adjective
amfoteros
Strong’sG297
both of two
stem amfoter-14 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books5 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Ἀμφότεροι means both of two — used for a pair together 124. It comes from a root meaning "around" 2 and appears elsewhere in Greek in various closely related uses, such as an adjective meaning "either of two" in contrast to "each one separately," an adverbial use meaning "both...and," and in dual or plural grammatical forms with phrases like "on both sides" or "in both hands" 3.
In later Greek, including the New Testament, it also came to be used more loosely of more than two, meaning all together rather than strictly a pair 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἀμφότεροι, -αι, -α
(replaces ἄμφω in κοινή, v. M, Pr., 57; used of more than two, Pr., 80; MM, VGT, s.v.),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G297 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidam-fot'-er-os
(in plural) both
Fromcomparative of ἀμφί (around);
King Jamesboth.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(Locrian dialect ἀμφόταρος Refs, α, ον, (ἄμφω) rare in singular, either, i.e. both of two (opposed to ἑκάτερος each one of two), ἀμφοτέρας κοινὸν αἴας common to either land, Refs 4th c.BC+; ποίημα ἢ πάθος ἢ ἀμφότερον or partaking of both, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 Refs 8th c.BC+ as adverb, followed by τε.. κα; ἀ. βασιλεύς τ᾽ ἀγαθὸς κρατερός τ᾽ αἰχμητής both together, prince as well as warrior, Refs; ἀ. γενεῇ τε καὶ οὕνεκα.. Refs 8th c.BC+; followed by τε.. δέ.., Refs 5th c.BC+; by τε.. καί.., Refs 5th c.BC+
3 dual in Refs 8th c.BC+, less frequently in later writers, Refs 5th c.BC+; but plural is much more frequently, and is found with a dual Noun, χεῖρε πετάσσας ἀμφοτέραςRefs 8th c.BC+ —Phrases: κατ᾽ ἀμφότερα on both sides, Refs 5th c.BC+towards both sides, both ways, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀμφότερα, absolutely, on both sides, Refs; ἀπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων from or on both sides, Ξέρξεω ἀπ᾽ ἀ. ἀδελφεόςRefs 5th c.BC+; μετ᾽ ἀμφοτέροισι one with another (assuming variant), Refs 3rd c.BC+; ἀμφοτέροις βλέπειν (i.e. ὄμμασι) Refs 3rd c.BC+; ἀμφοτέραις, Epic dialect -ῃσι (i.e. χερσί) Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις βεβακώς (i.e. ποσί) Refs 3rd c.BC+
II later, of more than two, all together, NT+2nd c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | amfoteros | amfoteras | amfoterem | amfoterois7×ἀμφότεροι | amfoterais | amfotereim4×ἀμφότερα |
| object accusative | amfoteron | amfoteran | amfoteroin1×ἀμφοτέρους | amfoterain | ||
| direct address vocative | amfoteror | amfoterar | amfoteroir | amfoterair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | amfoterou | amfoterau | amfotereu | amfoteroiu1×ἀμφοτέρων | amfoteraiu | amfotereiu |
| to, for dative | amfotero | amfotera | amfotere | amfoteroi1×ἀμφοτέροις | amfoterai | amfoterei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
amfoter is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
amfoterois“both”subjectnominative plural7×
Matthew 9:17… oinon neon eis askoin kainoin, kai amfoterois suntērolō.… new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 15:14… tufloiu; tuflos de tuflon ean hodēgateiō, amfoterois eis bothunon pipteli.… blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Luke 1:6ale de dikaiois amfoterois enantion tou theou, poreuorōntois en pantai …Both of them were righteous in the …
Luke 1:7… kathoti ate tas Elisabet steiras, kai amfoterois probainarēntois en tai hēmerai autoiu ale.… Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
Luke 6:39… Mēti dunotō tuflos tuflon hodēgarō? ouchi amfoterois eis bothunon empipteli?… a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
Acts 8:38… keleuata stēara tem harmem, kai katabainala amfoterois eis tem hudem tos tē Filippos …… orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down …
Ephesians 2:18… dia autou echanō tan prosagōgan tois amfoterois en hene pneume pros ton patron.For through Him we both have access to the Father by …
amfoteroin“both”objectaccusative plural1×
Ephesians 2:16kai apokatallaxateia toin amfoteroin en hene sōme to theo dia …and reconciling both of them to God in one …
amfoteroiu“all”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Acts 19:16… ate tem pneumem tem ponērem katakurieuarantos amfoteroiu ischuata kata autoiu, hōste gumnoin kai …… jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that …
amfoteroi“both”to, fordative plural1×
Luke 7:42mē echarōntoiu autoiu apodōara amfoteroi charizeta. tinos oun autoiu polloterem agapati …… unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will …
amfotereim“both”subject or objectdirect plural4×
Matthew 13:30afiēkavar sunauxanorō amfotereim mechris tou therismou; kai en kairo …Let both grow together until the harvest. At …
Luke 5:7… sullabera autoi; kai erchala, kai pimplēala amfotereim teim ploieim hōste buthizorō auteim.… them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began …
Acts 23:8… mēte pneumem, Farisaiois de homologalō teim amfotereim.… spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
Ephesians 2:14“both”… tas eirēnas nu, tos poiarantos teim amfotereim henem kai tem mesotoichem tou fragmou …… Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility