What does κραταιόω (krataióō) mean in the Bible?
G2901, krataióō, is a Greek verb for becoming strong or being strengthened. Luke uses it for the growth of John the Baptist and Jesus.
Greek · G2901
κραταιόω
To strengthen
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κραταιόωG2901
Pronunciationkrataióō
What does κραταιόω (krataióō) mean in the Bible?
G2901, krataióō, is a Greek verb for becoming strong or being strengthened. Luke uses it for the growth of John the Baptist and Jesus.
Reader summary
Full entry for κραταιόω (G2901) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2901?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include became strong (2), Be strong (1), strengthen (1).
Where does κραταιόω (krataióō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 1:80. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), 1 Corinthians (1), Ephesians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2901, krataióō, is a Greek verb for becoming strong or being strengthened. Luke uses it for the growth of John the Baptist and Jesus. Paul commands the Corinthians to be strong and prays that the Ephesians will be strengthened through God's Spirit in their inner being. The verb describes developing or received capacity, not an unchanging personality type. Strength may involve bodily maturation, spiritual formation, courage in faithful community, or inward enablement rooted in God's power.
Luke's two childhood summaries honor real growth. John grows and becomes strong in spirit before his public appearance. Jesus grows and becomes strong, filled with wisdom, with God's grace upon Him. These verses confess God's purposeful formation without inviting speculation about hidden childhood events or denying the Son's full divine identity. They also do not make one developmental timeline the measure of every child. Human growth varies, and disability, neurodivergence, illness, or delayed milestones never reduce a person's dignity or divine image-bearing.
Paul gives strength a communal and Trinitarian setting. First Corinthians places be strong among alertness, firm faith, courage, and the command that everything be done in love. It is addressed to the church, not only to men, and cannot support machismo or domination. Ephesians asks the Father, from the riches of His glory, to strengthen believers with power through His Spirit in the inner person so that Christ may dwell in their hearts and they may know His surpassing love. G2901 opens strength as growth and gift: courageous yet loving, inward yet embodied, Spirit-enabled yet never coercive, and always ordered toward mature life in Christ.
source_lexiconPassage contextBook contextCanonical parallel
How the Bible Uses It
G2901 describes John growing strong in spirit, Jesus growing strong and wise, the whole Corinthian church being summoned to loving courage, and believers receiving inward strength through the Spirit to know Christ's love.
- Luke.1.80
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.
John's hidden years include genuine growth and strengthening before public vocation. The verse honors formation and timing without making wilderness isolation a universal spiritual program.
- Luke.2.40
And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.
Luke joins Jesus' human growth, strengthening, wisdom, and grace. The summary supports the reality of the incarnation without implying moral defect or a change in His divine identity.
- 1Cor.16.13
Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.
The sequence calls the entire congregation to alert, stable, courageous strength, and the next verse governs every action by love. The masculine English idiom must not narrow the command to men or equate courage with aggression.
- Eph.3.16
I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
Paul asks the Father to give inward strength through the Spirit from divine riches. The prayer continues toward Christ's indwelling, rooted love, shared comprehension, and fullness, not private spiritual display.
Passage contextBook contextCanonical parallel
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itbecame strong2×Luke 1:80, Luke 2:40
Be strong1×1 Corinthians 16:13
strengthen1×Ephesians 3:16
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 1:80ἐκραταιοῦτοtobecame strongVerb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person SingularLuke 2:40ἐκραταιοῦτοtobecame strongVerb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular1 Corinthians 16:13κραταιοῦσθεtoBe strongVerb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person PluralEphesians 3:16κραταιωθῆναιtostrengthenVerb - Aorist Infinitive Passive
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 1:80
Aligned rows4
Books represented3
Luke21 Corinthians1Ephesians1
Source forms
ἐκραταιοῦτο2xekrataioutoLuke 1:80, Luke 2:40
κραταιοῦσθε1xkrataiousthe1 Corinthians 16:13
κραταιωθῆναι1xkrataiōthēnaiEphesians 3:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular2xLuke 1:80, Luke 2:40
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive1xEphesians 3:16
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural1x1 Corinthians 16:13
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Make room for strength to develop at different rates and through different forms of support, especially for children, disabled people, and those recovering from trauma.
- Practice courage under the rule of love, refusing aggression, gender stereotypes, and demands that vulnerable people prove strength through exposure to harm.
