What does ἀρκέω (arkéō) mean in the Bible?
Arkeo is the Greek verb for being enough, being sufficient, or being content with what is supplied. The New Testament uses it in scenes of shortage, longing, weakness, and temptation.
Greek · G714
ἀρκέω
Be sufficient
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ἀρκέω G714
Pronunciation arkéō
What does ἀρκέω (arkéō) mean in the Bible?
Arkeo is the Greek verb for being enough, being sufficient, or being content with what is supplied. The New Testament uses it in scenes of shortage, longing, weakness, and temptation.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀρκέω (G714) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G714?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] be content (1), Be content with (1), is sufficient (1), that will be enough (1), there may not be enough (1).
Where does ἀρκέω (arkéō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 25:9. Its strongest book concentrations include John (2), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Corinthians (1), 3 John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Arkeo is the Greek verb for being enough, being sufficient, or being content with what is supplied. The New Testament uses it in scenes of shortage, longing, weakness, and temptation. Philip says a large sum would not be enough bread for the crowd, and later he says that seeing the Father would be enough. Jesus' answer leads beyond visible adequacy into revelation of the Father in the Son.
Paul hears the Lord say, My grace is sufficient for you, in the middle of weakness. The word also speaks to contentment with food, clothing, wages, and possessions. Arkeo therefore does not mean settling for little because God is stingy. It teaches sufficiency under the Lord's provision, revelation, presence, and grace.
How the Bible Uses It
Arkeo gathers the language of enoughness and contentment. It can expose human inadequacy, name the sufficiency of Christ's grace, and call believers away from greed toward trust in God's provision and presence.
- John.6.7
Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”
Philip calculates that two hundred denarii would not be enough bread, setting up the feeding sign where Jesus' provision exceeds visible resources.
- John.14.8
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Philip asks for a sight of the Father that would be enough, but Jesus redirects the request to the revelation already given in the Son.
- 2Cor.12.9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
The Lord's grace is sufficient for Paul in weakness, so enoughness is grounded in Christ's power rather than the removal of the thorn.
- 1Tim.6.8
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
Food and clothing are enough in Paul's warning against godliness as gain, making contentment part of discipleship under eternal perspective.
- Heb.13.5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
Contentment with what one has rests on God's promise never to leave or forsake His people.
- Luke.3.14
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”
John tells soldiers to be content with their wages instead of abusing power for gain, applying enoughness to economic and vocational integrity.
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 [and] be content 1× Hebrews 13:5
Be content with 1× Luke 3:14
is sufficient 1× 2 Corinthians 12:9
that will be enough 1× John 14:8
there may not be enough 1× Matthew 25:9
unsatisfied 1× 3 John 1:10
we will be content 1× 1 Timothy 6:8
would not [buy] enough 1× John 6:7
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 25:9 ἀρκέσῃ to there may not be enough Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 3:14 ἀρκεῖσθε to Be content with Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural John 6:7 ἀρκοῦσιν to would not [buy] enough Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural John 14:8 ἀρκεῖ to that will be enough Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2 Corinthians 12:9 Ἀρκεῖ to is sufficient Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Timothy 6:8 ἀρκεσθησόμεθα to we will be content Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 1st Person Plural Hebrews 13:5 ἀρκούμενοι to [and] be content Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural 3 John 1:10 ἀρκούμενος to unsatisfied Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 25:9
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 7
Matthew 1 Luke 1 John 2 2 Corinthians 1 1 Timothy 1 Hebrews 1 3 John 1
Source forms
ἀρκεῖ 1x arkei John 14:8
Ἀρκεῖ 1x Arkei 2 Corinthians 12:9
ἀρκεῖσθε 1x arkeisthe Luke 3:14
ἀρκέσῃ 1x arkesē Matthew 25:9
ἀρκεσθησόμεθα 1x arkesthēsometha 1 Timothy 6:8
ἀρκούμενοι 1x arkoumenoi Hebrews 13:5
ἀρκούμενος 1x arkoumenos 3 John 1:10
ἀρκοῦσιν 1x arkousin John 6:7
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x John 14:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Matthew 25:9
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 1st Person Plural 1x 1 Timothy 6:8
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural 1x Luke 3:14
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x John 6:7
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Hebrews 13:5
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x 3 John 1:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use sufficiency language to minimize suffering, poverty, injustice, or weakness. Paul does not pretend the thorn is painless; he boasts in Christ's power resting on him.
- Do not turn contentment into passivity before sin. Luke 3 calls soldiers away from extortion while telling them to be content with their wages.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that arkeo means believers should never feel need or weakness. Paul receives sufficient grace while the weakness remains.
- Do not claim that contentment excuses exploitation. Luke 3 applies contentment in a way that also forbids taking money by force or false accusation.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To suffice or be enough; often emphasizes contentment with what one has rather than mere adequacy.
Strong's G714
Lexical occurrences 8 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 4 forms 8 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Hebrews 13:1-6 Source Gloss
be sufficient
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To suffice or be enough; often emphasizes contentment with what one has rather than mere adequacy.
1to keep off; with dative, to assist.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 25:9 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀρκέσῃ arkesh
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse Luke 3:14 Verb Second Person Plural Present Passive Imperative
ἀρκεῖσθε arkeisqe
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse John 6:7 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
ἀρκοῦσιν arkousin
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse John 14:8 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἀρκεῖ arkei
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse 2 Corinthians 12:9 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
Ἀρκεῖ arkei
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse 1 Timothy 6:8 Verb First Person Plural Future Passive Indicative
ἀρκεσθησόμεθα. arkesqhsomeqa
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse Hebrews 13:5 Verb Present Passive Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀρκούμενοι arkoumenoi
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
Read verse 3 John 1:10 Verb Present Passive Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀρκούμενος arkoumenov
I am sufficient, I suffice, am content, satisfied
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 8 Tenses Present, Aorist, Future Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Present Active John 14:8 · 2 Cor 12:9 · John 6:7 3×
Future Passive 1 Tim 6:8 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Active Matt 25:9 1×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Present Passive Luke 3:14 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Passive Heb 13:5 · 3 John 1:10 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 8 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 6 future 1 aorist 1
Voice
passive 4 active 4
Mood
indicative 4 participle 2 imperative 1 subjunctive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 25:9 ἀρκέσῃ aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Luke 3:14 ἀρκεῖσθε present passive imperative imperative John 6:7 ἀρκοῦσιν present active indicative ongoing John 14:8 ἀρκεῖ present active indicative ongoing 2 Corinthians 12:9 Ἀρκεῖ present active indicative ongoing 1 Timothy 6:8 ἀρκεσθησόμεθα future passive indicative prospective Hebrews 13:5 ἀρκούμενοι present passive participle participle 3 John 1:10 ἀρκούμενος present passive participle participle
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
being content
be content
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀρκέω is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Shows repentance reshapes desires and conduct. Hebrews 13:1-6
Anchors contentment in God's presence. Luke 3:7–14
For the Preacher and Teacher
Arkeo is pastoral because many sins and fears grow from the suspicion that God has not supplied enough. John 6 lets human calculation reach its limit before Jesus feeds the crowd. John 14 exposes the desire for one more visible proof when the Son has already revealed the Father. Second Corinthians 12 gives the deepest center: Christ's grace is sufficient, not because weakness is pleasant, but because His power is perfected there.
First Timothy, Hebrews, and Luke press sufficiency into money, possessions, wages, and integrity. The word does not call believers to deny need or baptize injustice. It calls them to receive the Lord's provision without greed, to endure weakness without despair, and to trust the presence of God more than the accumulation of more.
Anchor passage
2Cor.12.9
Doctrinal connections
- G5485 Charis: 2 Corinthians 12:9 makes grace the ground of sufficiency in weakness.
- G1411 Dynamis: Christ's power is perfected in weakness, so sufficiency is not self-sufficiency.
- G3962 Pater: John 14:8-9 connects enoughness to seeing the Father in the Son.
- G5526 Chortazo: John 6 places human insufficiency beside Jesus' ability to feed and satisfy.
- G866 Aphilargyros: Hebrews 13:5 ties contentment to freedom from love of money.
- Luke 3:14: Sufficiency has ethical force when contentment restrains exploitation and false accusation.
Arkeo can speak of objective sufficiency, as in enough bread or sufficient grace, and of the settled response of contentment. The context supplies whether the stress falls on supply, perception, or conduct.
From Old to New Testament
From manna in the wilderness to the apostolic call to contentment, Scripture teaches God's people to receive daily provision without turning lack into unbelief or abundance into security. In Christ, sufficiency is anchored finally in grace, presence, and resurrection hope.
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