verb
nēsteuamō
Strong’sG3522
I fast
stem nēsteu-20 times in the New Testamentin 4 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
Fast, that is, to abstain from food, especially as a religious practice 1234.
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
νηστεύω
(< νῆστις), [in LXX for צוּם;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3522 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidnace-tyoo'-o
to abstain from food (religiously)
Fromfrom G3523;
King Jamesfast.
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
fast, NT+5th c.BC+; νηστεύσαντες, opposed to ἐδηδοκότες, Refs 4th c.BC+
2 with genitive, abstain from, κακότητος Refs 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| nēsteuamōνηστεύω | happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular | fast | 1× |
| nēsteuanōνηστεύομεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | fast | 1× |
| nēsteualōνηστεύουσιν | happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural | fast | 4× |
| nēsteualiνηστεύσουσιν | will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural | fast | 3× |
| nēsteuaveiōνηστεύητε | happening now · yepresent active subjunctive 2nd person plural | fast | 1× |
| nēsteuarōνηστεύειν | happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive | fast | 2× |
| nēsteuaraνηστεῦσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | fast | 1× |
| nēsteuarōntosνηστεύων | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine | fast | 2× |
| nēsteuarōntoisνηστεύοντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | fasting | 2× |
| nēsteuarōntoiuνηστευόντων | happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural masculine | fasting | 1× |
| nēsteuarantosνηστεύσας | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | fasted | 1× |
| nēsteuarantoisνηστεύσαντες | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine | fasted | 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, 9 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | nēsteuamō1×νηστεύω | nēsteuame | nēsteuami | nēsteuama | nēsteuamē | nēsteuamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | nēsteuasō | nēsteuase | nēsteuasi | nēsteuasa | nēsteuasē | nēsteuaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | nēsteuatō | nēsteuate | nēsteuati | nēsteuata | nēsteuatē | nēsteuatelē |
| we 1st person plural | nēsteuanō1×νηστεύομεν | nēsteuane | nēsteuani | nēsteuana | nēsteuanē | nēsteuanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | nēsteuavō | nēsteuave | nēsteuavi | nēsteuava | nēsteuavē | nēsteuavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | nēsteualō4×νηστεύουσιν | nēsteuale | nēsteuali3×νηστεύσουσιν | nēsteuala | nēsteualē | nēsteualelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | nēsteuameiō | nēsteuameia | nēsteuameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | nēsteuaseiō | nēsteuaseia | nēsteuaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | nēsteuateiō | nēsteuateia | nēsteuateiē |
| we 1st person plural | nēsteuaneiō | nēsteuaneia | nēsteuaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | nēsteuaveiō1×νηστεύητε | nēsteuaveia | nēsteuaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | nēsteualeiō | nēsteualeia | nēsteualeiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | nēsteuasōr | nēsteuasar | nēsteuasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | nēsteuatōr | nēsteuatar | nēsteuatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | nēsteuavōr | nēsteuavar | nēsteuavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | nēsteualōr | nēsteualar | nēsteualēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | nēsteuamoiō | nēsteuamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | nēsteuasoiō | nēsteuasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | nēsteuatoiō | nēsteuatoia |
| we 1st person plural | nēsteuanoiō | nēsteuanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | nēsteuavoiō | nēsteuavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | nēsteualoiō | nēsteualoia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 3 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | nēsteuarō2×νηστεύειν | nēsteuari | nēsteuara1×νηστεῦσαι | nēsteuarē |
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 | nēsteuarōntos5×νηστεύων | nēsteuarintos | nēsteuarantos2×νηστεύσας | nēsteuarēntos |
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
nēsteu 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.
20 occurrences, every one of them listed
nēsteuamō“fast”happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular1×
Luke 18:12nēsteuamō dis teu sabbateu, apodekatamō panteim hoseim …I fast twice a week and pay tithes …
nēsteuanō“fast”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
Matthew 9:14… Dia tinem nis kai tois Farisaiois nēsteuanō polleim, tois de mathētois su ouk …… it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do …
nēsteualō“fast”happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural4×
Matthew 9:14… polleim, tois de mathētois su ouk nēsteualō?… often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Mark 2:18… Iōannou kai tois mathētois toiu Farisaioiu nēsteualō, tois de sois mathētois ouk nēsteualō?… and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of …
Mark 2:18“fast”… nēsteualō, tois de sois mathētois ouk nēsteualō?… Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s …
Luke 5:33… legala pros auton; Tois mathētois Iōannou nēsteualō pukneim kai deēsiain poiolō, homoiōs kai …… and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on …
nēsteuali“fast”will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural3×
Matthew 9:15… apo autoiu tos numfios, kai tote nēsteuali.… taken from them; then they will fast.
Mark 2:20… apo autoiu tos numfios, kai tote nēsteuali en ekeina ta hēmera.… taken from them; then they will fast.
Luke 5:35… apariteia apo autoiu tos numfios tote nēsteuali en ekeinai tai hēmerai.… taken from them; then they will fast.”
nēsteuaveiō“fast”happening now · yepresent active subjunctive 2nd person plural1×
Matthew 6:16Hotan de nēsteuaveiō, mē genovōr hōs tois hupokritois skuthrōpois, …When you fast, do not be somber like the …
nēsteuarō“fast”happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive2×
Mark 2:19… ho tos numfios meta autoiu atō nēsteuarō? hoson chronon echalō ton numfion meta …… He is with them, they cannot fast.
Mark 2:19… ton numfion meta autoiu ouk dunolō nēsteuarō;… can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As …
nēsteuara“fast”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive1×
Luke 5:34… tos numfios meta autoiu atō poiara nēsteuara?… make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them?
nēsteuarōntos“fast”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine2×
Matthew 6:17sis de nēsteuarōntos aleifesar su tan kefalan kai tem …But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your …
Matthew 6:18hopōs mē faniseia toi anthrōpoi nēsteuarōntos alla to patro su to en …so that your fasting will not be obvious to men …
nēsteuarōntois“fasting”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine2×
Matthew 6:16… prosōpeim autoiu hopōs fanileia toi anthrōpoi nēsteuarōntois; amēn legamō vi, apechalō ton misthon …… faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already …
Mark 2:18… tois mathētois Iōannou kai tois Farisaiois nēsteuarōntois. kai ercholō kai legalō auto; Dia …… disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and …
nēsteuarōntoiu“fasting”happening now · of, belonging topresent active participle genitive plural masculine1×
Acts 13:2leitourgarōntoiu de autoiu to kurio kai nēsteuarōntoiu legata tem pneumem tem hagiem; Aforizavar …… they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart …
nēsteuarantos“fasted”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Matthew 4:2“fasted”kai nēsteuarantos hēmerain tesserakonta kai nuktain tesserakonta husterem …After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was …
nēsteuarantois“fasted”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Acts 13:3tote nēsteuarantois kai proseucherantois kai epititharantois tain cheirain …And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands …