verb
epithumamō
Strong’sG1937
I long for, covet, lust after
stem epithum-16 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books12 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
ἐπιθυμέω means to set one's heart upon something, to desire it strongly – to long for, crave, or covet 1234. This desire can be neutral or positive, as in longing for something good, or negative, as in coveting or lusting after something wrongly 2. The word is used both on its own and together with the thing desired, and can describe wanting to have something or wanting to do something 13.
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
ἐπιθυμέω, -ῶ
(< θυμός), [in LXX chiefly for אָוָה pi., hithp.; also for חָמַד, etc.;]
SYN.: ὀρέγω (cf. Field, Notes, 204), θέλω (DCG. i, 453a)
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1937 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
set one's heart upon a thing, long for, covet, desire, with genitive of things, Refs 5th c.BC+; of political attachments, τῶν ἡμετέρων πολεμίων 5th-6th c.BC: Andocides Orator 4.28; ὀλιγαρχίας 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 20.3: with infinitive, desire to do, πλῶσαι 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.24; ἀπικνέεσθαιRefs 5th c.BC+: absolutely, desire, covet, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ ἐπιθυμοῦν τοῦ πλοῦ, ={ἐπιθυμία}, eagerness for it, Refs:—passive, to be desired, τὰ ἐπιθυμούμενα 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Philebus” 35d.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| epithumatōἐπιθυμεῖ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | desires | 2× |
| epithumanōἐπιθυμοῦμεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | desire | 1× |
| epithumavōἐπιθυμεῖτε | happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural | desire | 1× |
| epithumalōἐπιθυμοῦσιν | happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural | long | 1× |
| epithumateἐπεθύμει | was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular | longing | 1× |
| epithumasiἐπιθυμήσεις | will happen · youfuture active indicative 2nd person singular | covet | 2× |
| epithumaviἐπιθυμήσετε | will happen · yefuture active indicative 2nd person plural | long | 1× |
| epithumaliἐπιθυμήσουσιν | will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural | long | 1× |
| epithumamaἐπεθύμησα | happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular | desired | 2× |
| epithumalaἐπεθύμησαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | longed | 2× |
| epithumaraἐπιθυμῆσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | lust | 1× |
| epithumarōntosἐπιθυμῶν | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine | longing | 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, 14 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epithumamō | epithumame | epithumami | epithumama2×ἐπεθύμησα | epithumamē | epithumamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | epithumasō | epithumase | epithumasi2×ἐπιθυμήσεις | epithumasa | epithumasē | epithumaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epithumatō2×ἐπιθυμεῖ | epithumate1×ἐπεθύμει | epithumati | epithumata | epithumatē | epithumatelē |
| we 1st person plural | epithumanō1×ἐπιθυμοῦμεν | epithumane | epithumani | epithumana | epithumanē | epithumanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | epithumavō1×ἐπιθυμεῖτε | epithumave | epithumavi1×ἐπιθυμήσετε | epithumava | epithumavē | epithumavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | epithumalō1×ἐπιθυμοῦσιν | epithumale | epithumali1×ἐπιθυμήσουσιν | epithumala2×ἐπεθύμησαν | epithumalē | epithumalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epithumameiō | epithumameia | epithumameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | epithumaseiō | epithumaseia | epithumaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epithumateiō | epithumateia | epithumateiē |
| we 1st person plural | epithumaneiō | epithumaneia | epithumaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | epithumaveiō | epithumaveia | epithumaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | epithumaleiō | epithumaleia | epithumaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | epithumasōr | epithumasar | epithumasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epithumatōr | epithumatar | epithumatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | epithumavōr | epithumavar | epithumavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | epithumalōr | epithumalar | epithumalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | epithumamoiō | epithumamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | epithumasoiō | epithumasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | epithumatoiō | epithumatoia |
| we 1st person plural | epithumanoiō | epithumanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | epithumavoiō | epithumavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | epithumaloiō | epithumaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | epithumarō | epithumari | epithumara1×ἐπιθυμῆσαι | epithumarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | epithumarōntos1×ἐπιθυμῶν | epithumarintos | epithumarantos | epithumarēntos |
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
epithum 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
epithumatō“desires”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular2×
Galatians 5:17“desires”tas gar sarkas epithumatō kata teu pneumeu, tem de pneumem …For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is …
1 Timothy 3:1… ei tinos episkopau oregotō, kaleu ergeu epithumatō.… aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task.
epithumanō“desire”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
Hebrews 6:11“desire”epithumanō de hekaston vu tan autan endeikorō …We want each of you to show this same diligence to …
epithumavō“desire”happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural1×
James 4:2“desire”epithumavō, kai ouk echavō; foneuavō kai zēlavō, …… you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You …
epithumalō“long”happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural1×
1 Peter 1:12… hagie apostelirante apo ouranou, eis heim epithumalō angelois parakuptara.… Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
epithumate“longing”was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Luke 15:16“longing”kai epithumate gemizara tan koilian autou apo teiu …He longed to fill his belly with the pods the …
epithumasi“covet”will happen · youfuture active indicative 2nd person singular2×
Romans 7:7… ei mē tos nomos legate; Ouk epithumasi;… law had not said, “Do not covet.”
Romans 13:9… moicheuasi, Ouk foneuasi, Ouk kleptasi, Ouk epithumasi, kai ei tinas heteras entolas, en …… murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed …
epithumavi“long”will happen · yefuture active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Luke 17:22… pros toin mathētoin; Ercheli hēmerais hote epithumavi henan taiu hēmeraiu tou huiou tou …… time is coming when you will long to see one of the days …
epithumali“long”will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Revelation 9:6… kai ouk mē heuriskali auton, kai epithumali apothnēskara kai fugatō tos thanatos apo …… will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape …
epithumama“desired”happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular2×
Luke 22:15kai legata pros autoin; Epithumia epithumama houtem tem pascha esthiara meta vu …… said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you …
Acts 20:33argurieu ē chrusieu ē himatismou oudenou epithumama;I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
epithumala“longed”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural2×
Matthew 13:17… vi hoti pollois profētois kai dikaiois epithumala horara heim blepavō kai ouk horala, …… you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but …
1 Corinthians 10:6“desired”… arō nin epithumētoin kakoseiu, kathōs kakeinois epithumala.… from craving evil things as they did.
epithumara“lust”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive1×
Matthew 5:28… pantos tos bleparōntos gunaikan pros tem epithumara autan ēdē moicheuata autan en ta …… who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery …
epithumarōntos“longing”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Luke 16:21kai epithumarōntos chortazira apo teiu piptarōnteiu apo tau …and longing to be fed with the crumbs …