Greek word · G427

ἄνευ

aneu

without

It means "without" or "apart from", or "without the involvement, knowledge or consent of". It is a preposition that takes the genitive case. It shows that something is absent or left out, without saying exactly how.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἄνευ

prep. with genitive (rarer than χωρίς, which see; cf. Ellic. on Ephesians 2:12; MM, VGT, 42),

without: Matthew 10:29, 1 Peter 3:1 4:9.†

(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 10:29

Range of meaning

It means "without" or "apart from", or "without the involvement, knowledge or consent of". It is a preposition that takes the genitive case. It shows that something is absent or left out, without saying exactly how.

Against the English

The KJV, YLT, ESV and NASB keep the open phrase "without / apart from your Father". BSB and WEB add "the will of" (BSB prints it in italics as supplied wording). NIV 2011 adds "care" ("outside your Father's care"), and NLT adds "knowing it". Each of these picks one meaning of an open phrase. "Will" points to God's decree or permission, "care" to his concern, and "knowing" to his awareness. The Greek only says the Father is not absent.

How it drifted

Translators supply a noun because "apart from your Father" sounds unfinished in English. That is understandable, but the word they choose steers the reader toward a particular theology of providence (how God governs events). Some early Latin witnesses already read "without the will of your Father", so the interpretation is ancient. It is still not the Greek wording of Matthew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Amos 3:5 in the Greek Old Testament uses ἄνευ for the fowler without whom the bird does not fall. In Matthew the Father takes the fowler's place. Elsewhere in the New Testament aneu occurs in 1 Pet 3:1 and 4:9.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 10:29 ἄνευ apart from

    Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

    Here: "Without" in the sense of "leaving out" or "without the involvement of". The Greek does not say what kind of involvement (will, knowledge, permission or presence). It only says the Father is not absent from the event.

1 Peter · 2

  1. 1 Peter 3:1 ἄνευ without

    Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives

    Here: 'Without'. The husbands are won apart from something, namely words.

  2. 1 Peter 4:9 ἄνευ without

    Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

    Here: Names what has to be missing from the hospitality: the muttering that so easily goes with it.

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