κωλύω

Matthew 19:14 κωλύετε do forbid

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Here: 'Prevent, block, stand in the way.' The present tense with mē points to something already happening, so the sense is 'stop blocking them'. The disciples were actively turning people away.

Mark 9:38 ἐκωλύομεν we were forbidding

John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone else driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”

Here: 'We were hindering him.' The imperfect tense describes an action in progress or attempted, so 'we tried to stop him' or 'we kept telling him to stop'. It leaves open whether they succeeded. Jesus answers with the same verb: 'Do not hinder him' (9:39).

Mark 9:39 κωλύετε do forbid

“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me.

Here: A present-tense command addressed to all the disciples (plural). John had just said 'we were hindering him' (ἐκωλύομεν, the same verb), so the most natural sense is 'stop hindering him' or 'don't keep getting in his way'.

Mark 10:14 κωλύετε do hinder

But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Here: A present-tense command with "not". It usually means "stop doing what you are doing" or "don't keep on": stop blocking them. In the best manuscripts there is no "and" before it, so it lands as a second blunt order.

Luke 6:29 κωλύσῃς.¶ may do withhold.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

Here: "Do not hold back" or "do not stop (him)". The form is an aorist subjunctive with "not", a common Greek way of forbidding a specific act: when it happens, do not hang on to the tunic.

Luke 9:49 ἐκωλύομεν we were forbidding

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”

Here: The tense describes an action in progress or attempted: "we tried to stop him" or "we kept telling him to stop". It suggests the man did not actually stop. The verb matters in Luke's writings, which keep returning to the idea of not "hindering" God's work.

Luke 9:50 κωλύετε· do forbid;

“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Here: It repeats John's own verb from 9:49 (ekōlyomen, “we tried to stop him”). Jesus throws the disciples' word back at them. The present plural command most naturally means “stop hindering him,” all of you, not just John.

Luke 11:52 ἐκωλύσατε.¶ you hindered.

Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

Here: 'You blocked, you stopped.' It is the same verb Jesus uses when he says 'do not hinder' the children from coming to him (18:16). The charge is active obstruction, not just neglect.

Luke 18:16 κωλύετε do forbid

But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Here: A present command with 'not', which often means 'stop doing what you are doing'. The disciples were already blocking the children, and Jesus orders them to stop.

Luke 23:2 κωλύοντα forbidding

And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

Here: "Forbidding / preventing." The present tense pictures Jesus as actively campaigning against the tax, which is the opposite of what he said in Luke 20:25.

Acts 8:36 κωλύει prevents

As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”

Here: 'Hinders' or 'stands in the way'. The word is about barriers and who has the right to keep someone out. Luke uses it again when Gentiles are baptized (Acts 10:47; 11:17) and when Jesus says 'do not hinder' the children (Luke 18:16).

Acts 10:47 κωλῦσαί to withhold

“Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!”

Here: To block, refuse or hold something back from someone. Luke uses this word for barriers to the gospel. In Acts 11:17 Peter uses it again: 'who was I to be able to hinder God?'

Acts 11:17 κωλῦσαι to forbid

So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”

Here: 'To block, stand in the way of'. It repeats Peter's question at Caesarea, 'Can anyone withhold [kōlysai] the water?' (10:47). Refusing baptism or fellowship would have meant obstructing God.

Acts 16:6 κωλυθέντες having been forbidden

After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.

Here: 'Having been prevented' or 'stopped'. The passive form means someone else, here the Spirit, did the stopping. It describes an actual blocking of a plan, not only a spoken ban.

Acts 24:23 κωλύειν to forbid

He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.

Acts 27:43 ἐκώλυσεν hindered

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.

Romans 1:13 ἐκωλύθην was hindered

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: Aorist passive, 'I was prevented'. Paul does not name who or what blocked him. Romans 15:22 suggests it was the demands of his unfinished work in the eastern Mediterranean.

1 Corinthians 14:39 κωλύετε do forbid

So, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

1 Thessalonians 2:16 κωλυόντων they are hindering

hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

Here: A present participle in the genitive. It continues the chain of descriptions begun in v.15 ("who killed… who drove us out… who are displeasing…"), so it is another phrase about the same opponents, not a new sentence. The present tense shows the hindering is still going on.

1 Timothy 4:3 κωλυόντων forbidding

They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Here: "Forbidding". A present participle, describing what these teachers keep doing. It is genitive plural, so it hangs on the "liars" of verse 2: the lying teachers are the people who forbid. It means actively stopping people, not just giving private advice.

Hebrews 7:23 κωλύεσθαι being prevented from

Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.

2 Peter 2:16 ἐκώλυσεν it restrained

But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

3 John 1:10 κωλύει he forbids

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.