To follow
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Akoloutheo means to follow, accompany, or go after someone, and in the Gospels it often becomes discipleship language. The word can describe leaving nets to follow Jesus, receiving His direct command to follow, denying oneself and taking up the cross, hearing the Shepherd's voice, serving where Jesus is, and following the Lamb.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀκολουθέω (G190) · Open the biblical lexicon
Akoloutheo means to follow, accompany, or go after someone, and in the Gospels it often becomes discipleship language. The word can describe leaving nets to follow Jesus, receiving His direct command to follow, denying oneself and taking up the cross, hearing the Shepherd's voice, serving where Jesus is, and following the Lamb.
The BSB source-word alignment has 90 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include followed (26), Follow (23), [and] followed (9), I will follow (3), accompanied by (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (25), John (19), Mark (18), Luke (17).
This entry includes 6 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Akoloutheo means to follow, accompany, or go after someone, and in the Gospels it often becomes discipleship language. The word can describe leaving nets to follow Jesus, receiving His direct command to follow, denying oneself and taking up the cross, hearing the Shepherd's voice, serving where Jesus is, and following the Lamb. It is not merely admiration, curiosity, or physical proximity.
Crowds may follow Jesus for signs, but discipleship requires allegiance to Him. The word helps teachers connect call, obedience, costly self-denial, shepherded listening, service, and final loyalty to the Lamb. Following Jesus is personal, visible, and costly because the One followed is Lord.
Akoloutheo ranges from literal following to decisive discipleship. Matthew emphasizes call and costly self-denial. John ties following to the Shepherd's voice and service where Jesus is. Revelation pictures the redeemed following the Lamb wherever He goes.
And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
The fishermen leave their nets at once and follow Jesus. The word marks decisive response to His call.
But Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus commands a would-be disciple to follow Him with urgent priority. Following Jesus outranks competing claims.
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
Jesus defines following Him through self-denial and cross-bearing. The word cannot be reduced to admiration or occasional interest.
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
Jesus' sheep hear His voice, are known by Him, and follow Him. The word is tied to shepherding knowledge and secure belonging.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Jesus says His servant must follow Him and will be where He is. Following includes service and fellowship with the Son's path.
These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
The redeemed follow the Lamb wherever He goes. The word reaches an eschatological picture of undivided loyalty.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. to follow
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 91 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseI accompany, attend, follow
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 89 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 89 lexical occurrence verses.
ἀκολουθέω is built from this root:
Defines covenant allegiance to Jesus.
Expresses the imperative of discipleship.
Discipleship is ongoing allegiance, not a momentary decision.
Defines discipleship as personal allegiance.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Akoloutheo makes discipleship concrete. Jesus does not merely invite people to approve of Him. He calls them to follow. In the Gospels that may mean leaving nets, refusing delay, denying self, taking up the cross, and going where He leads. John deepens the word by tying it to the Shepherd's voice: His sheep listen, are known, and follow. Service also belongs to following, because the servant must be where Jesus is.
Revelation shows the final purity of this allegiance as the redeemed follow the Lamb wherever He goes. The word therefore moves discipleship from idea to allegiance, from attraction to obedience, and from self-protection to cross-shaped loyalty.
Matt.16.24
Akoloutheo can describe literal movement after someone, but Gospel context often makes it discipleship language. The same verb can describe crowd following, disciple following, or final Lamb-following, so the subject and motive matter.
Israel followed the Lord through wilderness guidance, kingly leadership, and prophetic summons to covenant faithfulness. The New Testament centers that following on Jesus Himself, the Shepherd and Lamb who calls, leads, and keeps His people.