Greek NT Prepositions — Case Binding Statistics

Corpus: Greek New Testament (TAGNT, Byzantine/TR) Focus: Prepositions that govern more than one grammatical case, and the statistical distribution of those cases across the NT

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Contents

1. Overview — All NT Prepositions
2. Multi-Case Prepositions — Case Distribution Heatmap
3. Detailed Analysis by Preposition
4. ἐπί
5. παρά
6. διά
7. κατά
8. μετά
9. περί
10. ὑπό
11. ὑπέρ
12. πρός
13. ἀνά
14. Single-Case Prepositions — Reference Table
15. Grammar Notes

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Key Observations

• 9 of the 18 most common NT prepositions govern multiple cases. Case choice is not free variation — each case activates a distinct meaning stream for the preposition.
• ἐπί is the most complex, using all three oblique cases (accusative 53 %, genitive 25 %, dative 20 %) with meaningfully different senses in each.
• παρά has the most even three-way split (genitive 42 %, accusative 31 %, dative 27 %), making correct case identification especially important for exegesis.
• διά and μετά have clean binary splits — each case maps to a distinct semantic function (means vs. cause for διά; association vs. sequence for μετά).
• πρός is effectively single-case in the NT (98 % accusative), though it retains rare dative and genitive forms.
• ὑπέρ + genitive is the prepositional expression of NT substitutionary and intercessory theology (e.g. Christ dying "for us").

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Overview — All NT Prepositions

Total preposition occurrences in the NT (TAGNT). Multi-case prepositions are marked ✦.

Preposition	Gloss	NT Count	% of all preps	Cases
✦ἐν	in/among	2,743	25.1%	Dative / Genitive
✦εἰς	into/for	1,766	16.2%	Accusative / Genitive
✦ἐκ	out of/from	913	8.4%	Genitive / Accusative
✦ἐπί	on	886	8.1%	Accusative / Genitive / Dative
✦πρός	to	700	6.4%	Accusative / Dative / Genitive
✦διά	through	667	6.1%	Genitive / Accusative
✦ἀπό	from/away from	647	5.9%	Genitive / Nominative
✦κατά	according to	472	4.3%	Accusative / Genitive / Nominative
✦μετά	with (association)	470	4.3%	Genitive / Accusative
✦περί	concerning	333	3.1%	Genitive / Accusative
✦ὑπό	under	219	2.0%	Genitive / Accusative
✦παρά	beside	192	1.8%	Genitive / Accusative / Dative
✦ὑπέρ	on behalf of	150	1.4%	Genitive / Accusative / Nominative
σύν	with/together	128	1.2%	Dative
ἕως	until/as far as	108	1.0%	Genitive
ἐνώπιον	before/in the presence of	94	0.9%	Genitive
πρό	before	47	0.4%	Genitive
ἔμπροσθεν	before/in front of	44	0.4%	Genitive
ἄχρι	until/as far as	43	0.4%	Genitive
✦χωρίς	apart from/without	40	0.4%	Genitive / Nominative
ὀπίσω		26	0.2%	Genitive
ἕνεκα		26	0.2%	Genitive
ἀντί		22	0.2%	Genitive
ἔξω		19	0.2%	Genitive
ἐπάνω		17	0.2%	Genitive
μέχρι		16	0.1%	Genitive
πέραν		13	0.1%	Genitive
✦ἀνά	up	13	0.1%	Accusative / Nominative
ἐγγύς		13	0.1%	Genitive
ὑποκάτω		11	0.1%	Genitive

✦ = governs multiple cases

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Multi-Case Prepositions — Case Distribution Heatmap

Each cell shows what percentage of that preposition's NT occurrences use that case. Blank (—) = that case is not used or statistically negligible.

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Detailed Analysis by Preposition

ἐπί — on, upon, over, at, against, on the basis of

Strong's: G1909 | Total NT occurrences: 873

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Accusative	472	53.3%	onto, over (motion toward); against; with respect to; for (purpose)
Genitive	220	24.8%	on, upon (contact from above); in the time of; before (a judge)
Dative	181	20.4%	on, at, near (rest/location); on the basis of; at/in response to

The most complex NT preposition: all three oblique cases occur with distinct meaning streams. Genitive stresses surface contact or temporal setting; dative stresses rest at a location or ground/basis; accusative stresses direction of motion or extent. The overlap is real — context and lexical semantics of the governing verb often determine sense more than case alone.

παρά — beside, from, with, contrary to

Strong's: G3844 | Total NT occurrences: 190

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Genitive	80	41.7%	from (the side of); from the presence/authority of
Accusative	59	30.7%	alongside, beside (motion or extent); contrary to; beyond
Dative	51	26.6%	beside, in the presence of; with (possession)

παρά with the genitive expresses source or origin ("from the side of"). The dative is locative ("at the side of", "in the presence of"). The accusative covers motion alongside something or extension beyond it, and in legal/ethical contexts "contrary to" (e.g. Rom 1:26 παρὰ φύσιν, "contrary to nature"). Roughly equal distribution across all three cases makes this the most evenly spread multi-case prep in the NT.

διά — through, by means of, because of, on account of

Strong's: G1223 | Total NT occurrences: 657

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Genitive	382	57.3%	through (spatial); by means of (agency/instrument); throughout (extent)
Accusative	275	41.2%	because of, on account of, for the sake of (cause/reason)

The case split is semantically sharp: genitive = means/channel ("through which something passes"), accusative = cause/reason ("on account of which something happens"). E.g. Eph 2:8 διὰ πίστεως (gen.) = "through faith" (the channel); Rom 4:25 διὰ τὰ παραπτώματα (acc.) = "on account of our trespasses" (cause). Genitive accounts for ~57 % of NT uses, accusative ~41 %.

κατά — according to, against, throughout, down from

Strong's: G2596 | Total NT occurrences: 461

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Accusative	386	81.8%	according to, in conformity with; throughout (distributive); for, as
Genitive	73	15.5%	down from; against (hostile sense); throughout (swearing by)
Nominative	2	0.4%	—

Genitive carries the original spatial sense ("down from") and the hostile extension ("against": κατὰ τοῦ προφήτου). Accusative (the large majority, ~82 %) has largely shed the spatial sense and functions as a norm marker: κατὰ σάρκα ("according to the flesh"), κατὰ νόμον ("in accordance with the law"). The distribution is highly skewed toward accusative in NT epistolary style.

μετά — with (association), after (sequence)

Strong's: G3326 | Total NT occurrences: 443

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Genitive	362	77.0%	with, in company with, in association with
Accusative	81	17.2%	after (temporal or spatial sequence)

The case split is clean and consistent: genitive = accompaniment/association ("with"), accusative = sequence ("after"). E.g. μετὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ (gen.) = "with Jesus"; μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας (acc.) = "after three days". Genitive predominates (~77 %) since much NT prose describes fellowship, discipleship, and community.

περί — concerning, about, around, for

Strong's: G4012 | Total NT occurrences: 314

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Genitive	277	83.2%	concerning, about, regarding; for (substitutionary)
Accusative	37	11.1%	around (spatial); approximately (time/number)

The dominant use (~83 %) is genitive with the sense "concerning, about" — the standard NT idiom for discourse topic (γράφω περί τινος, "I write concerning something"). The substitutionary sense (e.g. περὶ ἁμαρτίας, "for sin/as a sin offering") is important theologically in Hebrews and 1 John. Accusative is spatial ("around") and appears relatively rarely outside the Gospels and Acts.

ὑπό — under, by (agent)

Strong's: G5259 | Total NT occurrences: 219

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Genitive	168	76.7%	by (the agent of a passive verb); under the authority of
Accusative	51	23.3%	under (spatial, below); under (subordination)

Genitive is the standard marker of the agent in passive constructions (ὑπό + genitive = "by someone/something"). Accusative expresses spatial position ("under") or subordinate status. In the NT, genitive dominates (~77 %) due to the high frequency of theological passive constructions ("raised by God", "taught by the Spirit").

