What does ἐντέλλομαι (entéllomai) mean in the Bible?
ἐντέλλομαι (entellomai) means to command, charge, or give authoritative instruction. John's Gospel places the verb inside relationships of love and mission without weakening its authority.
Greek · G1781
ἐντέλλομαι
To enjoin
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ἐντέλλομαι G1781
Pronunciation entéllomai
What does ἐντέλλομαι (entéllomai) mean in the Bible?
ἐντέλλομαι (entellomai) means to command, charge, or give authoritative instruction. John's Gospel places the verb inside relationships of love and mission without weakening its authority.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐντέλλομαι (G1781) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1781?
The BSB source-word alignment has 15 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include has commanded (3), command (2), commanded (2), He will command (2), after giving instructions (1).
Where does ἐντέλλομαι (entéllomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:6. Its strongest book concentrations include John (4), Matthew (4), Acts (2), Hebrews (2).
Are there verse guides for ἐντέλλομαι (entéllomai)?
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
ἐντέλλομαι (entellomai) means to command, charge, or give authoritative instruction. John's Gospel places the verb inside relationships of love and mission without weakening its authority. Jesus does exactly what the Father has commanded so that the world may know He loves the Father. In the farewell discourse, Jesus calls His disciples friends and immediately speaks of doing what He commands.
His stated command is that they love one another, bear lasting fruit, and live as those chosen and sent by Him. Command is therefore neither cold legalism nor optional advice. Jesus' obedience reveals His love for the Father, and the disciples' obedience expresses life under the loving lordship of the Son. The verb helps churches resist anxious rule-keeping, sentimental definitions of love, and claims of friendship with Jesus that dismiss His words.
How the Bible Uses It
John joins command and love through Jesus' obedience to the Father and His command that disciples love one another. Authority, friendship, mission, and fruit belong together.
- John.14.31
But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.
Jesus' movement toward the cross is active obedience that publicly displays His love for the Father.
- John.15.14
You are My friends if you do what I command you.
Friendship with Jesus is gracious intimacy under His lordship, not equality that makes His commands optional.
- John.15.17
This is My command to you: Love one another.
The command's concrete direction is mutual love among disciples chosen to bear lasting fruit in a hostile world.
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 has commanded 3× John 14:31, Acts 13:47, Hebrews 9:20
command 2× Mark 10:3, John 15:14
commanded 2× Matthew 17:9, John 8:5
He will command 2× Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:10
after giving instructions 1× Acts 1:2
gave instructions 1× Hebrews 11:22
I have commanded 1× Matthew 28:20
instructed 1× Mark 13:34
is My command 1× John 15:17
order [a man] 1× Matthew 19:7
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 4:6 ἐντελεῖται to He will command Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 17:9 ἐνετείλατο to commanded Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 19:7 ἐνετείλατο to order [a man] Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 28:20 ἐνετειλάμην to I have commanded Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 1st Person Singular Mark 10:3 ἐνετείλατο to command Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Mark 13:34 ἐνετείλατο to instructed Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Luke 4:10 ἐντελεῖται to He will command Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular John 8:5 ἐνετείλατο to commanded Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular John 14:31 ἐνετείλατο to has commanded Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular John 15:14 ἐντέλλομαι to command Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 4:6
Aligned rows 15
Books represented 6
Matthew 4 Mark 2 Luke 1 John 4 Acts 2 Hebrews 2
Source forms
ἐνετείλατο 8x eneteilato Matthew 17:9, Matthew 19:7, Mark 10:3, Mark 13:34
ἐντελεῖται 2x enteleitai Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:10
ἐντέλλομαι 2x entellomai John 15:14, John 15:17
ἐνετειλάμην 1x eneteilamēn Matthew 28:20
ἐντειλάμενος 1x enteilamenos Acts 1:2
ἐντέταλται 1x entetaltai Acts 13:47
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 8x Matthew 17:9, Matthew 19:7, Mark 10:3, Mark 13:34
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 2x Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:10
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular 2x John 15:14, John 15:17
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 1st Person Singular 1x Matthew 28:20
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Acts 1:2
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 13:47
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Teach obedience as the response of those loved and befriended by Christ, not as payment for His grace.
- Let Jesus define commanded love rather than using love to dismiss difficult words or obedience.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that command language in John contradicts grace, friendship, or joy.
