Abarim Publications' online Biblical Greek Dictionary

λειπω

• Together with the preposition απο (apo), meaning from: the verb απολειπω (apoleipo), meaning to leave behind (when active) or to remain (when passive). This verb is used in the New Testament the way the parent verb λειπω (leipo) is used in the classics. It occurs 6 times; see full concordance.
• Together with the preposition δια (dia), meaning through: the verb διαλειπω (dialeipo), meaning to leave a gap, or leave an interval between; to intermit or stand at intervals (Luke 7:45 only). From this verb come:
  • Together with the particle of negation α (a), meaning not or without: the adjective αδιαλειπω (adialeipo), meaning without intermittent interruptions, uninterrupted, and thus continual or unceasing (Romans 9:2 and 2 Timothy 1:3 only). From this adjective in turn comes:
    • The adverb αδιαλειπτως (adialeiptos), meaning uninterruptedly, continually. This adverb is used 4 times; see full concordance.
• Together with the preposition εκ (ek), meaning out or from: the verb εκλειπω (ekleipo), meaning to expire, to leave by going out, with an emphasis on departing from some collective or specific place like a city or a community (Luke 16:9, 22:32 and Hebrews 1:12 only). This verb is also used to describe solar or lunar eclipses, and may even be used to mean to faint or to die (to expire from the land of the living) as it appears to do in Luke 16:9. From this verb derives:
  • Again together with the particle of negation α (a), meaning not or without: the adjective ανεκλειπτος (anekleiptos), meaning without leaving by going out, without expiration (Luke 12:33 only).
• Together with the preposition επι (epi), meaning on or upon: the verb επιλειπω (epileipo), meaning to abandon or leave behind, but with slightly more emphasis than the parent verb: to totally abandon, to wholly leave behind, to entirely fail (Hebrews 11:32 only). In the classics this verb is used pretty much synonymous with the parent verb, with the exception of its use in the description of rivers that run dry and thus "wholly abandon" their beds.
• Together with the preposition κατα (kata), meaning down from, down upon: the verb καταλειπω (kataleipo), meaning to leave by lowering or letting fall; to drop (Mark 14:52). In the classics, and for obvious reasons, this verb is often associated with the death of whomever is being left (Acts 2:31). In the Jewish mind, however, the opposite is obvious, namely that those left alive are the ones that are left below (Mark 12:19, Luke 20:31). When an amount goes down, our verb may describe the remaining of the smallest remnant (Romans 11:4). Since in Jewish jargon "a going to" is commonly expressed as "a going up", our verb καταλειπω (kataleipo) is frequently deployed to simply mean to leave somewhere (Matthew 4:13, Acts 21:3), which is why it occurs much more often than the parent verb (namely 25 times; see full concordance). Our verb may display a hint of disappointment or being let down (Luke 10:40) or left in some compromised position (Acts 24:27). In Luke 5:28 our verb is juxtaposed gracefully with the verb ανιστημι (anistemi), to stand again. From this verb in turn derive:
  • Together with the particle εν (en), meaning in or at: the verb εγκαταλειπω (egkataleipo), meaning to leave in and down: to let down within a certain situation or area (2 Timothy 4:10), to leave the smallest remainder of something within something larger (Romans 9:29), or to leave completely and altogether (2 Timothy 4:16). Jesus uses this gut-wrenching verb when he asks "Why did you leave me, down here, in here?" (Matthew 27:46). This verb is used 9 times; see full concordance.
  • The noun καταλειμμα (kataleimma), meaning smallest or ultimate remnant (Romans 9:27 only). Paul uses this noun to quote Isaiah 10:22, where the Septuagint uses the same Greek word and the Hebrew has שאר (se'or), which means remnant and also describes leaven.
• The noun λειμμα (leimma), also meaning remnant (Romans 11:5 only).
• The adjective λοιπος (loipos), meaning [the] remaining. This common adjective is used in Greek where in English we would use the noun "[the] rest" or "[the] other[s]", to describe one person who, or a group of people that's been left behind for whatever reason or whatever consideration. It's used 41 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, and from it derive:
  • Again together with the preposition επι (epi), meaning on or upon: the adjective επιλοιπος (epiloipos), meaning still remaining. When applied to time, it refers to the future, or whatever time is left (1 Peter 4:2 only).
  • Again together with the preposition κατα (kata), meaning down from, down upon: the noun καταλοιποσ (kataloipos), meaning the remaining rest in the sense of the whittled down residue (Acts 15:17 only). Luke uses this word to quote Amos 9:12, where it applies to the "last remaining residue" of Edom and the nations.
  • The adjective λοιπον (loipon), which is actually the nominative neuter single of λοιπος (loipos), [the] remaining. Dictionaries commonly, albeit somewhat confusingly, list this inflected variant as a separate word because it appears to describe a particular nuance of the parent adjective, namely "what remains" in reference to time. Our adjective may refer to the broader future, and mean henceforth (2 Timothy 4:8, Hebrews 10:13), from now on (or from then on, when projected onto a past point of reference), commonly with a cap on the other end of the period: for the rest of the time that remains (Matthew 26:45 and Mark 14:41). It may introduce a conclusive statement: "other than that" (1 Corinthians 1:16), or simply "in the end" or "finally", not in the sense of something being finished and completed but rather in the sense of having entered a final challenge (Acts 27:20), a final leg of the journey or a final statement of a story (2 Corinthians 3:11, Ephesians 6:10, Philippians 3:1). This neuter form is used 14 times; see full concordance.
  • The adjective λοιπου (loipou), which is actually the genitive neutral single of λοιπος (loipos), [of the] remaining. It's used adverbially, meaning something like "from now on" (Galatians 6:17 only).
• Together with the preposition περι (peri), meaning around or about: the verb περιλειπομαι (perileipomai), which appears to describe to remain within a broad sweeping arena, or to round up a surviving remnant from within a large area. It's used in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 and 4:17 only.
• Together with the preposition υπο (hupo) meaning under: the verb υπολειπω (hupoleipo), meaning to leave by going under, or to be a lowly remnant without the possibility to rise up again (Romans 11:3 only). This quote is from 1 Kings 19:10 and 19:14, which uses the verb יתר (yatar), to remain. An alternate form of this word is:
  • The verb υπολιμπανω (hupolimpano), likewise meaning to leave behind or go underground (1 Peter 2:21 only). The point here is not that Jesus left something behind in the sense that he dropped something somewhere and abandoned it, but rather that he deposited something out of direct sight, like a seed in the ground, or better yet: a deeper meaning in a pattern or parable or story. When people talk about the "deeper meaning" of a story, they often simply mean "meaning": that which the story tells of. The "deeper meaning" of a story is a layer of information that is somehow encoded into the narrative layer and that tells of completely different things than what the story is about. The Bible is an enormous fractal, and all stories and descriptions in the Bible have multiple layers of meaning, and none of them have only one meaning, some "true meaning", that readers may be orthodox about. People who celebrate the fact that they are so very orthodox are simply blind to the dazzling depth and complexity and iridescence of the Scriptures, or are like a man who only eats wheat raw from his cupped hand and has never tasted any kind of bread or cake or pasta.
    The Logos had existed among humanity long before he incarnated in Jesus: in the global exchange of information and stories and concerns of millions, the science of the universe bubbled up and became grasped by the wise, who understood the "deeper meaning" of all the stories ever told combined. The Bible is a fractal, with stories within stories, or "cycles" within "cycles" — or days within years, if your like (Genesis 1:14). Three days, the Logos was in the earth. But then, the people living in darkness saw a Great Light (compare Genesis 1:16 with Isaiah 9:2).