What does ἐνδυναμόω (endynamóō) mean in the Bible?
Endynamoō means to strengthen, make strong, or enable. The governed uses do not present strength as self-generated resolve.
Greek · G1743
ἐνδυναμόω
To empower
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ἐνδυναμόω G1743
Pronunciation endynamóō
What does ἐνδυναμόω (endynamóō) mean in the Bible?
Endynamoō means to strengthen, make strong, or enable. The governed uses do not present strength as self-generated resolve.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐνδυναμόω (G1743) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1743?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include be strong (2), gives me strength (1), has strengthened (1), strengthened (1), was empowered (1).
Where does ἐνδυναμόω (endynamóō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 9:22. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Timothy (2), 1 Timothy (1), Acts (1), Ephesians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Endynamoō means to strengthen, make strong, or enable. The governed uses do not present strength as self-generated resolve. Saul is strengthened as his witness about Jesus advances in Acts 9:22. Abraham is strengthened in faith while giving glory to God in Romans 4:20. Believers are told to be strengthened in the Lord in Ephesians 6:10, and Paul speaks of the one who strengthens him amid changing circumstances in Philippians 4:13.
The Pastoral Epistles apply the verb to Christ strengthening Paul for service, Timothy being strengthened by grace, and the Lord strengthening Paul so the message could be proclaimed. These passages share supplied strength, but each names its setting and purpose. The verb alone does not promise success in every chosen task, make weakness shameful, or identify a technique for gaining spiritual power.
How the Bible Uses It
The governed local index counts about seven G1743 uses. Across Acts, Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, and the Pastoral Epistles, a person is made strong for faithfulness within a passage-defined calling or trial.
- Acts.9.22
But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Saul's strengthening is expressed through increasingly effective witness that Jesus is the Christ, not through status or physical dominance.
- 1Tim.1.12
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that He considered me faithful and appointed me to service.
Paul thanks Christ for strength joined to entrusted service; the verse does not portray ministry as self-appointment.
- 2Tim.4.17
But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it.
The Lord's strengthening serves proclamation during Paul's vulnerable legal circumstances rather than removing every hardship.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It be strong 2× Ephesians 6:10, 2 Timothy 2:1
gives me strength 1× Philippians 4:13
has strengthened 1× 1 Timothy 1:12
strengthened 1× 2 Timothy 4:17
was empowered 1× Acts 9:22
was strengthened 1× Romans 4:20
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 9:22 ἐνεδυναμοῦτο to was empowered Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular Romans 4:20 ἐνεδυναμώθη to was strengthened Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular Ephesians 6:10 ἐνδυναμοῦσθε to be strong Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural Philippians 4:13 ἐνδυναμοῦντί to gives me strength Verb - Present Participle Active - Dative Masculine Singular 1 Timothy 1:12 ἐνδυναμώσαντί to has strengthened Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Dative Masculine Singular 2 Timothy 2:1 ἐνδυναμοῦ to be strong Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Singular 2 Timothy 4:17 ἐνεδυνάμωσέν to strengthened Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 9:22
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 6
Acts 1 Romans 1 Ephesians 1 Philippians 1 1 Timothy 1 2 Timothy 2
Source forms
ἐνδυναμοῦ 1x endynamou 2 Timothy 2:1
ἐνδυναμοῦντί 1x endynamounti Philippians 4:13
ἐνδυναμοῦσθε 1x endynamousthe Ephesians 6:10
ἐνδυναμώσαντί 1x endynamōsanti 1 Timothy 1:12
ἐνεδυναμοῦτο 1x enedynamouto Acts 9:22
ἐνεδυναμώθη 1x enedynamōthē Romans 4:20
ἐνεδυνάμωσέν 1x enedynamōsen 2 Timothy 4:17
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x 2 Timothy 4:17
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Romans 4:20
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Dative Masculine Singular 1x 1 Timothy 1:12
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Acts 9:22
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural 1x Ephesians 6:10
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Singular 1x 2 Timothy 2:1
Verb - Present Participle Active - Dative Masculine Singular 1x Philippians 4:13
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Name the source and passage-defined purpose of strength before applying the word.
- Present weakness and dependence as settings for divine provision, not as evidence of spiritual failure.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Philippians 4:13 guarantees success in every chosen task.
- Do not claim that divine strengthening removes hardship; 2 Timothy 4 places it within opposition.
- Do not claim that receiving strength authorizes self-appointed ministry.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Supernatural strengthening for spiritual tasks, often through divine power or Christ's presence.
Strong's G1743
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 3 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 2 Timothy 2:1-7 Source Gloss
to empower
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Supernatural strengthening for spiritual tasks, often through divine power or Christ's presence.
to make strong, strengthen: with accusative, of person(s), Php.4:13, 1Ti.1:12, 2Ti.4:17. Pass., Act.9:22; C. dative, Rom.4:20; before ἐν, 2Ti.2:1 (ἐν Κυρίῳ), Eph.6:10 (Cremer, 221).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 9:22 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Passive Indicative
ἐνεδυναμοῦτο, enedunamouto
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse Romans 4:20 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
ἐνεδυναμώθη enedunamwqh
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse Ephesians 6:10 Verb Second Person Plural Present Passive Imperative
ἐνδυναμοῦσθε endunamousqe
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse Philippians 4:13 Verb Present Active Participle Dative Singular Masculine
ἐνδυναμοῦντί endunamounti
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse 1 Timothy 1:12 Verb Aorist Active Participle Dative Singular Masculine
ἐνδυναμώσαντί endunamwsanti
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse 2 Timothy 2:1 Verb Second Person Singular Present Passive Imperative
ἐνδυναμοῦ endunamou
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse 2 Timothy 4:17 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐνεδυνάμωσέ enedunamwsen
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verse Hebrews 11:34 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Passive Indicative
ἐνεδυναμώθησαν enedunamwqhsan
I fill with power, strengthen
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Imperfect, Aorist, Present Voices Passive, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Imperfect Passive Acts 9:22 1×
Aorist Passive Rom 4:20 1×
Aorist Active 2 Tim 4:17 1×
Imperative command or strong request 2×
Present Passive Eph 6:10 · 2 Tim 2:1 2×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Active Phil 4:13 1×
Aorist Active 1 Tim 1:12 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 3 present 3 imperfect 1
Voice
passive 4 active 3
Mood
indicative 3 participle 2 imperative 2
NT Occurrences
Acts 9:22 ἐνεδυναμοῦτο imperfect passive indicative background Romans 4:20 ἐνεδυναμώθη aorist passive indicative completed Ephesians 6:10 ἐνδυναμοῦσθε present passive imperative imperative Philippians 4:13 ἐνδυναμοῦντί present active participle participle 1 Timothy 1:12 ἐνδυναμώσαντί aorist active participle participle 2 Timothy 2:1 ἐνδυναμοῦ present passive imperative imperative 2 Timothy 4:17 ἐνεδυνάμωσέν aorist active indicative completed
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
to be strengthened or empowered
to empower or strengthen inwardly
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐνδυναμόω is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Timothy’s ministry strength is derived from divine empowerment rather than personal resolve. 2 Timothy 2:1-7
The Lord supplied the power Paul needed to continue proclaiming the gospel. 2 Timothy 4:16-18
For the Preacher and Teacher
G1743 consistently directs attention away from autonomous capacity. Saul's strength serves gospel proof, Abraham's strength accompanies faith and glory to God, believers' strength is in the Lord, and Paul's strength sustains contentment, service, and proclamation. This does not make the uses interchangeable. Romans concerns faith in God's promise, Ephesians prepares believers to stand, Philippians addresses learned contentment, and the Pastoral Epistles concern entrusted ministry under pressure.
Teaching should celebrate divine provision without converting the word into a guarantee of comfort, prominence, or unrestricted achievement. The repeated pattern encourages dependent courage: God supplies what His servants need for the faithfulness He assigns. It also leaves room for weakness, opposition, and changing circumstances, since the strengthening often operates within those conditions rather than removing them.
Anchor passage
1Tim.1.12
Doctrinal connections
- Acts 9:22 joins strengthening to Saul's witness that Jesus is the Christ.
- Romans 4:20 joins strengthening in faith to giving glory to God.
- Ephesians 6:10 commands believers to be strengthened in the Lord.
- Philippians 4:13 places strengthening inside Paul's learned contentment in lack and abundance.
- First and Second Timothy join Christ's strength to grace, service, endurance, and proclamation.
Seven governed occurrences include active and passive verb forms across Acts and six Pauline settings. The syntax regularly identifies the person strengthened and often names the source, sphere, or purpose of that strength.
From Old to New Testament
Old Testament accounts of God strengthening His servants can provide thematic background. Each connection must be argued from its own passage because G1743 itself is Greek New Testament evidence.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain