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Particle · Grammar concept
Particle: ὅπως
ὅπως is a particle topic in Koine (biblical) Greek. This page gathers its forms, paradigms, and function, drawn from the lessons of Reading Greek Deeply.
SyntaxParticle – ἄν
The particle ἄν is used in a variety of seemingly disparate contexts. After relative pronouns, it refers to hypothetical situations or habituals; in conditionals, it is found in the then -statement (apodosis), especially after counterfactuals; in temporal clauses, it is used with ὡς and ἕως to refer to a future event; with the existential quantifier τὶ ‘some’, it is used to yield a universal interpretation ‘whatever’; and it is occasionally found with ὅπως ‘so that’ in purpose/result clauses.
- (608) Hypothetical situation after relative pronoun
- πᾶς ὃς ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁμολογήσει ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀγγέλων τοῦ θεοῦ (Luke 12:8)
- All who would confess me before people, the son of man also will confess him before the angels of God
fromLesson 50.4
SyntaxConjunction – ὅπως
Like ἵνα and ὥστε, ὅπως can introduce the purpose for which an action is undertaken.
- (614) Purpose introduced with ὅπως
- καὶ εἶδεν ἄνδρα ἐν ὁράματι Ἁνανίαν ὀνόματι εἰσελθόντα καὶ ἐπιθέντα αὐτῷ τὰς χεῖρας ὅπως ἀναβλέψῃ (Acts 9:12) ‘And he saw a man in a vision named Ananias coming and placing his hands on him, so that he could see.’
Besides this use, ὅπως seems to be able to introduce a complement clause after verbs of asking, though in some examples, it is difficult to tell if ὅπως is introducing the content of what is being requested or the reason for the request.
| Use | Conjunction |
|---|---|
| Purpose clause | ἵνα (Mark 7:9); ὥστε (Matt 10:1); ὅπως (Acts 9:12) |
| Real-world result clause | ὥστε (Mark 15:5); ἵνα (John 9:2) |
| Evidential result | ὥστε (Mark 2:28) |
| Speech-act result | ὥστε (1 Thess 4:18) |
| Content after modal verbs | ἵνα (Matt 7:12) |
| Content after verbs of asking | ἵνα (Mark 7:26); ὅπως (Luke 7:3) |
fromLesson 50.4
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New Testament text shown on hover: Greek from the SBLGNT, © 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0; English from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain).