What does ἐποικοδομέω (epoikodoméō) mean in the Bible?
G2026 means to build on, build upon, or build up. Seven primary-text forms occur in six verses.
Greek · G2026
ἐποικοδομέω
To build up/upon
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ἐποικοδομέω G2026
Pronunciation epoikodoméō
What does ἐποικοδομέω (epoikodoméō) mean in the Bible?
G2026 means to build on, build upon, or build up. Seven primary-text forms occur in six verses.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐποικοδομέω (G2026) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2026?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include builds (1), built (1), built up (1), by building (1), he builds (1).
Where does ἐποικοδομέω (epoikodoméō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Corinthians 3:10. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (4), Colossians (1), Ephesians (1), Jude (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2026 means to build on, build upon, or build up. Seven primary-text forms occur in six verses. First Corinthians 3 uses the verb for ministry work built on the foundation and tested for its quality. In Ephesians, the reconciled household receives its structural alignment from apostolic and prophetic witness, with Jesus Christ Himself as the controlling cornerstone.
Colossians 2 describes believers as being built up in Christ and established in the faith. Jude 20 exhorts the beloved to build themselves up in their most holy faith while praying in the Holy Spirit. The image can describe responsible human work or the formation believers receive, so the passage must identify the foundation, agent, object, and standard.
How the Bible Uses It
The seven governed forms move from careful ministry construction in 1 Corinthians to the church's foundation in Ephesians, continuing formation in Christ in Colossians, and communal perseverance in Jude. The building image is shared, but the agents and objects differ.
- 1Cor.3.10
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.
Two forms distinguish the continuing work of another builder from the responsibility of every builder to take care. Christ is identified as the foundation in the next verse.
- 1Cor.3.12
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
The materials image introduces differing kinds of work built on the one foundation and prepares for divine testing.
- 1Cor.3.14
If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
Work that remains receives reward. The verse evaluates what was built rather than making the builder the foundation.
- Col.2.7
Rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Believers are described as being built up in Christ, established in the taught faith, and overflowing with thanksgiving.
- Eph.2.20
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
God's reconciled household is built on the apostolic and prophetic foundation, with Christ Jesus as cornerstone.
- Jude.1.20
But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
The beloved build themselves up in the most holy faith while praying in the Holy Spirit and keeping themselves in God's love. The exhortation is communal and grace-dependent, not self-salvation.
Passage context
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 builds 1× 1 Corinthians 3:12
built 1× Ephesians 2:20
built up 1× Colossians 2:7
by building 1× Jude 1:20
he builds 1× 1 Corinthians 3:10
is building on [it] 1× 1 Corinthians 3:10
what he has built 1× 1 Corinthians 3:14
Show sample aligned rows
1 Corinthians 3:10 ἐποικοδομεῖ to is building on [it] Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 3:10 ἐποικοδομεῖ to he builds Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 3:12 ἐποικοδομεῖ to builds Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 3:14 ἐποικοδόμησεν to what he has built Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Ephesians 2:20 ἐποικοδομηθέντες to built Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural Colossians 2:7 ἐποικοδομούμενοι to built up Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural Jude 1:20 ἐποικοδομοῦντες to by building Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row 1 Corinthians 3:10
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 4
1 Corinthians 4 Ephesians 1 Colossians 1 Jude 1
Source forms
ἐποικοδομεῖ 3x epoikodomei 1 Corinthians 3:10, 1 Corinthians 3:12
ἐποικοδομηθέντες 1x epoikodomēthentes Ephesians 2:20
ἐποικοδόμησεν 1x epoikodomēsen 1 Corinthians 3:14
ἐποικοδομούμενοι 1x epoikodomoumenoi Colossians 2:7
ἐποικοδομοῦντες 1x epoikodomountes Jude 1:20
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 3x 1 Corinthians 3:10, 1 Corinthians 3:12
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 3:14
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Ephesians 2:20
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Jude 1:20
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Colossians 2:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Identify the foundation, builder, object, and standard before applying the building image.
