μετά G3326
With (genitive: accompaniment, association); after (accusative: temporal sequence) -- a core Greek preposition of proximity.
This versatile preposition governs two cases in the New Testament with sharply distinct meanings. With the genitive it expresses accompaniment and association -- 'with his mother Mary' (Matt 2:11), 'God with us' (Matt 1:23 via Emmanuel) -- and is one of the most common ways to say 'with' in Koine Greek. With the accusative it marks temporal succession, 'after,' as in 'after six days' (Matt 17:1) and 'after the tribulation' (Matt 24:29). The case distinction maps neatly onto separate lexical items in target languages: Spanish 'con' vs. 'despues de,' French 'avec' vs. 'apres,' German 'mit' vs. 'nach.'
Senses
1. with — Accompaniment, association, or participation, governing the genitive case. With 368 occurrences this is the primary sense: being with someone (Matt 2:3, Herod 'with all Jerusalem'), acting together (Matt 5:41, 'go with him two miles'), or possessing an attendant quality. The cross-linguistic evidence is perfectly uniform: spa 'con,' fra 'avec,' deu 'mit,' all dedicated accompaniment markers. Key passages: Matt 2:11 ('with his mother'), Matt 26:38 ('stay here and watch with me'). 368×
AR["بِـ", "مَعَ", "مَعَهُ"]·ben["-সঙ্গে", "সঙ্গে", "সাথে"]·DE["mit"]·EN["with", "with-"]·FR["avec-"]·heb["אִתִּי", "אִתָּם", "בְּ-", "עִם", "עִם-", "עִם־"]·HI["-के-सअथ", "साथ"]·ID["bersama", "bersama-", "dengan"]·IT["con"]·jav["mawi", "sareng", "sesarengan", "sesarengan-kaliyan"]·KO["-와-함께", "~와-함께"]·PT["com", "consigo"]·RU["с", "с-", "со"]·ES["con"]·SW["bwana-arusi", "kwa", "pamoja-na", "pamoja-na-", "pamoja-nami", "pamoja-naye", "wale", "waliokuwa-naye"]·TR["-ile", "-le", "-yle", "ile", "yanında"]·urd["-کے-ساتھ", "ساتھ"]
2. after — Temporal succession or sequence, governing the accusative case, meaning 'after.' With 105 occurrences it introduces time expressions: 'after six days' (Matt 17:1), 'after two days' (Matt 26:2), 'after the tribulation of those days' (Matt 24:29). The temporal sense triggers entirely different vocabulary in target languages: spa 'despues de,' deu 'nach,' while French sometimes still maps to 'avec' in gloss data, likely reflecting a default rendering. The case-based polysemy is a hallmark of Greek prepositional flexibility. 105×
AR["بَعدَ", "بَعْدَ", "بَعْدَمَا", "وَ-بَعْدَ"]·ben["-পরে", "পরে"]·DE["mit", "mit-"]·EN["After-", "after", "after-"]·FR["avec-"]·heb["אַחֲרֵי", "אַחַר"]·HI["-के-बअद", "-के-बाद", "के", "बाद"]·ID["Setelah", "sesudah", "setelah"]·IT["con"]·jav["Sasampunipun", "dinten", "sasampunipun", "sawisé"]·KO["-후에", "~후에", "후", "후에"]·PT["Depois", "Depois-de", "após", "depois", "depois-de"]·RU["После", "После-", "после", "после-", "через", "через-"]·ES["Después-de", "después-de"]·SW["-", "Baada-ya", "baada-ya", "baada-ya-"]·TR["-dan-sonra", "-den-sonra", "Sonra", "sonra"]·urd["بعد"]
Matt 1:12, Matt 17:1, Matt 24:29, Matt 25:19, Matt 26:2, Matt 26:32, Matt 26:73, Matt 27:53, Matt 27:62, Matt 27:63, Mark 1:14, Mark 8:31 (+38 more)
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μετά [ᾰ, but ᾱ in Refs 5th c.BC+], poetry μεταί, uncertain, only in μεταιβολί; Aeolic dialect, Doric dialect, Refs 4th c.AD+: preposition with genitive, dative, and accusative (Cf. Goth. mip, OHG. miti, mit 'with'.) __A WITH GEN. (in which use μ. gradually superseded σύν, which see), __A.I in the midst of, among, between, with plural Nouns, μετ᾽ ἄλλων λέξο ἑταίρων Refs 8th c.BC+ with one, Refs…