StrongerBible

histēmi

ἵστημι

GreekG2476stand, set, ...

Appears 156 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 2:9Mat 4:5Mat 6:5Mat 12:25Mat 12:26Mat 12:46Mat 12:47Mat 13:2Mat 16:28Mat 18:2Mat 18:16Mat 20:3Mat 20:6 (2×)Mat 20:32Mat 25:33Mat 26:15Mat 26:73Mat 27:11Mat 27:47Mrk 3:24Mrk 3:25Mrk 3:26Mrk 7:9Mrk 9:1Mrk 9:36Mrk 10:49Mrk 11:5Mrk 13:9Mrk 13:14Luk 1:11Luk 4:9Luk 5:1Luk 5:2Luk 6:8 (2×)Luk 6:17Luk 7:14Luk 8:20Luk 8:44Luk 9:27Luk 9:47Luk 11:18Luk 13:25Luk 17:12Luk 18:11Luk 18:13Luk 18:40Luk 19:8Luk 21:36Luk 23:10Luk 23:35
Word studyHIS-tay-meeverb

What histēmi means

1

to stand: to be on one's feet, to be positioned somewhere, or to hold one's ground

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary, physical sense and by far the most common one in the New Testament. Someone stands up, stands in a place, or is found standing there. It is the plain opposite of sitting, lying, or falling, and the Gospels and Acts use it constantly to set a scene: people standing in a crowd, by a door, at a distance, before a ruler.

From that bodily picture the word stretches in two natural directions. One is simply to stop, to come to a standstill, when motion ceases and a person or thing stays put. The other is the figurative use that mattered most to the early church: to stand firm, to keep one's footing, to remain steady under pressure instead of being knocked down. In the letters this becomes a picture of staying faithful, holding the position God has given, and not collapsing when tested.

These are shades of one idea, not separate words. Whether the standing is literal posture, a halt, or steadfast loyalty, the core is the same: to be set on one's feet and to stay there.

Nuances

1ato be on one's feet or positioned in a place
Mat 6:5Mat 12:46Mat 13:2Mat 27:11Luk 1:11Luk 5:1Jhn 1:35Jhn 18:18 (2×)Jhn 20:11Act 16:9Act 22:25Rev 7:9
1bto stand still, to stop or come to a standstill
Mat 2:9Mat 20:32Mrk 10:49Luk 7:14Luk 8:44Luk 17:12Luk 18:40Luk 24:17Act 8:38
1cto stand firm, to hold one's ground and remain faithful under pressure
Jhn 8:44Rom 5:2Rom 11:20Rom 14:4 (2×)1Co 7:371Co 10:121Co 15:1Eph 6:11Eph 6:13Eph 6:14Col 4:121Pe 5:12
2

to set, to place: to make someone or something stand in a position, and so to set up, present, appoint, or establish it

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

The same verb can be used of causing something else to stand. Here a person is the one who sets, places, or stations another, rather than standing themselves. The range runs from the concrete, setting a child in the middle of a group, placing someone in a spot, to the more formal, putting people forward, presenting a person before a court, or assigning a position.

From there it reaches a settled figurative use: to establish, confirm, or make something stand as valid and lasting. Paul speaks of upholding the law rather than abolishing it, of trying to set up one's own standing before God, and of God's purpose being made firm. To make a thing stand is to give it standing, to put it in force.

One narrow idiom belongs here too. Because scales were set and weights placed to measure out silver, the word can mean to weigh out money, to count out an agreed payment. That is the sense behind the thirty pieces of silver weighed out to Judas.

Nuances

2ato set, place, present, or put someone or something in a position
Mat 4:5Mat 18:2Mat 18:16Mat 25:33Mrk 9:36Luk 4:9Jhn 8:3Act 1:23Act 4:7Act 5:27Act 6:6Act 6:13
2bto establish, confirm, or make something stand as valid
Mat 12:25Mat 12:26Mrk 3:24Mrk 3:25Mrk 3:26Mrk 7:9Luk 11:18Rom 3:31Rom 10:32Co 13:12Ti 2:19Heb 10:9
2cto weigh out money, to count out an agreed payment
Mat 26:15

What scholars say about histēmi

Standard lexica treat ἵστημι as a single verb with a transitive use (cause to stand: set, place, appoint, establish, and the idiom weigh out money) and an intransitive use (stand, stand still, stand firm), the two tied together by the one image of standing and largely distributed across the verb's tense forms. The figurative sense of standing firm in faith is well attested in the New Testament letters.

Sources

  • Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG), 3rd ed., s.v. ἵστημιlexicon
  • W. Grundmann, "ἵστημι," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) 7:638-653dictionary
  • Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT) 2:205-207dictionary
  • Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (LSJ), 9th ed., s.v. ἵστημιlexicon

All attested forms of ἵστημι

second-aorist active indicative 3s

ἔστη, ἔστησεν

Luk 6:8, Luk 6:17, Luk 8:44, Luk 24:36, Jhn 20:19, Jhn 20:26, Jhn 21:4, Act 3:8

perfect active participle nominative m s

ἑστὼς, ἑστηκὼς, ἑστώς

Luk 1:11, Luk 5:1, Luk 18:13, Jhn 12:29, Jhn 18:18, Jhn 18:25, Act 16:9, Act 21:40

second-aorist active indicative 3p

ἔστησαν, ἔστησάν

Mat 26:15, Luk 7:14, Luk 17:12, Act 1:23, Act 5:27, Act 6:6, Rev 11:11, Rev 18:17

perfect active participle accusative m s

ἑστῶτα, ἑστηκότα

Jhn 20:14, Act 4:14, Act 7:55, Act 7:56, Act 22:25, Rev 10:5, Rev 19:17, Mrk 13:14

perfect active indicative 3s

ἕστηκεν, ἔστηκεν

Jhn 1:26, 1Co 7:37, 2Ti 2:19, Heb 10:11, Jas 5:9, Rev 12:4, Jhn 8:44

perfect active participle nominative m p

ἑστῶτες, ἑστηκότες

Mat 6:5, Mat 26:73, Act 5:25, Rev 7:9, Rev 11:4, Jhn 11:56, Rev 18:10

pluperfect active indicative 3p

εἱστήκεισαν, Εἱστήκεισαν

Mat 12:46, Luk 23:10, Jhn 18:18, Act 9:7, Rev 7:11, Luk 23:49, Jhn 19:25

pluperfect active indicative 3s

εἱστήκει

Mat 13:2, Luk 23:35, Jhn 1:35, Jhn 7:37, Jhn 18:5, Jhn 18:16, Jhn 20:11

aorist passive participle nominative m s

Σταθεὶς, σταθεὶς

Luk 18:40, Luk 19:8, Act 2:14, Act 17:22, Luk 18:11, Act 27:21

perfect active participle accusative m p

ἑστῶτας

Mat 20:3, Mat 20:6, Act 5:23, Rev 7:1, Rev 15:2, Rev 20:12

future passive indicative 3s

σταθήσεται

Mat 12:25, Mat 12:26, Luk 11:18, Rom 14:4, 2Co 13:1

perfect active participle genitive m p

ἑστηκότων, ἑστώτων

Mat 27:47, Mrk 9:1, Mrk 11:5, Luk 9:27, Mat 16:28

aorist passive indicative 3s

ἐστάθη

Mat 2:9, Mat 27:11, Rev 8:3, Rev 12:18

aorist passive infinitive

σταθῆναι

Mrk 3:24, Mrk 3:25, Luk 21:36, Rev 6:17

perfect active indicative 2p

ἑστήκατε

Mat 20:6, Act 1:11, 1Co 15:1, 2Co 1:24

second-aorist active infinitive

στῆναι

Mrk 3:26, Act 8:38, Eph 6:11, Eph 6:13

aorist active infinitive

στῆσαι

Rom 10:3, Rom 14:4, Jud 1:24

perfect active indicative 1s

ἕστηκα

Act 26:6, Act 26:22, Rev 3:20

perfect active indicative 3p

ἑστήκασιν

Mat 12:47, Luk 8:20, Rev 8:2

perfect active infinitive

ἑστάναι

Luk 13:25, Act 12:14, 1Co 10:12

second-aorist active imperative 2s

στῆθι

Luk 6:8, Act 26:16, Jas 2:3

aorist active participle nominative m p

στήσαντες

Jhn 8:3, Act 4:7

aorist passive participle nominative m p

σταθέντες

Act 5:20, Act 25:18

perfect active indicative 2s

ἕστηκας

Act 7:33, Rom 11:20

second-aorist active imperative 2p

στῆτε

Eph 6:14, 1Pe 5:12

second-aorist active participle nominative m s

στὰς

Mat 20:32, Mrk 10:49

aorist active subjunctive 2p

στήσητε

Mrk 7:9

aorist active subjunctive 2s

στήσῃς

Act 7:60

aorist active subjunctive 3s

στήσῃ

Heb 10:9

aorist passive indicative 3p

ἐστάθησαν

Luk 24:17

aorist passive participle accusative m s

σταθέντα

Act 11:13

aorist passive subjunctive 2p

σταθῆτε

Col 4:12

aorist passive subjunctive 3s

σταθῇ

Mat 18:16

future active indicative 3s

στήσει

Mat 25:33

future middle indicative 3p

στήσονται

Rev 18:15

future passive indicative 2p

σταθήσεσθε

Mrk 13:9

perfect active indicative 1p

ἑστήκαμεν

Rom 5:2

perfect active participle accusative n p

ἑστῶτα

Luk 5:2

perfect active participle genitive m s

ἑστῶτος

Rev 10:8

perfect active participle nominative f s

ἑστῶσα

Jhn 8:9

6 further parsings are listed under Syntax.