn v. I turn back ἐπιστρέφω
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 9:16

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

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

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with 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,

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

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

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

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

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

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with them?
ἐπηρώτησενeperōtaō He asked G1905 Verb · aorist · active · indicative · third person · singular
56× 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
To question or seek information is what this word means, used by Jesus in Mark 11:29 and by the disciples in Luke 2:46.
Amplified meaning
Jesus, the Master, questioned, inquired of
Tyndale gloss
to question
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπερωτάω (i.e., *eperotao*) is composed of the prefix ἐπ- and the root ἐρωτάω. It means to inquire, question, or demand and is used in various contexts, including consulting God (Romans 10:20). In the New Testament, it appears in passages like Mark 12:34 and Matthew 16:1. Some sources note a distinction in its use, particularly regarding formal requests.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπ-ερωτάω, -ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for שָׁאַל, also for דָּרַשׁ, etc. ;]

to in­quire of, consult, question: c. acc pers., Mk 12:34, Lk 2:46, al.; c. dupl. acc, Mk 7:17 11:29, Lk 20:40, al.; c. acc pers., seq. λέγων, Mt 12:18, Mk 9:11; εἰ, Mk 8:23, Lk 23:6, al.; ἐ. θεόν, Ro 10:20 (LXX).

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

ἐπ-ερωτάω, -ῶ ; impf. ἐπηρώτων: fut. ἐπερωτήσω; 1 aor. ἐπηρώτησα: 1 aor. pass. ptep. émepwrnbeis ; Sept. mostly for 78wW, sometimes for W171, 1. fo accost one with an inquiry, put a question to, inquire of, ask, interrogate, [ἐπί directive, uniformly in the N.T.; Mey. on Mk. xi. 29 (ef. ἐπί, D. 2)]: τινά, Mk. ix. 325 xii. 34; Mt. xxii. 46; Lk. ii. 46; 1 Co. xiv. 35; Jn. xviii. 21 RG: τινά τι; ask one any thing, Mk. vii. 17 LT Tr WH; xi. 29; Lk. xx. 40; τινὰ περί τινος, one about a thing, Mk. vii. 17 RG; (Lk. ix. 45 Lehm.], (Hdt. 1, 32; Dem. 1072, 12): foll. by λέγων with the words used by the questioner, Mt. xii. 10; xvii. 10; Mk. ix. 11; xii. 18; Lk. iii.10, 145 xx. 27; xxiii. 3 [R G L], and often in the Synoptic Gospels; foll. by εἰ, whether, Mk. viii. 23; xv. 445 Lk. xxiii. 6; or some other form of the indirect question, Acts xxiii. 34; ἐπηρώtov λέγοντες [LT Tr WH om. dey. ], τίς…

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

ἐπερωτάω. For this verb in its ordinary NT sense of ‘‘ask,” see P Hib I. 7215 (B.c. 241) ἀποσταλεὶς “A. πρὸς τὸν [ἐν τῶι] ἀδύτωι X. ἐπηρώτα εἰ ὑπάρχει ἐν τῶι ἱερῶν... ἡ σφραγίς, “Ας having been sent to Ch. in the sanctuary asked him if | the seal was in the temple”; P Flor III. 331° (ii/a-D.) ἐπερωτώμενος im[d] σου περὶ τῶν ἐντὸς περιχώμα[τος ἀν]αγραφομένων .. . προσφωνῶ ὡς ὑπόκειται. For a “remarkably early example” of the stipulatory formula ἐπερωτηθεὶς ὡμολόγησα cf. P Oxy VI. 90529 (a.p. 170) (= Selectzons, p. 87) κυρία ἡ συνγραφὴ δισσὴ γραφεῖσα πρὸς τὸ ἑκάτερον μέρος ἔχειν μοναχόν, καὶ ἐπερωτη[θέν)τες ἑαυτοῖς ὡμολόγησαν, ‘the contract is valid, being written in duplicate in order that each party may have one: and in answer to the formal question they declared to each other their consent.” Other examples of the same formula (cf. Modica /ntroduzione, p. 128) are P Gen I. 4251 (A.D.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπερωτάω (eperōtaō) — to question.

ἐπερωτ-άω,

Ionic dialect ἐπειρ-, consult, inquire of, with accusative person, [Refs 5th c.BC+], cf. Oracle texts cited in [LXX+4th c.BC+]:—passive, to be questioned, asked a question, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. with accusative of things, ask a question, ταῦτα, τάδε, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also, ask about a thing, [[Refs 5th c.BC+]; σμικρόν τι τῶν ῥηθέντων call it in question, [Refs 5th c.BC+] inquire what.., [Refs 5th c.BC+] inquire about, [LXX]passive, τὸ ἐπερωτηθέν the question asked, variant in [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. with accusative person et of things, [Refs 5th c.BC+].

4. absolutely, put a question, especially of a chairman putting a question to the vote, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπερωτάω

eperotao

from 1909 and 2065; to ask for, i.e. inquire, seek:--ask (after,

questions), demand, desire, question.

see GREEK for 1909

see GREEK for 2065

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπερωτάω

v.

