Greek word · G4187

πολυτρόπως

polytropōs

in many ways

'In many ways or manners', 'in varied fashion'. The adjective πολύτροπος means 'of many turns, versatile, manifold'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

πολυτρόπως

adv. (πολύτροπος, 1. much turning. 2. manifold ), [in LXX: 4Ma.3:21 A * ;]

in many ways or manners: Hebrews 1:1 (Philo).†

(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 Hebrews 1:1

Range of meaning

'In many ways or manners', 'in varied fashion'. The adjective πολύτροπος means 'of many turns, versatile, manifold'.

Against the English

KJV 'in divers manners' is accurate, though 'divers' is archaic for 'various'. Modern versions ('in many/various ways') are accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

The adjective is famous from the first line of Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus is the man 'of many turns' (πολύτροπον). Educated Greek writers used the adjective and adverb for variety of form or method, and Philo and other Hellenistic writers use the word family.

Where it appears

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 1:1 πολυτρόπως in many ways

    On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

    Here: From 'many' + 'turn, manner'. It describes the many forms the speaking took: dreams, visions, a voice from the fire, laws, songs, sign-acts, angelic messengers. Paired with polymerōs, it stresses how varied the earlier revelation was.

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