- Do not claim that love for Jesus can remain genuine while His commands are treated as optional.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Commands with emphasis on the specific content or instruction being given, not merely the act of ordering.
Source Gloss
to enjoin
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 17 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 4:6 Verb Third Person Singular Future Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἐντελεῖται enteleitai
I give orders, command
Read verse Matthew 15:4 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο, eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse Matthew 17:9 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse Matthew 19:7 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse eneteilamhn
I give orders, command
Read verse Mark 10:3 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse Mark 11:6 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse Mark 13:34 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse Luke 4:10 Verb Third Person Singular Future Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἐντελεῖται enteleitai
I give orders, command
Read verse John 8:5 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse John 14:31 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατό eneteilato
I give orders, command
Read verse John 15:14 Verb First Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἐντέλλομαι entellomai
I give orders, command
Read verse John 15:17 Verb First Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἐντέλλομαι entellomai
I give orders, command
Read verse Acts 1:2 Verb Aorist Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἐντειλάμενος enteilamenov
I give orders, command
Read verse Acts 13:47 Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
ἐντέταλται entetaltai
I give orders, command
Read verse Hebrews 9:20 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ἐνετείλατο eneteilato
I give orders, command
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 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.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 14 Tenses Aorist, Future, Present, Perfect Voices Middle
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 13×
Aorist Middle Matt 17:9 · Matt 19:7 · Mark 10:3 · Mark 13:34 · John 14:31 · Heb 9:20 · Heb 11:22 · Matt 28:20 8×
Future Middle Matt 4:6 · Luke 4:10 2×
Present Middle John 15:14 · John 15:17 2×
Perfect Middle Acts 13:47 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Aorist Middle Acts 1:2 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 15 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 10 present 2 future 2 perfect 1
Voice
middle 15
Mood
indicative 14 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 4:6 ἐντελεῖται future middle indicative prospective Matthew 17:9 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed Matthew 19:7 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed Matthew 28:20 ἐνετειλάμην aorist middle indicative completed Mark 10:3 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed Mark 13:34 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed Luke 4:10 ἐντελεῖται future middle indicative prospective John 8:5 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed John 14:31 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed John 15:14 ἐντέλλομαι present middle indicative ongoing John 15:17 ἐντέλλομαι present middle indicative ongoing Acts 1:2 ἐντειλάμενος aorist middle participle participle Acts 13:47 ἐντέταλται perfect middle indicative resultant Hebrews 9:20 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed Hebrews 11:22 ἐνετείλατο aorist middle indicative completed
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
God's instruction to the prophet regarding actions toward a specific group
Divine order or directive issued through prophetic utterance to nations
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐντέλλομαι is built from these roots:
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
John's command language is personal, Christ-centered, and costly. In John 14:31, Jesus' obedience to the Father's command carries Him toward the passion and makes His love for the Father visible to the world. The command is not evidence that the Son acts reluctantly or apart from the Father's purpose; it belongs to the unity of love, mission, and obedience displayed throughout the Gospel.
John 15 turns toward the disciples. Jesus names them friends because He has made known what He heard from the Father, yet friendship does not cancel His lordship. His friends do what He commands, and the command is explicitly directed toward mutual love and lasting fruit. Christian obedience is therefore not a technique for earning friendship. It is the lived response of those chosen, loved, taught, and sent by Jesus.
Love without obedience becomes sentiment, while obedience without love misrepresents the Lord who commands.
Anchor passage
John.15.9-17
Doctrinal connections
- Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - covenant love and obedience belong together
- John 10:17-18 - Jesus receives authority concerning His life and death
- John 14:15-31 - love for Jesus is expressed in keeping His commands
- John 15:9-17 - friendship, fruit, joy, and commanded love
- 1 John 2:3-6 - knowing Christ is tested by walking in His commands
The middle-form verb carries authoritative charge or command. Context identifies the commander, recipient, and content. In John the command is not an abstract law-word; it is embedded in the Father's mission of the Son and the Son's covenantal instruction to His disciples.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's covenant life repeatedly joins love for the Lord with hearing and obeying His commands. John presents Jesus within that divine authority and shows the Son's own obedient love toward the Father. The new-covenant community's command to love is continuous with God's holy will and newly centered in Jesus' self-giving pattern.
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