πάρειμι

G3918 means to be present, to be here, to be at hand, or to be available. Its twenty-four governed forms describe people gathered in a place, a teacher who is here, an available time, personal presence contrasted with absence, qualities present or lacking, present discipline, and an apocalyptic figure that will appear. The word itself does not make a presence divine, benevolent, threatening, spiritually discerning, or morally authoritative. The person, action, and surrounding argument supply that judgment.

In 1 Corinthians 5:3 Paul uses two forms while contrasting absence in body with presence in spirit as he addresses a reported case. The language supports serious communal accountability, but it must not be turned into remote surveillance, imagined access to private facts, or permission for an absent leader to bypass evidence and due process. In 2 Corinthians, Paul's anticipated presence, his earlier absence, and his threatened use of authority belong to a contested relationship. He closes by saying that the Lord gave authority for building up rather than tearing down. Those texts do not authorize coercive leadership, retaliatory discipline, or threats against people who raise truthful concerns.

Presence can also serve hospitality and shared discernment. Cornelius gathers people before God to hear Peter in Acts 10, while Acts 24 expects accusers to be present for a charge. Galatians 4 joins presence with pastoral affection and perplexity rather than control. Hebrews distinguishes painful discipline at the present time from later fruit and calls readers to be content with what is present. Revelation 17 uses the verb in symbolic apocalyptic description; it is not a lexical key for identifying a modern person or proving a conspiracy.

Twenty-four governed forms in twenty-three verses describe ordinary presence, availability, gathered hearers, apostolic presence and absence, present qualities or discipline, and one apocalyptic appearance.