1. or (disjunctive) — Disjunctive conjunction presenting alternatives: 'or, either...or.' The primary and overwhelmingly dominant sense of ἤ in the NT (312+ occurrences). Uniformly rendered Ger. 'oder,' Fr. 'ou,' Heb. 'אוֹ,' Kor. '또는,' Hin. 'या,' Spa. 'o,' Arb. 'أَوْ.' Used in questions (Matt 9:5 'which is easier...or'), lists of alternatives (Matt 5:17-18, 6:24-25, 7:4/9/10/16), and conditional/hypothetical pairings (Matt 12:33 'Either make the tree good...or make it bad'). The cluster labeled 'Either' (68871, Matt 12:33) is simply a sentence-initial capitalization of this same disjunctive sense, not a distinct meaning. 313×
AR["أَم","أَو","أَوْ","إِمّا"]·ben["অথবা","নাকি","বা","হয়"]·DE["oder"]·EN["Or","either-","or","or-"]·FR["ou"]·heb["אוֹ"]·HI["यअ","या"]·ID["Atau","atau","karena"]·IT["o"]·jav["amargi","utawi"]·KO["또는"]·PT["ou"]·RU["Или","или"]·ES["o"]·SW["au","kwa-maana-ama"]·TR["ya","ya-da"]·urd["یا"]
Matt 5:17, Matt 5:18, Matt 5:36, Matt 6:24, Matt 6:24, Matt 6:25, Matt 6:31, Matt 6:31, Matt 7:4, Matt 7:9, Matt 7:10, Matt 7:16 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. than (comparative) — Comparative conjunction following comparative adjectives or adverbs: 'than.' Cross-linguistically distinguished from the disjunctive 'or' by translation into comparative particles: Arb. 'مِنْ,' Eng. 'than,' Hin. 'से/य,' Kor. '~보다,' Spa. 'que,' while Ger. retains 'oder' and Fr. retains 'ou' (ambiguous). Heb. uses the comparative preposition 'מִן/מֵ.' Found after comparatives like 'more tolerable...than' (Matt 10:15, 11:22/24), 'better...than' (Matt 18:8-9, Mark 9:43/45/47), 'easier for a camel...than' (Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 9:13), etc. The single occurrence in Acts 17:21 (68870) shows identical comparative function and merges with the main cluster. 39×
AR["أَكْثَرَ-مِنْ","مِن","مِنَ","مِنْ"]·ben["-চেয়ে","অথবা","অপেক্ষা","চেয়ে"]·DE["oder","oder-"]·EN["than","than-"]·FR["ou"]·heb["מִ-","מִן-לַ-","מִן-לָ-","מֵ","מֵ-"]·HI["-से","अपेक्षा","इससे-कि","य","या","से","से-अधिक"]·ID["daripada"]·IT["o"]·jav["katimbang","langkung","tinimbang","utawi"]·KO["-보다","~보다","보다","혹은"]·PT["do-que"]·RU["нежели","чем"]·ES["que"]·SW["kuliko","tajiri"]·TR["-dan","-den","-den-daha","-yerine","dan","ya-da"]·urd["بجائے","بجائے-کہ","بنسبت","بہ-نسبت","سے","یا"]
Matt 10:15, Matt 11:22, Matt 11:24, Matt 18:8, Matt 18:9, Matt 18:13, Matt 19:24, Mark 6:11, Mark 9:43, Mark 9:45, Mark 9:47, Mark 10:25 (+27 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἤ, Epic dialect also ἠέ (in signification Refs 4th c.BC+, conjunction with two chief senses, Disj. (or) and comparative (than). __A DISJUNCTIVE, or, ἐγὼ.. ἢ ἄλλος Ἀχαιῶν Refs 8th c.BC+; θεόσυτος ἢ βρότειος ἢ κεκραμένη Refs 4th c.BC+ __A.2 ἢ.. ἤ either.. or, ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ᾽ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα Refs 8th c.BC+, etc.; so ἢ.. ἤτοι.. Refs 5th c.BC+ is emphasized, later no distinction is implied,…