I interrogate, question, demand of

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπερωτάω eperōtaō 56x

to interrogate, question, ask, Mt. 12:10; 17:10; in NT to request, require, Mt. 16:1; from the Hebrew, ἐπερωτᾶν τὸν θεόν, to seek after, desire an acquaintance with God, Rom. 10:20

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπερωτάω ionic ἐπειρ- fut. ήσω to inquire of, question, consult, τὸν θεόν Hdt., Thuc., etc.; τινὰ περί τινος Hdt.:—Pass. to be questioned, asked a question, Thuc.

c. acc. rei, to ask a thing or about a thing, Hdt.:—c. acc. pers. et rei, ἐπ. τοὺς προφήτας τὸ αἴτιον id. Hdt.:—absol. to put the question, Dem.

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
11%questioning
questioning11% · 6×asked9% · 5×questioned9% · 5×he was asking9% · 5×asking9% · 5×he questioned9% · 5×they asked5% · 3×they questioned5% · 3×other renderings34% · 19×

56 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 21 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 56 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
ξηρόςdry, withered, dἀνάστασιςa rising again, ἡγεμώνa governor
αὐτός
χείρa handκαίand, even, also,φοβέωI fear, am terri
Φαρισαῖοςa Pharisee
Article theπροσέρχομαιI come near, con
πειράζωI try, tempt, test
Σαδδουκαῖοςa Sadducee
ἡμέραa day
Article the
ἐπερωτάωHe asked56×
what comes after →
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakτίςIrg
δέbut, on the other ha
αὐτόςὑπό
Article the
μαθητήςa learner, disciπατήρfather, Father, ἸησοῦςJesus
σύ
εἷςoneεἰCond
εἷςone
ἐκ

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

Concordanceἐπερωτάω · 56× in the New Testament
Mark Luke Matthew Acts John 1 Corinthians Romans
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 30 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.123c. AD 75–95

εἰπόντος δὲ τοῦ ἱερέως μὴ ἀποκρίνεσθαι τὸν θεόν ἀλλʼ οὐ δίχα αἰτίας, εἶπεν ὁ Σαοῦλος, πυνθανομένοις ἡμῖν φωνὴν οὐ δίδωσιν ὁ θεὸς, ὃς πρότερον αὐτὸς προεμήνυσε πάντα καὶ μηδʼ ἐπερωτῶσιν ἔφθασε λέγων, ἀλλʼ ἔστι τι λανθάνον ἐξ ἡμῶν ἁμάρτημα πρὸς αὐτὸν…

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 12.2c. AD 96

ἐπερωτηθεὶς γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ὑπό τινος, πότε ἥξει αὐτοῦ ἡ βασιλεία, εἶπεν: Ὅταν ἔσται τὰ δύο ἕν, καὶ τὸ ἔξω ὡς τὸ ἔσω, καὶ τὸ ἄρσεν μετὰ τῆς θηλείας οὔτε ἅρσεν οὔτε θῆλυ.

The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 3.8.9c. AD 140

ἐπηρώτων δὲ αὐτὴν περὶ τῶν καιρῶν, εἰ ἤδη συντέλειά ἐστιν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Berl.Leihg. 1 23Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 252

ἄξιον δραχμῶν κ, καὶ μετὰ τὸν χρόνον παραδώσω ὡς παρέλαβον, ἐὰν φαίνηται μισθῶσαι, καὶ ἐπερωτηθεὶς ὡμολόγησα. ἔτους β Αὐτοκρατόρων Καισάρων Γαΐου Οὐιβίου Τρεβωνιανοῦ Γάλλου καὶ Γαΐου Οὐιβίου Ἀφεινίου Γάλλου

Καρανίδα καὶ Πτολεμαίδα Νέαν τῆς Ἡρακλείδου μερίδος ὑπὲρ τοῦ διεληλυθότος τρίτου ἔτους πλήρης, καὶ ἐπερωτηθεὶς ὡμολόγησα. Αὐρήλιος Ἀφροδίσιος ἀπέσχον τὸ ἐκφόριον ὡς πρόκιται. ἔτους δ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Μάρκου

ÉdP 3 (1936), p. 27- no. 13Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 297

χρόνον παραδώσω τὰς ἀρούρας ἀπὸ ἀναπαύματος καὶ καλάμης ἐξ ἴσου. ἡ μίσθωσις κυρία, καὶ ἐπερωτηθεὶς ὡμολόγησα. Αὐρήλιος Νεμεσῖνος μεμίσθωκα ὡς πρόκιται. ἔτους β τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Δομιτιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ, Φαῶφι

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with them?
αὐτούςho those G846 Article · accusative · plural · masculine
5,550× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Mark than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This pronoun refers to a person or thing, like 'he', 'she', or 'it'. It is used in the Bible to emphasize a person or thing, like in John 2:25 where it says 'he himself knew'.
Tyndale gloss
it/s/he
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

αὐτός, -ή, -ό,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

αὐτός (autos) — it/s/he.

αὐτός

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

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

αὐτός

autos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

those, together, very, which. Compare 848.

see GREEK for 109

see GREEK for 1438

see GREEK for 848

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό

Pers.pr.

he, she, it, they, them, same

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

αὐτός autos 5x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

T-APM Part of Speech: definite arTicle 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
αὐτόςthose5550×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusμαθητήςa learner, disciθεόςGod, a god
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theλέγωI say, speakαὐτός
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςτίςIrgκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςὅς
εἰς
Article theδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesἹεροσόλυμαJerusalem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with them?
γραμματεῖς·grammateus scribes: G1122 Noun · accusative · plural · masculine
63× 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
A scribe is a scholar or teacher of the law, often referring to Jewish leaders who studied and taught the scriptures, as seen in Acts 19:35 and Luke 5:17. They were experts in biblical knowledge.
Tyndale gloss
scribe
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γραμματεύς is derived from γράμμα and refers to a scribe or secretary, often a public official or a learned person skilled in the law. Its usage spans various contexts, including military and religious roles, particularly in the New Testament where it denotes teachers of the law (e.g., Matthew 2:4). The lexicons show some variation in emphasizing its role as a scholar or a public clerk.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γραμματεύς, -έως (acc. pl., -εῖς, v. Bl., §8, 2), ὁ

(< γράμμα),

[in LXX always for שׁטר in Hex., elsewhere chiefly for ספר;]

a secretary; γ. τ. πόλεως, a state-clerk: Ac 19:35.

