What does μελετάω (meletáō) mean in the Bible?
μελετάω (meletáō): Mental preparation through deliberate practice and contemplation, not passive reflection alone.
Greek · G3191
μελετάω
To meditate/plot
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μελετάωG3191
Pronunciationmeletáō
What does μελετάω (meletáō) mean in the Bible?
μελετάω (meletáō): Mental preparation through deliberate practice and contemplation, not passive reflection alone.
Full entry for μελετάω (G3191) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3191?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Be diligent (1), plot (1).
Where does μελετάω (meletáō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 4:25. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (1), Acts (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 ItBe diligent1×1 Timothy 4:15
plot1×Acts 4:25
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 4:25
Aligned rows2
Books represented2
Acts11 Timothy1
Source forms
ἐμελέτησαν1xemeletēsanActs 4:25
μελέτα1xmeleta1 Timothy 4:15
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural1xActs 4:25
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular1x1 Timothy 4:15
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Mental preparation through deliberate practice and contemplation, not passive reflection alone.
Strong'sG3191
Lexical occurrences2 versesGreek text appearances3 timesWord forms2 forms2 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkProverbs 15:28Source Gloss
to meditate/plot
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Mental preparation through deliberate practice and contemplation, not passive reflection alone.
(μελέτη, care), [in LXX chiefly for הָגָה m ;]
1with genitive, to care for (Hes.).
2C. accusative to attend to, practise: 1Ti.4:15 (RV, be diligent in; cf. Souter in Exp., VIII, vi, 429, but see infr.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Mark 13:11Verb Second Person Plural Present Active Imperative
μελετᾶτε·meletate
I devise, plan
Read verseActs 4:25Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐμελέτησανemelethsan
I devise, plan
Read verse1 Timothy 4:15Verb Second Person Singular Present Active Imperative
μελέτα,meleta
I devise, plan
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 groups2Aligned forms2TensesAorist, PresentVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality1×
Aorist ActiveActs 4:251×
Imperativecommand or strong request1×
Present Active1 Tim 4:151×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 2 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present1aorist1
Voice
active2
Mood
imperative1indicative1
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)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
righteous person carefully considers or ponders words before speaking
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
μελετάω 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.