Greek word · G1334

διηγέομαι

diēgeomai

to relate fully

To lead someone through a story: to narrate in detail and in order, to describe fully.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

δι-ηγέομαι, -οῦμαι

[in LXX chiefly for סָפַר pi. ;]

to set out in detail, recount, describe: absol., Hebrews 11:32; with accusative of thing(s), Acts 8:33; with dative of person(s), before πῶς, Mark 5:16, Acts 9:27 12:17; ἅ εἶδον, Mark 9:9; ὅσα ἐποίησε, -αν, Luke 8:39 9:10.†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: To lead someone through a story: to narrate in detail and in order, to describe fully.
Against the English: 'Declared' (KJV, WEB, YLT) sounds like a short announcement. 'Described' (BSB) and 'told/related' are closer to a step-by-step story.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 8:39 (the healed man is to 'tell how much God has done for you'), Luke 9:10, Acts 9:27 (Barnabas tells how Saul saw the Lord). The related noun diēgēsis, 'orderly account', is what Luke calls his own Gospel (Luke 1:1).

Range of meaning: To set out in detail, narrate, tell a story fully from beginning to end.
Against the English: English versions use 'declare' (KJV, WEB, YLT), 'recount' (BSB), 'speak of' (NIV, NLT) and 'describe' (ESV). 'Declare' sounds like an official announcement. The Greek is the language of telling a story.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke uses it for telling what God has done: Luke 8:39 ('tell how much God has done for you'), Luke 9:10, Acts 9:27 and Acts 12:17. The related noun διήγησις is what Luke calls his own Gospel, an 'orderly account' (Luke 1:1). In the Hebrew of Isaiah 53:8 the verb is yeśôḥēaḥ ('consider, think about'). The Greek translators made it 'tell'.

Range of meaning: To tell a story through, to narrate in detail, to give a full account of events. The related noun is the word Luke uses for the 'narratives' written about Jesus (Luke 1:1).
Against the English: KJV, WEB and ESV's 'declared' can sound like a formal announcement or bare assertion to a modern reader. BSB's and NASB's 'described' and NLT's and NIV's 'told' are nearer, though none fully conveys the sense of a sustained, ordered account.
How it drifted: In older English 'declare' could mean to recount or make known in detail. In current English it more often means to state flatly.
Used elsewhere in the period: The same pattern, 'he narrated to them how...', appears in Acts 12:17, where Peter tells how the Lord brought him out of prison. Compare Mark 5:16, Luke 8:39 and Luke 9:10.

Mark · 2

Mark 5:16 διηγήσαντο related

Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs.
Mark 9:9 διηγήσωνται they may tell

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus admonished them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Luke · 2

Luke 8:39 διηγοῦ do relate

“Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.
Luke 9:10 διηγήσαντο related

Then the apostles returned and reported to Jesus all that they had done. Taking them away privately, He withdrew to a town called Bethsaida.

Here: They told the whole story in detail, not just a quick report. It comes from the same word family as the 'narrative' (diēgēsis) Luke mentions in 1:1.

Acts · 3

Acts 8:33 διηγήσεται; will describe?

In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”

Here: To tell a story through from start to finish, or to recount it in detail. 'Who will tell his line?' means 'who could ever list his descendants' or 'who will tell his story'.
Acts 9:27 διηγήσατο he related

Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and described how Saul had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him on the road to Damascus, and how Saul had spoken boldly in that city in the name of Jesus.

Here: He narrated, told the account through from start to finish. This is a full telling of events, more than a short reference or a bare assertion that Saul was now safe.
Acts 12:17 διηγήσατο he related

Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.

Here: To tell a story through from start to finish, step by step. Peter gives an orderly account, not just a quick 'I'm free'.

Hebrews · 1

Hebrews 11:32 διηγούμενον telling

And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

Here: 'If I go through the story', i.e. tell it out from start to finish. Each name stands for a whole story, and telling all of them would take hours. The participle is masculine, so the author speaks of himself as a man.

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