- Treat growth as communal and Christ-governed rather than personality-driven or self-saving.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim visible ministry size proves that work will survive divine testing.
- Do not claim a leader or movement may replace Christ, the apostolic and prophetic foundation, or the received faith.
- Do not use Jude 20 to teach that believers save themselves by sufficient effort.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Spiritual growth metaphorically portrayed as construction: building upon foundation or building up believers into God's temple.
Strong's G2026
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 2 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 Source Gloss
to build up/upon
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Spiritual growth metaphorically portrayed as construction: building upon foundation or building up believers into God's temple.
in NT, always metaphorically, of the spiritual life regarded as a building (Cremer, 449);
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 20:32 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
ἐποικοδομῆσαι, epoikodomhsai
I build upon a foundation
Read verse 1 Corinthians 3:10 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἐποικοδομεῖ. epoikodomei
I build upon a foundation
Read verse 1 Corinthians 3:10 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἐποικοδομεῖ. epoikodomei
I build upon a foundation
Read verse 1 Corinthians 3:12 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἐποικοδομεῖ epoikodomei
I build upon a foundation
Read verse 1 Corinthians 3:14 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπῳκοδόμησε, epwkodomhsen
I build upon a foundation
Read verse Ephesians 2:20 Verb Aorist Passive Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἐποικοδομηθέντες epoikodomhqentev
I build upon a foundation
Read verse Colossians 2:7 Verb Present Passive Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἐποικοδομούμενοι epoikodomoumenoi
I build upon a foundation
Read verse Jude 1:20 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἐποικοδομοῦντες epoikodomountev
I build upon a foundation
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 2 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Present, Aorist Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 4×
Present Active 1 Cor 3:10 · 1 Cor 3:12 3×
Aorist Active 1 Cor 3:14 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 3×
Aorist Passive Eph 2:20 1×
Present Passive Col 2:7 1×
Present Active Jude 1:20 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 4 aorist 2
Voice
active 5 passive 1
Mood
indicative 4 participle 2
NT Occurrences
1 Corinthians 3:10 ἐποικοδομεῖ present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 3:10 ἐποικοδομεῖ present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 3:12 ἐποικοδομεῖ present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 3:14 ἐποικοδόμησεν aorist active indicative completed Ephesians 2:20 ἐποικοδομηθέντες aorist passive participle participle Jude 1:20 ἐποικοδομοῦντες present active participle participle
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.
Biblical Witnesses
Building upon Christ as foundation, constructing spiritual work
Passive: being built up into holy temple through Christ
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐποικοδομέω is built from these roots:
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2026 does not praise building in the abstract. First Corinthians asks how ministry work is built on the one foundation and says that the work will be tested. Ephesians and Colossians describe believers as built on a received foundation and built up in Christ. Jude commands active communal perseverance, yet places it alongside prayer in the Holy Spirit, remaining in God's love, and waiting for Christ's mercy.
A faithful teacher should identify the foundation before praising the builder, evaluate quality without reducing ministry to visible scale, and call believers to active growth without presenting them as their own saviors. Lasting work is measured by fidelity to Christ and His gospel, not by speed, novelty, influence, institutional reach, or a leader's reputation.
Anchor passage
1Cor.3.10
Doctrinal connections
- 1Cor.3.10-14 - ministry work is built on the foundation and tested for its quality.
- Eph.2.20 - God's household is built on the apostolic and prophetic foundation with Christ as cornerstone.
- Col.2.7 - believers are built up in Christ, established in the taught faith, and marked by thanksgiving.
- Jude.1.20 - the beloved build themselves up in the most holy faith while praying in the Holy Spirit.
The seven primary forms include active, passive, and participial constructions. First Corinthians 3:10 contains two tokens. The passive forms in Ephesians and Colossians and the active exhortation in Jude require careful attention to agency rather than a single undifferentiated idea of growth.
From Old to New Testament
Biblical building imagery includes foundation, temple, household, workmanship, and wise construction. Those themes may clarify the six G2026 verses only when the local agent, object, and foundation remain explicit.
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