To have/be
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Echo means to have, hold, possess, receive, or be in a particular state. Its range is ordinary enough to describe having a place to lay one's head and weighty enough to describe having eternal life, peace with God, a great high priest, or the Son Himself.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἔχω (G2192) · Open the biblical lexicon
Echo means to have, hold, possess, receive, or be in a particular state. Its range is ordinary enough to describe having a place to lay one's head and weighty enough to describe having eternal life, peace with God, a great high priest, or the Son Himself.
The BSB source-word alignment has 708 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include has (63), have (51), vvv (38), with (35), you have (27).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (100), John (87), Luke (77), Matthew (74).
This entry includes 5 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Echo means to have, hold, possess, receive, or be in a particular state. Its range is ordinary enough to describe having a place to lay one's head and weighty enough to describe having eternal life, peace with God, a great high priest, or the Son Himself. The word does not make possession mechanical. It asks what is held, who gives it, and what relationship the sentence describes.
In John's writings, 'have' language often carries assurance because life is received in relation to the Son. In Romans and Hebrews, believers have peace and priestly access because of Christ's completed work. Echo therefore helps teachers distinguish fragile feelings from promised realities while avoiding careless formulas. The object of the verb and the gospel context decide what the having means.
Echo is a common verb for having, holding, possessing, or being in a state. In key New Testament texts it names realities granted by God in Christ, such as eternal life, peace with God, and a great high priest, while also retaining ordinary uses.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus promises that the one who believes in the Son shall have eternal life, placing life in relation to God's giving of His Son.
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
Jesus says the hearer who believes has eternal life and has crossed from death to life, giving present assurance in His word.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Justified believers have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, so the verb names a reconciled standing rather than a passing mood.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.
Believers have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, grounding endurance and confession in Jesus' priestly work.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
John states the issue sharply: whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son does not have life.
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
Jesus' lack of a place to lay His head shows the ordinary range of having language and the costliness of following the Son of Man.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Possesses or holds; in periphrasis expresses qualities, relationships, or states more vividly than simple verbs alone
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 710 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
Read verseI have, hold, possess
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 697 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 706 lexical occurrence verses.
ἔχω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Indicates fruit that accompanies genuine salvation. Hebrews 6:9-12
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Echo is simple enough that readers can overlook it, but the New Testament often places heavy promises in its hands. John 5:24 says the believer has eternal life and has crossed from death to life. Romans 5:1 says justified believers have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14 says believers have a great high priest, so they hold fast their confession.
First John 5:12 says having the Son and having life belong together. None of these statements makes salvation a possession detached from Christ. The having is relational, covenantal, and received. It rests on God's gift of the Son, Christ's priestly work, and the believer's union with Him. At the same time, Matthew 8:20 reminds readers that echo remains an ordinary verb too.
Context decides when 'have' carries assurance, cost, standing, or possession.
1John.5.12
Echo's force is controlled by its object and context. It can speak of possession, relationship, condition, ability, or standing. Teachers should not load the verb with one theological sense everywhere; instead, they should ask whether the object is material, relational, spiritual, forensic, or pastoral.
The Old Testament often speaks of God's people receiving inheritance, peace, priestly mediation, and life from the Lord rather than securing them by strength. The New Testament sharpens that gift pattern in Christ: believers have life because the Father gives the Son, have peace because they are justified, and have access because the Son is their high priest. Echo serves that larger biblical movement from God's promised provision to possession in Christ.
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