StrongerBible

parakoloutheō

παρακολουθέω

GreekG3877“follow, accompany, ...”

Appears 4 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mrk 16:17Luk 1:31Ti 4:62Ti 3:10
Compound of
paraπαράfrom/with/beside196G3844
akoloutheōἀκολουθέωto follow91G190
Word studyResearch-gradepah-rah-koh-loo-THEH-ohverb

What parakoloutheō means

to follow closely alongside: to stay near a person, a body of teaching, or the course of events over time

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This verb pictures following at someone's side. It is built from the ordinary word for "follow" with a prefix meaning "alongside," so its root idea is not merely coming after someone but staying close to them over time. That single image of sustained closeness stretches, across its four New Testament uses, into three quite different situations.

At its plainest it means to go along with, to accompany, as when signs are promised to those who believe. Applied to a student and a teacher, it becomes the language of discipleship: to follow someone's teaching and way of life so closely that you make it your own, as Paul says Timothy has done. Applied to events, it means to keep close track of them and be thoroughly familiar with them, which is how Luke opens his Gospel.

What holds these together is closeness maintained, whether to a person, a body of teaching, or a course of events. The word does not describe distant, one-time contact. It describes staying near. That is why the same verb can name a believer's daily company of signs, a disciple's lifelong loyalty, and a writer's long acquaintance with the story he is about to tell.

Nuances

1ato accompany, to go along with (one thing moving together with a person)
TranslatabilityApproximate
Mrk 16:17
1bto keep close track of events and be thoroughly familiar with them
CertaintyContested
Luk 1:3
Luk 1:3

In Luke's preface, whether the perfect participle παρηκολουθηκότι describes Luke carefully investigating or tracing the course of events as an outside researcher, or his having long kept close touch with and been thoroughly familiar with them as an insider to the tradition.

  • majorityIt means Luke had been thoroughly familiar with, and had kept close touch with, the events, presenting himself as an informed insider to the tradition rather than a detached investigator. Since Cadbury's 1922 study this has become the majority view among specialists on the preface.; Henry J. Cadbury, "Commentary on the Preface of Luke," in F. J. Foakes-Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, eds., The Beginnings of Christianity, Part I, vol. II (Macmillan, 1922), 489-510; Loveday Alexander, The Preface to Luke's Gospel, SNTSMS 78 (Cambridge University Press, 1993), 128-131; David P. Moessner, "'Eyewitnesses,' 'Informed Contemporaries,' and 'Unknowing Inquirers'," Novum Testamentum 38 (1996) 105-122; Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2nd ed. (Eerdmans, 2017), 116-124; BDAG, 3rd ed., s.v. παρακολουθέω, 767
  • minorityIt means Luke carefully investigated or traced the course of events, positioning himself as an ancient historian doing research; this is the older reading and is retained by most modern English translations.; Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (I-IX), AB 28 (Doubleday, 1981), 296-297; I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 1978), 41-43; Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50, BECNT (Baker, 1994), 1:53-63
1cto follow a teacher as a devoted disciple, adhering to a body of teaching and to the life that embodies it
1Ti 4:62Ti 3:10

What scholars say about parakoloutheō

παρακολουθέω is a compound of παρά ("alongside") and ἀκολουθέω ("follow"), and by the Hellenistic period it carried an overlapping range documented in LSJ (9th ed., 1313-14), BDAG (3rd ed., 767), Louw-Nida (sections 15.156; 27.16; 36.35), Spicq TLNT III.22-28, and Kittel TDNT I.215-16: literal accompaniment, resulting consequences, grasping an argument, adhering to a teacher or doctrine, and keeping close touch with events. The historiographical use is developed by Polybius and Josephus; Against Apion 1.53 defines the qualified historian as one who has παρηκολουθηκότα either through presence at the events or by inquiry, and Demosthenes De Corona 172 (παρηκολουθηκότες τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀκριβῶς) is the closest verbal parallel to Luke 1:3. In the New Testament three uses are read without controversy: Mark 16:17 in the Longer Ending is physical accompaniment (Kelhoffer, Miracle and Mission, WUNT 2/112, 240-266; France; Yarbro Collins; Marcus; Evans), and 1 Timothy 4:6 and 2 Timothy 3:10 are the settled Hellenistic discipleship idiom of fidelity to a teacher's doctrine and way of life (Knight, NIGTC; Mounce, WBC 46; L. T. Johnson, AB 35A; Towner, NICNT; Marshall with Towner, ICC, 549-552). Luke 1:3 is the crux: since Cadbury (1922) and especially Alexander (SNTSMS 78, 1993) and Moessner (NovT 38, 1996), the specialist center of gravity has shifted from the older "investigate/trace" rendering (Fitzmyer, AB 28; Marshall, NIGTC Luke; Bock, BECNT), still retained by most English translations, toward "be thoroughly familiar with, keep close touch with" the events. What unites the developed senses is the image of sustained proximity carried by the prefix παρά.

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, 3rd ed., s.v. παρακολουθέω, 767lexicon
  • LSJ, 9th ed., s.v. παρακολουθέω, 1313-1314lexicon
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, sections 15.156; 27.16; 36.35lexicon
  • Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, vol. III, 22-28lexicon
  • Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. I, 215-216dictionary
  • James H. Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, 485-486lexicon
  • Henry J. Cadbury, "Commentary on the Preface of Luke," in F. J. Foakes-Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, eds., The Beginnings of Christianity, Part I, vol. II (Macmillan, 1922), 489-510article
  • Loveday Alexander, The Preface to Luke's Gospel, SNTSMS 78 (Cambridge University Press, 1993)monograph
  • David P. Moessner, "'Eyewitnesses,' 'Informed Contemporaries,' and 'Unknowing Inquirers'," Novum Testamentum 38 (1996) 105-122article
  • Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2nd ed. (Eerdmans, 2017), 116-124monograph
  • Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (I-IX), AB 28 (Doubleday, 1981), 296-297commentary
  • James A. Kelhoffer, Miracle and Mission, WUNT 2/112 (Mohr Siebeck, 2000), 240-266monograph
  • George W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles, NIGTC (Eerdmans, 1992), 195-196commentary
  • I. Howard Marshall with Philip H. Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, ICC (T&T Clark, 1999), 549-552commentary

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

All attested forms of παρακολουθέω

aorist active indicative 2s

παρηκολούθησάς

2Ti 3:10

future active indicative 3s

παρακολουθήσει

Mrk 16:17

perfect active indicative 2s

παρηκολούθηκας

1Ti 4:6

perfect active participle dative m s

παρηκολουθηκότι

Luk 1:3