noun · feminine
parousias
Strong’sG3952
presence, a coming, arrival, advent
stem parousi-24 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books4 of 10 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
Presence — the state of being present, as opposed to being absent 13. This can apply to persons who are present, or to things being present 3; Paul contrasts his own presence with his absence in one letter 1.
A coming or arrival 1234. In later Greek this word became the technical term for the visit of a king or other official personage 13. In the New Testament it is used specifically of the Advent or Parousia of Christ, his coming 134. Strong's also notes an extended, physical sense of "aspect" arising from this idea of arrival 2.
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
παρ-ουσία, -ας, ἡ,
[in LXX: Ne 2:6 A, Jth 10:18, II Mac 8:12 15:21, III Mac 3:17*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3952 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpar-oo-see'-ah
a being near, i.e. advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication) physically, aspect
Fromfrom the present participle of G3918;
King Jamescoming, presence.
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
(πάρειμι) presence, of persons, δεσπότου, etc., Refs 4th c.BC+; ἀνδρῶν π., ={ἄνδρες οἱ παρόντες}, Refs 5th c.BC+; πόλις μείζων τῆς ἡμετέρας π., ={ἡμῶν τῶν παρόντων}, Refs 5th c.BC+; παρουσίαν μὲν οἶσθα.. φίλων, ὡς οὔτις ἡμῖν ἐστιν, i.e. that we have no friends present to assist us, Refs 5th c.BC+; of things, κακῶν Refs 5th c.BC+
2 arrival, ἡμῶν κοινόπουν π. Refs 5th c.BC+; especially visit of a royal or official personage, βασιλέως, etc., Refs 3rd c.BC+, etc.; of a god, Refs
3 occasion, variant in Refs 5th c.BC+
4 π. τισὶ ποιεῖσθαι entertain them on their official visits, Refs 2nd c.BC+
5 in NT, the Advent, NT
6 Astrology texts, situation of a planet at a point on the zodiac, ἤτοι κατὰ παρουσίαν ἢ κατὰ συμμαρτυρίαν Refs 2nd c.AD+
II substance, property, ὡς.. ἔχομεν παρουσίας Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 contribution in money, Refs 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | parousias6×παρουσία | parousiais |
| object accusative | parousian3×παρουσίαν | parousiain |
| direct address vocative | parousiar | parousiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | parousiau6×παρουσίας | parousiaiu |
| to, for dative | parousia9×παρουσίᾳ | parousiai |
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
parousia 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.
24 occurrences, every one of them listed
parousias“coming”subjectnominative singular6×
Matthew 24:27… fanotō heōs dusmaiu, houtōs eti tas parousias tou huiou tou anthrōpou;… the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:37… hēmerais tou Nōe, houtōs eti tas parousias tou huiou tou anthrōpou;… so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:39… airata hapantoin, houtōs eti kai tas parousias tou huiou tou anthrōpou.… So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
2 Corinthians 10:10… fēatō, baruais kai ischurais, tas de parousias teu sōmeu asthenas kai tos logos …… weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is …
2 Thessalonians 2:9hou atō tas parousias kata energeian tou Satanou en panta …The coming of the lawless one will be …
James 5:8… stērizavar tain kardiain vu, hoti tas parousias tou kuriou engizatē.… strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
parousian“coming”objectaccusative singular3×
1 Thessalonians 4:15… tois zōarōntois tois perileiporōntois eis tan parousian tou kuriou ouk mē fthananeia toin …… are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no …
2 Peter 1:16… kuriou nu Iēsu Christou dunamian kai parousian, alla epoptois genirantois tau ekeinou megaleiotau.… known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but …
2 Peter 3:12prosdokarōntoin kai speudarōntoin tan parousian tau tou theou hēmerau, dia han …as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when …
parousiau“coming”of, belonging togenitive singular6×
Matthew 24:3… kai tinem tem sēmem tau sau parousiau kai sunteleiau tou aiōnou.… will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the …
Philippians 1:26… Iēso en mi dia tau ēmau parousiau palin pros vin.so that through my coming to you again your exultation in …
2 Thessalonians 2:1Erōtanō de vin, adelfoir, huper tau parousiau tou kuriou nu Iēsu Christou kai …Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and …
2 Thessalonians 2:8“coming”… autou kai katargati ta epifaneia tau parousiau autou,… breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
James 5:7Makrothumavar oun, adelfoir, heōs tau parousiau tou kuriou. idou tos geōrgos ekdechotō …… patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the …
2 Peter 3:4… legarōntois; Pou atō tas epangelias tau parousiau autou? apo hau gar tois patrois …“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our …
parousia“coming”to, fordative singular9×
1 Corinthians 15:23… epeita tois tou Christou en ta parousia autou;… Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
1 Corinthians 16:17“coming”chairamō de epi ta parousia Stefanaou kai Fortounatou kai Achaikou, hoti …… glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have arrived, because they have …
2 Corinthians 7:6“coming”… parakalata nin tos theos en ta parousia Titou;But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,
2 Corinthians 7:7“coming”ouk monem de en ta parousia autou, alla kai en ta paraklēsia …and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.
Philippians 2:12… pantote hupakouava, mē hōs en ta parousia mu monem alla nun polle mallon …… always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my …
1 Thessalonians 2:19… kuriou nu Iēsu en ta autou parousia?… of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
1 Thessalonians 3:13… theou kai patrou nu en ta parousia tou kuriou nu Iēsu meta pantoiu …… our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all …
1 Thessalonians 5:23… kai tem sōmem amemptōs en ta parousia tou kuriou nu Iēsu Christou tēritoia.… body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:28… mē aischunineia apo autou en ta parousia autou.… and unashamed before Him at His coming.