What does θηλάζω (thēlázō) mean in the Bible?
θηλάζω (thēlázō) is a Greek word meaning "to suckle, (by implication) to suck".
Greek · G2337
θηλάζω
To suckle, (by implication) to suck
Reading a lexicon entry
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θηλάζω G2337
Pronunciation thēlázō
What does θηλάζω (thēlázō) mean in the Bible?
θηλάζω (thēlázō) is a Greek word meaning "to suckle, (by implication) to suck".
Full entry for θηλάζω (G2337) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2337?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include nursing [mothers] (3), infants (1), nursed You (1).
Where does θηλάζω (thēlázō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Matthew (2), Mark (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 nursing [mothers] 3× Matthew 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23
infants 1× Matthew 21:16
nursed You 1× Luke 11:27
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 21:16 θηλαζόντων to infants Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural Matthew 24:19 θηλαζούσαις to nursing [mothers] Verb - Present Participle Active - Dative Feminine Plural Mark 13:17 θηλαζούσαις to nursing [mothers] Verb - Present Participle Active - Dative Feminine Plural Luke 11:27 ἐθήλασας to nursed You Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular Luke 21:23 θηλαζούσαις to nursing [mothers] Verb - Present Participle Active - Dative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 21:16
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 3
Matthew 2 Mark 1 Luke 2
Source forms
θηλαζούσαις 3x thēlazousais Matthew 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23
ἐθήλασας 1x ethēlasas Luke 11:27
θηλαζόντων 1x thēlazontōn Matthew 21:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Participle Active - Dative Feminine Plural 3x Matthew 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x Luke 11:27
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural 1x Matthew 21:16
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to suckle, (by implication) to suck
Strong's G2337
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 2 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to suckle, (by implication) to suck
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 21:16 Verb Present Active Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
θηλαζόντων qhlazontwn
I give suck, suck
Read verse Matthew 24:19 Verb Present Active Participle Dative Plural Feminine
θηλαζούσαις qhlazousaiv
I give suck, suck
Read verse Mark 13:17 Verb Present Active Participle Dative Plural Feminine
θηλαζούσαις qhlazousaiv
I give suck, suck
Read verse Luke 11:27 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐθήλασας. eqhlasav
I give suck, suck
Read verse Luke 21:23 Verb Present Active Participle Dative Plural Feminine
θηλαζούσαις qhlazousaiv
I give suck, suck
Read verse Luke 23:29 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐθήλασαν. eqhlasan
I give suck, suck
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 Present, Aorist Voices 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 4×
Present Active Matt 24:19 · Mark 13:17 · Luke 21:23 · Matt 21:16 4×
Indicative states a fact or reality 1×
Aorist Active Luke 11:27 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 4 aorist 1
Voice
active 5
Mood
participle 4 indicative 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)
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