What does ἔξω (éxō) mean in the Bible?
Ἔξω (éxō) means outside, outward, or out from an enclosed or defined place. Salt that has lost its purpose is thrown outside.
Greek · G1854
ἔξω
Out(-side, of doors), literally or figuratively
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ἔξω G1854
Pronunciation éxō
What does ἔξω (éxō) mean in the Bible?
Ἔξω (éxō) means outside, outward, or out from an enclosed or defined place. Salt that has lost its purpose is thrown outside.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἔξω (G1854) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1854?
The BSB source-word alignment has 63 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include out (21), outside (18), out of (8), . . . (3), away (3).
Where does ἔξω (éxō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:13. Its strongest book concentrations include John (13), Acts (10), Luke (10), Mark (10).
What This Word Actually Means
Ἔξω (éxō) means outside, outward, or out from an enclosed or defined place. Salt that has lost its purpose is thrown outside. The disciples find a colt outside in the street. Religious leaders cast the healed man out, but Jesus finds him after that exclusion. Paul goes outside the city gate to a place of prayer where the gospel reaches Lydia and other women.
Revelation places persistent rebels outside the holy city. Physical location can therefore be ordinary, missional, punitive, or symbolic of exclusion from promised fellowship. The adverb itself does not say who is justified in excluding whom. Speakers, boundaries, and narrative judgment matter. Human expulsion may be unjust and answered by Christ's welcome, while Revelation's final outside names God's righteous separation of practiced evil from the new creation.
How the Bible Uses It
Ἔξω marks what is outside a house, street boundary, city gate, community, or holy city. The selected passages move from ordinary location to unjust expulsion, gospel mission beyond familiar space, and final exclusion from God's city.
- Matt.5.13
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Tasteless salt is thrown outside and trampled, making loss of its distinguishing function a warning about disciples who fail to live their appointed witness.
- Mark.11.4
So they went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied it,
The colt waits outside in the street at a doorway exactly as Jesus said, an ordinary location that confirms His deliberate direction of the royal entry.
- John.9.35
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The authorities throw the healed man out, but Jesus seeks and finds him, exposing the difference between institutional rejection and reception by the Son of Man.
- Acts.16.13
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.
Paul's company goes outside the city gate to a customary prayer place, and movement beyond the established center opens a gospel conversation with gathered women.
- Rev.22.15
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Those who love and practice falsehood remain outside the city, a final moral and covenantal exclusion contrasted with access to the tree of life.
Passage contextBook context
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 out 21× Matthew 5:13, Matthew 26:69, Mark 1:45, Mark 8:23
outside 18× Matthew 12:46, Matthew 12:47, Matthew 26:75, Mark 3:31
out of 8× Matthew 21:17, Matthew 21:39, Mark 5:10, Mark 11:19
. . . 3× Matthew 10:14, Acts 4:15, Revelation 3:12
away 3× Matthew 13:48, John 6:37, John 15:6
outsiders 2× Colossians 4:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:12
[But] outside [are] 1× Revelation 22:15
are outside 1× Mark 3:32
foreign 1× Acts 26:11
on the outside 1× Mark 4:11
out of the room 1× Acts 9:40
outer 1× 2 Corinthians 4:16
outside [the church ] 1× 1 Corinthians 5:12
outside of 1× Luke 13:33
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 5:13 ἔξω to out Adverb Matthew 10:14 ἔξω to . . . Preposition Matthew 12:46 ἔξω to outside Adverb Matthew 12:47 ἔξω to outside Adverb Matthew 13:48 ἔξω to away Adverb Matthew 21:17 ἔξω to out of Preposition Matthew 21:39 ἔξω to out of Preposition Matthew 26:69 ἔξω to out Adverb Matthew 26:75 ἔξω to outside Adverb Mark 1:45 ἔξω to out Adverb
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 5:13
Aligned rows 63
Books represented 12
Matthew 9 Mark 10 Luke 10 John 13 Acts 10 1 Corinthians 2 2 Corinthians 1 Colossians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 Hebrews 3 1 John 1 Revelation 2
Source forms
ἔξω 63x exō Matthew 5:13, Matthew 10:14, Matthew 12:46, Matthew 12:47
Parsing patterns
Adverb 44x Matthew 5:13, Matthew 12:46, Matthew 12:47, Matthew 13:48
Preposition 19x Matthew 10:14, Matthew 21:17, Matthew 21:39, Mark 5:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not equate exclusion by a religious institution with exclusion by God; John 9 deliberately contrasts the leaders' action with Jesus seeking the man.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every “outside” location is spiritually negative; Acts locates fruitful prayer and mission outside the city gate.
- Do not claim that Revelation's final city includes those who continue loving and practicing falsehood without repentance.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Means outside the Church or community; used theologically for those excluded from Christian fellowship.
Strong's G1854
Lexical occurrences 62 verses Greek text appearances 65 times 16 shown below Word forms 2 forms 62 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 8:19-21 Source Gloss
out(-side, of doors), literally or figuratively
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 65 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 5:13 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 12:46 Adverb
ἔξω, exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 12:47 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 13:48 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 21:17 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 21:39 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 26:69 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Matthew 26:75 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 1:45 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 3:31 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 3:32 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 4:11 Adverb
ἔξω, exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 5:10 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 8:23 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 11:4 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
Read verse Mark 11:19 Adverb
ἔξω exw
without, outside
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 2 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 2 Aligned forms 62
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Matt 5:13 · Matt 12:46 · Matt 12:47 · Matt 13:48 · Matt 26:69 · Matt 26:75 · Mark 1:45 · Mark 3:31 · Mark 3:32 · Mark 4:11 · Mark 11:4 · Mark 14:68 · Luke 1:10 · Luke 8:20 · Luke 13:25 · Luke 13:28 43×
Matt 10:14 · Matt 21:17 · Matt 21:39 · Mark 5:10 · Mark 8:23 · Mark 11:19 · Mark 12:8 · Luke 4:29 · Luke 13:33 · Luke 20:15 · Acts 4:15 · Acts 7:58 · Acts 14:19 · Acts 16:13 · Acts 21:5 · Acts 21:30 19×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Physical location outside a building, literally standing without
Spatial location beyond city boundaries with prepositional usage
Metaphorical usage regarding exclusion or separation from a place
Figurative reference to those excluded or separated from community
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 62 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἔξω is built from this root:
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
Outside is not a single spiritual condition. A colt stands outside at a doorway because that is where Jesus has arranged for it to be found. Paul walks outside a city gate because prayer and receptive hearers are located beyond the expected center. The healed man is outside for a darker reason: leaders expel him after he testifies truthfully about Jesus. Yet their verdict does not control his standing with Christ, who finds him and calls him to faith.
Jesus' salt image warns that discarded uselessness is real, and Revelation makes the final boundary unmistakable. Those who persist in idolatry, violence, sexual immorality, sorcery, and falsehood do not enter the holy city. Teachers should neither romanticize exclusion nor erase it. Christ can meet the wrongly rejected outside human institutions, while His own kingdom finally excludes unrepentant evil.
Anchor passage
Matt.5.13
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 5:13-16, salt, purpose, and being cast out
- Mark 11:1-10, the colt found outside for Jesus' entry
- John 9:24-41, human expulsion and Jesus finding the healed man
- Acts 16:11-15, prayer outside the gate and Lydia's conversion
- Revelation 22:12-17, access to the city and those outside
- Leviticus 13:45-46, uncleanness and dwelling outside the camp
Ἔξω is an adverb of place and can function with verbs of motion or rest. A genitive or contextual boundary may specify “outside of” something. Figurative exclusion grows from the concrete spatial relation.
From Old to New Testament
The camp, city, sanctuary, and household all create inside-outside boundaries in Scripture. Jesus suffers outside the gate, seeks the rejected, and grants His cleansed people entry to the final city.
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