ἑαυτοῦ G0848
Reflexive pronoun of the third person: himself, herself, themselves; occasionally a simple personal pronoun in Koine
The Greek reflexive pronoun heautou directs an action back toward its subject: himself, herself, themselves. In most New Testament uses, the reflexive force is clear, as when Jesus 'did not entrust himself' to the crowd (John 2:24) or when the disciples 'went away to their own homes' (John 20:10). Yet Koine Greek loosened the boundary between reflexive and personal pronouns, and in a few passages heautou functions as a simple 'him' or 'them' without genuine self-reference, a development well attested in the papyri.
Senses
1. reflexive self-reference — True reflexive self-reference, where the pronoun turns the action back upon the grammatical subject. This covers the large majority of occurrences: Jesus does not entrust himself (John 2:24), God glorifies himself (John 13:32), former enemies become friends 'to themselves' (Luke 23:12). English consistently uses 'himself/herself/themselves,' Spanish 'a si mismo/a,' French 'lui-meme/elle-meme,' and German 'sich/ihm,' all marking genuine reflexivity. 11×
AR["أَنْفُسَهُمْ", "أَنْفُسِهِما", "أَنْفُسِهِمْ", "ذاتِهِ", "لِنَفْسِهِ", "نَفسَهُ", "نَفسِهِ", "نَفْسَ", "نَفْسَها", "نَفْسِهِ"]·ben["তাঁর-কাছে", "তার", "নিজেকে", "নিজেতে", "নিজেদের", "নিজের"]·DE["ihm", "ihn", "sie", "αὑτούς", "αὑτὸν"]·EN["herself", "himself", "themselves", "to-himself"]·FR["elle", "eux", "lui", "à-lui"]·heb["אֶת-עַצְמָהּ", "אֶת-עַצְמָם", "אֶת-עַצְמוֹ", "וֹ", "לְעַצְמוֹ", "עַצְמָם", "עַצְמוֹ"]·HI["अपने", "अपने-अअप-को", "अपने-अअप-मेइन", "अपने-आप", "अपने-आप-को", "अपने-आप-में", "अपने-में", "आपस-में"]·ID["diri-Nya", "diri-Nya,", "diri-mereka", "diri-mereka-sendiri", "dirinya", "dirinya-sendiri", "dirinya;", "kepada diri-Nya", "satu-sama-lain"]·IT["a-lui", "essi", "lui", "sé-stessa"]·jav["Panjenenganipun-piyambak", "Panjenenganipun-piyambak,", "dhateng-Panjenenganipun", "piyambak", "piyambakipun", "piyambakipun-piyambak,", "pribadinipun", "sesami"]·KO["그-자신에게,", "자기-안에", "자기-안에서", "자기-자신에게", "자기들", "자기들-을", "자기들끼리", "자기에게", "자신-을", "자신을"]·PT["a-si", "a-si-mesma", "a-si-mesmo", "a-si-mesmos", "si-mesmo", "si-mesmo,", "si-mesmo;", "si-mesmos"]·RU["Себе", "Себе,", "Себя", "себе", "себе.", "себя", "собою"]·ES["*", "-a-sí-mismo", "a-sí-misma", "a-sí-mismo", "sí-mismo", "sí-mismos"]·SW["kila", "kwake", "mwenyewe", "wao-wenyewe", "wenyewe", "yake", "yeye-mwenyewe"]·TR["Kendinde", "birbirlerine", "esenlik", "kendilerine", "kendilerini", "kendinde", "kendini", "kendisine", "kendisini"]·urd["آپس", "اپنے-آپ", "اپنے-آپ-کو", "اپنے-آپ-کے", "اپنے-آپ؛", "خود"]
2. simple third-person pronoun — Non-reflexive third-person pronoun, a Koine development where heautou replaces the simple autos without true reflexive meaning. In Mark 9:16 and Acts 10:21, the pronoun serves as a loose 'him' or 'them' rather than indicating self-directed action. Spanish uses 'el/ellos,' French 'lui/eux,' mirroring the shift. This blurring of reflexive and personal pronouns is well documented in Hellenistic papyri and reflects everyday spoken Greek rather than literary precision. 2×
AR["أَنْفُسِكُمْ", "هُ"]·ben["তাঁর", "তাদের"]·DE["sie", "αὑτόν}"]·EN["him", "them"]·FR["eux", "lui"]·heb["-ָם", "אֵלָיו"]·HI["आपस", "उसके"]·ID["dia}", "mereka"]·IT["essi", "lui"]·jav["panjenenganipun-piyambak},", "piyambakipun-sedaya"]·KO["그-에게", "자신들"]·PT["eles"]·RU["нему", "ними"]·ES["ellos", "él"]·SW["wao", "yeye},"]·TR["ona", "onlarla"]·urd["اُس", "اُن"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἑαυτοῦ, ῆς, οῦ, ἑαυτῷ, ῇ, ῷ, ἑαυτόν, ήν, ό, plural ἑαυτῶν, ἑαυτοῖς, ἑαυτούς άς, ά: Ionic dialect ἑωυτοῦ Refs 5th c.BC+; also ωὑτῆς Refs 3rd c.BC+ in Papyrus and Inscrr., as Refs 1st c.BC+: Attic dialect contraction αὑτοῦ, etc., which is the usual form in Trag., though ἑαυτοῦ, etc., are used (though rarely) when the metre requires, Refs 4th c.BC+; Cretan dialect ϝιαυτοῦ Kohler-Ziebarth Stadtrecht…