What does νουθετέω (nouthetéō) mean in the Bible?
G3560 means to admonish, warn, or instruct a person. Its eight governed forms occur in eight Pauline ministry settings.
Greek · G3560
νουθετέω
To admonish
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νουθετέω G3560
Pronunciation nouthetéō
What does νουθετέω (nouthetéō) mean in the Bible?
G3560 means to admonish, warn, or instruct a person. Its eight governed forms occur in eight Pauline ministry settings.
Reader summary
Full entry for νουθετέω (G3560) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3560?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [who] admonish (1), admonish (1), admonish [him] (1), admonishing (1), to admonish (1).
Where does νουθετέω (nouthetéō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 20:31. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (2), Colossians (2), 1 Corinthians (1), 2 Thessalonians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G3560 means to admonish, warn, or instruct a person. Its eight governed forms occur in eight Pauline ministry settings. Paul warns the Corinthians as beloved children rather than writing to shame them in 1 Corinthians 4:14. In Acts 20:31, he reminds the Ephesian elders that he warned each person night and day with tears; the tears describe his ministry in that scene without becoming part of the verb's lexical definition.
Romans 15:14 says the Roman believers are full of goodness and knowledge and able to instruct one another. Colossians 1:28 joins admonishing and teaching within proclaiming Christ toward maturity, while Colossians 3:16 places mutual admonition within the richly dwelling word of Christ, wisdom, and thankful song. First Thessalonians 5:12 includes admonition among the work of recognized leaders, and verse 14 directs the congregation to admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.
The differentiated commands forbid treating every need as a correction problem. Second Thessalonians 3:15 says not to regard the disobedient person as an enemy but to admonish him as a brother. Together the passages show truthful warning in apostolic, congregational, leadership, worship, and disciplinary contexts. They do not authorize humiliation, coercive control, unverified accusation, forced disclosure, or correction that ignores power and safety.
A related-word history may help explain the traditional gloss, but it does not prove a particular technique or guarantee that every act called admonition is faithful.
Lexical sourcePassage contextBook contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
All eight governed occurrences concern warning, instruction, or admonition in Pauline ministry and congregational life. Speaker, recipient, need, manner, and goal differ across the passages.
- Col.1.28
We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
Paul describes proclaiming Christ by admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom toward maturity in Christ. The sentence joins these activities without defining admonition as only correcting error.
- Acts.20.31
Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Paul recalls three years of alert, persistent warning with tears. These details characterize his conduct in Ephesus; they should shape pastoral reflection without being inserted into the verb's definition.
- Rom.15.14
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, brimming with knowledge, and able to instruct one another.
Paul expresses confidence that the Roman believers, full of goodness and knowledge, are able to instruct one another. The verse supports mutual ministry while retaining the qualifications Paul names.
- 1Thess.5.12
But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.
Paul asks the congregation to recognize those who labor, care for them in the Lord, and admonish them. The surrounding verses join esteem with peace and shared congregational responsibilities.
- 1Thess.5.14
And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.
The command to admonish the idle stands beside encouragement for the fainthearted, help for the weak, and patience toward everyone. The differing responses make discernment and proportion essential.
- 2Thess.3.15
Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
After directing the church not to associate with a persistently disobedient person so that he may be ashamed, Paul adds that he is not to be treated as an enemy but admonished as a brother. Both the boundary and the relational designation must remain visible.
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 [who] admonish 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:12
admonish 1× Colossians 3:16
admonish [him] 1× 2 Thessalonians 3:15
admonishing 1× Colossians 1:28
to admonish 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:14
to instruct 1× Romans 15:14
to warn you 1× 1 Corinthians 4:14
warning 1× Acts 20:31
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 20:31 νουθετῶν to warning Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Romans 15:14 νουθετεῖν to to instruct Verb - Present Infinitive Active 1 Corinthians 4:14 νουθετῶν to to warn you Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Colossians 1:28 νουθετοῦντες to admonishing Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural Colossians 3:16 νουθετοῦντες to admonish Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1 Thessalonians 5:12 νουθετοῦντας to [who] admonish Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural 1 Thessalonians 5:14 νουθετεῖτε to to admonish Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural 2 Thessalonians 3:15 νουθετεῖτε to admonish [him] Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 20:31
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 6
Acts 1 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 1 Colossians 2 1 Thessalonians 2 2 Thessalonians 1
Source forms
νουθετεῖτε 2x noutheteite 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:15
νουθετοῦντες 2x nouthetountes Colossians 1:28, Colossians 3:16
νουθετῶν 2x nouthetōn Acts 20:31, 1 Corinthians 4:14
νουθετεῖν 1x nouthetein Romans 15:14
νουθετοῦντας 1x nouthetountas 1 Thessalonians 5:12
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural 2x 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:15
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x Colossians 1:28, Colossians 3:16
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 2x Acts 20:31, 1 Corinthians 4:14
Verb - Present Infinitive Active 1x Romans 15:14
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x 1 Thessalonians 5:12
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Establish the concern with evidence, choose a proportionate response, and distinguish warning from encouragement, help, or patience.
- Account for power differences and immediate safety; a person may need protection, reporting, or professional care rather than private correction.
- Keep the stated goal, message, and process open to accountable review.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that the verb itself requires private, tearful, or long-term correction in every occurrence.
- Do not claim that leadership office or good intent makes an accusation accurate or a method safe.
- Do not claim that a person who resists coercion, reports harm, seeks counsel, or asks for evidence is necessarily idle, disobedient, or unteachable.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To put in mind through warning; correction motivated by care for spiritual growth, not punishment.
Strong's G3560
Lexical occurrences 8 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 3 forms 8 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 4:14 Source Gloss
to admonish
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To put in mind through warning; correction motivated by care for spiritual growth, not punishment.
(νοῦς, τίθημι, hence, put in mind), [in LXX: 1Ki.3:13 (כָּהָה pi.), Job.8:1-22 (יָסַר pi., בִּין), Wis.11:10 12:2, 26 * ;] to admonish, exhort: with accusative of person(s), Act.20:31, Rom.15:14, 1Co.4:14, Col.1:28 3:16, 1Th.5:12 5:14, 2Th.3:15.
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 20:31 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
νουθετῶν nouqetwn
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse Romans 15:14 Verb Present Active Infinitive
νουθετεῖν. nouqetein
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse 1 Corinthians 4:14 Verb First Person Singular Present Active Indicative
νουθετῶ. nouqetw
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse Colossians 1:28 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
νουθετοῦντες nouqetountev
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse Colossians 3:16 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
νουθετοῦντες nouqetountev
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 5:12 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
νουθετοῦντας nouqetountav
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Verb Second Person Plural Present Active Imperative
νουθετεῖτε nouqeteite
I admonish, warn, counsel
Read verse 2 Thessalonians 3:15 Verb Second Person Plural Present Active Imperative
νουθετεῖτε nouqeteite
I admonish, warn, counsel
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 8 Tenses Present Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 5×
Present Active Acts 20:31 · 1 Cor 4:14 · Col 1:28 · Col 3:16 · 1 Thess 5:12 5×
Imperative command or strong request 2×
Present Active 1 Thess 5:14 · 2 Thess 3:15 2×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Present Active Rom 15:14 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 7
Voice
active 7
Mood
participle 4 imperative 2 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Acts 20:31 νουθετῶν present active participle participle Romans 15:14 νουθετεῖν present active infinitive infinitive 1 Corinthians 4:14 νουθετῶν present active participle participle Colossians 1:28 νουθετοῦντες present active participle participle 1 Thessalonians 5:12 νουθετοῦντας present active participle participle 1 Thessalonians 5:14 νουθετεῖτε present active imperative imperative 2 Thessalonians 3:15 νουθετεῖτε present active imperative imperative
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
Paul exhorts the Corinthians as beloved children with paternal concern
Church leaders work hard to admonish members in their spiritual care
Community members admonish the disorderly and lazy among their congregation
Paul proclaims Christ while admonishing every person toward spiritual maturity
Believers admonish one another in wisdom through singing and spiritual instruction
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
νουθετέω is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
Teach admonition as a context-governed act of warning or instruction, not as a personality style or an unrestricted authority. Paul can warn beloved children in a letter, recall tearful warning among the Ephesians, trust qualified believers to instruct one another, join admonition with teaching in proclaiming Christ, and place it within the word-filled worship of the congregation.
First Thessalonians 5 is especially important because it assigns different responses to different needs: admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and remain patient with everyone. A leader who corrects every person in the same way has ignored that distinction. Second Thessalonians 3 preserves both a serious communal boundary and the command not to treat the disobedient person as an enemy.
Faithful admonition therefore requires a warranted concern, a truthful message, proportionate means, and an aim consistent with Christ. It never excuses humiliation, intimidation, surveillance, retaliation, or suppression of safety reports. Tears, brotherhood, wisdom, patience, and maturity belong to particular contexts that guide application without being smuggled into the verb's lexical meaning.
Anchor passage
Col.1.28
Doctrinal connections
- 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 - warning beloved children without shaming them
- Acts 20:28-32 - watchfulness, tears, danger, and entrusting elders to God
- Romans 15:14-16 - goodness, knowledge, mutual instruction, and Paul's ministry
- Colossians 1:27-29 - proclaiming Christ toward maturity
- Colossians 3:12-17 - compassion, forgiveness, love, peace, word, and mutual admonition
- 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 - leaders, differentiated care, patience, and pursuit of good
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 - communal boundary and brotherly admonition
All eight governed forms are present active: five participles, two plural imperatives, and one infinitive. English renderings include warn, admonish, and instruct. The word's historical association with mind and placing may explain the traditional description put in mind, but etymology does not specify the required emotion, setting, authority structure, or correction method. Those features come from each clause and paragraph.
From Old to New Testament
Proverbs commends receiving correction and warns against refusing it, while also condemning false witness, reckless words, and partial judgment. Those wisdom themes can inform application, but G3560's direct evidence remains its eight Pauline occurrences. Matthew 18 and other discipline texts may be relevant parallels; they are not occurrences of this verb and must not be imported as its lexical procedure.
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