παρακολουθέω

From the study of 2 Timothy 3:10

Range of meaning

Literally 'to follow alongside, accompany.' From there: (1) to stay close to events and so know them thoroughly, as an informed witness; (2) to follow something with the mind, to understand it; (3) to follow a teaching or standard faithfully, to keep to it as a disciple. The word sits where knowing someone closely and following them meet.

Against the English

BSB 'observed' and KJV 'fully known' stress Timothy as the informed witness. WEB, YLT, ESV and NASB 'followed' keep the disciple sense but can sound like mere imitation. NIV 'know all about' and NLT 'certainly know' lean fully toward knowledge. No single English verb holds both 'I watched it up close' and 'I have taken it as my pattern.'

Used elsewhere in the period

In Luke 1:3 Luke has 'followed all things closely from the start', meaning he informed himself thoroughly. In 1 Timothy 4:6 Timothy is nourished on 'the good teaching which you have followed', which is the disciple's sense. Josephus (Against Apion 1.53) uses it for a historian who personally followed events, and Hellenistic writers use it for a student keeping to a teacher's doctrine.

From the study of Luke 1:3

Range of meaning

Literally 'to follow along beside'. By extension: to accompany; to keep up with a course of events; to be thoroughly informed about something; to understand a matter by following it closely. It can describe being physically present and following events as they unfolded, or following them mentally.

Against the English

NIV, NASB, NLT and BSB say 'investigated', which pictures a researcher gathering sources. ESV and WEB say 'followed' or 'traced', which keeps the 'following' image. The KJV's 'having had perfect understanding' points to the resulting state of knowledge, but 'perfect' can now sound like complete or infallible knowledge.

How it drifted

'Investigated' became the usual English rendering because it fits the modern picture of Luke as a careful historian working from sources. That picture is partly right: 1:1–2 does speak of eyewitness tradition. The verb itself, though, leans more toward 'having closely followed' than toward 'having researched'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus, Against Apion 1.53, says a historian must get accurate knowledge 'either by having followed the events closely (parēkolouthēkota tois gegonosin) or by inquiring from those who knew them'. That passage sets the verb apart from inquiry. Demosthenes and documentary papyri use it for keeping up with or being well informed about affairs. In 1 Tim 4:6 and 2 Tim 3:10 it means following a teaching faithfully. H. J. Cadbury (1922) argued that in Luke 1:3 it means 'having been in close touch with' the events rather than 'having investigated' them.

From the study of Mark 16:17

Range of meaning

Follow closely or alongside; accompany or attend; by extension, keep up with or trace carefully (Luke 1:3, 'having followed all things closely'), or follow a teaching faithfully (1 Tim 4:6; 2 Tim 3:10).

Against the English

KJV 'follow' can sound like 'come afterward' or 'chase after.' BSB, WEB and most modern versions have 'accompany,' which fits better: the signs walk beside the believers.

How it drifted

'Follow' in the KJV of 1611 could still carry the sense of 'attend upon.' Today it suggests sequence in time or discipleship ('follow me'), which is not the point.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Hellenistic Greek (the Greek of the period after Alexander) for attendants or consequences that 'go along with' something. Verse 20 uses the related compound epakolouthéō ('the signs that followed along').