What does ἐμός (emós) mean in the Bible?
Emos means my or mine. It is a possessive pronoun, so its first job is grammatical: it tells readers that something belongs to, comes from, or is associated with the speaker.
Greek · G1699
ἐμός
My
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ἐμός G1699
Pronunciation emós
What does ἐμός (emós) mean in the Bible?
Emos means my or mine. It is a possessive pronoun, so its first job is grammatical: it tells readers that something belongs to, comes from, or is associated with the speaker.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐμός (G1699) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1699?
The BSB source-word alignment has 76 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include My (46), mine (6), My own (5), [is] mine (3), of Me (3).
Where does ἐμός (emós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 18:20. Its strongest book concentrations include John (41), 1 Corinthians (9), Matthew (4), 2 Corinthians (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Emos means my or mine. It is a possessive pronoun, so its first job is grammatical: it tells readers that something belongs to, comes from, or is associated with the speaker. In John's Gospel, the speaker is often Jesus, and the possessed noun matters: My food, My word, My sheep, My commandments, My peace, My joy, My kingdom. The pronoun does not carry all the theology by itself.
Its force comes from what Jesus calls His and from the passage that explains how He gives, guards, commands, or rules. Outside John, the same pronoun can mark apostolic speech, personal judgment, or covenant remembrance. Pastoral use should therefore slow down and ask what is being claimed as mine, who is speaking, and how the sentence defines the relationship.
How the Bible Uses It
Emos marks possession or belonging, with John's Gospel giving concentrated examples where Jesus identifies what is His and how His people relate to Him.
- Mark.8.38
If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Jesus warns against being ashamed of Him and His words, joining allegiance to Him with allegiance to His speech.
- John.4.34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
Jesus calls doing the Father's will and finishing His work My food, making possession language serve mission.
- John.8.31
So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
Jesus describes those who continue in My word as truly His disciples.
- John.10.27
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
Jesus says My sheep listen to My voice, and He knows them and they follow Him.
- John.14.15
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Love for Jesus is joined to keeping My commandments, connecting belonging language to obedience.
- John.14.27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.
Jesus gives My peace in a way unlike the world's giving, making the gift personal to Him.
- John.15.11
I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
Jesus speaks so that My joy may be in the disciples and their joy may be complete.
- John.18.36
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.”
Jesus says My kingdom is not of this world, defining His kingship before Pilate.
- 1Cor.11.25
In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Paul preserves Jesus' cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in My blood, tying remembrance to Christ's own covenant blood.
- Php.3.9
And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
Paul rejects my own righteousness from the law in favor of righteousness through faith in Christ.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It My 46× Matthew 18:20, Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26, John 4:34
mine 6× Matthew 20:15, Matthew 20:23, Mark 10:40, John 16:14
My own 5× John 7:16, John 14:24, Galatians 6:11, Philippians 3:9
[is] mine 3× Luke 15:31, John 3:29, John 17:10
of Me 3× Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24, 1 Corinthians 11:25
I 2× John 5:47, John 8:43
own 2× 1 Corinthians 16:21, Colossians 4:18
. . . 1× John 10:14
[he is] my 1× 2 Corinthians 8:23
[the] 1× John 17:24
I [am with you] 1× 1 Corinthians 5:4
I have 1× John 17:10
in my own 1× 2 Thessalonians 3:17
it {back} 1× Matthew 25:27
My [sheep] 1× John 10:14
vvv 1× John 18:36
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 18:20 ἐμὸν to My Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 1st Person Singular Matthew 20:15 ἐμοῖς to mine Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Neuter 1st Person Plural Matthew 20:23 ἐμὸν to Mine Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Neuter 1st Person Singular Matthew 25:27 ἐμὸν to it {back} Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 1st Person Singular Mark 8:38 ἐμοὺς to My Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 1st Person Plural Mark 10:40 ἐμὸν to Mine Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Neuter 1st Person Singular Luke 9:26 ἐμοὺς to My Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 1st Person Plural Luke 15:31 ἐμὰ to [is] mine Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Neuter 1st Person Plural Luke 22:19 ἐμὴν to of Me Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 1st Person Singular John 3:29 ἐμὴ to [is] mine Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Feminine 1st Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 18:20
Aligned rows 76
Books represented 15
Matthew 4 Mark 2 Luke 3 John 41 Romans 2 1 Corinthians 9 2 Corinthians 3 Galatians 2 Philippians 2 Colossians 1 2 Thessalonians 1 Philemon 3 2 Peter 1 3 John 1 Revelation 1
Source forms
ἐμὴν 12x emēn Luke 22:19, John 8:43, John 14:27, John 17:13
ἐμὴ 10x emē John 3:29, John 5:30, John 7:16, John 8:16
ἐμὸν 9x emon Matthew 18:20, Matthew 20:23, Matthew 25:27, Mark 10:40
ἐμὰ 6x ema Luke 15:31, John 10:14, John 10:27, John 17:10
ἐμῇ 6x emē John 15:9, 1 Corinthians 16:21, Galatians 6:11, Colossians 4:18
ἐμὸς 6x emos John 7:6, John 7:8, John 8:37, John 12:26
ἐμοῦ 4x emou John 16:14, John 16:15, 1 Corinthians 5:4, Philemon 1:10
ἐμά 3x ema John 10:14, John 16:15, John 17:10
Parsing patterns
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 1st Person Singular 13x Luke 22:19, John 8:43, John 8:56, John 14:27
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Feminine 1st Person Singular 12x John 3:29, John 5:30, John 7:16, John 8:16
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 1st Person Singular 6x Matthew 18:20, Matthew 25:27, John 5:30, John 6:38
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Feminine 1st Person Singular 6x John 15:9, 1 Corinthians 16:21, Galatians 6:11, Colossians 4:18
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Masculine 1st Person Singular 6x John 7:6, John 7:8, John 8:37, John 12:26
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Neuter 1st Person Plural 6x Luke 15:31, John 10:27, John 16:15, John 17:10
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular 4x John 16:14, John 16:15, 1 Corinthians 5:4, Philemon 1:10
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 1st Person Plural 3x Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26, Revelation 2:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask who says my or mine and what the speaker is claiming.
- Let Jesus' own words define what His peace, word, sheep, joy, and kingdom mean.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim the pronoun alone proves the full doctrine of a passage.
- Do not treat every my or mine use as a direct statement about Jesus.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. my
Strong's G1699
Lexical occurrences 76 verses Greek text appearances 78 times 16 shown below Word forms 10 forms 76 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
my
Extended definition
:--of me, mine (own), my.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 78 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 18:20 Singular
ἐμὸν emon
mine
Read verse Matthew 20:15 Singular
ἐμοῖς; emoiv
mine
Read verse Matthew 20:23 Singular Neuter
ἐμὸν emon
mine
Read verse Matthew 25:27 Singular
ἐμὸν emon
mine
Read verse Mark 8:38 Singular
ἐμοὺς emouv
mine
Read verse Mark 10:40 Singular Neuter
ἐμὸν emon
mine
Read verse Luke 9:26 Singular
ἐμοὺς emouv
mine
Read verse Luke 15:31 Singular Neuter
ἐμὰ ema
mine
Read verse Luke 22:19 Singular
ἐμὴν emhn
mine
Read verse John 3:29 Singular Neuter
ἐμὴ emh
mine
Read verse John 4:34 Singular Neuter
Ἐμὸν emon
mine
Read verse John 5:30 Singular Neuter
ἐμὴ emh
mine
Read verse John 5:30 Singular
ἐμόν, emon
mine
Read verse John 5:47 Singular
ἐμοῖς emoiv
mine
Read verse John 6:38 Singular
ἐμόν, emon
mine
Read verse John 7:6 Singular Neuter
ἐμὸς emov
mine
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 10 Aligned forms 76 Case pattern Nominative (30) Number pattern Singular (33)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine John 3:29 · John 5:30 · John 7:16 · John 8:16 · John 15:11 · John 15:12 · John 18:36 · 1 Cor 9:3 · 2 Cor 2:3 12×
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Luke 15:31 · John 10:14 · John 10:27 · John 16:15 · John 17:10 6×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine John 7:6 · John 7:8 · John 8:37 · John 12:26 · John 14:24 · 2 Cor 8:23 6×
Nominative · Singular · Neuter Matt 20:23 · Mark 10:40 · John 4:34 3×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine John 13:35 · John 15:8 · John 18:36 3×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter John 16:14 · John 16:15 · 1 Cor 5:4 · Phlm 1:10 4×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Rom 10:1 · Phil 1:26 2×
Genitive · Plural · Neuter John 10:26 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine John 15:9 · 1 Cor 16:21 · Gal 6:11 · Col 4:18 · 2 Thess 3:17 · Phlm 1:19 6×
Dative · Plural · Neuter Matt 20:15 · John 5:47 2×
Word Origins
ἐμός is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The core insight of emos is that possession language in Scripture is never abstract when Jesus is the speaker. My sheep are known by the Shepherd. My word is the place where disciples continue. My peace is not the world's peace. My kingdom is not from this world. Yet the grammar remains important: the pronoun points to a noun, and the noun's context controls the claim.
That keeps preaching from becoming sentimental about mine-language while still letting the text press its personal force. What belongs to Christ is defined by Christ, given by Christ, guarded by Christ, and received under Christ's authority.
Anchor passage
John.10.27
Doctrinal connections
- John.4.34: Jesus' food is to do the Father's will and finish His work.
- John.8.31: true disciples continue in Jesus' word.
- John.10.27: Jesus' sheep listen to His voice and follow Him.
- John.14.27: Jesus gives His own peace to His disciples.
- John.18.36: Jesus' kingdom is not of this world.
- Philippians.3.9: Paul refuses his own righteousness and seeks righteousness through Christ.
Emos is a possessive pronoun. The pastoral claim must follow the possessed noun and the speaker, since my can refer to Jesus, Paul, a parable character, or another person.
From Old to New Testament
Across Scripture, belonging language distinguishes what is God's, what is human, and what must not be claimed falsely. Jesus' mine-language stands within that wider biblical concern for covenant ownership, obedience, and gift.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain