StrongerBible

echō

ἔχω

GreekG2192have, hold

Appears 716 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 3:4Mat 3:9Mat 3:14Mat 5:23Mat 5:46Mat 6:1Mat 6:8Mat 7:29Mat 8:9Mat 8:20 (2×)Mat 9:6Mat 9:12 (2×)Mat 11:15Mat 11:18Mat 12:10Mat 13:5 (2×)Mat 13:6Mat 13:9Mat 13:12 (3×)Mat 13:21Mat 13:27Mat 13:43Mat 13:44Mat 13:46Mat 14:4Mat 14:16Mat 14:17Mat 15:30Mat 15:32Mat 15:34Mat 16:8Mat 18:8Mat 18:9Mat 18:25Mat 19:22Mat 21:3Mat 21:26Mat 21:28Mat 22:12Mat 22:24Mat 22:25Mat 25:25Mat 26:11 (2×)Mat 26:65Mat 27:65Mrk 1:22Mrk 2:17 (2×)Mrk 2:19Mrk 3:1Mrk 3:15
Word studyEKH-ohverb

What echō means

to have: to hold something as one's own, on oneself, or within one's situation, whether a possession, a relationship, an inner reality, or a state one is in.

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is one of the most common words in the New Testament, and almost all of its uses come back to a single idea: to have. What is had can be a thing you own, a person you are bound to, something carried on your body, or something as inward as life, faith, or sin. The English word "have" stretches the same way, which is why this verb so often disappears into a plain translation.

The senses below are not different words; they are the natural reach of one idea. You can have a field, have a wife, have a sword on your hip, have authority, have a fever, or have nothing to pay with, and in Greek it is the same verb each time. What changes is what is being had and how. Two patterns drift furthest from "own": when the verb is followed by a description it can mean to hold or count someone as something (to have John as a prophet), and when it is followed by a word for how a person is doing it slides into simply being in that state (the sick are literally those who "have badly").

In John's Gospel and letters the word carries real weight. To "have" eternal life, to "have" the Son, to "have" fellowship is not loose talk: it states present, settled possession of the thing that matters most. The flat everyday verb becomes a way of saying that the gift is already held, not merely hoped for.

Nuances

1ato own or possess, to have property, money, or goods at one's disposal.
Mat 13:12 (3×)Mat 13:44Mat 19:22Mat 25:29Mrk 10:22Luk 12:19Luk 15:4Luk 15:8Act 2:44Act 2:45Act 4:351Jn 3:17
1bto have someone or something as a relationship or as part of one's situation: a relative, a spouse, a master, an illness, a demon, or sin.
Mat 3:9Mrk 3:30Mrk 5:15Mrk 12:6Luk 3:8Luk 4:33Luk 15:11Jhn 4:17 (2×)Jhn 4:18Jhn 5:7Jhn 7:20Jhn 8:41
1cto have an inner reality or endowment: life, faith, hope, peace, authority, or fellowship.
Jhn 3:15Jhn 3:16Jhn 3:36Jhn 5:24Jhn 5:26Jhn 6:40Jhn 16:33Rom 5:11Jn 1:61Jn 1:71Jn 5:121Jn 5:13
1dto have something on oneself: to wear, carry, or bear a thing such as clothing, a weapon, a seal, or a written name.
Mat 3:4Mrk 11:13Jhn 18:10Rev 1:16Rev 5:8Rev 6:9Rev 7:2Rev 8:6Rev 9:17
1eto hold or regard someone as something, to count or consider a person to be a certain way.
Mat 14:5Mat 21:26Mat 21:46Luk 14:18Luk 14:19Phm 1:17
1fto be in a condition, when the verb is followed by a word for how a person is doing; the sick are those who "have badly," and the dying are "at the last."
Mat 1:18Mat 1:23Mat 4:24Mat 8:16Mat 9:12 (2×)Mat 14:35Mrk 1:32Mrk 1:34Mrk 2:17 (2×)Mrk 5:23Luk 5:31 (2×)Act 28:9
1gto be able or to be in a position to do something, when the verb is followed by what one has to do or has the means to do.
Mat 18:25Luk 7:42Luk 14:14Jhn 8:6Act 25:26Heb 8:32Pe 1:15
1hto hold to or keep something firmly: a confession, a teaching, a clear conscience.
Act 24:16Rom 1:281Ti 1:191Ti 3:92Ti 1:13Heb 4:14

Uncategorized

Awaiting AI sense categorization.

