What does μετατίθημι (metatíthēmi) mean in the Bible?
Metatithemi concerns transferring or changing, but the meaning is shaped by what is moved and where it goes. Acts speaks of ancestors' remains being carried to a burial place.
Greek · G3346
μετατίθημι
Metatithemi concerns transferring or changing, but the meaning is shaped by what is moved and where it goes. Acts speaks of ancestors' remains being carried to a burial place.
Reading a lexicon entry
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μετατίθημιG3346
Pronunciationmetatíthēmi
What does μετατίθημι (metatíthēmi) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for μετατίθημι (G3346) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3346?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include had taken him away (1), is changed (1), They turn (1), was taken up (1), were carried back (1).
Where does μετατίθημι (metatíthēmi) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 7:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (3), Acts (1), Galatians (1), Jude (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Metatithemi concerns transferring or changing, but the meaning is shaped by what is moved and where it goes. Acts speaks of ancestors' remains being carried to a burial place. Hebrews uses the verb for Enoch being taken by God and for a changed priesthood, whose place in the argument leads toward Jesus' enduring ministry. Galatians speaks of deserting the One who called through Christ's grace for a different gospel, while Jude condemns turning grace into permission for immorality.
Physical transfer, God's taking, covenant argument and distorted allegiance cannot all receive the same moral verdict. The verb helps identify a change that the surrounding account then evaluates. It does not condemn every institutional departure or new question, promise Enoch's experience to every believer, or make all changes in teaching valid merely because change can sometimes serve God's purpose.
How the Bible Uses It
Six tagged BSB tokens across five verses describe transported remains, desertion of the gospel, changed priesthood, God taking Enoch and grace turned toward immorality. Hebrews 11:5 contains two direct forms.
- Acts.7.16
Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.
Stephen recounts transported remains within the patriarchal story; the transfer verb itself does not harmonize every historical detail of the burial account.
- Gal.1.6
I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
Paul identifies departure from the One calling by grace toward a distorted gospel, not movement between congregations as such.
- Heb.7.12
For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.
Changed priesthood belongs to the argument about Jesus' tribe, indestructible life, oath and permanent intercession rather than an unlimited slogan about changing every command.
- Heb.11.5
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
God takes Enoch, who was commended as pleasing Him; the surrounding examples also include faithful people who died.
- Jude.1.4
For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
The intruders make grace a pretext for immorality and deny Jesus; Jude later requires mercy toward people who doubt.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Ithad taken him away1×Hebrews 11:5
is changed1×Hebrews 7:12
They turn1×Jude 1:4
was taken up1×Hebrews 11:5
were carried back1×Acts 7:16
you are deserting1×Galatians 1:6
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 7:16μετετέθησανtowere carried backVerb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person PluralGalatians 1:6μετατίθεσθεtoyou are desertingVerb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person PluralHebrews 7:12μετατιθεμένηςtois changedVerb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Feminine SingularHebrews 11:5μετετέθηtowas taken upVerb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person SingularHebrews 11:5μετέθηκενtohad taken him awayVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularJude 1:4μετατιθέντεςtoThey turnVerb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 7:16
Aligned rows6
Books represented4
Acts1Galatians1Hebrews3Jude1
Source forms
μετατιθεμένης1xmetatithemenēsHebrews 7:12
μετατιθέντες1xmetatithentesJude 1:4
μετατίθεσθε1xmetatithestheGalatians 1:6
μετέθηκεν1xmetethēkenHebrews 11:5
μετετέθη1xmetetethēHebrews 11:5
μετετέθησαν1xmetetethēsanActs 7:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xHebrews 11:5
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural1xActs 7:16
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular1xHebrews 11:5
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural1xGalatians 1:6
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural1xJude 1:4
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Feminine Singular1xHebrews 7:12
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear reasons for departure carefully instead of treating institutional loyalty as the definition of faithfulness.
- Reject grace used to shelter exploitation while extending the mercy Jude requires toward doubt.
Avoid claiming...
- A person changing congregations has not thereby been shown to desert Christ's gospel.
- Neither this verb nor Enoch's story guarantees that a believer will avoid physical death.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to transport
Strong'sG3346
Lexical occurrences6 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms2 forms6 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
to transport
Extended definition
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 7:16Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Passive Indicative
μετετέθησανmeteteqhsan
I transfer, desert, change
Read verseGalatians 1:6Verb Second Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Indicative
μετατίθεσθεmetatiqesqe
I transfer, desert, change
Read verseHebrews 7:12Verb Present Passive Participle Genitive Singular Feminine
μετατιθεμένηςmetatiqemenhv
I transfer, desert, change
Read verseHebrews 11:5Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
μετετέθηmeteteqh
I transfer, desert, change
Read verseHebrews 11:5Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
μετέθηκενmeteqhken
I transfer, desert, change
Read verseJude 1:4Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
μετατιθέντεςmetatiqentev
I transfer, desert, change
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 forms6TensesAorist, PresentVoicesPassive, Middle, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality4×
Aorist PassiveActs 7:16 · Heb 11:52×
Present MiddleGal 1:61×
Aorist ActiveHeb 11:51×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality2×
Present PassiveHeb 7:121×
Present ActiveJude 1:41×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist3present3
Voice
passive3active2middle1
Mood
indicative4participle2
NT Occurrences
Acts 7:16μετετέθησανaorist passive indicativecompletedGalatians 1:6μετατίθεσθεpresent middle indicativeongoingHebrews 7:12μετατιθεμένηςpresent passive participleparticipleHebrews 11:5μετετέθηaorist passive indicativecompletedHebrews 11:5μετέθηκενaorist active indicativecompletedJude 1:4μετατιθέντεςpresent active participleparticiple
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)
Word Origins
μετατίθημι is built from these roots:
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
Galatians identifies the danger precisely: people are turning from the One who called them by Christ's grace toward a supposed gospel that distorts Christ's message. The warning is not a lexical rule that changing a local affiliation equals deserting God. Jude similarly supplies the harmful destination: grace is turned into permission for immorality while Jesus is denied.
Yet the letter ends with mercy toward doubt and confidence in God's keeping. Hebrews uses the same verb positively within God's taking of Enoch and argument about Jesus' permanent priesthood. Teaching this word well therefore requires patient attention to destination and result. It can expose a message that excuses harm without condemning sincere inquiry or binding people to unsafe institutions.
Christ's grace and enduring intercession remain the center of the relevant warnings and hope.
Anchor passage
Gal.1.6
Doctrinal connections
- The One calling through Christ's grace stands at the center of Paul's warning.
- A message contrary to the received gospel cannot gain authority through impressive messengers alone.
- Jesus' enduring life and oath explain Hebrews' argument about changed priesthood.
- Christ's permanent intercession sustains the better hope of drawing near to God.
- Enoch's taking is a particular witness within a chapter that also remembers faithful deaths.
- Jude rejects grace used to excuse immorality while directing the community to show mercy.
The forms include active and passive uses as well as a middle-or-passive tagged form in Galatians. Those grammatical labels require the sentence's subject and object; they do not independently define blame, voluntary consent or a complete covenant theology.
From Old to New Testament
Genesis 5:21-24 names Enoch's walking with God and God taking him. Hebrews interprets this witness within its account of faith, while the narrative's special event remains distinct from the deaths of other faithful ancestors rather than a universal promise of escaping death.