preposition
emprosthen
Strong’sG1715
in front, before the face
stem emprosthen-48 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 booksnever changes form
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
In front of, before — describing position in space, and by extension being in someone's presence, sight, or before a judge 1234. As a plain adverb it means in front, before, sometimes contrasted with behind 13. Used as a preposition, it can indicate a literal location in front of something or someone 13; being in someone's presence, including the sense of standing before someone to be judged or to acknowledge or deny something openly 1; being in someone's sight or view 1; and, in a few places, a person's standing or rank relative to another 1.
LSJ also records an older use for time, meaning before, formerly, with οἱ ἔμπροσθεν referring to earlier generations, and a use of degree, meaning preferred before something else — but neither of these is the sense found in the Bible 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
ἔμ-προσθεν
adv.[in LXX chiefly for עֳנִי;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1715 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
sometimes also ἔμπροσθε Refs 8th c.BC+.
I adverb,
I.1 of Place, before, in front, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ and τὰ ἔ. the front, the foreside, Refs 5th c.BC+; εἰς τὸ ἔ. forwards, Refs; στὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἔ. in front, opposite, Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2 of Time, before, of old, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ ἔ. Refs; οἱ ἔ. our ancestors, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II as preposition with genitive, before, in front of,
II.1 of Place, ἐ. αὐτῆς (i.e. τῆς νηός) Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 of Time, ἔ. ταύτης (i.e. τῆς γνώμης) Refs; ἔ. εἶναι τῶν πραγμάτων to be beforehand with events, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.3 of Degree, ἔ. τοῦ δικαίου preferred before justice, Refs
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.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
48 occurrences, every one of them listed
emprosthen48×
Matthew 5:16houtōs lampatar tem fōtem vu emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu, hopōs horaleia vu teim …… same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your …
Matthew 5:24afiēkasar ekei tem dōrem su emprosthen teu thusiastērieu kai hupagasōr prōtem diallaxisar …leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be …
Matthew 6:1… de tan dikaiosunan vu mē poiarō emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu pros tem theasira autoi; …… not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them …
Matthew 6:2Hotan oun poiaseiō eleēmosunan, mē salpizaseia emprosthen su, hōsper tois hupokritois poialō en …… needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in …
Matthew 7:6… kunoi, mēde balaveia toin margaritoin vu emprosthen toiu choiroiu, mēpote katapatali autoin en …… holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may …
Matthew 10:32Pantos oun hotinos homologati en mi emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu, homologami kamis en auto …Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him …
Matthew 10:32… toiu anthrōpoiu, homologami kamis en auto emprosthen tou patrou mu tou en ouranoi;… men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:33hotinos de an arneteia min emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu, arnemi kamis auton emprosthen …But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him …
Matthew 10:33… emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu, arnemi kamis auton emprosthen tou patrou mu tou en ouranoi.… men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.
Matthew 11:10… su, hos kataskeuazati tan hodan su emprosthen su.… You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
Matthew 11:26… tos patror, hoti houtōs eudokias geneta emprosthen su.Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
Matthew 17:2kai metamorfita emprosthen autoiu, kai lampata tem prosōpem autou …There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the …
Matthew 18:14houtōs ouk atō thelēmem emprosthen tou patrou vu tou en ouranoi …… heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 23:13… hoti kleiavō tan basileian toiu ouranoiu emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu; vis gar ouk eiserchovō, …… You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor …
Matthew 25:32kai sunagili emprosthen autou panteim teim ethneim, kai aforizati …All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the …
Matthew 26:70tos de arneta emprosthen pantoiu legarōntos; Ouk oidamē tinem legasō.But he denied it before them all: “I do not know …
Matthew 27:11Tos de Iēsus stēita emprosthen tou hēgemonou; kai eperōtata auton tos …Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are …
Matthew 27:29… en ta dexa autou, kai gonupetarantois emprosthen autou empaizala auto legarōntois; Chairasōr, basilevor …… in His right hand, knelt down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, “Hail …
Mark 2:12… kai euthuos airarantos ton krabatton exerchata emprosthen pantoiu, hōste ekstēorō pantoin kai doxazarō …… up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. As a result, they …
Mark 9:2… hupsēlem kata idian monoin. kai metamorfita emprosthen autoiu,… by themselves. There He was transfigured before them.
Luke 5:19… sun te klinidie eis tem mesem emprosthen tou Iēsu.… the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
Luke 7:27… su, hos kataskeuazati tan hodan su emprosthen su.… You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
Luke 10:21… tos patror, hoti houtōs eudokias geneta emprosthen su.… Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
Luke 12:8… pantos hos an homologateia en mi emprosthen toiu anthrōpoiu, kai tos huios tou …… tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will …
Luke 12:8… huios tou anthrōpou homologati en auto emprosthen toiu angeloiu tou theou;… of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
Luke 14:2“in front of”kai idou anthrōpos tinos ate hudrōpikos emprosthen autou.… there before Him was a man with dropsy.
Luke 19:27… autoin agavar hōde kai katasfazavar autoin emprosthen mu.… bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”
Luke 21:36… panteim teim mellarōnteim genorō, kai stēira emprosthen tou huiou tou anthrōpou.… about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
John 1:15“before”… hon legama; Tos opisō mu erchorōntos emprosthen mu genatē, hoti prōtos mu ate;… He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”
John 1:30“ahead of”… legama; Opisō mu erchotō andros hos emprosthen mu genatē, hoti prōtos mu ate;… whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’
John 3:28… tos christos, alla hoti Apostelorēntos amō emprosthen ekeinou.… not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’
John 10:4hotan teim idieim panteim ekbalateia, emprosthen auteiu poreuotō, kai teim probateim auto …… all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him …
John 12:37“before”tosouteim de autou sēmeim poiarēntou emprosthen autoiu ouk pisteuale eis auton,… Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him.
Acts 10:4… tais eleēmosunais su anabainala eis mnēmosunem emprosthen tou theou;… have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
Acts 18:17… de pantois Sōsthenon ton archisunagōgon tuptale emprosthen teu bēmeu; kai oudenem houteiu to …… the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of …
2 Corinthians 5:10toin gar pantoin nin fanerira datō emprosthen teu bēmeu tou Christou, hina komizeteia …For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that …
Galatians 2:14“before”… alētheian teu euangelieu, legama to Kēfo emprosthen pantoiu; Ei sis Ioudaios huparcharōntos ethnikōs …… with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not …
1 Thessalonians 1:3… elpidau tou kuriou nu Iēsu Christou emprosthen tou theou kai patrou nu,and continually recalling before our God and Father your work …
1 Thessalonians 2:19… stefanos kauchēsiau ē ouchi kai vis emprosthen tou kuriou nu Iēsu en ta …… if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
1 Thessalonians 3:9“before”… ta chara ha chairanō dia vin emprosthen tou theou nu,… return for our great joy over you in His …
1 Thessalonians 3:13… vu tain kardiain amemptain en hagiōsuna emprosthen tou theou kai patrou nu en …… your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the …
1 John 3:19“before”… hoti ek tau alētheiau anō, kai emprosthen autou peithani tan kardian nu… will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His …
Revelation 19:10kai piptama emprosthen toiu podoiu autou proskunara auto. kai …So I fell at his feet to worship him. But …
Revelation 22:8… hote akouama kai blepama, piptama proskunara emprosthen toiu podoiu tou angelou tou deikarōntou …… them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who …
Luke 19:4“front”kai protrecharantos eis tem emprosthen anabainata epi sukomorean hina horateia auton, …So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that …
Luke 19:28Kai legarantos houteim poreuote emprosthen anabainarōntos eis Hierosolumeim.… had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Philippians 3:13… teim men opisō epilathorōntos tei de emprosthen epekteinorōntos,… behind and straining toward what is ahead,
Revelation 4:6… tou thronou tessares zōeim gemarōnteim ofthalmoiu emprosthen kai opisthen;… four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back.