ὑπέρ — on behalf of, above, beyond, more than

Strong's: G5228 | Total NT occurrences: 147

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Genitive	127	84.7%	on behalf of, for the sake of; in place of (substitution)
Accusative	18	12.0%	above (spatial); beyond, more than (comparison)
Nominative	2	1.3%	—

The genitive is the theologically freighted case: ὑπέρ + genitive expresses the substitutionary and intercessory senses central to NT soteriology (Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, "Christ died for us", Rom 5:8). Accusative is used spatially and comparatively and appears much less frequently (~12 %).

πρός — to, toward, with, against

Strong's: G4314 | Total NT occurrences: 695

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Accusative	687	98.1%	to, toward, against (motion/direction); for (purpose)
Dative	7	1.0%	near, at (rare; archaic/Attic locative)
Genitive	1	0.1%	from (very rare)

In the NT, πρός is almost exclusively accusative (~98 %). The dative and genitive uses are vestigial — a handful of instances each, reflecting literary archaism. The accusative sense covers both literal motion toward ("go to Jerusalem") and figurative direction ("pray toward God", "face to face with").

ἀνά — up, each, among

Strong's: G0303 | Total NT occurrences: 10

Case	Count	%	Meaning with this case
Accusative	9	69.2%	up along; each/apiece (distributive)
Nominative	1	7.7%	—

In classical Greek ἀνά took accusative (up along), genitive (upon), and dative (at). In the NT it survives almost exclusively with accusative in the distributive sense (ἀνὰ εἷς ἕκαστος, "each one"), and is rare overall (13 occurrences).

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Single-Case Prepositions — Reference Table

These prepositions govern only one case in NT usage. They are included for completeness.

Preposition	Case	Gloss	NT Count
ἐν	Dative	in, among, by, with	2,743
εἰς	Accusative	into, to, for, toward	1,766
ἐκ	Genitive	out of, from	913
ἀπό	Genitive	from, away from, since	647
σύν	Dative	with, together with	128
πρό	Genitive	before (spatial/temporal)	47

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Grammar Notes

What is a "case-binding" preposition?

Greek prepositions are said to "govern" or "take" a particular case — the noun or pronoun following the preposition must appear in that case. The 18 proper prepositions (κύριαι προθέσεις) of classical Greek are traditionally divided by how many cases they govern:

# of cases	Prepositions
One case	ἀντί, ἀπό, ἐκ, ἐν, εἰς, πρό, σύν (+ ἕως)
Two cases	διά, κατά, μετά, περί, ὑπό, ὑπέρ, ἀνά
Three cases	ἐπί, παρά, πρός (classical; NT πρός is effectively single-case)

Why does case matter for exegesis?

When a preposition governs multiple cases, the case of the following noun changes the meaning of the preposition. Reading the case correctly is therefore essential for understanding the text:

• διά + genitive = by means of / through (the means or channel)
• διά + accusative = because of / on account of (the cause or reason)

Confusing these produces a different theological statement. For example, Rom 4:25:

ὃς παρεδόθη διὰ τὰ παραπτώματα ἡμῶν (accusative — because of our trespasses) καὶ ἠγέρθη διὰ τὴν δικαίωσιν ἡμῶν (accusative — for the sake of our justification)

Both are accusative of cause/purpose, not genitive of means — Paul is explaining why Christ was delivered and raised, not the mechanism.

How the case data is computed

The TAGNT morphological database tags each word with its grammatical form, including case. The case assigned to a preposition's object is determined by the inflected form of the following noun or pronoun. A small number of tokens carry no clear case tag (e.g. indeclinable words, elided forms); these are counted as "(none / unclear)" and excluded from the percentage calculations above.

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Report generated by scripts/nt/prepositions/build_nt_prep_cases_report.py. Source: STEPBible TAGNT (CC BY 4.0, Tyndale House Cambridge). KJV translation examples (public domain).