Imperative Commands
The **imperative** is a central grammatical resource for directing action, including commands, requests, and exhortations. It has **second- and third-person** forms in NT Greek, not a first-person paradigm. A third-person imperative may be rendered 'let him/her/them ...', but that English 'let' does not necessarily mean granting permission.
**ἀκολούθει μοι** (Matthew 9:9) uses a 2nd singular present active imperative; **μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη** (Matthew 28:19) uses a 2nd plural aorist active imperative. Present and aorist stems present the action from different aspectual viewpoints. They do not independently determine duration, number of repetitions, politeness, or strength. An aorist command does not inherently mean 'do it only once'. See Chapter 34 for morphology and Chapter 47 for aspect.
**Matthew 9:9, excerpt** — **ἀκολούθει μοι.** ('Follow me.').
**Matthew 28:19, excerpt** — **μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη** ('make disciples of all the nations'). The imperative is μαθητεύσατε; the surrounding participles do not become finite imperatives merely because the sentence directs action.
Subjunctive Commands (Hortatory)
The **hortatory subjunctive** urges participation, characteristically with the **first person plural**: 'let us ...'. In **1 John 4:7**, **ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους** is an inclusive exhortation to love one another. **ἀγαπῶμεν** is interpreted here as 1st plural present active subjunctive of ἀγαπάω.
Because this is a contracted verb, the written form **ἀγαπῶμεν** can also represent the present indicative in another context. The exhortational setting, not the ending alone, supports the analysis here. NT Greek lacks a first-person imperative paradigm, but not every first-person subjunctive is hortatory: compare deliberative questions in Chapter 55 and dependent subjunctives elsewhere.
A negative exhortation can use **μή**: **μὴ γινώμεθα κενόδοξοι** (Galatians 5:26), 'let us not become conceited'. **γινώμεθα** is 1st plural present middle/passive subjunctive, not an imperative.
**1 John 4:7, excerpt** — **Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους** ('Beloved, let us love one another').
**Galatians 5:26, excerpt** — **μὴ γινώμεθα κενόδοξοι** ('let us not become conceited'). The first-person exhortation uses a subjunctive.
Future Indicative as Command
A **future indicative** can carry directive force, traditionally called an **imperatival future**, while remaining morphologically indicative. This use is familiar in scriptural commandments. In **Matthew 22:37**, **ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου** ('you shall love the Lord your God') is a command in its citation context; **ἀγαπήσεις** is 2nd singular future active indicative.
The negative counterpart can use **οὐ**: **οὐ φονεύσεις** (Matthew 5:21), 'you shall not murder'. Here **φονεύσεις** is also future active indicative, 2nd singular. This is a prohibition without μή. Neither a future form nor the English word 'shall' alone proves a command: future indicatives can also predict, promise, or occur in other constructions. Establish the speech function from the context.
**Matthew 22:37, excerpt** — **ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου** ('you shall love the Lord your God'), in the citation of the commandment associated with Deuteronomy 6:5.
**Matthew 5:21, quoted command** — **οὐ φονεύσεις** ('you shall not murder').
Infinitive as Command
An **infinitive** can occur with exhortative or directive force without an overt local governing verb. **Romans 12:15**, **χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων καὶ κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων**, is commonly read as an exhortation: 'rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep'. **χαίρειν** and **κλαίειν** are present active infinitives. The English imperatives express their force; the Greek forms remain non-finite.
This NT example should be taught rather than restricting the construction to imperial decrees or recipe-like instructions. Its relation to the broader exhortational sequence may be discussed, but no finite imperative needs to be invented in the verse.
Distinguish this from a **dependent infinitive** specifying the content of an appeal. In **Romans 12:1**, **παραστῆσαι** depends on the appeal introduced by **Παρακαλῶ ... ὑμᾶς**. Calling the whole utterance directive does not make every infinitive syntactically independent. See Chapters 36 and 51.
**Romans 12:15** — **χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων καὶ κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων.** ('Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.').
**Romans 12:1, dependent infinitival excerpt** — **παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν** ('to present your bodies as a living sacrifice'), governed by the preceding appeal.
Requests
A **request** asks an addressee to act; it can use the same imperative forms as a command. Requests are not uniformly less urgent or automatically more polite. The speaker's relation to the addressee, the situation, and the wording distinguish an appeal from an order.
In **Matthew 8:25**, **Κύριε, σῶσον ἡμᾶς, ἀπολλύμεθα** ('Lord, save us; we are perishing') is an urgent appeal. **σῶσον** is 2nd singular aorist active imperative. The vocative identifies the addressee, and the surrounding danger explains the urgency. Neither the vocative nor the aorist itself encodes a fixed degree of deference or a polite 'please'.
**Matthew 8:25, speech excerpt** — **Κύριε, σῶσον ἡμᾶς, ἀπολλύμεθα.** ('Lord, save us; we are perishing.'). The imperative is used by supplicants addressing the one from whom they seek help.
Exhortations
**Exhortation** describes urging or encouraging action, not one exclusive mood. **ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους** (1 John 4:7) uses a hortatory subjunctive. **Romans 12:1** uses **Παρακαλῶ** with an infinitival complement; **Romans 12:15** uses infinitives in an exhortational sequence. Imperatives can also exhort. Analyze morphology and syntactic dependence separately from the broad speech function.
Expressions of necessity or obligation can support an appeal in context, but neither **χρή** ('it is necessary') nor **ἄξιος** ('worthy') is by itself a universal marker of exhortation. Likewise, a first-person plural ending does not automatically make a clause hortatory.
Wishes
The **optative** expresses wishes and prayers in the NT as well as other uses. It is relatively uncommon, but its wish use is not merely a fossilized phrase. **Luke 1:38**, **γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου** ('may it happen to me according to your word'), uses **γένοιτο**, 3rd singular aorist middle optative of γίνομαι; the extra accent in **γένοιτό μοι** reflects the following enclitic. **Romans 15:5** uses **δῴη**, 3rd singular aorist active optative of δίδωμι, in a prayer that God grant shared-mindedness.
**μὴ γένοιτο** (Romans 6:2) uses the same optative morphology in a conventional emphatic rejection: 'By no means!' or 'May it not be!' Its discourse function should not be reduced to an ordinary neutral wish. Conversely, the existence of this formula does not make every NT wish formulaic.
Wishes are not confined to the optative. **2 Corinthians 11:1** begins **Ὄφελον ἀνείχεσθέ μου** ('I wish you would bear with me'), with **ἀνείχεσθε**, imperfect middle/passive indicative, 2nd plural, of ἀνέχομαι. English 'may', 'might', or 'wish' cannot by itself identify Greek mood. Romans 1:10 expresses a prayerful desire but does not supply an optative form; see Chapter 35.
**Luke 1:38, excerpt** — **γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου.** ('May it happen to me according to your word.').
**Romans 15:5, excerpt** — **ὁ δὲ Θεὸς τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ τῆς παρακλήσεως δῴη ὑμῖν τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν ἀλλήλοις** ('May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another').
**Romans 6:2, opening** — **μὴ γένοιτο.** ('By no means!').
**2 Corinthians 11:1, excerpt** — **Ὄφελον ἀνείχεσθέ μου μικρὸν τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ** ('I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness'). This wish construction contains an indicative, not an optative.
Present Imperative Prohibition
**μή + present imperative** is a standard prohibition pattern with an **imperfective viewpoint**. In a suitable context it can be understood as 'stop doing ...', but the form alone does not assert that the action has already begun.
**Mark 5:36** has **μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε** ('do not fear; only believe'). **φοβοῦ** is 2nd singular present middle/passive imperative, used with the lexical sense 'fear'; **πίστευε** is present active imperative. **Matthew 6:25** has **μὴ μεριμνᾶτε**, 2nd plural present active imperative in this context. Person, lexical meaning, and the discourse must be read together; imperfective viewpoint is not a fixed command to end an already ongoing activity.
**Mark 5:36, speech excerpt** — **μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε.** ('Do not fear; only believe.').
**Matthew 6:25, excerpt** — **μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν** ('do not be anxious about your life'). A 'stop being anxious' rendering would be a contextual interpretation, not a compulsory translation of the present imperative.
Aorist Subjunctive Prohibition
**μή + aorist subjunctive** is a familiar prohibition pattern, especially in direct second-person directives. It presents the event **perfectively**, without an inherent meaning 'do not begin' or a requirement that the event happen only once. The morphology remains subjunctive, even though the function is directive.
**μὴ θαυμάσῃς** (John 3:7) is 2nd singular aorist active subjunctive; **Μὴ νομίσητε** (Matthew 5:17) is 2nd plural aorist active subjunctive. Neither aorist describes a past action here. Compare μή + present imperative, but do not translate the two patterns by a rigid 'do not start' versus 'stop' rule. Nor should a third-person aorist form be assumed subjunctive without inspecting its ending; see §56.10.
**John 3:7, excerpt** — **μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι** ('do not marvel that I said to you').
**Matthew 5:17, excerpt** — **Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι** ('do not think that I came to abolish ...'). The subjunctives are θαυμάσῃς and νομίσητε, not the indicative verbs inside their content clauses.
μή + Imperative
**μή + imperative** is not restricted to the present stem. **Matthew 6:3**, **μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου**, has **γνώτω**, 3rd singular **aorist active imperative** of γινώσκω: 'let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing'. This is not an aorist subjunctive.
The familiar second-person contrast between present imperative and aorist subjunctive must not erase attested third-person aorist imperatives. Conversely, **μὴ γινώμεθα** (Galatians 5:26) is a first-person plural present subjunctive exhortation, not an imperative merely because μή precedes it. Prohibitions can also use **οὐ + future indicative**, as in Matthew 5:21. Identify mood and person from the actual form, then interpret the prohibition's force in context.
**Matthew 6:3, excerpt** — **μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου** ('let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing'). **γνώτω** is aorist active imperative, 3rd singular; **ποιεῖ** is indicative within the embedded question.
Politeness and Social Force
**Politeness and social force** are properties of an utterance in context, not a fixed scale attached to imperative, subjunctive, future, or infinitive forms. Vocatives can acknowledge a relationship, summon attention, or mark urgency. Expressions such as **παρακαλῶ** ('I appeal/urge') explicitly frame an appeal, but do not mechanically make every utterance mild.
In **Philemon 8–10**, Paul contrasts the possibility of commanding with an appeal grounded in love. **διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην μᾶλλον παρακαλῶ** (verse 9) provides textual evidence for that rhetorical choice. Analyze this actual contrast rather than assigning an assumed social force to all statements by the same speaker or to every use of a title such as Κύριε.
**Philemon 1:9, excerpt** — **διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην μᾶλλον παρακαλῶ** ('because of love, I appeal instead'). Verse 8 mentions **ἐπιτάσσειν** ('to command'); verse 10 repeats **παρακαλῶ σε** ('I appeal to you').
Command Strength and Context
To interpret a directive, identify **the verb's form**, **the action proposed or forbidden**, **the addressee**, and **the surrounding reason, relationship, and response**. Morphology contributes to the construction; it is neither a complete measure of social strength nor irrelevant to interpretation. In a written narrative, an imagined tone of voice is not independent evidence.
Compare **ἀκολούθει μοι** (Matthew 9:9), a call to follow, with **Κύριε, σῶσον ἡμᾶς** (Matthew 8:25), an urgent plea. Both are imperatives but have different interpersonal settings. Compare also **ἀγαπήσεις** (Matthew 22:37), which remains indicative in form while functioning as a command. Classify the form and the use separately; do not rank a present command as inherently weaker or stronger than an aorist one.
Paradigms
Ways Greek Expresses Commands and Prohibitions
Representative directive constructions, not an exhaustive list or a scale of strength. Imperative and subjunctive morphology must be distinguished from contextual function. Other patterns include μή + third-person aorist imperative and οὐ + future indicative; see §§56.3 and 56.10.
| Form / construction | Function and qualification | Attested example |
| Imperative | Directive; can command, request, or exhort | ἀκολούθει μοι — 'follow me' (Matthew 9:9) |
|---|---|---|
| Subjunctive, hortatory | Urges participation; context identifies this use | ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους — 'let us love one another' (1 John 4:7) |
| Future indicative | Directive in context, still indicative in form | ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου (Matthew 22:37) |
| Infinitive | Exhortational use without an overt local governing verb | χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων — 'rejoice with those who rejoice' (Romans 12:15) |
| μή + aorist subjunctive | Perfective prohibition; no automatic do-not-begin meaning | μὴ θαυμάσῃς — 'do not marvel' (John 3:7) |
| μή + present imperative | Imperfective prohibition; no automatic stop-doing meaning | μὴ φοβοῦ — 'do not fear' (Mark 5:36) |
Chapter glossary
- — imperative command
verb
A directive expressed through imperative morphology, as ἀκολούθει μοι (Matthew 9:9). Imperatives also express requests and exhortations; their form alone does not measure authority, politeness, urgency, or compliance.- — hortatory subjunctive
verb
Subjunctive used to urge participation, characteristically 1st plural: ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους (1 John 4:7). The contracted form ἀγαπῶμεν is morphologically compatible with indicative elsewhere, so the hortatory analysis requires context.- — imperatival future
verb
Future indicative with directive force in context, remaining indicative in morphology: ἀγαπήσεις (Matthew 22:37). A negative command can use οὐ with future indicative, as οὐ φονεύσεις (Matthew 5:21). Not every future form is a command.- — prohibition (μὴ + pres. impv.)
verb
Standard prohibition with imperfective viewpoint: μὴ φοβοῦ 'do not fear' (Mark 5:36); 'stop/continue' nuances depend on context.- — prohibition (μὴ + aor. subj.)
verb
A prohibition using μή + aorist subjunctive, characteristically in direct second-person directives: μὴ θαυμάσῃς (John 3:7). Perfective viewpoint does not inherently mean 'do not begin'. Distinguish third-person aorist imperatives such as μὴ γνώτω (Matthew 6:3).- — wish (optative)
verb
Optative used in a wish or prayer, as γένοιτό μοι (Luke 1:38) and δῴη (Romans 15:5). μὴ γένοιτο also serves as emphatic rejection (Romans 6:2), but NT optative wishes are not limited to this formula. Wishes can also use non-optative constructions.