What does θεμελιόω (themelióō) mean in the Bible?
θεμελιόω (themelióō): To establish or secure something on a foundation, emphasizing stability and endurance against collapse.
Greek · G2311
θεμελιόω
To found
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θεμελιόω G2311
Pronunciation themelióō
What does θεμελιόω (themelióō) mean in the Bible?
θεμελιόω (themelióō): To establish or secure something on a foundation, emphasizing stability and endurance against collapse.
Full entry for θεμελιόω (G2311) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2311?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] establish [you] (1), established (1), grounded (1), its foundation was (1), laid the foundations (1).
Where does θεμελιόω (themelióō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:25. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (1), Colossians (1), Ephesians (1), Hebrews (1).
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 [and] establish [you] 1× 1 Peter 5:10
established 1× Colossians 1:23
grounded 1× Ephesians 3:17
its foundation was 1× Matthew 7:25
laid the foundations 1× Hebrews 1:10
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:25 τεθεμελίωτο to its foundation was Verb - Pluperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular Ephesians 3:17 τεθεμελιωμένοι to grounded Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural Colossians 1:23 τεθεμελιωμένοι to established Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural Hebrews 1:10 ἐθεμελίωσας to laid the foundations Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1 Peter 5:10 θεμελιώσει to [and] establish [you] Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 7:25
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 5
Matthew 1 Ephesians 1 Colossians 1 Hebrews 1 1 Peter 1
Source forms
τεθεμελιωμένοι 2x tethemeliōmenoi Ephesians 3:17, Colossians 1:23
ἐθεμελίωσας 1x ethemeliōsas Hebrews 1:10
θεμελιώσει 1x themeliōsei 1 Peter 5:10
τεθεμελίωτο 1x tethemeliōto Matthew 7:25
Parsing patterns
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x Ephesians 3:17, Colossians 1:23
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x Hebrews 1:10
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Peter 5:10
Verb - Pluperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Matthew 7:25
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To establish or secure something on a foundation, emphasizing stability and endurance against collapse.
Strong's G2311
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 2 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Ephesians 3:14-21 Source Gloss
to found
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To establish or secure something on a foundation, emphasizing stability and endurance against collapse.
to lay the foundation of, to found: with accusative, τ. γῆν, Heb.1:10 (LXX); pass., Mat.7:25, Luk.6:48; metaphorically, 1Pe.5:10 (R, mg., settle); pass., Eph.3:18, Col.1:23.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:25 Verb Third Person Singular Pluperfect Passive Indicative
τεθεμελίωτο teqemeliwto
I found, lay the foundation
Read verse Luke 6:48 Verb Third Person Singular Pluperfect Passive Indicative
τεθεμελίωτο teqemeliwto
I found, lay the foundation
Read verse Ephesians 3:17 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
τεθεμελιωμένοι teqemeliwmenoi
I found, lay the foundation
Read verse Colossians 1:23 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
τεθεμελιωμένοι teqemeliwmenoi
I found, lay the foundation
Read verse Hebrews 1:10 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐθεμελίωσας, eqemeliwsav
I found, lay the foundation
Read verse 1 Peter 5:10 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Optative
θεμελιώσαι. qemeliwsai
I found, lay the foundation
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 5 Tenses Perfect, Pluperfect, Aorist, Future Voices Passive, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Perfect Passive Eph 3:17 · Col 1:23 2×
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Pluperfect Passive Matt 7:25 1×
Aorist Active Heb 1:10 1×
Future Active 1 Pet 5:10 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
future 1 perfect 1 aorist 1 pluperfect 1
Voice
active 2 passive 2
Mood
indicative 3 participle 1
NT 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.
Biblical Witnesses
metaphorical use: spiritual establishment and firm foundation in Christ's love
Showing 1 selected witness from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
θεμελιόω is built from this root:
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