archomai · begin

What it means

archomai (ἄρχομαι) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “begin”.

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 start doing something.
2. To govern, be over others.

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

Word study

To begin, to start doing something. It is the middle voice of ἄρχω, which in the active means “be first, rule”. The Greek text lists it as ἄρχω, so the few cases of “rule” are counted here too. Of the same family is ἀρχή, “beginning” (G746).

• “Jesus began to proclaim” Matthew 4:17Acts 1:1
• Beginning to do something Acts 2:4Matthew 14:30
• “Beginning from Moses” Luke 24:27
• At the beginning: the age of Jesus Luke 3:23
• Ruling Mark 10:42Romans 15:12

How we translate it

“Began” 64 times, “beginning” 9, “begin” 8. It is a very frequent auxiliary verb in Mark and Luke (“he began to teach them”, Mark 8:31). “As rulers” and “to rule” in the two cases of the active voice (Mark 10:42; Romans 15:12).

How it is translated

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

• began ×64
• beginning ×9
• begin ×8
• begins ×2
• as rulers ×1
• rule ×1
• they were crossing ×1

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×13
• Mark×27
• Luke×31
• John×2
• Acts×10
• Romans×1
• 2 Corinthians×1
• 1 Peter×1

• Matthew 4:17

  From then on Jesus began to proclaim and to say, “Change your minds, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

• Matthew 11:7

  As these were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?

• Matthew 11:20

  Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been done, because they had not changed their minds.

• Matthew 12:1

  At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of grain and to eat.

• Matthew 14:30

  But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

• Matthew 16:21

  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go away to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

• Matthew 16:22

  And Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never happen to you.”

• Matthew 18:24

  And when he began to settle them, one debtor was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents.

• Matthew 20:8

  And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard says to his steward, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first.’

• Matthew 24:49

  and begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with the drunkards,

• Matthew 26:22

  And being deeply grieved, they began to say to him each one, “It is not I, is it, Lord?”

• Matthew 26:37

  And taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be grieved and distressed.

• Matthew 26:74

  Then he began to call down curses and to swear: “I do not know the man.” And at once a rooster crowed.

• Mark 1:45

  But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the word, so that he could no longer enter a town openly, but was out in deserted places; and they kept coming to him from everywhere.

• Mark 2:23

  And it happened that on the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, plucking the heads of grain.

• Mark 4:1

  And again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathers around him, so that he got into a boat and sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

• Mark 5:17

  And they began to beg him to go away from their region.

• Mark 5:20

  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

• Mark 6:2

  And when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue; and the many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? And what is the wisdom given to him, and such miracles done by his hands?

• Mark 6:7

  And he summons the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, and he was giving them authority over the unclean spirits.

• Mark 6:34

  And going ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

• Mark 6:55

  and ran around all that region and began to carry the sick on their mats to wherever they heard that he was.

• Mark 8:11

  And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him.

• Mark 8:31

  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise.

• Mark 8:32

  And he was speaking the word openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

• 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 10:41

  And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

• Mark 10:42

  And summoning them, Jesus says to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

• Mark 10:47

  And hearing that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!”

• Mark 11:15

  And they come to Jerusalem. And entering into the temple, he began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

• Mark 12:1

  And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenant farmers and went away on a journey.

• Mark 13:5

  And Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out that no one leads you astray.

• Mark 14:19

  They began to be grieved and to say to him one by one, “Surely not I?”

• Mark 14:33

  And he takes Peter and James and John with him, and he began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

• Mark 14:65

  And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face and to strike him and to say to him, “Prophesy!” And the attendants received him with blows.

• Mark 14:69

  And the servant girl, seeing him, began again to say to those standing by, “This man is one of them.”

• Mark 14:71

  But he began to call down curses and to swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about.”

• Mark 15:8

  And the crowd came up and began to ask him to do as he used to do for them.

• Mark 15:18

  And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

And 46 more times.