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Romans 8:13 — Word Study

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N1904εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

BSAIfei forgar according tokata fleshsarx [your physical body, human nature] you live,zaō [according to your sinful nature] you are aboutmellō to die;apothnēskō [spiritually, be separated from God] ifei howeverde by [the] Spiritpneuma [the power of God, divine breath] theho deedspraxis [actions, works] of theho bodysōma [your physical person, human nature] you put to death,thanatoō [mortify, kill] you will live.zaō [eternally, have life]

Word
Listen & take awayRomans 8
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 13 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 (zaō) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Romans 8:13quick helps
In a sentencePaul contrasts living according to the flesh with living by the Spirit, emphasizing the consequences of each choice.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the Roman believers.
Where we areIn a section discussing the obligations of believers and the role of the Spirit in their lives.
The hard wordθανατοῦτε
Take awayThe choice between life and death is framed by how one lives.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause verbζάω 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 8:13

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 — Living by the Spiritgenerated

12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:13 presents a stark choice for believers: living according to the flesh leads to death, while living by the Spirit offers life. Paul emphasizes the transformative power of the Spirit, which enables believers to overcome sinful actions and experience true life. This passage is part of a broader discourse on the life in the Spirit, highlighting the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit, as seen in the surrounding verses, particularly Romans 8:12-14.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Romans 8:1–4Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2Romans 6:21–23What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
3Romans 7:5For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
4Galatians 5:19–21The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
5Galatians 6:8The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

The Key Word θανατοῦτε, thanatoōgenerated

The verb θανατόω, transliterated as thanatoō, means 'to put to death' and can refer to both literal and metaphorical death. It is used in contexts where one is called to kill sinful desires or actions, aligning with the theme of spiritual warfare against the flesh.

In this verse, it specifically refers to the action of mortifying the deeds of the body, indicating an active role in resisting sin through the Spirit's power. The present active indicative form shows that this is an ongoing responsibility for believers.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as: 'For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' This wording is consistent across several translations, including the KJV, ASV, and WEB, which all convey the same essential message.

However, some translations diverge slightly. The BBE uses 'you will have life' instead of 'you will live,' while the YLT states, 'you are about to die,' emphasizing the immediacy of the consequences of living according to the flesh.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The verse contains two main clauses connected by a contrastive conjunction. The first clause, introduced by εἰ ('if'), sets up a conditional statement regarding living according to the flesh and its consequence of death.

The second clause, beginning with ἀλλὰ ('but'), presents an alternative: living by the Spirit and the resulting life. The finite verbs ζῆτε ('you live') and θανατοῦτε ('you put to death') are pivotal, indicating the actions and their consequences.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

σάρξ (i.e., *sarx*) is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word for flesh, indicating physical and metaphorical aspects of human nature. The connection to the flesh in this verse aligns with its usage in the Old Testament, where it often represents human frailty and sinfulness.

πνεῦμα (i.e., *pneuma*) also appears in the Septuagint, signifying spirit or breath, and is often associated with God's life-giving power. In this context, it contrasts with the flesh, emphasizing the spiritual empowerment available to believers.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Romans 8:13 explains that living according to our sinful nature leads to spiritual death, while living by the Spirit allows us to overcome sinful actions and truly live. Paul emphasizes the importance of the Spirit's power in our daily lives.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to live according to the flesh?

Living according to the flesh refers to following our sinful nature and desires, which leads to spiritual death and separation from God.

How can we put to death the deeds of the body?

We put to death the deeds of the body by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation and sin, actively choosing to live in accordance with God's will.

What is the significance of living by the Spirit?

Living by the Spirit means being guided and empowered by God's Spirit, leading to spiritual life, growth, and a closer relationship with God.

What does it mean to die spiritually?

To die spiritually means to be separated from God due to sin, resulting in a loss of spiritual vitality and connection to the life that God offers.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what areas of my life do I need to rely more on the Spirit to overcome sinful desires?
  2. How can I actively put to death the deeds of the body in my daily life?
  3. What does living by the Spirit look like in practical terms for me?
  4. How can I encourage others to live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh?

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

The early church fathers referenced this verse to discuss the implications of living in the flesh versus living by the Spirit. Their insights provide a deeper understanding of Paul's teaching.

IrenaeusAgainst Heresies Book V c. 130–202
And again he says, in the Epistle to the Romans, "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die."
Early Church Fathers on Romans 8 →
IrenaeusAGAINST HERESIES 5.10.2 c. 130–202
Paul does not prevent them from living their lives in the flesh, for he was himself in the flesh when he wrote to them, but he cuts away the lusts of the flesh which bring death upon a man.
Early Church Fathers on Romans 8 →
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS c. 185–253
Putting to death the deeds of the body works like this: Love is a fruit of the Spirit, but hate is an act of the flesh. Therefore hate is put to death and extinguished by love.
Early Church Fathers on Romans 8 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Romans 8:13 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

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

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die,.... Such persons are dead, whilst they live, and shall die a second or an eternal death, if grace prevent not.

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

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Read Robert Jamieson on Romans 8 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; viz. eternally, and never partake of the glorious resurrection before spoken of. The godly themselves need this caution; they must not think, that because they are elected and justified, &c., that therefore they may do and live as they list. Through the Spirit; i.e. by the grace and assistance of the Spirit. Mortify; i.e. kill and put to death. It is not enough to forbear the actings of sin, but we must kill and crucify it. Sin may be left upon many considerations, and yet not mortified. Evil deeds are called the deeds of the body, because the body is so instrumental in the doing thereof. There are some, that by body here do understand the corrupt…

Read Matthew Poole on Romans 8 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Ver. 13. If we live after the flesh] We must not think to pass E coeno ad Caelum, from the mire to heaven, to dance with the devil all day, and sup with Christ at night, to fly to heaven with pleasant wings. Beetles love dunghills better than ointments; and swine love mud better than a garden; so do swinish people their lusts, better than the lives of their souls. At Paris ut vivat regnetque beatus, Cogi posse negat. (Horat.) That carnal cardinal said, that he would not part with his part in Paris for Paradise. But if ye mortify the deeds, &c.] Either a man must…

Read John Trapp on Romans 8 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) If ye through the Spirit . . .—If under the influence of the Spirit you reduce to a condition of deadness and atrophy all those practices to which the impulses of your material nature would prompt you.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Romans 8 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die] Though μελλετεαποθνησκειν may mean, ye shall afterwards die, and this seems to indicate a temporal death, yet not exclusively of an eternal death; for both, and especially the latter, are necessarily implied. But if ye through the Spirit] If ye seek that grace and spiritual help which the Gospel of Christ furnishes, resist, and, by resisting, mortify the deeds of the flesh, against which the law gave you no assistance, ye shall live a life of faith, love, and holy obedience here, and a life of glory hereafter.

Read AdamClarke on Romans 8 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. ye shall die] Lit. ye are about to die; on the way to die. The phrase indicates a sure effect from the given cause.through the Spirit] The Holy Spirit; see next verse, and note above on Romans 8:4.mortify] put to death; an antithesis to the “death” just mentioned as the result of sin. The verb is in the present tense, and indicates a continued process of resistance and self-denial. For the metaphor, so strong and stern, cp. Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5.the deeds of the body] the doings, almost the dealings. (“Praktiken, Machinationen;” Meyer.) On “the body,” as used here, see note on Romans 6:6. Cp. also the instructive parallel, Colossians 3:5, where “your limbs that are on the…

Read Cambridge on Romans 8 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For if you live ... - If you live to indulge your carnal propensities, you will sink to eternal death; Romans 7:23. Through the Spirit - By the aid of the Spirit; by cherishing and cultivating his influences.

Read Albert Barnes on Romans 8 →

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

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

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

NETBNew English Translation2006

(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

RVARevised Version, American1894

for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

For if ye live according to the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

For if ye liue after the flesh, ye shall die: but if yee mortifie the deedes of the body by the Spirit, ye shall liue.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

for if ye live according to flesh, ye are about to die; but if, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live:

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

for if according to the flesh ye do live, ye are about to die; and if, by the Spirit, the deeds of the body ye put to death, ye shall live;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

for if according to the flesh you live, you are about to die; and if, by the Spirit, the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

For if you live according to the flesh, you are about to die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the body's actions, you will live.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

For if you live under the control of your sinful nature, you're going to die. But if you follow the way of the Spirit, putting to death the evil things you do, then you will live.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

For if you go in the way of the flesh, death will come on you; but if by the Spirit you put to death the works of the body, you will have life.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ζῆτε,zaō you live, G2198 2 different renderings
liveASV DBY DRA KJV NWB RVA YLT
you will liveBSB FBV LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
μέλλετεmellō you are about G3195 2 different renderings
aboutDBY YLT
you are aboutLSV ULB
ἀποθνῄσκειν·apothnēskō to die; G599 3 different renderings
dieASV DBY FBV LSV RVA ULB WEB YLT
shall dieDRA GNV KJV NWB
you will dieBSB MSB NETB
πράξειςpraxis deeds G4234 3 different renderings
deedsASV BSB DBY DRA KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA WEB YLT
actionsULB
worksBBE
θανατοῦτε,thanatoō you put to death, G2289 3 different renderings
you put to deathBBE BSB LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
mortifyDRA KJV NWB RVA
put to deathASV DBY YLT
ζήσεσθε.zaō you will live. G2198 3 different renderings
liveASV DBY DRA KJV NWB RVA YLT
you will liveBSB FBV LSV MSB NETB ULB WEB
have lifeBBE

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.

clauseγὰρforclauseclauseεἰIfclauseprepositional phrase · adverbialκατὰaccording toσάρκαfleshverbζῆτεyou liveclauseverbμέλλετεyou are aboutobjectἀποθνήσκεινto dieδὲhoweverclauseεἰifclauseadverbialπνεύματιby [the] Spiritnoun phrase · objectτὰςthenoun phraseπράξειςdeedsnoun phraseτοῦof theσώματοςbodyverbθανατοῦτεyou put to deathclauseverbζήσεσθεyou will live

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

Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini : si autem spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis.

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

ܐܢ ܓܝܪ ܒܒܣܪ ܚܐܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܥܬܝܕܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܗܘ ܠܡܡܬ ܘܐܢ ܒܪܘܚ ܗܘܦܟܝ ܦܓܪܐ ܡܡܝܬܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ ܚܐܝܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ

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

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

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

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

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

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

Word by word, across the editions

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

Romans 8:13εἰIfIfεἰγάρforforγάρκατάaccording taccording toκατάσάρξfleshfleshσάρξζάωyou live,you live,ζάωμέλλωyou are aboyou are aboutμέλλωἀποθνῄσκωto die;to die;ἀποθνῄσκωεἰififεἰδέhoweverhoweverδέπνεῦμαby [the] Spby [the] Spiritπνεῦμαthetheπρᾶξιςdeedsdeedsπρᾶξιςof theof theσῶμαbodybodyσῶμαθανατόωyou put to you put to deatθανατόωζάωyou will liyou will live.ζάωεἰ δὲ μήNeg.prt. bNeg.prt. but ifεἰ δὲ μήἀπόPrep. fromPrep. from, awaἀπόπνέωv. I blowv. I blowπνέωπράσσωv. I do, fv. I do, fare, πράσσωσῴζωv. I save,v. I save, healσῴζωθάνατοςn.m. deathn.m. deathθάνατοςσαρόωv. I sweepv. I sweepσαρόωμέλειv. it is av. it is a careμέλειδυνατόςAdj powerfAdj powerful, aδυνατόςμηκέτιNeg.adv. nNeg.adv. no lonμηκέτινεκρόςAdj dead, Adj dead, a corνεκρόςὥσπερAdv just aAdv just as, asὥσπερτοιοῦτοςDem.pr. ofDem.pr. of suchτοιοῦτοςὄναρn.indcl. an.indcl. a dreaὄναρτάξιςn.f. ordern.f. order, posτάξιςἐπιθυμίαn.f. desirn.f. desire, eaἐπιθυμίαἀποκαλύπτωv. I uncovv. I uncover, bἀποκαλύπτωπάσχωv. I am acv. I am acted uπάσχω
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in Romans 8:13

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.

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
εἰei If G1487 Conditional particle
501× 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
This word means 'if' and is used to express conditions or questions. It appears in many Bible verses, such as Matthew 11:14 and Romans 8:25, introducing a condition or hypothesis.
Tyndale gloss
if
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εἰ, transliterated as ei, is a primary conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'whether.' It is used in various contexts, including conditions, indirect questions, and expressions of wishes. In the New Testament, it appears frequently, often followed by different verb tenses to indicate various conditions. The lexicons do not present significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰ,

conjunctive particle, used in conditions and in indirect questions.

Conditional, if;

c. indic., expressing a general assumption;

pres.: seq. indic, pres., Mt 11:14, Ro 8:25, al.; seq. imperat., Mk 4:23 9:22, Jo 15:18, I Co 7:9, al.; seq. fut. indic., Lk 16:31, Ro 8:11, al.; seq. pf. or aor., with negation in apodosis, Mt 12:26, Ro 4:14, al.; similarly, seq. impf., Lk 17:6, Jo 8:39; seq. quæst.,

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

εἰ 109 εἰ WH, s0 Trin Mt. xii. 41; Ὀζείας L T Tr WH; Πειλᾶτος T WH; Σεμεείν T Tr WH; Ταβειθά WH; Χερουβείν 1, T Tr WH (-βίμ RG); Χοραζείν T Tr WH; ἀφείδεια L; εἰδέα T Tr WH; ἐπαρχεία T WH; ἐπιπόθεια WH; ἡλεί T ; πανοικεί TWH; ῥαββεί T WH; ῥαββουνεί WH; σαβαχθανεί Tr WH; ταλειθά WH; τάχειον WH; τραπεζείτης T WH.| el, is first a conditional particle, ἐγ (Lat. si) ; secondly, an interrogative particle, whether, (Lat. an, num, ne). I. εἰ CoNDITIONAL (on the difference between it and ἐάν, see ἐάν, I. 1 b.) is connected, according to the variety of conditions, with various tenses and moods; viz. ἘΣ with the Indicative of all tenses, when anything is simply and generally assumed to be, or to be done, or to have been done, or to be about to be, (W. § 41 b., 2; ef. 42, 2; [Β. 220(190)]). a. withthe Ind. Present; a. foll. in the apodosis by the ind. pres.: Mt. xix. 10 (εἰ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία...…

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

ΕἸ , J ἐκπλησσω γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ ἀστέρος καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐκπίπτει. See also Michel 827 A (mid. 11,8.0.) τό τε νόμισμα τὸ ἐκπεπτωκὸς ἀριθμῶι, of coins that have fallen out of use. The verb is not infrequent with reference to crops that “fall to be included”’ in the produce of a particular year, eg. BGU II. 5915" (A.p. 56-7) βουλόμεθα μισθώσασθαι τοὺς ἐκπεπτωκότας εἰς τὸ τρίτον ἔτος Νέρωνος. . . φοινεικίνους καρπούς, P Fay ο115 (A.p. 99) ἐϊλαϊκοὺς καρποὺς ἐκπεππτωκότας (/. ἐκπεπτωκ --Ἰ εἰς τὸ ἐνεστὸ(ς) τρίτον ἔτος. Cf. P Hib I. γ810 (B.c. 244--3) a letter requesting that two persons should be released from some public service—81a τὸ μὴ ἐκπεσίεῖν αὐτοῖς τὸ viv λειτουργῆσαι, ‘because it is not at present their turn to serve,’’ where the editors point out that éxmec[et]v, which has been corrected in the papyrus, is practically equivalent to προσπέσηι in 1.4 of the same document. For the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰ (ei) — if.

εἰ,

Attic dialect-Ionic dialect and [Refs 4th c.AD+] ἤ [Refs] in Epic dialect:— Particle used interjectionally with imperative and to express a wish, but usually either in conditions, if, or in indirect questions, whether. In the former use its regular negative is μ; in the latter, οὐ.

__A INTERJECTIONALLY, in [Refs 8th c.BC+], come now! with imperative, εἰ δὲ.. ἄκουσον [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A.2 in wishes, with optative, ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις.. καλέσειεν [Refs]; so later, εἴ μοι ξυνείη μοῖρα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of unattained wishes, in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later with past tenses of indicative, εἰ γάρ μ᾽ ὑπὸ γῆν.. ἧκεν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; εἰ γὰρ τοσαύτην δύναμιν εἶχον ὥστε.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]infinitive (compare the use of infinitive in commands), αἰ γὰρ τοῖος ἐὼν.. ἐμὸς γαμβρὸς καλέεσθαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰ

ei

a primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that,

etc.:--forasmuch as, if, that, (al-)though, whether. Often used in

connection or composition with other particles, especially as in 1489,

1490, 1499, 1508, 1509, 1512, 1513, 1536, 1537. See also 1437.

see GREEK for 1489

see GREEK for 1490

see GREEK for 1499

see GREEK for 1508

see GREEK for 1509

see GREEK for 1512

see GREEK for 1513

see GREEK for 1536

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 1437

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰ

Cond.

if

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰ ei 502x

if, Mt. 4:3, 6; 12:7; Acts 27:39, freq.; since, Acts 4:9; whether, Mk. 9:23; Acts 17:11; that, in certain expressions, Acts 26:8, 23; Heb. 7:15; by a suppression of the apodosis of a sentence, εἰ serves to express a wish; O if! O that! Lk. 19:42; 22:42; also a strong negation, Mk. 8:12; Heb. 3:11; 4:3; εἰ καί, if even, though, although, Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
COND — Conditional particle
conditional particle — it marks the clause as a condition.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

COND CONDitional particle or conjunction

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%if
if74% · 388×only17% · 89×whether3% · 14×lest3% · 14×other renderings3% · 17×

522 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 501 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, speakδίδωμιI offer, giveἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fδίδωμιI offer, give
ὅτιthat, since, because
ΒηθσαϊδάPropγινώσκωI come to know, σύ
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςἐγώ
εἰIf501×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
τὶςArticle theεἰ δὲ μήNeg
μήNeg
Article theἐνεἷςone
τὶς
θέλωI will, wish, deδοκέωI think, seem, aἔχωI have, hold, po
γάρfor
Article theπιστεύωI believe, have διά
Article the
θεόςGod, a godΣατανᾶςan adversary, Saδεξιόςon the right han

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

Concordanceεἰ · 501× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew Luke John Romans 2 Corinthians Acts Mark Galatians Hebrews Revelation 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 307 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.

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
γὰρgar for G1063 Conjunction
1,038× 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
For is a word used to explain or give a reason, often introducing a justification or clarification, as seen in Matthew 4:18 and Romans 7:1. It's a conjunction that connects ideas and provides additional information.
Tyndale gloss
for
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word γάρ (gar) is a coordinating particle primarily used to introduce reasons or explanations, similar to 'for' in English. It can serve various functions, including causal, explicative, and conclusive, and is often placed after the first word in a clause. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts that clarify or justify preceding statements, aligning with its classical usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γάρ,

co-ordinating particle, contr. of γε ἄρα,

verily then, hence, in truth, indeed, yea, then, why, and when giving a reason or explanation, for, the usage in NT being in general accord with that of cl.;

explicative and epexegetic: Mt 4:18 19:12, Mk 1:16 5:42 16:4, Lk 11:30, Ro 7:1, I Co 16:5, al.

Conclusive, in questions, answers and exclamations: Mt 9:5 27:23, Lk 9:25 22:27, Jo 9:30, Ac 8:31 16:37 19:35,

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

γάρ, a conjunction, which ace. to its composition, γέ and dpa (i. 4. ἄρ), is properly a particle of affirmation and conclusion, denoting truly therefore, verily as the case stands, “ the thing is first aflirmed by the particle yé, and then is referred to what precedes by the force of the particle dpa” (Klotz ad Devar. ii. 1, p. 232; οἵ. Kiihner ii. p. 724; [Jelf § 786; W. 445 (415) sq-]). Now since by a new affirmation not infrequently the reason and nature of something previously mentioned are set forth, it comes to pass that, by the use of this particle, either the reason and cause of a foregoing statement is added, whence arises the causal or argumentative force of the particle, for (Lat. nam, enim; Germ. denn) ; or some previous declaration is explained, whence γάρ takes on an ex plicative force: YP Sor, the fact is, namely (Lat. videlicet, Germ. ndmilich). Thus the force of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γάρ (gar) — for.

γάρ

(γε, ἄρα), causal conjunction, used alone or with other Particles.

I. introducing the reason or cause of what precedes, for, τῷ γὰρ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη· κήδετο γ. Δαναῶν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; but frequently in explanation of that which is implied in the preceding clause, πολλάων πολίων κατέλυσε κάρηνα.. τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον [Refs]

I. b in simple explanations, especially after a Pronoun or demonstrative adjective, ἀλλὰ τόδ᾽ αἰνὸν ἄχος κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἱκάνει· Ἕκτωρ γ. ποτε φήσει [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὃ δὲ δεινότατον.. ὁ Ζεὺς γ... [Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently in introducing proofs or examples, μαρτύριον δέ· Δήλου γ. καθαιρομένης.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τεκμήριον δέ· οὔτε γ. Λακεδαιμόνιοι.. [Refs 4th c.BC+]; in full, τεκμήριον δὲ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γάρ

gar

a primary particle; properly, assigning a reason (used in argument,

explanation or intensification; often with other particles):--and, as,

because (that), but, even, for, indeed, no doubt, seeing, then,

therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γάρ

Cj.

for

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γάρ gar 1x

for; it is, however, frequently used with an ellipsis of the clause to which it has reference, and its force must then be variously expressed: Mt. 15:27; 27:23, et al.; it is also sometimes epexegetic, or introductory of an intimated detail of circumstances, now, then, Mt. 1:18

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γάρ for, Lat. enim, and like it, regularly placed after the first word of a sentence: to introduce the reason:

ARGUMENTATIVE, to introduce the reason for a statement, which usually precedes:—when it precedes the statement, it may be rendered since, as, Ἀτρείδη, πολλοὶ γὰρ τεθνᾶσιν Ἀχαιοί, χρὴ πόλεμον παῦσαι Il.

the statement of which γάρ gives the reason may be omitted, οὐ γάρ τί μοι Ζεὺς ἦν ὁ κηρύξας τάδε [yes], for it was not Zeus, etc., Soph.; ἔστι γὰρ οὕτω [yes], for so it is, i. e. yes certainly, Plat.; οἵδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ εἰσί: τοῦτο γάρ σε δήξεται [I say this], for it will sting thee, Eur.: —in Conditional Propositions, where the Condition is omitted, it may be transl. for otherwise, else, οὐ γὰρ ἄν με ἔπεμπον πάλιν, (sc. εἰ μὴ ἐπίστευον)…

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

for (ki (conjunction), le, from 'el (preposition), and various other words. In the New Testament also the words are various, chiefly gar, kai gar, hoti (conjunctions); anti apo eis dia (accusative), epi (dative and accusative), peri (genitive), pros (genitive and accusative), huper (genitive) (prepositions)): the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version give in many cases more literal or more accurate renderings than those in the King James Version.

In the New Testament the most important preps. from a doctrinal point of view are anti, "face to face," "over against," "instead," "on behalf of," peri, "around," "about," "concerning," huper, "over," "on behalf of." The first has been claimed as stating the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice as contrasted with huper and peri, more frequently used of it. But, although anti in the New Testament often means…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
97%for
for97% · 1050×other renderings3% · 33×

1,083 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 11 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
adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,038 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
αὐτόςἐγώσύ
οὐNeg
οὐδείςno one, none, noαὐτόςλαλέωI speak, say
εἰμίI am, exist
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeλυπέωI pain, grieve, καθεύδωI sleep, am slee
οὗτος
εἰςαὐτόςδιά
καίand, even, also, nam
εἰμίI am, existκύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐγώ
γάρfor1038×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, θεόςGod, a godArticle the
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύἐν
σύ
ὅτιthat, since, becἐνοὐNeg
αὐτός
Article theοὗτοςλέγωI say, speak
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theδιάἐν

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

Concordanceγάρ · 1,038× in the New Testament
Romans Matthew 1 Corinthians Luke Hebrews Acts 2 Corinthians John Mark Galatians 1 Thessalonians Revelation

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

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas 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 1.2c. AD 75–95

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

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.7c. AD 100

ἐγνώρισεν γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ δεσπότης διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰ παρεληλυθότα καὶ τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων δοὺς ἀπαρχὰς ἡμῖν γεύσεως, ὧν τὰ καθ̓ ἕκαστα βλέποντες ἐνεργούμενα, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν, ὀφείλομεν πλουσιώτερον καὶ ὑψηλότερον προσάγειν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ.

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

ἀποκαταστῆναι , ἔτι καὶ νῦν καλῶς ποιήσεις παρακαλῶν σαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῶν· προσπέπτωκεν γὰρ Παῶν ἀναπλεῖν ἐν τῶι Τῦβι μηνὶ μετὰ δυνάμεων ἱκανῶν πρὸς τὸ καταστεῖλαι τοὺς ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

ἀλλʼ ἀποστερέσαι … ησας ἀλλά … τας κατὰ κοινόν … ἐπίσκεψιν ποιησάσθαι. … τούτων γὰρ γενομένων ἐσόμεθα βεβοηθημένοι ὑφʼ ὑμῶν. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους θ Φαρμοῦθι κζ, ἐπιλέγματος ἀναγνωσθέντος τοῦ ὑπομνήματος

P.Bad. 2 16Pathyris89 BC

ποιήσετε συνγεινόμενοι εἰς τοῦτον τόπον ἐν ἀσφαλείαι ὑπάρχοντα συντηρηθῆναι τοῦτον τῶι κυρίωι βασιλεῖ· οὕτω γὰρ πράσσοντες καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν διατηροῦντες … ε … παρὰ τῶν ἐπάνω

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
κατὰkata according to G2596 Preposition
473× 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
According to means following or matching something. In the Bible, it's used to talk about things happening in line with God's plan or will, like in Matthew 8:32 and Mark 5:13.
Tyndale gloss
according to
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

κατά (kata) is a preposition used with the genitive and accusative cases, primarily meaning 'down' or 'against.' It indicates direction, motion, or relation, appearing in various contexts such as 'down from' (e.g., Mt 8:32) and 'against' (e.g., Mk 9:40). The word also conveys meanings like 'throughout' and 'according to.' Lexicons note its frequent use in the New Testament, with some variations in application.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

κατά (bef. a vowel κατ’, καθ’; on the freq. neglect of elision, v. Tdf., Pr., 95; WH, App., 146a),

prep. c. gen., acc.,

down, downwards.

C. gen. (WM, § 47, k; Bl., § 42, 2).

C. gen. rei, in local sense;

down, down from: Mt 8:32, Mk 5:13, Lk 8:33, I Co 11:4;

throughout (late usage; Bl., § 42, 2): κ. ὅλης κ.τ.λ., Lk 4:14 23:5, Ac 9:31 10:37;

in a peculiar adjectival phrase: ἡ κ. βάθους πτωχεία, deep or extreme poverty, II Co 8:2.

C. gen. pers., usually in hostile sense;

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

κατά, [on its neglect of elision before a vowel see Tf. Proleg. p. 95; cf. W. § 5, 1a.; B.10; WH. App. p. 1405], a preposition denoting motion or diffusion or direction from the higher to the lower; as in class. Grk., joined with the gen. and the acc. I. With the Genitive (W. § 47, k. p. 381 (357); [B. § 147, 20]); 1. prop. a. down from, down: κατὰ κατά 8 τοῦ κρημνοῦ, Mt. viii. 32; ΜΚ. v.13; Lk. viii. 33; κατέχεεν κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς (so that it flowed down from his head [οἷς W. 381 (357) note]; but it is more correct here to omit κατά with LT Tr WH; see καταχέω), Mk. xiv. 3; hence κατὰ κεφαλῆς (a veil hanging down from his head) ἔχων, 1 Co. xi. 4 ([Δ. V. having his head covered] cf. καταπέτασμα [or rather κάλυμμα (q. v.), but 566 ἔχω I. 1b.]). Ὁ. down upon (down into) anything: Acts xxvii. 14 [W. 381 (357) note!; ef. B.D. Am. ed. s. ν. Crete]; trop. 7 κατὰ βάθους πτωχεία reaching down…

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

κατά, the favourite preposition of Polybius, by whom it is often used in place of ἐν, eis, and περί (Krebs Pra. p. 4), is also found with considerable variety of application in the NT, where it occurs 73 times c. gen., and 391 times c. acc. (cf. Proleg. p. 105). Brugmann (Awrze Vergletchende Grammazk, p. 479) considers that the earliest use of the word was “‘along ” something, so as to remain in connexion and contact with the object, and from this most of the senses found in the NT can be derived. I. (1) Turning to the construction c. gen. we find that the meaning ‘‘along” has passed into ‘‘down,” a usage not found in ΜΟΥ, in such passages as P Petr II. 18(26)!° (B.c. a ἐπιπεσὼν ἔτυπτεν [ad]t[o]v κατὰ τοῦ τραχήλου, Chest. τοῦ πνοήν: ἐξ Mt 8%, r Cor 114, 2 Cor 8%. (2) This in turn becomes ‘‘ against,” as in Mt τοῦδ, Mk 14°5, e.g. P Eleph 115 (B.c. 311-0) (= Se/ections, p. 4) ὅπου ἂν…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

κατά (kata) — according to.

κατά [κᾰτᾰ],

poetry καταί accusative to [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: preposition with genitive or accusative:— downwards.

