What does ἐπερωτάω (eperōtáō) mean in the Bible?
ἐπερωτάω (eperōtaō) means to ask, question, inquire of, or interrogate. Its occurrences show that questioning has no automatic moral quality.
Greek · G1905
ἐπερωτάω
To question
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ἐπερωτάω G1905
Pronunciation eperōtáō
What does ἐπερωτάω (eperōtáō) mean in the Bible?
ἐπερωτάω (eperōtaō) means to ask, question, inquire of, or interrogate. Its occurrences show that questioning has no automatic moral quality.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπερωτάω (G1905) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1905?
The BSB source-word alignment has 56 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include asked (11), questioned (8), He asked (7), to question (4), [Jesus] asked (3).
Where does ἐπερωτάω (eperōtáō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Mark (25), Luke (17), Matthew (8), Acts (2).
What This Word Actually Means
ἐπερωτάω (eperōtaō) means to ask, question, inquire of, or interrogate. Its occurrences show that questioning has no automatic moral quality. The twelve-year-old Jesus listens and asks questions among the temple teachers, displaying engaged attention rather than suspicion. Pharisees and Sadducees ask for a sign while testing Him. The disciples fail to understand Jesus’ prediction but are afraid to ask, allowing fear to preserve confusion.
Jesus answers a challenge to His authority with a question that exposes the leaders’ unwillingness to answer honestly. In Acts, the high priest interrogates the apostles before the Sanhedrin. The verb can therefore serve learning, testing, self-protection, wise counter-question, or judicial pressure. It does not imply that every inquiry is neutral, hostile, sincere, or answerable.
Responsible interpretation examines motive, power, content, and response. Pastorally, the word encourages humble questions while warning that questions can also conceal unbelief, avoid commitment, or exert control.
Passage contextCanonical synthesis
How the Bible Uses It
ἐπερωτάω names pointed asking, inquiry, or interrogation. The selected passages contrast teachable questions, testing demands, fearful silence, Jesus’ exposing counter-question, and institutional interrogation.
- Luke.2.46
Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
Jesus’ questions appear alongside listening in a setting of instruction. Luke portrays attentive engagement that amazes hearers without depicting the child Jesus as performing a hostile examination.
- Matt.16.1
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
The request for a sign is explicitly framed as testing. The object of the question may sound religious, but Matthew identifies a motive that refuses to read the signs already present in Jesus’ ministry.
- Mark.9.32
But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
The disciples’ fear prevents the very question that might expose and address their misunderstanding of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Silence is not always reverence; it can protect confusion from correction.
- Mark.11.29
“I will ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Jesus’ counter-question about John’s baptism reveals that His challengers are calculating public consequences rather than seeking truth. The question exposes the moral posture behind their demand.
- Acts.5.27
They brought them in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, where the high priest interrogated them.
The high priest’s questioning occurs within institutional pressure after the apostles continue teaching in Jesus’ name. The interrogation becomes an occasion for Peter’s concise witness that obedience to God outranks human prohibition.
Passage contextnarrative_contextBook contextPastoral applicationdiscourse_context
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 asked 11× Matthew 17:10, Mark 8:29, Mark 9:28, Mark 10:10
questioned 8× Matthew 22:23, Matthew 22:41, Matthew 27:11, Mark 7:5
He asked 7× Mark 8:23, Mark 9:16, Mark 9:33, Mark 10:17
to question 4× Matthew 22:46, Mark 12:34, Luke 20:27, Luke 20:40
[Jesus] asked 3× Mark 5:9, Mark 9:21, Luke 18:40
they asked 3× Matthew 12:10, Mark 9:11, Luke 21:7
He questioned 2× Mark 8:27, Luke 9:18
they inquired 2× Mark 10:2, Luke 20:21
to ask 2× Mark 9:32, Mark 15:44
[and] kept demanding 1× Luke 22:64
[and] questioned 1× Mark 14:60
[Herod] questioned 1× Luke 23:9
Ask 1× John 9:23
asking them questions 1× Luke 2:46
by asking 1× Matthew 16:1
did not ask for 1× Romans 10:20
I ask 1× Luke 6:9
I will ask 1× Mark 11:29
inquired about 1× Mark 7:17
interrogated 1× Acts 5:27
they are to ask 1× 1 Corinthians 14:35
When asked 1× Luke 17:20
with a question 1× Matthew 22:35
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 12:10 ἐπηρώτησαν to they asked Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 16:1 ἐπηρώτησαν to by asking Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 17:10 ἐπηρώτησαν to asked Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 22:23 ἐπηρώτησαν to questioned Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 22:35 ἐπηρώτησεν to with a question Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 22:41 ἐπηρώτησεν to questioned Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 22:46 ἐπερωτῆσαι to to question Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Matthew 27:11 ἐπηρώτησεν to questioned Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 5:9 ἐπηρώτα to [Jesus] asked Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 7:5 ἐπερωτῶσιν to questioned Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 12:10
Aligned rows 56
Books represented 7
Matthew 8 Mark 25 Luke 17 John 2 Acts 2 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 1
Source forms
ἐπηρώτησεν 14x epērōtēsen Matthew 22:35, Matthew 22:41, Matthew 27:11, Mark 9:16
ἐπηρώτα 10x epērōta Mark 5:9, Mark 8:23, Mark 8:27, Mark 8:29
ἐπηρώτων 8x epērōtōn Mark 7:17, Mark 9:11, Mark 9:28, Mark 10:2
ἐπηρώτησαν 6x epērōtēsan Matthew 12:10, Matthew 16:1, Matthew 17:10, Matthew 22:23
ἐπερωτῆσαι 3x eperōtēsai Matthew 22:46, Mark 9:32, Mark 12:34
ἐπερωτῶσιν 2x eperōtōsin Mark 7:5, Romans 10:20
Ἐπηρώτων 2x Epērōtōn Luke 3:14, Luke 8:9
ἐπερωτᾶν 1x eperōtan Luke 20:40
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 16x Matthew 22:35, Matthew 22:41, Matthew 27:11, Mark 9:16
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 10x Mark 7:17, Mark 9:11, Mark 9:28, Mark 10:2
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 10x Mark 5:9, Mark 8:23, Mark 8:27, Mark 8:29
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 7x Matthew 12:10, Matthew 16:1, Matthew 17:10, Matthew 22:23
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 3x Matthew 22:46, Mark 9:32, Mark 12:34
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural 1x John 9:23
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Acts 23:34
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Luke 17:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask questions with a willingness to listen, receive correction, and obey what Scripture makes clear.
- Examine whether fear, reputation, or a settled verdict is controlling what you ask or refuse to ask.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that ἐπερωτάω always means hostile interrogation or always means sincere inquiry.
- Do not claim that asking questions is inherently faithless or that silence always demonstrates faith.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To question someone directly, often seeking specific information or a response to a request.
Strong's G1905
Lexical occurrences 56 verses Greek text appearances 59 times 16 shown below Word forms 4 forms 56 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to question
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 59 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 12:10 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησαν ephrwthsan
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 16:1 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησαν ephrwthsan
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 17:10 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησαν ephrwthsan
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 22:23 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησαν ephrwthsan
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 22:35 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησεν ephrwthsen
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 22:41 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησεν ephrwthsen
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 22:46 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
ἐπερωτῆσαι eperwthsai
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Matthew 27:11 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησεν ephrwthsen
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 5:9 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτα ephrwta
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 7:5 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
ἐπερωτῶσιν eperwtwsin
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 7:17 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτων ephrwtwn
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 8:5 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτα ephrwta
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 8:23 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτα ephrwta
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 8:27 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτα ephrwta
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 9:11 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτων ephrwtwn
I interrogate, question, demand of
Read verse Mark 9:16 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπηρώτησε ephrwthsen
I interrogate, question, demand of
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 4 Aligned forms 56 Tenses Aorist, Imperfect, Present, Future Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 46×
Aorist Active Matt 22:35 · Matt 22:41 · Matt 27:11 · Mark 9:16 · Mark 9:21 · Mark 12:28 · Mark 14:60 · Mark 15:2 · Mark 15:44 · Luke 8:30 · Luke 9:18 · Luke 18:18 · Luke 18:40 · Luke 23:6 · John 18:7 · Acts 5:27 23×
Imperfect Active Mark 5:9 · Mark 8:23 · Mark 8:27 · Mark 8:29 · Mark 9:33 · Mark 10:17 · Mark 13:3 · Mark 14:61 · Mark 15:4 · Luke 23:9 · Mark 7:17 · Mark 9:11 · Mark 9:28 · Mark 10:2 · Mark 10:10 · Mark 12:18 20×
Present Active Mark 7:5 · Luke 6:9 2×
Future Active Mark 11:29 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 4×
Aorist Active Matt 22:46 · Mark 9:32 · Mark 12:34 3×
Present Active Luke 20:40 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 4×
Present Active Luke 2:46 · Rom 10:20 2×
Aorist Passive Luke 17:20 1×
Aorist Active Acts 23:34 1×
Imperative command or strong request 2×
Aorist Active John 9:23 1×
Present Active 1 Cor 14:35 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 56 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 29 imperfect 20 present 6 future 1
