ἐκδημέω
ekdēméō
G1553 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To be away from one's home, to reside or remain in a place other than one's native or usual dwelling. Primarily refers to being physically absent from one's home or civic community; used figuratively to express absence from one's present body or life, especially in contexts contrasting earthly and heavenly existence.
Semantic Range
to be away from one's native place, to reside abroad, to be absent from home or one's community, figuratively to be separated from one's physical body (especially in eschatological contexts), to be a sojourner
Root / Etymology
From ἐκ ('out of') and δῆμος ('country, people, district'); thus originally meaning 'to be out of the people/country.'
Historical & Contextual Notes
Attested in Hellenistic and Koine Greek, ἐκδημέω occurs rarely in classical literature and is found primarily in later literary, philosophical, and epistolary usage (e.g., Philo, Josephus, NT epistles). In the New Testament (notably 2 Corinthians 5:6, 5:8), it expresses the concept of being 'away from home' in a literal or metaphorical sense—often in rhetorical contrast to ἐνδημέω ('to be at home/in one's country'). In philosophical and early Christian contexts, it is used to discuss the soul's residency in or absence from the body, contrasting earthly life with a hoped-for existence with God. Standard English translations restrict the sense to 'be absent,' but the underlying image is one of being a sojourner or emigrant, not simply missing or not present.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from a compound of ἐκ and δῆμος; to emigrate, i.e. (figuratively) vacate or quit:--be absent.
Root Family
δημ- (Dēmâs) — of the people, community-related (when seen in related terms; as a name, functions only as a proper noun)
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| G1214 | Δημᾶς | Demas |
| G1219 | δημόσιος | in public |
| G1927 | ἐπιδημέω | residing among the people |
| G3927 | παρεπίδημος | resident aliens |
| G590 | ἀπόδημος | one away from home |
Word Forms
3 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G1553-01 |
ἐκδημῆσαι | ekdemesai | V AOR ACT INF |
to be absent | to be away from home | to be away from home | 1 |
G1553-02 |
ἐκδημοῦμεν | ekdemoumen | V PRS ACT IND 1P PL |
we are absent | we are away from home | we are away from home | 1 |
G1553-03 |
ἐκδημοῦντες | ekdemountes | V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M PL |
away | being away from home | being away from home | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
3 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G1553-02 |
2 Corinthians 5:6 | ἐκδημοῦμεν | ekdemoumen | V PRS ACT IND 1P PL |
we are absent | we are away from home | we are away from home |
G1553-01 |
2 Corinthians 5:8 | ἐκδημῆσαι | ekdemesai | V AOR ACT INF |
to be absent | to be away from home | to be away from home |
G1553-03 |
2 Corinthians 5:9 | ἐκδημοῦντες | ekdemountes | V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M PL |
away | being away from home | being away from home |