__A WITH GEN.,

__A.I denoting motion from above, down from, βῆ δὲ κατ᾽ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων, κατ᾽ Ἰδαίων ὀρέων, βαλέειν κ. πέτρης, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; καθ᾽ ἵππων ἀΐξαντε[Refs 5th c.BC+] — for κατ᾽ ἄκρης see.{ἄκρα}: Μοῖσα κ. στόματος Χέε νέκταρ [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

__A.II denoting downward motion,

__A.II.1 down upon or over, κ. Χθονὸς ὄμματα πήξας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of the dying, κατὰ.. ὀφθαλμῶν κέχυτ᾽ ἀχλύς a cloud settled upon the eyes, [Refs]; φᾶρος κὰκ κεφαλῆς εἴρυσσε down over.. , [Refs 8th c.BC+]; [κόπρος] κ. σπείους κέχυτο.. πολλή [Refs]; ὕδωρ κ. Χειρός, see at {Χεί; μύρον κ. τῆς κεφαλῆς καταχέαντες} [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

κατά

kata

a primary particle; (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in

varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or

accusative) with which it is joined):--about, according as (to),

after, against, (when they were) X alone, among, and, X apart, (even,

like) as (concerning, pertaining to touching), X aside, at, before,

beyond, by, to the charge of, (charita-)bly, concerning, + covered,

(dai-)ly, down, every, (+ far more) exceeding, X more excellent, for,

from ... to, godly, in(-asmuch, divers, every, -to, respect of), ...

by, after the manner of, + by any means, beyond (out of) measure, X

mightily, more, X natural, of (up-)on (X part), out (of every), over

against, (+ your) X own, + particularly, so, through(-oughout,

-oughout every), thus, (un-)to(-gether, -ward), X uttermost,

where(-by), with. In composition it retains many of these

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Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

κατά

Prep.

down from, against, according to, throughout, during

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

κατά kata 473x

down from, Mt. 8:32; down upon, upon, Mk. 14:3; Acts 27:14; down into; κατὰ βάθους, profound, deepest, 2 Cor. 8:2; down over, throughout a space, Lk. 4:14; 23:5; concerning, in cases of pointed allegation, 1 Cor. 15:15; against, Mt. 12:30; by, in oaths, Mt. 26:63; with an acc. of place, in the quarter of, about, near, at, Lk. 10;32; Acts 2:10; throughout, Read the full entry →

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
45%according to
according to45% · 215×against12% · 57×in9% · 42×every5% · 24×by5% · 23×on3% · 13×other renderings15% · 72×other renderings7% · 34×

480 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 48 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
adverbial86%object5%predicate5%subject3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 473 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,πᾶςall, the whole, ἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
αὐτός
ποιέωI do, makeγυνήa woman, wife, mλαλέωI speak, say
καίand, even, also, nam
ἑκατόνIndecμέγαςσύ
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,ἀλλάbut, exceptἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐγώ
μετάσυλλαμβάνωI seize, appreheγίνομαιI come into bein
κατάaccording to473×
what comes after →
Article the
νόμοςa law, the Mosaiἔργονwork, labor, actαὐτός
σάρξflesh, body
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ζάωI liveοὐNeg
ἴδιοςone’s own, private,
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,δέbut, on the othe
ἡμέραa day
ἐνεἰμίI am, existκαίand, even, also,
αὐτός
ὅπωςhow, in order thκαίand, even, also,λέγωI say, speak

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

Concordanceκατά · 473× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Luke Hebrews Matthew 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Ephesians Mark Galatians Colossians Philippians

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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
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 1.7c. AD 75–95

ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ μείζων ἦν ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ λόγου περιβολή, κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον χωρίσας ταῖς ἰδίαις ἀρχαῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ τέλει τὴν γραφὴν συνεμέτρησα·

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 2nd c. BC 6th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἐπρίατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς Πανοβχούνιος ὡς ἐτῶν μ χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δύο . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πετεαρσεμθεὺς ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐπρίατο Πακοῖβις Πατοῦτος ὡς ἐτῶν λ χαλκοῦ δραχμῶν τρισχιλίων . προπωληταὶ καὶ βεβαιωταὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Νεχούτης καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι, ὃν ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις

BGU 3 1000Pathyris99 BC

μελίχρως τετανὸς μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς δισχιλίας καὶ διακοσίας . προπωλητὴς καὶ βεβαιωτὴς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ὠνὴν ταύτην πάντων Πανοβχοῦνις ὁ ἀποδόμενος, ὃν ἐδέξατο Εὔνους ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
σάρκαsarx flesh G4561 Noun · accusative · singular · feminine
147× 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
Flesh refers to the physical body, like the meat of an animal or the human body, as seen in 1 Corinthians 15:39 and Luke 24:39.
Amplified meaning
your physical body, human nature
Tyndale gloss
flesh
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σάρξ (i.e. *sarx*) means 'flesh' and refers to the soft substance of the body, both human and animal. It encompasses physical aspects, such as the body and its desires, as well as metaphorical uses related to human nature and mortality. In the New Testament, it contrasts with the spirit and is often associated with sinful desires. Notably, the term appears in various contexts, including references to Christ's earthly life and the nature of humanity.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for בָּשָׂר ;]

flesh;

as in cl. generally,

prop., of the soft substance of the animal body: I Co 15:39, II Co 12:7, Ga 6:13, al.; σ. καὶ αἷμα, I Co 5:50; σ. καὶ ὀστέα, Lk 24:39; pl., of the flesh of many or parts of the flesh of one (cl.), Re 17:16 19:18; φαγεῖν, Re, ll. c. (cf. κατεσθίειν, IV Ki 9:36, al., and βιβρώσκειν, freq. in l.); metaph., Ja 5:3; mystically, φ. (τρώγειν) τὴν σ. τοῦ υἱοῦ τ. ἀνθρώπου, Jo 6:52-56;

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

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ, (Aeol. σύρξ ; hence it seems to be derived fr. σύρω, akin to σαίρω, ‘to draw,’ ‘to draw off,’ and to signify what can be stripped off fr. the bones [ Etym. Magn. 708, 34; “sed quis ae ” (Lob. Paralip. p: 111)]), fr. Hom. down, Hebr. Ww 1. prop. flesh (the soft substance 5 the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both men and beasts: 1 Co. xv. 39; plur.—of the flesh of many beings, Rev. xix. 18, 21; of the parts of the flesh of one, Lk. xxiv. 39 Tdf.; Rev. xvii. 16; accordingly it is distinguished both from blood, σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα (on which expression see below, 2 a.; 3 bis; 4 fin. τς W. 191), and from bones, πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει, Lk. xxiv. 39 (οὐ γὰρ ἔτι σάρκας τε καὶ ὀστέα ἶνες ἔχουσιν, Hom. Od. 11, 219). φαγεῖν Tas σάρκας τινός: prop., Rey. xvii. 16; xix. 18, (Lev. xxvi. 29; κατεσθίειν, 2 K. ix. 36, and often in Sept.; in class.…

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

σάρξ. It lies outside our purpose to discuss the theological implications underlying the use of this important word in the NT. They are due partly to tie influence of the LXX, and partly to the language-forming power of Christianity by which old terms were ‘‘ baptized” into new conditions: see the full discussion of the term in Greek and Hebrew writings until A.p. 180 in Burton, ‘‘ Spirit, Soul, and Flesh” (Chicago, 1918), and the same writer’s ‘‘ Commentary on Galatians ’’ (in ZCC) p. 492 ff., also Lightfoot Notes, p. 88. All that can be attempted here is to cite a few exx. of the word from the inscrr. It does not seem to occur in the papyri. Thus for σάρξ Ξε κρέας see OG/S γ815 (B.c. 221-205) SiSwv . .. σάρκα πεντάμναιον ἀπίὸ τῶ Blods τῶ θυομένω τῶ Δὶ τῶ Σώϊτηρ]ι, and, for the plur., Sy// 645 (= *1047)" (c. B.C. 100) παρατιθέτω]σαν δὲ καὶ é[r]l τὴν τράπεζαν τοῦ μὲν βοὸς .. . . - καὶ]…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σάρξ (sarx) — flesh.

σάρξ,

genitive σαρκός, ἡ, Aeolic dialect σύρξ [Refs]:— flesh, [Refs 8th c.BC+] always in plural, except [Refs 8th c.BC+]; sometimes to represent the whole body, μήτε γῆ δέξαιτό μου σάρκας θανόντος [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also collectively, of the body, γέροντα τὸν νοῦν, σάρκα δ᾽ ἡβῶσαν φέρει [Refs 4th c.BC+]; σαρκὸς περιβόλαια, ἐνδυτά, [Refs 5th c.BC+] uses singular and plural in much the same manner, ταῖς σαρξὶ σάρκες προσγένωνται [Refs], etc.: portions of meat, usually in plural, σάρκας τρεῖς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; but, pieces of flesh or membrane, βήσσοντα.. ὥστε σάρκας ἐνπύους.. ἀποβάλλειν [Refs]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σάρξ

sarx

probably from the base of 4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e.

(strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body

(as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is

external, or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human

nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or

(specially), a human being (as such):--carnal(-ly, + -ly minded),

flesh(-ly).

see GREEK for 4563

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ

n.f.

flesh, body

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σάρξ sarx 147x

flesh, Lk. 24:39; Jn. 3:6; the human body, 2 Cor. 7:5; flesh, human nature, human frame, Jn. 1:13, 14; 1 Pet. 4:1; 1 Jn. 4:2; kindred, Rom. 11:14; lineage, Rom. 1:3; 9:3; flesh, humanity, human beings, Mt. 24:22; Lk. 3:6; Jn. 17:2; the circumstances of the body, material condition, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σάρξ σαρκός flesh, Lat. caro, Hom., etc.: in pl. the flesh or muscles of the body, ἔγκατά τε σάρκας τε καὶ ὀστέα Hom.; so in Hes., Aesch., etc.:—so sometimes in sg., the flesh, the body, γέροντα τὸν νοῦν, σάρκα δ᾽ ἡβῶσαν φέρει Aesch.

the flesh, as opp. to the spirit, NTest.; also for man's nature generally, id. NTest.; πᾶσα σάρξ all human kind, id. NTest.

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

N-ASF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

@basar, she'er):

1. Etymology:

Used in all senses of the word, the latter, however, most frequently in the sense of kin, family, relationship (compare sha'arah, "kins-woman," Le 18:17): Le 18:6; 25:49; Pr 11:17; Jer 51:35, and probably Ps 73:26. In all other places she'er means "flesh" = body (Pr 5:11) or = food (Ps 78:20,27; Mic 3:2,3). Tibhchah, is "(slaughtered) flesh for food," "butcher's meat" (1Sa…

Flesh

In the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and particularly humanity as a whole (Gen. 6:12, 13); (4) mutability and weakness (2 Chr. 32:8; comp. Isa. 31:3; Ps. 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression “heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19). The expression “my flesh and bone” (

The substance of which the bodies of men and animals are composed. In the Bible, besides the ordinary sense, Job 33:25, it denotes mankind as a race, Ge 6:12 Ps 145:21 Isa 40:5-6; and all living creatures on the earth, Ge 6:17,19. It is often used in opposition to "spirit," as we use body and soul, Job 14:22; and sometimes means the body as animated and sensitive, Mt 26:41, and the seat of bodily appetites, Pr 5:11

Across the New Testament22 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 107 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 124c. AD 40

φησὶ δὲ καὶ Ἱπποκράτης ὁ τῆς φύσεως ἐπιγνώμων ἐν ἑβδομάδι κρατύνεσθαι καὶ τὴν πῆξιν τῆς γονῆς καὶ τὴν ἀνάπλασιν τῆς σαρκός.

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.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 5.1c. AD 100

Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὑπέμεινεν ὁ κύριος παραδοῦναι τὴν σάρκα εἰς καταφθοράν, ἵνα τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἁγνισθῶμεν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ ῥαντίσματος αὐτοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 8th c. AD
BIFAO 64 (1964), p. 68-Magdola (Arsinoites) Magdola232 BC

ὃ ἂν τύχοι μέρος τοῦ σώματός μου, καὶ δακοῦσα τὸν ἀριστερὸν ὦμόν μου, ἀποσπᾶι σάρκα, παρόντων Πάσιτος τοῦ Κρίτωνος καὶ Ἁρμάχιος καὶ Τοτοέους καὶ Πάσιτος καὶ τοῦ Ὥρου. ἀξιῶ

JJP 33 (2003), p. 165-169 no. 2Ban­ganartiAD 751–AD 800

ἀπὸ Διοκλητιανοῦ … , μηνὶ Φαῶφι κγ. ὁ θεὸς τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ πάσης σαρκός, ἀνάπαυσον τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτ

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
ζῆτε,zaō you live, G2198 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
140× 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 live means to have life, either physically or spiritually, as seen in Acts 20:12 and Romans 7:1-3. It can also refer to being alive with Christ, like in Philippians 1:21.
Amplified meaning
according to your sinful nature
Tyndale gloss
to live
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ζάω (transliterated as zao) means 'to live' and is used in various contexts, including both literal and figurative senses. It encompasses the idea of being alive, functioning in life, and can refer to both animals and plants. In the New Testament, it appears in discussions of spiritual life and vitality, often in relation to Christ and God, highlighting a deeper, metaphorical meaning of existence.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ζάω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for חיה (most freq. ptcp., ζῶν, inf., ζῆν, for חַי);]

prop., to live, be alive (v. Syn., s.v. βίος; in cl. usually of animal life, but sometimes of plants, as Arist., Eth. N, i, 7, 12): Ac 20:12, Ro 7:1-3, I Co 7:39, Re 19:20, al.; ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν, Ac 17:28; ἐμοὶ τὸ ζῆν Χριστός, Phl 1:21; διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν (M, Pr., 215, 249), He 2:15; ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, Ga 2:20; ζῇ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός, Ga 2:20; (ὁ) ζῶν, of God (אֵל חַי…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ζάω (zaō) — to live.

ζῶ

(contraction from ζώω: ζάω only in Grammars, [Refs 4th c.AD+]; imperative ζῆ [Refs 5th c.BC+] see at {ζῆ}; optative ζῴη; infinitive ζῆν: imperfect ἔζων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔζην in most codices of [Refs 4th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ἔζων [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future ζήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἔζησα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἔζηκα [Refs 4th c.BC+]aorist and perfect are mostly supplied from βιόω.- Exc. participle ζῶντος, [Refs 8th c.BC+] always uses the Epic dialect Ionic dialect Lyric poetry present ζώω (also in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; subjunctive ζώῃ [Refs 5th c.BC+], contraction ζῷ [Refs]; Cretan dialect δώω [Refs]; infinitive ζωέμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: imperfect ἔζωον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ζώεσκον [Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist 1 ἔζωσα (ἐπ-) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive ζῶσαι [Refs]: perfect participle ἐζωκότα [Refs]; infinitive ζόειν [Refs 7th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ζάω

zao

a primary verb; to live (literally or figuratively):--life(-time),

(a-)live(-ly), quick.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ζάω

v.

