βούλομαι

Matthew 1:19 ἐβουλήθη he purposed

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

Here: Aorist (a single, completed act): 'he made up his mind', 'he decided'. A deliberate plan. Verse 20 says he was still turning it over when the angel came.

Matthew 11:27 βούληται shall choose

All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Here: 'Wills / decides.' The Son's deliberate choice. It mirrors the Father's 'good pleasure' in v. 26.

Mark 15:15 βουλόμενος desiring

And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

Here: A present participle giving Pilate's motive while he acts. The word covers deliberate intention as well as desire. Mark explains the decision as a political choice, not a judgment that Jesus was guilty.

Luke 10:22 βούληται shall resolve

All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Here: 'Wishes, decides'. The Son's own deliberate will decides who is let in on this knowledge.

Luke 22:42 βούλει You are willing

“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Here: 'You want / you intend.' In Luke's writings this word belongs to the family of God's boulē, his set purpose or plan (Acts 2:23; 4:28). So the question is whether removing the cup fits God's plan, not just whether God would agree to it.

John 18:39 βούλεσθε wish you

But it is your custom that I release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So then, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

Here: "Do you want…?" A real request for their preference, made formally. Pilate hands the choice to them.

Acts 5:28 βούλεσθε you intend

“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”

Here: Present tense: what they are bent on doing. It accuses them of motive. This is a deliberate campaign, not mere preaching.

Acts 5:33 ἐβούλοντο they were desiring

When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.

Here: 'They were wanting' or 'were intending'. This is a will moving toward action, but the imperfect tense leaves it unfinished. Gamaliel steps in (5:34) before any decision is carried out.

Acts 12:4 βουλόμενος intending

He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

Here: A settled intention, not a passing wish. It gives Herod's reason for all these arrangements and sets up the story's reversal, because the plan will not happen.

Acts 15:37 ἐβούλετο was planning

Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark.

Here: Imperfect tense, which describes ongoing action: 'was wanting' or 'kept wanting'. It is an intention he held and pressed, not a passing wish. It sits next to Paul's imperfect ἠξίου in v. 38 ('kept judging it right not to'), so the picture is of a dispute that went on, not a single exchange.

Acts 17:20 βουλόμεθα We resolve

For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”

Acts 18:15 βούλομαι resolve

But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”

Here: 'I am not willing' or 'I decline'. It is a deliberate decision by someone who has the discretion, not a statement that he lacks the power. Gallio could have heard the case and chose not to.

Acts 18:27 βουλομένου When is resolving

When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

Here: Apollos wants and intends to go. The form sets the background: this plan was already in motion while the rest of the sentence happens, and in this form of the text the idea starts with him.

Acts 19:30 βουλομένου intending

Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him.

Acts 22:30 βουλόμενος desiring

The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

Here: A present participle that gives the reason for what follows: because he wanted to know. The subject is the tribune (χιλίαρχος) from 22:29, who is left unnamed here and named Claudius Lysias in 23:26.

Acts 23:28 βουλόμενός Resolving

and since I wanted to understand their charges against him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin.

Acts 25:20 βούλοιτο he would be willing

Since I was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

Acts 25:22 ἐβουλόμην I was wanting

Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.” “Tomorrow you will hear him,” Festus declared.

Acts 27:43 βουλόμενος desiring

But the centurion, wanting to spare Paul’s life, thwarted their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

Acts 28:18 ἐβούλοντο they were wanting

They examined me and wanted to release me, because there was no basis for a death sentence against me.

1 Corinthians 12:11 βούλεται.¶ He wills.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.

Here: "He wills" or "he intends". This is a settled, purposeful decision, not a passing wish. It puts the choice of who gets which gift with the Spirit, not with the person who receives it.

2 Corinthians 1:15 ἐβουλόμην I was planning

Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing.

2 Corinthians 1:17 βουλόμενος deciding

When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”?

Here: "While intending / when I was intending." The present participle looks at the time when the plan was really in force. It picks up "I wanted" (ἐβουλόμην) from verse 15. Paul insists the intention was real.

Philippians 1:12 βούλομαι, I want,

Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel.

Here: 'I want' or 'I intend'. It is a deliberate wish, a little more formal than the usual θέλω. Paul is choosing to report his situation to them.

1 Timothy 2:8 Βούλομαι I desire

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.

Here: Paul's considered will, not a passing wish. Coming from an apostle writing to his delegate, it works as a directive: 'this is how I want it done.'

1 Timothy 5:14 Βούλομαι I want

So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.

Here: "I want" or "it is my will." Paul is stating a firm wish as the leader who instructs Timothy, not offering a mild suggestion. He opens 1 Tim 2:8 the same way ("I want the men to pray").

1 Timothy 6:9 βουλόμενοι desiring

Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

Here: 'Wanting, intending.' A present participle, so the wanting goes on: people whose aim is set on wealth. The verse is about the wish and the drive, not about owning wealth as such.

Titus 3:8 βούλομαί I want

This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

Here: "I want, I intend." This is a deliberate directive from the senior apostle to his delegate, not a mild wish.

Philemon 1:13 ἐβουλόμην was wishing

I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel.

Hebrews 6:17 βουλόμενος desiring

So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.

Here: "Wanting, intending". It gives the reason for the oath: God did it because he willed to. It shares a root with boulēs ("purpose") later in the verse, so in Greek his willing and his fixed will echo each other.

James 1:18 βουληθεὶς Having willed [it]

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.

Here: 'Having willed it' or 'because he purposed it'. It stands first in the sentence for emphasis: what follows came from God's own settled intention. It sets up a contrast with the human 'desire' of 1:14–15 that gives birth to sin.

James 3:4 βούλεται.¶ decides.

Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.

Here: "Wills, intends, decides." It ends the sentence on deliberate intention: the ship goes where a will chooses, not where the wind pushes.

James 4:4 βουληθῇ shall choose

You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

Here: "Should resolve, choose, set one's will". This is a deliberate intention, not a passing feeling. The same verb is used in 1:18 of God, who "by his will" gave his people birth.

2 Peter 3:9 βουλόμενός willing

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

Here: 'Not wishing.' The participle gives the reason for the patience: he holds back *because* he does not want anyone lost. It describes what God desires, not a schedule of outcomes.

2 John 1:12 ἐβουλήθην I purposed

I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and speak with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

Here: 'I decided, I chose.' It is a past tense written from the viewpoint of the reader, who will hold the letter after it was written. In English it comes out as 'I do not want' or 'I have decided not to.' Βούλομαι often points to a considered choice, not just a passing wish.

3 John 1:10 βουλομένους purposing

So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church.

Jude 1:5 βούλομαι, I want,

Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.

Here: "I want" or "I intend": a deliberate purpose, and a polite, almost formal way of opening a point, common in Greek letters.