Lexical Summary
ekdechomai: To wait for, to expect, to look for
Original Word: ἐκδέχομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ekdechomai
Pronunciation: ek-dekh'-om-ahee
Phonetic Spelling: (ek-dekh'-om-ahee)
KJV: expect, look (tarry) for, wait (for)
NASB: waiting, expect, looking, wait, waits
Word Origin: [from G1537 (ἐκ - among) and G1209 (δέχομαι - receive)]
1. to accept from some source
2. (by implication) to await
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
expect, look for, wait for.
From ek and dechomai; to accept from some source, i.e. (by implication) to await -- expect, look (tarry) for, wait (for).
see GREEK ek
see GREEK dechomai
HELPS Word-studies
1551 ekdéomai (from 1537 /ek, "out from and to" and 1209/deomai, "welcome") – properly, welcome from the heart, looking to the end-result of the waiting (literally, its "out-come," outcome).
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
ek and
dechomaiDefinitionto take or receive, by impl. to await, expect
NASB Translationexpect (1), looking (1), wait (1), waiting (3), waits (1).
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1551: ἐκδέχομαιἐκδέχομαι; imperfect
ἐξεδεχομην; (
ἐκ from some person or quarter);
1. to receive, accept ((Homer), Aeschylus, Herodotus, and following).
2. to look for, expect, wait for, await: τί, John 5:3 R L; Hebrews 11:10; James 5:7; τινα, Acts 17:16; 1 Corinthians 16:11; ἀλλήλους ἐκδέχεσθε wait for one another, namely, until each shall have received his food, 1 Corinthians 11:33, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:21; followed by ἕως etc. Hebrews 10:13; (absolutely, 1 Peter 3:20 Rec., but see Tdf.s note at the passage). Rarely with this meaning in secular authors, as Sophocles Phil. 123; Apollod. 1, 9, 27 § 3; ἕως ἄν γένηται τί, Dionysius Halicarnassus 6, 67. (Compare: ἀπεκδέχομαι. Cf. δέχομαι, at the end.)
Topical Lexicon
Overview of the Term’s Theological Emphasis The verb ἐκδέχομαι portrays an active, confident waiting that joins expectancy to reception. In every New Testament occurrence the context demands more than idle delay; it calls for faith-filled readiness to take possession of what God is certain to provide—whether fellowship, vindication, partners in ministry, or the consummation of redemptive history.
Occurrences and Key Themes
1. Ecclesial Courtesy and Unity (1 Corinthians 11:33)
“Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.” The Corinthian fellowship meal had degenerated into selfish haste. Paul restores order by requiring ἐκδέχομαι: believers must restrain personal appetite until every member is present. Waiting becomes a practical expression of the one-body reality created by Christ’s broken body.
2. Pastoral Partnership and Hospitality (1 Corinthians 16:11)
“Therefore let no one despise him. Send him on his way in peace, that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.” Paul’s anticipation of Timothy underscores the early church’s interdependence. The church’s reception of a worker they “expect” demonstrates that readiness to welcome servants of the gospel is integral to faithful ministry.
3. Patient Endurance in Trial (James 5:7)
“Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth…” The farmer’s long-range expectancy anchors James’s exhortation to persevere under oppression. Ἐκδέχομαι here links steadfastness to eschatological hope; believers endure because the harvest (the Lord’s return) is assured.
4. Hope for the Helpless (John 5:3)
“In these colonnades lay a multitude of the sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.” The infirm by Bethesda embody Israel’s yearning for deliverance. Their prolonged ἐκδέχομαι prepares the narrative contrast: the Messiah arrives, and the one who had no man to help finds immediate help in the Son of Man. Expectation meets fulfillment in Christ’s compassionate authority.
5. Strategic Pause in Mission (Acts 17:16)
“Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was troubled within him when he saw the city full of idols.” Paul’s waiting is missional, not idle. The delay sharpens his gospel burden, leading to the Mars Hill address. Thus ἐκδέχομαι frames one of Scripture’s clearest models of contextualized evangelism.
6. Messianic Confidence in Ultimate Triumph (Hebrews 10:13)
“…waiting from that time until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.” The ascended Christ Himself practices ἐκδέχομαι. His seated posture signals completed atonement; His waiting underscores inevitable victory. Believers share this confidence, resting in a finished work while anticipating its public vindication.
7. Patriarchal Vision of a Better City (Hebrews 11:10)
“For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Abraham’s ἐκδέχομαι spans generations. His tent-dwelling lifestyle points beyond Canaan to the New Jerusalem, illustrating that faithful waiting transcends earthly horizons.
Historical and Ministry Significance
• Early Christian worship: The term regulates the Lord’s Supper, shaping liturgical sensitivity to the entire body of Christ.
• Apostolic networks: Churches learn to cultivate expectancy for traveling teachers, forging practical unity across the Mediterranean world.
• Pastoral counseling: James’s agrarian metaphor equips persecuted believers with an eschatological timetable, encouraging perseverance without resignation.
• Evangelistic method: Paul’s Athenian interval shows how holy impatience during waiting periods can birth culture-bridging proclamation.
• Christology: Hebrews locates the risen Lord in a posture of assured anticipation, rooting Christian hope in His ongoing session at the Father’s right hand.
• Eschatology: From Abraham to the church, ἐκδέχομαι stitches Scripture’s storyline together, portraying God’s people as pilgrims certain of a prepared city.
Spiritual Lessons for Believers Today
1. Waiting is inherently communal; consider others before self in corporate worship.
2. Expectancy fuels hospitality; prepare to receive God’s servants generously.
3. Perseverance rests on the certainty of the Lord’s return; trials cannot cancel the harvest.
4. Delays in ministry are opportunities to deepen discernment and widen outreach.
5. The Savior’s own waiting guarantees the church’s triumph; the throne is occupied, the outcome fixed.
6. Long-term promises transform present living; like Abraham, believers invest in what they cannot yet see, confident God will deliver the city whose foundations are eternal.
Forms and Transliterations
εκδέδεκται έκδεξαι εκδεξάμεθα εκδέξεται εκδεξομαι εκδεχεσθε εκδέχεσθε ἐκδέχεσθε εκδεχεται εκδέχεται ἐκδέχεται εκδεχομαι εκδέχομαι ἐκδέχομαι εκδεχομενος εκδεχόμενος ἐκδεχόμενος εκδεχομενου εκδεχομένου ἐκδεχομένου εκδεχομενων εκδεχομένων ἐκδεχομένων εκδήσεις εξεδεχετο εξεδέχετο ἐξεδέχετο ekdechesthe ekdéchesthe ekdechetai ekdéchetai ekdechomai ekdéchomai ekdechomenon ekdechomenōn ekdechoménon ekdechoménōn ekdechomenos ekdechómenos ekdechomenou ekdechoménou exedecheto exedécheto
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