StrongerBible

dierchomai

διέρχομαι

GreekG1330pass through, travel about, ...

Appears 44 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 12:43Mat 19:24Mrk 4:35Mrk 10:25Luk 2:15Luk 2:35Luk 4:30Luk 5:15Luk 8:22Luk 9:6Luk 11:24Luk 17:11Luk 19:1Luk 19:4Jhn 4:4Jhn 4:15Jhn 8:59Act 8:4Act 8:40Act 9:32Act 9:38Act 10:38Act 11:19Act 11:22Act 12:10Act 13:6Act 13:14Act 14:24Act 15:3Act 15:41Act 16:6Act 17:23Act 18:23Act 18:27Act 19:1Act 19:21Act 20:2Act 20:25Rom 5:121Co 10:11Co 16:5 (2×)2Co 1:16Heb 4:14
Compound of
Word studydee-EHR-khom-aiverb

What dierchomai means

to go through: to move all the way through or across something, from passing through a place to traveling about and, by extension, to news or death spreading and a blade running someone through

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its core this verb pictures motion that does not stop at the edge of something but carries all the way through it. The basic verb means simply to come or go; the prefix adds the idea of through. So the word can describe a single object pushed all the way through a gap (a camel through the eye of a needle), a person crossing a stretch of water, or someone walking through the middle of a hostile crowd.

From that physical picture the word naturally widens into the sense the book of Acts uses constantly: to travel about, going from town to town and region to region. This is the standard word for the missionary journeys, where the point is not arriving at one spot but moving steadily across a whole territory, often preaching along the way. A closely related shade keeps the focus on the destination instead, where the journey through is just the means of getting somewhere: let us cross over to the other side, go on as far as Antioch.

The same image of passing all the way through also carries two vivid figurative uses. A report can pass through a population the way a traveler passes through a country, so the word means to spread: word about Jesus spread abroad, and death spread to everyone. And a sword can pass through a body, so Simeon tells Mary that a sword will run through her own soul. In every case the underlying motion is the same: something moving completely through, not merely up to or past.

Because one Greek word covers this whole range, English has to keep changing words for it. There is no single matching verb, but the senses are clearly related shades of one idea rather than separate unrelated words.

Nuances

1ato pass through a space or barrier: to move all the way through an object, opening, or crowd
Mat 19:24Mrk 10:25Luk 4:30Jhn 8:59Act 12:101Co 10:1Heb 4:14
1bto travel about: to go from place to place across a region, often preaching as one goes
Luk 9:6Luk 17:11Luk 19:1Act 8:4Act 8:40Act 9:32Act 10:38Act 11:19Act 13:6Act 14:24Act 15:3Act 15:41
1cto go on to a destination: to cross over or travel as far as a particular place
Mrk 4:35Luk 2:15Luk 8:22Luk 19:4Jhn 4:15Act 9:38Act 11:22Act 13:14Act 18:272Co 1:16
1dto spread: of news or, figuratively, death passing through and reaching everyone
Luk 5:15Rom 5:12
1eto run through, pierce: of a sword passing through a person
Luk 2:35

What scholars say about dierchomai

BDAG groups the uses under a single entry headed "go through", distinguishing (1) literal passage through a space, (2) movement from place to place ("go about"), with a sub-shade focused on the goal ("come, go"), and the figurative extensions to spreading (Luke 5:15; Rom 5:12) and to a sword passing through (Luke 2:35). The compound is the simplex ἔρχομαι with the prefix διά supplying the "through/across" nuance, a pattern LSJ documents broadly in classical and Hellenistic usage. The heavy concentration in Luke-Acts (the verb is a hallmark of Luke's travel narratives) is widely noted in the commentary literature; Louw-Nida likewise files the spatial and the "spread" uses as related extensions of one semantic core rather than as distinct lexemes.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. διέρχομαιlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. διέρχομαιlexicon
  • Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, domains 15 and 33lexicon

All attested forms of διέρχομαι

second-aorist active infinitive

διελθεῖν

Mat 19:24, Mrk 10:25, Act 9:38, Act 11:22, Act 18:27, 2Co 1:16

imperfect middle-or-passive indicative 3s

διήρχετο, Διήρχετο

Luk 17:11, Luk 19:1, Act 15:41, Luk 5:15

second-aorist active indicative 3p

διῆλθον

Act 8:4, Act 11:19, Act 16:6, 1Co 10:1

second-aorist active participle nominative m p

διελθόντες, Διελθόντες

Act 12:10, Act 13:14, Act 14:24, Act 13:6

second-aorist active participle nominative m s

διελθὼν, Διελθὼν

Luk 4:30, Jhn 8:59, Act 19:21, Act 20:2

present middle-or-passive participle nominative m s

διερχόμενος

Act 8:40, Act 17:23, Act 18:23

second-aorist active subjunctive 1p

διέλθωμεν

Mrk 4:35, Luk 2:15, Luk 8:22

imperfect middle-or-passive indicative 3p

διήρχοντο

Luk 9:6, Act 15:3

present middle-or-passive indicative 3s

διέρχεται

Mat 12:43, Luk 11:24

present middle-or-passive infinitive

διέρχεσθαι

Luk 19:4, Jhn 4:4

second-aorist active indicative 3s

διῆλθεν

Act 10:38, Rom 5:12

future middle indicative 3s

διελεύσεται

Luk 2:35

present middle-or-passive indicative 1s

διέρχομαι

1Co 16:5

present middle-or-passive participle accusative m s

διερχόμενον

Act 9:32

present middle-or-passive subjunctive 1s

διέρχωμαι

Jhn 4:15

second-aorist active indicative 1s

διῆλθον

Act 20:25

second-aorist active participle accusative m s

διελθόντα

Act 19:1

second-aorist active subjunctive 1s

διέλθω

1Co 16:5

second-perfect active participle accusative m s

διεληλυθότα

Heb 4:14