verb
ruomō
Strong’sG4506
I rescue
stem ru-17 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books11 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
ῥύομαι means to rescue or deliver, in the sense of drawing someone to oneself and so saving them from danger 124. It is used with a person as the direct object, and also with phrases meaning "from" a danger or evil, whether a person is delivered from something already upon them or out of it 1. Used as a participle with the article, it can denote "the deliverer" 1. The word is related to an old verb connected with the idea of a current, carrying the sense of rushing or drawing something to oneself, from which the meaning "rescue" develops 2.
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
ῥύομαι
[in LXX chiefly for נצל hi., also for גּאל, פּלט pi., etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4506 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidrhoo'-om-ahee
compare G4511); to rush or draw (for oneself), i.e. rescue
Frommiddle voice of an obsolete verb, akin to G4482 (through the idea of a current;
King Jamesdeliver(-er).
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
see at {ἐρύω} (B). ῥύπα, τά, irregular plural of ῥύπος (which see).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ruetiῥύσεται | will happen · he/she/itfuture middle indicative 3rd person singular | rescue | 4× |
| ruetaἐρρύσατο | happened · he/she/itaorist middle indicative 3rd person singular | rescued | 4× |
| ruimaἐρρύσθην | happened · Iaorist passive indicative 1st person singular | rescued | 1× |
| ruimeiaῥυσθῶ | happened · Iaorist passive subjunctive 1st person singular | rescued | 1× |
| ruineiaῥυσθῶμεν | happened · weaorist passive subjunctive 1st person plural | delivered | 1× |
| ruesarῥῦσαι | happened · youaorist middle imperative 2nd person singular | deliver | 1× |
| ruetarῥυσάσθω | happened · he/she/itaorist middle imperative 3rd person singular | deliver | 1× |
| ruorōῥύεσθαι | happening now · the “to …” formpresent middle or passive infinitive | rescue | 1× |
| ruorōntosῥυόμενος | happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular masculine | deliverer | 1× |
| ruorōntonῥυόμενον | happening now · objectpresent middle or passive participle accusative singular masculine | rescues | 1× |
| ruirantoinῥυσθέντας | happened · objectaorist passive participle accusative plural masculine | rescued | 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 118, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 9 occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruomō | ruome | ruomē | ruomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | ruosō | ruose | ruosē | ruoselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruotō | ruote | ruotē | ruotelē |
| we 1st person plural | ruonō | ruone | ruonē | ruonelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruovō | ruove | ruovē | ruovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | ruolō | ruole | ruolē | ruolelē |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | will happen future | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruemi | ruema |
| you 2nd person singular | ruesi | ruesa |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | rueti4×ῥύσεται | rueta4×ἐρρύσατο |
| we 1st person plural | rueni | ruena |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruevi | rueva |
| they 3rd person plural | rueli | ruela |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | will happen future | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruimi | ruima1×ἐρρύσθην |
| you 2nd person singular | ruisi | ruisa |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruiti | ruita |
| we 1st person plural | ruini | ruina |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruivi | ruiva |
| they 3rd person plural | ruili | ruila |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 2 occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruomeiō | ruomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | ruoseiō | ruoseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruoteiō | ruoteiē |
| we 1st person plural | ruoneiō | ruoneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruoveiō | ruoveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | ruoleiō | ruoleiē |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruemeia |
| you 2nd person singular | rueseia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | rueteia |
| we 1st person plural | rueneia |
| ye 2nd person plural | rueveia |
| they 3rd person plural | rueleia |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruimeia1×ῥυσθῶ |
| you 2nd person singular | ruiseia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruiteia |
| we 1st person plural | ruineia1×ῥυσθῶμεν |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruiveia |
| they 3rd person plural | ruileia |
Commands — imperative mood, 2 occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | ruosōr | ruosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruotōr | ruotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruovōr | ruovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | ruolōr | ruolēr |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | ruesar1×ῥῦσαι |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruetar1×ῥυσάσθω |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruevar |
| they 3rd person plural | ruelar |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | ruisar |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruitar |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruivar |
| they 3rd person plural | ruilar |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | ruosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | ruonoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | ruoloiō |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruemoia |
| you 2nd person singular | ruesoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruetoia |
| we 1st person plural | ruenoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruevoia |
| they 3rd person plural | rueloia |
acted on passive voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | ruimoia |
| you 2nd person singular | ruisoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | ruitoia |
| we 1st person plural | ruinoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | ruivoia |
| they 3rd person plural | ruiloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | ruorō1×ῥύεσθαι | ruorē | ||
| acts on or for itself middle voice | rueri | ruera | ||
| acted on passive voice | ruiri | ruira |
Used as an adjective — participle, 3 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | ruorōntos2×ῥυόμενος | ruorēntos | ||
| acts on or for itself middle voice | ruerintos | ruerantos | ||
| acted on passive voice | ruirintos | ruirantos1× |
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
ru 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.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
rueti“rescue”will happen · he/she/itfuture middle indicative 3rd person singular4×
Romans 7:24talaipōros mis anthrōpos; tinos min rueti ek teu sōmeu tou thanatou houtou?… wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
2 Corinthians 1:10… ek tēlikoutou thanatou rueta nin kai rueti, eis hon elpizanē hoti kai ēti …… a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed …
2 Corinthians 1:10… eis hon elpizanē hoti kai ēti rueti,… hope that He will yet again deliver us,
2 Timothy 4:18rueti min tos kurios apo panteu ergeu …And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and …
rueta“rescued”happened · he/she/itaorist middle indicative 3rd person singular4×
2 Corinthians 1:10hos ek tēlikoutou thanatou rueta nin kai rueti, eis hon elpizanē …He has delivered us from such a deadly peril …
Colossians 1:13hos rueta nin ek tau exousiau teu skoteu …He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness …
2 Timothy 3:11… diōgmoin hupoferama; kai ek panteiu min rueta tos kurios.… persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
2 Peter 2:7… tau toiu athesmoiu en aselgeia anastrofau ruetaand if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by …
ruima“rescued”happened · Iaorist passive indicative 1st person singular1×
2 Timothy 4:17“rescued”… kai akoualeia panteim teim ethneim, kai ruima ek stomeu leontou.… fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the …
ruimeia“rescued”happened · Iaorist passive subjunctive 1st person singular1×
Romans 15:31“rescued”hina ruimeia apo toiu apeitharōntoiu en ta Ioudaia …Pray that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that …
ruineia“delivered”happened · weaorist passive subjunctive 1st person plural1×
2 Thessalonians 3:2kai hina ruineia apo toiu atopoiu kai ponēroiu anthrōpoiu, …And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men; for …
ruesar“deliver”happened · youaorist middle imperative 2nd person singular1×
Matthew 6:13… mē eisferaseia nin eis peirasmon, alla ruesar nin apo teu ponēreu.… lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
ruetar“deliver”happened · he/she/itaorist middle imperative 3rd person singular1×
Matthew 27:43peithatē epi ton theon, ruetar nun ei thelatō auton; legata gar …He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him …
ruorō“rescue”happening now · the “to …” formpresent middle or passive infinitive1×
2 Peter 2:9oidatē kurios euseboin ek peirasmou ruorō, adikoin de eis hēmeran krisiau kolazorōntoin …… then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to …
ruorōntos“deliverer”happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular masculine1×
Romans 11:26… kathōs grafotē; Hēkati ek Siōn tos ruorōntos, apostrefati asebeiain apo Iakōb.… saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will …
ruorōnton“rescues”happening now · objectpresent middle or passive participle accusative singular masculine1×
1 Thessalonians 1:10“rescues”… egerata ek toiu nekroiu, Iēsun ton ruorōnton nin ek tau orgau tau erchorōntau.… His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead — Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.
ruirantoin“rescued”happened · objectaorist passive participle accusative plural masculine1×
Luke 1:74“rescued”afobōs ek cheirau echthroiu ruirantoin latreuarō autodeliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,