adverb
exōthen
Strong’sG1855
from without, outside
stem exōthen-13 times in the New Testamentin 7 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
Outside or from outside is the basic sense of this adverb. Answering the question "from where," it can mean from outside, i.e. from outside a place 1; more often it simply means outside, in the sense of location rather than motion 1. Strong's sums it up as "external(-ly)... out(-side, -ward, -wardly), (from) without" 2, and Dodson glosses it "from without, outside" 4.
The word is also used before a noun in the genitive to mean outside of a specified place 1.
It can further function as a substantive, "the outside," referring to the exterior surface of something as opposed to its inside 1. Used with the article and no following noun ("those outside"), it denotes people outside a given group; in the New Testament this phrase is used of outsiders, i.e. non-Christians, though in earlier Greek it could refer more broadly to foreigners or people outside any particular circle 13.
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
ἔξωθεν
adv.(< ἔξω opp. to ἔσωθεν), [in LXX for חוּץ;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1855 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidex'-o-then
external(-ly)
Fromfrom G1854;
King Jamesout(-side, -ward, - wardly), (from) without.
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
rarely ἔξωθε Refs 2nd c.AD+, adverb, (ἔξω) from without or abroad, ἔ. εἴσω Refs 5th c.BC+
II ={ἔξω}, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἱ ἔ. those outside, Refs 5th c.BC+ (but heathen in NT+4th c.BC+; τὰ ἔ. matters outside the house, opposed to τἄνδον, Refs 5th c.BC+; αἱ ἔ. πόλεις foreign states, Refs 5th c.BC+foreign to the subject, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.b with genitive, ἐντὸς ἢ ἔ. δόμω; Refs 5th c.BC+; free from, ξυμφορᾶς Refs 5th c.BC+
II.c with genitive, besides, apart from, Refs 2nd c.AD+
III Grammars, ἔ. προσλαμβάνειν supply or understand a word, Refs 2nd c.AD+
III.2 initially, Refs; finally, 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.
13 occurrences, every one of them listed
exōthen13×
Matthew 23:25… kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti katharizavō tem exōthen teu potērieu kai tau paropsidau, esōthen …… Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but …
Matthew 23:27… hupokritoir, hoti paromoiazavō tafoi koniorēntoi, hotinois exōthen men fanolō hōraiois esōthen de gemalō …… tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full …
Matthew 23:28“outwardly”houtōs kai vis exōthen men fanovō toi anthrōpoi dikaiois, esōthen …… the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are …
Mark 7:18“from outside”… avō? ouk noavō hoti pantem tem exōthen eisporeuorōntem eis ton anthrōpon ouk dunotō …“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
Luke 11:39… auton; Nun vis tois Farisaiois tem exōthen teu potērieu kai tou pinaxou katharizavō, …… said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but …
Luke 11:40afronoir, ouk tos poiarantos tem exōthen kai tem esōthen poiata?… not the One who made the outside make the inside as well?
2 Corinthians 7:5… sarkas nu, alla en pante thliborōntois exōthen machais, esōthen fobois… from every direction — conflicts on the outside, fears within.
1 Timothy 3:7… kai marturian kalan echarō apo toiu exōthen, hina mē eis oneidismon empiptateia kai …… must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall …
1 Peter 3:3“external”haiu atōr ouk tos exōthen emplokau trichaiu kai perithesiau chrusieiu ē …Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or …
Revelation 11:2kai tan aulan tan exōthen tou naou ekbalasar exōthen, kai mē …But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it …
Revelation 11:2“out”… aulan tan exōthen tou naou ekbalasar exōthen, kai mē autan metraseia, hoti dōita …… the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
Mark 7:15oudenem atō exōthen tou anthrōpou eisporeuorōntem eis auton hem …… that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things …
Revelation 14:20kai patita tas lēnas exōthen tau polau, kai exerchata haimem ek …And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood that …