conjunction
plēn
Strong’sG4133
however, nevertheless
stem plēn-32 times in the New Testamentin 9 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
πλήν is a conjunction/adverb meaning "however, yet, nevertheless, only" 124. It is used to introduce a clause that qualifies, softens, or turns away from what has just been said, functioning much like "but" or "yet" in ordinary speech 13. It can also form the phrase "except that, save that" when followed by hoti 13.
πλήν is also used as a preposition governing the genitive, meaning "except, save" 1234 — marking something left out of an otherwise general statement. In later usage it can instead mean "besides, in addition to," adding something rather than excluding it 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
πλήν,
adv.,[in LXX for רַק, לְבַד, אַךְ, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4133 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidplane
moreover (besides), i.e. albeit, save that, rather, yet
Fromfrom G4119;
King Jamesbut (rather), except, nevertheless, notwithstanding, save, than.
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
Doric dialectand Aeolic dialect πλάν Refs 5th c.BC+: preposition with genitive, except, save, πάντων Φαιήκων πλήν γ᾽ αὐτοῦ Λαοδάμαντος Refs 8th c.BC+; ὑπεγγύους π. θανάτου liable to any punishment short of death, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐπιτρέψαι περὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν π. θανάτου save in respect of death, Refs 5th c.BC+; σκυλεύειν τοὺς τελευτήσαντας π. ὅπλων of anything save their arms, Refs 5th c.BC+; διαρπάσαι.. ἐπέτρεψε πλὴν ἀνδραπόδων to carry off all plunder save slaves, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 later, besides, in addition to, LXX
B conjunction:
B.I with single words and phrases, especially when a negative precedes, οὐκ ἆρ᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄνδρες εἰσὶ π. ὅδ; Refs 5th c.BC+: after a question implying a negative, τί σοι πέπρακται π.τεύχειν κακ; Refs 5th c.BC+ is sometimes omitted, θνῄσκουσι [πάντες] π. εἷς τις Refs 5th c.BC+: after a comparative, ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ κρείσσω π. ὑπ᾽ Ἀργείοις πεσεῖν Refs 5th c.BC+: after a superlative, τὸ μέγιστον εἴργται π. αἱ τάξεις τοῦ φόρου Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II frequently joined with other Particles:
B.II.1 π. εἰ, π. ἐάν, ὅταν,
B.II.1.a followed by a Verb, π. εἴ τις κωμῳδοποιὸς τυγχάνει ὤν Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.1.b with Verb omitted, οὐδεὶς οἶδεν.., π. εἴ τις ἄρ᾽ ὄρνις Refs 5th c.BC+; π. εἰ μή, after a negative, οὐδὲν προσδεησόμεθα, π. εἰ μὴ πάρεργόν τι Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.2 πλὴν ἤ (where ἤ adds nothing to the sense; πλὴν εἰ is a common variant), οὐκ ἄλλῳ π. ἢ Προδίκῳ Refs 5th c.BC+; also οὐ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὑγιάζει π. ἀλλ᾽ ἢ.. Refs 4th c.BC+
B.II.3 π. οὐ only not, πάντες προσδέχονται, π. οὐχ οἱ τύραννοι Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.4 π. ὅτι except that.., save that.., καίτοι τί διαφέρουσιν ἡμῶν ἐκεῖνοι, π. ὅτι ψηφίσματ᾽ οὐ γράφουσι; Refs 5th c.BC+; πλήν γε ὅτι, πλήν γε δὴ ὅτι, Refs 5th c.BC+; after ὁμοίως, τὰ αὐτά, Refs 1st c.AD+
B.II.5 π. ὅσον except or save so far as.., παρήκουσι παρὰ πᾶσαν [τὴν Λιβύην].., π. ὅσον Ἕλληνες.. ἔχουσι Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.5.b without a Verb, πάντων ἐρήμους, π. ὅσον τὸ σὸν μέρος save so far as thou art concerned, Refs 5th c.BC+; τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπέκτειναν π. ὅσον ἐκ τριῶν νεῶν οὓς ἐζώγρησαν except only.., Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III introducing a clause, mostly preceded by οὐδείς, πᾶς, ἄλλος, save that, νῦν δ᾽ οὐδεμία πάρεστιν.., π. ἥ γ᾽ ἐμὴ κωμῆτις ἥδ᾽ ἐξέρχεται Refs 5th c.BC+: without any such word preceding, only, albeit, ἀπέπεμπε κήρυκας ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, π. οὔτε ἐς Ἀθήνας οὔτε ἐς Λακεδαίμονα ἀπέπεμπε Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III.2 to break off and pass to another subject, only, however, π. γνώριζε ἄτοπος ὤν NT+3rd c.BC+: in late Prose, π. ἀλλά Refs 2nd c.AD+
