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Romans 12:14 — Word Study

Depth

N1904εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

BSAdo blesseulogeō [speak well of, praise] thoseho persecutingdiōkō [pursue, follow with hostile intent] you;su do blesseulogeō [show kindness to, speak well of] andkai not [lest, God forbid] do curse.kataraomai [wish harm upon, speak evil of]

Word
Listen & take awayRomans 12
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 14 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 (kataraomai) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Romans 12:14quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs believers to bless those who persecute them, emphasizing kindness over retaliation.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Roman church.
Where we areIn a section about Christian conduct and relationships, particularly with those who oppose us.
The hard wordεὐλογεῖτε
Take awayResponding to hostility with blessing is a key Christian principle.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause verbεὐλογέω 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 — Romans 12:14

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 — Instructions for Christian Livinggenerated

13Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
15Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.

Romans 12:14 is part of Paul's teachings on how Christians should conduct themselves, especially in the face of persecution. He emphasizes the importance of blessing those who may wish us harm, a radical departure from the natural human inclination to retaliate. This instruction aligns with Jesus’ teachings on love for enemies, as seen in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Romans 12:21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
2Job 31:29–30If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
3Matthew 5:44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
4Luke 6:28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
5Luke 23:34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 11 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word εὐλογεῖτε, eulogeōgenerated

The verb εὐλογέω (eulogeō) means 'to bless' or 'to speak well of.' It is a present active imperative, instructing the audience to continually engage in this action. This word embodies the idea of invoking good upon others, particularly in a religious context, as seen in various New Testament passages.

In this verse, Paul uses it to emphasize a proactive response to persecution. Instead of cursing, believers are called to bless, reflecting a deeper understanding of love and grace, even towards those who persecute them.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The translations of this verse are consistent in urging believers to bless those who persecute them. The BSB, KJV, ASV, YLT, WEB, and BBE all convey the same fundamental message without significant variation.

They all emphasize the dual command to bless and not to curse, reinforcing the call to respond to hostility with kindness.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb is εὐλογεῖτε, bless, which governs the structure of the verse. It is followed by a participial phrase describing the object, τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς, those who persecute you, and concludes with a second command using the same verb, εὐλογεῖτε, followed by a negative particle and another verb, καταρᾶσθε, do not curse.

This structure highlights the imperative nature of the commands, with the repetition of the verb indicating the importance of the action in the life of the believer.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

εὐλογέω is found in the Septuagint as a translation of the Hebrew בָּרַךְ (H1288), meaning 'to bless.' This connection emphasizes the continuity of the concept of blessing from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

διώκω corresponds to the Hebrew רָדַף (H7291), meaning 'to pursue.' This usage in both texts underscores the theme of persecution and the appropriate response to it.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Romans 12:14 teaches that Christians should bless those who persecute them instead of cursing them. This reflects Jesus' teaching about loving our enemies and responding with kindness, even when faced with hostility.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to bless those who persecute you?

To bless those who persecute you means to speak well of them, wish them well, and show kindness, rather than responding with anger or retaliation.

How can I practically bless someone who is unkind to me?

You can bless someone by praying for them, speaking positively about them, or finding ways to show kindness, even if it's challenging.

Why is it important not to curse those who persecute us?

Not cursing those who persecute us is important because it reflects the character of Christ and promotes peace rather than conflict.

What does this verse teach about Christian conduct?

This verse teaches that Christians are called to respond to hostility with love and kindness, reflecting the teachings of Jesus.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I apply the principle of blessing those who persecute me in my daily life?
  2. What are some specific ways I can bless others, even when they are unkind to me?
  3. How does this teaching challenge my natural responses to conflict?
  4. In what ways can I pray for those who oppose me or treat me poorly?

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

Early church Fathers comment on this verse, emphasizing the call to bless rather than curse, reflecting Christ's teachings on love and forgiveness.

Clement of AlexandriaThe Stromata Book 4 c. 150–215
There is clearly described the perfect righteousness, fulfilled both in practice and contemplation. Wherefore we are "to bless those who persecute us. Bless, and curse not."
Early Church Fathers on Romans 12 →
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS c. 185–253
Paul does not want those who believe in Christ to curse but rather to speak and to pray for good things so that they may be thought to be servants of a good Lord and disciples of a good Master.… What the apostle says here refers to when we…
Early Church Fathers on Romans 12 →
CyprianTreatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews c. 200–258
That we must not curse. In Exodus: "Thou shalt not curse nor speak ill of the ruler of thy people." Also in the thirty-third Psalm: "Who is the man who desires life, and loveth to see good days? Restrain thy tongue from evil,
Early Church Fathers on Romans 12 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Romans 12:14 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

Bless them which persecute you,.... It is the lot of God's, people in this world to be persecuted by the men of it, in some shape or another, either by words or deeds; either by reviling and

Read John Gill on Romans 12 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Bless (that is, Wish and call down by prayer a blessing on) them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Read Robert Jamieson on Romans 12 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Bless them which persecute you; i.e. pray for them, and wish well to them. This is borrowed from : see the like in . This is commended to us by the example of Christ himself, ; of Stephen, ; of Paul, and the primitive Christians, . Bless, and curse not: his doubling the exhortation shows the difficulty of the duty; it is contrary to corrupt nature: and it denotes the constancy of it; we must persevere therein. When he saith, curse not, he means, wish no evil to your enemies. Objection. The prophets and apostles went contrary to this: see ,23 Ac 8:20 13:10,11 23:3. Answer. These did it by a special vocation and instinct of the Spirit.

Read Matthew Poole on Romans 12 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Ver. 14. Bless them]

Read John Trapp on Romans 12 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) Bless them which persecute you.—Apparently with allusion to Matthew 5:44. It was probably just about the time that St. Paul was writing this Epistle, or at most a year or two later, that the series of compositions which ultimately took the shape of our present Gospels began. It is not, however, necessary to suppose that St. Paul had actually seen one of these. The record of our Lord’s teaching was no doubt at first preserved and circulated in the Church orally, and it would be in this form that St. Paul first became acquainted with the precept to which he here seems to allude. There is, perhaps, another reference to the Sermon on the Mount in 1 Corinthians 7:10. Such references occur…

Read Charles John Ellicott on Romans 12 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 14. Bless them which persecute you] ευλογειτε, Give good words, or pray for them that give you bad words, καταρασθε, who make dire imprecations against you. Bless them, pray for them, and on no account curse them, whatever the provocation may be. Have the loving, forgiving mind that was in your Lord.

Read AdamClarke on Romans 12 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. Bless them which persecute you] According to the Lord’s own express precept; see Luke 6:28. See also His example, Luke 23:34.—The Roman Church was not at this time under special trial of persecution; so we seem to gather from the general tone of this Epistle. But soon the Neronian persecution was to break upon it; and meantime, in one form or another, persecution was always going on, if only on a private scale. Cp. 2 Timothy 3:12.

Read Cambridge on Romans 12 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bless them ... - see the note at Matthew 5:44; compare Luke 6:28. Bless, and curse not - Bless only; or continue to bless, however long or aggravated may be the injury.

Read Albert Barnes on Romans 12 →

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

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

NETBNew English Translation2006

Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not.

RVARevised Version, American1894

Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Bless them who persecute you; bless, and curse not.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Blesse them which persecute you: blesse, I say, and curse not.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Bless those persecuting you; bless, and curse not;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Bless those persecuting you; bless, and do not curse;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Bless them that persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Bless those who persecute you—bless them, and don't curse them.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Give blessing and not curses to those who are cruel to you.

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.

clauseclauseverbεὐλογεῖτεBlessnoun phrase · objectτοὺςthoseclauseverbδιώκονταςpersecutingclauseclauseverbεὐλογεῖτεBlessκαὶandclauseadverbialμὴnotverbκαταρᾶσθεcurse

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

Benedicite persequentibus vos : benedicite, et nolite maledicere.

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

ܒܪܟܘ ܠܪܕܘܦܝܟܘܢ ܒܪܟܘ ܘܠܐ ܬܠܘܛܘܢ

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

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας ὑμᾶς· εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.

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
ὑμᾶς· you;NA28, NA27, Tyn, Treg, TR, ByzSBL, WH

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.

Romans 12:14εὐλογέωdo blessdo blessεὐλογέωthosethoseδιώκωpersecutingpersecutingδιώκωσύyou;you;σύεὐλογέωdo blessdo blessεὐλογέωκαίandandκαίμήnotnotμήκαταράομαιdo curse.do curse.καταράομαιεὖAdv well, Adv well, well εὖλόγοςn.m. a worn.m. a word, spλόγοςκατάραn.f. a curn.f. a curse, cκατάραδειλόςAdj cowardAdj cowardly, tδειλόςδιάκονοςn.f. & n.mn.f. & n.m. a wδιάκονοςοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐκατακλάωv. I breakv. I break in pκατακλάωκλάωv. I breakv. I breakκλάωεὐλογέωv. I blessv. I blessεὐλογέωΣαούλProp.n. SaProp.n. SaulΣαούλἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνπότεIrg.prt. wIrg.prt. when, πότεφοβέωv. I fear,v. I fear, am tφοβέω
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 Romans 12:14

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.

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
εὐλογεῖτεeulogeō do bless G2127 Verb · present · active · imperative · second person · plural
42× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To praise or bless someone means to speak well of them, like in Luke 1:64 where Zechariah praises God. It's about thanking or invoking a blessing on someone.
Amplified meaning
speak well of, praise
Tyndale gloss
to praise/bless
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εὐλογέω (i.e., eulogeo) means to speak well of or to bless. It encompasses both praising and invoking blessings, often in a religious context. The New Testament uses it in various forms, such as in Luke 1:64 and Ephesians 1:3. Some sources note its passive form, indicating being blessed, as seen in Luke 1:28.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εὐλογέω, -ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for בָּרַךְ pi. ;]

to speak well of, praise (cl.; LXX De 8:10, al.): τ. θεόν, Lk 1:64 2:28 24:51, 53 (αἰνοῦντες, T, WH, mg.), Ja 3:9; absol., to give praise, Mt 14:19 26:26 (v. Swete on Mk 14:22), Mk 6:41 14:22 (v. Swete, in l.), Lk 24:30, I Co 14:16.

As in LXX (= בָּרַךְ pi.);

to bless, invoke blessings on (Ge 24:60, Nu 23:20, al.): absol.…

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

εὐλογέω. We can illustrate this verb only from the Christian papyri, as P Amh II. 145} (iv/v A.D.) τῷ ἀγ]απητῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ ηὐλ[ο]γημένῳ, and the late P Grenf 11. 113? (viii/ix A.D.) τῶν εὐλογημένων τριῶν συνόδων, 11 μετὰ τῶν σὺν αὐτοῖς kal εὐλογημένων ὁμονόων. It occurs, however, in inserr. in such a formula as OG/S 73 εὐλογεῖ τὸν θεὸν Πτολεμαῖος Διονυσίου ᾿Ιουδαῖος, and was by no means confined to the Jews as Dittenberger shows from C/G 4705 4? (of Pan) €[¥]Aoy[a] τὸν εὔο[δο]ν θεόν, 2d. 4705 εἶ εὐλογῶ [τ]ὴν Hiow. See also Syd 8g1*4 (ii/A.b.) where the prayer is uttered that a protector of a tomb—ta@v λῴων ἀπολαύοι εὐλογοῖτό τε ἐν παντὶ δήμῳ, and the exx. of the verb in votive inscriptions given by Ramsay Zxf7 x. p. 54, as when a person who has been chastised for his sin by the god dedicates a stele—e(¥)Aoyav σου τὰς δυνάμί(ε)ις : he adds that the stele which is dedicated is in one case…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐλογέω (eulogeō) — to praise/bless.

εὐλογ-έω,

imperfect εὐλόγουν or ηὐλ- [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future -ήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]aorist εὐλόγησα or ηὐλ[LXX]: infinitive εὐλογῆσαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect εὐλόγηκα [LXX]passive, with future middle εὐλογήσομαι (variant -ηθήσομαι, as always in [LXX+5th c.BC+]: aorist εὐλογήθην [Refs 3rd c.BC+]: perfect εὐλόγημαι [LXX]:—speak well of, praise, πόλιν [Refs 5th c.BC+], Isoc.[same places]; deliver a panegyric upon, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: with neuter adjective, εὐ. καὶ δίκαια κἄδικα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θεοὶ εὐλογοῦσί τινα honour him, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, ἐπαίνοις εὐλογούμενον πέδον [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐλογέω

eulogeo

from a compound of 2095 and 3056; to speak well of, i.e. (religiously)

to bless (thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper):--bless,

praise.

see GREEK for 2095

see GREEK for 3056

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐλογέω

v.

I bless

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐλογέω eulogeō 41x

pr. to speak well of, in NT to bless, ascribe praise and glorification, Lk. 1:64; to bless, invoke a blessing upon, Mt. 5:44; to bless, confer a favor or blessing upon, Eph. 1:3; Heb. 6:14; pass. to be blessed, to be an object of favor or blessing, Lk. 1:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εὐλογέω εὐλογέω, to speak well of, praise, honour, Trag.; δίκαια εὐλ. τινα to praise him justly, Ar.:—Pass. to be honoured, Soph.

to bless, NTest.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(barakh): This word is found more frequently in the Old Testament than in the New Testament, and is used in different relations.

(1) It is first met in Ge 1:22 at the introduction of animal life upon the earth, where it is written, "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply," etc. The context furnishes the key to its meaning, which is the bestowal of good, and in this particular place the pleasure and power of increase in kind. Thus it is generally employed in both Testaments, the context always determining the character of the bestowal; for instance (where man is the recipient), whether the good is temporal or spiritual, or both.

Occasionally, however, a different turn is given to it as in Ge 2:3 the King James Version, where it is written, "And God blessed the seventh…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Bless

(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35).

(2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1, 2; 145:1, 2).

(3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God’s blessing (Isa. 65:16), or rejoices in God’s goodness to him (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18).

(4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen.…

Across the New Testament12 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

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

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.17c. AD 40

„Καὶ εὐλόγησεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν“ (Gen.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.181c. AD 75–95

ἐχορήγησε δὲ οὗτος ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ τῷ Ἁβράμου στρατῷ ξένια καὶ πολλὴν ἀφθονίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων παρέσχε καὶ παρὰ τὴν εὐωχίαν αὐτόν τε ἐπαινεῖν ἤρξατο καὶ τὸν θεὸν εὐλογεῖν ὑποχειρίους αὐτῷ ποιήσαντα τοὺς ἐχθρούς.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 13.4c. AD 100

καὶ ἐν ἄλλῃ προφητείᾳ λέγει φανερώτερον ὁ Ἰακὼβ πρὸς Ἰωσὴφ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, λέγων: Ἰδού, οὐκ ἐστέρησέν με κύριος τοῦ προσώπου σου: προσάγαγέ μοι τοὺς υἱούς σου, ἵνα εὐλογήσω αὐτούς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Diosk. 6Herakleopolites147 BC

οὗ τὸ ὄνομα ἀγνοοῦμεν ἐνέσεισεν τῶι ἑνὶ ἡμῶν Ἀρτεμιδώρωι ἐπίτηδες, ὡς ἔστιν ἐκ τῶν εὐλόγων θεωρῆσαι, τοῦ γὰρ Ἀρτεμιδώρου ἐπιτιμήσαντος αὐτῶι καὶ γενηθέντων ἡμῶν ἐντὸς τῆς πύλης τοῦ ὀχυρώματος

Stud.Pal. 5 6HermopolisAD 266–AD 268

τὴν δέησιν ποιούμεθα ἐν μὲν δὴ … θειότατε αὐτοκράτωρ εισου δο … ει τῶν εὐλόγων εἶναι· τὸ γάρτοι ἔθνος τὸ ἡμέτερον ἐπιτηρῆσαν ἑκάστοτε τὴν τοῦ Νείλου φοράν τε καὶ

P.Herm. 5Hermopolis (?)AD 317–AD 323

εὐφραίνων ἐμαυτὸν γράφω σοι καὶ εὔχομαι ὑγιαίνοντί σοι καὶ εὐθυμοῦντι δοθῆναι τὰ γράμματα. τῶν εὐλόγων δέ ἐστι καί σε γράφοντα τοῖς ἄλλοις μιμνήσκεσθαι καὶ ἡμῶν, ἵνα μείζονα ἔχωμεν τὴν

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
τοὺςho those G3588 Article · accusative · plural · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

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

As demonstr. pron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

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

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

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

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

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

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

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-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
64%the
the64% · 13160×<the>28% · 5846×those3% · 597×other renderings4% · 788×other renderings1% · 294×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
those19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
διώκονταςdiōkō persecuting G1377 Verb · present · active · participle · accusative · plural · masculine
45× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Romans than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To pursue or follow someone, which can be done with or without hostile intent, as seen in Matthew 5:10-12 and Luke 17:23. It can also mean to persecute, as in Acts 26:11 and Revelation 12:13. This word is used to describe chasing after something or someone.
Amplified meaning
pursue, follow with hostile intent
Tyndale gloss
to pursue
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

διώκω (diōkō) means to pursue or chase, often with a sense of hostility, as in persecution. It can also refer to following eagerly after something, such as righteousness or peace. The New Testament uses it in various contexts, including persecution (e.g., Matthew 5:10-12) and the pursuit of virtues (e.g., Romans 12:13). The lexicons do not show significant disagreement.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

διώκω

[in LXX chiefly for רדף ;]

to put to flight, drive away: Mt 23:34.

to pursue;

of persons; c. acc, without hostility, to follow after: Lk 17:23; with hostile purpose: Ac 26:11, Re 12:13. Hence, to persecute: Mt 5:10-12, 44 10:23, Lk 11:49 21:12, Jo 5:16 15:20, Ac 7:52 9:4, 5 22:4, 7, 8 26:14, 15, Ro 12:14, I Co 4:12 15:9, II Co 4:9,

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

διώκω ; impf. ἐδίωκον ; fut. διώξω (Mt. xxiii. 34; Lk. xxi. 12; Jn. xv. 20; 2S. xxii. 38; Sap. xix. 2; a rarer form for the more com. Attic διώξομαι, ef. Bitm. Ausf. Spr. ii. 154; W.84 (80); [B. 53 (46); esp. Veitch s. v.; Rutherford, New Phryn. p. 377]); 1 aor. ἐδίωξα ; Pass., [pres. διώκομαι]; pf. ptep. dediwypevos; 1 fut. διωχθήσομαι; (fr. δίω to flee) ; Sept. commonly for 17; 1. to run or flee, put to flight, drive away: (τινὰ) ἀπὸ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν, Mt. xxiii. 34, cf. x. 23 Grsb. 2. to run swiftly in order to catch some person or thing, to run after; absol. (Hom. Il. 23, 8344; Soph. El. 738, ete.; διώκειν δρόμῳ, Xen. an. 6, 5, 25; ef. 7, 2, 20), to press on: fig. of one who in a race runs swiftly to reach the goal, Phil. iii. 12 (where distinguished fr. καταλαμβάνειν, [cf. Hdt. 9, 58; Leian. Hermot. 77]), vs. 14. fo pursue (in a hostile manner): τινά, Acts xxvi. 11; Rev. xii. 138.…

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

διώκω. P Fay 11139 (A.D. 95-6) (= Sevections, p. 67) τὸν λ[ι]μνασμ[ὸν] δ[(Ποξον τῶν [ἐ]ϊλα[ι]ώνίων τ]ῶν πάντον, “hasten with the flooding of all the olive-yards " (Edd.), 76, 1125 (A.D. 99) εὖ πυήσις διῶξαι τοὺς σκαφήτρους τῶν ἐλαιώνον, ‘please carry forward the digging of the olive-yards’’ (Edd.). For διώκω = ‘pursue,’” cf. OG/S 532° (B.C. 3) ὅπλο[ις τε] καὶ σιδήρωι διώξειν, and the moral tale in P Grenf II. 84? (v/vi A.D.) where a patricide, fleeing into the desert, ἐδιόκαιτο (2. ἐδιώκετο) ὑπὸ λέωντος, ‘was pursued by a kon.” The phrase δίωκε τὸν λόγον = ‘‘ pursue the recital of the formula’’ is common in the magic papyri: see the editor’s note on P Lond 46" (iv/A.D.) (=I. p. 78). We may add two exx. of the verb from Christian amulets. The first, P Oxy VIII. 1151 (? v/A.D.) opens, Φεῦγε πν(εῦμ)ᾳ μεμισιμένον, Χιριστό)ς σε διώκει, ** Fly, hateful spirit ! Christ In the second, BGU III.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

διώκω (diōkō) — to pursue.

διώκω,

Epic dialect infinitive διωκέμεναι, -έμεν (see. below): future -ξω[Refs 7th c.BC+]aorist ἐδίωξα: aorist 2 ἐδιώκαθον (see. διωκάθω): perfect δεδίωχα [Refs 4th c.BC+] —middle (see. below):—passive, future διωχθήσομαι [Refs 1st c.BC+]; but διώξομαι in passive sense, [LXX+1st c.BC+]: aorist ἐδιώχθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect δεδίωγμαι [NT]; see at {δίω}):—cause to run, set in quick motion, opposed to φεύγω:

1. pursue, chase, in war or hunting, φεύγοντα διώκειν [Refs 8th c.BC+] —middle, διώκεσθαί τινα πεδίοιο, δόμοιο, chase one over or across.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]

1. b with accusative person, of a lover, [Refs 7th c.BC+] [same place]; follow, [NT+5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

διώκω

dioko

a prolonged (and causative) form of a primary verb dio (to flee;

compare the base of 1169 and 1249); to pursue (literally or

figuratively); by implication, to persecute:--ensue, follow (after),

given to, (suffer) persecute(-ion), press forward.

see GREEK for 1169

see GREEK for 1249

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

διώκω

v.

I pursue, persecute

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

διώκω diōkō 45x

to put in rapid motion; to pursue; to follow, pursue the direction of, Lk. 17:23; to follow eagerly, endeavor earnestly to acquire, Rom. 9:30, 31; 12:13; to press forwards, Phil. 3:12, 14; to pursue with malignity, persecute, Mt. 5:10, 11, 12, 44

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

διώκω δίω II to pursue aperson, to chase, hunt, Il., etc.:—so in Mid., διώκεσθαί τινα πεδίοιο to chase one over or across the plain, Hom.: — to be a follower of a person, attach oneself to him, Xen.

to pursue an object, seek after, Od., etc.; δ. τὰ συμβάντα to follow or wait for the event, Dem.

to drive or chase away, banish, Od., Hdt.

of the wind, to drive a ship, of rowers, to impel, speed on her way, Od.; of a chariot, to drive, Orac. ap. Hdt.; δ. πόδα to urge on, Aesch.:—then, intr. to drive, drive on, Il.: to gallop, speed, run, Aesch.

as law-term, to prosecute, bring an action against a man, ὁ διώκων the prosecutor (opp. to ὁ φεύγων the defendant), Hdt., etc.; ὁ διώκων τοῦ ψηφίσματος he who impeaches the words of the decree, Dem.; c. gen. poenae, θανάτου or περὶ θανάτου δ. τινά, Lat. capitis accusare, Xen.: but c. gen. criminis, to…

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

V-PAP-APM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
18%persecuting
persecuting18% · 8×do pursue9% · 4×pursuing7% · 3×persecuted4% · 2×persecute you?4% · 2×i was persecuting4% · 2×being persecuted4% · 2×they may persecute4% · 2×other renderings44% · 20×

45 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 26 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
verb98%adverbial2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 45 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
σύἀποκτείνωI put to death, αὐτός
Article the
μακάριοςhappy, blessedὑπέρεὐλογέωI bless
ἐγώ
τίςIrgεἰCond
σύ
ὅςκαίand, even, also,
δέbut, on the other ha
ὅτανwhen, whensoeverἸσραήλProp
διώκωpersecuting45×
what comes after →
Article the
ἐκκλησίαan assembly, conπροφήτηςa prophet, poetἸουδαῖοςJewish
καίand, even, also, nam
λέγωI say, speakσύArticle the
δέbut, on the other ha
δικαιοσύνηjustice, justnesεἰCond
σύ
ἐν
εἰς
Article theἀλλήλων

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

Concordanceδιώκω · 45× in the New Testament
Acts Matthew Galatians Romans 1 Corinthians John Luke Philippians 2 Timothy 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy
Across the New Testament15 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 43 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Didache Clement of Rome Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Posterity of Cain 18c. AD 40

διοιχθέντων γὰρ τῶν διανοίας ὀμμάτων ὀξυδερκέστερον εἶδεν ὅτι ἐπὶ τὴν δυσαλώτου πράγματος θήραν ἀναδέδυκεν ἐξαναχωροῦντος αἰεὶ καὶ μακρὰν ἀφισταμένου καὶ φθάνοντος ἀπείρῳ τῷ μεταξὺ διαστήματι τοὺς διώκοντας.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.178c. AD 75–95

Ἅβραμος δὲ διώκων εἵπετο μέχρι καὶ δευτεραίους συνήλασεν αὐτοὺς εἰς Ὠβὰ τῆς Δαμασκηνῶν γῆς, ἐπιδείξας ὅτι τὸ νικᾶν οὐκ ἐν τῷ πλήθει καὶ τῇ πολυχειρίᾳ κεῖσθαι συμβέβηκεν, ἀλλὰ προθυμία τῶν μαχομένων καὶ τὸ γενναῖον κρατεῖ παντὸς ἀριθμοῦ, τριακοσίοις…

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 20.4c. AD 96

εἰ γὰρ τὸν μισθὸν τῶν δικαίων ὁ θεὸς συντόμως ἀπεδίδου, εὐθέως ἐμπορίαν ἠσκοῦμεν καὶ οὐ θεοσέβειαν: ἐδοκοῦμεν γὰρ εἶναι δίκαιοι, οὐ τὸ εὐσεβές, ἀλλὰ τὸ κερδαλέον διώκοντες.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 5th c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
BGU 11 2129Alexandria (?)AD 101–AD 200

σε ὑγιαίνειν μετὰ τῶν σῶν πάντων, καὶ ἐγὼ αὐτὸς ἔρρωμαι. ἐξελθὼν ἀφʼ ὑμῶν πολλὰ ἐδίωξα θέλων καταλαβεῖν τὸ πλοῖόν μου ἵνα πέμψω ὑμῖν τὸ περὶ τῶν οὐετρανῶν, καὶ οὐ

P.Wisc. 2 48AD 154–AD 159

ἔβαλόν μοι τὰ μὲν ἔρριπτον καὶ γὰρ ἄν τινας οἵτινες μήτε … ἐξ ὅσων ἐδίωξαν μήτε στρατοπεδάρχου μήτε ἑκατον… … ου κελεύσαντι … δι … … … χαρισθέντες ἔδησάν

P.Ross.Georg. 3 2AlexandriaAD 270

τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ … τρου ἀηδῶς ἔσχον. ἀλλὰ ἀνθρώπινον· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦτο διώκομεν. πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τὸν Μάρκον παρεμυθησάμεθα λυπούμενον ἤτε διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν ἤτε διὰ

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
ὑμᾶς·su you; G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · accusative · plural
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σύ is the second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you' in Greek. It has various forms: genitive σοῦ, dative σοί, and accusative σέ. The word can be used for emphasis or contrast, particularly in the New Testament, as seen in verses like Matthew 26:64. It also appears in various dialects and has enclitic forms.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

thou, you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, pl., ὑμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς (enclitic in oblique cases sing., except after prep. (BL, §48, 3), though πρὸς σέ occurs in Mt 25:39). Nom. for emphasis or contrast: Jo 1:30, 42 4:10 5:33, 39, 44, Ac 4:7, Eph 5:32; so also perhaps σὺ εἶπας, Mt 26:64, al. (M, Pr., 86); before voc., Mt 2:6, Lk 1:76, Jo 17:5, al.; sometimes without emphasis (M, Pr., 85f.), as also

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

σύ, pron. of the second pers. (Dor. and Aeol. τύ, Boeot. Tov), gen. σοῦ, dat. σοί, ace. σέ (which oblique cases are enclitic, unless a preposition precede; yet πρός σε is written [uniformly in Ree. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18), in Grsb. (exe. Jn. xxi. 22, 23), in Treg. (exc. Mt. xxvi. 18; Acts xxiii. 30), in Lchm. (exe. Mt. xxvi.18; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; xxi. 22, 23; Acts xxiii. 30), in Tdf. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18; Lk. i. 19; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; Jn. xxi. 22; Acts xxiii. 18, 30; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Tit. iii. 12); also by WH in Mt. xxv. 39], see ἐγώ, 2; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 62 sq. [W. §6, 3; B. 31 (27)]); plur. ὑμεῖς, εἴς. : Lat. tu, ete., vos, ete.; thou, ete., ye,ete. The nominatives ov and ὑμεῖς are expressed for emphasis — before a vocative, as σὺ Βηθλεέμ, Mt. ii. 6; σὺ παιδίον (Leian. dial. deor. 2, 1), Lk. i. 76; add, Jn. xvii. 5; Acts i. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 11, etc.; ὑμεῖς of Φαρισαῖοι, Lk. xi. 39…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

thou: pronoun of the second person:—Epic dialect nominative τύνη [ῡ] [Refs 8th c.BC+] (Laconian dialect τούνη [Refs 5th c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect σύ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τύ [ῠ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τού [short syllable] [Refs 6th c.BC+] (also τούν [Refs]σύ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]—Gen. σοῦ, [Refs], elsewhere only Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; enclitic σου, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (also in Lyric poetry, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (which also occurs in Lyric poetry, [Refs 7th c.BC+], and as enclitic σευ, [Refs 8th c.BC+], σεο (enclitic) [Refs] σευ (enclitic) [Refs]:—Doric dialect τεῦ, τευ, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; rarely τέο, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τεῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τεοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοι variant in [Refs]; enclitic τεος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; other Doric dialect forms are τίω, τίως, both [Refs 3rd c.BC+]—Dat. σοί, [Refs 8th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

the person pronoun of the second person singular; thou:-- thou. See

also 4571, 4671, 4675; and for the plural 5209, 5210, 5213, 5216.

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, Mt. 1:20; 2:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2AP — Personal pronoun · second person · accusative · plural
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2AP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Accusative Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyou;2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

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

Concordanceσύ · 2,892× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Acts Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans 1 Thessalonians Revelation Hebrews Colossians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 450 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.48c. AD 40

„οὐ φυτεύσεις σεαυτῷ ἄλσος, πᾶν ξύλον παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ“ (Deuter.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

παύσομαι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ μετὰ τοσαύτης ὀργῆς τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν εἰσπραττόμενος καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον σοῦ παρακαλοῦντος.

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

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

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

τοῦ ἀποδοθῆι τὸν ἐπεσταλμένον ἡμῖν κατὰ μῆνα πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Πηλουσίωι θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

παρὰ Πετεύριος διεθέντος μου ὑπάρξει σοι εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δεκάπεντε, τάλαντα ιε. εὐτύχει .

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
εὐλογεῖτεeulogeō do bless G2127 Verb · present · active · imperative · second person · plural
42× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To praise or bless someone means to speak well of them, like in Luke 1:64 where Zechariah praises God. It's about thanking or invoking a blessing on someone.
Amplified meaning
show kindness to, speak well of
Tyndale gloss
to praise/bless
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εὐλογέω (i.e., eulogeo) means to speak well of or to bless. It encompasses both praising and invoking blessings, often in a religious context. The New Testament uses it in various forms, such as in Luke 1:64 and Ephesians 1:3. Some sources note its passive form, indicating being blessed, as seen in Luke 1:28.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εὐλογέω, -ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for בָּרַךְ pi. ;]

to speak well of, praise (cl.; LXX De 8:10, al.): τ. θεόν, Lk 1:64 2:28 24:51, 53 (αἰνοῦντες, T, WH, mg.), Ja 3:9; absol., to give praise, Mt 14:19 26:26 (v. Swete on Mk 14:22), Mk 6:41 14:22 (v. Swete, in l.), Lk 24:30, I Co 14:16.

As in LXX (= בָּרַךְ pi.);

to bless, invoke blessings on (Ge 24:60, Nu 23:20, al.): absol.…

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

εὐλογέω. We can illustrate this verb only from the Christian papyri, as P Amh II. 145} (iv/v A.D.) τῷ ἀγ]απητῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ ηὐλ[ο]γημένῳ, and the late P Grenf 11. 113? (viii/ix A.D.) τῶν εὐλογημένων τριῶν συνόδων, 11 μετὰ τῶν σὺν αὐτοῖς kal εὐλογημένων ὁμονόων. It occurs, however, in inserr. in such a formula as OG/S 73 εὐλογεῖ τὸν θεὸν Πτολεμαῖος Διονυσίου ᾿Ιουδαῖος, and was by no means confined to the Jews as Dittenberger shows from C/G 4705 4? (of Pan) €[¥]Aoy[a] τὸν εὔο[δο]ν θεόν, 2d. 4705 εἶ εὐλογῶ [τ]ὴν Hiow. See also Syd 8g1*4 (ii/A.b.) where the prayer is uttered that a protector of a tomb—ta@v λῴων ἀπολαύοι εὐλογοῖτό τε ἐν παντὶ δήμῳ, and the exx. of the verb in votive inscriptions given by Ramsay Zxf7 x. p. 54, as when a person who has been chastised for his sin by the god dedicates a stele—e(¥)Aoyav σου τὰς δυνάμί(ε)ις : he adds that the stele which is dedicated is in one case…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εὐλογέω (eulogeō) — to praise/bless.

