πατρίς

From the study of Mark 6:4

Range of meaning

From patēr, "father": the land or town of one's fathers. It can mean a native country (a whole homeland) or a native city or village. Context decides.

Against the English

KJV/WEB "his own country" is technically possible, but modern readers hear "nation." BSB/ESV/NASB "hometown" and NIV "town" match Mark's setting. In 6:1 Jesus "came into his patris," meaning Nazareth (1:9), and the hearers are fellow villagers who know his mother and siblings by name.

How it drifted

In older English "country" could mean a local district or one's native area ("the country round about"). It has narrowed to "nation-state."

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Greek literature, Philo and Josephus for one's native place. Hebrews 11:14 uses it for the "homeland" the patriarchs sought. Luke 4:23–24 and John 4:44 use it in their versions of the same saying; in John it is debated whether Judea or Galilee is meant. The early Greek fragment of the Gospel of Thomas (Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1, saying 31) reads: "No prophet is acceptable in his patris."

From the study of Matthew 13:54

Range of meaning

From πατήρ, “father.” It means one’s ancestral land or native city: the place your father’s house belongs to and where your identity is fixed. In Greek writers it can mean a whole country (“fatherland”) or a single home city. In the Gospels it means the home town.

Against the English

KJV and WEB “his own country” and YLT “his own country” sound like a nation to modern ears. BSB, ESV and NIV “hometown” is accurate but loses the sense of ancestral and family belonging.

How it drifted

In the 1600s “country” could mean a local district or region (“the north country”). Modern English has narrowed it to a nation-state.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical and Hellenistic Greek for one’s native city. Philo and Josephus use it for homeland. The parallels are Mark 6:1 (εἰς τὴν πατρίδα αὐτοῦ) and Luke 4:23–24. The proverb in Matt 13:57 (“a prophet is not without honour except in his πατρίς”) depends on this word.

From the study of Matthew 13:57

Range of meaning

Fatherland or native country (a city's or nation's homeland). It can also mean a native town or ancestral village. It comes from patēr, "father," and so carries ancestry and kinship.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT "own country"; BSB/ESV/NASB "hometown"; NIV "own town." Here "Country" is misleading in modern English, which hears a nation. In context (v. 54) the word means his home village.

How it drifted

"Country" in older English could mean a local district or region ("the country round about"). Modern readers hear "nation," which suggests Israel as a whole.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical and Hellenistic Greek, as well as in Philo and Josephus, for one's homeland. In the NT it is used of Jesus' hometown in Matt 13:54, 57; Mark 6:1, 4; Luke 4:23–24; John 4:44, and of the heavenly homeland in Heb 11:14.