To instruct
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G3811 names to train, instruct, or discipline, often with the kind of formation that teaches a person how to live rather than merely what to know. Readers often come to this word asking about grace training us, Christian discipline, instruction, correction, and how God forms obedience.
Reader summary
Full entry for παιδεύω (G3811) · Open the biblical lexicon
G3811 names to train, instruct, or discipline, often with the kind of formation that teaches a person how to live rather than merely what to know. Readers often come to this word asking about grace training us, Christian discipline, instruction, correction, and how God forms obedience.
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [Our fathers] disciplined [us] (1), after I punish (1), be taught (1), discipline (1), disciplines (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 23:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (3), Acts (2), Luke (2), 1 Corinthians (1).
G3811 names to train, instruct, or discipline, often with the kind of formation that teaches a person how to live rather than merely what to know. Readers often come to this word asking about grace training us, Christian discipline, instruction, correction, and how God forms obedience. In the Pastoral Epistles, the word must be read inside the sentence, the paragraph, and the local charge to Timothy or Titus before it becomes a broader teaching category.
This companion keeps the search question useful while refusing to let a search term control the text. It helps shepherds, teachers, leaders, churches, groups, families, and disciples ask what the passage is actually doing, how the word serves the book argument, and how the gospel governs the application. It also guards against dividing grace from obedience or turning correction into bare punishment without formation.
The aim is not to create a shortcut around Scripture but to make the word a doorway back into Scripture with clearer questions and better boundaries.
Train; instruct; discipline matters for readers because it opens the way grace itself trains disciples to renounce ungodliness and live wisely in the present age.
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
Moses is trained in Egyptian wisdom, showing the broad educational range of the word.
He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
The Lord's servant corrects opponents with gentleness in hope of repentance.
It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Grace trains believers to renounce ungodliness and live in a godly way now.
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. Combines teaching with corrective discipline; instruction that includes chastening to shape character and behavior.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
Read verseI discipline, educate, train, chastise
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 12 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 13 lexical occurrence verses.
παιδεύω is built from this root:
Grace functions as a teacher, actively shaping behavior rather than merely excusing sin. Titus 2:11-15
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Teach G3811 by starting with the local passage and the burden that caused the word to matter there. The entry opens the way grace itself trains disciples to renounce ungodliness and live wisely in the present age. A faithful teacher should define the word plainly, show how the immediate context uses it, and then move carefully to related witnesses without pretending that one word proves every doctrine attached to the subject.
This matters for end users who may search for grace training us, Christian discipline, instruction, correction, and how God forms obedience but need more than a dictionary answer. The word should bring them back to Christ, the gospel, the household of God, and the obedience Scripture calls for. It corrects the idea that grace only forgives the past and has little to do with present formation.
Keep the tone clear and sober: enough definition to orient the reader, enough canonical connection to deepen trust, and enough restraint to avoid making the word say more than the passage says.
Acts.7.22
The word can include instruction and chastening. In Titus 2, the stress is grace educating believers into a new way of life.
Use the Old Testament and wider canonical background only where the cited passages or the local lexicon artifact warrant it. The Pastoral Epistles remain the controlling entry point for this batch.
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