Voice
active 55 passive 1
Mood
indicative 46 participle 4 infinitive 4 imperative 2
NT Occurrences
Matthew 12:10 ἐπηρώτησαν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 16:1 ἐπηρώτησαν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 17:10 ἐπηρώτησαν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 22:23 ἐπηρώτησαν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 22:35 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 22:41 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 22:46 ἐπερωτῆσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Matthew 27:11 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 5:9 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 7:17 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Mark 7:5 ἐπερωτῶσιν present active indicative ongoing Mark 8:23 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 8:27 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 8:29 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 9:11 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Mark 9:16 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 9:21 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 9:28 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Mark 9:32 ἐπερωτῆσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Mark 9:33 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 10:10 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Mark 10:17 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 10:2 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Mark 11:29 Ἐπερωτήσω future active indicative prospective Mark 12:18 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Mark 12:28 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 12:34 ἐπερωτῆσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Mark 13:3 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 14:60 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 14:61 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 15:2 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 15:4 ἐπηρώτα imperfect active indicative background Mark 15:44 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 2:46 ἐπερωτῶντα present active participle participle Luke 3:10 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Luke 3:14 ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Luke 6:9 Ἐπερωτῶ present active indicative ongoing Luke 8:30 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 8:9 Ἐπηρώτων imperfect active indicative background Luke 9:18 ἐπηρώτησεν aorist active indicative completed
+16 more occurrences
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 Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 23:6–12 ἐπηρώτα eperōtáō
He was questioning
Showing 1 selected witness from 56 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐπερωτάω 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
Questions reveal as well as request. The young Jesus listens and asks in the temple, showing that humble inquiry can belong to attentive learning. The disciples in Mark 9 face the opposite danger. They do not understand Jesus’ teaching about His death and resurrection, but fear closes their mouths, and the confusion remains. Other questions are spoken yet still resist truth.
Matthew identifies the demand for a heavenly sign as a test, and Jesus’ counter-question in Mark 11 uncovers leaders who calculate what is safe to say rather than answer honestly. Acts places the apostles under formal interrogation, but the pressure gives Peter an occasion to testify that God must be obeyed. Churches need rooms where genuine questions can be asked without shame and where motives can still be examined.
A question is not holy merely because it is phrased carefully, nor is it faithless merely because it exposes uncertainty. Faithful inquiry listens, seeks truth, accepts correction, and remains willing to obey the answer.
Anchor passage
Mark.9.32
Doctrinal connections
- G2065 Erōtaō, to ask, request, or appeal: the related verb overlaps broadly but can carry different relational and discourse patterns.
- G154 Aiteō, to ask or request: requests for something should be distinguished from questions seeking information or testing a claim.
- G3985 Peirazō, to test or tempt: Matthew 16:1 explicitly names testing as the motive behind the leaders’ question.
- G611 Apokrinomai, to answer: many question scenes turn on whether and how an answer is given or refused.
- G1321 Didaskō, to teach: Luke 2 places questioning alongside listening among teachers, while Jesus teaches His disciples through responses.
- G1849 Exousia, authority: Mark 11’s exchange concerns the source of Jesus’ authority and the leaders’ refusal to face John’s.
The prefixed verb often marks direct or pointed asking, but the prefix does not make every occurrence hostile or intense. It can describe inquiry, testing, counter-question, or interrogation. Narrative labels such as “tested,” emotional descriptions such as fear, and institutional settings such as the Sanhedrin supply the moral and pragmatic force.
From Old to New Testament
Wisdom literature commends teachability and honest searching, while prophets expose questions used to evade covenant obedience. Job, the Psalms, and the prophets also show that reverent faith can voice difficult questions before God. The New Testament continues to distinguish inquiry that listens from challenge that refuses available truth.
Canonical synthesisPastoral application
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