Greek · G3004 · unreviewed
λέγω
To say
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λέγω G3004
Pronunciation légō
What does λέγω (légō) mean in the Bible?
λέγω (légō) is a Greek word meaning "to say". λέγω, [in LXX very freq. Shows loving counsel rooted in concern.
Meaning
to say
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Emphasizes meaning and thought content of speech, not mere utterance; what is said corresponds to thought
1in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.
2In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Act.13:15, 24:10; before orat. dir., Mat.9:34, Mrk.3:11, Jhn.1:29, al.; before ὅτι recit., Mrk.3:21, Luk.1:24, Jhn.6:14, al.; accusative and inf., Luk.11:18, Jhn.12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mat.11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman, Words, 24 ff.), Mat.25:9, Mrk.3:33, 7:28, Luk.24:6, 7, al.; of unspoken thought, λ. ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Mat.3:9, Luk.3:8, al.; of writing, 2Co.8:8, Php.4:11, al.; λέγει ἡ γραφή, Rom.4:3, Jas.2:23, al.; with accusative of thing(s), Luk.8:8, 9:33, Jhn.5:34, al.; σὺ λέγεις (a non-committal phrase; Swete, Mk., 359, 369f.), Mat.27:11, Mrk.15:2, Luk.23:3, Jhn.18:37; with dative of person(s), before orat. dir., Mat.8:20, Mrk.2:17, al. mult.; id. before ὅτι, Mat.3:9, al.; with prep., πρός, μετά, περί, etc., Mrk.4:41, Jhn.11:56, Heb.9:5, al.; to mean (cl.), Mrk.14:71, Jhn.6:71, 1Co.10:29, al.; to call, name, Mrk.10:18; pass., Mat.9:9, Mrk.15:7, al (cf. ἀντι-, δια- (-μαι), προ-, συλ-λέγω).
Synonymsλαλέω, which refers to the utterance, as λέγω to the meaning of what is said, its correspondence with thought (Tr., Syn., Ixxvi; Thayer, see word λαλέω).
Why This Word Matters
Shows loving counsel rooted in concern. Acts 21:1-6
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 1659×
Aorist Active Matt 2:8 · Matt 3:7 · Matt 3:15 · Matt 4:3 · Matt 4:4 · Matt 4:9 · Matt 8:10 · Matt 8:13 · Matt 8:19 · Matt 8:21 · Matt 8:32 · Matt 9:2 · Matt 9:4 · Matt 9:12 · Matt 9:15 · Matt 9:22 772×
Present Active Matt 4:6 · Matt 4:10 · Matt 4:19 · Matt 8:4 · Matt 8:7 · Matt 8:20 · Matt 8:22 · Matt 8:26 · Matt 9:6 · Matt 9:9 · Matt 9:28 · Matt 9:37 · Matt 12:13 · Matt 12:44 · Matt 14:31 · Matt 15:34 652×
Imperfect Active Matt 9:11 · Matt 9:34 · Matt 12:23 · Matt 21:11 · Matt 26:5 · Matt 27:41 · Matt 27:47 · Matt 27:49 · Mark 2:16 · Mark 2:24 · Mark 3:21 · Mark 3:22 · Mark 3:30 · Mark 4:41 · Mark 5:31 · Mark 6:14 150×
Future Active Matt 21:25 · Matt 25:34 · Matt 25:40 · Matt 25:41 · Mark 11:31 · Luke 12:10 · Luke 13:25 · Luke 13:27 · Luke 14:9 · Luke 14:10 · Luke 17:7 · Luke 17:8 · Luke 20:5 · Rom 9:20 · 1 Cor 14:16 · 1 Cor 15:35 46×
Perfect Active John 12:50 · Acts 13:34 · 2 Cor 12:9 · Heb 1:13 · Heb 4:3 · Heb 4:4 · Heb 10:9 · Heb 13:5 · John 6:65 · John 14:29 · John 15:15 · Rev 7:14 · Acts 17:28 · Rev 19:3 · John 4:18 · Acts 8:24 16×
Aorist Passive Matt 5:21 · Matt 5:27 · Matt 5:31 · Matt 5:33 · Matt 5:38 · Matt 5:43 · Rom 9:12 · Rom 9:26 · Rev 6:11 · Rev 9:4 · Gal 3:16 11×
Present Passive Matt 13:55 · John 1:38 · John 19:17 · John 20:16 · Acts 9:36 · Heb 7:13 · Heb 9:2 · Rev 8:11 8×
Pluperfect Active Luke 22:13 · John 11:13 · Acts 20:38 3×
Perfect Passive Luke 4:12 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 514×
Present Active Matt 1:20 · Matt 2:13 · Matt 2:20 · Matt 3:2 · Matt 3:14 · Matt 5:2 · Matt 7:21 · Matt 8:2 · Matt 8:3 · Matt 8:6 · Matt 9:18 · Matt 9:29 · Matt 9:30 · Matt 10:5 · Matt 13:3 · Matt 13:24 412×
Aorist Active Matt 26:44 · Mark 14:39 · Luke 5:13 · Luke 9:22 · Luke 19:28 · Luke 22:8 · Luke 23:46 · Luke 24:40 · John 5:12 · John 7:9 · John 9:6 · John 11:43 · John 13:21 · John 18:1 · John 18:22 · John 18:38 46×
Present Passive Matt 1:16 · Matt 10:2 · Matt 26:14 · Matt 27:33 · Mark 15:7 · Luke 22:47 · John 4:25 · John 9:11 · John 11:16 · John 20:24 · John 21:2 · Col 4:11 · Matt 4:18 · Matt 9:9 · Matt 27:16 · Matt 27:17 38×
Aorist Passive Matt 1:22 · Matt 2:15 · Matt 2:17 · Matt 2:23 · Matt 4:14 · Matt 8:17 · Matt 12:17 · Matt 13:35 · Matt 21:4 · Matt 27:9 · Matt 22:31 · Matt 24:15 · Matt 3:3 13×
Perfect Passive Luke 2:24 · Rom 4:18 · Acts 2:16 · Acts 13:40 4×
Perfect Active Matt 26:75 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 61×
Present Active Matt 3:9 · Matt 4:17 · Matt 11:7 · Matt 13:54 · Matt 26:22 · Mark 9:26 · Mark 10:28 · Mark 10:32 · Mark 10:47 · Mark 13:5 · Mark 14:19 · Mark 14:65 · Mark 14:69 · Luke 3:8 · Luke 4:21 · Luke 6:42 40×
Aorist Active Matt 9:5 · Mark 2:9 · Luke 5:14 · Luke 5:23 · Luke 7:40 · Luke 8:56 · Luke 12:12 · Luke 14:17 · Acts 2:29 · Acts 21:37 · 1 Cor 12:3 · 1 Cor 12:21 · Heb 7:9 16×
Present Passive Luke 9:7 · Heb 3:15 · Heb 7:11 · Heb 11:24 4×
Perfect Active Heb 10:15 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 68×
Aorist Active Matt 5:22 · Matt 12:32 · Matt 15:5 · Matt 21:3 · Matt 24:23 · Matt 24:48 · Mark 7:11 · Mark 11:3 · Mark 11:23 · Mark 13:21 · Luke 11:5 · Luke 11:7 · Luke 12:45 · 1 Cor 1:15 · 1 Cor 10:28 · 1 Cor 12:15 58×
Present Active Mark 7:36 · Mark 8:30 · 1 Thess 5:3 · John 2:5 · 1 Cor 3:4 · Jas 2:14 · Phlm 1:19 · Heb 11:32 · 1 Cor 1:10 · 2 Cor 9:4 10×
Imperative command or strong request 43×
Aorist Active Matt 4:3 · Matt 8:8 · Matt 18:17 · Matt 20:21 · Matt 22:17 · Matt 24:3 · Mark 13:4 · Luke 4:3 · Luke 7:7 · Luke 7:40 · Luke 10:40 · Luke 12:13 · Luke 20:2 · Luke 22:67 · John 10:24 · John 20:15 34×
Present Active Luke 10:5 · Luke 10:9 · Luke 11:2 · Luke 17:10 · Acts 13:15 · Gal 4:21 · 2 John 1:10 · Acts 22:27 · Jas 1:13 9×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 1307 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 1134 imperfect 151 aorist 22
Voice
active 1282 passive 25
Mood
indicative 807 participle 438 infinitive 43 subjunctive 10 imperative 9
NT Occurrences
Matthew 1:20 λέγων present active participle participle Matthew 1:22 ῥηθὲν aorist passive participle participle Matthew 1:22 λέγοντος present active participle participle Matthew 2:13 λέγων present active participle participle Matthew 2:15 ῥηθὲν aorist passive participle participle Matthew 2:15 λέγοντος present active participle participle Matthew 2:17 ῥηθὲν aorist passive participle participle Matthew 2:17 λέγοντος present active participle participle Matthew 2:2 λέγοντες present active participle participle Matthew 2:20 λέγων present active participle participle Matthew 2:23 ῥηθὲν aorist passive participle participle Matthew 3:14 λέγων present active participle participle Matthew 3:17 λέγουσα present active participle participle Matthew 3:2 λέγων present active participle participle Matthew 3:3 ῥηθεὶς aorist passive participle participle Matthew 3:3 λέγοντος present active participle participle Matthew 3:9 λέγειν present active infinitive infinitive Matthew 3:9 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 4:10 λέγει present active indicative ongoing Matthew 4:14 ῥηθὲν aorist passive participle participle Matthew 4:14 λέγοντος present active participle participle Matthew 4:17 λέγειν present active infinitive infinitive Matthew 4:19 λέγει present active indicative ongoing Matthew 4:6 λέγει present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:18 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:2 λέγων present active participle participle Matthew 5:20 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:22 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:26 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:28 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:32 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:34 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:39 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 5:44 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 6:16 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 6:2 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 6:25 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 6:29 λέγω present active indicative ongoing Matthew 6:31 λέγοντες present active participle participle Matthew 6:5 λέγω present active indicative ongoing
+1267 more 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)
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
New Testament Witnesses
Appears In
Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.
John 21 — The Risen Lord Restores, Commissions, Shepherds, and Testifies through His Witness Mark 16 — He Has Risen: The Empty Tomb, the Angelic Announcement, Galilee Promise, and Trembling Witness Matthew 16 — The Confession of the Christ, the Church Christ Builds, and the Cross-Shaped Way of Discipleship Matthew 28 — The Resurrection of Jesus and the Great Commission of the Risen King
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain