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.'
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"]
Matt 2:3, Matt 2:11, Matt 4:21, Matt 5:25, Matt 5:41, Matt 8:11, Matt 9:11, Matt 9:15, Matt 12:3, Matt 12:4, Matt 12:30, Matt 12:30 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
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…