I live

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ζάω zaō 140x

to live, to be possessed of vitality, to exercise the functions of life, Mt. 27:63; Acts 17:28; τὸ ζῆν, life, Heb. 2:15; to have means of subsistence, 1 Cor. 9:14; to live, to pass existence in a specific manner, Lk. 2:36; 15:13; to be instinct with life and vigor; hence, ζῶν, living, an epithet of God, in a sense peculiar to Himself; ἐλπὶς ζῶσα, a living hope vigor and constancy, 1 Pet. 1:3; ὕδωρ ζῶν, living water in respect of a full and unfailing flow, Jn. 4:10, 11; to be alive with cheered and…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ζάω to live, Hom., etc.; ἐλέγχιστε ζωόντων vilest of living men, Od.; ζώειν καὶ ὁρᾶν φάος ἠελίοιο Il.; ῥεῖα ζώοντες living at ease, of the gods, id. Il.; ζῶν κατακαυθῆναι to be burnt alive, Hdt.:—also, ζῆν ἀπό τινος to live off or on a thing, Theogn., Hdt., etc.:— τὸ ζῆν ῀ ζωή, Aesch., etc.: —in a quasi-trans. sense, ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων ὧν ἔζης ( = ἃ ἐν τῶι βίωι ἔπραττες) from the other acts of your life, Dem.

metaph. to be in full life and strength, to be fresh, be strong, ἄτης θύελλαι ζῶσι Aesch.; ἀεὶ ζῆι ταῦτα [νόμιμα] Soph.; ζῶσα φλόξ living fire, Eur.

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
42%living
living42% · 60×live10% · 14×will live8% · 11×we live4% · 5×lives4% · 5×alive3% · 4×we may live3% · 4×he lives2% · 3×other renderings26% · 37×

143 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
verb73%adverbial11%predicate6%object5%second object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 140 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
ἐγώθεόςGod, a godπᾶςall, the whole,
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςνεκρόςdead, a corpseσῴζωI save, heal
θεόςGod, a god
ἐπίυἱόςa son, descendenπνεῦμαwind, breath, sp
αὐτός
οὐσίαproperty, wealthγάρforλέγωI say, speak
ἀλλάbut, except
νεκρόςdead, a corpseἀσθένειαwant of strengthαὐτός
ζάωyou live,140×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
νεκρόςdead, a corpseπιστεύωI believe, have θεάομαιI see, behold, c
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thἀνήρa male human beiπεριλείπομαιI leave behind
εἰς
Article theθάνατοςdeath
ἐν
αὐτόςσάρξflesh, bodyκόσμοςthe world, unive
διά
Article theἐγώἀνάστασιςa rising again,

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

Concordanceζάω · 140× in the New Testament
Romans John Revelation Acts Hebrews 2 Corinthians Galatians Luke 1 Peter Matthew 1 Thessalonians 1 Corinthians

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 250 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 AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 77c. AD 40

λέγουσιν οὖν οἱ τοῖς νόμοις ἐπὶ πλέον ἐμβαθύναντες καὶ τὰ κατ’ αὐτοὺς ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα μετὰ πάσης ἐξετάσεως ἀκριβοῦντες, ὅτι τῆς αὑτοῦ συγγενείας μεταδοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἀνθρώπῳ τῆς λογικῆς, ἥτις ἀρίστη δωρεῶν ἦν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐφθόνησεν, ἀλλ’ ὡς οἰκειοτάτῳ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.66c. AD 75–95

ἔτι δὲ ζῶντος Ἀδάμου Κάιος τοὺς ἐγγόνους πονηροτάτους συνέβη γενέσθαι κατὰ διαδοχὴν καὶ μίμησιν ἄλλον ἄλλου χείρονα τελευτῶντα·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.3c. AD 100

Καὶ ὃς ἐλπίσει ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Lond. 2 p. 163-165 no. 354Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites8 BC–5 BC

Κόρδῳ τῶι ἐπιστατήσαντι τῶν φυλακιτῶν … … τας φάσκοντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν μεθεστακέναι πρὸς … λο … κατὰ φυλακὴν. καταστάντες δὲ καὶ ἀπολογησάμενοι ἐφάνημεν τῶι Κόρδωι

P.Mich. 5 228Areos Kome (Arsinoites)AD 47

ὥστε παρʼ αὐτῇ ἐκτέτρωται τὸ βρέφος νεκρὸν ὥστε αὐτὴν κατακλινῆ εἶναι καὶ κινδυνεύειν τοῦ ζῆν. διὸ ἀξιῶ γράψαι τοῖς τῆς Ὠξυρύνχων πρεσβυτέροις ἐκπέμψαι τὸν ἐνκαλούμενον ἐπὶ σὲ πρὸς τὴν

P.Lond. 3 p. 131 no. 846Soknopaiu Nesos (ArsinoitesAD 140

μου τὸ ὄνομα εἰς πρεσβυτερείαν τῆς κώμης ἀπόρου μου ὄντος καὶ μισθοῦ πορίζοντος τὸ ζῆν ἀπὸ τῆς γερδιακῆς διὸ ἀξιῶ σε τὸν κύριον βοηθῆσαί μοι, ἵνα τύχω τῆς ἀπὸ

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
μέλλετεmellō you are about G3195 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
110× 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 ensue means to be about to happen or to intend to do something, like when Jesus was about to suffer in Matthew 2:13. It involves a sense of purpose or duty. The Bible uses this concept to describe events that are going to occur, like in Acts 3:3 and Hebrews 8:5.
Tyndale gloss
to ensue
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μέλλω is a verb meaning to be about to do something, indicating intention or future action. It can express necessity, probability, or mere intention, often followed by an infinitive. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts suggesting both planned actions and events that are destined to occur, such as in Matthew 2:13 and Acts 12:6. The participle form ὁ μέλλων refers to future things.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μέλλω,

[in LXX: Jb 3:8 (עָתִיד) 19:25 (אַחֲרוֹן); elsewhere for fut., and freq. in Wi, II, IV Mac;]

to be about to be or do;

c. inf. (Bl., § 62, 4; 68, 2; M, Pr., 114);

of intending or being about to do of one's own free will: c. inf. praes., Mt 2:13, Lk 10:1, Ac 3:3 5:35, He 8:5, II Pe 1:12 (Field, Notes, 240), al.; c. inf. aor. (Bl., § 58, 3), Ac 12:6, Re 3:16;

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

μέλλω ; fut. μελλήσω (Mt. xxiv. 6; and LTTrWH in 2 Pet. i. 12); impf. ἔμελλον [so all edd. in Lk. ix. 31 (exc. T WH); Jn. vi. 6, 71 (exc. RG) ; vii. 39 (exe. T); xi. 51 (exc. L Tr); Acts xxi. 27; Rev. iii. 2 (where R pres.); x. 4 (exe. L Tr)] and ἤμελλον [so all edd. in Lk. vil. 2; x. 1 (exe. RG); xix. 4; Jn. iv. 47; xii. 33; xviii. 32; Acts xii. 6 (exc. RGL); xvi. 27 (exe. RG); xxvii 33 (exe. RGT); Heb. xi. 8 (exe. L); ef. reff. s. v. βούλομαι, init. and Rutherford’s note on Babrius 7, 15], to be about to do anything; so 1. the ptep., ὁ μέλλων, absol.: τὰ μέλλοντα and τὰ ἐνεστῶτα are contrasted, Ro. viii. 38; 1 Co. iii. 22; εἰς τὸ μέλλον, for the future, hereafter, Lk. xiii. 9 [but see eis, A. II. 2 (where Grimm supplies éros)]; 1 Tim. vi. 19; τὰ μέλλοντα, things future, things to come, i. e., ace. to the context, the more perfect state of things which will exist in the αἰὼν μέλλων…

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

μέλλω. In the NT μέλλω is construed 84 times with the pres. cf. P Par 432 (B.C. 154) μέλλω δὲ ἰσάγειν ἐν τῷ μεσορὴ μηνί, 75. 4819. (B.c. 153) καταπλεῖν μέλλομεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, P Meyer 209 (1st half iii/A.D.) μέλλι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔρχεσθαι, pe σοι ἀεὶ γράφειν, Ὁ ae 11. 416° (iii/ A.D.) μέλλω péve εἰς ᾿Αντινόου, and P Oxy VIII. 11567° (iii/A.p.) μέλλο[με]ν χόρτου χρίαν ἔχιν. For the constr. with the fut. inf., which is obsolete in the NT (cf. TR Ac 233°), cf. Syi/ 432! (B.c. 326-5) ὀμόσασιν. . . [ποιήσεσθαι τὴν] ἐπιτροπὴν καθ᾽ ὅτι ἂν μέλλει ἔσ[εϊσθαι κτλ. Μέλλω followed by the aor. inf. act. is seen in such passages as P Giss I. 125 (ii/A.p.) ὁσάκις ἐὰν μέλλῃς πέμψαι, P Oxy XII. 14$82° (ii/a.p.) ἔμελλον yap ἀνελθεῖν, and 26. VII. 106727 (iii/A.D.) εἰ μέλλεις ἐλθεῖν ἐλθέ, ‘come if you are coming,” and by the aor. inf. pass. in P Goodsp Cairo 310 (iii/B.c.) ἡνίκα fiehioy κοιμηθῆναι ἔγραψα…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μέλλω (mellō) — to ensue.

μέλλω,

imperfect ἔμελλον and ἤμελλον (see. below), Epic dialect μέλλον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect, Ionic dialect μέλλεσκον [Refs 3rd c.BC+]: future μελλήσω [NT+4th c.BC+]: aorist ἐμέλλησα [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—passive and middle, see below see.—Only present and imperfect in [Refs 8th c.BC+], Lyric poetry, and Trag.: aorist only in Prose (except [Refs 6th c.BC+]imperfect ἤμελλον with long augment is established by the metre in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἠμέλλησα [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἤμελλον is not found in earlier Attic dialect Inscrr., but occurs in Papyrus, as [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I. to be destined or likely to, indicating an estimated certainty or strong probability in the present, past, or future (cf. Aristonic. cited in [Refs 8th c.BC+]present infinitive (or its…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

μέλλω

mello

a strengthened form of 3199 (through the idea of expectation); to

intend, i.e. be about to be, do, or suffer something (of persons or

things, especially events; in the sense of purpose, duty, necessity,

probability, possibility, or hesitation):--about, after that, be

(almost), (that which is, things, + which was for) to come, intend,

was to (be), mean, mind, be at the point, (be) ready, + return, shall

(begin), (which, that) should (after, afterwards, hereafter) tarry,

which was for, will, would, be yet.

see GREEK for 3199

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μέλλω

v.

I am about to

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μέλλω mellō 109x

to be about to, be on the point of, Mt. 2:13; Jn. 4:47; it serves to express in general a settled futurity, Mt. 11:14; Lk. 9:31; Jn. 11:51; to intend, Lk. 10:1; participle μέλλων, μέλλουσα, μέλλον, future as distinguished from past and present, Mt. 12:32; Lk. 13:9; to be always, as it were, about to do, to delay, linger, Acts 22:16

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μέλλω to think of doing, intend to do, to be about to do, with inf., mostly inf. fut., τάχ᾽ ἔμελλε δώσειν he was just going to give, Il.; μέλλεις ἀφαιρήσεσθαι ἄεθλον thou thinkest to strip me of the prize, id. Il.; often with οὐκ ἄρα, as, οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλες λήξειν; did you not think you might stop? could you not stop? Od., etc.; to be about to do (on compulsion), to be destined to do or to be, τὰ οὐ τελέεσθαι ἔμελλον which were not to be accomplished, Il.; μέλλεν οἶκος ἀφνειὸς ἔμμεναι the house was destined to be wealthy, Od.; εἰ ἐμέλλομεν ἀνοίσειν if we were able to refer, Plat.

to express a certainty, μέλλω ἀπέχθεσθαι Διί it must be that I am hated by Zeus, Il.; μέλλω ἀθανάτους ἀλιτέσθαι I must have sinned against the immortals…

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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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
21%being about
being about21% · 23×about20% · 22×coming12% · 13×he was about5% · 5×you are about4% · 4×soon3% · 3×other renderings26% · 29×other renderings11% · 12×

111 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 40 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
verb94%adverbial3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 110 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
εἰςαὐτόςἀπό
ὅς
αὐτόςπνεῦμαwind, breath, spἐν
τίςIrg
οἶδαI know, rememberοὗτοςνῦνnow, already, at
σύ
λέγωI say, speakτύπτωI beat, strike, ἐπί
ἐγώ
ὅςὅτιthat, since, becψυχήthe soul, life,
μέλλωyou are about110×
what comes after →
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenβασιλείαkingship, sovereπρόσωπονthe face, counte
αὐτός
συμβαίνωI happen, occurἔρχομαιI come, goπαραδίδωμιI hand over, del
γίνομαιI come into being, a
καίand, even, also,παρακαλέωI summon, entreaμετά
ἀποθνῄσκωI am dying, am about
εἰCondοὐNeg
γάρfor
ἩρῴδηςHerodArticle theἀποθνῄσκωI am dying, am a

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

Concordanceμέλλω · 110× in the New Testament
Acts Revelation John Luke Matthew Hebrews Romans 1 Timothy 2 Peter Mark 1 Corinthians 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament18 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 The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 14c. AD 40

ἔδει γὰρ τὸν κόσμον τελειότατον μὲν ὄντα τῶν γεγονότων κατ’ ἀριθμὸν τέλειον παγῆναι τὸν ἕξ, ἐν ἑαυτῷ δ’ ἔχειν μέλλοντα τὰς ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ γενέσεις πρὸς μικτὸν ἀριθμὸν τὸν πρῶτον ἀρτιοπέριττον τυπωθῆναι, περιέξοντα καὶ τὴν τοῦ σπείροντος ἄρρενος καὶ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.5c. AD 75–95

μέλλει γὰρ περιέξειν ἅπασαν τὴν παρʼ ἡμῖν ἀρχαιολογίαν καὶ διάταξιν τοῦ πολιτεύματος ἐκ τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν μεθηρμηνευμένην γραμμάτων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.7c. AD 100

ἐγνώρισεν γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ δεσπότης διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰ παρεληλυθότα καὶ τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, καὶ τῶν μελλόντων δοὺς ἀπαρχὰς ἡμῖν γεύσεως, ὧν τὰ καθ̓ ἕκαστα βλέποντες ἐνεργούμενα, καθὼς ἐλάλησεν, ὀφείλομεν πλουσιώτερον καὶ ὑψηλότερον προσάγειν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 6th c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD
P.Cair. Zen. 3 59496Krokodilopolis (Arsinoites)249 BC–242 BC

Νικαίαν ἀποδημῆσαι πρὸς σέ, ὅπως ἂν αὐτῶι δῶις ἐπιστολὴν πρὸς Ἑρμάφιλον· λέγουσιν γὰρ αὐτὸν μέλλειν ἐγδημεῖν εἰς Μέμφιν. ἔρρωσο.

