Exploring the Meaning of Ekei in Greek

ἐκεῖ is a Greek adverb meaning “there,” marking location in narratives, instructions, and warnings. In the passages below it anchors movement, memory, and consequence to a specified place—sometimes named, sometimes implied by the situation.

Occurrences

Matthew 2:13 — “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.””

Here “there” fixes the family’s refuge in a definite destination: Egypt. The command is not only to flee but to remain in that location, with “there” functioning as the boundary of obedience (“stay there until I tell you”). It also heightens the contrast between danger in one place (“Herod will seek”) and safety in another.

Matthew 2:15 — “and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.””

“There” looks back to the previously mentioned place of shelter and describes a span of time spent in that location (“until the death of Herod”). The adverb keeps the story geographically coherent: the same “there” that was commanded becomes the “there” that is narrated as completed.

Matthew 2:22 — “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,”

In this travel decision, “there” points to Judea as the contemplated destination. It compresses the geography into a single deictic marker: the issue is not simply travel but going to that place under that ruler. The adverb makes the fear practical and directional—his reluctance is tied to a specific location.

Matthew 5:23 — ““If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,”

“There” identifies the precise setting in which remembrance occurs: at the altar in the act of offering. The adverb attaches an internal event (“remember”) to an external location, implying that the place of worship can become the place where a relational problem comes into view.

Matthew 5:24 — “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

“There” again fixes the location—“before the altar”—but now in an instruction to pause an action. The adverb keeps the gift situated while the worshiper departs and later returns, so that the interruption is spatially marked: the offering is left in that place, not carried along or relocated.

Matthew 6:21 — “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In this saying, “there” correlates two “wheres”: the location of treasure and the location of the heart. The adverb signals correspondence of place, not merely proximity. It presents “there” as the consequent location—the heart’s placement follows the treasure’s placement.

Matthew 8:12 — “but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

“There” identifies the “outer darkness” as the scene in which the described response occurs: “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The adverb links outcome to location. What happens is not abstractly true everywhere; it is portrayed as happening in that place into which they are “thrown out.”

Matthew 10:11 — “Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.”

“There” points back to the city or village entered and, more narrowly, to the setting associated with the worthy person discovered “in it.” The instruction to “stay there” gives stability to the mission: once a suitable place is found, the disciples’ presence is to remain located until departure.

Matthew 12:45 — “Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”

“There” designates the place where the spirits take up residence after they “enter in.” The adverb emphasizes that the worsening condition is connected to a new occupancy of a particular locale: the indwelling is not momentary but settled (“dwell there”), making “there” the site of ongoing presence that corresponds to the man’s deteriorated state.

Matthew 13:42 — “and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”

“There” points to “the furnace of fire” as the setting for the lament described. Like Matthew 8:12, it binds the reaction (“weeping and the gnashing of teeth”) to the place of casting, presenting location as integral to the portrayal of judgment.

Matthew 13:50 — “and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”

“There” again locates the same response within the same kind of place—“the furnace of fire.” In repeating this structure, the adverb serves as a narrative pointer that keeps the consequence spatial: the fate is described as a being put somewhere, and what follows happens there.

Matthew 13:58 — “He didn’t do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

“There” situates the limited mighty works in a particular locale associated with “their unbelief.” The adverb makes the statement concrete: the constraint described is not generalized but tied to what happens in that place among those people.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, ἐκεῖ functions as a deictic locator, pointing the reader to a place that is either explicitly named (such as Egypt, Judea, “outer darkness,” “the furnace of fire,” “before the altar”) or contextually understood (the residence found in a city or village, the interior space where spirits “enter in”). Because it is an adverb, it does not name the place by itself; instead, it situates an action, state, or outcome relative to a place already introduced or immediately described.

Several recurring patterns show how “there” works in discourse. First, it marks destination and residence: “flee into Egypt, and stay there” (Matthew 2:13) and “was there until the death of Herod” (Matthew 2:15) portray safety and waiting as location-bound. Similarly, mission practice is stabilized by place: “stay there until you go on” (Matthew 10:11) makes lodging a fixed point until the next move. In Matthew 12:45, “dwell there” gives “there” a sense of settled occupancy rather than a passing visit, tying location to the enduring change that follows.

Second, ἐκεῖ can mark a contemplated but avoided destination. In Matthew 2:22, “afraid to go there” makes the decision hinge on the risk associated with a particular place. The adverb compresses the complexity of geography and politics into a simple locative reference, allowing the narrative to focus on the reason for avoidance and the alternate movement (“withdrew into the region of Galilee”).

Third, “there” can locate an interior or mental event within an external setting. Matthew 5:23 connects remembering to the altar: worship space becomes the place where conscience awakens. Matthew 5:24 then uses “there” to keep the gift’s position fixed while the person’s movement is redirected toward reconciliation, creating a careful spatial logic: the worshiper leaves, the gift remains there, and later the worshiper returns.

Fourth, ἐκεῖ frequently anchors consequences to a portrayed realm of judgment. In Matthew 8:12, 13:42, and 13:50, the adverb ties “weeping and gnashing of teeth” to “outer darkness” and “the furnace of fire.” The sequence is consistent: people are “thrown out” or “cast … into” a place; then “there” introduces what occurs in that place. The effect is to portray consequence as located—something that happens in a specific “there,” not as a free-floating description.

Finally, “there” can express a locative correspondence without naming any physical landscape, as in Matthew 6:21: “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The adverb functions logically as the matching point to “where,” indicating that one location determines another. Even in this more proverbial use, the force of ἐκεῖ remains spatial: it frames attachment and desire in terms of placement.

Implied Imagery

The repeated “there” in these passages creates a map-like texture: Egypt as refuge, Judea as a feared destination, the altar as a place where memory and action intersect, towns and homes as stations for traveling messengers, and stark locales—“outer darkness” and “the furnace of fire”—as the settings where grief is heard. Even when “there” is used for the heart’s alignment with treasure (Matthew 6:21), the saying keeps its force by speaking of human life as something that is placed somewhere.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).