What does ὀρχέομαι (orchéomai) mean in the Bible?
ὀρχέομαι (orchéomai): Dancing as rhythmic, ordered movement; appears in NT contexts of entertainment or celebration rather than worship.
Greek · G3738
ὀρχέομαι
To dance (from the ranklike or regular motion)
Reading a lexicon entry
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ὀρχέομαιG3738
Pronunciationorchéomai
What does ὀρχέομαι (orchéomai) mean in the Bible?
ὀρχέομαι (orchéomai): Dancing as rhythmic, ordered movement; appears in NT contexts of entertainment or celebration rather than worship.
Full entry for ὀρχέομαι (G3738) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3738?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include danced (2), you did not dance (2).
Where does ὀρχέομαι (orchéomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (2), Luke (1), Mark (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 Itdanced2×Matthew 14:6, Mark 6:22
you did not dance2×Matthew 11:17, Luke 7:32
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 11:17ὠρχήσασθεtoyou did not danceVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 2nd Person PluralMatthew 14:6ὠρχήσατοtodancedVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person SingularMark 6:22ὀρχησαμένηςtodancedVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Genitive Feminine SingularLuke 7:32ὠρχήσασθεtoyou did not danceVerb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 2nd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 11:17
Aligned rows4
Books represented3
Matthew2Mark1Luke1
Source forms
ὠρχήσασθε2xōrchēsastheMatthew 11:17, Luke 7:32
ὀρχησαμένης1xorchēsamenēsMark 6:22
ὠρχήσατο1xōrchēsatoMatthew 14:6
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 2nd Person Plural2xMatthew 11:17, Luke 7:32
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular1xMatthew 14:6
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Genitive Feminine Singular1xMark 6:22
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Dancing as rhythmic, ordered movement; appears in NT contexts of entertainment or celebration rather than worship.
Strong'sG3738
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms2 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
to dance (from the ranklike or regular motion)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 11:17Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ὠρχήσασθε·wrchsasqe
I dance
Read verseMatthew 14:6Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ὠρχήσατοwrchsato
I dance
Read verseMark 6:22Verb Aorist Middle Deponent Participle Genitive Singular Feminine
ὀρχησαμένης,orchsamenhv
I dance
Read verseLuke 7:32Verb Second Person Plural Aorist Middle Deponent Indicative
ὠρχήσασθε·wrchsasqe
I dance
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 forms4TensesAoristVoicesMiddle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality3×
Aorist MiddleMatt 11:17 · Luke 7:32 · Matt 14:63×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Aorist MiddleMark 6:221×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist4
Voice
middle4
Mood
indicative3participle1
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)