ἐκεῖσε

ekeîse

G1566 adverb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To that place, toward there; indicates movement or direction towards a location previously specified or understood. Primarily used to denote the endpoint or destination of an action or journey, especially in distinction from 'here' (ἐνθάδε) or 'from there' (ἐκεῖθεν). The sense is locative and directional, commonly referring to physical motion, but can also mark figurative transition.

Semantic Range

to that place, toward there, thither, in that direction, toward that locality, to the indicated place, can also mark a figurative goal or outcome

Root / Etymology

Adverb derived from ἐκεῖ ('there') with the directional suffix -σε, which expresses motion toward. Thus, literally 'to there' or 'thither.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical and Hellenistic Greek, ἐκεῖσε is the standard adverb for indicating motion toward a place that is distant from the speaker, often distinguished from ἐνθάδε ('here') and ἐκεῖ ('there,' static sense) or ἐκεῖθεν ('from there'). In the Septuagint and New Testament, the term is most often found in narrative contexts where a subject is sent, moves, or is directed to a different location (e.g., Matthew 2:22). Standard English translations vary between 'there,' 'thereunto,' or 'thither,' though 'there' does not always distinguish between static and directional senses as precisely as the Greek does. The directional adverb ἐκεῖσε becomes less common in later Hellenistic and Koine prose, replaced sometimes by periphrastic constructions. It does not carry theological or metaphorical senses on its own but is a neutral term for physical or conceptual direction. There is no ethnic, religious, or cultural specification in its use; its meaning is purely spatial or figurative by context.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from ἐκεῖ; thither:--there.

Root Family

ἐκεῖσε (ekeise) — to that place, toward there, thither

Root ἐκεῖ- to that place, toward there, thither

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G1566-01 ἐκεῖσε ekeise ADV there to that place there 2

Occurrences in Scripture

2 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G1566-01 Acts 21:3 ἐκεῖσε ekeise ADV there to that place there
G1566-01 Acts 22:5 ἐκεῖσε ekeise ADV there to that place there