akoloutheō · follow

What it means

akoloutheō (ἀκολουθέω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “follow”.

Go after someone; follow him as a disciple.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To walk behind someone, going with them wherever they go.
2. To leave everything to go with Jesus as a disciple.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To follow, to go behind someone; especially, to follow Jesus as a disciple. Thayer: to follow one who goes before; to accompany him; to join him as a disciple.

• “Follow me”: the call Matthew 9:9Matthew 4:20
• Following Jesus carrying the cross Matthew 16:24
• “My sheep… follow me” John 10:27John 8:12
• The crowd or a healed man who follows him Mark 10:52
• “The ones who follow the Lamb” Revelation 14:4

How we translate it

“Followed” 35 times, “follow” 33, “was following” 12, “following” 8: always “follow”, also when it is the following of the disciple, because the Greek uses the same verb for both things.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• followed ×35
• follow ×33
• was following ×12
• following ×8
• follows ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×25
• Mark×17
• Luke×17
• John×19
• Acts×4
• 1 Corinthians×1
• Revelation×6

• Matthew 4:20

  And they at once left the nets and followed him.

• Matthew 4:22

  And they at once left the boat and their father and followed him.

• Matthew 4:25

  And large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan.

• Matthew 8:1

  When he had come down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

• Matthew 8:10

  Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

• Matthew 8:19

  And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

• Matthew 8:22

  But Jesus says to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

• Matthew 8:23

  And when he got into a boat, his disciples followed him.

• Matthew 9:9

  And passing on from there, Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he says to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

• Matthew 9:19

  And Jesus got up and was following him, and so did his disciples.

• Matthew 9:27

  And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

• Matthew 10:38

  And whoever does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

• Matthew 12:15

  But Jesus, knowing this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all,

• Matthew 14:13

  Hearing this, Jesus withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself; and when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

• Matthew 16:24

  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

• Matthew 19:2

  And many crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

• Matthew 19:21

  Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give them to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

• Matthew 19:27

  Then Peter answered and said to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you; what then will there be for us?”

• Matthew 19:28

  And Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you that you who have followed me, in the renewal, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

• Matthew 20:29

  And as they were going out from Jericho, a large crowd followed him.

• Matthew 20:34

  And Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes, and at once they regained their sight and followed him.

• Matthew 21:9

  And the crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

• Matthew 26:58

  And Peter was following him from a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside, he sat with the attendants to see the outcome.

• Matthew 27:55

  And there were there many women watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him;

• Mark 1:18

  And at once they left the nets and followed him.

• Mark 2:14

  And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he says to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

• Mark 2:15

  And it happens that he is reclining at table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they were following him.

• Mark 3:7

  And Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and from Judea

• Mark 5:24

  And he went away with him. And a large crowd was following him and pressing in on him.

• Mark 6:1

  And he went out from there and comes to his hometown, and his disciples follow him.

• Mark 8:34

  And summoning the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

• Mark 9:38

  John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

• Mark 10:21

  And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

• Mark 10:28

  Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and have followed you.”

• Mark 10:32

  And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him:

• Mark 10:52

  And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” And at once he regained his sight and was following him on the way.

• Mark 11:9

  And those who went ahead and those who followed were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

• Mark 14:13

  And he sends two of his disciples and says to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him,

• Mark 14:54

  And Peter followed him from a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the attendants and warming himself at the fire.

• Mark 15:41

  who, when he was in Galilee, used to follow him and serve him, and many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

And 49 more times.