A mandate
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Parangelia means an order, charge, instruction, or authoritative directive. Jerusalem's rulers use it for their prohibition against apostolic teaching, but Paul uses it for instructions given through the Lord Jesus and for the charge entrusted to Timothy.
Reader summary
Full entry for παραγγελία (G3852) · Open the biblical lexicon
Parangelia means an order, charge, instruction, or authoritative directive. Jerusalem's rulers use it for their prohibition against apostolic teaching, but Paul uses it for instructions given through the Lord Jesus and for the charge entrusted to Timothy.
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include command (1), instruction (1), instructions (1), order (1), We gave you strict orders (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 5:28. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (2), Acts (2), 1 Thessalonians (1).
Parangelia means an order, charge, instruction, or authoritative directive. Jerusalem's rulers use it for their prohibition against apostolic teaching, but Paul uses it for instructions given through the Lord Jesus and for the charge entrusted to Timothy. In 1 Timothy, the goal of the instruction is love arising from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith.
The word therefore does not make every command righteous merely because an authority issues it. Its source, content, goal, and conformity to Christ matter. Christian leaders transmit the Lord's teaching as stewards; they may not attach divine force to personal preferences or use a charge to override truth, conscience, lawful protection, or accountability.
Parangelia names an authoritative charge whose moral character depends on its source and content. Acts exposes a wrongful order against witness, while Paul entrusts Christ-governed instruction whose stated goal is love.
“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”
Acts 5:28 records the council's complaint that the apostles violated its strict order not to teach in Jesus' name. The occurrence shows that a real command can still oppose God's mission.
For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
First Thessalonians 4:2 reminds believers that they know the instructions given through the Lord Jesus. Apostolic exhortation is derivative and Christ-governed.
The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
First Timothy 1:5 states the telos of the charge: love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. Its fruit supplies a decisive interpretive boundary.
Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,
First Timothy 1:18 describes the charge entrusted to Timothy in accord with prior prophecies so that he may wage the good warfare while holding faith and a good conscience.
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. Authoritative instruction or charge given by one in command; military order sense preserved in NT usage.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a command, charge
Read versea command, charge
Read versea command, charge
Read versea command, charge
Read versea command, charge
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
παραγγελία is built from this root:
Timothy’s ministry is framed as a sacred trust, reinforcing accountability and seriousness.1 Timothy 1:18-20
Parangelia asks more than whether an order was clearly delivered. The council in Acts issues a forceful command, yet obedience to God requires the apostles to continue bearing witness to Jesus. Paul, by contrast, transmits instructions through the Lord and tells Timothy exactly what faithful instruction should produce: love, purity, conscience, and sincere faith.
The charge equips Timothy for persevering ministry without separating courage from moral integrity. Churches should teach believers to receive scriptural instruction humbly while testing human directives by Christ's word and fruit. No title converts preference into revelation. A legitimate ministry charge remains public, accountable, bounded by Scripture, and directed toward faithfulness rather than control or institutional self-protection.
1Tim.1.5
Parangelia is related to parangellō, to command, charge, or pass along an order. It can denote the directive itself, so context must identify both the issuing authority and the demanded action.
Israel's kings and officials sometimes commanded what God forbade, while covenant messengers received charges bounded by God's revealed word. Daniel's friends and the prophets model faithful obedience under conflicting orders.