Greek · G2064 · unreviewed

ἔρχομαι

To come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)

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ἔρχομαι G2064
Pronunciation érchomai

What does ἔρχομαι (érchomai) mean in the Bible?

ἔρχομαι (érchomai) is a Greek word meaning "to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)". ἔρχομαι, [in LXX very frequently for בּוֹא, also for הלךְ ni. Identifies Jesus as the expected Messiah. This term runs through the canonical themes of Messiah.

Full entry for ἔρχομαι (G2064) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)
Extended definition

Movement with emphasis on arrival or outcome; distinct from πορεύομαι's focus on the journey itself.

1to come;
aof persons, either as arriving or returning from elsewhere: Mat.8:9, Mrk.6:31, Luk.7:8, Jhn.4:27, Rom.9:9, al.; before ἀπό, Mrk.5:35 7:1, Jhn.3:2, al.; ἐκ, Luk.5:17, Jhn.3:31, al.; εἰς, Mrk.1:29, al.; διά before εἰς, Mrk.7:31; ἐν (Cremer, 263f., but see: ἐν), Rom.15:29, 1Co.4:21; ἐπί, with accusative, Mrk.6:53 11:13, Jhn.19:33, al.; κατά, with accusative, Luk.10:33 Act.16:7; παρά, with genitive, Luk.8:49; with accusative, Mat.15:29, Mrk.9:14, al.; with dative comm., incomm. (M, Pr., 75, 245), Mat.21:5, Rev.2:5, 16; with adverbs: πόθεν, Jhn.3:8, al.; ἄνωθεν, Jhn.3:31; ὄπισθεν, Mrk.5:27; ὧδε, Mat.8:29; ἐκεῖ, Jhn.18:3; ποῦ, Heb.11:8; before ἕως, Luk.4:42; ἄχρι, Act.11:5; with purpose expressed by inf., Mrk.5:14, Luk.1:59, al.; by fut. ptcp., Mat.27:49; ἵνα, Jhn.12:9; εἰς τοῦτο, ἵνα, Act.9:21; διά, with accusative, Jhn.12:9; before verbs of action, ἔρχεται καί, ἦλθε καί, etc.: Mrk.2:18, Jhn.6:15, al.; ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε, Jhn.1:47 11:34; ἐλθών (redundant; Dalman, Words, 20 f.), Mat.2:8 8:7, Mrk.7:25, Act.16:39, al.; similarly ἐρχόμενος, Luk.15:25, al.; of coming into public view: esp. of the Messiah (ὁ ἐρχόμενος, Mat.11:3, al.; see Cremer, 264), Luk.3:16, Jhn.4:25; hence, of Jesus, Mat.11:19, Luk.7:34, Jhn.5:43, al.; of the second coming, Mat.10:23, Act.1:11, 1Co.4:5, 1Th.5:2, al.;
bof time: ἔρξονται ἡμέραι (present for fut.: Bl., §56, 8), Luk.23:29, Heb.8:8" (LXX) ; fut., Mat.9:15, Mrk.2:20, al.; ἔρξεται ὥρα, ὅτε, Jhn.4:21, 23. al.; ἦλθεν, ἐλήλυθε ἡ ὥρα, Jhn.13:1 16:32 17:1; ἡ ἡμέρα τ. κυρίου, 1Th.5:2; καιροί, Act.3:19; __(with) of things and events: κατακλυσμός, Luk.17:27; λιμός, Act.7:11; ἡ ὀργή, 1Th.1:10; ὁ λύχνος, Mrk.4:21 (see Swete, in l.). Metaphorical, τ. ἀγαθά, Rom.3:8; τ. τέλειον, 1Co.13:10; ἡ πίστις, Gal.3:23, 25; ἡ ἐντολή, Rom.7:9; with prepositions: ἐκ τ. θλίψεως, Rev.7:14; ἐις τ. χεῖρον, Mrk.5:26; εἰς πειρασμόν, ib. 14:38, al.
2to go: ὀπίσω, with genitive (Heb. הָלַךְ אַחֲרֵי), Mat.16:24, Mrk.8:34, Luk.9:23; σύν, Jhn.21:3; ὁδόν, Luk.2:44. (Cf. ἀν-, ἐπ-αν-, ἀπ-, δι-, εἰς, ἐπ-εἰσ-, συν-εἰσ-, ἐξ-, δι-εξ-, ἐπ-, κατ-, παρ-, ἀντι-παρ-, περι-, προ-, προσ-, συν-έρχομαι.)
Synonymsπορεύομαι, χωρέω (v, Thayer, see word ἔρξομαι).
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Why This Word Matters
Identifies Jesus as the expected Messiah.
Grammatical Forms

How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.