εὐλογ-έω,

imperfect εὐλόγουν or ηὐλ- [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future -ήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]aorist εὐλόγησα or ηὐλ[LXX]: infinitive εὐλογῆσαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect εὐλόγηκα [LXX]passive, with future middle εὐλογήσομαι (variant -ηθήσομαι, as always in [LXX+5th c.BC+]: aorist εὐλογήθην [Refs 3rd c.BC+]: perfect εὐλόγημαι [LXX]:—speak well of, praise, πόλιν [Refs 5th c.BC+], Isoc.[same places]; deliver a panegyric upon, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: with neuter adjective, εὐ. καὶ δίκαια κἄδικα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θεοὶ εὐλογοῦσί τινα honour him, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive, ἐπαίνοις εὐλογούμενον πέδον [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εὐλογέω

eulogeo

from a compound of 2095 and 3056; to speak well of, i.e. (religiously)

to bless (thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper):--bless,

praise.

see GREEK for 2095

see GREEK for 3056

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εὐλογέω

v.

I bless

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εὐλογέω eulogeō 41x

pr. to speak well of, in NT to bless, ascribe praise and glorification, Lk. 1:64; to bless, invoke a blessing upon, Mt. 5:44; to bless, confer a favor or blessing upon, Eph. 1:3; Heb. 6:14; pass. to be blessed, to be an object of favor or blessing, Lk. 1:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

εὐλογέω εὐλογέω, to speak well of, praise, honour, Trag.; δίκαια εὐλ. τινα to praise him justly, Ar.:—Pass. to be honoured, Soph.

to bless, NTest.

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

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(barakh): This word is found more frequently in the Old Testament than in the New Testament, and is used in different relations.

(1) It is first met in Ge 1:22 at the introduction of animal life upon the earth, where it is written, "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply," etc. The context furnishes the key to its meaning, which is the bestowal of good, and in this particular place the pleasure and power of increase in kind. Thus it is generally employed in both Testaments, the context always determining the character of the bestowal; for instance (where man is the recipient), whether the good is temporal or spiritual, or both.

Occasionally, however, a different turn is given to it as in Ge 2:3 the King James Version, where it is written, "And God blessed the seventh…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Bless

(1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35).

(2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1, 2; 145:1, 2).

(3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God’s blessing (Isa. 65:16), or rejoices in God’s goodness to him (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18).

(4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen.…

Across the New Testament12 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

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

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.17c. AD 40

„Καὶ εὐλόγησεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν“ (Gen.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.181c. AD 75–95

ἐχορήγησε δὲ οὗτος ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ τῷ Ἁβράμου στρατῷ ξένια καὶ πολλὴν ἀφθονίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων παρέσχε καὶ παρὰ τὴν εὐωχίαν αὐτόν τε ἐπαινεῖν ἤρξατο καὶ τὸν θεὸν εὐλογεῖν ὑποχειρίους αὐτῷ ποιήσαντα τοὺς ἐχθρούς.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 13.4c. AD 100

καὶ ἐν ἄλλῃ προφητείᾳ λέγει φανερώτερον ὁ Ἰακὼβ πρὸς Ἰωσὴφ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, λέγων: Ἰδού, οὐκ ἐστέρησέν με κύριος τοῦ προσώπου σου: προσάγαγέ μοι τοὺς υἱούς σου, ἵνα εὐλογήσω αὐτούς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. BC 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Diosk. 6Herakleopolites147 BC

οὗ τὸ ὄνομα ἀγνοοῦμεν ἐνέσεισεν τῶι ἑνὶ ἡμῶν Ἀρτεμιδώρωι ἐπίτηδες, ὡς ἔστιν ἐκ τῶν εὐλόγων θεωρῆσαι, τοῦ γὰρ Ἀρτεμιδώρου ἐπιτιμήσαντος αὐτῶι καὶ γενηθέντων ἡμῶν ἐντὸς τῆς πύλης τοῦ ὀχυρώματος

Stud.Pal. 5 6HermopolisAD 266–AD 268

τὴν δέησιν ποιούμεθα ἐν μὲν δὴ … θειότατε αὐτοκράτωρ εισου δο … ει τῶν εὐλόγων εἶναι· τὸ γάρτοι ἔθνος τὸ ἡμέτερον ἐπιτηρῆσαν ἑκάστοτε τὴν τοῦ Νείλου φοράν τε καὶ

P.Herm. 5Hermopolis (?)AD 317–AD 323

εὐφραίνων ἐμαυτὸν γράφω σοι καὶ εὔχομαι ὑγιαίνοντί σοι καὶ εὐθυμοῦντι δοθῆναι τὰ γράμματα. τῶν εὐλόγων δέ ἐστι καί σε γράφοντα τοῖς ἄλλοις μιμνήσκεσθαι καὶ ἡμῶν, ἵνα μείζονα ἔχωμεν τὴν

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
καὶkai and G2532 Conjunction
8,978× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
rarer in Romans than elsewhere in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
And or also, a connecting word used to join ideas or words, like in Matthew 2:18 and Hebrews 1:1.
Tyndale gloss
and
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

καί,

conj.,

and.

Copulative.

Connecting single words;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καί (kai) — and.

καί,

conjunction, copulative, joining words and sentences,

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

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

καί

kai

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

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

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

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

yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καί

Cj.

and, even, also, namely

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καί kai 9x

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἐνἐπίπρός
σύ
χάριςgrace, favor, kiπρόςπατήρfather, Father,
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, πρόςθεόςGod, a god
εἰμίI am, exist
αὐτόςArticle theἐγώ
θεόςGod, a god
Article theθέλημαwill, wish, desiδέbut, on the othe
καίand8978×
what comes after →
Article the
ἀδελφόςa brotherπατήρfather, Father, μήτηρa mother
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theπρός
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existμήNegδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ὁράωI see, look upon, ex
Article theαὐτόςἀνήρa male human bei
ἐν
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, ὅλοςall, the whole,

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

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

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

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

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

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

ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
μὴ not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Romans as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Amplified meaning
lest, God forbid
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μή () is a Greek negative particle used to express subjective negation, often in conditional or hypothetical contexts. It contrasts with οὐ (ou), which indicates absolute denial. μή can function as an adverb meaning 'not' or as a conjunction meaning 'lest.' It appears in various grammatical constructions, including prohibitions and deliberative questions, and is referenced in verses like Matthew 5:29 and John 3:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

used where the negation depends on a condition or hypothesis, expressed or understood, as distinct from οὐ, which denies absolutely. μή is used where one thinks a thing is not, as distinct from an absolute negation. As a general rule, οὐ negatives the indic., μή the other moods, incl, ptcp. [In LXX for אֵין, אַיִן, אַל.]

