Easier compares two possibilities or actions. Jesus asks whether it is easier to say that sins are forgiven or to tell a paralyzed man to get up and walk, then demonstrates the Son of Man's authority to forgive.
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Reader summary
Full entry for εὐκοπώτερος (G2123) · Open the biblical lexicon
Easier compares two possibilities or actions. Jesus asks whether it is easier to say that sins are forgiven or to tell a paralyzed man to get up and walk, then demonstrates the Son of Man's authority to forgive.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include easier (4), easier for (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 9:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Mark (2), Matthew (2).
Easier compares two possibilities or actions. Jesus asks whether it is easier to say that sins are forgiven or to tell a paralyzed man to get up and walk, then demonstrates the Son of Man's authority to forgive. He also says a camel passing through a needle's eye is easier than a rich person entering God's kingdom, leading the disciples to ask who can be saved.
Another comparison says heaven and earth passing away is easier than a stroke dropping from the Law. The word itself does not announce that discipleship is easy. These particular comparisons expose Jesus' authority, human inability, and the enduring weight of God's word. Read both sides of the comparison and the explanation that follows.
Jesus' easier comparisons concern saying forgiveness or healing words, wealth and kingdom entry, and the Law's endurance; their point depends on each paired comparison and conclusion.
Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
Jesus compares what is easier to say before healing the man so the observers may know the Son of Man's authority to forgive sins.
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The camel comparison intensifies the difficulty of kingdom entry and prompts the disciples' salvation question, answered with God's possibility beyond human inability.
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
The comparison with heaven and earth passing emphasizes the Law's endurance, within Jesus' teaching rather than an invitation to disregard God's word.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. easy
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
easier
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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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
εὐκοπώτερος is built from these roots:
Jesus' question at the paralytic's healing is about what is easier to say. The subsequent command and healing serve His explicit declaration that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Reading the comparative without that conclusion misses the scene's center. The camel comparison similarly should be followed through to the disciples' astonished question and Jesus' answer about what is possible with God.
It does not offer a smaller obstacle that resourceful people can manage. Luke's comparison concerning the Law establishes a third movement, emphasizing endurance rather than healing or wealth. A word study serves readers when it keeps these arguments separate and complete. The small comparative contributes to each argument; it does not replace Jesus' whole teaching with a general message about ease.
Matt.9.5
The licensed comparator includes the comparative easier, and Matthew 9:5's direct row is a comparative adjective. This is not the same word as the BSB's easy yoke wording elsewhere; no cross-word identity is inferred.
The forgiveness and Law comparisons can be read within the wider canon, but this comparative does not prove an Old Testament quotation on its own. Salvation's dependence on God comes from Jesus' explicit answer, not from the adjective's structure.