What does κόπτω (kóptō) mean in the Bible?
κόπτω (kóptō): Beats breast in grief; physical gesture of mourning rather than mere lamentation or verbal expression
Greek · G2875
κόπτω
To "chop"; specially, to beat the breast in grief
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κόπτωG2875
Pronunciationkóptō
What does κόπτω (kóptō) mean in the Bible?
κόπτω (kóptō): Beats breast in grief; physical gesture of mourning rather than mere lamentation or verbal expression
Full entry for κόπτω (G2875) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2875?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include will mourn (2), cut (1), kept mourning (1), mourning for (1), they had cut (1).
Where does κόπτω (kóptō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (3), Luke (2), Revelation (2), Mark (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itwill mourn2×Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7
cut1×Matthew 21:8
kept mourning1×Luke 23:27
mourning for1×Luke 8:52
they had cut1×Mark 11:8
wail1×Revelation 18:9
you did not mourn1×Matthew 11:17
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 11:17ἐκόψασθεtoyou did not mournVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 2nd Person PluralMatthew 21:8ἔκοπτονtocutVerb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person PluralMatthew 24:30κόψονταιtowill mournVerb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person PluralMark 11:8κόψαντεςtothey had cutVerb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine PluralLuke 8:52ἐκόπτοντοtomourning forVerb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person PluralLuke 23:27ἐκόπτοντοtokept mourningVerb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person PluralRevelation 1:7κόψονταιtowill mournVerb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person PluralRevelation 18:9κόψονταιtowailVerb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 11:17
Aligned rows8
Books represented4
Matthew3Mark1Luke2Revelation2
Source forms
κόψονται3xkopsontaiMatthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 18:9
ἐκόπτοντο2xekoptontoLuke 8:52, Luke 23:27
ἔκοπτον1xekoptonMatthew 21:8
ἐκόψασθε1xekopsastheMatthew 11:17
κόψαντες1xkopsantesMark 11:8
Parsing patterns
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Plural3xMatthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 18:9
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Plural2xLuke 8:52, Luke 23:27
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 2nd Person Plural1xMatthew 11:17
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural1xMark 11:8
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural1xMatthew 21:8
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Beats breast in grief; physical gesture of mourning rather than mere lamentation or verbal expression
Strong'sG2875
Lexical occurrences8 versesGreek text appearances8 timesWord forms2 forms8 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
to "chop"; specially, to beat the breast in grief
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 11:17Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Middle Indicative
ἐκόψασθε.ekoyasqe
I cut off, mourn
Read verseMatthew 21:8Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἔκοπτονekopton
I cut off, mourn
Read verseMatthew 24:30Verb Third Person Plural Future Middle Deponent Indicative
κόψονταιkoyontai
I cut off, mourn
Read verseMark 11:8Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἔκοπτονekopton
I cut off, mourn
Read verseLuke 8:52Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Middle Indicative
ἐκόπτοντοekoptonto
I cut off, mourn
Read verseLuke 23:27Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Middle Indicative
ἐκόπτοντοekoptonto
I cut off, mourn
Read verseRevelation 1:7Verb Third Person Plural Future Middle Deponent Indicative
κόψονταιkoyontai
I cut off, mourn
Read verseRevelation 18:9Verb Third Person Plural Future Middle Deponent Indicative
κόψονταιkoyontai
I cut off, mourn
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 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.
Form groups2Aligned forms8TensesFuture, Imperfect, AoristVoicesMiddle, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality7×
Future MiddleMatt 24:30 · Rev 1:7 · Rev 18:93×
Imperfect MiddleLuke 8:52 · Luke 23:272×
Aorist MiddleMatt 11:171×
Imperfect ActiveMatt 21:81×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Aorist ActiveMark 11:81×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist2future2imperfect1
Voice
middle3active2
Mood
indicative4participle1
NT Occurrences
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)
Word Origins
κόπτω is a primary verb - no further derivation.