StrongerBible

diatassō

διατάσσω

GreekG1299command, ordain, ...

Appears 16 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 11:1Luk 3:13Luk 8:55Luk 17:9Luk 17:10Act 7:44Act 18:2Act 20:13Act 23:31Act 24:231Co 7:171Co 9:141Co 11:341Co 16:1Gal 3:19Tit 1:5
Compound of
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studydee-ah-TASS-ohverb

What diatassō means

to give authoritative, detailed direction: to order, prescribe, or arrange what is to be done

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

διατάσσω is a strong word for putting things in order by authority. It takes the ordinary verb for appointing and arranging, τάσσω, and adds a prefix that pushes it toward the thorough, point-by-point sorting out of what must be done. So it can mean to give someone binding orders, or to lay out an arrangement, an appointment, or a fixed amount.

The two shades run close together. When Jesus finishes instructing the Twelve, or Claudius orders the Jews out of Rome, the word points at people who must obey. When Paul sets the rest of a matter in order for a meeting, or the law is put in place through angels, it points at an arrangement being fixed. Many verses hold both at once, since an order to people usually settles a plan as well.

Because of that range, English Bibles rotate through "command," "ordain," "appoint," "prescribe," and "set in order" for this one verb. Its close relatives keep a narrower focus: παραγγέλλω is passing along a charge, and κελεύω is a spoken official order, while διατάσσω carries the added weight of a deliberate, detailed arrangement.

Nuances

1ato command or instruct people: to give binding orders that others are to carry out
Mat 11:1Luk 8:55Luk 17:9Luk 17:10Act 18:2Act 23:31Act 24:231Co 7:171Co 9:141Co 16:1Tit 1:5
1bto arrange, appoint, or prescribe a matter: to set something in order or fix what is to be done
Luk 3:13Act 7:44Act 20:131Co 11:34Gal 3:19

What scholars say about diatassō

διατάσσω is the perfective compound of τάσσω, and in Koine documentary papyri it is a standard term for official directives and testamentary dispositions, which matches its two poles in the New Testament: authoritative command, especially apostolic ordinance (1 Corinthians 7:17; 9:14; 16:1), and arrangement or appointment (Acts 7:44; Galatians 3:19). Gerhard Delling treats the τάσσω group under the ideas of ordering and appointing. The middle voice, frequent here, marks the subject's own authoritative disposition rather than a separate meaning. The clause in Galatians 3:19, that the law was put in place through angels, draws on a Second Temple tradition of angelic mediation (compare Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2), an interpretive question about the event that does not alter the verb's settled sense.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. διατάσσωlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. διατάσσωlexicon
  • G. Delling, "τάσσω κτλ.," TDNT 8:27-48dictionary
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. διατάσσωlexicon

All attested forms of διατάσσω

aorist active indicative 3s

διέταξεν

Luk 8:55, 1Co 9:14

aorist passive participle accusative n p

διαταχθέντα

Luk 17:9, Luk 17:10

perfect passive participle accusative n s

διατεταγμένον

Luk 3:13, Act 23:31

aorist active indicative 1s

διέταξα

1Co 16:1

aorist middle indicative 1s

διεταξάμην

Tit 1:5

aorist middle indicative 3s

διετάξατο

Act 7:44

aorist middle participle nominative m s

διαταξάμενος

Act 24:23

future middle indicative 1s

διατάξομαι

1Co 11:34

perfect active infinitive

διατεταχέναι

Act 18:2

perfect middle participle nominative m s

διατεταγμένος

Act 20:13

present active participle nominative m s

διατάσσων

Mat 11:1

present middle indicative 1s

διατάσσομαι

1Co 7:17

second-aorist passive participle nominative m s

διαταγεὶς

Gal 3:19