τέσσᾰρες G5064
four — the cardinal numeral four, used as an adjective modifying nouns across all cases and genders
Tessares is the Greek cardinal numeral 'four,' appearing 41 times in the New Testament with no semantic variation beyond its numeric value. It modifies a wide range of nouns: four men carrying a paralytic (Mark 2:3), four winds of heaven (Matt 24:31; Mark 13:27), four months until harvest (John 4:35), and Anna's eighty-four years (Luke 2:37). In Revelation, where it occurs most frequently, it structures the heavenly scene: four living creatures around the throne (Rev 4:6), four angels at the four corners of the earth (Rev 7:1), and four horns of the golden altar (Rev 9:13). The Attic form tettares and Ionic tesseres are absent from the NT, which consistently uses the Koine tessares.
Senses
1. four — The cardinal number four, modifying nouns without semantic extension or metaphorical shift. In narrative contexts it quantifies concrete groups: four men (Mark 2:3), four days (John 11:17, 39), four soldiers (John 19:23). In apocalyptic vision it supplies the architecture of cosmic order: four living creatures (Rev 4:6-8), four angels (Rev 7:1; 9:14-15), four corners of the earth (Rev 7:1; 20:8). Spanish 'cuatro,' French 'quatre,' and German 'vier' render it uniformly across all contexts. 41×
AR["أربَعَةٌ", "أربَعَةُ", "أربَعَةِ", "أَرْبَعٌ", "أَرْبَعٍ", "أَرْبَعَةً", "أَرْبَعَةٌ", "أَرْبَعَةَ", "أَرْبَعَةُ", "أَرْبَعِ", "الأَربَعِ", "بِـ-أَرْبَعِ", "لِـ-أَرْبَعِ"]·ben["চব্বিশ", "চার", "চারটি"]·DE["vier"]·EN["by-four", "four", "to-four"]·FR["quatre", "vier"]·heb["אַרְבַּע", "אַרְבָּעָה", "בְּ-אַרְבַּע", "לְאַרְבַּע"]·HI["चार", "चार;"]·ID["empat", "empat,", "empat;", "kepada-empat"]·IT["quattro"]·jav["sekawan", "sekawan,"]·KO["네", "넷", "넷의", "넷째"]·PT["e-quatro", "quatro", "quatro,"]·RU["четыре", "четыре,", "четыре;", "четырьмя", "четырём", "четырёх"]·ES["a-cuatro", "cuatro", "por-cuatro"]·SW["kwa-pembe", "na-nne", "na-vinne;", "na-wanne", "nne", "pepo", "sehemu-nne", "siku-nne", "vikundi-vinne", "viumbe-hai-vinne", "wanne"]·TR["dört"]·urd["چار", "چاروں"]
Matt 24:31, Mark 2:3, Mark 13:27, Luke 2:37, John 11:17, John 19:23, Acts 10:11, Acts 11:5, Acts 12:4, Acts 21:9, Acts 21:23, Acts 27:29 (+29 more)
Related Senses
H3605 1. all, every, whole (5352×)H0259 1. one (cardinal numeral) (940×)H8147 1. cardinal number two (666×)G3956 1. all (collective plural) (616×)H3967 1. cardinal numeral hundred (550×)H1419a 1. great, large (general quality) (486×)H7969 1. cardinal number three (431×)H0505 1. cardinal number thousand (427×)H7651 1. seven (cardinal number) (393×)G1520 1. cardinal number one (339×)H6240 1. ten (cardinal number) (334×)H6242 1. twenty (cardinal number) (315×)H2568 1. cardinal number five (309×)H0702 1. four (cardinal number) (277×)G3956 2. every, each (distributive) (227×)H8337 1. six (cardinal number) (215×)G3956 3. all things, everything (substantive) (211×)G3956 4. (187×)H6235 1. ten (177×)G3173 1. great in size or extent (176×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
τέσσᾰρες, οἱ, αἱ, τέσσαρα, τά, genitive ων: dative τέσσαρσι (ν) NT+5th c.BC+; poetry τέτρᾰσι Refs 8th c.BC+, and in late Prose, as LXX+1st c.BC+, variant in NT, and in good codices of Refs 4th c.BC+:—Attic dialect τέττᾰρες, τέττᾰρα, dative τέτταρσιν Refs 5th c.BC+; also τάρων (see. τάρες) for τεττάρω; Phocian dative τεττάροις Refs 2nd c.BC+:—Ionic dialect and later Gr. τέσσερες, τέσσερα, Refs 5th…