In π., of a military officer (Deiss., BS, 110f.). So Jg 5:14, IV Ki 25:19 (ספר), al.

a scribe, a biblical scholar, teacher of the law (so first in I Es 8:3, II Es 7:6; in Lk 5:17, νομοδιδάσκαλος; in Lk 10:25, νομικός): Mt 7:29, Mk 1:22, and freq. in Gosp. γ. καὶ ἀρχιερεῖς,

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

γραμματεύς, -έως, (acc. plur. -eis, W. 8.9, 2; [Β. 14 (13)]), 6, (γράμμα), Sept. for 35 and "δῷ; 1. in prof. auth. and here and there in the O. T. [e. g. 2S. vill. 17; xx. 25; 2 K. xix. 2; xxv. 19; Ps. xliv. (xlv.) 2], a clerk, scribe, esp. a public scribe, secretary, recorder, whose office and influence differed in different states: Acts xix. 35, (Sir. x. 5); [ef. Lghtfl. in The Contemp. Rey. for 1878, p. 294; Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus, App. Inserr. fr. the Great Theatre, p. 49 n.]. 2. in the Bible, a man learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher: Mt. xxiii. 34; 1 Co. i. 20, (called also vopixds in Lk. x. 25, and νομοδιδάσκαλος in Lk. v.17; [Meyer (on Mt. xxii. 35), while denying any essential diff. betw. γραμματεύς and νομικύς (cf. Lk. xi. 52, 53 — yet see crit. txts.), regards the latter name as the more specific (a jurisconsult) and Classic…

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

γραμματεύς may illustrate emphasis as the cause of the πηλίκοις γράμμασιν of Gal 64. It is possible, however, that the words may only call attention to the big sprawling letters of the autograph in contrast to the neat scribe’s hand of the amanuensis. The contrast may be met in the case of many signatures to legal and other documents, e.g. Rainer Pap. 215 in Fuhrer durch die Ausstellung Tafel 9: see Milligan Documents, p- 24, for a discussion of the bearing of this on Gal /.c., Deissmann S¢# Pail, p. 51. But it is highly precarious to to draw the inference to which Deissmann inclines: artisans are not the only people who may write a big and clumsy hand ! When γράμμα becomes collective, its primary meaning is ‘“a letter,’’ just as Lat. /ztfera produced “itterae. Thus P Grenf I. 30° (B.c. 103)(= Witkowski 5 p. 107) διὰ ypappaτῶν ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι, and P Amh II. 143} (iv/a.p.) καὶ τούτω…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γραμματεύς (grammateus) — scribe.

γραμμᾰτ-εύς, έως, ὁ,

secretary, registrar, title of officials at Athens and elsewhere, [NT+5th c.BC+]; γ. τοῦ θεοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also of subordinate officials, clerk, sometimes a term of contempt, ὄλεθρος γ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἡ γ., in joke, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. metaphorically, recorder, of memory, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. scholar, γ. σαφής [Refs 4th c.BC+]

4. one who traces or marks out, of Egyptian embalmers, [Refs 1st c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

γραμματεύς

grammateus

from 1121. a writer, i.e. (professionally) scribe or

secretary:--scribe, town-clerk.

see GREEK for 1121

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γραμματεύς, έως, ὁ

n.m.

a scribe, town-clerk, man of learning

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γραμματεύς grammateus 63x

a scribe; a clerk, town-clerk, registrar, recorder, Acts 19:35; one skilled in the Jewish law, a teacher or interpreter of the law, Mt. 2:4; 5:20, et al. freq.; genr. a religious teacher, Mt. 13:52; by synec. any one distinguished for learning or wisdom, 1 Cor. 1:20

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γραμματεύς γράμμα a secretary, clerk, Lat. scriba, Thuc., etc.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

skribz: The existence of law leads necessarily to a profession whose business is the study and knowledge of the law; at any rate, if the law is extensive and complicated. At the time of Ezra and probably for some time after, this was chiefly the business of the priests. Ezra was both priest and scholar (copher). It was chiefly in the interest of the priestly cult that the most important part of the Pentateuch was written. The priests were therefore also in the first instance the scholars and the guardians of the Law; but in the course of time this was changed. The more highly esteemed the Law became in the eyes of the people, the more its study and interpretation became a lifework by itself, and thus there developed a class of scholars who, though not priests, devoted themselves assiduously to the Law. These became known as the scribes, that is, the professional students of the Law.…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Scribes

Anciently held various important offices in the public affairs of the nation. The Hebrew word so rendered (sopher) is first used to designate the holder of some military office (Judg. 5:14; A.V., “pen of the writer;” R.V., “the marshal’s staff;” marg., “the staff of the scribe”). The scribes acted as secretaries of state, whose business it was to prepare and issue decrees in the name of the king (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 1 Chr. 18:16; 24:6; 1 Kings 4:3; 2 Kings 12:9-11; 18:18-37, etc.). They discharged various other important public duties as men of high authority and influence in the affairs of state.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(Heb.sopherim), I. Name . -- (1) Three meanings are connected with the verb saphar , the root of sopherim -- (a) to write, (b) to set in order, (c) to count. The explanation of the word has been referred to each of these. The sopherim were so called because they wrote out the law, or because they classified and arranged its precepts, or because they counted with scrupulous minuteness every elapse and letter It contained. (2) The name of Kirjath-sepher, (Joshua 15:15; Judges 1:12) may possibly connect itself with some early use of the title, and appears to point to military functions of some kind. (Judges 5:14) The men are mentioned as filling the office of scribe under David and Solomon. (

- Antiquity of

Jud 5:14

- Wore an inkhorn at their girdles

Eze 9:2,3

- FAMILIES CELEBRATED FOR FURNISHING

. Kenites

1Ch 2:55

. Zebulun

Jud 5:14

. Levi

1Ch 24:6; 2Ch 34:13

- Generally men of great wisdom

1Ch 27:32

- Often learned in the law

Ezr 7:6

- Were ready writers

Ps 45:1

- ACTED AS

. Secretaries to kings

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
93%scribes
scribes93% · 62×scribe4% · 3×other renderings3% · 2×

67 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 4 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
subject67%adverbial16%object5%indirect object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 63 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,τὶςὡςas, like as, how
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀρχιερεύςhigh priest, chiΦαρισαῖοςa Phariseeσοφόςwise
σύ
οὐαίindclδέbut, on the othe
εἷςone
προσέρχομαιI come near, con
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
οὗτος
γραμματεύςscribes:63×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theΦαρισαῖοςa PhariseeἀποκτείνωI put to death,
Article the
θέλωI will, wish, deλαόςa people, the crθαυμάσιοςwonderful
λέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, becαὐτόςἐν
αὐτός
πρός
ὅτιthat, since, because
ἨλίαςElijahArticle the

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

Concordanceγραμματεύς · 63× in the New Testament
Matthew Mark Luke Acts 1 Corinthians John
Across the New Testament6 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 37 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 Husbandry 148c. AD 40

ἡ δὲ πρόσταξις διὰ τῶν τῆς στρατιᾶς γραμματέων γίνεται, ὅταν ὁ πόλεμος ἐγγὺς καὶ ἐπὶ θύραις ὢν ἤδη τυγχάνῃ·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 6.120c. AD 75–95

ἀπαγγέλλεται δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπὸ τῶν γραμματέων, ὅτι τὸ πλῆθος εἰς τὸν θεὸν ἐξαμαρτάνει θῦσαν καὶ πρὶν ἢ τὸ αἷμα καλῶς ἀποπλῦναι καὶ τὰς σάρκας ποιῆσαι καθαρὰς ἐσθίον.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. BC
BGU 3 992Pathyris187 BC

προσόδων διαγραφὴν τὴν γραφεῖσαν ἔτους ιε Φαῶφι κθ, ὑφʼ ἣν ὑπογράφει Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς τῆς Θηβαίδος Προῖτος Σωσικράτους τιμὴν γῆς ἠπείρου, ἧς διασαφεῖ Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς ἀνειλῆφθαι

C.Erbstreit14Diospolis Magna (Theben)187 BC

Θηβαίδα διαγραφὴν τὴν γραφεῖσαν ἔτους ιε, Φαῶφι κθ, ὑφʼ ἣν ὑπογράφει Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς τῆς Θηβαίδος, Προῖτος Σωσικράτους τιμὴν γῆς ἠπείρου, ἧς διασαφεῖ Ἁρενδώτης ὁ βασιλικὸς γραμματεὺς ἀνειλῆφθαι

κριθῆς β ἐμβαδικὸν δραχμὰς λ … … δ … · διʼ Ἀλύκιος ὡς ἐπηγγείλατο γραμματεὺς κριθῆς ζ, αἳ πρὸς Ἀνδρείαν κατὰ συνγραφὴν πυροῦ ξ καὶ ἁμάξης μισθὸς κριθῆς ι

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with them?
τίtis What G5101 Interrogative pronoun · accusative · singular · neuter
562× 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 interrogative pronoun is used to ask questions like who, which, or what, as seen in Matthew 3:7 and Mark 11:28. It seeks information about a person or thing. This term is essential in direct and indirect questions.
Amplified meaning
which question, what matter
Tyndale gloss
which?
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

τίς is an interrogative pronoun meaning 'who,' 'which,' or 'what,' used in both direct and indirect questions. It can function as a substantive, adjective, or adverb, appearing in various contexts throughout the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:7 and John 18:23. The neuter form τί also means 'what' or 'which.' There are instances where τίς may be used interchangeably with other pronouns like ποῖος.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

τίς, neut., τί, gen., τίνος, interrog. pron., [in LXX for מָה ,מִי ;] in masc. and fem.,

who, which, what?; in neut., which, what?, used both in direct and in indirect questions.

