thelēma · will

What it means

thelēma (θέλημα) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “will”.

What someone wants and decides.

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. What someone wants, above all what God wants.

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

Word study

Will: what someone wants and decides. It is the noun of θέλω (want, G2309). In the New Testament it speaks above all of God's will, which is prayed for, done and discerned.

• “May your will be done” Matthew 6:10Matthew 26:42Luke 22:42
• Doing the will of God Mark 3:35Matthew 7:211 John 2:17
• Discerning what the will of God is Romans 12:21 Thessalonians 4:3
• “By the will of God” 2 Corinthians 1:1Ephesians 1:11
• Human will John 1:132 Peter 1:21Luke 23:25

How we translate it

“Will” 60 times, both God's and people's, so that the same word is seen in Jesus' prayer and in his teaching; “wishes” 2. In John 6:38, “not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me”, the repetition of the Greek is kept.

How it is translated

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

• will ×60
• wishes ×2

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×6
• Mark×1
• Luke×4
• John×11
• Acts×3
• Romans×4
• 1 Corinthians×3
• 2 Corinthians×2
• Galatians×1
• Ephesians×7
• Colossians×3
• 1 Thessalonians×2
• 2 Timothy×2
• Hebrews×5
• 1 Peter×4
• 2 Peter×1
• 1 John×2
• Revelation×1

• Matthew 6:10

  may your kingdom come; may your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

• Matthew 7:21

  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 12:50

  For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

• Matthew 18:14

  So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

• Matthew 21:31

  Which of the two did the will of his father?” They say, “The first.” Jesus says to them, “Truly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God.

• Matthew 26:42

  Again, a second time, he went away and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, let your will be done.”

• Mark 3:35

  For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

• Luke 12:47

  And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not prepare or act according to his will will be beaten with many blows.

• Luke 22:42

  saying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; yet not my will, but yours, be done.”

• Luke 23:25

  and he released the one who had been thrown into prison for uprising and murder, whom they were asking for, but Jesus he handed over to their will.

• John 1:13

  who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

• John 4:34

  Jesus says to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.

• John 5:30

  I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

• John 6:38

  because I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

• John 6:39

  And this is the will of the one who sent me: that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

• John 6:40

  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

• John 7:17

  If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own.

• John 9:31

  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, he listens to him.

• Acts 13:22

  And after removing him, he raised up David for them as king, about whom he also said, testifying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my wishes.’

• Acts 21:14

  And when he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying, “The Lord’s will be done.”

• Acts 22:14

  And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth,

• Romans 1:10

  always in my prayers, asking if somehow now at last I will succeed by the will of God in coming to you.

• Romans 2:18

  and know the will and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law,

• Romans 12:2

  And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may discern what the will of God is: what is good and pleasing and complete.

• Romans 15:32

  so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.

• 1 Corinthians 1:1

  Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother,

• 1 Corinthians 7:37

  But whoever stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, will do well.

• 1 Corinthians 16:12

  Now concerning Apollos the brother, I urged him much to come to you with the brothers, and it was not at all the will that he come now; but he will come when he has the opportunity.

• 2 Corinthians 1:1

  Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:

• 2 Corinthians 8:5

  and not as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God,

• Galatians 1:4

  who gave himself for our sins so that he might rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

• Ephesians 1:1

  Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in the Messiah Jesus:

• Ephesians 1:5

  having destined us beforehand for adoption as sons through Jesus the Messiah to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

• Ephesians 1:9

  having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him,

• Ephesians 1:11

  in whom we also obtained an inheritance, having been destined beforehand according to the purpose of the one who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

• Ephesians 2:3

  among whom we all also once lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the wishes of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest.

• Ephesians 5:17

  For this reason do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

• Ephesians 6:6

  not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of the Messiah, doing the will of God from the soul,

• Colossians 1:1

  Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy the brother,

• Colossians 1:9

  For this reason we also, from the day we heard it, have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

And 22 more times.