Keraia
Lexicon

ἐπί

epiupon/to/againstHow to read Greek
greekNew TestamentPreposition890 occurrences26 books781 verses

Definition

ἐπί (before a smooth breathing ἐπ᾽, before a rough breathing ἐφ᾽),

prep. with genitive, dative, accusative (accusative most frequently in NT),

with primary sense of superposition, on, upon.

I. C. genitive,

1. of place, answering the question, where?

(a) of the place on which, on, upon: ἐπὶ (τ.) γῆς, Matthew 6:10, 19, al.; τ. κεφαλῆς, 1 Corinthians 11:10; τ. νεφελῶν, Matthew 24:3o, al.; like ἐν, in constr. praegn. after verbs of motion: βάλλειν, Mark 4:26; σπείρειν, ib. 31; ἔρχεσθαι, Hebrews 6:7, al.; figuratively, ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας (MM, see word ἀ.); of the subject of thought or speech, Galatians 3:16; of power or authority, over, πάντων, Rom.9.5: τ. γάζης, Acts 8:27; ἐξουσία, Revelation 2:26; 20:6;

(b) of vicinity, at, by: τ. θαλάσσης, John 6:9; τ. ὁδοῦ, Matthew 21:19; τοῦ βάτου, Mark 12:26 (see Swete, in l.); with genitive of person(s), in the presence of, before, Matthew 28:14, Acts 23:30, 1 Corinthians 6:1, al.

2. Of time,

(a) with genitive of person(s), in the time of: ἐπὶ Ἐλισαίου, Luke 4:27; ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου, Acts 11:28; ἐπὶ Ἀβιάθαρ ἀρχιερέως, when A. was high priest, Mark 2:26;

(b) with genitive of thing(s), at, at the time of: Matthew 1:11, Hebrews 1:2, 2 Peter 3:3; ἐπὶ τ. προσευχῶν, Romans 1:10, Ephesians 1:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:2, Phm 4.

II. C. dative, of place, answering the question, where?

(a) lit., on, upon: Matthew 9:16; 14:8, al.; after verbs of motion (see supr., I, 1, (a)), Matthew 9:16, Acts 8:16; above, Luke 23:38; at, by, Mark 13:29, John 5:2, Acts 5:9, al.;

(b) metaphorically, upon, on the ground of, Luke 4:4 (LXX); in the matter of, Mark 6:52 (see Swete, in l.); upon, of, concerning, Acts 5:35, 40; of the ground, reason or motive (Bl., §38, 2; 43, 3), Matthew 18:3; 19:9, Romans 12:12, al.; ἐφ᾽ ᾧ, for the reason that, because, Romans 5:12, 2 Corinthians 5:4; after verbs of motion, over, Matthew 18:13, Romans 16:19, al.; of a condition (cl.), Romans 8:20, 1 Corinthians 9:10; ἐπὶ δυσὶ μάρτυσιν (see Westc. on Hebrews 9:10), Hebrews 10:28; of purpose or aim, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 4:10; of authority, over, Matthew 24:47, Luke 12:44; of hostility, with dative of person(s) (cl.), against, Luke 12:52; in addition to (cl.), 2 Corinthians 7:13; of an adjunct, in, at, on, Philippians 1:3; 2:17.

III. C. accusative,

1. of place of motion upon or over, answering the question, whither?

(a) lit., upon, over: Matthew 14:28, 29, Luke 5:19, al. mult.; in NT also, answering the question, where? (as with genitive, dative), Mark 4:38; 11:2, Luke 2:25, John 1:32; ἐπὶ τ. αὐτό, Acts 1:15; 2:1, al.; of motion to a vicinity, to, Mark 16:2, Acts 8:36, al.;

(b) metaphorically (in wh. "the accusative is more widely prevalent than it strictly should be," Bl., §43, 1); of blessings, evils, etc., coming upon one, with accusative of person(s), Matthew 10:13; 12:28, Acts 2:17, John 18:4, Ephesians 5:6, al.; of addition (dative in cl.), λύπη ἐπὶ λύπην, Philippians 2:27; ἐπικαλεῖν ὄνομα ἐπί (see: ἐπικαλέω), Acts 15:17, James 2:7; καλεῖν ἐπί, to call after, Luke 1:59; of number or degree: ἐπὶ τρίς (cl. εἰς τ.), thrice, Acts 10:16; 11:10; ἐπὶ πλεῖον, the more, further, Acts 4:17, 2 Timothy 2:16; 3:9 (see also infr., 2, (a)); ἐφ᾽ ὅσον (see infr., ib.), forasmuch as, Matthew 25:40, 45, Romans 11:13; of power, authority, control, Luke 1:33, Acts 7:10, Romans 5:14, Hebrews 3:6, al.; of the direction of thoughts and feelings, unto, towards, Luke 1:17; 23:28, Acts 9:35, 42, Romans 11:22, Galatians 4:9, Ephesians 2:7, 1 Timothy 5:5, al.; of purpose, for, Matthew 3:7, Luke 23:48; ἐφ᾽ ὅ πάρει (Rec. ἐφ᾽ ᾧ, Matthew 26:50; of hostility, against, Matthew 24:7, Mark 3:24-26; 10:11; 13:8, Luke 9:5, John 13:18, Acts 7:54, 1 Corinthians 7:36, 2 Corinthians 1:23; Of reference, concerning, for (cl. usually dative), Mark 9:12; 15:24, John 19:24, Romans 4:9.

