preposition
heneken
Strong’sG1752
for the sake of, on account of, wherefore
stem heneken-20 times in the New Testamentin 6 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
ἕνεκεν (also spelled ἕνεκα or εἵνεκεν) is a preposition meaning on account of, because of, for the sake of 124. It introduces the reason or cause for something, and can be translated "wherefore" or "by reason of" 24. Abbott-Smith notes it appears in slightly different spelled forms depending on what sound follows it, and can be used with a following "of this," "of these," or "of what" to ask or state the reason for something 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
ἕνεκα (so Mt 19:5, Lk 6:22, Ac 19:32 26:21; elsewhere, prop, only before a vowel, ἕνεκεν; εἵνεκεν, originally Ionic: Lk 4:18 18:29, Ac 28:20, II Co 3:10),
prep. c. gen.,G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1752 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhen'-ek-ah
on account of
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jamesbecause, for (cause, sake), (where-)fore, by reason of, that.
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
Refs 8th c.BC+, or ἕνεκεν (twice in Refs 8th c.BC+; twice in 4th C Attic dialect Inscrr., Refs 3rd c.BC+; in late Prose, Refs 5th c.BC+, Epic dialect, Ionic dialect, and poetry εἵνεκα (also in Refs 5th c.BC+, or εἵνεκεν (both forms in Refs 5th c.BC+ and not uncommon in codices of later writers; εἵνεκεν Refs 5th c.BC+; εἵνεκε Refs 5th c.BC+: ἕνεκε Refs 4th c.BC+: Aeolic dialect ἔννεκα Refs 7th c.BC+, but ἔνεκα Refsἕνεκον Refs, etc.:—preposition with genitive, usually after its case; also before, Refs 8th c.BC+ When it follows its case, it is sometimes separated from it by several words, as in Refs 5th c.BC+
1 on account of, Τρώων πόλιν.. ἧς εἵνεκ᾽ ὀϊζύομεν κακὰ πολλά Refs 8th c.BC+; τοῦδ᾽ ἕνεκα for this,Refswherefore, Refs 5th c.BC+; for the sake of, τοῦ ἕ.; Refs 5th c.BC+; τῶν δὲ εἵνεκα, ὅκως.., or ἵνα.., Refs 5th c.BC+; διὰ νόσον ἕ. ὑγιείας by reason of sickness for the sake of health, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ οὗ ἕ. the final cause, Refs 4th c.BC+
2 as far as regards, ἐμοῦ γ᾽ ἕνεκα as far as depends on me, Refs 5th c.BC+; εἵνεκεν χρημάτων as for money, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐμπειρίας μὲν ἄρα ἕ.Refs 5th c.BC+
3 in consequence of, εἵνεκα τέχνας by force of art, Refs
4 pleonastic, ἀμφὶσοὔνεκα Refs 5th c.BC+; ὅσον ἀπὸ βοῆς ἕ. as far as shouting went, Refs 5th c.BC+
II conjunction, for οὕνεκα (which see), because, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II.2 εἵνεκεν, ={ὁθούνεκα}, that, Refs 5th c.BC+
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.
20 occurrences, every one of them listed
heneken19×
Matthew 5:10makariois tois diōkorēntois heneken dikaiosunau, hoti autoiu atō tas basileias …Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom …
Matthew 5:11… legaleia pantem ponērem kata vu pseudorōntois heneken mu.… all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Matthew 10:18“because of”… epi hēgemonoin de kai basilevoin agivi heneken mu eis marturiem autoi kai tei …On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
Matthew 10:39… kai tos apolarantos tan psuchan autou heneken mu heuriskati autan.… it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25… de an apolateia tan psuchan autou heneken mu heuriskati autan.… it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 19:29… ē gunaikan ē tekneim ē agroin heneken teu onomeu mu, hekatontaplasiōneim labeti kai …… or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a …
Mark 8:35… de an apolati tan psuchan autou heneken mu kai teu euangelieu sōzati autan.… it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save …
Mark 10:7“because of”heneken houteu kataleipati anthrōpos ton patron autou …‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother …
Mark 10:29… ē patron ē tekneim ē agroin heneken mu kai heneken teu euangelieu,… or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel
Mark 10:29“for the sake of”… tekneim ē agroin heneken mu kai heneken teu euangelieu,… father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel
Mark 13:9“because of”… kai epi hēgemonoiu kai basilevoiu stēivi heneken mu eis marturiem autoi.… you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
Luke 9:24… de an apolateia tan psuchan autou heneken mu, houtos sōzati autan.… it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
Luke 18:29… ē adelfoin ē gonevoin ē tekneim heneken tau basileiau tou theou,… or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
Luke 21:12“because of”… fulakain, apagorōntoin epi basilevoin kai hēgemonoin heneken teu onomeu mu;… account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors.
Acts 28:20… aitian parakalama vin horara kai proslalara, heneken gar tau elpidau tou Israēl tan …… and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I …
Romans 14:20mē heneken brōmeu kataluasōr tem ergem tou theou. …… not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but …
2 Corinthians 7:12“for the sake of”ara ei kai grafama vi, ouk heneken tou adikarantou, oude heneken tou adikirantou, …So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who …
2 Corinthians 7:12“for the sake of”… vi, ouk heneken tou adikarantou, oude heneken tou adikirantou, alla heneken teu fanerira …… wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that …
2 Corinthians 7:12“in order that”… adikarantou, oude heneken tou adikirantou, alla heneken teu fanerira tan spoudan vu tan …… wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of …
Heneken1×
Romans 8:36kathōs grafotē hoti Heneken su thanatonō holan tan hēmeran, logizina …As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long …