Exploring the Meaning of Hermeneuo in Greek

ἑρμηνεύω means “to interpret,” and it appears in three New Testament contexts where a name or title is explained for the reader. In each passage it functions as a brief bridge between a term and its understood sense within the narrative or argument.

Root and Related Words

ἑρμηνεύω (Hermēneuō) is related to Ἑρμῆς (Hermēs), “Hermes” (Strong’s G2060).

Occurrences

“He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).” (John 1:42)

In this first occurrence, ἑρμηνεύω supports the Gospel’s move from what Jesus says to Simon to what that designation communicates to the audience. Jesus speaks a new form of address—“You shall be called Cephas”—and the parenthetical explanation, “which is by interpretation, Peter,” frames the naming as something that needs interpretive mediation for the reader. The verb thus stands at the point where a personal name is carried across a linguistic or cultural boundary, keeping the flow of the scene intact: a direct encounter (“Jesus looked at him”) followed by a spoken identification (“You are Simon”) and then a reassignment (“You shall be called…”). Within the narrative, interpretation is not presented as speculative but as an explanatory aside that clarifies what the name signifies in the form familiar to the Gospel’s audience.

“and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.” (John 9:7)

Here the interpretive note attaches to a place-name rather than a person’s name. The instruction is concrete and urgent—“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”—and the brief parenthesis, “which means ‘Sent,’” supplies interpretation in the middle of a healing narrative that otherwise advances by action verbs: said, go, wash, went away, washed, came back. In that rhythm, ἑρμηνεύω functions as a concise clarification, anchoring the reader’s understanding of the location without pausing the story. The interpretive move also places emphasis on the pool’s name as a meaningful detail, not mere geography: the narrator treats the designation “Siloam” as something that bears an understood sense worth stating. Interpretation in this verse is therefore in service of narrative comprehension, offering a guided reading of a key term embedded in the command.

“to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, “king of righteousness”, and then also “king of Salem”, which means “king of peace”,” (Hebrews 7:2)

In Hebrews, ἑρμηνεύω occurs inside a tightly reasoned sentence where an argument depends on stated interpretations of titles. The writer connects Abraham’s action—“divided a tenth part of all”—to a description that follows in parentheses. The phrase “being first, by interpretation, ‘king of righteousness’” signals that the title is being presented with an interpreted sense that matters for what comes next. The line then continues with a second explanation: “and then also ‘king of Salem’, which means ‘king of peace’.” The interpretive comments are layered (“first… and then also…”) and ordered, as though the sequence of interpreted titles contributes to the way the figure is being portrayed. Unlike the Gospel asides that briefly translate a name for clarity, Hebrews uses interpretation as an argumentative tool: the author builds a portrait through interpreted designations, and the interpretive phrases mark these as deliberate steps in the exposition.

Sense and Usage

Across these three passages, “to interpret” operates as a controlled, explanatory act rather than a broad invitation to conjecture. In John 1:42, interpretation clarifies a personal name bestowed in a face-to-face moment; the narrative presents the naming as a significant spoken act, and the interpretive aside ensures that significance is intelligible to the reader who may not recognize “Cephas.” In John 9:7, interpretation clarifies a place-name embedded in a command, keeping the reader oriented as the account moves quickly from instruction to obedience to outcome. In Hebrews 7:2, interpretation clarifies titles in a structured sequence, and the interpretive clarifications serve the logic of the passage by attaching understood senses to the titles being discussed.

A shared feature is the parenthetical style: interpretation is introduced as an aside that briefly interrupts the main line and then returns the reader to the narrative or argument. This placement shows the verb’s practical force: it supplies meaning at the moment a term would otherwise remain opaque. The object interpreted may be a person’s name (Cephas), a location (Siloam), or honorific descriptions (“king of righteousness,” “king of peace”). In each case, ἑρμηνεύω marks the movement from a term as spoken or cited to the term as understood, allowing the text to preserve authentic designations while also guiding comprehension.

The three contexts also show that interpretation can be oriented toward different ends while remaining the same basic act. In the Johannine scenes it supports storytelling: the reader is given just enough interpretive help to follow the significance of names within unfolding events. In Hebrews it supports exposition: the writer foregrounds interpretation as part of the reasoning process, presenting interpreted titles in a deliberate order. Taken together, these uses keep “interpret” close to concrete linguistic explanation—an explicit statement of what a name or title conveys in the author’s intended understanding.

Imagery in Context

Though ἑρμηνεύω itself is an explanatory verb, the passages attach it to vivid settings: Jesus looking at Simon and renaming him (John 1:42), a command to wash at a specific pool followed by the decisive outcome “came back seeing” (John 9:7), and the patriarch Abraham dividing a tenth as the discussion turns to interpreted royal titles (Hebrews 7:2). In these scenes, interpretation is pictured not as an abstract exercise but as a brief, spoken clarification placed beside decisive actions—naming, washing, giving a tenth—so that the reader receives both the event and its understood sense.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).