pou · where?

What it means

pou (ποῦ) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “where?”.

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. Asks about the place where something is or where it goes.

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

Word study

Where?, where to?: the question about place. It is also used in questions that do not seek a place but deny, like “Where is the wise one?”.

• “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” Matthew 2:2
• Questions to Jesus and from Jesus John 1:38John 11:34Luke 8:25
• “Tell me where you have put him” John 20:15John 20:2
• “Where it goes”: the wind, Jesus John 3:8John 14:5John 13:36
• “Where, O death, is your victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:551 Corinthians 1:20

Historical and cultural background

The Gospel of John uses this question often: the first disciples ask “where are you staying?” (1:38), the people at the feast “Where is he?” (7:11), Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb “Where have you laid him?” (11:34), and Mary Magdalene, at the tomb, “tell me where you have put him” (20:15).

How we translate it

“Where” 44 times, also when the question looks to the destination (“you do not know where it comes from and where it goes”, John 3:8). It is not always in a direct question: “were watching where he had been laid” (Mark 15:47); with a negative, “nowhere” (3: “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”, Luke 9:58).

How it is translated

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

• Where ×44
• nowhere ×3

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×4
• Mark×3
• Luke×7
• John×18
• Romans×1
• 1 Corinthians×8
• Galatians×1
• Hebrews×1
• 1 Peter×1
• 2 Peter×1
• 1 John×1
• Revelation×1

• Matthew 2:2

  saying, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to bow down before him.”

• Matthew 2:4

  and gathering together all the high priests and scribes of the people, he was asking them where the Messiah is to be born.

• 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 26:17

  Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

• Mark 14:12

  And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples say to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

• Mark 14:14

  and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’

• Mark 15:47

  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he had been laid.

• Luke 8:25

  And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And being afraid, they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”

• Luke 9:58

  And Jesus said 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.”

• Luke 12:17

  And he was reasoning within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to gather my crops?’

• Luke 17:17

  And Jesus answered and said, “Were not the ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they?

• Luke 17:37

  And answering, they say to him, “Where, Lord?” And he said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered together.”

• Luke 22:9

  And they said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”

• Luke 22:11

  And you will say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’

• John 1:38

  And Jesus turned, and seeing them following, he says to them, “What are you looking for?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which, translated, means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

• John 1:39

  He says to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.

• John 3:8

  The wind blows where it wants, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes. So it is with everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

• John 7:11

  So the Jews were looking for him at the feast and saying, “Where is he?”

• John 7:35

  So the Jews said to one another, “Where is this man about to go that we will not find him? Is he about to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?

• John 8:14

  Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

• John 8:19

  So they were saying to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

• John 9:12

  And they said to him, “Where is he?” He says, “I do not know.”

• John 11:34

  and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They say to him, “Lord, come and see.”

• John 11:57

  Now the high priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, so that they might seize him.

• John 12:35

  So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you; and whoever walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

• John 13:36

  Simon Peter says to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”

• John 14:5

  Thomas says to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”

• John 16:5

  But now I am going to the one who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

• John 20:2

  So she runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus held dear, and says to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him.”

• John 20:13

  And they say to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She says to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put him.”

• John 20:15

  Jesus says to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She, thinking that he was the gardener, says to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.”

• Romans 3:27

  Where, then, is boasting? It was excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

• 1 Corinthians 1:20

  Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?

• 1 Corinthians 12:17

  If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smell be?

• 1 Corinthians 12:19

  And if all were one member, where would the body be?

• 1 Corinthians 15:55

  Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

• Galatians 4:15

  Where then is your happiness? For I testify to you that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

• Hebrews 11:8

  By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was going.

• 1 Peter 4:18

  And if the righteous is saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?

• 2 Peter 3:4

  and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.

And 7 more times.