Last updated
Preposition · Grammar concept
Preposition: Preposition ἀπό ‘from’
Preposition ἀπό ‘from’ is a preposition topic in Koine (biblical) Greek. This page gathers its forms, paradigms, and function, drawn from the lessons of Reading Greek Deeply.
GrammarPreposition ἀπό ‘from’
Prepositions ending in vowels (like ἀπό) often have special elision rules, which is when one sound drops out. We will call this class “elision prepositions,” and they will usually follow the rules outlined below for ἀπό (variations will be mentioned).
fromLesson 4.4
MorphologyPreposition – ἀπό + genitive
- When the word following ἀπό begins with a consonant, there are no spelling changes.
- Whenever the word following ἀπό begins with a vowel, the final ο is replaced with an apostrophe.
- When ἀπό is followed by a word beginning with a rough breathing mark on a vowel, the π becomes φ.
- ἀπό requires a noun in gen case.
| ἀπό + consonant | ἀπὸσκηνῆς |
|---|---|
| ἀπό + smooth vowel | ἀπ’ἀνθρώπου |
| ἀπό + rough vowel | ἀφ’ἵππου |
fromLesson 4.4
SemanticsPreposition – ἀπό + genitive
Prepositions with genitive case often indicate motion or direction away from something. Accordingly, ἀπό is often used with motion verbs to indicate movement away from a location or person:
- (39) Movement away from a location
Lot went out ἀπό [from] Sodom (Luke 17:29)
- (40) Movement away from a person
fromLesson 4.4
Become a fluent reader of the biblical languages
This Greek wiki is like a bike manual - it explains the mechanics of Greek. The Biblingo app trains you to ride the bike. Spend 15 minutes a day in the app, and you will build reading fluency in Koine Greek. Start a free 10-day trial in minutes and start building reading fluency today.
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).