To speak or say (by word or writing)
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In John, this speaking verb regularly carries testimony, reply, and revelation through ordinary narrative speech. It is a common verb, so it should not be treated as a magic signal that every sentence is equally weighty.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἔπω (G2036) · Open the biblical lexicon
In John, this speaking verb regularly carries testimony, reply, and revelation through ordinary narrative speech. It is a common verb, so it should not be treated as a magic signal that every sentence is equally weighty.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1,080 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include said (170), . . . (88), he said (80), [and] said (56), asked (33).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (319), John (254), Matthew (193), Acts (136).
In John, this speaking verb regularly carries testimony, reply, and revelation through ordinary narrative speech. It is a common verb, so it should not be treated as a magic signal that every sentence is equally weighty. Its importance comes from the speaker, the setting, and the words that follow. John uses spoken words to move readers from witness to faith: John testifies, Jesus answers, opponents object, disciples misunderstand, and the risen Christ restores. The companion therefore helps teachers slow down when John says someone spoke, because the Gospel often advances through the content of a saying rather than through action alone.
For John-focused use, the safest path is to let the immediate passage set the claim, then let the word clarify how the scene moves toward witness, faith, resistance, or worship.
G2036 is the aorist speech verb that fills John's Gospel with testimony, replies, objections, and revelatory sayings. Its local John use is broad, so the responsible teaching move is not to overload the verb itself but to attend carefully to who speaks, what is said, and how the speech advances John's witness to Jesus.
John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”
John's testimony is introduced as spoken witness concerning Jesus. The verb marks speech that points away from the witness and toward the surpassing Christ.
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Jesus' words to Nicodemus show that speech in John often discloses kingdom reality. The weight rests on the speaker and the saying, not on the speech verb by itself.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
Jesus speaks resurrection hope directly to Martha. The verb carries the narrative act of saying, while the content reveals Jesus as resurrection and life.
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.
Greek word. to speak or say (by word or writing)
How this verb appears across 922 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)
ἔπω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
John's Gospel is built around words that reveal, divide, invite, and expose. G2036 helps mark that movement, especially where testimony and Jesus' own sayings become turning points. Because the verb is common, it should not be preached as if the lexical form alone carries John's theology of revelation. The theology is in the sayings that the verb introduces.
Still, this word opens a useful doorway: John wants readers to listen. Witnesses speak so that others may believe, Jesus speaks so that hidden realities become clear, and opponents speak in ways that disclose resistance. The teacher should use the verb to slow the pace of reading and ask what the saying is doing in context.
John.1.15
To say, speak, or declare is a reviewed display gloss for G2036. In this John-focused companion, the local discourse foregrounding data shows 201 John use(s), with tense patterns summarized as aorist 201. Use these grammar signals as support for reading the passage, not as a replacement for context.
The broader Scripture connection should remain modest: revelatory speech and testimony is visible in the cited passages, while the full theological claim must come from each passage's context rather than from the word alone.
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