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Greek Personal Pronouns — NT and LXX Study

Corpus: NT Greek (TAGNT) · LXX Greek (canonical books)
Translation: KJV

Contents

Overview

Greek has a rich personal pronoun system covering three persons, two numbers (singular and plural), and — for the third person — three genders. Unlike Hebrew, Greek verbs already encode person/number in their endings, so personal pronouns are used for emphasis, contrast, or disambiguation rather than as a grammatical requirement. When an author writes ἐγὼ instead of simply using the verbal ending, the pronoun adds rhetorical weight.

NT total personal pronoun tokens: 12,160
LXX canonical (1st + 2nd person): 3,890

Key Observations

  • αὐτός dominates the NT (5,861 tokens, 48% of all personal pronoun tokens). It functions as the standard 3rd-person pronoun across all genders and numbers. In its genitive and dative forms (αὐτοῦ, αὐτῷ, αὐτοῖς) it is the workhorse of narrative reference — especially in the Gospels.

  • 2nd person σύ/ὑμεῖς (3,073 NT tokens) appears more than 1st person (2,895) in absolute terms, reflecting the dialogical nature of the Gospels and Epistles. Jesus's direct address to disciples, crowds, and opponents drives the count.

  • Nominative case is emphatic. Greek verbs already encode person; a pronoun in the nominative reinforces or contrasts the subject. John's "ἐγώ εἰμι" sayings (8:12, 8:58, 10:7, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1, 15:5, 18:5–6) are the most theologically charged uses of the 1st-person nominative in the NT.

  • Genitive is the most common case for all personal pronouns — as possessives (μου, σου, αὐτοῦ) they modify nouns throughout the NT. The genitive of αὐτός alone (αὐτοῦ/αὐτῆς/αὐτῶν) accounts for over 2,000 tokens.

  • LXX 1st-person concentration in Psalms and the Prophets. The Psalms have the highest density of 1st-person pronouns (prayer/lament idiom); Ezekiel and Jeremiah carry heavy divine 1st-person speech. This differs from the NT where the Gospels and Acts dominate.

  • ἑαυτοῦ (reflexive) has 331 NT tokens and 655 LXX canonical tokens. In the NT it covers all three persons reflexively (himself/herself/itself/themselves). The specific first- and second-person reflexives (ἐμαυτοῦ, σεαυτοῦ) have negligible NT use but are attested in the LXX.

Complete Paradigms

1st Person — ἐγώ / ἡμεῖς

The first-person pronoun has no gender distinction. The emphatic oblique forms (ἐμοῦ/ἐμοί/ἐμέ) are stressed alternatives to the enclitic forms (μου/μοι/με).

Case Singular Emphatic sg Plural
Nominative ἐγώ — ἡμεῖς
Genitive μου (enclitic) ἐμοῦ (emphatic) ἡμῶν
Dative μοι (enclitic) ἐμοί (emphatic) ἡμῖν
Accusative με (enclitic) ἐμέ (emphatic) ἡμᾶς

NT occurrence counts:

Form Case NT count
ἐγὼ / κἀγὼ Nominative sg 441
μου / μου Genitive sg 597
μοι / ἐμοὶ Dative sg 338
με / ἐμὲ Accusative sg 393
ἡμεῖς / ἡμεῖς; Nominative pl 127
ἡμῶν / ἡμῶν Genitive pl 425
ἡμῖν / ἡμῖν Dative pl 172
ἡμᾶς / ἡμᾶς Accusative pl 170

2nd Person — σύ / ὑμεῖς

The second-person pronoun also has no gender distinction. The forms σου/σοι/σε are enclitic (unstressed); they appear far more frequently than the nominative σύ since Greek verbs already mark 2nd person.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative σύ ὑμεῖς
Genitive σου ὑμῶν
Dative σοι ὑμῖν
Accusative σε ὑμᾶς

NT occurrence counts:

Form Case NT count
σὺ / σύ Nominative sg 180
σου / σου Genitive sg 508
σοι / σοὶ Dative sg 222
σε / σὲ Accusative sg 207
ὑμεῖς / ὑμεῖς Nominative pl 242
ὑμῶν / ὑμῶν Genitive pl 578
ὑμῖν / ὑμῖν Dative pl 622
ὑμᾶς / ὑμᾶς Accusative pl 446

3rd Person — αὐτός αὐτή αὐτό

αὐτός is a three-gender pronoun with full case and number inflection. It serves three distinct functions in the NT:

  1. Personal pronoun (most common) — "he/she/it/they" in oblique cases
  2. Intensive adjective — nominative case, meaning "himself/herself/itself/themselves"
  3. Identical adjective — attributive position, meaning "the same"
Case Masc. Sg Fem. Sg Neut. Sg Masc. Pl Fem. Pl Neut. Pl
Nominative αὐτός αὐτή αὐτό αὐτοί αὐταί αὐτά
Genitive αὐτοῦ αὐτῆς αὐτοῦ αὐτῶν αὐτῶν αὐτῶν
Dative αὐτῷ αὐτῇ αὐτῷ αὐτοῖς αὐταῖς αὐτοῖς
Accusative αὐτόν αὐτήν αὐτό αὐτούς αὐτάς αὐτά

Note: Masc./Neut. share Gen/Dat forms; Gen/Pl is αὐτῶν for all genders.

NT occurrence counts:

Form Gender Case Number NT count
αὐτὸς Masculine Nominative Singular 178
αὐτοῦ Masculine Genitive Singular 1,452
αὐτῷ Masculine Dative Singular 873
αὐτὸν Masculine Accusative Singular 1,007
αὐτοὶ Masculine Nominative Plural 87
αὐτῶν Masculine Genitive Plural 542
αὐτοῖς Masculine Dative Plural 564
αὐτοὺς Masculine Accusative Plural 365
αὐτὴ Feminine Nominative Singular 11
αὐτῆς Feminine Genitive Singular 176
αὐτῇ Feminine Dative Singular 112
αὐτὴν Feminine Accusative Singular 142
αὐτῶν Feminine Genitive Plural 22
αὐταῖς Feminine Dative Plural 21
αὐτὰς Feminine Accusative Plural 12
αὐτὸ Neuter Nominative Singular 9
αὐτοῦ Neuter Genitive Singular 53
αὐτῷ Neuter Dative Singular 22
αὐτὸ Neuter Accusative Singular 101
αὐτὰ Neuter Nominative Plural 1
αὐτῶν Neuter Genitive Plural 35
αὐτοῖς Neuter Dative Plural 20
αὐτὰ Neuter Accusative Plural 56

Reflexive Pronouns

Greek has dedicated reflexive pronouns for each person. In the NT, ἑαυτοῦ (3rd person) does duty for all three persons reflexively.

Pronoun Strongs Meaning NT LXX (canonical)
ἐμαυτοῦ G1683 myself 0 46
σεαυτοῦ G4572 yourself 0 197
ἑαυτοῦ G1438 himself/herself/themselves 331 494

ἑαυτοῦ paradigm: Gen sg ἑαυτοῦ/ἑαυτῆς · Dat sg ἑαυτῷ/ἑαυτῇ · Acc sg ἑαυτόν/ἑαυτήν · Gen pl ἑαυτῶν · Dat pl ἑαυτοῖς · Acc pl ἑαυτούς/ἑαυτάς. No nominative exists (the reflexive always refers back to the subject).

Distribution Charts

NT overall distribution

NT Occurrence by Book

NT by book

LXX Distribution

LXX distribution

Case Breakdown

Case breakdown

Key Passages

ἐγώ εἰμι — The "I am" Sayings of Jesus

The combination ἐγώ εἰμι carries enormous theological weight in John's Gospel. The emphatic nominative ἐγώ (rather than simply εἰμι alone) evokes the LXX rendering of Exodus 3:14 (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, "I am the one who is") and Isaiah 43:10 (ἐγώ εἰμι, "I am he").

Reference KJV
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on…
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkn…
John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall h…
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

αὐτός — Intensive Use

When αὐτός appears in the nominative case without a preceding article, it intensifies the subject: "he himself," "she herself."

Reference KJV
John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
Luke 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Matthew 8:24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was …
John 4:2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

σύ/ὑμεῖς — Direct Address

Reference KJV
Matthew 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him t…
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Luke 22:70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Summary Table

Pronoun Strongs Person NT tokens LXX (canonical) Notes
ἐγώ G1473 1st sg (nom) 866 1,389 Emphatic nominative
μου/μοι/με G3165 1st sg+pl (obl) 2,029 1,563 Enclitic + plural forms
σύ/σου/σοι/σε G4771 2nd sg+pl 3,073 938 All 2nd person forms
αὐτός G0846 3rd (all genders) 5,861 — Pronoun + intensive + identical
ἑαυτοῦ G1438 Reflexive (all persons) 331 494 No nominative form

Greek NT data: TAGNT (Byzantine/Textus Receptus, STEPBible CC BY 4.0).
LXX data: CenterBLC LXX (CC BY 4.0).
Generated by scripts/nt/lexicon/build_greek_pronouns_report.py.