As subst.,

masc., fem.: τίς; who, what?, Mt 3:7 26:68; Mk 11:28, Lk 9:9, al. mult.; c. gen. partit., Ac 7:52, He 1:5, al; seq. ἐκ (= gen. partit.), Mt 6:27, Lk 14:28, Jo 8:46; = ποῖος, Mk 4:41 6:2, Lk 19:3,

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

τὶς, τὶ. ἘΣ what follows, εἰ καί lays less emphasis upon it; although it is evident that εἰ καί can often be substituted for καὶ ei.” Cf. Herm. Vig. p. 829 sq.; W. 444 (413); Ellic. on Phil. ii. 17; Schmalfeld, Griech. Syntax, § 41; Paley, Grk. Particles, p. 31]. 8. εἰ μή, a. in a conditional protasis, with the same sequence of moods and tenses as the simple εἰ, see 1. above, if not, unless, except, [W. 477 (444) sqq.; B. 345 (297)]: Mt. xxiv. 22; Jn. ix. 33; | xv. 22, 24; Ro. vii. 7, ete. b. it serves, with the entire. following sentence, to limit or correct what has just been said, only, save that, (Lat. nisi quod), [B. 359 (308) ]: Mk. vi. 5; 1 Co. vii. 17 (where Paul by the addition εἰ μὴ ἑκάστῳ κτλ. strives to prevent any one in applying what had been said a little while before, viz. οὐ δεδούλωται . . ἐν τοιούτοις to his own case, from going too far) ; in ironical answers, unless…

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

τις (indef. pron.), ‘* someone, something’’: P Vat ΑἸ (B.c. 168) (= UPZi. p. 303) πᾶς τις πειρᾶται. . ., P Lond 421° (B.C. 168) (= Selections, p. 10) εἰς πᾶν τι ἐληλυθυῖα διὰ, τὴν τοῦ σίτου τιμήν, ‘having come to the last extremity because of the high price of corn,’’ P Oxy IV. 7421° (B.c. 2) ἐάν τι δύνῃ... δὸς ἐργασίαν, “if you can, give your attention to it’’ (Edd.), 2d. I. 120% (iv/a.D.) τινα ὁρῶντα αἱαυτὸν (/. ἑαυτὸν) ἐν δυστυχίᾳ, ““α man finding himself in adversity,’ 13 ἀποστῖλόν pot τινα ἢ Γοῦνθον ἢ ᾿Αμμώνιον, “send someone to me, either Gunthus or Ammonius” (Edd.). P Oxy VI. 937°" (ili/A.D.) γ]ράψον ἐκεῖ TO kat’ εἶδος ὅτι τι kal τι εἴληφας is translated by the editors ‘* write the list there, that you have received so and so.” They 3) ες remark that it is simpler to take τι καί τι as analogous to τὸ καὶ τό than ‘‘to take τί kal τί as an indirect interrogative, ὅτι being…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

τίς (tis) — which?.

τίς

__B Interrog. pronoun τίς, Elean and Laconian dialect τίρ (which see), τί:—genitive Epic dialect and Ionic dialect τέο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Trag. and Attic dialect τοῦ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect, Trag., and Attic dialect τίνος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; dative Ionic dialect τέῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; no dative in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Trag. and Attic dialect τῷ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Aeolic dialect τίῳ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; τίνι first in [NT+8th c.BC+]; genitive Epic dialect τέων [Refs 8th c.BC+], and as monosyllable [Refs]; Trag. and Attic dialect τίνων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; dative τίσι first in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect τέοισι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Aeolic dialect τίοισι [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τά [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Megarian dialect σά [Refs 5th c.BC+]: of the plural [Refs 8th c.BC+] with genitive τέω; ποῖος (what? which?) is sometimes preferred (especially in neuter…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

τίς

tis

probably emphatic of 5100; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or

what (in direct or indirect questions):--every man, how (much), +

no(-ne, thing), what (manner, thing), where (-by, -fore, -of, -unto, -

with, -withal), whether, which, who(-m, -se), why.

see GREEK for 5100

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

τίς, τί

Irg.pr.

who, which, what

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

Τίτιος Titios 1x

Titius, pr. name, Acts 18:7*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

τίς in direct questions, who? which? neut. what? which? Lat. quis, quae, quid?, Hom., etc.: relating to other words in the same case, τίς δ᾽ οὗτος ἔρχεαι; who art thou that comest? Il.; τίν᾽ ὄψιν σὴν προσδέρκομαι; what face is this I see of thine? Eur.:— τίς ἄν or κεν, with the opt., expresses doubt, who could, who would do so? Hom.: —in double questions, τί λαβόντα τί δεῖ ποιεῖν; what has one received and what must one do? Dem.; so, τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν; who and whence art thou? Od.

τίς with Particles: τίς γάρ; Lat. quisnam? why who? who possibly? Il., etc.; τίς δή; who then? Theogn.; τίς δῆτα; Soph.; τίς ποτε; who in the world? who ever? Xen.

