pothen asks about a person’s, thing’s, action’s, or condition’s source or point of origin.

The adverb most often asks or states where a person or thing is from, especially in questions about origin or provenance. It also probes the source of events, possessions, provisions, or authority, and in a few rhetorical questions frames how a situation could arise.

1. A person’s or thing’s place of origin · dominant

   The adverbial form marks questions or statements about provenance: in John 19:9 the APB renders the question to Jesus, “Whence are you?” In John 2:9 it concerns the source of the wine, while John 7:27 and John 8:14 contrast knowing and not knowing where someone is from or has come from.

   John 19:9John 2:9John 3:8John 7:27John 8:14Revelation 7:13
2. The source of an event, possession, or provision · common

   The same adverb asks what source accounts for something. In James 4:1 the APB renders two questions about the source of wars and quarrels; in Matthew 13:27 it asks where weeds came from, and in Matthew 21:25 it sets the baptism of John in the alternatives “from heaven or from humans.”

   James 4:1Matthew 13:27Mark 6:2Matthew 13:54Matthew 15:33Matthew 21:25
3. Rhetorical questioning about how something is possible · occasional

   In several questions, the source-oriented inquiry is presented as a challenge about how the stated result could occur. In Luke 1:43 the APB renders, “how has this happened to me,” and in Mark 8:4 it renders the disciples’ question about obtaining bread in a desolate place.

   John 1:48Luke 1:43Mark 12:37Mark 8:4

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the adverb with “whence,” “where,” “from where,” and, in rhetorical contexts, “how.” These are verse-level renderings rather than fixed English equivalents.