To build
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OIKODOMEO, G3618, means to build, and in the New Testament it moves naturally from literal construction to the strengthening of people, churches, and faith. Jesus can speak of a house built on rock, of his church being built, and of disciples being built into a spiritual house.
Reader summary
Full entry for οἰκοδομέω (G3618) · Open the biblical lexicon
OIKODOMEO, G3618, means to build, and in the New Testament it moves naturally from literal construction to the strengthening of people, churches, and faith. Jesus can speak of a house built on rock, of his church being built, and of disciples being built into a spiritual house.
The BSB source-word alignment has 41 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include builders (5), built (4), to build (3), edifies (2), I will build (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (12), Matthew (8), 1 Corinthians (6), Acts (5).
OIKODOMEO, G3618, means to build, and in the New Testament it moves naturally from literal construction to the strengthening of people, churches, and faith. Jesus can speak of a house built on rock, of his church being built, and of disciples being built into a spiritual house. Paul can use the same word family to test whether knowledge, freedom, and speech actually build up others in love.
The word is not a decorative metaphor. It asks whether the work being done forms a durable people under Christ. For shepherds and teachers, it is a searching word: does this teaching, liberty, correction, or ministry construct faith, or does it merely display ability?
G3618 begins with ordinary building language and becomes a major New Testament way to speak about constructive ministry, church formation, and life under Christ.
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Jesus applies building imagery to hearing and obeying his words. The issue is not architecture but durable discipleship.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Christ is the builder of his church. The word centers church durability in his promise and authority.
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Believers are built into a spiritual house, so edification is corporate, worship-shaped, and priestly.
And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
Paul commits the elders to God and the word of grace, the means by which they are built up toward inheritance.
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
Paul contrasts knowledge that inflates with love that builds up, making edification a moral test of knowledge.
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. To build up spiritually or morally, strengthening Christian character and community maturity
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 39 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
Read verseI build, build up, edify
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 40 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 40 lexical occurrence verses.
οἰκοδομέω is built from this root:
Reflects healthy, sustained spiritual growth within the church.Acts 9:20-31
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Building language lets Scripture ask not merely whether ministry is active, accurate, or impressive, but what kind of people it is forming. Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount by identifying obedience to His words as the foundation that survives judgment and trial. He then promises to build His church, which keeps leaders from speaking as though the church rests on their force of personality.
Acts 20 directs elders to God and the word of His grace as the true source of strengthening. Paul adds a moral test in 1 Corinthians 8: knowledge can enlarge the ego while love strengthens another believer. First Peter completes the corporate picture by describing living stones being built together for holy worship. Edification is therefore Christ-centered, word-governed, communal, and shaped by love.
Correction can build, but self-display cannot become its hidden aim.
1Cor.8.1
The verb can describe literal construction or the strengthening of persons and communities. The metaphor does not automatically mean encouragement in a soft sense. In Paul, truthful correction, ordered worship, restrained liberty, and intelligible speech may all build up when they serve another's faith in love.
Old Testament house, temple, city, and community-building themes provide the ordinary and covenant setting for the metaphor. The New Testament gathers these patterns around Jesus, His word, and a people being formed together as God's dwelling. The connection belongs to the canonical building theme; it does not make every construction text a direct prophecy of the church.