What does βουλή (boulḗ) mean in the Bible?
βουλή (boulḗ): Deliberate counsel or purpose, often divine; implies reasoned determination rather than mere will.
Greek · G1012
βουλή
Plan
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βουλή G1012
Pronunciation boulḗ
What does βουλή (boulḗ) mean in the Bible?
βουλή (boulḗ): Deliberate counsel or purpose, often divine; implies reasoned determination rather than mere will.
Full entry for βουλή (G1012) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1012?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include purpose (4), will (2), counsel (1), decided (1), decision (1).
Where does βουλή (boulḗ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 7:30. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (7), Luke (2), 1 Corinthians (1), Ephesians (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It purpose 4× Luke 7:30, Acts 5:38, Acts 13:36, Hebrews 6:17
will 2× Acts 4:28, Acts 20:27
counsel 1× Ephesians 1:11
decided 1× Acts 27:12
decision 1× Luke 23:51
motives 1× 1 Corinthians 4:5
plan 1× Acts 2:23
planned 1× Acts 27:42
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 7:30 βουλὴν to purpose Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Luke 23:51 βουλῇ to decision Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Acts 2:23 βουλῇ to plan Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Acts 4:28 βουλὴ to will Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Acts 5:38 βουλὴ to purpose Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Acts 13:36 βουλῇ to purpose Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Acts 20:27 βουλὴν to will Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 27:12 βουλὴν to decided Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Acts 27:42 βουλὴ to planned Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 1 Corinthians 4:5 βουλὰς to motives Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 7:30
Aligned rows 12
Books represented 5
Luke 2 Acts 7 1 Corinthians 1 Ephesians 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
βουλὴν 4x boulēn Luke 7:30, Acts 20:27, Acts 27:12, Ephesians 1:11
βουλὴ 3x boulē Acts 4:28, Acts 5:38, Acts 27:42
βουλῇ 3x boulē Luke 23:51, Acts 2:23, Acts 13:36
βουλὰς 1x boulas 1 Corinthians 4:5
βουλῆς 1x boulēs Hebrews 6:17
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 4x Luke 7:30, Acts 20:27, Acts 27:12, Ephesians 1:11
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 3x Luke 23:51, Acts 2:23, Acts 13:36
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 3x Acts 4:28, Acts 5:38, Acts 27:42
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x 1 Corinthians 4:5
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 1x Hebrews 6:17
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Deliberate counsel or purpose, often divine; implies reasoned determination rather than mere will.
Strong's G1012
Lexical occurrences 12 verses Greek text appearances 12 times Word forms 5 forms 12 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 20:25-38 Source Gloss
plan
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Deliberate counsel or purpose, often divine; implies reasoned determination rather than mere will.
(βούλομαι), [in LXX frequently for עֵצָה ;] counsel, purpose (in cl., esp. of the gods): Luk.23:51, Act.4:28 5:38 19:1 27:12, 42; pl., 1Co.4:5; of the Divine purpose, Heb.6:17; τ. βουλὴν τ. θελήματος αὐτοῦ, Eph.1:11; β. τ. Θεοῦ, Luk.7:30, Act.2:23 13:36 20:27.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 7:30 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
βουλὴν boulhn
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Luke 23:51 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
βουλῇ boulh
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 2:23 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
βουλῇ boulh
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 4:28 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
βουλή boulh
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 5:38 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
βουλὴ boulh
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 13:36 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
βουλῇ boulh
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 20:27 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
βουλὴν boulhn
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 27:12 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
βουλὴν boulhn
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Acts 27:42 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
βουλὴ boulh
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse 1 Corinthians 4:5 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
βουλὰς boulav
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Ephesians 1:11 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
βουλὴν boulhn
counsel, deliberate wisdom
Read verse Hebrews 6:17 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
βουλῆς boulhv
counsel, deliberate wisdom
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 5 Aligned forms 12 Case pattern Accusative (5) Number pattern Singular (11)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Acts 4:28 · Acts 5:38 · Acts 27:42 3×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Heb 6:17 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Luke 23:51 · Acts 2:23 · Acts 13:36 3×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Luke 7:30 · Acts 20:27 · Acts 27:12 · Eph 1:11 4×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine 1 Cor 4:5 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Purpose, plan, or counsel.
counsel
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
βουλή is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Refers to God’s sovereign redemptive purpose. Acts 20:25-38
Affirms comprehensive proclamation of God’s redemptive plan. Luke 7:18–35
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain