Greek word · G4748

στοιχέω

stoicheō

to follow

From στοῖχος, 'row, line, rank'. The basic sense is 'to be or move in a line, keep in rank'. The figurative senses are 'agree with, conform to, follow, hold to a standard'. It is related to στοιχεῖον, an item in a series (letter, element).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

στοιχέω, -ῶ

(στοῖχος, a row), [in LXX: Ecclesiastes 11:6 (כָּשֵׁר) * ;]

to be in rows (of waves, plants, etc., as well as of men), to walk in line (esp. of marching in file to battle; Xen., Cyr., vi, 3, 34, al.). Metaphorical, in late writers, to walk by rule: Acts 21:24; with dative, to walk by or in (as a rule of life), Romans 4:12 (cf. MM, xxiii), Galatians 5:25 6:16, Philippians 3:16 (cf. συν-στοιχέω).†

(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 Philippians 3:16

Range of meaning

From στοῖχος, 'row, line, rank'. The basic sense is 'to be or move in a line, keep in rank'. The figurative senses are 'agree with, conform to, follow, hold to a standard'. It is related to στοιχεῖον, an item in a series (letter, element).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT 'walk' lets the word blur into Paul's usual verb for conduct, peripateō ('walk', used in v.17). Stoicheō is more specific: it means to keep in line with something. BSB/NIV 'live up to' and ESV 'hold true to' catch the idea of conforming to a standard. NASB's 'keep living by that same standard' gets both the ongoing action and the standard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used only five times in the NT: Acts 21:24 (Paul 'living in observance of' the law), Rom 4:12 ('who follow in the footsteps' of Abraham's faith), Gal 5:25 ('let us keep in step with the Spirit'), Gal 6:16 ('those who will keep in line with this rule (kanōn)'), and here. Greek lexicons (LSJ, BDAG) record the literal 'stand or march in a row' sense and the Hellenistic sense 'agree with, conform to'. See TDNT on στοιχέω.

From the study of Acts 21:24

Range of meaning

From stoichos, 'row, line'. To stand or move in line, keep in step, and from that to conform to or follow a standard. BDAG gives: 'be in line with a person or thing considered as standard for one's conduct; hold to, agree with, follow, conform'.

Against the English

KJV/NASB: 'walk orderly'. BSB: 'live in obedience to'. WEB: 'walk keeping'. YLT: 'walk'. 'Live in obedience' gives the sense but drops the image of keeping in line or in step with a standard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Paul uses the verb himself: 'let us also keep in step with the Spirit' (Gal 5:25); 'all who walk by this rule' (Gal 6:16); those who 'follow in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham' (Rom 4:12); 'let us hold true to what we have attained' (Phil 3:16). Outside the Bible it is used of things in a row and of conforming to a rule.

From the study of Galatians 5:25

Range of meaning

Built from stoichos, 'row, line, rank' (as of soldiers, trees, columns or rows of seats). Its basic sense is 'to be in a row, stand in line.' From that it came to mean 'to keep in step with, be in agreement with, hold to, follow, conform to' a person, a pattern or a rule. BDAG gives 'be in line with, stand beside, hold to, agree with, follow, conform.' In the NT it appears only five times, always in this extended sense of lining up with a standard: Acts 21:24 (Paul 'living in observance of the law'), Rom 4:12 ('those who walk in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham'), Gal 5:25, Gal 6:16 ('all who keep in line with this rule,' kanōn), and Phil 3:16 ('let us hold to what we have attained').

Against the English

KJV, WEB and NASB use 'walk,' the same word they use for the different verb peripateō in 5:16. That makes the two verses sound identical when Paul actually changes his image. NIV, ESV and BSB ('keep in step,' 'walk in step') bring back the picture of alignment. NLT's 'follow the Spirit's leading' keeps the idea of following but loses the picture of a line, and with it the communal sense.

How it drifted

The Latin Vulgate rendered both 5:16 and 5:25 with ambulare ('walk'), and the KJV tradition followed it. Over time 'walk in the Spirit' became one devotional phrase, heard as a private, moment-by-moment personal journey. Paul's shift from 'walk about' (conduct in general) to 'keep in line' (conformity to a leader or standard, alongside others) dropped out of view.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun stoichos is used of military ranks and rows in classical Greek (e.g. Xenophon). In Hellenistic decrees and inscriptions the verb often describes someone who 'keeps in line with' or follows the example of ancestors or a set policy, which is the conformity-to-a-standard sense (Delling, TDNT 7). The cognate noun stoicheia ('elements, basic components, elementary principles') appears in Gal 4:3, 9, where Paul warns the Galatians against going back into slavery to 'the elements of the world.'

Similar words

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 21:24 στοιχεῖς you walk orderly

    Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.

    Here: 'You walk in line' or 'you keep in step'. The image comes from soldiers or objects standing in a row. Paul lives in alignment with the standard. Present tense: this is his ongoing way of life.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 4:12 στοιχοῦσιν walking

    And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

    Here: Present participle: those who keep walking in line, step by step. The word pictures soldiers keeping rank or walkers following a leader, and so describes an ongoing way of life that conforms to a pattern.

Galatians · 2

  1. Galatians 5:25 στοιχῶμεν. we shall walk.

    Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

    Here: A call to the whole group: 'let us keep in line.' The verb comes from a word for a row or rank of soldiers. Paul picks it over his usual word for 'walk' (v.16), so it suggests lining up with a standard and with one another, not simply strolling.

  2. Galatians 6:16 στοιχήσουσιν, will walk,

    Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

    Here: To stay in line, as in a row or rank, so to conform to a standard. Future tense: 'whoever will keep in line with it.' Paul is looking ahead to how the Galatians respond once this letter is read to them. The same verb appears in 5:25, 'let us keep in step with the Spirit.'

Philippians · 1

  1. Philippians 3:16 στοιχεῖν [we are] to walk

    Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.

    Here: An infinitive used as a command: 'keep in line with it!' The picture is people moving in an orderly row, holding to a set line rather than wandering off it. The present tense means keep on doing it.

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