To order
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Prostasso is a Greek verb for commanding, ordering, directing, prescribing, or appointing. Matthew uses it for what the angel of the Lord commanded Joseph, and Joseph responds within the revealed circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth.
Reader summary
Full entry for προστάσσω (G4367) · Open the biblical lexicon
Prostasso is a Greek verb for commanding, ordering, directing, prescribing, or appointing. Matthew uses it for what the angel of the Lord commanded Joseph, and Joseph responds within the revealed circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include prescribed (3), [their] appointed (1), had commanded (1), has instructed (1), he ordered that (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Matthew (2), Luke (1), Mark (1).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Prostasso is a Greek verb for commanding, ordering, directing, prescribing, or appointing. Matthew uses it for what the angel of the Lord commanded Joseph, and Joseph responds within the revealed circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth. In Luke 5, the prescribed offering refers to Moses' instruction for a cleansed person. Acts 10 reports Peter ordering baptism after the Holy Spirit has been given to Gentile hearers.
Acts 17 uses the verb for God's determination of peoples' times and dwelling boundaries within Paul's proclamation that all nations come from one and should seek God. The verb identifies directive authority but does not make every human order righteous, unlimited, or equivalent to God's command. Its applications require attention to speaker, recipient, content, delegated authority, and canonical boundaries.
Pastors, parents, spouses, employers, and officials remain accountable and may not use command language to override conscience, consent, safety, truth, or law. Divine appointment in Acts 17 must not be recruited to sanctify racial hierarchy, permanent segregation, conquest, or every modern border policy.
Prostasso marks authoritative direction or appointment, while each passage identifies the source, recipient, content, and purpose that establish the command's legitimate scope.
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and embraced Mary as his wife.
Joseph acts on the angelic command within Matthew's revelation about Mary's child, receiving her rather than exposing or abandoning her.
“Do not tell anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Jesus directs the cleansed man toward priestly examination and the offering prescribed by Moses, locating the order within Israel's legal witness.
So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
Peter orders baptism after Gentile hearers receive the Holy Spirit, publicly recognizing God's welcome rather than creating it through his authority.
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
Paul joins God's providential appointment of times and habitations with shared human origin and the summons for all peoples to seek Him.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. to order
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I instruct, command, appoint
Read verseI instruct, command, appoint
Read verseI instruct, command, appoint
Read verseI instruct, command, appoint
Read verseI instruct, command, appoint
Read verseI instruct, command, appoint
Read verseI instruct, command, appoint
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.
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.
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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)
προστάσσω is built from these roots:
Commands matter because authority and action matter, but the verb itself does not sanctify the commander. Joseph obeys an angelic directive tied to God's redemptive revelation and receives Mary. Jesus directs a cleansed man toward the testimony Moses prescribed. Peter orders baptism only after God has unmistakably given the Holy Spirit to Gentile hearers, recognizing divine initiative.
Paul proclaims that God appoints times and habitations for peoples who share one origin and are called to seek Him. These scenes locate authority under God's purpose. Human leaders therefore exercise only delegated, accountable power. They may teach Scripture, organize common work, and make bounded decisions, but they may not command secrecy about abuse, demand unsafe access, override conscience, or equate disagreement with rebellion.
Acts 17 affirms providence and common humanity; it does not canonize racial boundaries, nationalism, forced migration, conquest, or every political map. Christian obedience tests human directives by God's revealed character, truth, justice, neighbor love, and the authority actually entrusted.
Matt.1.24
The verb denotes ordering, prescribing, directing, or appointing and can occur in active or passive constructions. Lexical form signals directive relation but does not establish the commander's moral legitimacy or unlimited scope.
Scripture repeatedly distinguishes God's commands from abuses of delegated power, honors lawful authority within limits, and records faithful disobedience to human orders that oppose God. This canonical framework keeps G4367 from becoming a blanket endorsement of command structures.