Tenses
Present Aorist Future Perfect Pluperfect Imperfect
Voices
Middle Active
Indicative states a fact or reality 355×
Aorist Active Matt 9:1 · Matt 11:18 · Matt 11:19 · Matt 12:9 · Matt 12:42 · Matt 13:25 · Matt 13:36 · Matt 14:25 · Matt 14:29 · Matt 15:29 · Matt 15:39 · Matt 17:12 · Matt 19:1 · Matt 20:28 · Matt 21:19 · Matt 21:32 170×
Present Middle Matt 8:9 · Matt 13:19 · Matt 17:11 · Matt 18:7 · Matt 21:5 · Matt 24:42 · Matt 24:43 · Matt 24:44 · Matt 25:19 · Matt 26:36 · Matt 26:40 · Matt 26:45 · Matt 27:49 · Mark 1:7 · Mark 1:40 · Mark 3:20 131×
Future Middle Matt 9:15 · Matt 24:5 · Mark 2:20 · Mark 13:6 · Luke 5:35 · Luke 17:22 · Luke 21:6 · Luke 21:8 · John 11:48 · 2 Pet 3:3 · Rom 9:9 · Rom 15:29 · 1 Cor 4:19 · 1 Cor 16:5 · 2 Cor 12:1 · Phil 2:24 21×
Perfect Active Mark 9:13 · Luke 7:33 · Luke 7:34 · John 3:19 · John 12:23 · John 16:32 · John 17:1 · Phil 1:12 · Luke 5:32 · John 5:43 · John 7:28 · John 8:42 · John 12:46 · John 16:28 · John 18:37 · John 3:2 17×
Imperfect Middle Mark 1:45 · John 4:30 · John 19:3 · John 20:3 · Acts 19:18 · Mark 2:13 · Luke 18:3 · John 11:29 · Acts 9:17
Pluperfect Active John 6:17 · John 7:30 · John 8:20 · John 11:30 · Acts 8:27 · Acts 9:21 · John 11:19
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 158×
Aorist Active Matt 2:8 · Matt 2:9 · Matt 2:23 · Matt 4:13 · Matt 5:24 · Matt 8:7 · Matt 8:14 · Matt 9:18 · Matt 9:23 · Matt 13:54 · Matt 16:13 · Matt 24:46 · Matt 25:27 · Matt 26:43 · Mark 5:23 · Mark 9:12 94×
Present Middle Matt 3:11 · Matt 11:3 · Matt 21:9 · Matt 23:39 · Mark 11:9 · Luke 6:47 · Luke 7:19 · Luke 7:20 · Luke 13:35 · Luke 15:25 · Luke 19:38 · John 1:15 · John 1:27 · John 3:31 · John 6:14 · John 6:35 60×
Perfect Active Acts 18:2 · 1 John 4:2 · Mark 9:1 · Luke 5:17
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 51×
Aorist Active Matt 13:32 · Matt 14:28 · Matt 16:24 · Matt 17:10 · Matt 18:7 · Matt 19:14 · Matt 22:3 · Mark 8:34 · Mark 9:11 · Luke 7:7 · Luke 14:1 · Luke 14:20 · Luke 17:1 · John 5:40 · John 6:44 · John 6:65 42×
Present Middle Matt 11:14 · Matt 16:27 · Mark 10:14 · Luke 9:23 · Luke 10:1 · Luke 12:45 · Luke 18:16 · John 6:15 · Rev 3:10
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 47×
Aorist Active Matt 10:23 · Matt 21:40 · Matt 23:35 · Matt 25:31 · Mark 4:22 · Mark 8:38 · Luke 1:43 · Luke 8:17 · Luke 9:26 · Luke 12:38 · Luke 14:10 · Luke 22:18 · John 4:25 · John 5:43 · John 7:31 · John 11:56 45×
Present Middle John 7:27 · Heb 13:23
Imperative command or strong request 20×
Present Middle Matt 8:9 · Luke 7:8 · John 1:46 · John 11:34 · Rev 6:1 · Rev 6:3 · Rev 6:5 · Rev 6:7 · Rev 22:17 · Rev 22:20 · Luke 14:17 · John 1:39 · John 7:37 15×
Aorist Active Matt 6:10 · Matt 10:13 · Luke 11:2 · Matt 14:29 · John 4:16
Discourse Aspect

How this verb appears across 628 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).

Aspect
completed 170 ongoing 131 prospective 21 resultant 24 imperative 20 background 8 subjunctive 47 infinitive 51 participle 156
Tense
aorist 356 present 216 future 21 perfect 20 imperfect 8 pluperfect 7
Voice
active 383 middle 245
Mood
indicative 354 participle 156 infinitive 51 subjunctive 47 imperative 20
NT Occurrences
Matthew 2:11 ἐλθόντες aorist active participle participle Matthew 2:2 ἤλθομεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 2:23 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 2:8 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 2:9 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 3:11 ἐρχόμενος present middle participle participle Matthew 3:14 ἔρχῃ present middle indicative ongoing Matthew 3:16 ἐρχόμενον present middle participle participle Matthew 3:7 ἐρχομένους present middle participle participle Matthew 4:13 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 5:17 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 5:17 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 5:24 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 6:10 ἐλθέτω aorist active imperative imperative Matthew 7:15 ἔρχονται present middle indicative ongoing Matthew 7:25 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 7:27 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 8:14 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 8:28 ἐλθόντος aorist active participle participle Matthew 8:29 ἦλθες aorist active indicative completed Matthew 8:7 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 8:9 Ἔρχου present middle imperative imperative Matthew 8:9 ἔρχεται present middle indicative ongoing Matthew 9:1 ἦλθεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 9:10 ἐλθόντες aorist active participle participle Matthew 9:13 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 9:15 ἐλεύσονται future middle indicative prospective Matthew 9:18 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 9:18 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 9:23 ἐλθὼν aorist active participle participle Matthew 9:28 ἐλθόντι aorist active participle participle Matthew 10:13 ἐλθάτω aorist active imperative imperative Matthew 10:23 ἔλθῃ aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Matthew 10:34 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 10:34 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 10:35 ἦλθον aorist active indicative completed Matthew 11:14 ἔρχεσθαι present middle infinitive infinitive Matthew 11:18 ἦλθεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 11:19 ἦλθεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 11:3 ἐρχόμενος present middle participle participle +588 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)

Canonical Themes
Messiah
Biblical Occurrences
Appears In
Word Pictures (Robertson)

A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

Sources