Greek word · G4304
προμελετάω
promeletaō
to premeditate
From πρό ('before') and μελετάω ('care for, practise, study, rehearse'). The root verb is common for practising a skill and especially for rehearsing speeches. The noun μελέτη became the technical name for the practice speeches students declaimed in rhetoric schools.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
to practise beforehand : with infinitive, (Xenophon Historicus) (ML)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
From πρό ('before') and μελετάω ('care for, practise, study, rehearse'). The root verb is common for practising a skill and especially for rehearsing speeches. The noun μελέτη became the technical name for the practice speeches students declaimed in rhetoric schools. The compound means 'to practise or rehearse beforehand', especially a speech one plans to give.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'meditate before(hand)' and ESV 'meditate beforehand' keep the older English sense of 'meditate' (to study, con over, plan). NASB 'prepare beforehand' is accurate. BSB/NIV 'worry beforehand' and NLT 'worry in advance' move the meaning toward anxiety. That is the sense of a different Greek word (προμεριμνάω), which Mark uses in the parallel saying (Mark 13:11) and Luke does not.
- How it drifted
Two separate drifts. (1) English 'meditate' has narrowed to quiet contemplation or a spiritual practice, so the KJV wording now sounds like a ban on prayerful reflection. (2) Some modern versions harmonize Luke with Mark and Matthew, who speak of anxiety, and so blur Luke's own word choice.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 116–117: the women hold a meeting so that they can promeletan (rehearse beforehand) the speeches they will give in the Assembly (LSJ). Classical and Hellenistic writers use μελετάω for orators practising declamations. It does not appear in the Septuagint. In the New Testament it occurs only here. Compare μελετάω in 1 Tim 4:15 ('practise these things') and in Acts 4:25, quoting Ps 2:1 ('plot, devise').
Where it appears
Luke · 1
-
Luke 21:14 προμελετᾶν to premeditate
So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves.
Here: Found only here in the New Testament. It means to prepare and practise a speech in advance, the way a speaker drills a set piece. The present tense suggests an ongoing habit of rehearsing. It is a word about preparing a speech, not a word for anxiety.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.