What does προστίθημι (prostíthēmi) mean in the Bible?
Προστίθημι means to add, put alongside, increase, or join further. The New Testament uses it across ordinary, saving-historical, and communal settings.
Greek · G4369
προστίθημι
To add (to)
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προστίθημι G4369
Pronunciation prostíthēmi
What does προστίθημι (prostíthēmi) mean in the Bible?
Προστίθημι means to add, put alongside, increase, or join further. The New Testament uses it across ordinary, saving-historical, and communal settings.
Reader summary
Full entry for προστίθημι (G4369) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4369?
The BSB source-word alignment has 18 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include add (2), vvv (2), were brought (2), will be added (2), [Herod] added (1).
Where does προστίθημι (prostíthēmi) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 6:27. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (7), Acts (6), Matthew (2), Galatians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Προστίθημι means to add, put alongside, increase, or join further. The New Testament uses it across ordinary, saving-historical, and communal settings. Jesus asks whether worry can add even a small span to life, exposing anxiety's impotence. He promises that attentive hearing will receive more, while Luke says Herod added imprisonment to his other evils. Acts uses the passive for people added to the believing community after receiving the word and baptism.
Galatians says the law was added because of transgressions until the promised Seed came, making addition part of Paul's careful law-promise chronology. The verb itself does not say whether an addition is good. Agent, object, purpose, and duration determine whether something increases grace, guilt, understanding, membership, or covenant administration.
How the Bible Uses It
Προστίθημι names adding or joining. Scripture applies it to futile anxious effort, increased accountability, growth in hearing, people joined to the church, and the law's temporary addition.
- Matt.6.27
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Jesus' question exposes worry's inability to extend life and directs disciples toward the Father's care and kingdom priority.
- Mark.4.24
He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.
Attentive hearing brings further measure, making receptive obedience rather than secret knowledge the point.
- Luke.3.20
Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Herod adds imprisonment of John to his prior evils, increasing culpability through resistant abuse of power.
- Acts.2.41
Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.
Those receiving the apostolic message are baptized and added to the community, showing personal response and public belonging.
- Gal.3.19
Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.
The law's addition serves a defined role concerning transgressions until the promised Seed, without overturning the prior promise.
Book contextPassage context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It add 2× Matthew 6:27, Luke 12:25
vvv 2× Luke 20:11, Luke 20:12
were brought 2× Acts 5:14, Acts 11:24
will be added 2× Matthew 6:33, Luke 12:31
[Herod] added 1× Luke 3:20
[Herod] proceeded 1× Acts 12:3
[His body] was buried 1× Acts 13:36
[Jesus] proceeded 1× Luke 19:11
added 1× Acts 2:47
be spoken 1× Hebrews 12:19
even more will be added 1× Mark 4:24
Increase 1× Luke 17:5
It was added 1× Galatians 3:19
were added [ to the believers ] 1× Acts 2:41
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 6:27 προσθεῖναι to add Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Matthew 6:33 προστεθήσεται to will be added Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular Mark 4:24 προστεθήσεται to even more will be added Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular Luke 3:20 προσέθηκεν to [Herod] added Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 12:25 προσθεῖναι to add Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Luke 12:31 προστεθήσεται to will be added Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular Luke 17:5 Πρόσθες to Increase Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular Luke 19:11 προσθεὶς to [Jesus] proceeded Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Luke 20:11 προσέθετο to vvv Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Luke 20:12 προσέθετο to vvv Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 6:27
Aligned rows 18
Books represented 6
Matthew 2 Mark 1 Luke 7 Acts 6 Galatians 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
προσέθετο 3x prosetheto Luke 20:11, Luke 20:12, Acts 12:3
προσετέθη 3x prosetethē Acts 11:24, Acts 13:36, Galatians 3:19
προστεθήσεται 3x prostethēsetai Matthew 6:33, Mark 4:24, Luke 12:31
προσθεῖναι 2x prostheinai Matthew 6:27, Luke 12:25
προσέθηκεν 1x prosethēken Luke 3:20
προσετέθησαν 1x prosetethēsan Acts 2:41
προσετίθει 1x prosetithei Acts 2:47
προσετίθεντο 1x prosetithento Acts 5:14
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 3x Luke 20:11, Luke 20:12, Acts 12:3
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 3x Acts 11:24, Acts 13:36, Galatians 3:19
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 3x Matthew 6:33, Mark 4:24, Luke 12:31
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 2x Matthew 6:27, Luke 12:25
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x Luke 17:5
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 3:20
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x Acts 2:41
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Passive 1x Hebrews 12:19
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not celebrate or condemn an addition until the passage's agent, purpose, and result are named.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not use Acts' addition language to reduce church belonging to a numerical metric detached from repentance, baptism, teaching, fellowship, and care.
- Do not claim that Galatians calls the law evil; Paul describes its added, subordinate, and temporary role relative to promise.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To add or join to something; often signals continuation or repetition of an action in Hebrew idiom.
Strong's G4369
Lexical occurrences 18 verses Greek text appearances 18 times 16 shown below Word forms 4 forms 18 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 2:42-47 Source Gloss
to add (to)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 18 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 6:27 Verb Second Aorist Active Infinitive
προσθεῖναι prosqeinai
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Matthew 6:33 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
προστεθήσεται prosteqhsetai
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Mark 4:24 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
προστεθήσεται prosteqhsetai
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 3:20 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
προσέθηκε proseqhken
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 12:25 Verb Second Aorist Active Infinitive
προσθεῖναι prosqeinai
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 12:31 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
προστεθήσεται prosteqhsetai
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 17:5 Verb Second Person Singular Second Aorist Active Imperative
Πρόσθες prosqev
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 19:11 Verb Second Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
προσθεὶς prosqeiv
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 20:11 Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Middle Indicative
προσέθετο proseqeto
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Luke 20:12 Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Middle Indicative
προσέθετο proseqeto
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Acts 2:41 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Passive Indicative
προσετέθησαν proseteqhsan
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Acts 2:47 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
προσετίθει prosetiqei
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Acts 5:14 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Passive Indicative
προσετίθεντο prosetiqento
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Acts 11:24 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
προσετέθη proseteqh
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Acts 12:3 Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Middle Indicative
προσέθετο proseqeto
I put to, add, do again
Read verse Acts 13:36 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
προσετέθη proseteqh
I put to, add, do again
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 groups 4 Aligned forms 18 Tenses Future, Aorist, Imperfect Voices Passive, Middle, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 13×
Aorist Passive Acts 11:24 · Acts 13:36 · Gal 3:19 · Acts 2:41 4×
Future Passive Matt 6:33 · Mark 4:24 · Luke 12:31 3×
Aorist Middle Luke 20:11 · Luke 20:12 · Acts 12:3 3×
Aorist Active Luke 3:20 1×
Imperfect Active Acts 2:47 1×
Imperfect Passive Acts 5:14 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 3×
Aorist Active Matt 6:27 · Luke 12:25 2×
Aorist Passive Heb 12:19 1×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Aorist Active Luke 17:5 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Aorist Active Luke 19:11 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 18 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 13 future 3 imperfect 2
Voice
passive 9 active 6 middle 3
Mood
indicative 13 infinitive 3 imperative 1 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 6:27 προσθεῖναι aorist active infinitive infinitive Matthew 6:33 προστεθήσεται future passive indicative prospective Mark 4:24 προστεθήσεται future passive indicative prospective Luke 3:20 προσέθηκεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 12:25 προσθεῖναι aorist active infinitive infinitive Luke 12:31 προστεθήσεται future passive indicative prospective Luke 17:5 Πρόσθες aorist active imperative imperative Luke 19:11 προσθεὶς aorist active participle participle Luke 20:11 προσέθετο aorist middle indicative completed Luke 20:12 προσέθετο aorist middle indicative completed Acts 2:41 προσετέθησαν aorist passive indicative completed Acts 2:47 προσετίθει imperfect active indicative background Acts 5:14 προσετίθεντο imperfect passive indicative background Acts 11:24 προσετέθη aorist passive indicative completed Acts 12:3 προσέθετο aorist middle indicative completed Acts 13:36 προσετέθη aorist passive indicative completed Galatians 3:19 προσετέθη aorist passive indicative completed Hebrews 12:19 προστεθῆναι aorist passive infinitive infinitive
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
To add or bring into association.
To join or add to.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 18 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
προστίθημι is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Growth in the church is attributed to the Lord’s active saving work, grounding confidence in divine grace rather than human strategy. Acts 2:42-47
Growth is attributed to God’s action in bringing people to faith. Acts 5:12-16
Canonical Themes
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Addition is morally neutral until the passage supplies an agent and purpose. Worry attempts to add life but cannot. Herod adds guilt through another act of oppressive resistance. Careful hearing receives further understanding. In Acts, people are added to the church through response to the apostolic word, and in Galatians the law is added within salvation history without replacing the promise.
These distinctions matter wherever churches praise growth. More activity, rules, attenders, knowledge, or resources may be good, harmful, or simply incapable of producing the desired life. Teachers should celebrate God-given growth while asking what kind of community people are joined to and whether additions serve the gospel. Paul's law language also requires chronological care: what is added for a purpose until Christ must not be made the basis that cancels God's earlier promise.
Anchor passage
Matt.6.27
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 6:25-34, worry and the Father's care
- Mark 4:21-25, attentive hearing and added measure
- Acts 2:37-47, converts added to the church's shared life
- Galatians 3:15-29, promise, added law, and Christ the Seed
- Deuteronomy 4:2, not adding to God's command
- Proverbs 10:22, the Lord's blessing adding true wealth without sorrow
Προστίθημι combines τίθημι, to put or place, with πρός, toward or alongside. It can mean add an item, increase a quantity, join a person, or continue an action. Passive forms may foreground what or who is added while leaving God or the community as contextual agent.
From Old to New Testament
The law warns against adding to God's word, while wisdom distinguishes God's blessing from anxious accumulation. In salvation history, the law is added for a defined role and God adds people to the new-covenant community through the apostolic gospel.
Sources
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