As a neg. adv., not;

with ref. to thought or opinion: Jo 3:18, Tit 1:11, II Pe 1:9.

In delib. questions, c. subjc. (M, Pr., 185): Mk 12:14, Ro 3:8.

In conditional and final sentences, after εἰ, ἐάν, ἄν, ἵνα, ὅπως: Mt 10:14,

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

μή, Sept. for Ox, |X, PN, ἃ particle of negation, which differs from οὐ (which is always an adverb) in that ov denies the thing itself (orto speak technically, denies simply, absolutely, categorically, directly, objectively). but μή denies the thought of the thing, or the thing according to the judgment, opinion, will, purpose, preference, of some one (hence, as we say technically, indirectly, hypothetically, subjectively). This distinction holds also of the compounds οὐδείς, μηδείς, οὐκέτι, μηκέτι, ete. But pris either an ad verb of negation, not (Lat. non, ne); or aconjunction, that... not, lest, (Lat. ne); or an interrogative particle, (Lat. num) [i. e. (generally) implying aneg. ans.; in indir. quest. whether nol (suggesting apprehension) ]. Cf. Herm. ad Vig. § 267 p- 802 sqq-; Matthiae § 608; Bitm. Gram. § 148 (cf. Alex. Bttm. N. T. Gr. p. 344 (296) sqq.); Kiihner ii. §§ 512 sq. p.…

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

μή Grenf II. 384 (mid. 1.8.6.) καλῶς οὖ]ν ποιήσις μὴ ἀμελήσ[α]ς α[. . ἀγο]ράσαι. .. , P Oxy I. 3815 (a.p. 49--50) (= Selections, p. 53) τοῦ δὲ Σύρου μὴ βουλομένου ἐνμεῖναι τοῖς κεκριμένοις, “45 Syrus does not wish to abide by what has been decided,” 2d. II. 2755 (A.D. 66) (= Selections, p. 58) ἔγραψα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἰδότος γράμματα, “1 wrote for him seeing that he was unlettered,” BGU I. 22° (a.p. 114) (= Selections, p. 74) TappovOios . . . τὸ παρὸν μὴ ἔχουσα κύριον, ‘ Tarmuthis at present without a guardian,’ and P Grenf II. 779 (iii/iv A.D.) (= Sedections, p. 120) θαυμάζω πάνυ [ὅτι] ἀλόγως ἀπέστητε μὴ ἄραντες [τὸ σ]ῶμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ὑμῶν, “1 wonder exceedingly that you went off so unreasonably, without taking the body of your brother”; cf. P Tor 1. 1¥8-4 (νον 116) εἰ δὲ kal τις θείηι τὸ μὴ ὄν (cf. 1 Cor 1°8)—acc. and inf. follow, P Ryl II. 144°? (Α.Ὁ. 38) ἐπαγαγεῖν αἰτίας τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ‘‘…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

Elean μά [ᾱ] [Refs 6th c.BC+]. (Cf. Sanskrit mā´, Armenian mi [from I.-[Refs 5th c.BC+] mē´], negative used in prohibitions):—not, the negative of the will and thought, as οὐ of fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. (A few examples of μηδέ and μηδείς have been included.)

__A in INDEPENDENT sentences, used in expressions of will or wish, command, entreaty, warning,

__A.1 with present imperative, 2 person, μή μ᾽ ἐρέθιζε [Refs 8th c.BC+]: rarely with aorist imperative, μὴ.. ἔνθεο τιμῇ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Attic dialect, μὴ ψεῦσον, ὦ Ζεῦ, τῆς.. ἐλπίδος [Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect imperative [Refs 8th c.BC+] person when perfect = present, μὴ κεκράγετε [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

absolute denial); (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

affirmative one)) whether:--any but (that), X forbear, + God forbid, +

lack, lest, neither, never, no (X wise in), none, nor, (can-)not,

nothing, that not, un(-taken), without. Often used in compounds in

substantially the same relations. See also 3362, 3363, 3364, 3372,

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

a negative particle, can function as a conj, not, for the particulars of its usage, especially as distinguished from that of οὐ, consult a grammar; as a conj., lest, that not, Mt. 5:29, 30; 18:10; 24:6; Mk. 13:36; μή, or μήτι, or μήποτε, when prefixed to an interrogative clause, it expresses an intimation either of the reality of the matters respecting which the question is asked, Mt. 12:23; or the contrary, Jn. 4:12

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Particle-N — Particle · negative
particle — a small word colouring the clause; it does not decline.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
71%not
not71% · 772×except9% · 95×unless5% · 58×surely not4% · 41×lest3% · 32×otherwise2% · 23×other renderings4% · 48×other renderings1% · 16×

1,085 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 23 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
adverbial84%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,060 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,σύἐγώ
ἵναin order that, so th
αὐτόςσύπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώαὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
εἰCond
αὐτόςυἱόςa son, descendenκαίand, even, also,
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰςδιά
μήnot1060×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenσημεῖονa sign, miracle,
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
καίand, even, also,ποιμήνa shepherdβάθοςdepth, a depth,
εἰμίI am, exist
δίδωμιI offer, giveἐνμετά
τὶς
σύὑστερέωI am lacking, faγεννάωI beget, bring f
φοβέωI fear, am terrified
ἀπόArticle theμόνοςalone, but, only

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

Concordanceμή · 1,060× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John 1 Corinthians Romans Mark Acts Revelation 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 Timothy Galatians

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,321 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.

do bless those persecuting you; do bless and not do curse.
καταρᾶσθε.kataraomai do curse. G2672 Verb · present · no voice stated · imperative · second person · plural
5× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Romans than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To curse someone means to wish harm or evil upon them, as seen in Mark 11:21 and Luke 6:26. It is the opposite of blessing or speaking well of someone.
Amplified meaning
wish harm upon, speak evil of
Tyndale gloss
to curse
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word καταράομαι (*kataraomai*) means to curse or call down curses upon someone. It is derived from the root for 'curse' and is used in various contexts, including the New Testament, where it appears in verses like Mark 11:21 and Romans 12:14. The passive form can mean 'accursed,' as seen in Matthew 25:41. Some lexicons note differences in how the word can be used with different grammatical constructions.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κατ-αράομαι, -ώμαι, depon.

(< κατάρα),

[in LXX chiefly for קלל pi.;]

to curse: c. acc., Mk 11:21; opp. to εὐλογέω, Lk 6:28, Ro 12:14, Ja 3:9; pass. pf. ptcp., accursed, under a curse (v. M, Pr., 221): Mt 25:41.†

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

κατ-αράομαι, -ὥμαι; (dep. mid. fr. κατάρα) ; 1 aor. 2 pers. sing. κατηράσω; [pf. pass. ptep. κατηραμένος (see below) J; fr. Hom. down; Sept. mostly for 79) and 178; (0 curse, doom, imprecate evil on: (opp. to εὐλογεῖν) absol. Ro. xii. 14; w. dat. of the obj. (as in the earlier Grk. writ.), Lk. vi. 28 Ree. (Bar. vi. [Ep. Jer. 65] 66; [Joseph. c. Ap. 1, 22, 16]); w. acc. of the obj. (as often in the later Grk. writ., as Plut. Cat. min. 32, 1 var. [B. § 133, 9; W. 222 (208)]), Mt. v. 44 Rec.; Lk. vi. 28 G Ltxt. T Tr WH; Jas. iii. 9; ἃ tree, i.e. to wither it by cursing, Mk. xi. 21 (see Heb. vi. 8 in κατάρα). pf. pass. ptep. κατηραμένος in a pass. sense, accursed (Sap. xii. 11; [2 K. ix. 34]; Plut. Luc. 18; and κεκατηραμ. Deut. xxi. 23; [Sir iii. 16]): Mt. xxv. 41 (also occasionally κεκατάρανται, Num. xxii. 6; xxiv. 9; [but Tdf. ete. -ryp-; see Veitch s. v. apdopuat])." kat-apyéw, -@; fut.…

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

καταράομαι. For κατάρατος cf. OG/S 833 (iv/B.c.) κατάρατον ἔμμεναι καὶ αὖτον καὶ γένος τὸ κήνω, Sy// 479% (iii/B.C.) ἐὰν δέ τις τούτων τι λύηι, κατάρατος ἔστω. See also s.v. ἐπικατάρατος.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

καταράομαι (kataraomai) — to curse.

καταρ-άομαι [ᾱρ

Epic dialect, ᾰρ Attic dialect], call down curses upon, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; πολλὰ κατηρᾶτο he called down many curses, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: with infinitive, καταρῶνται δ᾽ ἀπολέσθαι they pray that he may perish, [Refs 6th c.BC+], curse, execrate, [NT+5th c.BC+]passive, aorist κατηράθην [ᾱ] [LXX]: perfect participle κατηραμένος accursed, [NT+1st c.AD+]: also perfect κεκατήραμαι with double reduplicate, [LXX]; participle κεκατηραμένος [LXX]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

καταράομαι

kataraomai

middle voice from 2671; to execrate; by analogy, to doom:--curse.

see GREEK for 2671

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

καταράομαι

v.

I curse

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

καταράομαι kataraomai 5x

to curse, to wish evil to, imprecate evil upon, Mk. 11:21; Lk. 6:28; Rom. 12:14; Jas. 3:9; in NT pass. to be cursed, Mt. 25:41*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

καταράομαι ionic -αρεόμαι fut. άσομαι ionic ήσομαι Dep.

to call down curses upon, imprecate upon, τί τινι Hom., Hdt.:—c. inf., καταρῶνται ἀπολέσθαι they pray that he may perish, Theogn.:—c. dat. pers. only, to curse, execrate, Hdt., Ar., etc.; later, c. acc. pers., Plut., NTest.

absol. to utter imprecations, Ar.

perf. pass. part. κατ-ηρα_μένος in pass. sense, accursed, id. Ar.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PNM-2P — Verb · present · no voice stated · imperative · second person · plural
present no voice stated imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PNM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: middle or passive depoNent Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kurs ('alah (Nu 5:21,23,17, etc.), me'erah (Pr 3:33; Mal 2:2, etc.), klalah (Ge 27:12,13); katara (Ga 3:10,13)): This word as noun and verb renders different Hebrew words, some of them being more or less synonymous, differing only in degree of strength. It is often used in contrast with "bless" or "blessing" (De 11:29). When a curse is pronounced against any person, we are not to understand this as a mere wish, however violent, that disaster should overtake the person in question, any more than we are to understand that a corresponding "blessing" conveys simply a wish…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Curse

Denounced by God against the serpent (Gen. 3:14), and against Cain (4:11). These divine maledictions carried their effect with them. Prophetical curses were sometimes pronounced by holy men (Gen. 9:25; 49:7; Deut. 27:15; Josh. 6:26). Such curses are not the consequence of passion or revenge, they are predictions.

No one on pain of death shall curse father or mother (Ex. 21:17), nor the prince of his people (22:28), nor the deaf (Lev. 19:14). Cursing God or blaspheming was punishable by death (Lev. 24:10-16).…

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Denounced

Against the serpent Ge 3:14,15

Against Adam and Eve Ge 3:15-19

Against the ground Ge 3:17,18

Against Cain Ge 4:11-16

Against Canaan, Noah's son Ge 9:24-27

Against Meroz Jud 5:23

Against Gehazi 2Ki 5:27

→ Barak commands Balaam to curse Israel Nu 22:6; 23:11

→ See BENEDICTIONS

→ CURSES OF THE MOSAIC LAW De 27:1-26; Jos 8:30-34

See BLESSINGS

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%cursing
cursing33% · 2×do curse17% · 1×we curse17% · 1×cursed17% · 1×you cursed17% · 1×

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἐγώ
ἀπό
ὅς
συκῆa fig-tree
Article the
εὐλογέωI bless
μήNeg
καίand, even, also,
αὐτός
ἐν
καταράομαιdo curse.
what comes after →
εἰς
Article the
ξηραίνωI dry up, parch, rip
σύ
προσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th

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

Concordanceκαταράομαι · 5× in the New Testament
James Luke Matthew Mark Romans
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 26 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 Clement of Rome Josephus The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Migration of Abraham 1c. AD 40

καὶ εὐλογήσω τοὺς εὐλογοῦντάς σε, καὶ τοὺς καταρωμένους σε καταράσομαι, καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς“ (Gen.

JosephusThe Jewish War 1.260c. AD 75–95

εὐθέως δὲ τῶν καταλειφθέντων Πάρθων οἷς προσετέτακτο Φασάηλόν τε καὶ Ὑρκανὸν συνελάμβανον τά τε ἄλλα πρὸς τὴν ἐπιορκίαν καὶ τὸ ἄπιστον αὐτοῖς καταρωμένους.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 10.3c. AD 96

Ἄπελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας σου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός σου εἰς τὴν γῆν ἣν ἄν σοι δείξω: καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ εὐλογήσω σε καὶ μεγαλυνῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου, καὶ ἔσῃ εὐλογημένος: καὶ εὐλογήσω τοὺς εὐλογοῦντάς σε καὶ…

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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