echō · have

What it means

echō (ἔχω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “have”.

Possess, hold.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To count something or someone as one's own: goods, family, faith, power.
2. To carry something in the hand or wear it.
3. To be in some state: "those who were sick".
4. Literally "to have in the womb": to be expecting a child.
5. To regard someone as: "they held him a prophet".

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Have, possess, hold, carry. Abbott-Smith and Thayer: to have and to hold. With an adverb it says how someone is (“be well”, “be ill”).

• To have or possess something Matthew 8:20Matthew 11:15
• To have life or peace John 3:16John 10:10John 16:33
• To have the Son 1 John 5:12
• With an adverb, to be in a certain state: “those who were ill” Matthew 4:24
• To have a spirit: to be possessed Mark 3:22

How we translate it

“Have” 316 times, “has” 134, “had” 84, “having” 76. The translation keeps “have” wherever English allows it (“have eternal life”, John 3:16; “He has Beelzebul”, Mark 3:22); with an adverb it uses “be”, because that is how English says it (“those who were ill”, Matthew 4:24); with a child in the womb, “pregnant”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• have ×316
• has ×134
• had ×84
• having ×76
• holding ×8
• need ×7
• hold ×6
• pregnant ×6
• are ×4
• were ill ×4
• others ×61

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×73
• Mark×70
• Luke×77
• John×86
• Acts×44
• Romans×25
• 1 Corinthians×49
• 2 Corinthians×22
• Galatians×5
• Ephesians×8
• Philippians×10
• Colossians×7
• 1 Thessalonians×8
• 2 Thessalonians×1
• 1 Timothy×14
• 2 Timothy×6
• Titus×2
• Philemon×4
• Hebrews×39
• James×10
• 1 Peter×5
• 2 Peter×5
• 1 John×28
• 2 John×4
• 3 John×2
• Jude×2
• Revelation×100

• Matthew 1:18

  Now the origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this: when his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, before they came together she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

• Matthew 1:23

  “Look, the virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Immanuel,” which is, translated, “God with us.”

• Matthew 3:4

  Now John himself had his clothing made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

• Matthew 3:9

  and do not presume to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

• Matthew 3:14

  But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be immersed by you, and you come to me?”

• Matthew 4:24

  And the report about him went out into all Syria; and they brought to him all those who were ill, afflicted with various diseases and torments, the demon-possessed and the moonstruck and paralytics, and he healed them.

• Matthew 5:23

  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

• Matthew 5:46

  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

• Matthew 6:1

  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness before people in order to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 6:8

  So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

• Matthew 7:29

  for he was teaching them as one who has authority, and not as their scribes.

• Matthew 8:9

  For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

• Matthew 8:16

  When evening came, they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill,

• Matthew 8:20

  And Jesus says to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

• Matthew 9:6

  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— then he says to the paralytic— “Get up, pick up your bed, and go to your home.”

• Matthew 9:12

  But he, hearing it, said, “The healthy have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill.

• Matthew 9:36

  Seeing the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and cast down, like sheep that do not have a shepherd.

• Matthew 11:15

  The one who has ears, let him hear.

• Matthew 11:18

  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’

• Matthew 12:10

  And look, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.

• Matthew 12:11

  But he said to them, “What man will there be among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

• Matthew 13:5

  Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up, because they did not have depth of soil.

• Matthew 13:6

  But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and because they did not have root, they withered.

• Matthew 13:9

  The one who has ears, let him hear.”

• Matthew 13:12

  For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

• Matthew 13:21

  yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived; and when affliction or persecution comes on account of the word, at once he falls away.

• Matthew 13:27

  And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where does it get darnel?’

• Matthew 13:43

  Then the righteous will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears, let him hear.

• Matthew 13:44

  The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

• Matthew 13:46

  and finding one very valuable pearl, he went away and sold all that he had and bought it.

• Matthew 14:4

  for John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

• Matthew 14:5

  And though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they held him to be a prophet.

• Matthew 14:16

  But Jesus said to them, “They have no need to go away; you give them something to eat.”

• Matthew 14:17

  And they say to him, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.”

• Matthew 14:35

  And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent word into all that surrounding region, and they brought to him all who were ill,

• Matthew 15:30

  And many crowds came to him, having with them the mute, blind, lame, maimed, and many others, and they set them at his feet; and he healed them,

• Matthew 15:32

  And Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been staying with me three days already and they do not have anything to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

• Matthew 15:34

  And Jesus says to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

• Matthew 17:20

  And he says to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

• Matthew 18:8

  And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.

And 666 more times.