What does κατευθύνω (kateuthýnō) mean in the Bible?
κατευθύνω (kateuthýnō): To direct or guide by making straight; emphasizes establishing proper course or alignment toward a goal.
Greek · G2720
κατευθύνω
To guide
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κατευθύνω G2720
Pronunciation kateuthýnō
What does κατευθύνω (kateuthýnō) mean in the Bible?
κατευθύνω (kateuthýnō): To direct or guide by making straight; emphasizes establishing proper course or alignment toward a goal.
Full entry for κατευθύνω (G2720) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2720?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include direct (2), to guide (1).
Where does κατευθύνω (kateuthýnō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 1:79. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (1), 2 Thessalonians (1), Luke (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 direct 2× 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 2 Thessalonians 3:5
to guide 1× Luke 1:79
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 1:79
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Luke 1 1 Thessalonians 1 2 Thessalonians 1
Source forms
κατευθύναι 2x kateuthynai 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 2 Thessalonians 3:5
κατευθῦναι 1x kateuthynai Luke 1:79
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Optative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x 1 Thessalonians 3:11, 2 Thessalonians 3:5
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1x Luke 1:79
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To direct or guide by making straight; emphasizes establishing proper course or alignment toward a goal.
Strong's G2720
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 2 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 1:79 Source Gloss
to guide
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To direct or guide by making straight; emphasizes establishing proper course or alignment toward a goal.
to make or keep straight, direct, guide: metaphorically, τ. ὁδόν, 1Th.3:11; τ. πόδας εἰς ὁδὸν εἰρήνης, Luk.1:79; τ. καρδίας εἰς τ. ἀγάπην, 2Th.3:5.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 1:79 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
κατευθῦναι kateuqunai
I make straight, direct
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 3:11 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Optative
κατευθύναι kateuqunai
I make straight, direct
Read verse 2 Thessalonians 3:5 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Optative
κατευθύναι kateuqunai
I make straight, direct
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 3 Tenses Aorist Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Optative wish or remote possibility 2×
Aorist Active 1 Thess 3:11 · 2 Thess 3:5 2×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Active Luke 1:79 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 3
Voice
active 3
Mood
optative 2 infinitive 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)
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
Direct feet into the way of peace, spiritual guidance toward righteousness
God's active guidance of apostolic path and ministry, establishing right course
God guiding hearts toward love, inward orientation toward divine virtues
Word Origins
κατευθύνω is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
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