ÉdP 5 (1939), p. 87-Karanis (Arsinoites)AD 297

τὴν τῆς ἡμῶν μητρὸς τελευτὴν συνελθὼν ἑτέρᾳ γυναικί, τολμηθεὶς λυπρὸν χρόνον ἔμεινεν. τούτου δὲ μέλλοντος τὸν βίον μεταλλάσσειν μετεκαλεσάμεθα τὴν προειρημένην αὐτοῦ γυναῖκα καὶ ταύτης ἐπυθόμεθα μήπως τι χρεωστῇ

ον τῆς κώμης, ὁμοίως δὲ τὸν Ἰσίδωρον ἀναδέξασθαι καὶ ἀποπληρῶσαι ἀόκνως εἰς τὴν μέλλει ὁ Πτολεμαῖος αἱρεθῆναι ἢ προσαγγελῆναι λειτουργίαν. ὁπότερον δὲ αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔξεστι ἀλλάξαι τὸν ἕτερον

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
ἀποθνῄσκειν·apothnēskō to die; G599 Verb · present · active · infinitive
112× 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 stop living, or pass away, as seen in John 6:50 and Romans 8:13. It can be a natural death or a spiritual one.
Amplified meaning
spiritually, be separated from God
Tyndale gloss
to die
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

ἀποθνῄσκω is a verb meaning 'to die,' used for both natural and violent deaths, including Christ's death. It can also refer to spiritual death and metaphorical uses, such as dying to sin. The word is built from the prefix ἀπό and the root θνῄσκω. It appears frequently in the New Testament, notably in contexts discussing mortality and spiritual separation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀπο-θνῄσκω,

[in LXX chiefly for מוּת;]

to die: of natural death, Mk 5:35, al.; of violent death (pass. of ἀποκτείνω), esp. of Christ, Mt 26:35, Jo 12:33, He 10:28, al.; of spiritual death, Jo 6:50, Ro 8:13, al.; c. dat. ref., Ro 6:2, 10 14:7, 8, Ga 2:19; acc., ὅ, Ro 6:10; seq. ἐν, Mt 8:32, Jo 8:21, 24, I Co 15:22, He 11:37, Read the full entry →

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

ἀποθνήσκω, impf. ἀπέθνησκον (Lk. viii. 42); 2 aor. ἀπέθανον ; fut. ἀποθανοῦμαι, Ro. ν. 7; Jn. viii. 21, 24, (see θνήσκω) ; found in Grk. writ. fr. Hom. down; to die (ἀπό, so as to be no more; [cf. Lat. emorior; Eng. die of f or out, pass away]; Germ. ab sterben, ver sterben) ; I. used properly 1. of the natural death of men: Mt. ix. 24; xxii. 24; Lk. xvi. 22; Jn. iv.47; Ro. vii. 2, and very often; ἀποθνήσκοντες ἄνθρωποι subject to death, mortal, Heb. vii. 8 [B. 206 (178) }. 2. of the violent death — both of animals, Mt. viii. 32, and of men, Mt. xxvi. 35; Acts xxi. 13 ete.; 1 Pet. iii. 18 L T Tr WH txt.; ev φόνῳ μαχαίρας, Heb. xi. 37; of the punishment of death, Heb. x. 28; often of the violent death which Christ suffered, as Jn. xii. 33; Ro. v. 6, ete. 3. Phrases: ἀποθνήσκ. ἔκ twos to perish by means of something, [ef. Eng. to die of], Rev. viii. 11; ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις…

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

ἀποθνήσκω. On the reason why the perfect of this verb was τέθνηκα, hot ἀποτέθνηκα, see Pro/eg. p. 114. Marcus Aurelius, it is true, uses ἀποτέθνηκα, a natural result of levelling when the simplex had become obsolete ; but the editor of P Iand 09> (ii/A.D.) is not thereby justified in restoring ἀπο]τεθνῶτ[ος. No other part of the simplex survives, and no other compound. An interesting instance of the word occurs in P Par 477® (c. B.C. 153) (= Selections, p. 22) οἱ παρὰ σὲ θεοὶ. . . ὅτι ἐνβέβληκαν ὑμᾶς εἰς ὕλην μεγάλην Kal od δυνάμεθα ἀποθανεῖν, “your gods (are false) because they have cast us into a great forest, where we may possibly die.” As a parallel to the Pauline usage in 1 Cor 15% may be noted the touching letter P Giss I. 179 (time of Hadrian), where a slave writes to her absent master, ἀποθνήσκομεν ὅτι οὐ βλέπομέν σε καθ᾽ ἡμέραν. The use of the present tense justifies one more…

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

ἀποθνήσκω (apothnēskō) — to die.

ἀποθνήσκω,

future -θᾰνοῦμαι, Ionic dialect -θανέομαι or -εῦμαι[Refs 5th c.BC+] —strengthened for θνῄσκω, die, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Comedy texts and Prose the usual form of the present; σεῦ ἀποτεθνηῶτος[Refs 8th c.BC+]; νόσῳ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; to be ready to die, of laughter, etc., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. serving as passive of ἀποκτείνω, to be put to death, slain, ὑπό τινος[Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially by judicial sentence, ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως[Refs 5th c.BC+]

III. renounce, νόμῳ[NT]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀποθνῄσκω

apothnesko

from 575 and 2348; to die off (literally or figuratively):--be dead,

death, die, lie a-dying, be slain (X with).

see GREEK for 575

see GREEK for 2348

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀποθνῄσκω

v.

I am dying, am about to die

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀποθνῄσκω apothnēskō 111x

to die, Mt. 8:32; to decay, rot, as seeds, Jn. 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:36; to wither, become dry, as a tree, Jude 12; met. to die the death of final condemnation and misery, Jn. 6:50; 8:21, 24; to die to a thing by renunciation or utter separation, Rom. 6:2; 1 Cor. 15:31; Gal. 2;19; Col. 3:3

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀποθνήσκω to die off, die, Hom., attic:— to be ready to die of laughter, Ar.

serving as Pass. of ἀποκτείνω, to be put to death, to be slain, ὑπό τινος Hdt., Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAN — Verb · present · active · infinitive
present active infinitive — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5721

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(muth, gawa`; apothnesko, teleutao): "To die," etc., is of very frequent occurrence, and in the Old Testament is generally the translation of muth, meaning perhaps originally, "to be stretched out" or "prostrate." "To die," should be the consequence of eating the forbidden fruit (Ge 2:17; compare Ge 20:7; 2Ki 1:4,6). "Die" is commonly used of natural death (Ge 5:8; 25:8). It is used also of violent death (Ge 26:9,11; Ex 21:20); punitive (Ex 19:12; 21:12,14; 28:43; Nu…

Across the New Testament16 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 273 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 Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.101c. AD 40

ἐκεῖ μὲν γάρ φησιν „ἀπὸ παντὸς φάγῃ“, ἐνταῦθα δὲ „οὐ φάγεσθε“ καὶ „ᾗ δ’ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε“, οὐχὶ φάγῃς, καὶ „ἀποθανεῖσθε“, οὐχὶ ἀποθανῇ.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.151c. AD 75–95

τούτων Ἀράνης μὲν υἱὸν καταλιπὼν Λῶτον καὶ Σάρραν καὶ Μελχὰν θυγατέρας ἐν Χαλδαίοις ἀπέθανεν ἐν πόλει Οὐρῆ λεγομένῃ τῶν Χαλδαίων, καὶ τάφος αὐτοῦ μέχρι νῦν δείκνυται.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 25.2c. AD 96

ὄρνεον γάρ ἐστιν, ὃ προσονομάζεται φοῖνιξ: τοῦτο μονογενὲς ὑπάρχον ζῇ ἔτη πεντακόσια, γενόμενόν τε ἤδη πρὸς ἀπόλυσιν τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτό, σηκὸν ἑαυτῷ ποιεῖ ἐκ λιβάνου καὶ σμύρνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρωμάτων, εἰς ὃν πληρωθέντος τοῦ χρόνου εἰσέρχεται καὶ…

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. AD 7th c. AD 8th c. AD 2nd c. BC
SB 1 5761Arsinoites ?AD 89–AD 91

λυτον … ὀνόματι τῆς ἐπιτροπῆς ἃ μὲν διηρπακέναι προφάσει περιλύσεως δανείων τῶν τοῦ ἀποθανόντος πατρὸς αὐτῆς, ἃ δὲ καὶ πεπρακέναι Ἀπίαι τῆι ἀντιδίκωι ὑποβλήτωι οὔσηι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκ

P.Oxy. 22 2342OxyrhynchosAD 102

α τρισχιλίων καὶ ἄλλαι ἐπʼ οἴνωι πεντακισχιλίαι . ἰδὼν αὐτὴν ψευδομένην ᾔτησε τὴν τοῦ ἀποθανόντος ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς Πασίωνος ἐφημερίδα ἣν πολλάκις ἐπέφερεν αὐτὸς ὄντων παντὸς λόγου γραπτῶν ἀριθμῷ

P.Giss. 1 17Apollonopolites HeptakomiasAD 113–AD 120

ἀπρόσκοπον. παρακαλῶ σε, κύριε, ἐάν σοι δόξῃ, καὶ πέμψαι ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, εἰ δὲ μή, ἀποθνήσκομεν ὅτι οὐ βλέπομέν σε καθʼ ἡμέραν. ὤφελον εἰ ἐδυνάμεθα πετᾶσθαι καὶ ἐλθεῖν καὶ προσκυνῆσαί

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
εἰei if G1487 Conditional particle
501× 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
This word means 'if' and is used to express conditions or questions. It appears in many Bible verses, such as Matthew 11:14 and Romans 8:25, introducing a condition or hypothesis.
Tyndale gloss
if
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word εἰ, transliterated as ei, is a primary conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'whether.' It is used in various contexts, including conditions, indirect questions, and expressions of wishes. In the New Testament, it appears frequently, often followed by different verb tenses to indicate various conditions. The lexicons do not present significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

εἰ,

conjunctive particle, used in conditions and in indirect questions.

Conditional, if;

c. indic., expressing a general assumption;

pres.: seq. indic, pres., Mt 11:14, Ro 8:25, al.; seq. imperat., Mk 4:23 9:22, Jo 15:18, I Co 7:9, al.; seq. fut. indic., Lk 16:31, Ro 8:11, al.; seq. pf. or aor., with negation in apodosis, Mt 12:26, Ro 4:14, al.; similarly, seq. impf., Lk 17:6, Jo 8:39; seq. quæst.,

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

εἰ 109 εἰ WH, s0 Trin Mt. xii. 41; Ὀζείας L T Tr WH; Πειλᾶτος T WH; Σεμεείν T Tr WH; Ταβειθά WH; Χερουβείν 1, T Tr WH (-βίμ RG); Χοραζείν T Tr WH; ἀφείδεια L; εἰδέα T Tr WH; ἐπαρχεία T WH; ἐπιπόθεια WH; ἡλεί T ; πανοικεί TWH; ῥαββεί T WH; ῥαββουνεί WH; σαβαχθανεί Tr WH; ταλειθά WH; τάχειον WH; τραπεζείτης T WH.| el, is first a conditional particle, ἐγ (Lat. si) ; secondly, an interrogative particle, whether, (Lat. an, num, ne). I. εἰ CoNDITIONAL (on the difference between it and ἐάν, see ἐάν, I. 1 b.) is connected, according to the variety of conditions, with various tenses and moods; viz. ἘΣ with the Indicative of all tenses, when anything is simply and generally assumed to be, or to be done, or to have been done, or to be about to be, (W. § 41 b., 2; ef. 42, 2; [Β. 220(190)]). a. withthe Ind. Present; a. foll. in the apodosis by the ind. pres.: Mt. xix. 10 (εἰ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία...…

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

ΕἸ , J ἐκπλησσω γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ ἀστέρος καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐκπίπτει. See also Michel 827 A (mid. 11,8.0.) τό τε νόμισμα τὸ ἐκπεπτωκὸς ἀριθμῶι, of coins that have fallen out of use. The verb is not infrequent with reference to crops that “fall to be included”’ in the produce of a particular year, eg. BGU II. 5915" (A.p. 56-7) βουλόμεθα μισθώσασθαι τοὺς ἐκπεπτωκότας εἰς τὸ τρίτον ἔτος Νέρωνος. . . φοινεικίνους καρπούς, P Fay ο115 (A.p. 99) ἐϊλαϊκοὺς καρποὺς ἐκπεππτωκότας (/. ἐκπεπτωκ --Ἰ εἰς τὸ ἐνεστὸ(ς) τρίτον ἔτος. Cf. P Hib I. γ810 (B.c. 244--3) a letter requesting that two persons should be released from some public service—81a τὸ μὴ ἐκπεσίεῖν αὐτοῖς τὸ viv λειτουργῆσαι, ‘because it is not at present their turn to serve,’’ where the editors point out that éxmec[et]v, which has been corrected in the papyrus, is practically equivalent to προσπέσηι in 1.4 of the same document. For the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἰ (ei) — if.

εἰ,

Attic dialect-Ionic dialect and [Refs 4th c.AD+] ἤ [Refs] in Epic dialect:— Particle used interjectionally with imperative and to express a wish, but usually either in conditions, if, or in indirect questions, whether. In the former use its regular negative is μ; in the latter, οὐ.

__A INTERJECTIONALLY, in [Refs 8th c.BC+], come now! with imperative, εἰ δὲ.. ἄκουσον [Refs 8th c.BC+]

__A.2 in wishes, with optative, ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις.. καλέσειεν [Refs]; so later, εἴ μοι ξυνείη μοῖρα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of unattained wishes, in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later with past tenses of indicative, εἰ γάρ μ᾽ ὑπὸ γῆν.. ἧκεν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; εἰ γὰρ τοσαύτην δύναμιν εἶχον ὥστε.. [Refs 8th c.BC+]infinitive (compare the use of infinitive in commands), αἰ γὰρ τοῖος ἐὼν.. ἐμὸς γαμβρὸς καλέεσθαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

εἰ

ei

a primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that,

etc.:--forasmuch as, if, that, (al-)though, whether. Often used in

connection or composition with other particles, especially as in 1489,

1490, 1499, 1508, 1509, 1512, 1513, 1536, 1537. See also 1437.

see GREEK for 1489

see GREEK for 1490

see GREEK for 1499

see GREEK for 1508

see GREEK for 1509

see GREEK for 1512

see GREEK for 1513

see GREEK for 1536

see GREEK for 1537

see GREEK for 1437

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

εἰ

Cond.

if

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

εἰ ei 502x

if, Mt. 4:3, 6; 12:7; Acts 27:39, freq.; since, Acts 4:9; whether, Mk. 9:23; Acts 17:11; that, in certain expressions, Acts 26:8, 23; Heb. 7:15; by a suppression of the apodosis of a sentence, εἰ serves to express a wish; O if! O that! Lk. 19:42; 22:42; also a strong negation, Mk. 8:12; Heb. 3:11; 4:3; εἰ καί, if even, though, although, Read the full entry →

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
COND — Conditional particle
conditional particle — it marks the clause as a condition.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

COND CONDitional particle or conjunction

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
74%if
if74% · 388×only17% · 89×whether3% · 14×lest3% · 14×other renderings3% · 17×

522 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 12 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 501 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, speakδίδωμιI offer, giveἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςἄρτοςbread, a loaf, fδίδωμιI offer, give
ὅτιthat, since, because
ΒηθσαϊδάPropγινώσκωI come to know, σύ
σύ
ἐνλέγωI say, speakἐπερωτάωI interrogate, q
λέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςἐγώ
εἰif501×
what comes after →
δέbut, on the other ha
τὶςArticle theεἰ δὲ μήNeg
μήNeg
Article theἐνεἷςone
τὶς
θέλωI will, wish, deδοκέωI think, seem, aἔχωI have, hold, po
γάρfor
Article theπιστεύωI believe, have διά
Article the
θεόςGod, a godΣατανᾶςan adversary, Saδεξιόςon the right han

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

Concordanceεἰ · 501× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew Luke John Romans 2 Corinthians Acts Mark Galatians Hebrews Revelation 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 307 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.

