ποῦ G4226
An interrogative adverb meaning 'where?' — used to ask about location, destination, or (rarely) general indefinite place.
The Greek interrogative ποῦ asks 'where?' and appears 46 times in the New Testament, almost always as a direct or indirect question about location or destination. It opens some of Scripture's most dramatic questions: 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?' (Matt 2:2), 'Where do You want us to prepare the Passover?' (Matt 26:17), and Jesus' penetrating 'The foxes have holes... but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head' (Matt 8:20). Translations are remarkably uniform — Spanish 'dónde/adónde,' French 'où,' German 'wo' — reflecting the word's straightforward interrogative force.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Direct or indirect interrogative 'where?' asking about place, location, or destination. This covers virtually all NT uses (45 of 46). Spanish distinguishes static 'dónde' from directional 'adónde,' revealing a subtle locative-vs-allative nuance the Greek leaves unmarked. Key passages include the Magi's question in Matt 2:2, Jesus' question about Lazarus in John 11:34 ('Where have you laid him?'), and the repeated Johannine theme of origin — 'Where is your Father?' (John 8:19). In indirect questions it follows verbs of knowing or seeking: 'they did not know where it came from' (John 2:9). 45×
AR["أَينَ", "أَيْنَ", "إلى-أَينَ", "حَيْثُ"]·ben["কোথায়"]·DE["wo"]·EN["Where", "where"]·FR["où"]·heb["אֵיפֹה", "אַיֵּה", "לְאָן"]·HI["कहाँ", "कहां", "कहां?"]·ID["Di-mana", "Di-manakah", "Ke-manakah", "di-mana", "di-manakah", "ke-mana", "tempat"]·IT["dove?"]·jav["Ing-pundi", "Wonten-ing-pundi", "Wonten-pundi", "Wonten-pundi,", "papan", "pundi", "wonten-ing-pundi", "wonten-pundi", "wonten-pundi?"]·KO["어디로", "어디서", "어디에", "어디에서"]·PT["Onde", "Para-onde", "onde", "para-onde"]·RU["Где", "Куда", "где", "куда"]·ES["Adónde", "Dónde", "a-dónde", "adónde", "donde", "dónde"]·SW["Ataenda-wapi", "Iko-wapi", "Wapi", "Yuko-wapi", "mahali", "ninaenda-wapi", "wako-wapi", "wapi"]·TR["Nerede", "Nereye", "nerede", "nereye"]·urd["کہاں"]
Matt 2:2, Matt 2:4, Matt 8:20, Matt 26:17, Mark 14:12, Mark 14:14, Luke 8:25, Luke 9:58, Luke 12:17, Luke 17:17, Luke 17:37, Luke 22:9 (+33 more)
2. sense 2 — An indefinite or rhetorical usage approaching 'anywhere, at any point.' Heb 2:16 (ποῦ with an indefinite force in context) stands alone in this category. Spanish 'en algún lugar' and the shift from a question mark to a statement suggest a quasi-adverbial meaning — 'surely not... anywhere' — rather than a true locative question. This marginal sense reflects Classical Greek's occasional use of ποῦ for indefinite or inferential force. 1×
AR["فِي-أَيِّ-مَكَانٍ"]·ben["কোথাও"]·DE["wo"]·EN["anywhere"]·FR["où"]·heb["בְּוַדַּאִי"]·HI["ही"]·ID["di-suatu-tempat"]·IT["dove?"]·jav["wonten-pundi"]·KO["어디에서"]·PT["-"]·RU["где-то"]·ES["en-algún-lugar"]·SW["popote"]·TR["nerede"]·urd["کہیں"]
Related Senses
H8033 1. There (locative adverb) (835×)H7760a 1. put, place, set physically (444×)H8064 1. heavens / sky (329×)H5439 1. around, all around (spatial) (319×)H4057b 1. wilderness, desert region (270×)H3220 1. sea, body of water (269×)H0520a 1. cubit (unit of length) (246×)H0127 1. ground, land (territory) (210×)H3383 1. Jordan River (proper noun) (183×)G1093 1. earth, the world (176×)H5800a 1. forsake, abandon (Qal active) (166×)H8121 1. sun (celestial body) (133×)H7126 1. offer, present sacrificially (122×)H6828 1. north, cardinal direction (120×)H2351 1. outside, exterior space (119×)H5104 1. river, stream (119×)H7341 1. width, breadth (101×)G1563 1. there (95×)H7126 2. draw near, approach (95×)G2281 1. sea, large body of water (91×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ποῦ, Ionic dialect κοῦ, interrogative adverb where? Refs 8th c.BC+; rarely with Verbs of motion in early authors, see που entry near the end:—with genitive loci, π. χθονό; where in the world? Refs 5th c.BC+; τὴν σοφίαν.. π. χοροῦ τάξομε; in what part of the chorus? Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 so in a sense not strictly local, π. ποτ᾽ εἶ φρενῶ; Refs 5th c.BC+; π. σοι τύχης ἕστηκε; at what point of fortune…