adverb
pōs
Strong’sG4458
somehow, in any way
stem pō-14 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
πώς is an enclitic particle indicating indefiniteness of manner, meaning somehow, in any way, at all, by any means 1234. It does not stand as an independent word in ordinary use but occurs joined with other particles or adverbs, such as eipōs or mēpōs 1, and is used only in composition 2. It marks something as happening or being possible in some unspecified way, rather than specifying how.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Biblang's gloss. 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
πως,
enclit. part.,G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4458 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpoce
an enclitic particle of indefiniteness of manner; somehow or anyhow; used only in composition
Fromadverb from the base of G4225;
King Jameshaply, by any (some) means, perhaps.
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
Ionic dialect κως, enclitic adverb of Manner, in any way, at all, by any means, οὐ μέν π. ἅλιον πέλει ὅρκιον Refs 8th c.BC+; ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτό π. Refs 4th c.BC+; compare οὔπως, μήπως: frequently after other adverbs of Manner, ὧδέ π. somehow so, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἄλλως π. in some other way, Refs; εὐσχημόνως π. Refs; sometimes merely to qualify their force, when it cannot be always rendered by any one English equivalent, ἀεί π. Refs 8th c.BC+; μάλα πRefs 5th c.BC+; μόγις π. Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ γὰρ κάταγμα τυγχάνω ῥίψασά π. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπώκνησάν π. Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐάν π. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἤν π. Refs 5th c.BC+: expressing uncertainty, I suppose, Refs 5th c.BC+
II πως, πῶς, or πώς, in a certain way, opposed to ἁπλῶς, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.2 πὼς μὲν.., πὼς δὲ.. in one way.., in another.. , Refs 4th c.AD+; πῶς μὲν.., ὅλως δὲ.. Refs 4th c.BC+ adverb of stem πο-Refs 5th c.BC+ q[uglide]o-), whence ποῦ, ποῖ, πῇ, etc.)
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.
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
pōs14×
Acts 27:12… polloterois tithela boulan anagira ekeithen, ei pōs dunoloiō katantarantois eis Foinixon paracheimazara, limenon …… decided to sail on, hoping that somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter …
Romans 1:10“somehow”… epi taiu proseuchaiu mu, dorōntos ei pōs ēdē pote euodimi en te thelēme …in my prayers at all times, asking that now at last by God’s will I may succeed in coming to …
Romans 11:14“somehow”ei pōs parazēlami mu tan sarkan kai sōzami …… may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of …
1 Corinthians 8:9“somehow”blepavōr de mē pōs tas exousias vu houtas proskommem geneteia …… freedom does not become a stumbling block to the …
1 Corinthians 9:27… mu tem sōmem kai doulagōgamō, mē pōs allosoi kērussarantos autos adokimos genemeia.… body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others …
2 Corinthians 2:7“somehow”… mallon vin charizera kai parakalara, mē pōs ta perissotera lupa katapiniteia tos toioutos.So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
2 Corinthians 9:4“somehow”mē pōs ean erchaleia sun mi Makedonois kai …Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you …
2 Corinthians 11:3“somehow”fobomō de mē pōs, hōs tos ofios exapatata Hevan en …I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s …
2 Corinthians 12:20“perhaps”fobomō gar mē pōs ercharantos ouk hoioin thelamō heuriskameia vin, …For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there …
2 Corinthians 12:20“perhaps”… heuriskimeia vi hoion ouk thelavō, mē pōs eridas, zēlos, thumois, eritheiais, katalaliais, psithurismois, …… may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and …
Galatians 2:2“somehow”… kata idian de toi dokarōntoi, mē pōs eis kenem trechameiō ē trechama.I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I spoke privately to those recognized as leaders, for fear that I was running or had already run in vain.
Galatians 4:11“perhaps”fobomō vin mē pōs eikē kopiamē eis vin.… fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.
Philippians 3:11ei pōs katantameia eis tan exanastasian tan ek …and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from …
1 Thessalonians 3:5… tem gnōskara tan pistian vu, mē pōs peirazata vin tos peirazarōntos kai eis …… for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and that our labor …