adverb
esōthen
Strong’sG2081
from within, inside
stem esōthen-12 times in the New Testamentin 5 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
From within, describing something originating or coming from inside a person or place 124. This is the sense used of what proceeds from within a person, such as in the description of evil things coming out from inside someone, and of a request made from within a house 1.
Within, inside, describing something located inside rather than outside 124. This sense covers being inwardly or inside something, as of a person's outward appearance covering what is within, or of something being inside a container or space 1.
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
ἔσωθεν
(< ἔσω),
adv.,[in LXX for בַּבַּיִת, לִפְנֵי and cognate forms;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2081 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(εἴσωθεν only in Refs 5th c.BC+, rarely ἔσωθε Refs 5th c.BC+: adverb: from within, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 within, inside, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔσωθε ναοῦ 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
esōthen12×
Matthew 7:15… ercholō pros vin en endumei probateiu esōthen de alō lukois harpagois.… to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 23:25… exōthen teu potērieu kai tau paropsidau, esōthen de gemalō ek harpagau kai akrasiau.… of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and …
Matthew 23:27… koniorēntoi, hotinois exōthen men fanolō hōraiois esōthen de gemalō osteiu nekroiu kai pantau …… on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones …
Matthew 23:28… exōthen men fanovō toi anthrōpoi dikaiois, esōthen de avō mestois hupokrisiau kai anomiau.… to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and …
Mark 7:21esōthen gar ek tau kardiau toiu anthrōpoiu …For from within the hearts of men come evil …
Mark 7:23panteim houteim teim ponēreim esōthen ekporeuotō kai koinatō ton anthrōpon.All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a …
Luke 11:7“from within”kakeinos esōthen apokrinirantos legateia; Mē mi kopoin parechasōr; …… answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door …
Luke 11:39… kai tou pinaxou katharizavō, tem de esōthen vu gematō harpagau kai ponēriau.… of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and …
Luke 11:40… tos poiarantos tem exōthen kai tem esōthen poiata?… who made the outside make the inside as well?
2 Corinthians 7:5… alla en pante thliborōntois exōthen machais, esōthen fobois… direction — conflicts on the outside, fears within.
Revelation 4:8“inside”… echarōntos ana pterugain hex, kuklothen kai esōthen gemalō ofthalmoiu; kai anapausian ouk echalō …… living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying …
Revelation 5:1“inside”… kathorōntou epi tou thronou bibliem graforēntem esōthen kai opisthen, katasfragizorēntem sfragidai hepta.… saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.