To remember
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Μνημονεύω (mnēmoneuō) means to remember, call to mind, or keep something actively before one's attention. Jesus rebukes disciples for failing to remember the multiplied loaves, because remembered provision should reshape their interpretation of a present warning.
Reader summary
Full entry for μνημονεύω (G3421) · Open the biblical lexicon
Μνημονεύω (mnēmoneuō) means to remember, call to mind, or keep something actively before one's attention. Jesus rebukes disciples for failing to remember the multiplied loaves, because remembered provision should reshape their interpretation of a present warning.
The BSB source-word alignment has 21 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Remember (8), Do you not remember (3), [and] remember (1), has remembered (1), keep in mind (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 16:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (3), John (3), Revelation (3), 1 Thessalonians (2).
Μνημονεύω (mnēmoneuō) means to remember, call to mind, or keep something actively before one's attention. Jesus rebukes disciples for failing to remember the multiplied loaves, because remembered provision should reshape their interpretation of a present warning. He commands hearers to remember Lot's wife, turning a past judgment into urgent instruction against looking back.
In the farewell discourse, disciples must remember Jesus' word that servants are not greater than their master when persecution comes. Paul tells Ephesian elders to remember three years of tearful warning so his example and instruction continue guiding their vigilance. Biblical remembering is more than retrieving data; it brings a past word, act, person, or example into present faithfulness.
Yet the object remembered and the response commanded must come from context, not from memory as a spiritual technique.
Μνημονεύω calls past truth into present obedience. The disciples must remember provision, hearers remember Lot's wife, servants remember Jesus' persecution warning, and elders remember Paul's sustained tearful vigilance.
Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
Jesus asks whether the disciples remember the five loaves and collected baskets, because past abundance should guard them from interpreting His warning as anxiety about bread.
‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember?
Mark joins failure to remember with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, exposing forgetfulness as a present obstacle to understanding Jesus' works.
Remember Lot’s wife!
“Remember Lot's wife” compresses a judgment narrative into a warning against attachment to the life one is called to leave when the Son of Man is revealed.
Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.
Disciples remember that a servant is not greater than the master, so persecution does not surprise them and receptive hearing remains possible alongside hostility.
Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Paul commands elders to stay alert and remember his three years of unceasing, tearful warning, giving pastoral memory both duration and emotional weight.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Remembering with intentional recall or mention, often implying purposeful recollection rather than passive memory.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 21 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I remember, make mention of
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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.
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 21 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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 passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 21 lexical occurrence verses.
μνημονεύω is built from this root:
Paul commands Timothy to continually keep the central truth of the gospel in view, the risen Christ.2 Timothy 2:8-13
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Forgetting in Scripture is often a failure of discipleship rather than a shortage of information. The disciples have seen bread multiplied, yet present confusion shows that witnessed provision has not become interpretive wisdom. Lot's wife must be remembered because attachment can turn backward at the moment obedience requires departure. Jesus' persecuted servants remember His word so opposition does not become evidence that His mission failed.
Paul asks elders to remember not merely a syllabus but three years of embodied, tearful warning, making pastoral vigilance a received pattern. Churches cultivate faithful memory through Scripture, testimony, table, and repeated teaching, but remembrance must remain governed by truth. It does not idealize every past practice or trap believers in nostalgia. Μνημονεύω carries God's acts and words forward so present fear, temptation, leadership, and suffering are answered with obedient understanding.
Matt.16.9
Μνημονεύω is a verb of remembering or mentioning and may take an object in the genitive or accusative depending construction. The imperative often calls for active, ongoing attention with practical consequence.
Israel is commanded to remember deliverance and warning, psalms recall God's works in distress, Jesus calls disciples to remember His words, and elders preserve apostolic example.