StrongerBible

mathēteuō

μαθητεύω

GreekG3100“make a disciple, teach, ...”

Appears 4 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 13:52Mat 27:57Mat 28:19Act 14:21
Root family
Word studyResearch-grademath-ay-TYOO-ohverb

What mathēteuō means

to make someone a disciple of Jesus, or (in the passive) to be brought in as one.

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This verb is built directly from the noun for a disciple, so at its root it means to have to do with being a disciple. In the New Testament it works in two directions that are really one idea seen from two sides. Used with a direct object it means to make someone a disciple: to bring a person into the committed, learning relationship of following Jesus. Used in the passive it means to be brought into that relationship, to become a disciple.

The key thing to see is that this is more than teaching. Jesus commissions his followers to make disciples of all nations, and in the very next breath he separates that from teaching, which is only one part of the job. To make a disciple is to attach a person to Jesus himself: it begins with baptism and continues in a lifelong following, not merely passing on information. That is why the older rendering "teach all nations" is now widely set aside; it flattens a rich word into a thin one.

The word is rare, appearing only four times, and three of those are in Matthew, who cares more about disciples than any other Gospel writer. It carries a striking note that has no real parallel in the discipleship of the ancient philosophers or the later rabbis: a disciple of Jesus is sent out to make more disciples. The relationship is meant to reproduce itself.

Nuances

1ato make someone a disciple: to bring a person into following Jesus.
Mat 28:19Act 14:21
Mat 28:19

Whether the opening participle in Matthew 28:19 should be rendered as a soft "as you go" or as an imperatival "go" that shares the command force of "make disciples."

  • majorityIt carries imperatival force: "Go and make disciples." The tense and word order fit the pattern grammarians label attendant circumstance, so the going is part of the command.; Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (1996), pp. 640-645; Cleon L. Rogers Jr., "The Great Commission," Bibliotheca Sacra 130 (1973): 258-267; R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT (2007)
  • minorityA durative "as you go," treating the going as incidental background to the one command to make disciples.; Benjamin L. Merkle, "Why the Great Commission Should Be Translated 'Go!' and Not 'as You Go,'" Southeastern Theological Review 9.2 (2018): 21-32 (surveying and rejecting this reading)
1bto be made a disciple, to be brought into discipleship (the same act seen from the receiving side).
Mat 13:52Mat 27:57

What scholars say about mathēteuō

Every major lexicon distinguishes the same two uses of this denominative verb formed from the noun for disciple. BDAG glosses an intransitive "to be a disciple" and a transitive causative "to cause one to be a disciple, make a disciple of"; Louw-Nida separates the two into domains 36.37 (become a disciple) and 36.38 (cause someone to become a disciple). LSJ attests the older intransitive use in Plutarch but cites the transitive only at Matthew 28:19 and Acts 14:21, so on present evidence the causative use first surfaces clearly in the New Testament itself; BDAG explains it as a Hellenistic development (with Blass-Debrunner-Funk 148, 392.1a). EDNT (Nepper-Christensen) and NIDNTTE (Silva) treat the transitive as a semantic extension rare outside Christian Greek, and Moulton-Milligan finds no documentary papyrus evidence, indicating a literary or technical term rather than everyday speech. Rengstorf's long TDNT article situates the verb in the wider learning word-group and connects the noun's near-absence from the Septuagint to the lack of a developed master-disciple institution in the Hebrew Bible. Wilkins' monograph on discipleship in Matthew reads the verb as the active correlate of the noun and shows the three Matthean uses to be programmatic. On Matthew 28:19 the modern commentators (Davies-Allison, France, Hagner, Nolland, Luz, Keener, Osborne, Turner) agree the main verb is causative and reject the King James "teach."

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. μαθητεύω, p. 609lexicon
  • LSJ, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., s.v. μαθητεύωlexicon
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (1989), domain 36, sections 36.37-36.38lexicon
  • K. H. Rengstorf, "μανθάνω, μαθητής κτλ.," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) IV:390-461dictionary
  • P. Nepper-Christensen, "μαθητεύω," in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT) 2:372dictionary
  • Moisés Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), vol. 3 (2014), s.v. μανθάνωdictionary
  • F. Blass, A. Debrunner, R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament (1961), sections 148, 392.1amonograph
  • Michael J. Wilkins, The Concept of Disciple in Matthew's Gospel (NovTSup 59; Brill, 1988)monograph
  • Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (1996), pp. 640-645monograph
  • W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew, ICC (1988-1997)commentary
  • R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT (2007)commentary
  • Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, WBC 33B (1995)commentary
  • John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, NIGTC (2005)commentary
  • Ulrich Luz, Matthew 21-28, Hermeneia (2005)commentary
  • C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, ICC (1994)commentary
  • Craig S. Keener, Acts, vol. 2 (Baker Academic, 2013)commentary
  • Benjamin L. Merkle, "Why the Great Commission Should Be Translated 'Go!' and Not 'as You Go,'" Southeastern Theological Review 9.2 (2018): 21-32article

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

All attested forms of μαθητεύω

aorist active imperative 2p

μαθητεύσατε

Mat 28:19

aorist active participle nominative m p

μαθητεύσαντες

Act 14:21

aorist passive indicative 3s

ἐμαθητεύθη

Mat 27:57

aorist passive participle nominative m s

μαθητευθεὶς

Mat 13:52