πῶς

πῶς (Hom.+)

① interrog. reference to manner or way, in what way? how?

ⓐ in direct questions

α. to determine how someth. has come to be, how someth. is happening, or should happen; w. indic. how? in what way? πῶς ἔσται τοῦτο; Lk 1:34. πῶς ἀναγινώσκεις; 10:26; cp. the indirect qu. Mk 12:26 (s. b, below). πῶς οὖν ἠνεῴχθησάν σου οἱ ὀφθαλμοί; J 9:10.—3:4, 9; 9:26; Ro 4:10 (π. οὖν); 1 Cor 15:35 (cp. 1 Ch 13:12); B 5:5 (π. οὖν); IEph 19:2 (π. οὖν); Hm 3:3 (π. οὖν); GJs 17:11 AcPl Ha 5, 3. In ref. to the content of a document πῶς ἀναγινώσκεις; what do you read?=‘What does it say?’ Lk 10:26 (s. HLjungvik, Eranos 62, ’64, 31); πῶς γέγραπται; What does it say (about the Messiah)? GJs 21:2 (codd.). W. the special mng. with what right? with what evidence? in what sense? πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς υἱὸς Δαυίδ ἐστιν; Mk 12:35.—Mt 22:43 (π. οὖν), 45; Lk 20:41, 44 (cp. Gen 39:9); J 12:34 (GrBar 10:8).—γέγραπται Mk 9:12.

β. in questions indicating surprise how is it (possible) that? I do not understand how (Manetho[?] in Jos., C. Ap. 259 a series of questions expressing surprise, introduced again and again by πῶς; Lucian, Deor. Conc. 10 πῶς φέρεις; TestAbr B 6 p. 110, 12f [Stone p. 68]) πῶς παρʼ ἐμοῦ πεῖν αἰτεῖς; J 4:9.—7:15; Ac 2:8; Gal 4:9. W. οὖν J 9:19; AcPl Ha 10, 9. W. a neg. (Isocr. 6, 4) πῶς οὐ νοεῖτε; how is it possible that you don’t understand? Mt 16:11; Mk 8:21 v.l. πῶς οὐκ ἔχετε πίστιν; how is it that you have no faith? Mk 4:40 v.l. πῶς οὐ συνίετε; 8:21 v.l. Cp. Lk 12:56.

γ. in questions denoting disapproval or rejection with what right? how dare you? πῶς ἐρεῖς τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου; Mt 7:4 (πῶς ἐρεῖς as Jer 2:23). πῶς εἰσῆλθες ὧδε; how is it that you are bold enough to come in here? 22:12. πῶς σὺ λέγεις; how can you say? (cp. Job 33:12; TestAbr B 10 p. 115, 4 [Stone p. 78, 4]) J 14:9.—Lk 6:42; what does he mean by saying? J 6:42; 8:33; 1 Cor 15:12; Gal 2:14.

δ. in rhetorical questions that call an assumption into question or reject it altogether how (could or should)?=by no means, it is impossible that (Job 25:4; Ar. 3, 2 al; Just., D. 51, 2 al.; Tat., 4, 2; Ath. 16, 4; 19, 2) πῶς (οὖν) σταθήσεται ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ; Mt 12:26; Lk 11:18. Cp. Mt 12:29, 34; Mk 3:23; 4:13; J 3:12; 5:44, 47; 6:52; 9:16; 14:5 (KBeyer, Semitische Syntax im NT, ’62, 94f). ἐπεὶ πῶς κρινεῖ ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον; otherwise (i.e. if he were unjust) it would be impossible for God to judge the world Ro 3:6. Cp. 6:2; 1 Cor 14:7, 9, 16; 1 Ti 3:5; Hb 2:3; 1J 3:17; 4:20 v.l.; B 5:10; MPol 9:3; Hv 3, 9, 10.—If πῶς is accompanied by a neg., the ‘impossible’ becomes most surely, most certainly (Hyperid. 3, 35; 5, 15; Pr 15:11 πῶς οὐχί; EpArist 149; Jos., C. Ap. 1, 256; Just., D. 18, 3 πῶς οὐχί; al.; Tat. 8, 1; 32, 2) πῶς οὐχὶ τὰ πάντα ἡμῖν χαρίσεται; Ro 8:32.—2 Cor 3:8.—As an exceptional case the opt. w. ἄν (potential; s. B-D-F §385, 1; Rob. 938; 1021f and Ael. Aristid. 29 p. 557 D.; Just., D. 127, 3; Tat. 16, 1; 17, 3f; Ath. 19, 3 al.) πῶς γὰρ ἂν δυναίμην;=it is impossible for me to do so Ac 8:31 (s. Gen 44:8; Dt 28:67; Sir 25:3).

