Greek word · G1564

ἐκεῖθεν

ekeithen

from there

"From there, from that place." An adverb of place. Matthew uses it often (around a dozen times) to close a scene and move the narrative on (e.g., 4:21; 9:9, 27; 11:1; 12:9; 15:21, 29).

Appears 27 times in 27 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐκεῖθεν

adv., [in LXX chiefly for שָׁם ;]

1. of place, thence: Matthew 4:21, Mark 6:1, al.

2. Of time, thereafter (see: κἀκεῖθεν).

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 19:15

Range of meaning

"From there, from that place." An adverb of place. Matthew uses it often (around a dozen times) to close a scene and move the narrative on (e.g., 4:21; 9:9, 27; 11:1; 12:9; 15:21, 29).

Against the English

KJV "thence" is archaic but exact.

Used elsewhere in the period

Standard Koine usage. Matthew uses it far more than Mark or Luke, which makes it part of his storytelling style.

Where it appears

Matthew · 12
  1. Matthew 4:21 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,

    Here: From the spot where Simon and Andrew were casting their net. The two calls happen close together on the same stretch of the Sea of Galilee.

  2. Matthew 5:26 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

    Here: Points back to the 'prison' (φυλακή) at the end of v. 25. You won't come out of that place.

  3. Matthew 9:9 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.

    Here: From the house in Capernaum where he had just forgiven and healed the paralysed man. The call of a despised man follows straight on from the claim to forgive sins.

  4. Matthew 9:27 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

    Here: From the house of the official whose daughter Jesus had just raised. The news of that miracle was already spreading (9:26).

  5. Matthew 11:1 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

    Here: From the place where he gave the mission speech. The place is not named.

  6. Matthew 12:9 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue,

    Here: 'From there', meaning the grainfields of 12:1. It points back to the previous scene and does not name a new town.

  7. Matthew 12:15 ἐκεῖθεν, from there,

    Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,

    Here: From the place of the confrontation, the synagogue where he had healed the withered hand on the Sabbath (12:9–14).

  8. Matthew 13:53 ἐκεῖθεν· from there;

    When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place.

  9. Matthew 14:13 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    When Jesus heard about John, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. But the crowds found out about it and followed Him on foot from the towns.

    Here: Not specified. Matthew last placed Jesus in his home town (13:54–58), but the boat suggests he is now on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

  10. Matthew 15:21 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

    Here: "From there": the place of the last scene. In Matthew's story that is the Gennesaret area on the Sea of Galilee (14:34), where Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem had challenged him (15:1).

  11. Matthew 15:29 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down.

    Here: 'From there' points back to the district of Tyre and Sidon, where Jesus had just healed the Canaanite woman's daughter.

  12. Matthew 19:15 ἐκεῖθεν.¶ from there.

    And after He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.

    Here: "From that place." Matthew often uses this word to close one scene and move to the next. Here it closes the episode with the children and leads into the meeting with the rich man (v. 16).

Mark · 5
  1. Mark 6:1 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples.

  2. Mark 6:10 ἐκεῖθεν. from there.

    And He told them, “When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that area.

  3. Mark 6:11 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”

    Here: The same word that ends verse 10 ('until you leave from there'). It ties the two outcomes, welcome and refusal, together.

  4. Mark 7:24 Ἐκεῖθεν From there

    Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice.

    Here: Points back to the last location Mark named, Gennesaret on the Sea of Galilee (6:53), where the purity dispute of 7:1–23 took place. It marks a clear break: Jesus leaves the scene of that argument behind.

  5. Mark 10:1 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Then Jesus left that place and went into the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan. Again the crowds came to Him and He taught them, as was His custom.

Luke · 3
  1. Luke 9:4 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that area.

  2. Luke 12:59 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

  3. Luke 16:26 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

John · 2
  1. John 4:43 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    After two days, Jesus left for Galilee.

    Here: From Sychar in Samaria, the town whose people had just said Jesus was 'truly the Savior of the world' (4:42).

  2. John 11:54 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples.

    Here: From the area of Bethany and Jerusalem, where Lazarus had just been raised (11:17–44).

Acts · 4
  1. Acts 13:4 ἐκεῖθέν From there

    So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

  2. Acts 18:7 ἐκεῖθεν from there

    So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.

  3. Acts 20:13 ἐκεῖθεν there

    We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot.

  4. Acts 27:12 ἐκεῖθεν, from there,

    Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on, hoping that somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest.

Revelation · 1
  1. Revelation 22:2 ἐκεῖθεν, from there,

    down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

    Here: "...and from there": the other bank. It reworks Ezekiel 47:12, where trees grow on both banks of the temple river.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.