2. Of time,

(a) during, for: Luke 4:25 (WH, txt., omits ἐπί), Acts 13:31; 16:18, Hebrews 11:30, al.; ἐφ᾽ ὅσον (χρόνον), as long as, for so long time as, Mark 9:15, Romans 7:1, al. (for ἐφ᾽ ὅ in another sense, see supr., 1, (b)); ἐφ᾽ ἱκανόν (see: ἱ), Acts 20:11; ἐπὶ πλεῖον (see supr., 1, (b)), yet longer, further, Acts 20:9; 24:4;

(b) on, about, towards (cl. εἰς): Luke 10:35, Acts 3:1; 4:5.

IV. In composition, ἐπί signifies: up, ἐπαίρω; upon, ἐπίγειος, ἐπιδημέω, ὠπικαθίζω; towards, επιβλέπω, ὠπεκτείνω; over (of superintendence), ἐπιστάτης; again, in addition, ἐπαιτέω; against, ἐπιορκέω, ἐπιβουλή.

Hebrew words it translates

The Hebrew words that the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament renders as ἐπί:

Usage patterns

Old TestamentNew Testament

Occurrences

890 total
  1. Matthew 14:29ἐπὶ · on
    “Come,” said Jesus. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.
  2. Matthew 14:34ἐπὶ
    When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.
  3. Matthew 15:32ἐπὶ · for
    Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”
  4. Matthew 15:35ἐπὶ · on
    And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
  5. Matthew 16:18ἐπὶ · on
    And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
  6. Matthew 16:19ἐπὶ · on; ἐπὶ · on
    I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
  7. Matthew 17:6ἐπὶ · facedown
    When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.
  8. Matthew 18:5ἐπὶ · in
    And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.
  9. Matthew 18:12ἐπὶ · on
    What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?
  10. Matthew 18:13ἐπ’ · over; ἐπὶ · over
    And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
  11. Matthew 18:16Ἐπὶ · by
    But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
  12. Matthew 18:18ἐπὶ · on; ἐπὶ · on
    Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
  13. Matthew 18:19ἐπὶ · on
    Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
  14. Matthew 18:26ἐπ’ · with
    Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
  15. Matthew 18:29ἐπ’ · with
    So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’
  16. Matthew 19:9ἐπὶ · for
    Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
  17. Matthew 19:28ἐπὶ · on; ἐπὶ · on
    Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
  18. Matthew 21:5ἐπὶ · on; ἐπὶ · on
    “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
  19. Matthew 21:7ἐπ’ · on
    They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
  20. Matthew 21:19ἐπὶ · by; ἐπ’ · to
    Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.
  21. Matthew 21:44ἐπὶ · on; ἐφ’ · on whom
    He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
  22. Matthew 22:5ἐπὶ · to
    But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business.
  23. Matthew 22:9ἐπὶ · to
    Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
  24. Matthew 22:33ἐπὶ · at
    When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
  25. Matthew 22:34ἐπὶ · together
    And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together.
  26. Matthew 23:2Ἐπὶ · in
    “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
  27. Matthew 23:4ἐπὶ · on
    They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
  28. Matthew 23:9ἐπὶ · on
    And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
  29. Matthew 23:35ἐφ’ · upon; ἐπὶ · on
    And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
  30. Matthew 23:36ἐπὶ · upon
    Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
  31. Matthew 24:2ἐπὶ · on
    “Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
  32. Matthew 24:3ἐπὶ · on
    While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
  33. Matthew 24:5ἐπὶ · in
    For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
  34. Matthew 24:7ἐπὶ · against; ἐπὶ · against
    Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
  35. Matthew 24:17ἐπὶ · on
    Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
  36. Matthew 24:30ἐπὶ · on
    At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
  37. Matthew 24:33ἐπὶ · right at
    So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door.
  38. Matthew 24:45ἐπὶ · of
    Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?
  39. Matthew 24:47ἐπὶ · of
    Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
  40. Matthew 25:21ἐπὶ · with; ἐπὶ · of
    His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’