verb
athlamō
Strong’sG118
I compete
stem athl-2 times in the New Testament2 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
* ἀθλέω, -ῶ (in cl. also ἀθλεύω, < ἆθλος, a contest, in war or in sport),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G118 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidath-leh'-o
to contend in the competitive games
Fromfrom ἄθλος (a contest in the public lists);
King Jamesstrive.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect imperfect ἀέθλεονRefs 5th c.BC+aorist ἤθλησα (see. below): perfect ἤθληκαRefs 1st c.AD+:—middle, aorist ἐνηθλησάμηνRefs 4th c.BC+:—passive, perfect κατήθλημαιRefs: (ἆθλος, ἆθλον):—commoner form of {ἀθλεύω}, used by Refs 8th c.BC+aorist participle, Λαομέδοντι.. ἀθλήσαντε having contended with him, Refs 8th c.BC+; πολλάπερ ἀθλήσαντα having gone through many struggles, Refs; contend in battle, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἤθλησα κινδυνεύματα have engaged in perilous struggles, Refs 5th c.BC+
II to be an athlete, contend in games, Refs 4th c.BC+
III hold games, ἐπ᾽ ἈρχεμόρῳRefs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| athlateiōἀθλῇ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular | competes as an athlete | 1× |
| athlateiaἀθλήσῃ | happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular | competes | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | athlamō | athlame | athlami | athlama | athlamē | athlamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | athlasō | athlase | athlasi | athlasa | athlasē | athlaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | athlatō | athlate | athlati | athlata | athlatē | athlatelē |
| we 1st person plural | athlanō | athlane | athlani | athlana | athlanē | athlanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | athlavō | athlave | athlavi | athlava | athlavē | athlavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | athlalō | athlale | athlali | athlala | athlalē | athlalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 2 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | athlameiō | athlameia | athlameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | athlaseiō | athlaseia | athlaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | athlateiō1×ἀθλῇ | athlateia1×ἀθλήσῃ | athlateiē |
| we 1st person plural | athlaneiō | athlaneia | athlaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | athlaveiō | athlaveia | athlaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | athlaleiō | athlaleia | athlaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | athlasōr | athlasar | athlasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | athlatōr | athlatar | athlatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | athlavōr | athlavar | athlavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | athlalōr | athlalar | athlalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | athlamoiō | athlamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | athlasoiō | athlasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | athlatoiō | athlatoia |
| we 1st person plural | athlanoiō | athlanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | athlavoiō | athlavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | athlaloiō | athlaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | athlarō | athlari | athlara | athlarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | athlarōntos | athlarintos | athlarantos | athlarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
athl is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
2 occurrences, every one of them listed
athlateiō“competes as an athlete”happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
2 Timothy 2:5“competes as an athlete”ean de kai athlateiō tinos, ouk stefanotō ean mē nomimōs …… competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.
athlateia“competes”happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
2 Timothy 2:5… tinos, ouk stefanotō ean mē nomimōs athlateia;… not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.