to follow closely after or upon something: to come along behind it, follow up on it, or attend it as its sequel
This is an ordinary Greek verb for following, built from the plain word for "follow" with a prefix that adds the idea of "closely upon" or "after." It was a workaday word in everyday Greek business and law, where it could mean to attend to a matter, to sign off on an account as verified, or to result from something. The New Testament writers use it in four noticeably different ways, and which shade is meant depends entirely on what is being followed.
In one place it describes a woman throwing herself into a task, following it up and taking real responsibility for it. In another it describes sins that trail behind a person and only catch up with them later. In a third it describes miracles that come after preaching and back it up, the way a signature confirms a document. In a fourth it describes a disciple stepping into the very footprints left by Christ.
What holds these together is the picture of one thing coming after another and staying close to it. What sets this word apart from the more famous Greek verb for "following Jesus" is that it never carries the Gospels' loaded call to leave everything behind and follow. It does the quieter work of coming after, following up, and treading behind.
Nuances
Whether ἐπακολουθέω in Mark 16:20 carries an active confirming, authenticating force (the accompanying signs endorse the preached word, as a countersignature ratifies a document) or is weakened here to mean simply that the signs accompanied the preaching in time.
- majorityThe verb carries an attesting force, drawn from its documentary use for countersigning and verifying accounts; the signs authenticate both the message and its messengers.; J. A. Kelhoffer, Miracle and Mission (WUNT 2/112, Mohr Siebeck, 2000); LSJ, A Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ἐπακολουθέω II.2; J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament
- minorityThe compound is largely weakened here, meaning little more than "accompany"; the signs attend the preaching without a distinct confirming force residing in the verb itself.; R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC, 2002); A. Yarbro Collins, Mark (Hermeneia, 2007)