- Seek the Spirit's inward strengthening alongside embodied care, wise counsel, safe community, and patient habits that support mature life in Christ.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that slower development, disability, neurodivergence, or dependence on help means a person lacks spiritual strength.
- Do not claim that Jesus' growth implies sin, moral defect, or a change in His divine nature.
- Do not claim that be strong is addressed only to men or authorizes aggressive behavior; the whole congregation is called to act in love.
- Do not claim that Spirit-given strength requires someone to remain in an unsafe relationship, ministry, home, or workplace.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To strengthen spiritually or physically, often with divine power enabling growth in virtue
Source Gloss
to strengthen
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To strengthen spiritually or physically, often with divine power enabling growth in virtue
(late form of κρατύνω; κράτος) [in LXX chiefly for חָזַק ;] to strengthen; pass., to wax strong: Luk.2:40, 1Co.16:13; πνεύματι, Luk.1:80; δυνάμει κ. διὰ τ. πνεύματος, Eph.3:16.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 1:80Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Passive Indicative
ἐκραταιοῦτοekrataiouto
I strengthen, confirm, grow strong
Read verseLuke 2:40Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Passive Indicative
ἐκραταιοῦτοekrataiouto
I strengthen, confirm, grow strong
Read verse1 Corinthians 16:13Verb Second Person Plural Present Passive Imperative
κραταιοῦσθε.krataiousqe
I strengthen, confirm, grow strong
Read verseEphesians 3:16Verb Aorist Passive Infinitive
κραταιωθῆναιkrataiwqhnai
I strengthen, confirm, grow strong
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.
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
imperfect2present1aorist1
Voice
passive4
Mood
indicative2imperative1infinitive1
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)
Sampled Scripture Occurrences
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Witnesses
Luke 1:80ἐκραταιοῦτοkrataióō
Was becoming strong
Luke 2:39–40ἐκραταιοῦτοkrataióō
Was becoming strong
Word Origins
κραταιόω is built from this root:
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2901 presents strength as formation rather than performance. John grows strong in spirit during years hidden from public view. Jesus truly grows and becomes strong in His human life, filled with wisdom under God's grace, revealing the incarnation's full participation in human development without surrendering His divine identity. The Corinthians are told to be strong, but the command belongs to the whole church and is immediately bounded by love.
Ephesians makes strengthening a gift from the Father through the Spirit in the inner person, moving toward Christ's settled presence, rooted love, communal comprehension, and divine fullness. This pattern challenges cultures that reward a forceful image while neglecting patient growth. Strength can mature quietly, receive help, and coexist with bodily limits.
It is not owned by one gender, measured by speed of development, or proven by intimidation. Churches should cultivate courage and resilience through truth, love, prayer, wise practice, accommodation, and shared support. Leaders should never weaponize be strong against grieving or traumatized people. The strongest movement in these texts is God's faithful work forming people toward wisdom, love, and mature participation in Christ.
Anchor passage
Eph.3.16
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 1 places John's strengthening within ordinary growth and God's timed vocation, giving hidden formation value before visible ministry.
- Luke 2 holds Jesus' real human development together with wisdom and grace, contributing to a robust confession of the incarnate Son's humanity.
- First Corinthians 16 addresses the congregation with alertness, firm faith, courage, and strength, then makes love the governing manner of every action.
- Ephesians 3 traces strengthening from the Father's glorious riches through the Spirit into the inner person and toward Christ's indwelling presence.
- Ephesians joins inward power to being rooted in love and comprehending Christ's love with all the saints, making strength relational and communal.
- Across the four uses, divine formation respects process while directing capacity toward wisdom, faithful courage, love, and mature life in Christ.
G2901 is a causative or intransitive-strengthening verb related to the word family for might and firmness. The two Lukan imperfect forms portray ongoing growth or becoming strong. First Corinthians uses an imperative addressed to the plural congregation, while Ephesians uses a passive infinitive in a prayer for believers to be strengthened. The governed BSB word table establishes all four witnesses because the selected artifact's top-level morphology and occurrence projection is empty for this identity.
From Old to New Testament
The Old Testament repeatedly names God as the giver of strength, especially to the faint, and treats wisdom, courage, and faithful endurance as received capacities. The New Testament's G2901 uses continue that pattern in growth, communal exhortation, and Spirit-enabled inward formation. Jesus' childhood summary also shows the eternal Son embracing genuine human development. This continuity honors embodied growth and divine enablement together rather than opposing ordinary formation to spiritual life.
Canonical parallelBook context