verb
leitourgamō
Strong’sG3008
I minister, serve publicly
stem leitourg-3 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books3 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.
λειτουργέω, -ῶ
(< λειτουργός), [in LXX chiefly for שׁרת pi., also for עבד, צבא, etc.;]
SYN.: λατρεύω (q.v.), prop., to serve for hire, LXX (as sometimes in cl.), always of service to the deity on the part of both priests and people (Ex 4:3, De 10:12, and similarly in NT). λειτουργέω "is the fulfilment of an office: it has a definite representative character, and corresponds with a function to be discharged". It is therefore used of serving in an office or ministry: in LXX always of priests and Levites, in NT, with its cognates (Ro 13:6 15:27, are not really exceptions), of services rendered either to God or man by apostles, prophets, teachers, and other officers of the church (cf. Tr., Syn., § xxxv; ICC on Ro 1:9; Westc., He., 232 ff.).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3008 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidli-toorg-eh'-o
to be a public servant, i.e. (by analogy) to perform religious or charitable functions (worship, obey, relieve)
Fromfrom G3011;
King Jamesminister.
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
earlier Attic dialect λητουργέω Refs 4th c.BC+, etc. (λειτ- 22.665.11 (3rd c.BC)): perfect λελειτούργηκα Refs 5th c.BC+
I at Athens, serve public offices at one's own cost, Refs 5th c.BC+; λ. ὑπέρ τινος serve these offices for another, Refs 4th c.BC+; τὰ λελειτουργημένα public services performed, Refs 4th c.BC+
II generally, perform public duties, serve the state, τῇ πόλει Refs 5th c.BC+; λ. τῇ πόλει ταύτην τὴν λειτουργίανRefs 4th c.BC+
III generally, serve a master, with dative, οἱ ἑνὶ λειτουργοῦντες τὰ τοιαῦτα δοῦλοι [εἰσι] Refs 4th c.BC+; λ. τρισὶν ἀνδράσιν, of a prostitute, Refs
III.2 perform religious service, minister, ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν NT+1st 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| leitourgaraλειτουργῆσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | minister | 1× |
| leitourgarōntosλειτουργῶν | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine | ministering | 1× |
| leitourgarōntoiuλειτουργούντων | happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural masculine | worshiping | 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 | leitourgamō | leitourgame | leitourgami | leitourgama | leitourgamē | leitourgamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | leitourgasō | leitourgase | leitourgasi | leitourgasa | leitourgasē | leitourgaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | leitourgatō | leitourgate | leitourgati | leitourgata | leitourgatē | leitourgatelē |
| we 1st person plural | leitourganō | leitourgane | leitourgani | leitourgana | leitourganē | leitourganelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | leitourgavō | leitourgave | leitourgavi | leitourgava | leitourgavē | leitourgavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | leitourgalō | leitourgale | leitourgali | leitourgala | leitourgalē | leitourgalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | leitourgameiō | leitourgameia | leitourgameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | leitourgaseiō | leitourgaseia | leitourgaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | leitourgateiō | leitourgateia | leitourgateiē |
| we 1st person plural | leitourganeiō | leitourganeia | leitourganeiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | leitourgaveiō | leitourgaveia | leitourgaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | leitourgaleiō | leitourgaleia | leitourgaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | leitourgasōr | leitourgasar | leitourgasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | leitourgatōr | leitourgatar | leitourgatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | leitourgavōr | leitourgavar | leitourgavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | leitourgalōr | leitourgalar | leitourgalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | leitourgamoiō | leitourgamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | leitourgasoiō | leitourgasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | leitourgatoiō | leitourgatoia |
| we 1st person plural | leitourganoiō | leitourganoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | leitourgavoiō | leitourgavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | leitourgaloiō | leitourgaloia |
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 | leitourgarō | leitourgari | leitourgara1×λειτουργῆσαι | leitourgarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | leitourgarōntos2×λειτουργῶν | leitourgarintos | leitourgarantos | leitourgarēntos |
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
leitourg 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.
3 occurrences, every one of them listed
leitourgara“minister”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive1×
Romans 15:27… ethneim, ofeilalō kai en tei sarkikei leitourgara autoi.… spiritual blessings, they are obligated to minister to them with material blessings.
leitourgarōntos“ministering”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Hebrews 10:11“ministering”… pantos men hierevos stēatē kata hēmeran leitourgarōntos kai tain autain pollakis prosferarōntos thusiain, …Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can …
leitourgarōntoiu“worshiping”happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural masculine1×
Acts 13:2leitourgarōntoiu de autoiu to kurio kai nēsteuarōntoiu …While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy …