The particle γε (ge) is enclitic, which means that it throws emphasis back onto the word it directly follows (like our English: What, "for crying out loud", is the meaning of this? Or: This, "in fact", is what it actually says. Or: You must be joking, "surely"). It stems from an ancient Proto-Indo-European root "ghe-" of similar meaning, which also yielded the Latin hic, this or these.

Our particle is deployed frequently in the Classics, often directly suffixed to the word it renders emphasis too (in the New Testament occur: καιτοιγε, kaitoige, μενουνγε, menounge and ειγε, eige), and often so that a translation in English is hardly possible and translators are forced to resort to italics.

Our particle is used 15 times independently in the New Testament, see full concordance, often in formulaic tandem with other prefixes.