ποτίζω means “to water,” a verb used for giving something to drink and for watering in agricultural imagery. In the passages where it appears, it moves between ordinary acts of providing drink and a figurative picture of nurture that leads to growth.
Occurrences
“Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)
Here ποτίζω supplies the concrete action behind the scene: a person provides water “to drink.” The stress falls on the smallness and simplicity of the gift (“just a cup of cold water”) and on the relational setting (“in the name of a disciple”), so that the act of giving drink becomes a clear, measurable instance of care that receives a promised reward.
“for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.” (Matthew 25:35)
In this accounting of treatment given to someone in need, ποτίζω marks the response to thirst: “you gave me drink.” The verb pairs naturally with feeding the hungry and welcoming the stranger; it names a direct meeting of bodily need and places the giving of drink alongside other concrete mercies.
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?” (Matthew 25:37)
This question repeats the earlier categories of need and response. ποτίζω anchors the second half of the pair: seeing someone “thirsty” and then “give you a drink.” The emphasis is not on the kind of drink but on the recognition of thirst and the action that answers it.
“for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;” (Matthew 25:42)
Here ποτίζω appears in the negative: “you gave me no drink.” The verb therefore can denote an omitted act as clearly as a performed one. In the scene’s parallel structure, failing to give drink stands alongside failing to give food; neglect is expressed by the absence of the same concrete action.
“Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.” (Matthew 27:48)
In this crucifixion setting, ποτίζω describes a hurried attempt to make someone drink: a sponge is filled, placed on a reed, and then used so that he is “gave him a drink.” The verb gathers the whole improvised procedure into its outcome—drink being administered—even though it is mediated through a sponge.
“For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you are Christ’s, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41)
As in Matthew 10:42, ποτίζω is tied to “a cup of water to drink” given “in my name.” The act is small but intentional (“because you are Christ’s”), and the verb identifies the physical kindness that expresses allegiance and brings promised reward.
“One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”” (Mark 15:36)
Again in the crucifixion narrative, ποτίζω conveys giving drink by means of a sponge “full of vinegar” on a reed. The surrounding speech frames the action within a tense moment of watching and waiting; the verb itself remains focused on the immediate, bodily act of making drink available.
“Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?” (Luke 13:15)
Here ποτίζω moves from human drinking to animal care: one leads an ox or donkey “away to water.” The verb belongs to ordinary husbandry—taking an animal from the stall and bringing it to be watered—used as an example drawn from routine practice.
“Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”” (Romans 12:20)
ποτίζω appears in an ethical directive, matching food for hunger with drink for thirst: “If he is thirsty, give him a drink.” The verb keeps the instruction tangible and specific, naming a concrete response even toward an “enemy,” and thus frames love in terms of practical provision.
“I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now,” (1 Corinthians 3:2)
In this metaphor drawn from nourishment, ποτίζω is rendered as “fed,” with “milk” contrasted to “meat.” The verb signals supplying what can be received: a form of provision calibrated to the recipients’ readiness, described in terms of what is given for intake.
“I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
Here ποτίζω carries its agricultural sense plainly: “Apollos watered.” The verb sits between “I planted” and “God gave the increase,” locating watering as a real, necessary activity within a larger process whose growth ultimately comes from God.
“So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:7)
In this conclusion drawn from the planting-and-watering picture, ποτίζω again appears as “waters.” The verb represents the human role of tending—real work, but not the decisive source of growth—set in contrast with “God who gives the increase.”
Sense and Usage
Across these passages, ποτίζω consistently denotes supplying drink or water in a way that meets immediate need. Several occurrences are straightforward acts of hospitality and mercy: giving “a cup of cold water to drink” (Matthew 10:42) and “a cup of water to drink” (Mark 9:41) are intentionally small, easily understood deeds that nevertheless carry weight because of the name in which they are done. In Matthew 25, the verb operates within a pattern of recognizable needs—hunger and thirst—and the responses that correspond to them (“you gave me drink,” Matthew 25:35). The repetition in Matthew 25:37 clarifies that the action is as simple as giving drink when thirst is seen, while Matthew 25:42 shows how the same verb can expose neglect when the expected act is withheld (“you gave me no drink”).
The crucifixion scenes in Matthew 27:48 and Mark 15:36 keep the focus on giving drink, but in a constrained, improvised form: liquid is carried in a sponge and offered on a reed. ποτίζω is well suited to such settings because it highlights the practical outcome—someone is made to drink—without needing to foreground the method; the narrative supplies the details (sponge, vinegar, reed), and the verb names the act these details accomplish.
Luke 13:15 broadens the field of use from human-to-human giving to routine animal care: leading an ox or donkey “away to water.” The verb thus covers watering as a normal act of provision, not limited to ceremonial contexts or special circumstances. Romans 12:20 draws that ordinary action into a moral instruction: when a person is thirsty, the appropriate response is to provide drink, even when the thirsty person is an “enemy.” The verb’s concreteness is part of the force—love is expressed not as a vague attitude but as a specific, need-meeting deed.
In 1 Corinthians 3, ποτίζω participates in two metaphors of provision. In 3:2 it appears in the imagery of feeding with “milk,” emphasizing supply suited to capacity (“you weren’t yet ready”). In 3:6–7 it returns to literal watering within the farming picture (“Apollos watered”), paired with planting and distinguished from the increase that God gives. In these lines the verb helps portray sustained care: watering is neither the initial act (planting) nor the final result (increase), but an intermediate labor that supports growth.
Imagery
The imagery attached to ποτίζω in these verses is consistently tactile and everyday: a cup of water offered to another, drink given to the thirsty, an animal led to water, and a planted thing receiving water. Because the verb can describe both a merciful gift and ordinary maintenance, it readily carries moral weight in scenes of judgment (Matthew 25) and ethical instruction (Romans 12:20), while also serving as a clear picture of purposeful care that supports growth without claiming to produce it (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).
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).
