StrongerBible

protithēmi

προτίθημι

GreekG4388“purposed, set forth, ...”

Appears 3 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Rom 1:13Rom 3:25Eph 1:9
Compound of
proπρόbefore47G4253
tithēmiτίθημιto place100G5087
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradepro-TITH-ay-meeverb

What protithēmi means

1

to decide on something in advance and hold to it; to purpose, plan, or intend

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is the settled, inward side of the word. Built from a base verb meaning "to place, set" with a prefix meaning "before," it pictures a person setting a plan out in front of their own mind and resolving on it. So it means to purpose or intend something ahead of time.

Paul uses it this way for himself when he says he had often planned to visit the believers in Rome. He also uses it of God: what God "purposed" points not to a sudden idea but to a design he formed long in advance. In the letter to the Ephesians this word sits in a run of terms about God's will and settled plan, and they reinforce each other.

When the subject is God, the word carries real theological weight, but the plain meaning stays the same: to decide on a course of action beforehand and keep to it.

Rom 1:13Eph 1:9
2

to place something out in open view; to set forth or display publicly

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is the outward, public side of the word. The same prefix that can mean "beforehand" can also mean "in front of, before the eyes of others," and that gives the word a second life: to set something out where everyone can see it. In the wider Greek world it was used for:

  • posting an official notice
  • laying out goods for display
  • setting the sacred bread out before God in the sanctuary

The one place this sense may appear in the New Testament is the statement that God "set forth" Christ as the place where sin is dealt with. On this reading, what was once hidden in the innermost part of the temple is now openly displayed in the crucified Jesus, in full public view. The surrounding verses stress that God was demonstrating and making his righteousness visible, which fits a public presentation.

This reading is debated. Because the word can equally mean "purposed" (see the other meaning), scholars disagree over which sense is active in this single verse. The public-display reading is the more common one today, but the verse alone will not settle it.

Rom 3:25
Rom 3:25

Whether at Romans 3:25 the verb means God "set forth Christ publicly" as the place of atonement or "purposed and appointed him beforehand."

  • majorityGod publicly set Christ forth as the place of atonement, openly displaying in history what had been hidden in the innermost part of the temple. The surrounding language of demonstration and manifestation, and the reading of the associated noun as the mercy seat, favor this.; Fitzmyer, Romans (Anchor Bible); Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT); Schreiner, Romans (BECNT); Sanday and Headlam, Romans (ICC)
  • minorityGod purposed and appointed Christ beforehand, grounding the atonement in his eternal decree; the related noun means "purpose" everywhere else in Paul.; Cranfield, Romans (ICC); Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT)
  • minorityPaul intended both at once: an eternal purpose enacted openly in public history.; Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament

What scholars say about protithēmi

The standard lexica agree on a two-sense analysis. BDAG lists (1) "to set forth publicly, display, make available" (with Rom 3:25 as its lead example) and (2) "to plan, propose, intend" (Rom 1:13; Eph 1:9), while noting Rom 3:25 could also fit sense 2. Louw-Nida places the two under different semantic domains (public showing vs. planning). Moulton-Milligan and LSJ document both senses as fully current in first-century Koine, from posted edicts and displayed goods to the middle-voice "propose to oneself, resolve" of the classical authors. Maurer (TDNT VIII) traces how Paul made the cognate noun a near-technical term for God's primal decision. The aorist middle form Paul uses at Rom 3:25 is the same one that renders the setting-out of the sacred bread in the Greek Old Testament, which Fitzmyer takes as evidence for public presentation; Cranfield, reasoning from the cognate noun, prefers "purposed." The consensus of recent commentary has shifted toward the public-display reading, often in tandem with reading the accompanying noun as the mercy seat.

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

  • Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich (BDAG), 3rd ed., s.v. προτίθημιlexicon
  • Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domainslexicon
  • Maurer, "τίθημι κτλ.," TDNT VIII, 164-68dictionary
  • Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testamentlexicon
  • Liddell, Scott, and Jones (LSJ), s.v. προτίθημιlexicon
  • Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testamentdictionary
  • Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 1:209-17commentary
  • Fitzmyer, Romans (Anchor Bible), 349commentary
  • Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT)commentary
  • Schreiner, Romans (BECNT)commentary
  • Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentarycommentary
  • Bailey, "Jesus as the Mercy Seat" (Cambridge dissertation, 1999)monograph

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

All attested forms of προτίθημι

second-aorist middle indicative 3s

προέθετο

Rom 3:25, Eph 1:9

second-aorist middle indicative 1s

προεθέμην

Rom 1:13