πυνθάνομαι

G4441 means to inquire, learn by asking, or seek specific information. Its twelve governed forms concern where the Christ would be born, what was happening at a celebration or beside a road, the hour a son recovered, the identity of Jesus' betrayer, apostolic questioning, a visitor's location and purpose, and official efforts to learn who a prisoner was, what he had done, what information a messenger carried, and what province he came from. The verb names inquiry; the speaker, power relationship, purpose, method, and response determine whether an inquiry serves truth, care, control, or danger.

In John 4, the official's inquiry about the hour connects Jesus' word with his son's recovery and contributes to the household's belief. In John 13, Peter signals another disciple to ask whom Jesus means, but the tense scene does not license curiosity about suspected betrayers. Acts includes both ordinary information-seeking and questioning by authorities. The lexical form neither validates every investigation nor condemns every official question.

Pastoral practice should welcome honest questions and also examine how power shapes them. A leader may request information needed for care, accountability, or safety without demanding private details irrelevant to the task. People questioned in disciplinary, employment, medical, abuse-reporting, or legal settings need clear purpose, accurate records, freedom from retaliation, appropriate support, and fair process. A question is not proof, silence is not confession, and spiritual authority does not create unlimited access to another person's history or body.

Twelve governed forms move from everyday requests for information to questions within healing, betrayal, witness, public authority, danger, and legal custody.