verb
ischuamō
Strong’sG2480
I am strong, able
stem ischu-28 times in the New Testamentin 10 of 27 books13 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
To be strong in body, physically strong or in good health 134. This sense appears in contexts about the sick needing a physician rather than the healthy 1.
To be powerful, to prevail, to have the upper hand, including prevailing over a person or over evil 123. Closely related is the sense to be able, capable of doing something — a very common use, covering things a person can or cannot manage to do 124.
Used of things rather than people, the word can mean to have force, be valid, or be of use — for example, salt that still has its savor, a will that is legally in force, or love and faith that "avail" for something 1.
In the Greek Old Testament the word also carries two further, more technical senses not found elsewhere: to be worth or equivalent to a stated amount, and, used actively, to condense or thicken (as clouds) or to make something strong, as bread giving strength 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
ἰσχύω
(< ἰσχύς), [in LXX for חזק, גִּבּוֹר, עצם, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2480 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidis-khoo'-o
to have (or exercise) force (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G2479;
King Jamesbe able, avail, can do(-not), could, be good, might, prevail, be of strength, be whole, + much work.
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
(ἰσχύς), Refs: imperfect ἴσχυον Refs 5th c.BC+: future ἰσχύσω Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἴσχῡσα Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect ἴσχῡκα Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, aorist κατ-ισχύθην Refs 1st c.BC+: (ἰσχύς):—to be strong in body, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἴσχυόν τ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐμαυτοῦ, i.e. I had all my strength, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἰ. ἐκ νόσου to be recovering, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 to be powerful, prevail, μηδὲν μεῖον ἰ. Διός Refs 4th c.BC+; πλέον, μεῖζον ἰ., Refs 5th c.BC+; later ἰ. πρός τινα prevail against, LXX; ἐπί τιναςLXX; ἰ. τινί to be strong in a thing, σοφία ἀνὴρ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἰσχύει Refs 5th c.BC+; ὅθεν ἰσχύομεν, ᾗπερ ἰσχύουσι, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἰ. παρά τινι have power or influence with one, Refs 4th c.BC+
2.b of things, prevail, ὅρκος οὔτι Ζηνὸς ἰ. πλέον Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ δίκαιον ἐν πᾶσιν ἰ. Refs 4th c.BC+; have force, ἃ ὡρίσω σὺ δίκαια, ταὐτὰ.. καὶ κατὰ σοῦ προσήκει τοῖς ἄλλοις ἰσχύειν Refs 4th c.BC+; νομὴ ἄδικος οὐδὲν ἰ. is of no force, Refs 2nd c.AD+; ἰσχῦόν τι something permanent, probably in Refs 4th c.BC+: c.infinitive, ὁ καιρὸς ἰσχύει.. πράττειν NT+4th c.BC+
3 to be worth or equivalent to, ἡ μνᾶ ἰσχύει λίτρας δύο καὶ ἥμισυ Refs 1st c.AD+; αἱ ψῆφοι τάλαντον ἰσχύουσιν (probably to be read instead of ἴσχουσιν) Refs 2nd c.BC+
4 active, condense, νεφέλας LXX
4.b ἄρτον πᾶσαν ἡδονὴν ἰσχύοντα making strong.. ,LXX (in se habentem, Vulg.).
5 -ύοντες ἀστέρες those in dominating positions, Serapion in Refs 5th c.BC+; later, ῠ sometimes in present and imperfect, Refs 3rd 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ischuamōἰσχύω | happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular | do | 2× |
| ischuatōἰσχύει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | good | 4× |
| ischuateἴσχυεν | was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular | prevailed | 2× |
| ischualeἴσχυον | was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural | could | 3× |
| ischualiἰσχύσουσιν | will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural | able | 1× |
| ischuasaἴσχυσας | happened · youaorist active indicative 2nd person singular | could | 1× |
| ischuataἴσχυσεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | could | 5× |
| ischuanaἰσχύσαμεν | happened · weaorist active indicative 1st person plural | able | 2× |
| ischuavaἰσχύσατε | happened · yeaorist active indicative 2nd person plural | could | 1× |
| ischualaἴσχυσαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | could | 3× |
| ischuarōἰσχύειν | happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive | could | 1× |
| ischuarōntouἰσχύοντος | happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive singular masculine | able | 1× |
| ischuarōntoisἰσχύοντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | well | 2× |
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, 24 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ischuamō2×ἰσχύω | ischuame | ischuami | ischuama | ischuamē | ischuamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | ischuasō | ischuase | ischuasi | ischuasa1×ἴσχυσας | ischuasē | ischuaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ischuatō4×ἰσχύει | ischuate2×ἴσχυεν | ischuati | ischuata5×ἴσχυσεν | ischuatē | ischuatelē |
| we 1st person plural | ischuanō | ischuane | ischuani | ischuana2×ἰσχύσαμεν | ischuanē | ischuanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ischuavō | ischuave | ischuavi | ischuava1×ἰσχύσατε | ischuavē | ischuavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | ischualō | ischuale3×ἴσχυον | ischuali1×ἰσχύσουσιν | ischuala3×ἴσχυσαν | ischualē | ischualelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ischuameiō | ischuameia | ischuameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | ischuaseiō | ischuaseia | ischuaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ischuateiō | ischuateia | ischuateiē |
| we 1st person plural | ischuaneiō | ischuaneia | ischuaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ischuaveiō | ischuaveia | ischuaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | ischualeiō | ischualeia | ischualeiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | ischuasōr | ischuasar | ischuasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ischuatōr | ischuatar | ischuatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | ischuavōr | ischuavar | ischuavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | ischualōr | ischualar | ischualēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ischuamoiō | ischuamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | ischuasoiō | ischuasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ischuatoiō | ischuatoia |
| we 1st person plural | ischuanoiō | ischuanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | ischuavoiō | ischuavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | ischualoiō | ischualoia |
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 | ischuarō1×ἰσχύειν | ischuari | ischuara | ischuarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 3 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | ischuarōntos3× | ischuarintos | ischuarantos | ischuarēntos |
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
ischu 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
28 occurrences, every one of them listed
ischuamō“do”happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular2×
Luke 16:3“strong enough”… tan oikonomian apo mu? skaptarō ouk ischuamō, epaitarō aischunomō;… weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.
Philippians 4:13panteim ischuamō en to endunamarōnto min.I can do all things through Christ who gives …
ischuatō“good”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular4×
Matthew 5:13… mōraniteia, en tine haliziti? eis oudenem ischuatō ēti ei mē balirantem exō katapatorō …… salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown …
Galatians 5:6“counts”… gar Christo Iēso oute peritomas tinem ischuatō oute akrobustias, alla pistias dia agapau …For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.
Hebrews 9:17“in force”… gar epi nekroi bebaias, epei mēpote ischuatō hote zōatō tos diatitherantos.… effect until the one who made it has died; it cannot be executed while he is still alive.
James 5:16“powerful”… euchovōr huper allēloiu, hopōs iiveia. pollem ischuatō deēsias dikaiou energorōntas.… other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has …
ischuate“prevailed”was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular2×
Mark 5:4“strong enough”… kai tain pedain suntriborē, kai oudenos ischuate auton damazara;… the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him.
Acts 19:20“prevailed”… tou kuriou tos logos auxanate kai ischuate.So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.
ischuale“could”was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural3×
John 21:6“able”… balala oun, kai ouketi autem helkara ischuale apo teu plētheu toiu ichthoiu.… find some.” So they cast it there, and they were unable to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
Acts 6:10kai ouk ischuale antistēara ta sofia kai te pneume …but they could not stand up to his wisdom …
Acts 25:7… kai barueim aitiōmeim kataferarōntois heim ouk ischuale apodeikara,… bringing many serious charges that they could not prove.
ischuali“able”will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Luke 13:24… legamō vi, zētali eiserchara kai ouk ischuali,… to enter and will not be able.
ischuasa“could”happened · youaorist active indicative 2nd person singular1×
Mark 14:37“could”… legatō to Petro; Simōnor, katheudasō? ouk ischuasa henan hōran grēgorara?… them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked. “Were you not able to keep watch for one hour?
ischuata“could”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular5×
Luke 6:48… potamos ta oikia ekeina, kai ouk ischuata saleuara autan dia tem kalōs oikodomorē …… torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was …
Luke 8:43“could”… iatroi prosanaliskarantas holon ton bion ouk ischuata apo oudeneu therapeuira,… years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no …
Luke 14:30“able”… tos anthrōpos archeta oikodomarō kai ouk ischuata ektelara.saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’
Acts 19:16“prevailed”… tem pneumem tem ponērem katakurieuarantos amfoteroiu ischuata kata autoiu, hōste gumnoin kai traumatizorēntoin …… man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
Revelation 12:8“prevail”kai ouk ischuata, oude topos heuriskita autoiu ēti en …But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for …
ischuana“able”happened · weaorist active indicative 1st person plural2×
Acts 15:10… oute tois patrois nu oute nis ischuana bastazara?… we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
Acts 27:16“able”nēsiem de tinem hupotrecharantois kalorōntem Kaudem ischuana molis perikratois genera tau skafau,… lee of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the lifeboat.
ischuava“could”happened · yeaorist active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Matthew 26:40“could”… kai legatō to Petro; Houtōs ouk ischuava henan hōran grēgorara meta mu?… Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.
ischuala“could”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural3×
Mark 9:18“could”… su hina autem ekbalaleia, kai ouk ischuala.… I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were …
Luke 14:6“could”kai ouk ischuala antapokrinira pros houteim.And they were unable to answer these questions.
Luke 20:26“able”kai ouk ischuala epilabera tou rēmeu enantion tou laou, …And they were unable to trap Him in His words before the people. And amazed …
ischuarō“could”happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive1×
Matthew 8:28… mnēmeieiu exerchorōntois, chalepois liōs hōste mē ischuarō tinon parerchara dia tau hodau ekeinau.… were so violent that no one could pass that way.
ischuarōntou“able”happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive singular masculine1×
Luke 14:29“able”… mēpote titharantou autou themelion kai mē ischuarōntou ektelara pantois tois theōrarōntois archeleia auto …Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
ischuarōntois“well”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine2×
Matthew 9:12“well”… akouarantos legata; Ouk chreian echalō tois ischuarōntois iatrou alla tois kakōs echarōntois.… this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Mark 2:17“well”… autoi hoti Ouk chreian echalō tois ischuarōntois iatrou alla tois kakōs echarōntois; ouk …… Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to …