αὐτός (G846) — Greek Lexicon

αὐτός

autós

G846 personal pronoun

SILEX Entry

Definition

A third-person pronoun with the core meaning 'he, she, it,' referring to a person or thing previously mentioned or understood in context. Also used as an intensive pronoun with the sense 'he/she/it himself/herself/itself,' and as an adjective meaning 'the same' (when preceded by the article). Its usage varies by syntactical position: as a pronoun for reference and as an adjective for emphasis or identification. The semantic range covers third-person reference, reflexive emphasis, and adjectival identity.

Semantic Range

he, she, it, they (third-person pronoun); himself, herself, itself, themselves (intensive/emphatic); the same (identificatory adjective with article); this/that one; occasionally used for emphasis or contrast

Root / Etymology

From the Greek root αυτ-; the origin is pre-Greek Indo-European, functioning across ancient Greek dialects as the standard third-person pronoun and as an intensifier. Not related to ἀήρ or a 'baffling wind.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical Greek, αὐτός serves both as a third-person pronoun and for emphatic or intensive use (e.g., αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνήρ, 'the man himself'). In Koine Greek, including the Septuagint and New Testament, it largely replaces the classical pronoun ὅς as the standard third-person pronoun, while still retaining its intensifying and demonstrative uses. With the definite article, it takes on the sense 'the same' (e.g., ὁ αὐτός, 'the same one'). Translation tradition renders it with English pronouns ('he, she, it, they, them') or intensively ('himself,' 'herself'). English versions may not consistently reflect its emphatic or intensive sense where contextually present. No connection exists between αὐτός and the notion of reflexivity found in forms like ἑαυτοῦ ('of himself'), which is a different construction. Differentiated from the enclitic pronouns (μου, σου, etc., for first and second persons) and demonstratives (οὗτος, ἐκεῖνος).

Translation Consistency

primary "him" 33 occurrences

'him' is the most frequent natural-English rendering in the corpus and best captures the typical third‑person reference of αὐτός in object and emphatic uses. It is a simple, natural pronoun that can be consistently applied across forms; rarer senses (the same, reflexive emphases, feminine/plural contexts) will be handled by contextual inflection or annotation rather than choosing a less common base form.

Alternatives (17 occurrences):

"them" (9x) "her" (5x) "himself" (2x) "they" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from the particle (perhaps akin to the base of ἀήρ through the idea of a baffling wind) (backward); the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative ἑαυτοῦ) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons:--her, it(-self), one, the other, (mine) own, said, (self-), the) same, ((him-, my-, thy- )self, (your-)selves, she, that, their(-s), them(-selves), there(-at, - by, -in, -into, -of, -on, -with), they, (these) things, this (man), those, together, very, which. Compare αὑτοῦ.

Root Family

αὐτ- (heautoû) — self, own, oneself

Root αὐτ- self, same, he/she/it (third-person pronoun)

Strong's	Lemma	SIBI-P1
G1438	ἑαυτοῦ	yourselves
G5024	ταὐτά	these things
G847	αὐτοῦ	of him
G848	αὑτοῦ

Word Forms

13 distinct forms

SIDANCE	Surface	Transliteration	Morphology	Common	SIBI-P1	SIBI-P2	Occurrences
`G846-10`	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	him	of them	him	1521
`G846-12`	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him	1416
`G846-07`	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	to him	to him	to him	961
`G846-09`	αὐτοῖς	autois	`PRO.P 3P DAT M PL`	to them	to them	to him (to them)	558
`G846-13`	αὐτοὺς	autous	`PRO.P 3P ACC M PL`	them	them	them	360
`G846-06`	αὐτῆς	autes	`PRO.P 3P GEN F SG`	her	of her	of him (her)	168
`G846-11`	αὐτὸς	autos	`PRO.P 3P NOM M SG`	he	he himself	he himself	166
`G846-05`	αὐτὴν	auten	`PRO.P 3P ACC F SG`	it	her	her	138
`G846-04`	αὐτῇ	aute	`PRO.P 3P DAT F SG`	to her	to her	to her	119
`G846-08`	αὐτοὶ	autoi	`PRO.P 3P NOM M PL`	they	they themselves	they themselves	86
`G846-01`	αὐτά	auta	`PRO.P 3P ACC N PL`	them	them	them	56
`G846-02`	αὐταῖς	autais	`PRO.P 3P DAT F PL`	them	to them	them	20
`G846-03`	αὐτὰς	autas	`PRO.P 3P ACC F PL`	them	them	him (them)	12

Occurrences in Scripture

5581 occurrences

SIDANCE	Reference	Word	Transliteration	Morphology	Common	SIBI-P1	SIBI-P2
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:2	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:11	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:18	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-13`	Matthew 1:18	αὐτοὺς	autous	`PRO.P 3P ACC M PL`	them	them	them
`G846-06`	Matthew 1:19	αὐτῆς	autes	`PRO.P 3P GEN F SG`	her	of her	of him (her)
`G846-05`	Matthew 1:19	αὐτὴν	auten	`PRO.P 3P ACC F SG`	her	her	her
`G846-05`	Matthew 1:19	αὐτήν	auten-2	`PRO.P 3P ACC F SG`	her	her	her
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:20	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	of him	of him	of him
`G846-07`	Matthew 1:20	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	to him	to him	to him
`G846-04`	Matthew 1:20	αὐτῇ	aute	`PRO.P 3P DAT F SG`	her	to her	to her
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:21	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-11`	Matthew 1:21	αὐτὸς	autos	`PRO.P 3P NOM M SG`	he	he himself	he himself
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:21	αὐτοῦ	autou-2	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-10`	Matthew 1:21	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	their	of them	of them
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:23	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-07`	Matthew 1:24	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	him	to him	to him
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:24	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-05`	Matthew 1:25	αὐτὴν	auten	`PRO.P 3P ACC F SG`	her	her	her
`G846-12`	Matthew 1:25	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:2	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	His	of him	of him
`G846-07`	Matthew 2:2	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	Him	to him	to him
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:3	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	him	of him	him
`G846-10`	Matthew 2:4	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	them	of them	them
`G846-07`	Matthew 2:5	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	to him	to him	to him
`G846-10`	Matthew 2:7	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	them	of them	of them
`G846-13`	Matthew 2:8	αὐτοὺς	autous	`PRO.P 3P ACC M PL`	them	them	them
`G846-07`	Matthew 2:8	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	him	to him	to him
`G846-13`	Matthew 2:9	αὐτούς	autous	`PRO.P 3P ACC M PL`	them	them	them
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:11	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-07`	Matthew 2:11	αὐτῷ	auto	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	him	to him	to him
`G846-10`	Matthew 2:11	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	their	of them	of them
`G846-07`	Matthew 2:11	αὐτῷ	auto-2	`PRO.P 3P DAT M SG`	to him	to him	to him
`G846-10`	Matthew 2:12	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	own	of them	of them
`G846-10`	Matthew 2:13	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	them	of them	they
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:13	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-07`	Matthew 2:13	αὐτό	auto	`PRO.P 3P ACC N SG`	him	to him	to him
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:14	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-06`	Matthew 2:16	αὐτῆς	autes	`PRO.P 3P GEN F SG`	its	of her	of him (her)
`G846-06`	Matthew 2:18	αὐτῆς	autes	`PRO.P 3P GEN F SG`	her	of her	her
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:20	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:21	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 2:22	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 3:3	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-11`	Matthew 3:4	αὐτὸς	autos	`PRO.X 3P NOM M SG`	Now John himself	he himself	he himself
`G846-12`	Matthew 3:4	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 3:4	αὐτοῦ	autou-2	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-12`	Matthew 3:4	αὐτοῦ	autou-3	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	his	of him	of him
`G846-10`	Matthew 3:5	αὐτὸν	auton	`PRO.P 3P ACC M SG`	him	of them	him
`G846-12`	Matthew 3:6	αὐτοῦ	autou	`PRO.P 3P GEN M SG`	him	of him	him
`G846-10`	Matthew 3:6	αὐτῶν	auton	`PRO.P 3P GEN M PL`	their	of them	of them

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