12 verses
Mat 3:14Mat 5:23Mat 5:46Mat 6:1Mat 6:8Mat 7:29Mat 8:9Mat 8:20 (2×)Mat 9:36Mat 11:15Mat 12:10Mat 12:11

What scholars say about echō

The standard lexicons (BDAG, LSJ) treat ἔχω as a single very broad verb meaning "to have, hold, possess," and lay out its range by what is had and by construction rather than as separate words. BDAG distinguishes the transitive uses (to possess; to have on oneself or wear; to have as a relationship or attendant circumstance such as a wife, an illness, or sin; to have an inner or abstract reality such as life, faith, or authority; to hold or regard someone as something) from two well-known constructions: ἔχω with an adverb used intransitively for being in a condition (κακῶς ἔχειν, to be ill; ἐσχάτως ἔχειν, to be at the point of death), and ἔχω with an infinitive meaning to be able or to be obliged. The idiom ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχειν, "to have in the womb," is the regular Greek expression for being pregnant. In the Johannine writings the verb gains theological weight: "to have" eternal life, the Son, or fellowship asserts present, realized possession, a point developed in the Johannine commentaries and dictionaries (TDNT, EDNT).

Sources

  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich), s.v. ἔχωlexicon
  • LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones), s.v. ἔχωlexicon
  • Hans Hübner, "ἔχω," in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT) 2:124-125dictionary
  • F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (1961)monograph

All attested forms of ἔχω

present active indicative 3s

ἔχει

Mat 5:23, Mat 8:20, Mat 9:6, Mat 11:18, Mat 13:12, Mat 13:12, Mat 13:12, Mat 13:21

present active participle nominative m s

ἔχων

Mat 7:29, Mat 8:9, Mat 11:15, Mat 12:10, Mat 13:9, Mat 13:43, Mat 19:22, Mat 22:12

present active indicative 2p

ἔχετε, ἔχετέ

Mat 5:46, Mat 6:1, Mat 6:8, Mat 15:34, Mat 16:8, Mat 26:11, Mat 26:11, Mat 27:65

present active participle nominative m p

ἔχοντες, Ἔχοντες

Mat 9:12, Mat 15:30, Mrk 2:17, Mrk 8:18, Mrk 8:18, Mrk 10:23, Luk 5:31, Luk 18:24

present active indicative 1s

ἔχω, Ἔχω

Mat 3:14, Luk 7:40, Luk 11:6, Luk 12:17, Luk 12:50, Luk 14:18, Luk 16:28, Jhn 4:17

present active indicative 1p

ἔχομεν, Ἔχομεν

Mat 3:9, Mat 14:17, Mat 26:65, Mrk 14:63, Luk 3:8, Luk 22:71, Jhn 8:41, Jhn 13:29

present active indicative 3p

ἔχουσιν, ἔχουσι

Mat 8:20, Mat 9:12, Mat 14:16, Mat 15:32, Mat 21:26, Mrk 2:17, Mrk 2:19, Mrk 4:17

present active infinitive

ἔχειν

Mat 13:5, Mat 13:6, Mat 14:4, Mrk 3:15, Mrk 4:5, Mrk 4:6, Mrk 6:18, Luk 8:6

present active indicative 2s

ἔχεις

Mat 25:25, Mrk 10:21, Luk 12:19, Luk 18:22, Jhn 4:11, Jhn 4:11, Jhn 4:18, Jhn 6:68

imperfect active indicative 3s

εἶχεν, Εἶχεν, εἶχέν

Mat 3:4, Mat 13:5, Mat 13:46, Mat 21:28, Mrk 4:5, Mrk 5:3, Mrk 7:25, Mrk 12:6

present active participle accusative m s

ἔχοντα, ἔχοντά

Mat 18:8, Mat 18:9, Mrk 9:17, Mrk 9:43, Mrk 9:45, Mrk 9:47, Luk 12:5, Luk 24:39

imperfect active indicative 3p

εἶχον, εἴχοσαν

Mat 14:5, Mat 21:46, Mat 27:16, Mrk 3:10, Mrk 8:7, Mrk 8:14, Mrk 11:32, Luk 4:40

present active participle accusative m p

ἔχοντας

Mat 4:24, Mat 8:16, Mat 14:35, Mrk 1:32, Mrk 1:34, Mrk 6:55, Luk 9:11, Act 11:3

present active participle nominative f s

ἔχουσα

Mat 1:18, Mat 26:7, Mrk 14:3, Luk 13:11, Luk 15:8, Jhn 5:2, Rom 9:10, 1Ti 4:8

present active subjunctive 2p

ἔχητε

Mat 17:20, Mat 21:21, Jhn 5:40, Jhn 13:35, Jhn 16:33, Jhn 20:31, 1Co 4:15, 1Co 6:4

present active subjunctive 3s

ἔχῃ

Luk 8:18, Luk 8:18, Jhn 3:15, Jhn 3:16, Jhn 6:40, 2Co 8:12, Eph 4:28, Col 3:13

present active participle dative m s

ἔχοντι

Mat 25:28, Mat 25:29, Mrk 3:3, Luk 3:11, Luk 6:8, Luk 19:24, Luk 19:26, Eph 4:28

present active participle genitive m p

ἐχόντων

Mrk 8:1, Luk 7:42, Luk 12:4, Act 8:7, Heb 5:14, Rev 12:17, Rev 17:1, Rev 19:10

future active indicative 3s

ἕξει

Mat 1:23, Mat 12:11, Luk 11:5, Jhn 8:12, Gal 6:4, 2Ti 2:17

present active participle accusative f s

ἔχουσαν

Mrk 11:13, Act 16:16, Act 23:25, Eph 5:27, Heb 11:10, Rev 21:11

present active participle nominative n p

ἔχοντα

Mat 9:36, Mrk 6:34, Rom 2:14, Col 2:23, 1Ti 5:25, Rev 8:9

present active subjunctive 1s

ἔχω

1Co 13:1, 1Co 13:2, 1Co 13:2, 1Co 13:2, 1Co 13:3

present active subjunctive 3p

ἔχωσιν

Jhn 8:6, Jhn 10:10, Jhn 10:10, Jhn 17:13, 1Ti 5:20

second-aorist active indicative 3s

ἔσχεν

Mrk 2:25, Mrk 14:8, Jhn 4:52, Gal 4:22, 2Pe 2:16

second-aorist active subjunctive 1s

σχῶ

Mat 19:16, Act 25:26, Rom 1:13, 2Co 2:3, Php 2:27

future active indicative 2s

ἕξεις

Mat 19:21, Mrk 10:21, Luk 18:22, Rom 13:3

present active imperative 2p

ἔχετε

Mrk 9:50, Mrk 11:22, Php 2:29, Jas 2:1

present active imperative 2s

ἔχε

Luk 14:18, Luk 14:19, Rom 14:22, 2Ti 1:13

present active participle genitive m s

ἔχοντος

Mat 18:25, Mat 25:29, Luk 19:26, Rev 16:9

present active subjunctive 1p

ἔχωμεν

Rom 15:4, Heb 6:18, Heb 12:28, 1Jn 4:17

second-aorist active indicative 3p

ἔσχον

Mat 22:28, Mrk 12:23, Luk 20:33, Rev 4:4

imperfect active indicative 1s

εἶχον

Luk 19:20, Jhn 17:5, 3Jn 1:13

imperfect active indicative 2p

εἴχετε

Jhn 9:41, Rom 6:21, 1Jn 2:7

present active imperative 3s

ἐχέτω

1Co 7:2, 1Co 7:2, Jas 1:4

present active participle dative f p

ἐχούσαις

Mat 24:19, Mrk 13:17, Luk 21:23

present active participle nominative f p

ἔχουσαι

1Ti 5:12, Rev 9:19, Rev 14:1

present middle participle dative f s

ἐχομένῃ

Luk 13:33, Act 20:15, Act 21:26

future active indicative 3p

ἕξουσιν

Mrk 16:18, 1Co 7:28

imperfect active indicative 1p

εἴχομεν

Heb 12:9, 2Jn 1:5

perfect active indicative 1p

ἐσχήκαμεν

Rom 5:2, 2Co 1:9

19 further parsings are listed under Syntax.