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
δὲde however G1161 Conjunction
2,787× 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 is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

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

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

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

post-positive conjunctive particle;

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

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

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

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

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

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

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

II. without preceding μέν,

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

II.2. copulative,

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

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

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

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

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

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

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

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

δέ is often redundant,

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

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

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

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

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

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

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

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέhowever2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

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

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

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

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
πνεύματιpneuma by [the] Spirit G4151 Noun · dative · singular · neuter
379× 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
The Greek word for spirit or breath refers to the vital principle or mental disposition of a person, as seen in John 3:8 and 1 Corinthians 5:5. It can also mean a superhuman spirit, like the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:2.
Amplified meaning
the power of God, divine breath
Tyndale gloss
spirit/breath: spirit
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πνεῦμα (i.e., *pneuma*) means 'spirit' or 'breath' and is derived from the verb πνέω (to blow). It encompasses various meanings, including air in motion, the vital principle of life, and spiritual beings such as angels and demons. In the New Testament, it frequently refers to the Holy Spirit and the human spirit, appearing in contexts that contrast it with the body or flesh.

Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — πνοή, πνεῦμα, ἄνεμος, θύελλα from a scan

From the words into comparison with which πνεῦμα is here brought, it will be evident that it is proposed to deal with it in its natural and earthly, not in its supernatural and heavenly, meaning. Only I will observe, that on the relations between πνοή and πνεῦμα in this its higher sense there is a discussion in Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xiii. 22; cf. De Anim. et huj. Orig. i. 14, 19. The first three words of this group, as they designate not things heavenly but things earthly, differ from one another exactly as, according to Seneca, do in the Latin ‘aér,’ ‘spiritus,’ ‘ ventus’ (Nat. Qu. v. 13) : ‘Spiritum a vento motus' separat; vehementior enim spiritus ventus est; invicem spiritus leviter fluens aer.’ Πνοή and πνεῦμα occur not seldom together, as at Isai. xlii. 5; lvii. 16; πνοή conveying the impression of a lighter, gentler, motion of the air than πνεῦμα, as ‘aura’ than ‘ventus.’…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πνεῦμα, -τος, τό,

(< πνέω),

[in LXX chiefly and very freq. for רוּחַ;]

of air in motion;

wind: Jo 3:8; pl., He 1:7(LXX);

breath: π. ζωῆς, Re 11:11; π. τοῦ στόματος, fig., II Th 2:8 (cf. Ps 32 (33):6).

Of the vital principle, the spirit (Arist., Polyb., al.): Lk 8:55, Jo 19:30, Ac 7:59, al.; opp. to σάρξ, Mt 26:41, Mk 14:38, I Co 5:5, al.; to σῶμα, Ro 8:10, I Co 6:17 7:34,

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

πνεῦμα, -τος, τό, (πνέω), Grk. writ. fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down; Hebr. may, Lat. spiritus; i. 6. 1. a movement of air, (gentle) blast; a. of the wind: ἀνέμων πνεύματα, Hat. 7,16, 1; Paus. 5, 25; hence the wind itself, Jn. iii. 8; plur. Heb. i. 7, (1 K. xviii. 45; xix. 11; Job i. 19; Ps. ciii. (civ.) 4, etc.; often in Grk. writ.). b. breath of the nostrils or mouth, often in Grk. writ. fr. Aeschyl. down: πνεῦμα τοῦ στόματος, 2 Th. ii. 8 (Ps. xxxii. (xxxiii.) 6, ef. Is. xi. 4); mv. ζωῆς, the breath of life, Rev. xi. 11 (Gen. vi. 17, cf. πνοὴ ζωῆς, il. 7). [πνεῦμα and πνοή seem to have been in the main coincident terms; but avon became the more poetical. Both retain a suggestion of their evident etymology. Even in class. Grk. πνεῦμα became as freq. and as wide in its application as ἄνεμος. (Schmidt ch. 55, 7; Trench § lxxiii.) ] 2. the spirit, i.e. the vital principle by which the body 18…

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

πνεῦμα. This is a notable ex. of those words, whose meaning has been so deepened and enriched through Christian influences, that we cannot expect our sources to throw much light on their use in the NT. One or two points may, however, be noted. Thus for the more literal meaning of the word we may cite P Oxy VI. 9047 (v/A.D.), where a certain Flavius petitions a praeses on the ground ὡς λοιπὸν εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς σωτηρίας πνεῦμα δυστυχῖν pe, “so that at last the very breath of my life is in danger” (Edd.). In P Leid Wii 2 (ii/iii A.D.) (= II. p. 157) reference is made to a book which περιέχει γέννησιν πνεύματος, πυρὸς Kal okdTo(=ov)s, ‘contains the creation of spirit, fire and darkness.” The same document αν. 4 shows οὐ ἀντιτάξεταί μοι πᾶν πνεῦμα, οὐ δαιμόνιον, οὐ συνάτ(--άντ)ημα. Reminiscent of LXX Numb 1622, 2716, isthe Jewish ‘‘ prayer for vengeance” from Rheneia, Sy// 816 (=#1181)*, which…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πνεῦμα (pneuma) — spirit/breath: spirit.

πνεῦμα, ατος, τό,

(πνέω) blast, wind, first in [Refs 6th c.BC+]: frequently in Trag., etc., ἀνέμων πνεύματα πάντων [Refs 4th c.BC+]; θαλάσσας.. πνεύματι λάβρῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+] is commoner in Poets; [Refs 8th c.BC+]; κατὰ πρύμναν ἵσταται τὸ π.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; κατὰ πνεῦμα στῆναι τοῦ ἄρρενος to leeward of him, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; but κατὰ π. προσιόντες down wind, [Refs]; πνεύματος ἀνείλησις, ἐκπύρωσις, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; as an element, air, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

2. metaphorically, θαλερωτέρῳ π. with more genial breeze or influence, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; αἰδοίῳ π. χώρας with air or spirit of respect on the part of the country, [Refs]; π. ταὐτὸν οὔποτ᾽.. ἐν ἀνδράσιν φίλοις βέβηκεν the…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πνεῦμα

pneuma

from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by

analogy or figuratively, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by

implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or

(superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the

Holy Spirit:--ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind. Compare 5590.

see GREEK for 4154

see GREEK for 5590

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πνεῦμα, ατος, τό

n.n.

wind, breath, spirit

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πνεῦμα pneuma 379x

wind, air in motion, Jn. 3:8; breath, 2 Thess. 2:8; the substance spirit, Jn. 3:6; a spirit, spiritual being, Jn. 4:24; Acts 23:8, 9; Heb. 1:14; a bodiless spirit, specter, Lk. 24:37; a foul spirit, δαιμόνιον, Mt. 8:16; Lk. 10:20; spirit, as a vital principle, Jn. 6:63; 1 Cor.…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πνεῦμα πνεῦμα, ατος, τό, πνέω a blowing, πνεύματα ἀνέμων Hdt., Aesch.: alone, a wind, blast, Trag., etc.

metaph., θαλερωτέρῳ πν. with more genial breeze or influence, Aesch.; λύσσης πν. μάργῳ id. Aesch.; πν. ταὐτὸν οὔποτ᾽ ἐν ἀνδράσιν φίλοις βέβηκεν the wind is constantly changing even among friends, Soph.

like Lat. spiritus or anima, breathed air, breath, Aesch.; πν. βίου the breath of life, id. Aesch.; πν. ἀθροίζειν to collect breath, Eur.; πν. ἀφιέναι, ἀνιέναι, μεθιέναι to give up the ghost, id. Eur.; πνεύματος διαρροαί the wind-pipe, id. Eur.

that is breathed forth, odour, scent, id. Eur.

spirit, Lat. afflatus, Anth.: inspiration, NTest.

the spirit of man, id. NTest.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DSN — Noun · dative · singular · neuter
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

spir'-it (ruach; pneuma; Latin, spiritus):

1. Primary and Figurative Senses

(1) As Wind, Breath

(2) As Anger or Fury

(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man

2. Shades of Meaning

(1) As Life-Principle

(2) As Surviving Death

(3) Spiritual Manifestations

3. Human and Divine Spirit

(1) The Human as Related with the Divine

(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity

4. Old Testament Applications

5. Various Interpretations

1. Primary and Figurative Senses:

(1) As Wind, Breath:

Used primarily in the Old Testament and New Testament of the wind, as in Ge 8:1; Nu 11:31; Am 4:13 ("createth the wind"); Heb 1:7 (angels, "spirits" or "winds" in margin); often used of the breath, as…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Spirit

(Heb. ruah; Gr. pneuma), properly wind or breath. In 2 Thess. 2:8 it means “breath,” and in Eccl. 8:8 the vital principle in man. It also denotes the rational, immortal soul by which man is distinguished (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 5:5; 6:20; 7:34), and the soul in its separate state (Heb. 12:23), and hence also an apparition (Job 4:15; Luke 24:37, 39), an angel (Heb. 1:14), and a demon (Luke 4:36; 10:20). This…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A word employed in various senses in Scripture.

1. For THE HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who inspired the prophets, animates good men, pours his unction into our hearts, imparts to us life and comfort; and in whose name we are baptized and blessed, as well as in that of the Father and the Son. When the adjective Holy is applied to the term Spirit, we should always understand it as here explained; but there are many places whether it must be taken in this sense, although the term Holy is omitted. See HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT.

2. BREATH, respiration; or the principle of animal life, common to men and animal: this God has given, and this he recalls when he takes away life, Ec 3:21. See SOUL.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Called “the inner man,” Ro 7:22; Eph 3:16

→ See ANGELS

→ See DEMONS

→ See HOLY SPIRIT

→ See MAN, A SPIRIT

→ See SATAN

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%spirit
spirit90% · 346×spirits8% · 31×other renderings2% · 8×

385 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
adverbial39%subject29%object21%predicate7%indirect object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 379 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,δέbut, on the otheτίςIrg
ἐν
βαπτίζωI dip, submerge,δέbut, on the otheἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
Article theγάρforσύ
αὐτός
Article theθυγάτριονa little daughteλέγωI say, speak
καίand, even, also, nam
πίνωI drink, imbibeἸσραήλPropμάστιξa scourge, lash,
πνεῦμαby [the] Spirit379×
what comes after →
Article the
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,ἀκάθαρτοςunclean, impureθεόςGod, a god
ἅγιοςset apart, holy, sac
καίand, even, also,Article theἀτενίζωI direct my gaze
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theδύναμιςmight, power, maἀλήθειαtruth
ἐγώ
ἐπίἐπιτάσσωI give order, coοὗτος
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theἅγιοςset apart, holy,καίand, even, also,

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

Concordanceπνεῦμα · 379× in the New Testament
Acts 1 Corinthians Luke Romans John Revelation Mark Matthew Galatians 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

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

Counted over the 173 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Josephus Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

εἶθ’ ὕδατος ἀσώματον οὐσίαν καὶ πνεύματος καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἑβδόμου φωτός, ὃ πάλιν ἀσώματον ἦν καὶ νοητὸν ἡλίου παράδειγμα καὶ πάντων ὅσα φωσφόρα ἄστρα κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔμελλε συνίστασθαι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.27c. AD 75–95

ταύτης δʼ ὑπʼ ὄψιν οὐκ ἐρχομένης, ἀλλὰ βαθεῖ μὲν κρυπτομένης σκότει, πνεύματος δʼ αὐτὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπιθέοντος, γενέσθαι φῶς ἐκέλευσεν ὁ θεός.

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
7th c. AD 4th c. AD 8th c. AD 5th c. AD 6th c. AD

ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου τριάδος πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος βασιλείας τοῦ θειοτάτου καὶ εὐσεβεστάτου ἡμῶν δεσπότου Φλαυίου Φωκᾶ τοῦ αἰωνίου Αὐγούστου Αὐτοκράτορος καὶ

Tyche 20 (2005), p. 1-9HerakleopolitesAD 603

r ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῆς δεσποίνης ἡμῶν τῆς θεοτόκου καὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων, βασιλείας τοῦ θειοτάτου καὶ

SB 1 4740ArsinoitesAD 602–AD 610

ἐν ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου τριάδος πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ τῆς δεσποίνης

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
τὰςho the G3588 Article · accusative · plural · feminine
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-APF — Article · accusative · plural · feminine
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-APF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

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

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

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

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

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

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

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

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

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

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

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

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
πράξειςpraxis deeds G4234 Noun · accusative · plural · feminine
6× 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
This word means an action, deed, or function, like something someone does, as seen in Matthew 16:27 and Romans 8:13. It can also refer to a person's behavior or practices, good or bad. This term is used to describe a person's actions or activities, and their consequences.
Amplified meaning
actions, works
Tyndale gloss
action
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word πρᾶξις (lemma: praxis) refers to an action, deed, or function, derived from the verb πράσσω (to do). It encompasses a range of meanings from general actions and transactions to specific contexts like wicked deeds or practices, and is used in various New Testament passages, including references to the actions of the apostles and moral conduct. The lexicons do not present significant disagreement on its meanings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

πρᾶξις, -εως, ἡ

(< πράσσω),

[in LXX: II Ch 13:22 27:7 28:26 (דֶּרֶךְ), Jb 24:5 A (פֹּעַל), Pr 13:13, Wi 9:11, al.;]

a doing, deed, act: Mt 16:27; pl., π. ἀποσπτόλων, Ac, tit.; in late writers especially of wicked deeds or practices (freq. in Polyb.): Lk 23:51; p1., Ro 8:13, Col 3:9; with ref. to magic (v. BS, 3235), Ac 19:18.

an acting, action, business, function: Ro 12:4.†

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

πράξις, -ews, ἡ, (πράσσω), fr. Hom. down; a.a doing, a mode of acting; a deed, act, transaction: univ. πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων (Grsb.; Ree. inserts ἁγίων, L Tr WH om. τῶν, Tdf. has simply πράξεις), the doings of (i.e. things done by) the apostles, in the inscription of the Acts; sing. in an ethical sense: both good and bad, Mt. xvi. 27; in a bad sense, i. 4. wicked deed, crime, Lk. xxiii. 51; plur. wicked doings (cf. our practices i. e. trickery; often so by Polyb.): Acts xix. 18; Ro. viii. 13; Col. iii. 9; (with κακή added, as Ev. Nicod. 1 ᾿Ιησοῦς ἐθεράπευσε δαιμονιζομένους ἀπὸ πράξεων κακῶν). b. a thing to be done, business, [A. V. office], (Xen. mem. 2,1, 6): Ro. xii. 4.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

πρᾶξις (praxis) — action.

πρᾶξις, εως,

Epic dialect and Ionic dialect πρῆξις, ιος, ἡ: (πράσσω):— doing, transaction, business, [πλεῖν] κατὰ πρῆξιν on a trading voyage, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; π. δ᾽ ἥδ᾽ ἰδίη, οὐ δήμιος a private, not a public affair, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἡ περί τινος π. the transaction respecting.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. result or issue of a business, especially good result, success, οὐ γάρ τις πρῆξις πέλεται.. γόοιο no good comes of weeping, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; λυμαίνεσθαί τινι τὴν π. to spoil one's market, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. φίλαν δίδοι grant a happy issue. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ταχεῖά γ᾽ ἦλθε χρησμῶν π. their issue, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

πρᾶξις

praxis

from 4238; practice, i.e. (concretely) an act; by extension, a

function:--deed, office, work.

see GREEK for 4238

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

πρᾶξις, εως, ἡ

n.f.

an action, deeds, function

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

πρᾶξις praxis 6x

operation, business, office, Rom. 12:4; πρᾶξις, and πράξεις, actions, mode of acting, ways, deeds, practice, behavior, Mt. 16:27; Lk. 23:51

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

πρᾶξις πρᾶξις, εως, πράσσω a doing, transaction, business, πλεῖν κατὰ πρῆξιν on a trading voyage, Od.; πρῆξις δ᾽ ἥδ᾽ ἰδίη, οὐ δήμιος a private, not a public affair, id. Od.

the result or issue of a business, οὐ γάρ τις πρ. πέλεται γόοιο no good comes of weeping, Il.; so, ὄυ τις πρ. ἐγίγνετο μυρομένοισιν Od.; πρ. οὐρίαν θέλων Aesch.; χρησμῶν πρ. their issue, id. Aesch.

an acting, transacting, doing, κακότητος Theogn.; πρ. πολεμική, ποιητική, πολιτική Plat.:— action, opp. to πάθος, id. Plat.; ἐν ταῖς πράξεσι in actual life, id. Plat.

action, exercise, χειρῶν, σκελῶν id. Plat.

an action, act, Soph., etc.

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

N-APF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Accusative Number: Plural Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
50%deeds
deeds50% · 3×function17% · 1×practices17% · 1×deed17% · 1×

6 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
adverbial50%object50%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 6 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
κατάκαίand, even, also,ἀναγγέλλωI announce, make
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
αὐτός
πρᾶξιςdeeds
what comes after →
αὐτός
ἀπό
Article the
σῶμαbody, flesh

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

Concordanceπρᾶξις · 6× in the New Testament
Romans Acts Colossians Luke Matthew
Across the New Testament5 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 6 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Didache
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 DidacheThe Didache 2.5c. AD 100

οὐκ ἔσται ὁ λόγος σου ψευδής, οὐ κενός, ἀλλὰ μεμεστωμένος πράξει,

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. BC 2nd c. AD 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Adl. 10Pathyris102 BC

δὲ μὴ ἀποδῶι ἐν τῶι ὡρισμένωι χρόνωι ἀποτεισάτω καθὰ γέγραπται παραχρῆμα ἐπάναγκον· ἡ δὲ πρᾶξις ἔστω Ἀγαθίνωι καὶ Πατῆτι ἐκ τοῦ δεδανεισμένου Πανᾶτος καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῶι πάντων

P.Adl. 15Pathyris (?)101 BC

τῷ ἐχομένωι μηνὶ παραχρῆμα ἡμιόλιον ἢ τὴν ἐσομένην ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾶι τιμήν, καὶ ἡ πρᾶξις ἔστω Ὥρῳ ἐκ τοῦ δεδανεισμένου καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς καὶ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν καὶ ἐξ οὗ

P.Adl. 19Pathyris99 BC

ἧς ἐὰν μὴ ἀποδῶι τὸν σίδηρον χαλκοῦ δραχμὰς σ τῆς ἡμέρας ἑκάστης· ἡ δὲ πρᾶξις ἔστω Ὥρωι ἔκ τε αὐτοῦ Γαλάτου καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ πάντων πράσσοντι καθάπερ

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
τοῦho of the G3588 Article · genitive · singular · neuter
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-GSN — Article · genitive · singular · neuter
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GSN Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

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

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

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

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

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

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

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

Lamentations 3:1.

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

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

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

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

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
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
of the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

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

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

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

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

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

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

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

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

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

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

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

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

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

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

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

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
σώματοςsōma body G4983 Noun · genitive · singular · neuter
142× 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
The word for body refers to the whole physical person, used literally or figuratively in the Bible, as seen in Matthew 27:58 and 1 Corinthians 6:13.
Amplified meaning
your physical person, human nature
Tyndale gloss
body
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word σῶμα (lemma: sōma) means 'body' and can refer to both living and dead bodies, as well as the concept of a person or material substance. In the New Testament, it is used to describe the human body, the Church as the body of Christ, and even inanimate objects. The term contrasts with πνεῦμα (spirit) and ψυχή (soul), highlighting its physical nature.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σῶμα, -τος, τό,

[in LXX for גְּוִיָּה ,בָּשָׂר, etc., and for Aram. נְבֵלָה ;]

a body.

Prop., of the human body,

as always in Hom. (opp. to δέμας), of the dead body: Mt 27:58, 59 Mk 15:43, al.;

of the living body: Lk 11:34, I Co 6:13, al.; ἐν σ. εἶναι, He 13:3; as the instrument of the soul, τὰ διὰ τοῦ σ., II Co 5:10; opp. to πνεῦμα, Ro 8:10, I Co 5:3 7:4, Ja 2:26; to ψυχή, Mt…

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

σῶμα, -τος, τό, (appar. fr. σῶς ‘entire’, [but cf. Curtius § 570; al. fr. r. ska, sko, ‘to cover’, ef. Vaniéek p. 1055; Curtius p. 696]), Sept. for “3, "3, etc.; nba3 (a corpse), also for Chald. BW2; α body; and 1. the body both of men and of animals (on the distinction between it and σάρξ see σάρξ, esp. 2 init.; (cf. Dickson, St. Paul's use of ‘ Flesh’ and ‘Spirit’, p. 247 sqq.]); a. as everywh. in Hom. (who calls the living body δέμας) and not infreq. in subseq. Grk. writ., a dead body or corpse: univ. Lk. xvii. 37; of a man, Mt. xiv. 12 RG; (Mk. xv. 45 R G];, Acts ix. 40; plur. Jn. xix. 31; τὸ σ. τινος, Mt. xxvii. 58 sq.; Mk. xv. 43; Lk. xxiii. 52,55; Jn. xix. 38, 40; xx. 12; Jude 9; οὗ the body of an animal offered in sacrifice, plur. Heb. xiii. 11 (Ex. xxix. 14; Num. xix. 3). b. as in Grk. writ. fr. Hesiod down, the living body : —of animals, Jas. iii. 3;—of man: τὸ σῶμα, absol.…

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

σῶμα, “ἐᾷ body” (1) properly of the human body (a) cf. P Cairo Zen I. 5903429 (B.c. 257) peta τῆς τοῦ σώματος ὑγιείας, and the common salutation, as in 24. 590369 (B.c. 257), εἰ τῶι τε σώματι Eppwoat καὶ τἄλλα σοι κατὰ γνώμη[ν] ἐστίν, εἴη ἂν ὡς ἡμεῖς θέλομεν. See also BGU IV. 120848 (B.c. 27-26) τὰ δὲ] ἄλλα χαριεῖ τοῦ σώμαί( τος) [ἐπι μείλόμενος) ty’ ὑγιένῃς, ὃ δὴ μέγιστον ἡγοῦμίαι, PSI VII. 8ογ33 (a.p. 280) where a prisoner petitions ἔχειν τὸ σῶμα ἐλεύθερον καὶ ἀνύβριστον, and the magic P Lond 121°89 (jji/A.D.) (=I. p. 103) διαφύλασσέ pov τὸ σῶμα τὴν ψυχὴν ὁλόκληρον. Cf. Aristeas 139 ἁγνοὶ καθεστῶτες κατὰ σῶμα καὶ κατὰ ψυχήν. The tripartite division of I Thess 559 is found in P Oxy VIII. 1161° (iv/a.p.), where the writer (a Christian) prays to our God and the gracious Saviour and His beloved Son, ὅπως οὗτοι πάντες β[ο]ηθήσωσιν ἡμῶν τῷ σώματι, τῇ ψυχῇ, τῴ... πν(εύματι). For the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σῶμα (sōma) — body.

σῶμα, ατος, τό

[Refs 4th c.AD+] dative plural σωμάτεσι [Refs 3rd c.BC+], body of man or beast, but in [Refs 8th c.BC+], always dead body, corpse (whereas the living body is δέμας), ὥς τε λέων ἐχάρη μεγάλῳ ἐπὶ σώματι κύρσας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ς. δὲ οἴκαδ᾽ ἐμὸν δόμεναι πάλιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; so also in [NT+8th c.BC+]; νεκρὸν σ. [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; μέγιστον σ... σποδου, ={σ. μέγιστον ὃ νῦν σποδός ἐστι}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. the living body, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γενναῖος τῷ σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; εὔρωστος τὸ σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὸ σ. σῴζειν or -εσθαι save one's life, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; διασῴζειν or -εσθαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]; περὶ τοῦ σ. ἀγωνίζεσθαι for one's life, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔχειν τὸ σ. κακῶς, ὡς βέλτιστα, etc., to be…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σῶμα

soma

from 4982; the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide

application, literally or figuratively:--bodily, body, slave.

see GREEK for 4982

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σῶμα, ατος, τό

n.n.

body, flesh

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σῶμα sōma 142x

the body of an animal; a living body, Mt. 5:29, 30; 6:22, 23, 25; Jas. 3:3; a person, individual, 1 Cor. 6:16; a dead body; corpse, carcass, Mt. 14:12; 27:52, 58; Heb. 13:11; the human body considered as the seat and occasion of moral imperfection, as inducing to sin through its appetites and passions, Rom. 7:24; 8:13; genr. a body, a material substance, 1 Cor. 15:37, 38, 40; the substance, reality, as opposed to ἡ σκιά, Col. 2:17; in NT…

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Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

σῶμα σῶμα, ατος, τό, deriv. uncertain the body of a man: in Hom. always the dead body, corpse, carcase, whereas the living body is δέμας.

the living body, Hes., Hdt., attic; τὸ ς. σώζειν or -εσθαι to save one's life, Dem., Thuc.; ἔχειν τὸ ς. κακῶς, ὡς βέλτιστα, to be in a bad, a good state of body, Xen.

body, as opp. to the soul (ψυχή), Plat., etc.; τὰ τοῦ ς. ἔργα bodily labours, Xen.; τὰ εἰς τὸ ς. τιμήματα bodily punishments, Aeschin.

periphr., ἀνθρώπου σῶμα ῀ ἄνθρωπος, Hdt.; esp. in Trag., σῶμα θηρός ῀ ὁ θήρ, Soph., etc.:—often of slaves, ς. αἰχμάλωτα Dem., etc

generally, a body, i. e. any material substance, Plat., etc.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-GSN — Noun · genitive · singular · neuter
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-GSN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bod'-i:

I. PHILOLOGICAL:

Generally speaking, the Old Testament language employs no fixed term for the human body as an entire organism in exact opposition to "soul" or "spirit." Various terms were employed, each of which denotes only one part or element of the physical nature, such as "trunk," "bones," "belly," "bowels," "reins," "flesh," these parts being used, by synecdoche, for the whole: etsem = "bone," or "skeleton," hence, "body," is found in Ex 24:10 the King James Version; La 4:7; nephesh = "living organism" (Le 21:11; Nu 6:6,7,11; 19:11,13,16; Hag 2:13); nebhelah = "a flabby thing," "carcass" (

→ Called HOUSE 2Co 5:1

→ HOUSE OF CLAY Job 4:19

→ THE TEMPLE OF GOD 1Co 3:16; 6:3,15,19

→ Corruptible Job 17:14; 1Co 15:53,54

→ Resurrection of 1Co 15:19-54

→ See RESURRECTION

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
90%body
body90% · 130×bodies7% · 10×body?2% · 3×other renderings1% · 1×

144 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
subject29%adverbial29%object25%predicate17%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 142 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
ἐνὅλοςall, the whole, εἰμίI am, exist
εἷςone
ἐνπολύςmuch, many, ofteπόρνηa prostitute
καίand, even, also, nam
ψυχήthe soul, life, ἐπουράνιοςheavenly, celestῥέδηa chariot
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theεἷςoneποῖοςIrg
ἴδιοςone’s own, private,
Article theσπέρμαseed, offspring
σῶμαbody142×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusΧριστόςanointed, the Meἔνδυμαa garment, raime
σύ
φωτεινόςbright, luminousσκοτεινόςfull of darknessβάλλωI cast, throw, r
οὐNeg
οἶδαI know, rememberἐξουσιάζωI exercise authoπαρά
ἐγώ
πρόςεἰςArticle the
αὐτός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐνArticle 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

Concordanceσῶμα · 142× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians Matthew Luke Romans 2 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians John Hebrews James Mark Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament18 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 50 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 The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 30c. AD 40

τοσούτῳ γὰρ τὸ νοητὸν τοῦ ὁρατοῦ λαμπρότερόν τε καὶ αὐγοειδέστερον ὅσῳπερ ἥλιος, οἶμαι, σκότους καὶ ἡμέρα νυκτὸς καὶ [τὰ κριτήρια] νοῦς, ὁ τῆς ὅλης ψυχῆς ἡγεμών, ὀφθαλμῶν σώματος.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.60c. AD 75–95

οὐκ ἐπὶ νουθεσίᾳ δὲ τὴν κόλασιν ἔλαβεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ αὐξήσει τῆς κακίας, ἡδονὴν μὲν πᾶσαν ἐκπορίζων αὐτοῦ τῷ σώματι, κἂν μεθʼ ὕβρεως τῶν συνόντων δέῃ ταύτην ἔχειν·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 6.2c. AD 96

διὰ ζῆλος διωχθεῖσαι γυναῖκες Δαναΐδες καὶ Δίρκαι, αἰκίσματα δεινὰ καὶ ἀνόσια παθοῦσαι, ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς πίστεως βέβαιον δρόμον κατήντησαν καὶ ἔλαβον γέρας γενναῖον αἱ ἀσθενεῖς τῷ σώματι.

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 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD
P. Grenf. 1 21Pathyris127 BC

τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ ὧν ὀνόματα Μυρσίνην καὶ ταύτης … τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ θηλυκὰ β αἷς ὄνομα

P.Grenf. 1 44Pathyris127 BC

τε ἄλλα καὶ ἐπίτροπον Ἑρμ … φιλον ὄντα συγγενῆ κατέστησεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων δ ὧν ὀνόματα Μυρσίνην καὶ ταύτης … · τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ θηλυκὰ β αἷς

ἐγγαίων ὄντων δ ἔν τε τῶι Περιθήβας καὶ Παθυρίτηι, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν οἰκετικῶν σωμάτων, ἐν οἷς καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Κόχλακος τῆς Ἀραβίας τοῦ δηλουμένου Παθυρίτου νομοῦ μέρους ἡμίσους

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
θανατοῦτε,thanatoō you put to death, G2289 Verb · present · active · indicative · second person · plural
11× 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
This word means to kill or put to death. It's used in many places, like Matthew 10:21 and Romans 8:13, to describe causing someone's death or ending their life. It can also mean to mortify or put to death sinful desires.
Amplified meaning
mortify, kill
Tyndale gloss
to kill
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θανατόω is a verb meaning 'to put to death' and can refer to both literal and metaphorical death, such as mortifying the flesh. It appears in several New Testament passages, including Matthew 10:21 and Romans 8:36. The word is derived from the root for death and encompasses various forms, including passive constructions that imply being subjected to death or danger.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θανατόω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for מוּת hi., ho., also for הרג, etc.;]

to put to death: c. acc., Mt 10:21 26:59 27:1, Mk 13:12 14:55, Lk 21:16, II Co 6:9, I Pe 3:18; pass., Ro 8:36. Metaph.: Ro 8:13; pass., c. dat, (in relation to), Ro 7:4.†

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

θανατόω, -; fut. θανατώσω ; 1 aor. inf. θανατῶσαι. [3 pers. plur. subjunc. θανατώσωσι, Mt. xxvi. 59 RG]; Pass., [pres. θανατοῦμαι); 1 aor. ἐθανατώθην ; (fr. θάναtos); fr. Aeschyl. and Hdt. down; Sept. for 127, 177, ete. 1. prop. to put to death: τινά, Mt. x. 21; xxvi. 59; xxvii. 1; Mk. xiii. 12; xiv. 55; Lk. xxi. 16; 2 Co. vi. 9; 1 Pet. iii. 18; pass., by rhetorical hyperbole, to be in the state of one who is being put to death, Ro. vill. 36. 2. metaph. a. to make to die i. e. destroy, render extinct (something vigorous), Wulg. mortifico [A. V. mortify|: τί, Ro. viii. 13. b. Pass. with dat. of the thing, by death to be liberated from the bond of anything [lit. to be made dead in relation to; cf. W. 210 (197); B. 178 (155)]: Ro. vii. 4.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θανατόω (thanatoō) — to kill.

θᾰνᾰτ-όω,

future -ώσω[Refs 4th c.BC+], etc.: perfect τεθανάτωκα [Refs 1st c.BC+]:—passive, future -ωθήσομαι[LXX]: future middle in passivesense θανατώσοιτο [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἐθανατώθην [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect τεθανάτωμαι [Refs 2nd c.BC+]:—put to death, τινα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially of the public executioner, [Refs 5th c.BC+] Phld.[same place]:— passive, to be made dead, [NT]; ὁ -ωθείς the murdered man, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. passive, of flesh, to be mortified, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—metaphorically in active, mortify, τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος [NT]

II. condemn to death by sentence of law, [NT+5th c.BC+]:— passive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἱ τεθανατωμένοι those condemned to death, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

θανατόω

thanatoo

from 2288 to kill (literally or figuratively):--become dead, (cause to

be) put to death, kill, mortify.

see GREEK for 2288

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θανατόω

v.

I put to death, subdue

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θανατόω thanatoō 11x

to put to death, deliver to death, Mt. 10:21; 26:59; Mk. 13:12; pass. to be exposed to imminent danger of death, Rom. 8:36; in NT met. to subdue, Rom. 8:13; pass. to be dead to, to be rid, parted from, as if by the intervention of death, Rom. 7:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θανατόω θα^να^τόω, φυτ. -ώσω fut. mid. in pass. sense θανατώσοιτο Xen. to put to death, τινά Hdt., attic

metaph. to mortify the flesh, NTest.

to put to death by sentence of law, Plat.:—Pass., Xen.

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

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(maweth; thanatos):

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND FIGURATIVE VIEW

The word "Death" is used in the sense of

(1) the process of dying (Ge 21:16);

(2) the period of decease (Ge 27:7);

(3) as a possible synonym for poison (2Ki 4:40);

(4) as descriptive of person in danger of perishing (Jud 15:18; "in deaths oft" 2Co 11:23). In this sense the shadow of death is a familiar expression in Job, the Psalms and the Prophets;

(5) death is personified in 1Co 15:55 and Re 20:14. Deliverance from this catastrophe is called the "issues from…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Death

May be simply defined as the termination of life. It is represented under a variety of aspects in Scripture: (1.) “The dust shall return to the earth as it was” (Eccl. 12:7).

(2.) “Thou takest away their breath, they die” (Ps. 104:29).

(3.) It is the dissolution of “our earthly house of this tabernacle” (2 Cor. 5:1); the “putting off this tabernacle” (2 Pet. 1:13, 14).

(4.) Being “unclothed” (2 Cor. 5:3, 4).

(5.) “Falling on sleep” (Ps. 76:5; Jer. 51:39;

Is taken in Scripture, first, for the separation of body and soul, the first death, Ge 25:11; secondly, for alienation from God, and exposure to his wrath, 1Jo 3:14, etc.; thirdly, for the second death, that of eternal damnation. Death was the penalty affixed to Adam’s transgression, Ge 2:17 3:19; and all his posterity are transgressors, and share the curse inflicted upon him. CHRIST is "our life." All believers share his life, spiritually and eternally; and though sin and bodily is taken away, and in the resurrection the last enemy shall be trampled under foot, Ro 5:12-21 1Co 15:1-58.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Miscellaneous Subjects

Called GIVING UP THE GHOST Ge 25:8; 35:29; La 1:19; Ac 5:10

KING OF TERRORS Job 18:14

A CHANGE Job 14:14

GOING TO THY FATHERS Ge 15:15; 25:8; 35:29

PUTTING OFF THIS TABERNACLE 2Pe 1:14

REQUIRING THE SOUL Lu 12:20

GOING THE WAY WHENCE THERE IS NO RETURN Job 16:22

BEING GATHERED TO OUR PEOPLE Ge 49:33

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
18%put to death
put to death18% · 2×will put to death18% · 2×you put to death9% · 1×we face death9% · 1×being killed9% · 1×having been put to death9% · 1×they may put to death9% · 1×they might put to death9% · 1×other renderings9% · 1×

11 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 11 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
γονεύςa parentφίλος
σύ
καίand, even, also,ἕνεκα
αὐτός
ὅπωςhow, in order th
ὥστεso that, therefore
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article the
εἰς
θανατόωyou put to death,11×
what comes after →
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,
ἐκ
σύ
Article the
νόμοςa law, the Mosai
ζάωI live
ὅλοςall, the whole, enti
Article the

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

Concordanceθανατόω · 11× in the New Testament
Matthew Romans Mark 1 Peter 2 Corinthians Luke
Across the New Testament6 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 47 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
The Shepherd of Hermas
The Shepherd of HermasThe Shepherd of Hermas 26.20.4c. AD 140

ἐὰν οὖν μετανοήσωσι καὶ ἀγαθόν τι ποιήσωσι, ζήσονται τῷ θεῷ: ἐὰν δὲ ἐπιμείνωσι ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτῶν, παραδοθήσονται ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἐκείναις, αἵτινες αὐτοὺς θανατώσουσιν.

If for according to flesh you live, you are about to die; if however by [the] Spirit the deeds of the body you put to death, you will live.
ζήσεσθε.zaō you will live. G2198 Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · second person · plural
140× 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 live means to have life, either physically or spiritually, as seen in Acts 20:12 and Romans 7:1-3. It can also refer to being alive with Christ, like in Philippians 1:21.
Amplified meaning
eternally, have life
Tyndale gloss
to live
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ζάω (transliterated as zao) means 'to live' and is used in various contexts, including both literal and figurative senses. It encompasses the idea of being alive, functioning in life, and can refer to both animals and plants. In the New Testament, it appears in discussions of spiritual life and vitality, often in relation to Christ and God, highlighting a deeper, metaphorical meaning of existence.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ζάω, -ῶ,

[in LXX chiefly for חיה (most freq. ptcp., ζῶν, inf., ζῆν, for חַי);]

prop., to live, be alive (v. Syn., s.v. βίος; in cl. usually of animal life, but sometimes of plants, as Arist., Eth. N, i, 7, 12): Ac 20:12, Ro 7:1-3, I Co 7:39, Re 19:20, al.; ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν, Ac 17:28; ἐμοὶ τὸ ζῆν Χριστός, Phl 1:21; διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν (M, Pr., 215, 249), He 2:15; ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, Ga 2:20; ζῇ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός, Ga 2:20; (ὁ) ζῶν, of God (אֵל חַי…

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

ζάω (zaō) — to live.

ζῶ

(contraction from ζώω: ζάω only in Grammars, [Refs 4th c.AD+]; imperative ζῆ [Refs 5th c.BC+] see at {ζῆ}; optative ζῴη; infinitive ζῆν: imperfect ἔζων [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔζην in most codices of [Refs 4th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural ἔζων [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future ζήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἔζησα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἔζηκα [Refs 4th c.BC+]aorist and perfect are mostly supplied from βιόω.- Exc. participle ζῶντος, [Refs 8th c.BC+] always uses the Epic dialect Ionic dialect Lyric poetry present ζώω (also in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; subjunctive ζώῃ [Refs 5th c.BC+], contraction ζῷ [Refs]; Cretan dialect δώω [Refs]; infinitive ζωέμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: imperfect ἔζωον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ζώεσκον [Refs 8th c.BC+]aorist 1 ἔζωσα (ἐπ-) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive ζῶσαι [Refs]: perfect participle ἐζωκότα [Refs]; infinitive ζόειν [Refs 7th c.BC+]…

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

ζάω

zao

a primary verb; to live (literally or figuratively):--life(-time),

(a-)live(-ly), quick.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ζάω

v.

I live

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ζάω zaō 140x

to live, to be possessed of vitality, to exercise the functions of life, Mt. 27:63; Acts 17:28; τὸ ζῆν, life, Heb. 2:15; to have means of subsistence, 1 Cor. 9:14; to live, to pass existence in a specific manner, Lk. 2:36; 15:13; to be instinct with life and vigor; hence, ζῶν, living, an epithet of God, in a sense peculiar to Himself; ἐλπὶς ζῶσα, a living hope vigor and constancy, 1 Pet. 1:3; ὕδωρ ζῶν, living water in respect of a full and unfailing flow, Jn. 4:10, 11; to be alive with cheered and…

Read the full entry →
Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ζάω to live, Hom., etc.; ἐλέγχιστε ζωόντων vilest of living men, Od.; ζώειν καὶ ὁρᾶν φάος ἠελίοιο Il.; ῥεῖα ζώοντες living at ease, of the gods, id. Il.; ζῶν κατακαυθῆναι to be burnt alive, Hdt.:—also, ζῆν ἀπό τινος to live off or on a thing, Theogn., Hdt., etc.:— τὸ ζῆν ῀ ζωή, Aesch., etc.: —in a quasi-trans. sense, ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων ὧν ἔζης ( = ἃ ἐν τῶι βίωι ἔπραττες) from the other acts of your life, Dem.

metaph. to be in full life and strength, to be fresh, be strong, ἄτης θύελλαι ζῶσι Aesch.; ἀεὶ ζῆι ταῦτα [νόμιμα] Soph.; ζῶσα φλόξ living fire, Eur.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-FDI-2P — Verb · future · middle deponent · indicative · second person · plural
future middle deponent indicative — an action still to come.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-FDI-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Future Voice: middle Deponent Mood: Indicative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
42%living
living42% · 60×live10% · 14×will live8% · 11×we live4% · 5×lives4% · 5×alive3% · 4×we may live3% · 4×he lives2% · 3×other renderings26% · 37×

143 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
verb73%adverbial11%predicate6%object5%second object3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 140 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
ἐγώθεόςGod, a godπᾶςall, the whole,
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςνεκρόςdead, a corpseσῴζωI save, heal
θεόςGod, a god
ἐπίυἱόςa son, descendenπνεῦμαwind, breath, sp
αὐτός
οὐσίαproperty, wealthγάρforλέγωI say, speak
ἀλλάbut, except
νεκρόςdead, a corpseἀσθένειαwant of strengthαὐτός
ζάωyou will live.140×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
νεκρόςdead, a corpseπιστεύωI believe, have θεάομαιI see, behold, c
Article the
ἄνθρωποςa man, one of thἀνήρa male human beiπεριλείπομαιI leave behind
εἰς
Article theθάνατοςdeath
ἐν
αὐτόςσάρξflesh, bodyκόσμοςthe world, unive
διά
Article theἐγώἀνάστασιςa rising again,

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

Concordanceζάω · 140× in the New Testament
Romans John Revelation Acts Hebrews 2 Corinthians Galatians Luke 1 Peter Matthew 1 Thessalonians 1 Corinthians

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 250 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 AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 77c. AD 40

λέγουσιν οὖν οἱ τοῖς νόμοις ἐπὶ πλέον ἐμβαθύναντες καὶ τὰ κατ’ αὐτοὺς ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα μετὰ πάσης ἐξετάσεως ἀκριβοῦντες, ὅτι τῆς αὑτοῦ συγγενείας μεταδοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἀνθρώπῳ τῆς λογικῆς, ἥτις ἀρίστη δωρεῶν ἦν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐφθόνησεν, ἀλλ’ ὡς οἰκειοτάτῳ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.66c. AD 75–95

ἔτι δὲ ζῶντος Ἀδάμου Κάιος τοὺς ἐγγόνους πονηροτάτους συνέβη γενέσθαι κατὰ διαδοχὴν καὶ μίμησιν ἄλλον ἄλλου χείρονα τελευτῶντα·

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 6.3c. AD 100

Καὶ ὃς ἐλπίσει ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Lond. 2 p. 163-165 no. 354Soknopaiu Nesos (Arsinoites8 BC–5 BC

Κόρδῳ τῶι ἐπιστατήσαντι τῶν φυλακιτῶν … … τας φάσκοντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν μεθεστακέναι πρὸς … λο … κατὰ φυλακὴν. καταστάντες δὲ καὶ ἀπολογησάμενοι ἐφάνημεν τῶι Κόρδωι

P.Mich. 5 228Areos Kome (Arsinoites)AD 47

ὥστε παρʼ αὐτῇ ἐκτέτρωται τὸ βρέφος νεκρὸν ὥστε αὐτὴν κατακλινῆ εἶναι καὶ κινδυνεύειν τοῦ ζῆν. διὸ ἀξιῶ γράψαι τοῖς τῆς Ὠξυρύνχων πρεσβυτέροις ἐκπέμψαι τὸν ἐνκαλούμενον ἐπὶ σὲ πρὸς τὴν

P.Lond. 3 p. 131 no. 846Soknopaiu Nesos (ArsinoitesAD 140

μου τὸ ὄνομα εἰς πρεσβυτερείαν τῆς κώμης ἀπόρου μου ὄντος καὶ μισθοῦ πορίζοντος τὸ ζῆν ἀπὸ τῆς γερδιακῆς διὸ ἀξιῶ σε τὸν κύριον βοηθῆσαί μοι, ἵνα τύχω τῆς ἀπὸ

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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