ε. in questions of deliberation w. a deliberative subjunctive (B-D-F §366, 1; Rob. 934f.—Epict. 4, 1, 100; M. Ant. 9, 40; 2 Km 23:3; Sir 49:11; Ps.-Clem., Hom. 19, 2) πῶς οὖν πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαί; Mt 26:54. πῶς ὁμοιώσωμεν τὴν βασιλείαν; what comparison can we find for the Kingdom? Mk 4:30. πῶς φύγητε; how are you to escape?=you will not escape at all Mt 23:33. πῶς οὖν w. subj. Ro 10:14a, foll. by πῶς δέ and the subj. three times in vss. 14bc, 15.—Hs 5, 7, 3.

ⓑ in indirect questions

α. w. indic. after verbs of knowing, saying, asking etc. ἀκούειν B 7:3 (Just., A I, 40, 1 al.); cp. Mk 12:26. ἀπαγγέλλειν Lk 8:36; 1 Th 1:9. βλέπειν 1 Cor 3:10; Eph 5:15. διηγεῖσθαι Mk 5:16; Ac 9:27ab; 12:17. εἰδέναι (X., Mem. 1, 2, 36) J 9:21; Col 4:6; 2 Th 3:7; GJs 23:3. ἐπέχειν Lk 14:7; ἐπιδεικνύειν B 6:13. ἐπισκέπτεσθαι Ac 15:36. ἐπίστασθαι 20:18. ἐρωτᾶν J 9:15. θεωρεῖν Mk 12:41 (TestAbr B 8 p. 113, 10 [Stone p. 74]). καταμαθεῖν Mt 6:28 (on π. αὐξάνουσιν here s. PKatz, JTS 5, ’54; 207–9); ISm 6:2. κατανοεῖν Lk 12:27; 1 Cl 24:1; 37:2. μεμνῆσθαι GJs 9:2. μνημονεύειν Rv 3:3. νοεῖν 1 Cl 19:3. ὁρᾶν 50:1.—The addition of an article gives the indir. question the value of a noun παρελάβετε τὸ πῶς δεῖ ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν 1 Th 4:1 (s. also β below).—In some of the passages given above in this section πῶς could have the same mng. as ὅτι that, and this equation at the same time suggests how the Hellenic ear grasped the significance of ὅτι that (for the synonymity in later Gk. s. Epict. 1, 18, 7; 2, 25, 3; 3, 22, 51; Jos., Ant. 12, 205; BGU 37, 6 [50 A.D.]; PRyl 235, 6 ἐθαύμασα δὲ πῶς οὐκ ἐδήλωσάς μοι. See GHatzidakis, Einl. in die neugriech. Gramm. 1892, 19; Rdm.² 196; B-D-F §396; Rob. 1032). That is clearly the mng. in Mt 12:4; Mk 2:26; Ac 11:13; B 11:1; B 14:6; 1 Cl 34:5.

β. w. deliberative subjunctive (ParJer 6, 11 and 14) μὴ μεριμνήσητε πῶς ἢ τί λαλήσητε Mt 10:19.—Mk 11:18; 14:1, 11; Lk 12:11. μεριμνᾷ πῶς ἀρέσῃ 1 Cor 7:32, 33, 34 (t.r. has the fut. in Mk 11:18 and 1 Cor 7:32–34; s. Herodian 5, 4, 9 ἠγνόουν, πῶς χρήσονται τῷ πράγματι). In this case, too, the article can be added (s. α) Lk 22:2, 4; Ac 4:21 (ParJer 6:15).

② in exclamations (cp. 1aβ; Schwyzer II 626) how … ! (X., An. 6, 5, 19 al.; Epict. 1, 16, 13; 4, 1, 115; 116, Ench. 24, 3 πῶς ἄνισοί ἐστε καὶ ἀγνώμονες; M. Ant. 6, 27.—B-D-F §436; Rob. 302; OLagercrantz, Eranos 18, 1918, 26ff; KRupprecht, Philol. 80, 1924, 207) πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν Mk 10:24; cp. vs. 23; Lk 18:24. πῶς συνέχομαι 12:50. πῶς ἐφίλει αὐτόν J 11:36.—Hm 11:20; 12, 4, 2.—JBauer, Pōs in der gr. Bibel, NovT 2, ’57, 81–91. DELG s.v. πο-. M-M. EDNT.