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

I-ASN Part of Speech: Interrogative pronoun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
48%what
what48% · 273×who21% · 117×why18% · 101×which5% · 29×whom5% · 29×other renderings3% · 19×

568 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 17 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
object30%adverbial25%predicate24%subject21%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 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
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakπρόςἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusκαίand, even, also,
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existοὗτοςθεόςGod, a god
διά
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakεἶπονI say, speak
Disj
ἐσθίωI eatπῶςποιέωI do, make
τίςWhat562×
what comes after →
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theοὗτοςκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
Article the
πνεῦμαwind, breath, spσημεῖονa sign, miracle,μαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speakδιώκωI pursue, persec
ποιέωI do, make
Article theἵναin order that, sὅτιthat, since, bec
οὖνtherefore, then
εἶπονI say, speakποιέωI do, makeεἰμίI am, exist

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

Concordanceτίς · 562× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John Mark Acts Romans 1 Corinthians Revelation 2 Corinthians Hebrews Ephesians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament20 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 601 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

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

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

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

ὅτι λιμοῦ τὴν Χαναναίαν καταλαβόντος εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀπῆρε καὶ διατρίψας ἐν αὐτῇ τινα χρόνον ὑπέστρεψεν ὀπίσω.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.5c. AD 100

πλήρης εἰμὶ ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, καὶ στέαρ ἀρνῶν καὶ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων οὐ βούλομαι, οὐδ̓ ἂν ἔρχησθε ὀφθῆναί μοι, τίς γὰρ ἐξεζήτησεν ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν;

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

ἂν ὦσι γείτονες πάντοθεν· μὴ ἐξέστω δὲ τῷ καθόλου ἐπὶ τὴν διαθήκην ταύτην ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἐπέρχεσθαι, εἰ δὲ μὴ ἄκυρον ἔστω καὶ προσαποτεισάτω ὁ ἐπιφέρων ὕστερον … ἄλλον τῆς

P.Cair. Cat. 10364 descr.Pathyris126 BC–102 BC

προγεγραμμένου ἵππου, καὶ μὴ ἐπελεύσεσθαί σοι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. ἐὰν δὲ ἐπέλθωμεν ἢ ἄλλος τις ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἥ τʼ ἔφοδος ἄκυρος ἔσται καὶ προσαποτείσομέν σοι χαλκοῦ τάλαντα πέντε.

BGU 6 1260Pathyris102 BC

σημαινομένης ἀρούρης μιᾶς , καὶ μὴ ἐπελεύσασθαι Νεχθανοῦπιν καὶ τοὺς τούτου υἱοὺς μηδʼ ἄλλον τινὰ τῶν παρʼ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸν Πετεαρσεμθεία μηδʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλον τινὰ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῦ περὶ

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with them?
συζητεῖτεsuzēteō are you disputing G4802 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
10× 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
To debate or discuss something with others, as seen in Mark 1:27 and Acts 6:9, where people questioned Jesus and the apostles. This word means to investigate jointly and exchange ideas. It can also mean to dispute or argue with someone.
Amplified meaning
debating, arguing
Tyndale gloss
to debate
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

συζητέω means to search or examine together, often used to indicate discussion or debate. It is built from the prefix συν- (together) and ζητέω (to seek). In the New Testament, it appears in contexts of inquiry and dispute, such as in Mark 1:27 and Luke 24:15. The lexicons agree on its usage related to discussing or disputing with others.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

συν-ζητέω

(Rec. συζ-), -ῶ,

[in LXX: Ne 2:4 AB1 (בּקשׁ pi.) * ;]

to search or examine together (Plat.).

In NT (and π., v. MM, xxiii; also in MGr., v. Kennedy, Sources, 155), to discuss, dispute: Mk 1:27 12:28, Lk 24:15; seq. quæst. indir., Mk 9:10; c. dat. pers., Mk 8:11 Ac 6:9; seq. πρός, c. acc pers., Mk 9:14, 16, Ac 9:29; id. seq. quæst. indir., Lk 22:23.†

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

συνζητέω. For the NT meaning “" discuss,” ‘‘ debate” (Mk 811 αλ) cf. P Oxy III. 53217 (ii/A.p.) ποιήσῃς pe πρὸς σὲ ἐλθεῖν συνζητήσοντά σοι, ““ cause me to come to you and dispute with you about it” (Edd.), and 26. XIV. 1673%° (ii/A.D.) τοῖς Tov ὄνον λαβοῦσι συνεζήτησα πολλὰ Kal κατέπλεξα, «ΕἼ had much discussion and complication with the men who took the donkey” (Edd.).

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

συζητέω (suzēteō) — to debate.

συζητ-έω,

search or examine together with, τινι [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, to be discussed, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

II. σ. τινί or πρός τινα dispute with.., [NT+2nd c.AD+]; σ. πρὸς αὑτούς [NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

συζητέω

suzeteo

from 4862 and 2212; to investigate jointly, i.e. discuss, controvert,

cavil:--dispute (with), enquire, question (with), reason (together).

see GREEK for 4862

see GREEK for 2212

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

συζητέω

v.

I seek together, discuss, dispute

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

συζητέω syzēteō 10x

to seek, ask, or inquire with another; to deliberate, debate, Mk. 1:27; 9:10; Lk. 24:15; to hold discourse with, argue, reason, Mk. 8:11; 12:28; Lk. 22:23; Acts 6:9; 9:29; to question, dispute, quibble, Mk. 9:14, 16*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

συζητέω fut. ήσω to search or examine together with another, c. dat., Plat.

ς. τινί or πρός τινα to dispute with a person, NTest.

