Greek word · G1204

δεῦρο

deuro

come

Deuro means 'hither, to this place' and in the New Testament is regularly used alone as a command, 'Come!' (Matt 19:21 'come, follow me'; Acts 7:3, 34). Its plural partner is deute ('come, all of you', e.g. Matt 11:28). Exō means 'outside, out.' Together: 'Here, outside!' meaning 'Come out here!'

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δεῦρο

adv., [in LXX chiefly for לֵךְ, לֵכָה ;]

1. of place;

(a) hither, with verbs of motion;

(b) (in cl. chiefly poët.) as an imperat., here! come!: Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 18:22, John 11:43, Acts 7:3" (LXX) , 34 (LXX), Revelation 17:1 21:9.

2. Of time, hitherto, now: Revelation 1:13.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 11:43

Range of meaning

Deuro means 'hither, to this place' and in the New Testament is regularly used alone as a command, 'Come!' (Matt 19:21 'come, follow me'; Acts 7:3, 34). Its plural partner is deute ('come, all of you', e.g. Matt 11:28). Exō means 'outside, out.' Together: 'Here, outside!' meaning 'Come out here!'

Against the English

'Come forth' (KJV, NASB) and 'come out' (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NLT) are both accurate. What English cannot easily show is that the Greek has no verb: it is two adverbs of direction barked as an order.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDAG s.v. δεῦρο lists the use as an imperative 'come here!' The bare-adverb command is ordinary spoken Greek, the way one would call a person or an animal to come.

From the study of Revelation 17:1

Range of meaning

Deuro is an adverb meaning 'here, hither', used as a command: 'Come here!' Deiknymi/deiknyō means to show or point out. In visionary writing it is the guide's word for showing the seer something otherwise hidden.

Against the English

'Come (hither), I will show you' in all versions. The renderings are accurate. What English readers usually miss is that the same formula appears again in 21:9.

Used elsewhere in the period

Revelation 4:1: 'Come up here, and I will show you.' 21:9: 'Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls… came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."' Guided tours of a vision with an angel explaining it are standard in Jewish apocalyptic writing (Ezekiel 40–48; Zechariah 1–6; 1 Enoch).

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 19:21 δεῦρο come

    Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

    Here: An adverb used as a command: "Here! Come!" It is a direct personal summons, the same kind of call the fishermen received.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 10:21 δεῦρο, come,

    Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

    Here: An exclamation that summons: "Come on!" It is the language of calling someone to come with you.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 18:22 δεῦρο, come,

    On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

    Here: An urgent adverb used as a command: 'Come on! Over here!' It is an invitation to step into Jesus' company now.

John · 1

  1. John 11:43 δεῦρο come

    After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

    Here: An adverb meaning 'hither, to here,' used on its own as a command: 'Come here!' No verb is needed. The order is bare and abrupt, more a summons than a request.

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 7:3 δεῦρο come

    and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’

  2. Acts 7:34 δεῦρο come

    I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’

    Here: A summons, "come on". It is paired with the next verb as an invitation, not a geographical instruction.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 1:13 δεῦρο, present,

    I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, how often I planned to come to you (but have been prevented from visiting until now), in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

    Here: Usually a word of place ('come here!'). Here, with the article, it is a time expression, 'until the present', a usage known from other Greek writers. The supplied tag calls it an interjection, but in this phrase it works as an adverb of time.

Revelation · 2

  1. Revelation 17:1 δεῦρο, Come here,

    Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.

    Here: An adverb used as a command: 'Here, come!' It calls John to follow. In 17:3 the angel then carries him 'in the Spirit' into a wilderness.

  2. Revelation 21:9 δεῦρο, Come here,

    Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

    Here: An adverb meaning 'hither' that works as a command: 'Come here!' It is the exact word that opened the Babylon vision (17:1).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.