Last updated October 23, 2026

Chapter 46 · Lesson 46.2 · Numbers

Numbers – Larger numbers and special uses

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The morphology of numbers in the hundreds and thousands places
The syntax of larger numbers
The semantics of some special uses of numbers

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ἡ σπουδή, -ῆς	the diligence	noun	B.a.α.i
προσδέχομαί τινα	(I) wait for something/one (acc)	verb	C.a.ζ
ἀπειθεῖ τινι	(he) is disobedient to something/one (dat)	verb	C.a.β
ἑβδομήκοντα	seventy	number
διακόσιοι	two hundred	number
πεντακισχίλιοι	five thousand	number

MorphologyMorphology: Numbers – Larger numbers & special uses

Numbers in the hundreds place add the suffix -ακόσιοι after the beginning of numbers 2 through 9, while 100 has its own word, ἑκατόν (compare to -η/ακοντα for forming numbers in the tens place; see 38.3.2)

Morphology: Numbers – Larger numbers & special uses

	ἑκατόν	600	ἑξ-ακόσιοι
200	δι-ακόσιοι	700	ἑπτ-ακόσιοι
300	τρι-ακόσιοι	800	ὀκτ-ακόσιοι
400	τετρ-ακόσιοι	900	ἐνν-ακόσιοι
500	πεντ-ακόσιοι

Numbers in the thousands place add the suffix -ακισχίλιοι except for 2,000 and 3,000 which have the suffix -σχίλιοι
Thousand-place numbers may also be written as the ones-digit number followed by the word ‘thousands’, χιλιάδες (from χιλιάς, ‘1000’), e.g. τρεῖς χιλιάδες, πέντε χιλιάδες

Morphology: Numbers – Larger numbers & special uses

	χίλιοι	6000	ἑξ-ακισχίλιοι
2000	δι-σχίλιοι	7000	ἑπτ-ακισχίλιοι
3000	τρι-σχίλιοι	8000	ὀκτ-ακισχίλιοι
4000	τετρ-ακισχίλιοι	9000	ἐνν-ακισχίλιοι
5000	πεντ-ακισχίλιοι	10000	δέκα χιλιάδες

SyntaxSyntax: Numbers – Larger numbers

When combining numbers, we often see καί used before the last number, but it may also be lacking:

Example 483καί before last number in ones place

τεσσεράκοντα καὶ ἕξ (John 2:20)

‘forty-six’

Example 484καί before last number in tens place

τετρακόσια καὶ τριάκοντα (Gal 3:17)

Four-hundred thirty

Example 485No καί (more common with bigger numbers)

ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες (Rev 7:4)

One-hundred forty-four thousand

Example 486Variation with καί

τριάκοντα καὶ ὀκτώ (some Greek manuscripts) (John 5:5)

τριάκοντα ὀκτώ (other Greek manuscripts)

Thirty-eight

Some of the larger numbers are not declinable, so the forms will be the same regardless of the case and gender of the noun they are modifying. They also have plural endings, since they refer to a number greater than one. However, whenever the unit of measurement is given and any of the numbers are declinable, all the numbers will agree with the case and gender of the noun the numbers modify:

Example 487Number agreeing with unit of measurement

ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τεσσάρων πηχῶν (Rev 21:17)

One hundred forty-four cubits

Because πηχῶν is a masc genitive noun, the last number τέσσαρες, which is declinable, agrees with it in case and gender.

SemanticsSemantics: Numbers – Special uses

Besides referencing a certain quantity, numbers also have other uses. For example, the repetition of a number is used to give the amount in each group:

Example 488Repeated number (amount per group)

καὶ ἤρξατο αὐτοὺς ἀποστέλλειν δύο δύο (Mark 6:7)

And he started to send them out two at a time

Another use of numbers is when they are used with the partitive genitive give a subset of a larger group:

Example 489With partitive genitive (number from a group)

ἀποστέλλει δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ (Mark 11:1)

(Jesus) sent two of his disciples

The genitive specifies that the total number of the disciples was greater than two, but Jesus only sent out two. At other times, a number is used with the plural article to refer to a group that consists of that number:

Example 490With plural article (a group of that number)

ὑπέστρεψαν δὲ οἱ ἑβδομήκοντα δύο (Luke 10:17)

The seventy-two returned

Ordinal numbers like τρίτον ‘third’ can refer to events that take place a certain number of times, particularly when used with the article:

(491) Ordinal number with article (an event happening that many times) ἔρχεται τὸ τρίτον (Mark 14:41)
He came a third time

Finally, numbers are used after words that refer to measurements of time like ἡμέρα and ἔτος to give the length of time:

Example 492ἡμέρα/ἔτος as length of time

ἔτη δεκαοκτώ (Luke 13:11)

For 18 years

With both ἡμέρα and ἔτος, the number sometimes combines with the unit of measurement:

Example 493Number combined with ἔτος

τεσσερακοντα ετῆ (Acts 13:18)

Forty years

Example 494Number combined with ἡμέρα

ὀκτα ήμερ ος (Phil 3:5)

Eighth day

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