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
20%question
question20% · 2×disputing10% · 1×he was debating10% · 1×dispute10% · 1×questioning10% · 1×arguing10% · 1×you disputing10% · 1×reasoning together10% · 1×other renderings10% · 1×

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

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

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 10 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
ἄρχωI begin
καίand, even, also,αὐτός
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςτέDisj
ὥστεso that, therefore
ἅπαςall, the whole
ἑαυτοῦ
πρός
γραμματεύςa scribe, town-clerk
καίand, even, also,
συζητέωare you disputing10×
what comes after →
πρός
αὐτόςἑαυτοῦMt 6:34, Lk 12:1ἑαυτοῦ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakζητέωI seek, search f
τίςIrg
εἰμίI am, exist
οἶδαI know, remember
ὅτιthat, since, bec
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτός

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

Concordanceσυζητέω · 10× in the New Testament
Mark Acts Luke
Across the New Testament3 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
The Epistle of Barnabas
The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.10c. AD 100

μὴ καθ̓ ἑαυτοὺς ἐνδύνοντες μονάζετε ὡς ἤδη δεδικαιωμένοι, ἀλλ̓ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συνερχόμενοι συνζητεῖτε περὶ τοῦ κοινῇ συμφέροντος.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD
P.Erl. 79Aphrodites Kome (Antaiopolites)AD 501–AD 600

πρ … … ρ … … καὶ ἀκωλύτως καὶ ἀνεμποδίστως ἐμοῦ δὲ … τους συνζητεῖν τ … σ … φως περί τε τοῦ … ἅπαξ εἰς ἐμὲ καταβεβλήκατε τὴν

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with them?
πρὸςpros with G4314 Preposition
700× 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
A preposition showing direction or relationship, like towards or with something, as seen in Mark 5:11 and John 18:16. This means indicating movement or direction. It's about showing proximity or connection.
Tyndale gloss
to/with
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

πρός is a preposition that indicates direction, proximity, or relation. It can be used with the genitive to denote motion from a place, with the dative for local proximity, and with the accusative to express motion towards a place or object. In the New Testament, it appears in various contexts, such as Acts 27:34 for benefit and Mark 5:11 for proximity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρός,

prep. c. gen., dat., acc.

C. gen., of motion from a place, from the side of, hence metaph., in the interests of, Ac 27:34 (cf. Page, in l.).

C. dat., of local proximity, hard by, near, at: Mk 5:11, Lk 19:37, Jo 18:16 20:11, 12, Re 1:13.

C. acc., of motion or direction towards a place or object, to, towards.

Of place,

after verbs of motion or of speaking and other words with the idea of direction: ἔρχομαι, ἀναβαίνω, πορεύομαι, λέγω, ἐπιστολή, etc., Mt 3:14, Mk 6:51, Lk 11:5, Jo 2:3,

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

πρός, a preposition, i.q. Epic mpori, from πρό and the adverbial suffix τι, (cf. the German vor . . . hin [Curtius § 381]); it is joined I. with the AccusaTIvE, to, towards, Lat. ad, denoting direction towards athing, or position and state looking towards a thing (W. § 49h. p. 404 (378)): it is used 1. of the goal or limit towards which a movement is directed: πρός twa or τι, a. prop. after verbs of going, departing, running, coming, ete.: ἄγω, Jn. xi. 15; ἀναβαίνω, Mk. vi. 51; Jn. xx. 17; Acts xv. 2; ἀνακάμπτω, Mt. ii. 12; Acts xvili. 21; ἀνέρχομαι, Gal. i. 17 [1]. Tr mrg. arépy.]; ἀπέρχομαι, Mt. » xiv. 25 [Rec.]; Mk. iii. 13, etc.; πρὸς ἑαυτόν, to his house, Lk. xxiv. 12 [T om. L Trbr. WH reject the ys.; Tr reads mp. αὐτόν ; some connect the phrase w. θαυμάζων (see 2 Ὁ. below) ]; Jn. xx. 10 [Ὁ Tr αὐτούς, WH air. (cf. s. v. αὑτοῦ sub fin.)]; γίνεσθαι πρός τινα, to come to one, 1 Co.…

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

πρός reference to place PSI IV. 31178 (iv/A.D.?) πρ]ὸς τὴν Aavitk.ay τῆς κοίλης Dupials. Headlam (on Herodas VII. 123) holds that τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν in Mk 2? ‘‘is surely idiomatic (not vulgar as Moulton thinks) ‘spots which commanded the door’”: cf. Mt 310, Lk 35. For πρός, ‘‘with,” as in Jn ΤΡ, Heb 41%, cf. Epict. iv. 9. 13 πρὸς ὃν οὐδείς ἐστί σου πιθανώτερος (see Sharp Ξε, p. 92). And for the possibility that the difficult πρός in Mk 63, οἷ", 14%, Jn 1}, 1 Jn 1?, is to be explained as an Aramaism, see Rendel Harris Prologue to S. John’s Gospel p. 8f., and Burney Avamaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel p. 28 f. (6) of time = ‘‘for’’ (a time) and no longer—BGU I. 1131? (A.D. 143) βουλόμενος παρεπιδημεῖν πρὸς καιρόν (cf. Lk 818), P Oxy I. 6714 (A.D. 338) πρὸς ὀλίγον εἰσχύει, ‘‘withstands but for a short time” (cf. Jas 4), and P Flor III. 282° (A.D. 520) πρὸς ὅλον χρόνον. (c) of mental…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρός (pros) — to/with.

πρός,

preposition, expressing direction,

__A on the side of, in the direction of, hence with genitive, dative, and accusative, from, at, to: Epic dialect also προτί and ποτί, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] usually with accusative, more rarely with dative, and each only once with genitive, [Refs 8th c.BC+]:—dialectal forms: Doric dialectποτί (which see) and ποί, but Cretan dialect πορτί [Refs], Argive προτ(ί) [Refs 7th c.BC+] πός [Refs 4th c.BC+]., also sometimes in Asia Minor in compounds, see at {ποσάγω},{ποσφέρω}; Aeolic dialect πρός [Refs 7th c.BC+]; πρές [Refs 6th c.AD+]; Pamphylian περτ (ί) [Refs] (With προτί, πρός cf. Sanskrit práti 'towards, near to, against, back, etc.', Slavonic protiv[ucaron], Lett. pret 'against', Latin pretium: ποτί (which see) and πός are not cognate) [Refs 4th c.BC+] refers to that from which something…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρός

pros

a strengthened form of 4253; a preposition of direction; forward to,

i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to;

with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the

accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the

destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is

predicated):--about, according to , against, among, at, because of,

before, between, (where-)by, for, X at thy house, in, for intent, nigh

unto, of, which pertain to, that, to (the end that), X together, to

(you) -ward, unto, with(-in). In the comparative case, it denotes

essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession

to, or nearness at.

see GREEK for 4253

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρός

Prep.

to, towards, with

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρός pros 700x

from; met. for the benefit of, Acts 27:34; with a dative, near, by, at, by the side of, in the vicinity of, Mk. 5:11; Lk. 19:37; with an accusative, used of the place to which anything tends, to, unto, towards, Mt. 2:12; 3:5, 13; at, close upon, Mt. 3:10; Mk. 5:22; near to, in the vicinity of, Mk. 6:45; after verbs of speaking, praying, answering to a charge, etc., to, Mt. 3:15; 27:14; of place where, with, in, among, by, at, etc., Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρός prep. with gen., implying motion from a place; with dat., abiding at a place; with acc., motion to a place

WITH GEN.,

of Place, from, from forth, Hom., Soph.

on the side or quarter of, νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος islands looking (as it were) from Elis, i. e. towards Elis, Od.; πρὸς τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἵδρυται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ Στρύμονος lies more towards (i. e. nearer) the Hellespont than the Strymon, Hdt.; ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο πρὸς Ὀλύνθου Thuc., etc.:—often with words denoting the points of the compass, δύω θύραι εἰσίν, αἱ μὲν πρὸς βορέαο, αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς νότου one looking north wards, the other south wards, Od.; so, οἰκέουσι πρὸς νότου ἀνέμου Hdt., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Prep — Preposition
preposition — its sense depends on the case of the word it governs.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
69%to
to69% · 506×with7% · 48×for6% · 42×toward4% · 30×against3% · 21×at3% · 20×unto2% · 18×other renderings5% · 37×other renderings1% · 10×

732 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 32 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
adverbial93%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 700 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
ἔρχομαιI come, go
καίand, even, also,Article theνύξthe night, night
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,δέbut, on the otheἸησοῦςJesus
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakArticle theπαραγίνομαιI appear, come,
αὐτός
ἄγωI leadφέρωI carry, bear, bμαθητήςa learner, disci
ἐγώ
ὑπέρσῶμαbody, fleshυἱόςa son, descenden
πρόςwith700×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theλέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἐνἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theοὐNeg
ἀλλήλων
τίςIrgλέγωI say, speakμήNeg

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

Concordanceπρός · 700× in the New Testament
Luke Acts John Mark Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Hebrews Romans Ephesians 1 Thessalonians Galatians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 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 3c. AD 40

ἡ δ’ ἀρχή, καθάπερ ἔφην, ἐστὶ θαυμασιωτάτη κοσμοποιίαν περιέχουσα, ὡς καὶ τοῦ κόσμου τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῦ νόμου τῷ κόσμῳ συνᾴδοντος καὶ τοῦ νομίμου ἀνδρὸς εὐθὺς ὄντος κοσμοπολίτου πρὸς τὸ βούλημα τῆς φύσεως τὰς πράξεις ἀπευθύνοντος, καθ’ ἣν καὶ ὁ σύμπας…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.4c. AD 75–95

τὸν μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον ἡμῖν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γενόμενον καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ πράξεις καὶ τὸ τέλος οἷον ἀπέβη πείρᾳ μαθὼν ἐβιάσθην ἐκδιηγήσασθαι διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῷ γράφειν λυμαινομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν,

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 2.3c. AD 100

τούτων οὖν μενόντων τὰ πρὸς κύριον ἁγνῶς, συνευφραίνονται αὐτοῖς σοφία, σύνεσις, ἐπιστήμη, γνῶσις.

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.Grenf. 1 28Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)109 BC

r … πυρὸν νέον καθαρὸν ἄδολον μέτρωι ὧι καὶ παρείληφεν καὶ ἀποκαθεστάμενον εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδίοις ἀνηλώμασιν. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῶι ἐν τῶι ὡρισμένωι χρόνωι ἢ μὴ ποιῆ

P.Amh. 2 48Pathyris107 BC

παρεχέτω τὸν οἶνον μόνιμον ἕως Ἁθὺρ λ τοῦ δεκάτου ἔτους, καὶ ἀποκαταστησάτω εἰς οἶκον πρὸς αὐτὴν τοῖς ἰδίοις. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδῷ ἐν τῷ ὡρισμένῳ χρόνῳ ἀποτεισάτω ἑκάστου κεραμίου

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

πᾶσι χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διὰ παντὸς εὐημερεῖν. ὑγιαίνομεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος

And He asked those scribes: What are you disputing with 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'.
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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