者 Names the Doer in 252 Bible Phrases
Answering: “what does zhe mean at the end of a phrase”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
者 turns a description into the person or thing it describes — 信者, 'the one who believes'. Modern Chinese usually prefers 的人.
- HSK level
- 3
- derived from its own words
- In the Bible
- 252
- clauses
- Meet it first in
- Psalms
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Counted
- 100% of a checked sample
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
「，。；，。」
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 3, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
「我wǒ凭着píng zhe自己zì jǐ不能bù néng做zuò什么shén me，我wǒ怎么zěn me听见tīng jiàn就jiù怎么zěn me审判shěn pàn。我wǒ的de审判shěn pàn也yě是shì公平gōng píng的de；因为yīn wèi我wǒ不bù求qiú自己zì jǐ的de意思yì si，只zhī求qiú那nà差chāi我wǒ来lái者zhě的de意思yì si。」
I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
John 5:30 · 89% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他们tā men向xiàng 神shén说shuō：离开lí kāi我们wǒ men吧ba！ 又yòu说shuō：全能quán néng者zhě能néng把bǎ我们wǒ men怎么样zěn me yàng呢ne？
who said to God, ‘Depart from us!’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
Job 22:17 · 88% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
教会jiào huì是shì他tā的de身体shēn tǐ，是shì那nà充满chōng mǎn万有wàn yǒu者zhě所suǒ充满chōng mǎn的de。
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:23 · 85% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
参孙cān sūn对duì他们tā men说shuō： 吃chī的de从cóng吃chī者zhě出来chū lái； 甜tián的de从cóng强qiáng者zhě出来chū lái。 他们tā men三sān日rì不能bù néng猜cāi出chū谜语mí yǔ的de意思yì si。
He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle.
Judges 14:14 · 84% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他tā又yòu说shuō：『我们wǒ men祖宗zǔ zōng的de 神shén拣选jiǎn xuǎn了le你nǐ，叫jiào你nǐ明白míng bai他tā的de旨意zhǐ yì，又yòu得dé见jiàn那nà义yì者zhě，听tīng他tā口kǒu中zhōng所suǒ出chū的de声音shēng yīn。
He said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth.
Acts 22:14 · 83% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
孩子hái zi啊a！你nǐ要yào称为chēng wéi至高zhì gāo者zhě的de先知xiān zhī； 因为yīn wèi你nǐ要yào行xíng在zài主zhǔ的de前面qián miàn， 预备yù bèi他tā的de道路dào lù，
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
Luke 1:76 · 81% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read John 5 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 3 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 3 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
者 is the classical suffix for the one who: 信者, the believer; 受膏者, the anointed one; 至高者, the Most High. Modern Chinese does this with 的人 and keeps 者 for formal compounds, so a reader who has only met 的人 will not recognise some of the most important titles in the book.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 者 252 times. 0 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.
That is what makes this a high-value page rather than a curiosity. 全能者 and 受膏者 are not incidental vocabulary — they are how the text names God and the Messiah, and both are built out of this one particle.
It is commonest in Psalms, with 42 of them, and 77% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 者 | zhě | 3 | 252 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 3.
| Occurrences | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| the construction | 252 | 100% |
| the same words doing something else | 0 | 0% |
| Book | Clauses |
|---|---|
| Psalms | 42 |
| Job | 37 |
| Isaiah | 20 |
| Daniel | 19 |
| 1 Samuel | 13 |
Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.
Counted
The rule: 者 with a word before it inside the clause — the description it turns into a person or thing.
30 of 252 matches were drawn at random and read in context; 100% were right. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 3 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- Is 者 still used today?
- In writing, constantly — 读者 reader, 作者 author, 记者 reporter. What has gone is its free use after any verb phrase, which is exactly what this translation does with it.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- 252 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 252 occurrences of the words that mark it.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Psalms, with 42 — followed by Job (37), Isaiah (20), Daniel (19).
- How do you know the count is right?
- The rule is: 者 with a word before it inside the clause — the description it turns into a person or thing. 30 of its 252 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.