B.III.3 simply for δέ, but, πολλὴν στρατιὰν ἀθροίσας, π. ἄπειρον μάχης 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.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
32 occurrences, every one of them listed
plēn32×
Matthew 11:22plēn legamō vi, Tura kai Sidōna anektoterem …But I tell you, it will be …
Matthew 11:24plēn legamō vi hoti gēa Sodomeiu anektoterem …But I tell you that it will …
Matthew 18:7… skandaleiu; anankas gar erchara teim skandaleim, plēn ouai to anthrōpo dia hou tem …… sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom …
Matthew 26:39… parerchatar apo mu tem potēriem houtem; plēn ouk hōs mis thelamō alla hōs …… let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as …
Matthew 26:64legatō auto tos Iēsus; Sis legasa; plēn legamō vi, apo arti horevi ton …… have said it yourself,” Jesus answered. “But I say to all of you …
Luke 6:24plēn ouai vi toi plousioi, hoti apechavō …But woe to you who are rich …
Luke 6:35plēn agapavōr toin echthroin vu kai agathopoiavōr …But love your enemies, do good to …
Luke 10:11… vu eis toin podoin apomassonō vi; plēn houtem gnōskavōr hoti engizatē tas basileias …… off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom …
Luke 10:14plēn Tura kai Sidōna anektoterem eti en …But it will be more bearable for …
Luke 10:20plēn en houte mē chairavōr hoti teim …Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits …
Luke 11:41plēn teim eneiarōnteim dōavar eleēmosunan, kai idou …But give as alms the things that …
Luke 12:31plēn zētavōr tan basileian autou, kai houteim …But seek His kingdom, and these things …
Luke 13:33plēn datō min sēmeron kai aurion kai …Nevertheless, I must keep going today and …
Luke 17:1… atō teu teim skandaleim mē erchara, plēn ouai dia hou erchotō;… inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom …
Luke 18:8… poiati tan ekdikēsian autoiu en tache. plēn tos huios tou anthrōpou ercharantos ara …… carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes …
Luke 19:27“but”plēn toin echthroin mu houtoin toin mē …And these enemies of mine who were …
Luke 22:21“but”plēn idou tas cheiras tou paradōarōntou min …Look! The hand of My …
Luke 22:22… tou anthrōpou kata tem horizorēntem poreuotō, plēn ouai to anthrōpo ekeino dia hou …… go as it has been determined, but woe to that man who betrays …
Luke 22:42“nevertheless”… paraferasar houtem tem potēriem apo mu; plēn mē tem thelēmem mu alla tem …… willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be …
Luke 23:28… Thugatrair Ierousalēm, mē klaiavōr epi min; plēn epi heautain klaiavōr kai epi teim …… Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your …
Acts 20:23“except”plēn hoti tem pneumem tem hagiem kata …… only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me …
1 Corinthians 11:11“nevertheless”plēn oute gunaikas chōris androu oute andros …… Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of …
Ephesians 5:33“however”plēn kai vis tois kata henon hekastos …Nevertheless, each one of you also must love …
Philippians 1:18“only”tinem gar? plēn hoti panto tropo, eite profasia eite …What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ …
Philippians 3:16“only”plēn eis hem fthanana, te aute stoicharō.… live up to what we have already attained.
Philippians 4:14plēn kalōs poiava sunkoinōnarantois mu ta thlipsia.Nevertheless, you have done well to share …
Revelation 2:25“only”plēn hem echavō kratavar achri hou an …than to hold fast to what you have until I come.
Mark 12:32“besides”… henos atō kai ouk atō allosos plēn autou;… that God is One and there is no other but Him,
John 8:10… de tos Iēsus kai mēdenon theaserantos plēn tau gunaikau legata auta, pou alō? …Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers …
Acts 8:1… tain chōrain tau Ioudaiau kai Samareiau plēn toiu apostoloiu.… the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea …
Acts 15:28“than”… ni mēdenem polloterem epitithorō vi barosem plēn houteiu teiu epanankes,… and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:
Acts 27:22… gar psuchau oudenas eti ek vu plēn teu ploieu;… not experience any loss of life, but only of the ship.