What does μεθύω (methýō) mean in the Bible?
Μεθύω (methýō) means to become drunk or be intoxicated. In John 2:10 the master of the banquet describes the common practice of serving inferior wine after guests have drunk freely.
Greek · G3184
μεθύω
To get drunk
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μεθύω G3184
Pronunciation methýō
What does μεθύω (methýō) mean in the Bible?
Μεθύω (methýō) means to become drunk or be intoxicated. In John 2:10 the master of the banquet describes the common practice of serving inferior wine after guests have drunk freely.
Reader summary
Full entry for μεθύω (G3184) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3184?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [the guests] are drunk (1), are not drunk (1), drunk (1), drunkards (1), get drunk (1).
Where does μεθύω (methýō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 24:49. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (1), 1 Thessalonians (1), Acts (1), John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Μεθύω (methýō) means to become drunk or be intoxicated. In John 2:10 the master of the banquet describes the common practice of serving inferior wine after guests have drunk freely. His statement highlights the surprising quality of the wine Jesus provides at Cana, but it is reported speech within the sign narrative, not approval of drunkenness. John directs attention to Jesus' glory and the disciples' faith.
Elsewhere the New Testament consistently treats intoxication as a loss of sober, loving self-government. Peter rejects the charge that the Pentecost witnesses are drunk (Acts 2:15). Paul rebukes wealthy Corinthians who get drunk while others remain hungry at the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:21). He also contrasts drunkenness with watchfulness and sobriety (1 Thess. 5:7). Revelation uses drunkenness figuratively for corrupt participation in Babylon's immorality and violence.
The verb does not prove that every use of wine is sinful, nor can Cana be used to bless intoxication. Faithful teaching distinguishes the goodness of created gifts from their misuse, protects people vulnerable to addiction, and refuses pressure to drink. Christian liberty is governed by love, holiness, wisdom, and concern for the conscience and safety of others.
Book contextCanonical parallelEditorial synthesis
How the Bible Uses It
The verb appears in Cana's banquet speech, accusations at Pentecost, abuse at the Lord's Supper, calls to sobriety, and Revelation's imagery of corrupt intoxication.
- John.2.10
And said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”
The banquet master's conventional observation magnifies the unexpected quality of Jesus' sign without commending drunkenness.
- Acts.2.15
These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only the third hour of the day!
Peter denies intoxication and interprets the event through Joel's promise of the Spirit.
- 1Cor.11.21
For as you eat, each of you goes ahead without sharing his meal. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk.
Drunkenness at the church meal exposes selfish division and contempt for poorer believers.
- 1Thess.5.7
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
Paul places intoxication within the darkness imagery that contrasts with sober watchfulness among children of light.
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 [the guests] are drunk 1× John 2:10
are not drunk 1× Acts 2:15
drunk 1× Revelation 17:6
drunkards 1× Matthew 24:49
get drunk 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:7
gets drunk 1× 1 Corinthians 11:21
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 24:49 μεθυόντων to drunkards Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural John 2:10 μεθυσθῶσιν to [the guests] are drunk Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Plural Acts 2:15 μεθύουσιν to are not drunk Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1 Corinthians 11:21 μεθύει to gets drunk Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Thessalonians 5:7 μεθύουσιν to get drunk Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Revelation 17:6 μεθύουσαν to drunk Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 24:49
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 6
Matthew 1 John 1 Acts 1 1 Corinthians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 Revelation 1
Source forms
μεθύουσιν 2x methyousin Acts 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:7
μεθύει 1x methyei 1 Corinthians 11:21
μεθυόντων 1x methyontōn Matthew 24:49
μεθύουσαν 1x methyousan Revelation 17:6
μεθυσθῶσιν 1x methysthōsin John 2:10
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x Acts 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:7
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x John 2:10
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 11:21
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Feminine Singular 1x Revelation 17:6
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural 1x Matthew 24:49
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Read Cana as John's sign of Jesus' glory, then let the wider New Testament govern sobriety, conscience, addiction risk, and love of neighbor.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that John 2:10 approves drunkenness. The words are the banquet master's observation, while John identifies the sign's purpose as revealing Jesus' glory.
- Do not claim that μεθύω condemns every use of wine. The verb concerns intoxication; Christian wisdom still considers conscience, risk, and the good of others.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Intoxication from excessive wine; used metaphorically for spiritual intoxication or moral corruption.
Strong's G3184
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 3 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Matthew 24:49 Source Gloss
to get drunk
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Intoxication from excessive wine; used metaphorically for spiritual intoxication or moral corruption.
(μέθυ, wine, cf. μέθη), [in LXX chiefly for שָׁכַר, רָוָה ;] to be drunken: Mat.24:49, Jhn.2:10, Act.2:15, 1Co.11:21, 1Th.5:7; metaphorically, Rev.17:2, 6.
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 24:49 Verb Present Active Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
μεθυόντων, mequontwn
I am drunk
Read verse John 2:10 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Passive Subjunctive
μεθυσθῶσι, mequsqwsin
I am drunk
Read verse Acts 2:15 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
μεθύουσιν· mequousin
I am drunk
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:21 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
μεθύει. mequei
I am drunk
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 5:7 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
μεθύουσιν. mequousin
I am drunk
Read verse Revelation 17:6 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Singular Feminine
μεθύουσαν mequousan
I am drunk
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 3 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Present, Aorist Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Present Active Acts 2:15 · 1 Thess 5:7 · 1 Cor 11:21 3×
Aorist Passive Rev 17:2 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Active Matt 24:49 · Rev 17:6 2×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Passive John 2:10 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 5 aorist 2
Voice
active 5 passive 2
Mood
indicative 4 participle 2 subjunctive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 24:49 μεθυόντων present active participle participle John 2:10 μεθυσθῶσιν aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive Acts 2:15 μεθύουσιν present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 11:21 μεθύει present active indicative ongoing 1 Thessalonians 5:7 μεθύουσιν present active indicative ongoing Revelation 17:2 ἐμεθύσθησαν aorist passive indicative completed Revelation 17:6 μεθύουσαν present active participle participle
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
literal drunkenness as a state of intoxication from wine
becoming intoxicated during communal meals, contrasted with proper conduct
habitual drunkenness as characteristic behavior of those in darkness
metaphorical intoxication by seduction with the wine of corrupt practices
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
μεθύω 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
The Cana narrative should be allowed to say what John says: Jesus provides excellent wine, reveals His glory, and leads His disciples to believe. The banquet master's remark about intoxicated guests is not Jesus' moral instruction. The wider New Testament condemns drunkenness where it destroys watchfulness, love, worship, and care for the poor. This gives churches a balanced pastoral posture.
They need not call every use of wine sinful, but they must take addiction, impaired judgment, family history, conscience, and the safety of others seriously. No believer should be pressured to drink, and abstinence may be wise or necessary. Christian freedom is never permission to surrender sober love of God and neighbor.
Anchor passage
John.2.10
Doctrinal connections
- John 2:1-11 - Cana, glory, and faith
- Ephesians 5:15-21 - wisdom, Spirit-filled worship, and drunkenness
- 1 Corinthians 8-11 - liberty governed by love
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 - sobriety and watchfulness
The verb describes intoxication, not merely drinking. Context distinguishes literal drunkenness from figurative participation in corrupt power.
From Old to New Testament
Scripture can present wine as a created gift and drunkenness as destructive folly. Cana belongs to the sign of messianic provision, while wisdom and apostolic instruction govern its use.
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