verb
ekteinamō
Strong’sG1614
I stretch out, cast forth
stem ektein-16 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Stretch out or stretch forth — most often used of stretching out a hand or arm, as in a gesture of healing, blessing, greeting, or reaching toward someone, and used once of anchors being cast out into the sea 124. The extended object can be directed toward a person, either in a positive sense (reaching out to someone) or in a hostile sense (raising a hand against someone) 1.
In the Greek Old Testament the word is also used intransitively, of drawing or extending along in a given direction, rather than of stretching something out with the hands 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἐκ-τείνω
[in LXX for שָׁלַח, נָטָה, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1614 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidek-ti'-no
to extend
Fromfrom G1537 and teino (to stretch);
King Jamescast, put forth, stretch forth (out).
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
future - τενῶ Refs 4th c.BC+:—stretch out, χεῖρ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐκφορᾷ νεκροῦ Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰς χεῖρας ἐπί τι for something, Refs 2nd c.BC+; πρός τινα, in sign of friendship, Refs 5th c.BC+: absolutely, offer food, Refs 2nd c.AD+; τὰ γόνατ᾽ ἐ. straighten the knees, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἓν γὰρ ἐκτενεῖ σ᾽ ἔπος will lay thee prostrate, Refs:— passive, to be outstretched, lie at length, of sleepers, etc., Refs 5th c.BC+; of countries, etc., extend, Refs 2nd c.AD+
2 stretch, spread out a net, Refs 4th c.BC+; extend the line of an army, Refs 5th c.BC+; λαὸν ἐκτείνοντ᾽ ἄνω (i.e. ἑαυτόν) Refs 5th c.BC+:—passive, to be unfolded, smoothed, ὡς ἂν Διὸς μέτωπον ἐκταθῇ χαρᾷ Refs 5th c.BC+
II spin out, prolong, πλεῦνα λόγον Refs 5th c.BC+; μακρὰν ἐξέτειναςRefs 5th c.BC+:—passive, λόγος ἐκταθείς Refs 5th c.BC+; of Time, πολὺς ἐκτέταται χρόνος Refs 5th c.BC+
III put to the full stretch, ἵππον ἐ. Refs 5th c.BC+; πᾶσαν προθυμίην ἐ. put forth all one's zeal, Refs 5th c.BC+: metaphorically in passive, to be on the rack, ἐκτέταμαι Refs 5th c.BC+
IV lengthen a short syllable, Refs 1st c.BC+
V intransitive, draw along, LXX
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ekteinasiἐκτενεῖς | will happen · youfuture active indicative 2nd person singular | stretch out | 1× |
| ekteinataἐξέτεινεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | stretched … out | 2× |
| ekteinavaἐξετείνατε | happened · yeaorist active indicative 2nd person plural | lay | 1× |
| ekteinasarἜκτεινον | happened · youaorist active imperative 2nd person singular | stretch out | 3× |
| ekteinarōἐκτείνειν | happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive | stretch out | 2× |
| ekteinarantosἐκτείνας | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | stretched out | 7× |
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, 4 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ekteinamō | ekteiname | ekteinami | ekteinama | ekteinamē | ekteinamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | ekteinasō | ekteinase | ekteinasi1×ἐκτενεῖς | ekteinasa | ekteinasē | ekteinaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ekteinatō | ekteinate | ekteinati | ekteinata2×ἐξέτεινεν | ekteinatē | ekteinatelē |
| we 1st person plural | ekteinanō | ekteinane | ekteinani | ekteinana | ekteinanē | ekteinanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ekteinavō | ekteinave | ekteinavi | ekteinava1×ἐξετείνατε | ekteinavē | ekteinavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | ekteinalō | ekteinale | ekteinali | ekteinala | ekteinalē | ekteinalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ekteinameiō | ekteinameia | ekteinameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | ekteinaseiō | ekteinaseia | ekteinaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ekteinateiō | ekteinateia | ekteinateiē |
| we 1st person plural | ekteinaneiō | ekteinaneia | ekteinaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ekteinaveiō | ekteinaveia | ekteinaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | ekteinaleiō | ekteinaleia | ekteinaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | ekteinasōr | ekteinasar3×Ἔκτεινον | ekteinasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ekteinatōr | ekteinatar | ekteinatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | ekteinavōr | ekteinavar | ekteinavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | ekteinalōr | ekteinalar | ekteinalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ekteinamoiō | ekteinamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | ekteinasoiō | ekteinasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ekteinatoiō | ekteinatoia |
| we 1st person plural | ekteinanoiō | ekteinanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | ekteinavoiō | ekteinavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | ekteinaloiō | ekteinaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | ekteinarō2×ἐκτείνειν | ekteinari | ekteinara | ekteinarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 7 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | ekteinarōntos | ekteinarintos | ekteinarantos7×ἐκτείνας | ekteinarēntos |
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
ektein 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.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
ekteinasi“stretch out”will happen · youfuture active indicative 2nd person singular1×
John 21:18… peripatase hopou thelase; hotan de gēraskaseia, ekteinasi tain cheirain su, kai allosos sin …… when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will …
ekteinata“stretched … out”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular2×
Matthew 12:13… anthrōpo; Ekteinasar su tan cheiran; kai ekteinata, kai apokatastēita hugias hōs tas allosas.… Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full …
Mark 3:5… to anthrōpo; Ekteinasar tan cheiran; kai ekteinata, kai apokatastēita tas cheiras autou.… Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
ekteinava“lay”happened · yeaorist active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Luke 22:53… meta vu en te hiere ouk ekteinava tain cheirain epi min; alla houtas …… temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this …
ekteinasar“stretch out”happened · youaorist active imperative 2nd person singular3×
Matthew 12:13tote legatō to anthrōpo; Ekteinasar su tan cheiran; kai ekteinata, kai …Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it …
Mark 3:5… tau kardiau autoiu, legatō to anthrōpo; Ekteinasar tan cheiran; kai ekteinata, kai apokatastēita …… Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it …
Luke 6:10kai peribleperantos pantoin autoin legata auto; Ekteinasar tan cheiran su; tos de poiata, …… them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and …
ekteinarō“stretch out”happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive2×
Acts 4:30en te tan cheiran su ekteinarō sin eis iasian kai sēmeim kai …as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform …
Acts 27:30“putting out”… profasia hōs ek prōrau ankurain mellarōntoiu ekteinarō,… to lower anchors from the bow, they let …
ekteinarantos“stretched out”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine7×
Matthew 8:3“stretched out”kai ekteinarantos tan cheiran hapteta autou legarōntos; Thelamō, …… out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said …
Matthew 12:49“stretching out”kai ekteinarantos tan cheiran autou epi toin mathētoin …Pointing to His disciples, He said …
Matthew 14:31eutheōs de tos Iēsus ekteinarantos tan cheiran epilabeta autou kai legatō …Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of …
Matthew 26:51“stretched out”kai idou henos toiu meta Iēsu ekteinarantos tan cheiran apospata tan machairan autou …At this, one of Jesus’ companions drew his sword and struck the servant of …
Mark 1:41“stretched out”kai orgizirantos ekteinarantos tan cheiran autou hapteta kai legatō …… reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”
Luke 5:13“stretched out”kai ekteinarantos tan cheiran hapteta autou legarantos; Thelamō, …… out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said …
Acts 26:1… huper siautou legarō. tote tos Paulos ekteinarantos tan cheiran apologote;… to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: