Matthew study section
Matthew word studies
A handful of Greek words carry the theology of Matthew. Tap the speaker next to any word to hear it pronounced.
Key words
βασιλεία (basileia): “Kingdom”
Usage: Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 13:11; and throughout
Meaning: Kingdom, reign, rule, royal power. Matthew’s characteristic phrase is “the kingdom of heaven.”
Theological Significance: The kingdom is the reign of God breaking into history in the person of Jesus the King. It is entered by repentance and faith, and its full arrival is still awaited at His return (Matthew 6:10, 33; Revelation 11:15).
πληρόω (plēroō): “To Fulfill”
Usage: Matthew 1:22; 2:15; 5:17; and often
Meaning: To fill up, complete, bring to fulfillment. Matthew’s refrain: “to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.”
Theological Significance: Jesus does not discard the Old Testament but brings it to its intended goal. He is the fulfillment toward which the law and prophets pointed, so that all Scripture finds its “Yes” in Him (Matthew 5:17; 2 Corinthians 1:20).
δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē): “Righteousness”
Usage: Matthew 5:6, 20; 6:33
Meaning: Righteousness, justice, right standing and right living before God.
Theological Significance: Jesus calls for a righteousness of the heart that surpasses mere outward observance. Perfectly kept by Him, it is both the gift He gives and the life He works in His people who “hunger and thirst” for it (Matthew 5:6, 20; Philippians 3:9).
μακάριος (makarios): “Blessed”
Usage: Matthew 5:3-11; 11:6; 13:16; 16:17
Meaning: Blessed, happy, fortunate, not a wish or a greeting but a declaration about someone’s actual condition.
Theological Significance: Each of the Beatitudes opens with this word in an indicative pronouncement, not a command: Jesus declares who is blessed rather than setting conditions for becoming so. The people He names (the spiritually bankrupt, the mourning, the hungry) are precisely those no one would call fortunate, which is the point (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20; Psalm 1:1).
πραΰς (praus): “Meek, Gentle”
Usage: Matthew 5:5; 11:29; 21:5
Meaning: Gentle, mild, strength held under control, used in Greek of a powerful animal brought under the rein, never of weakness.
Theological Significance: Jesus applies the word to Himself (“I am gentle and lowly in heart”) and Matthew uses it of the King riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Meekness is therefore not timidity but power submitted to the Father’s will, and Matthew 5:5 quotes Psalm 37:11: the meek inherit what the aggressive grasp for (Matthew 11:29; 21:5; Psalm 37:11).
ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia): “Church, Assembly”
Usage: Matthew 16:18; 18:17
Meaning: An assembly, a called-out gathering; the community of Jesus’ people.
Theological Significance: Matthew alone among the Gospels records Jesus’ word “I will build my church.” Christ Himself gathers and secures His people, against whom the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 5:25-27).
μαθητεύω (mathēteuō): “To Make a Disciple”
Usage: Matthew 28:19
Meaning: To make a disciple, to teach so that one follows. The central command of the Great Commission.
Theological Significance: The risen King’s charge is not merely to convert but to make lifelong learners and followers of Jesus among all nations, baptizing and teaching them to obey Him (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:42).
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