verb
presbeuamō
Strong’sG4243
I am aged, act as an ambassador
stem presbeu-2 times in the New Testamentin 2 of 27 books2 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.
* πρεσβεύω
(< πρέσβυς),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4243 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpres-byoo'-o
to be a senior, i.e. (by implication) act as a representative (figuratively, preacher)
Fromfrom the base of G4245;
King Jamesbe an ambassador.
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
perfect πεπρέσβευκα Refs 5th c.BC+:—middle, aorist ἐπρεσβευσάμην Refs 5th c.BC+ —passive, perfect πεπρέσβευμαι (see. below):
I properly of age,
I.1 intransitive, to be the elder or eldest, Refs 5th c.BC+: with genitive person, to be older than, be the eldest of a number, τῶν προτέρων ἐπρέσβευε Refs 5th c.BC+; π. ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ to be his eldest son, Refs 5th c.BC+; of wine, πολλαῖς π. ἐτέων.. ὥραις Refs 4th c.BC+
I.1.b take the first place, be best, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἷσι πρεσβεύει γένος, of the male sex, Refs 5th c.BC+
I.1.c with genitive, rank before, take precedence of others, π. τῶν πολλῶν πόλεων Refs 5th c.BC+: hence, rule over, Ολύμπου π. Refs 5th c.BC+; also, have at one's command or disposal, with genitive, καὶ εἰ (καὶ σὺ Kaibel) τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ πρεσβεύεις Refs 2nd c.AD+
I.2 transitive, place as oldest or first, put first in rank, πρῶτον.. πρεσβεύω θεῶν Γαῖαν Refs 4th c.BC+: hence, pay special honour or worship to, πρῶτον τόνδε πρεσβεύσω τάφον Refs 5th c.BC+:—passive, hold the first place, Παλλὰς.. ἐν λόγοις π. Refs 4th c.BC+; ὁ δ᾽ ὕστατός γε τοῦ χρόνου π. is first in point of time, Refs is most notable of mischiefs, Refs; τὸ πρεσβύτερον τοῦ νεωτέρου ἐστὶ πρεσβευόμενον is more honoured than.., Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2.b later, cultivate arts, etc., διαλεκτικόν, τὸ.. τοὺς λόγους πρεσβεῦον Refs 2nd c.AD+ Praef.; πόλις ὄρχησιν μάλιστα πρεσβεύουσα Refs 2nd c.AD+
II to be an ambassador or serve as one, Refs 5th c.BC+; παρά or πρός τινα, Refs 5th c.BC+; τινος for one, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.b at Rome, act as legatus, Refs 1st c.AD+
II.2 with accusative objecti, π. εἰρήνην negotiate peace, Refs 5th c.BC+ — passive, τὰ αὑτῷ πεπρεσβευμένα his negotiations, Refs
II.3 middle, send ambassadors, ἐς χωρία, ἐς τὴν Θουρίαν, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3.b go as ambassador, Refs
III with accusative of things, represent, urge, maintain, Refs 2nd c.AD+; [δόγματα] Refs 2nd c.AD+infinitive, κατὰ ἐκπομπὴν εἶναι τὴν ὄψινRefs
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| presbeuamōπρεσβεύω | happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular | am an ambassador | 1× |
| presbeuanōπρεσβεύομεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | ambassadors | 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, 2 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | presbeuamō1×πρεσβεύω | presbeuame | presbeuami | presbeuama | presbeuamē | presbeuamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | presbeuasō | presbeuase | presbeuasi | presbeuasa | presbeuasē | presbeuaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | presbeuatō | presbeuate | presbeuati | presbeuata | presbeuatē | presbeuatelē |
| we 1st person plural | presbeuanō1×πρεσβεύομεν | presbeuane | presbeuani | presbeuana | presbeuanē | presbeuanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | presbeuavō | presbeuave | presbeuavi | presbeuava | presbeuavē | presbeuavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | presbeualō | presbeuale | presbeuali | presbeuala | presbeualē | presbeualelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | presbeuameiō | presbeuameia | presbeuameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | presbeuaseiō | presbeuaseia | presbeuaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | presbeuateiō | presbeuateia | presbeuateiē |
| we 1st person plural | presbeuaneiō | presbeuaneia | presbeuaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | presbeuaveiō | presbeuaveia | presbeuaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | presbeualeiō | presbeualeia | presbeualeiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | presbeuasōr | presbeuasar | presbeuasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | presbeuatōr | presbeuatar | presbeuatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | presbeuavōr | presbeuavar | presbeuavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | presbeualōr | presbeualar | presbeualēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | presbeuamoiō | presbeuamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | presbeuasoiō | presbeuasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | presbeuatoiō | presbeuatoia |
| we 1st person plural | presbeuanoiō | presbeuanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | presbeuavoiō | presbeuavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | presbeualoiō | presbeualoia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | presbeuarō | presbeuari | presbeuara | presbeuarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | presbeuarōntos | presbeuarintos | presbeuarantos | presbeuarēntos |
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
presbeu 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.
2 occurrences, every one of them listed
presbeuamō“am an ambassador”happening now · Ipresent active indicative 1st person singular1×
Ephesians 6:20huper heu presbeuamō en halusia, hina en aute parrēsiazemeia …for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may …
presbeuanō“ambassadors”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
2 Corinthians 5:20huper Christou oun presbeuanō hōs tou theou parakalarōntou dia nu; …Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were …