Helps by the Way. No. 6. The Greek prepositions. By Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor circa 1914-15. Ek. -- The primary idea of the preposition ek is expressed in the words "out of," signifying the "issuing from within (the compass, sphere of) something." This elementary meaning can be seen in such passages as Matt. viii. 28; xv. 19, "coming out of the tombs," "out of the heart," &c. Ek shows the origin or source of anything, hence it is used of birth, cf. Matt. i. 3, "of Thamar." Origin is emphasized in John i. 13, "not out of blood . . but out of God." Three passages occur in Matt. xxi. which convey the idea of origin:- Verse 16. "Out of The mouths of babes and sucklings." Verse 19. "Let no fruit grow out of thee." Verse 25. "The baptism of John, whence was it? out of heaven, or out of men?" How much more intense and true to life is the Greek idea of fruit growing out of a tree than the English expression, fruit growing on a tree. The change of expression is doctrinally important; fruit has direct connection with root, and believers need to remember this continually. The doctrinal importance is further seen in such passages as:- Rom. i. 17. "A righteousness of God revealed out of faith unto faith." Rom. iv. 16. "Therefore it is out of faith that it might be by grace " Rom v. 16. "The judgment was out of one to condemnation; but the free gift is out of many offenses unto justification." Keeping the idea in mind that ek in its secondary meaning denotes source and cause, out of which something flows, and is applied to both things and persons, the following usages will be worth considering:- Rev. viii. 11. "And many men died ek the waters" (i.e., the waters were the source of death to the men). 1 Cor. ix. 14. "Should live ek the gospel." Rom i. 4. "Declared to be the Son of God with power . . . . ek resurrection of the dead." In 1 Tim. i. 5 ek shows the origin or source of true love, and in Rev. xvi. 21 it indicates the "occasion or incidental origin" of the blasphemy. "By reason of" is another rendering, given in Rev. viii. 13. The grounds of arriving at a judgment are indicated by ek in Matt. xii. 37, "for by (ek) thy words." Other usages, which still retain the original idea, "out of," are those which indicate a standard or rule; Matt. xii. 33, "by its fruit"; John iv. 6, "hereby (ek toutou) we know "; price; Matt. xx. 2, "for (ek) a penny "; Matt. xxvii. 7, "bought with (ek) them." In combination the primary force "out of " is strongly marked:- Ekballo. -- To cast out (John ix. 34). Ekdemeo. -- To be absent (2 Cor. v. 6), literally "to be out from, or away from one's own people." Ekklesia. -- An assembly, "a called out people" (Acts xix. 39; Matt. xvi. 18, etc.). Eklegomai. -- To choose out (Eph. i. 4 "chosen"). The reader should collect the many other examples of the usage of this interesting preposition which are to be found on almost every page of the New Testament.