What does μιμέομαι (miméomai) mean in the Bible?
μιμέομαι (miméomai): Imitation involving deliberate modeling of behavior, character, or faith—not mere copying but purposeful emulation.
Greek · G3401
μιμέομαι
To imitate
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μιμέομαι G3401
Pronunciation miméomai
What does μιμέομαι (miméomai) mean in the Bible?
μιμέομαι (miméomai): Imitation involving deliberate modeling of behavior, character, or faith—not mere copying but purposeful emulation.
Full entry for μιμέομαι (G3401) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3401?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include imitate (2), [and] imitate (1), to imitate (1).
Where does μιμέομαι (miméomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 2 Thessalonians 3:7. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Thessalonians (2), 3 John (1), Hebrews (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 It imitate 2× 2 Thessalonians 3:9, 3 John 1:11
[and] imitate 1× Hebrews 13:7
to imitate 1× 2 Thessalonians 3:7
Show sample aligned rows
2 Thessalonians 3:7 μιμεῖσθαι to to imitate Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive 2 Thessalonians 3:9 μιμεῖσθαι to imitate Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive Hebrews 13:7 μιμεῖσθε to [and] imitate Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural 3 John 1:11 μιμοῦ to imitate Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row 2 Thessalonians 3:7
Aligned rows 4
Books represented 3
2 Thessalonians 2 Hebrews 1 3 John 1
Source forms
μιμεῖσθαι 2x mimeisthai 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:9
μιμεῖσθε 1x mimeisthe Hebrews 13:7
μιμοῦ 1x mimou 3 John 1:11
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive 2x 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:9
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural 1x Hebrews 13:7
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Singular 1x 3 John 1:11
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Imitation involving deliberate modeling of behavior, character, or faith—not mere copying but purposeful emulation.
Strong's G3401
Lexical occurrences 4 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 2 forms 4 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 2 Thessalonians 3:7 Source Gloss
to imitate
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Imitation involving deliberate modeling of behavior, character, or faith—not mere copying but purposeful emulation.
(μῖμος, a mimic, an actor), [in LXX: Psa.31:6, Wis.4:2 15:9, 4Ma.9:23 4Mac 9:13 : * ;] to imitate: 2Th.3:7 3:9 Heb.13:7, 3Jn.11.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
2 Thessalonians 3:7 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Infinitive
μιμεῖσθαι mimeisqai
I imitate
Read verse 2 Thessalonians 3:9 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Infinitive
μιμεῖσθαι mimeisqai
I imitate
Read verse Hebrews 13:7 Verb Second Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Deponent Imperative
μιμεῖσθε mimeisqe
I imitate
Read verse 3 John 1:11 Verb Second Person Singular Present Middle or Passive Deponent Imperative
μιμοῦ mimou
I imitate
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 2 Aligned forms 4 Tenses Present Voices Middle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 2×
Present Middle 2 Thess 3:7 · 2 Thess 3:9 2×
Imperative command or strong request 2×
Present Middle Heb 13:7 · 3 John 1:11 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 4
Voice
middle 4
Mood
infinitive 2 imperative 2
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)
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
followers urged to imitate apostolic example and conduct
imitation of apostle's behavior as model for proper living
followers to imitate faith and conduct of spiritual leaders
warning against imitating evil, exhortation to imitate good
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