To pursue
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Dioko means to pursue, chase, press after, or persecute. Matthew's Beatitudes bless those persecuted for righteousness and for allegiance to Jesus, joining them to the prophets and promising heaven's reward.
Reader summary
Full entry for διώκω (G1377) · Open the biblical lexicon
Dioko means to pursue, chase, press after, or persecute. Matthew's Beatitudes bless those persecuted for righteousness and for allegiance to Jesus, joining them to the prophets and promising heaven's reward.
The BSB source-word alignment has 45 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include pursue (5), persecuted (4), are persecuting (3), do you persecute (3), persecute (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (9), Matthew (6), Galatians (5), Romans (5).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Dioko means to pursue, chase, press after, or persecute. Matthew's Beatitudes bless those persecuted for righteousness and for allegiance to Jesus, joining them to the prophets and promising heaven's reward. Jesus commands love and prayer for persecutors, and He tells threatened disciples to flee to another town. The verb can be positive pursuit elsewhere, so persecution is not built into every form; context identifies hostile pursuit.
Opposition alone does not prove faithfulness. People may face consequences for wrongdoing, abuse, or deception and misname accountability persecution. Churches should verify claims, protect people at risk, support lawful refuge, pray for enemies without restoring unsafe access, and distinguish suffering for Christlike righteousness from conflict caused by pride, harm, or partisan identity.
Dioko names pursuit and, in Matthew, hostile persecution of people aligned with righteousness and Jesus. The Gospel joins blessing, prophetic continuity, enemy love, prayer, and prudent flight.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10 blesses those persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. The cause of suffering matters.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Matthew 5:11 applies the blessing when people insult, persecute, and falsely say evil because of Jesus. Falsehood and Christ allegiance bound the claim.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Matthew 5:12 calls sufferers to rejoice because their heavenly reward is great and the prophets were persecuted before them. Continuity does not erase grief or danger.
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Matthew 5:44 commands love for enemies and prayer for persecutors. Enemy love refuses vengeance without canceling boundaries, justice, or escape.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Matthew 10:23 tells disciples to flee to another town when persecuted. Prudence and mission continue without demanding avoidable exposure.
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. Pursue with intensity; in NT often means persecute actively or seek eagerly after virtues.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 44 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I pursue, persecute
Read verseI pursue, persecute
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Read verseI pursue, persecute
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Read verseI pursue, persecute
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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 44 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 2 selected witnesses from 45 lexical occurrence verses.
διώκω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Christian character requires intentional pursuit of righteousness and godly virtues. 1 Timothy 6:11-16
Christian virtue requires intentional, energetic pursuit. 2 Timothy 2:20-26
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Dioko does not bless suffering in the abstract. Matthew names persecution because of righteousness and Jesus and includes falsely spoken evil, which means cause and truth must be examined. The persecuted stand with prophets and receive kingdom assurance, yet Jesus does not command them to remain in avoidable danger; they may flee and continue mission elsewhere.
Love and prayer for persecutors reject hatred but do not require secrecy, reconciliation without repentance, or renewed access. Churches should document threats, cooperate with lawful protection, care for displaced families, and verify public claims before mobilizing sympathy. A leader facing investigation for harm is not thereby persecuted. Faithful endurance bears Christ's character while pursuing truth, justice, safety, and hope.
Matt.5.10
Dioko means pursue or chase and may describe hostile persecution or earnest pursuit of a positive goal. The object, purpose, and context determine the moral force.
Pharaoh pursues Israel, kings hunt prophets, and wisdom calls people to pursue righteousness. The same motion can serve opposite moral ends.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
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Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain