What does ἀντέχομαι (antéchomai) mean in the Bible?
ἀντέχομαι (antéchomai): To hold firmly to something with devoted attachment, implying active loyalty despite opposing forces.
Greek · G472
ἀντέχομαι
To cling to
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ἀντέχομαι G472
Pronunciation antéchomai
What does ἀντέχομαι (antéchomai) mean in the Bible?
ἀντέχομαι (antéchomai): To hold firmly to something with devoted attachment, implying active loyalty despite opposing forces.
Full entry for ἀντέχομαι (G472) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G472?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include he will be devoted to (2), He must hold firmly (1), help (1).
Where does ἀντέχομαι (antéchomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 6:24. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (1), Luke (1), Matthew (1), Titus (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 It he will be devoted to 2× Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13
He must hold firmly 1× Titus 1:9
help 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:14
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 6:24 ἀνθέξεται to he will be devoted to Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular Luke 16:13 ἀνθέξεται to he will be devoted to Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 1 Thessalonians 5:14 ἀντέχεσθε to help Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural Titus 1:9 ἀντεχόμενον to He must hold firmly Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 6:24
Aligned rows 4
Books represented 4
Matthew 1 Luke 1 1 Thessalonians 1 Titus 1
Source forms
ἀνθέξεται 2x anthexetai Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13
ἀντέχεσθε 1x antechesthe 1 Thessalonians 5:14
ἀντεχόμενον 1x antechomenon Titus 1:9
Parsing patterns
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular 2x Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural 1x 1 Thessalonians 5:14
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Titus 1:9
Evidence Summary
Revelation
Greek word. To hold firmly to something with devoted attachment, implying active loyalty despite opposing forces.
Strong's G472
Lexical occurrences 4 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 3 forms 4 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Titus 1:5-9 Source Gloss
to cling to
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To hold firmly to something with devoted attachment, implying active loyalty despite opposing forces.
(ἀντί, ἔχω), [in LXX for חָזַק hi., etc. ;]
1trans., to hold against.
2Intrans., to withstand. Mid. 1. in cl., to hold out against.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek 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 6:24 Verb Third Person Singular Future Middle Deponent Indicative
ἀνθέξεται, anqexetai
I hold fast to
Read verse Luke 16:13 Verb Third Person Singular Future Middle Deponent Indicative
ἀνθέξεται, anqexetai
I hold fast to
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Verb Second Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Deponent Imperative
ἀντέχεσθε antecesqe
I hold fast to
Read verse Titus 1:9 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Accusative Singular Masculine
ἀντεχόμενον antecomenon
I hold fast to
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 3 Aligned forms 4 Tenses Future, Present Voices Middle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 2×
Future Middle Matt 6:24 · Luke 16:13 2×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Present Middle 1 Thess 5:14 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Middle Titus 1:9 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 2 future 2
Voice
middle 4
Mood
indicative 2 imperative 1 participle 1
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)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
To adhere strongly and remain loyal to something in the face of pressure.
Showing 1 selected witness from 4 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀντέχομαι is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Elders must not treat doctrine casually; they are required to cling to the trustworthy word so they can both build up the faithful and confront error. Titus 1:5-9
Canonical Themes
Revelation
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.
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