StrongerBible

diermēneuō

διερμηνεύω

GreekG1329“interpret, translate, ...”

Appears 6 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Luk 24:27Act 9:361Co 12:301Co 14:51Co 14:131Co 14:27
Compound of
diaδιάthrough/because of687G1223
hermēneuōἑρμηνεύωto interpret3G2059
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradedee-er-may-NYOO-ohverb

What diermēneuō means

to make an obscure or foreign utterance intelligible: to translate it, explain it, or interpret it so a hearer can understand

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

The word pictures a go-between who carries meaning across a gap. The gap can be between two languages, between a hard text and its point, or between a burst of speech no one can follow and words a listener can grasp. Which of these is in view is set by the setting, not by the word itself.

Luke shows both edges of that range in a single work. In one place the risen Jesus "expounds" the Scriptures, opening up how they point to himself. In another Luke simply translates a name, telling Greek readers that "Tabitha" means "Dorcas," a gazelle. The Hebrew verb תרגם covers that plain act of translating a document, while the Aramaic פְּשַׁר covers interpreting something hidden, like the meaning of a dream.

Paul uses the word for a spiritual gift: the interpreting that must accompany speaking in tongues so the whole gathering is built up. Scholars have long debated whether this means translating a real language or putting Spirit-given speech into intelligible words, and the word by itself cannot decide it, since both uses are well attested. A close relative, μεθερμηνεύω, is the narrower term used only for translating a foreign name.

Nuances

1ato translate a foreign word or name into the hearer's own language
TranslatabilityDirect
Act 9:36
1bto explain the meaning of a difficult or obscure text
TranslatabilityApproximate
Luk 24:27
1cto interpret speech given in tongues, putting it into words the assembly can understand
1Co 12:301Co 14:51Co 14:131Co 14:27

Disputed

How to understand the verb in Paul's discussion of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30; 14:5, 13, 27): whether it means translating a real language or rendering Spirit-given utterance into intelligible speech.

  • contestedTranslate a real language: Corinthian tongues are actual languages, human or angelic, and interpreting them is a Spirit-enabled rendering from one language into another.; Christopher Forbes, Prophecy and Inspired Speech in Early Christianity and Its Hellenistic Environment (WUNT 2/75, 1995), 44-72; Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (1996); D. A. Carson, Showing the Spirit (1987), 79-83
  • contestedRender intelligible: the tongues need not be languages, and interpreting them means putting non-articulate or opaque Spirit-given speech into words the assembly can grasp.; Anthony C. Thiselton, "The 'Interpretation' of Tongues: A New Suggestion in the Light of Greek Usage in Philo and Josephus," JTS NS 30 (1979): 15-36; Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT, rev. 2014), 654-57; Hans Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians (Hermeneia, 1975), 233-35

What scholars say about diermēneuō

Standard lexica map the verb onto a two-branch range: translate (BDAG sense 1; Acts 9:36) and explain or expound (BDAG sense 2; Luke 24:27 and the Pauline occurrences), unified by Behm (TDNT 2:661-66) as the act of a mediator rendering meaning across a gap. Louw-Nida place the two senses in separate subdomains (33.145 translate; 33.148 explain) without positing homonymy, so context rather than the lexeme fixes which gap is in view. The modern consensus, following Moulton-Milligan ("practically = the simplex"), BDF 318 and 322, and Behm, treats the prefix as lexicalized and rejects the older "explain thoroughly" gloss preserved in Strong's. The chief exegetical debate concerns the four Corinthian occurrences: Forbes (Prophecy and Inspired Speech, WUNT 2/75), Turner, and Carson read the verb as translating real languages, while Thiselton (JTS 30 [1979]: 15-36), Fee (NICNT), Conzelmann, and Schrage read it as rendering Spirit-given utterance into intelligible speech. Both sides grant that the lexical evidence cannot settle the question, which turns on the nature of the Corinthian tongues rather than on the word itself. The near-synonym methermeneuo is treated by Barrett and Bock as a stylistic variant in the translate-a-name formula, and the agent noun diermeneutes at 1 Corinthians 14:28 is a Pauline coinage.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed. (2000), s.v. διερμηνεύω, p. 244lexicon
  • J. Behm, "ἑρμηνεύω, διερμηνεύω," TDNT 2:661-66dictionary
  • Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 33.145, 33.148lexicon
  • Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (1930), p. 158lexicon
  • LSJ, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed. (1940), s.v. διερμηνεύωlexicon
  • Christopher Forbes, Prophecy and Inspired Speech in Early Christianity and Its Hellenistic Environment (WUNT 2/75, 1995), 44-72monograph
  • Anthony C. Thiselton, "The 'Interpretation' of Tongues: A New Suggestion in the Light of Greek Usage in Philo and Josephus," JTS NS 30 (1979): 15-36article
  • Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT, rev. 2014), 654-57commentary
  • Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV (AYB 28A), 1553-68commentary
  • Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (AYB 31), 445commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of διερμηνεύω

present active subjunctive 3s

διερμηνεύῃ

1Co 14:5, 1Co 14:13

aorist active indicative 3s

διερμήνευσεν

Luk 24:27

present active imperative 3s

διερμηνευέτω

1Co 14:27

present active indicative 3p

διερμηνεύουσιν

1Co 12:30

present passive participle nominative f s

διερμηνευομένη

Act 9:36