To rule
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G2961 is a verb for ruling, exercising lordship, having dominion, or being master over someone or something. The governed witness contains seven forms, and the subject changes the force of each statement.
Reader summary
Full entry for κυριεύω (G2961) · Open the biblical lexicon
G2961 is a verb for ruling, exercising lordship, having dominion, or being master over someone or something. The governed witness contains seven forms, and the subject changes the force of each statement.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include has authority over (1), has dominion over (1), He might be the Lord of (1), lord it over (1), lords (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 22:25. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (4), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Corinthians (1), Luke (1).
G2961 is a verb for ruling, exercising lordship, having dominion, or being master over someone or something. The governed witness contains seven forms, and the subject changes the force of each statement. Gentile kings lord it over their subjects in Luke 22:25. Death no longer rules over the risen Christ, sin is not to master believers, and law has authority over a person while that person lives in Romans 6-7.
Paul denies lording it over the Corinthians' faith in 2 Corinthians 1:24. Romans 14:9 speaks of Christ as Lord of the dead and living, and 1 Timothy 6:15 uses the participle in the title Lord of lords. The verb names exercised rule or dominion, but it does not make human domination, sin's mastery, law's authority, apostolic ministry, and Christ's lordship equivalent.
The governed witness contains seven G2961 forms in seven verses. Romans supplies four forms; Luke, 2 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy supply one each. Subjects include Gentile rulers, death, sin, law, apostles, Christ, and those called lords.
The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.
Verses 26-27 overturn this status pattern among Jesus' followers and point to service rather than domination.
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.
Death is the ruling subject that has lost dominion over the risen Christ.
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
The promise about sin's mastery accompanies Paul's commands about presenting the body to God. It is not a claim that temptation or moral struggle has ceased.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.
Paul distinguishes apostolic ministry from domination while still explaining his accountable pastoral decision in the surrounding paragraph.
For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Christ's lordship governs Paul's appeal that believers neither live nor die to themselves.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Rule or dominion exercised by one with authority; especially sin's or death's power over the human condition.
Rule or dominion exercised by one with authority; especially sin's or death's power over the human condition.
(κύριος), [in LXX chiefly for מָשַׁל ;] to be lord or master of, to rule (over): C. genitive obj., Luk.22:25, Rom.14:9, 2Co.1:24; absol., 1Ti.6:15; metaphorically, ὁ θάνατος, Rom.6:9; ἡ ἁμαρτία, Rom.6:14; ὁ νόμος, Rom.7:1 (cf. κατα-κυριεύω).
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I have authority, rule over
Read verseI have authority, rule over
Read verseI have authority, rule over
Read verseI have authority, rule over
Read verseI have authority, rule over
Read verseI have authority, rule over
Read verseI have authority, rule over
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.
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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 passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
κυριεύω is built from this root:
Sin no longer exercises lordship over those under grace.Romans 6:1-14
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The verb receives its moral and theological weight from the ruling subject and the passage. Jesus rejects the Gentile pattern of dominating greatness and directs His disciples toward service. Paul denies mastery over another's faith while continuing to exercise accountable apostolic care. Romans announces that death no longer rules the risen Christ, promises that sin will not master those under grace, uses law's authority as a bounded analogy, and proclaims Christ as Lord of dead and living.
First Timothy includes the verb in the title Lord of lords. These are not equal kinds of rule. The governing question is always who rules whom, whether the passage affirms or rejects that rule, and how the surrounding argument explains its purpose and limit.
Rom.6.14
G2961 is a verb related to the lord and master word family. Its seven governed forms span present and future indicatives, an aorist subjunctive, and a participle. Voice, subject, object, and negation materially affect each use.
Biblical teaching about kingship, dominion, service, and God's rule supplies canonical context. Those connections should clarify the New Testament passages without transferring divine lordship to human leaders.