What does ἀληθῶς · λέγω mean in the Bible?
ἀληθῶς · λέγω is a Greek phrase meaning "I tell you truly".
Greek · G230, G3004
λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς
Truly · to say
Reading a lexicon entry
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Words in this compound — expand to study each participant
ἀληθῶςG230truly
Pronunciationalēthōs
Affirms truth of preceding statement with certainty; stronger than mere assertion of fact.
Open lexicon entry →λέγωG3004to say
Pronunciationlégō
Emphasizes meaning and thought content of speech, not mere utterance; what is said corresponds to thought
Open lexicon entry →What does λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς (legō de hymin alēthōs) mean in the Bible?
ἀληθῶς · λέγω is a Greek phrase meaning "I tell you truly".
Full entry for λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς (G230, G3004) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How many biblical occurrences are listed for G230, G3004?
G230, G3004 is connected to 18 lexical occurrence verses in the lexicon data.
Evidence Summary
Greek phrase. I tell you truly
Source Gloss
I tell you truly
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns1Aligned forms18
Matt 14:33 · Matt 26:73 · Matt 27:54 · Mark 14:70 · Mark 15:39 · Luke 9:27 · Luke 12:44 · Luke 21:3 · John 1:47 · John 4:42 · John 6:14 · John 7:26 · John 7:40 · John 8:31 · John 17:8 · Acts 12:1118×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 1307 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present1134imperfect151aorist22
Voice
active1282passive25
Mood
indicative807participle438infinitive43subjunctive10imperative9
NT Occurrences
Matthew 1:20λέγωνpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 1:22ῥηθὲνaorist passive participleparticipleMatthew 1:22λέγοντοςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 2:13λέγωνpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 2:15ῥηθὲνaorist passive participleparticipleMatthew 2:15λέγοντοςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 2:17ῥηθὲνaorist passive participleparticipleMatthew 2:17λέγοντοςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 2:2λέγοντεςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 2:20λέγωνpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 2:23ῥηθὲνaorist passive participleparticipleMatthew 3:14λέγωνpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 3:17λέγουσαpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 3:2λέγωνpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 3:3ῥηθεὶςaorist passive participleparticipleMatthew 3:3λέγοντοςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 3:9λέγεινpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveMatthew 3:9λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 4:10λέγειpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 4:14ῥηθὲνaorist passive participleparticipleMatthew 4:14λέγοντοςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 4:17λέγεινpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveMatthew 4:19λέγειpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 4:6λέγειpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:18λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:2λέγωνpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 5:20λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:22λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:26λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:28λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:32λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:34λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:39λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 5:44λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 6:16λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 6:2λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 6:25λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 6:29λέγωpresent active indicativeongoingMatthew 6:31λέγοντεςpresent active participleparticipleMatthew 6:5λέγωpresent active indicativeongoing+1267 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)
Word Origins
λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς is built from this root: