To lack
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Ὑστερέω (hystereō) means to lack, fall short, be deficient, come too late, or be in need. The rich young man asks what he still lacks despite command keeping, and Jesus lovingly exposes the allegiance that prevents him from following.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὑστερέω (G5302) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ὑστερέω (hystereō) means to lack, fall short, be deficient, come too late, or be in need. The rich young man asks what he still lacks despite command keeping, and Jesus lovingly exposes the allegiance that prevents him from following.
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include destitute (1), did you lack (1), do I still lack (1), do not lack (1), fall short (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 19:20. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (3), 2 Corinthians (3), Hebrews (3), Luke (2).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Ὑστερέω (hystereō) means to lack, fall short, be deficient, come too late, or be in need. The rich young man asks what he still lacks despite command keeping, and Jesus lovingly exposes the allegiance that prevents him from following. The prodigal son begins to lack after spending everything and meeting famine, revealing the collapse of imagined independence.
At Cana, wine runs out, an ordinary social deficiency that becomes the setting for Jesus' sign. Romans says all have sinned and fall short of God's glory, placing universal human failure within the argument for justification by grace through faith. Lack can be material, moral, relational, or eschatological; the object and standard identify what is missing. The verb does not teach that salvation is achieved by supplying one self-selected deficiency.
Ὑστερέω describes lack or shortfall. It exposes a ruler's governing allegiance, a prodigal's material need, wine exhausted at a wedding, and humanity's universal falling short of God's glory.
“All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”
The young man asks what he still lacks after listing command obedience, inviting Jesus to expose the distance between moral confidence and wholehearted following.
Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Jesus looks at the man with love and identifies one lack: possessions must cease ruling so he can give, receive heavenly treasure, and follow.
After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need.
After spending everything, the younger son begins to be in need during famine, and material lack exposes the ruinous destination of life away from his father.
When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.”
The Cana wedding runs out of wine, a concrete social shortage that Jesus addresses through a sign revealing His glory rather than through public humiliation of the hosts.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
All people have sinned and fall short of God's glory, creating one universal need answered by justification as a gift through redemption in Christ.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. To fall short of a goal or standard; to lack what is needed or required
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
Read verseI am lacking, fall short, suffer need
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.
How this verb appears across 16 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 4 selected witnesses from 16 lexical occurrence verses.
ὑστερέω is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
A person can possess much and still lack what matters most. The ruler's question comes from confidence in his record, but Jesus' loving answer reveals that wealth controls the obedience he claims. The prodigal's lack arrives after resources and distance have promised freedom, becoming a severe mercy that exposes separation from his father. Cana's shortage is neither moral failure nor universal symbol; it is a real social need within a sign that manifests Jesus' glory.
Romans widens lack to every sinner, for all fall short of God's glory and therefore stand without grounds for boasting. Yet the next words announce justification as God's gift in Christ. Churches should diagnose lack with textual precision, care for practical need, confront rival allegiances, and proclaim grace rather than offering moral supplementation as salvation.
Matt.19.20
Ὑστερέω is a verb of lacking, being deficient, falling behind, or coming short. A genitive or object identifies what is absent, while a stated norm can define the shortfall.
Israel lacks food and receives provision, wisdom exposes poverty of soul amid wealth, Jesus meets practical shortage, and the gospel answers humanity's universal shortfall through grace.