What does ὑπαντάω (hypantáō) mean in the Bible?
Hypantao means to meet, go out to meet, or encounter someone as movement closes the distance between parties. The word is useful because meeting is never neutral in the selected passages.
Greek · G5221
ὑπαντάω
To go meet
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ὑπαντάω G5221
Pronunciation hypantáō
What does ὑπαντάω (hypantáō) mean in the Bible?
Hypantao means to meet, go out to meet, or encounter someone as movement closes the distance between parties. The word is useful because meeting is never neutral in the selected passages.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὑπαντάω (G5221) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5221?
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include He was met by (3), met (2), engage (1), had met (1), she went out to meet (1).
Where does ὑπαντάω (hypantáō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 8:28. Its strongest book concentrations include John (4), Luke (2), Matthew (2), Acts (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Hypantao means to meet, go out to meet, or encounter someone as movement closes the distance between parties. The word is useful because meeting is never neutral in the selected passages. The risen Jesus meets the women, and worship follows. Servants meet the royal official with life-giving news. Martha goes out to meet Jesus in grief, while a crowd goes out to meet Him because of Lazarus.
Other encounters expose threat, spiritual bondage, or conflict. The word therefore helps readers notice the theology of approach: who moves, who is met, what news is carried, and what response follows. Meeting Jesus may bring worship, faith, lament, public acclaim, or exposure, but the scene decides the meaning.
How the Bible Uses It
Hypantao gathers scenes of encounter: Jesus meeting worshipers, servants meeting with news, mourners and crowds going out toward Jesus, and hostile or troubled meetings elsewhere. The word marks movement into encounter rather than merely arrival.
- Matt.28.9
Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.
The risen Jesus meets the women, and they grasp His feet and worship Him. Encounter becomes resurrection worship.
- John.4.51
And while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive.
The royal official's servants meet him with the news that his son lives. The meeting carries confirming mercy.
- John.11.20
So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.
Martha goes out to meet Jesus while grieving Lazarus. The word introduces a meeting where lament and confession stand before Christ.
- John.11.30
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him.
John recalls the place where Martha had met Jesus, holding the encounter in the narrative as Mary approaches.
- John.12.18
That is also why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign.
The crowd goes out to meet Jesus because they heard of the sign. Public movement toward Jesus does not yet equal mature faith.
- Acts.16.16
One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.
Paul and his companions are met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination. Not every encounter is welcome or spiritually healthy.
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 was met by 3× Matthew 8:28, Mark 5:2, Luke 8:27
met 2× Matthew 28:9, John 4:51
engage 1× Luke 14:31
had met 1× John 11:30
she went out to meet 1× John 11:20
went out to meet 1× John 12:18
were met by 1× Acts 16:16
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 8:28 ὑπήντησαν to He was met by Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 28:9 ὑπήντησεν to met Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 5:2 ὑπήντησεν to He was met by Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 8:27 ὑπήντησεν to He was met by Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 14:31 ὑπαντῆσαι to engage Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active John 4:51 ὑπήντησαν to met Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural John 11:20 ὑπήντησεν to she went out to meet Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular John 11:30 ὑπήντησεν to had met Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular John 12:18 ὑπήντησεν to went out to meet Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Acts 16:16 ὑπαντῆσαι to were met by Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 8:28
Aligned rows 10
Books represented 5
Matthew 2 Mark 1 Luke 2 John 4 Acts 1
Source forms
ὑπήντησεν 6x hypēntēsen Matthew 28:9, Mark 5:2, Luke 8:27, John 11:20
ὑπαντῆσαι 2x hypantēsai Luke 14:31, Acts 16:16
ὑπήντησαν 2x hypēntēsan Matthew 8:28, John 4:51
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 6x Matthew 28:9, Mark 5:2, Luke 8:27, John 11:20
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x Matthew 8:28, John 4:51
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 2x Luke 14:31, Acts 16:16
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask what the encounter reveals before drawing application. Worship, grief, news, acclaim, and confrontation require different pastoral handling.
- Do not pressure grieving readers to bypass lament. John 11 lets Martha meet Jesus honestly before the hope of resurrection is unfolded.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that everyone who goes out to meet Jesus believes rightly; John 12 shows public excitement can remain shallow.
- Do not claim that hypantao itself teaches a doctrine of divine encounter. The surrounding narrative supplies the theological meaning.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to go meet
Strong's G5221
Lexical occurrences 10 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 2 forms 10 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to go meet
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 8:28 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ὑπήντησαν uphnthsan
I meet
Read verse Luke 8:27 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ὑπήντησεν uphnthsen
I meet
Read verse John 11:20 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ὑπήντησεν uphnthsen
I meet
Read verse John 11:30 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ὑπήντησεν uphnthsen
I meet
Read verse John 12:18 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ὑπήντησεν uphnthsen
I meet
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 2 Aligned forms 10 Tenses Aorist Voices 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 8×
Aorist Active Matt 28:9 · Mark 5:2 · Luke 8:27 · John 11:20 · John 11:30 · John 12:18 · Matt 8:28 · John 4:51 8×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 2×
Aorist Active Luke 14:31 · Acts 16:16 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 10 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 10
Voice
active 10
Mood
indicative 8 infinitive 2
NT Occurrences
Matthew 8:28 ὑπήντησαν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 28:9 ὑπήντησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 5:2 ὑπήντησεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 8:27 ὑπήντησεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 14:31 ὑπαντῆσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive John 4:51 ὑπήντησαν aorist active indicative completed John 11:20 ὑπήντησεν aorist active indicative completed John 11:30 ὑπήντησεν aorist active indicative completed John 12:18 ὑπήντησεν aorist active indicative completed Acts 16:16 ὑπαντῆσαι aorist active 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)
For the Preacher and Teacher
Hypantao gives teachers a way to slow down when a narrative says someone met or went out to meet another. Meeting can carry worship, news, grief, public excitement, or spiritual danger. The women meet the risen Jesus and worship. Martha meets Jesus with sorrow and confession. The crowd meets Him because it heard of Lazarus, but John's Gospel will not let crowd movement substitute for true belief.
In Acts, an encounter brings spiritual bondage and exploitation into view. The word does not tell readers what to think by itself. It marks the threshold where persons, news, motives, and power come face to face. The passage then shows what the meeting reveals.
Anchor passage
John.11.20
Doctrinal connections
- G1453 Egeiro, to raise: Matthew 28:9 places meeting language inside resurrection reality and worship.
- G4352 Proskuneo, to worship: the women's response shows that meeting the risen Christ rightly leads to reverent worship.
- G4100 Pisteuo, to believe: John 4:51 belongs in a sign story where life-giving news deepens household faith.
- G3860 Paradidomi, to hand over: public meetings with Jesus can sit near conflict and opposition, reminding teachers not to romanticize crowds.
- G4151 Pneuma, spirit: Acts 16:16 warns that encounters may reveal spiritual bondage and human exploitation.
- John 11:17-27: Martha's meeting with Jesus holds grief and confession together before the resurrection and the life.
The verb often carries the idea of going out toward someone or encountering someone as movement converges. The theological value lies in the narrative situation, not in the bare fact of meeting.
From Old to New Testament
Biblical meetings often become moments of revelation, covenant response, fear, rescue, or judgment. Hypantao keeps that pattern concrete in the New Testament: encounters with Jesus expose worship, grief, need, public expectation, and the difference between movement toward Him and true reception of Him.
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