Exploring the Meaning of Tolmeroteron in Greek

τολμηρότερον means “more boldly” and appears in Paul’s letter in Romans 15:15. In that setting, it characterizes the manner and tone of his writing as he addresses his readers with frankness while pointing to God-given grace.

Occurrences

“But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God,” (Romans 15:15)

In Romans 15:15, τολμηρότερον marks the degree of Paul’s directness in what he is doing in the letter: “I write the more boldly to you in part.” The adverb frames his approach as unusually frank for at least a portion of the message (“in part”), suggesting that within the larger letter there is a section where his tone is sharpened or his statements are more forward. The verse itself immediately supplies his stated purpose for writing this way: “as reminding you.” The boldness is therefore presented not as recklessness or hostility, but as a deliberate rhetorical posture chosen for the function of reminder—pressing what is already known upon the audience with a firmness suitable to that task.

The same sentence also anchors this bold manner in a stated basis: “because of the grace that was given to me by God.” The boldness is not grounded in personal daring within the verse, but in a sense of authorization tied to divine grace. The adverb thus contributes to the reader’s understanding of Paul’s posture: he is conscious that what he is doing could feel strong to the recipients, and he names that strength (“the more boldly”), but he pairs it with an explanation that places the boldness within a framework of responsibility and calling. In this scene, τολμηρότερον functions as a self-description that prepares the audience to receive a pointed reminder as something warranted by grace rather than driven by mere personal impulse.

Sense and Usage

The sense “more boldly” is comparative in force: it implies an increase in frankness relative to a baseline expectation for correspondence between the writer and recipients. Romans 15:15 uses the comparative not to celebrate boldness as an end in itself, but to qualify the way the letter speaks at certain points. The phrase “in part” works with τολμηρότερον to delimit the scope of the heightened directness. This combination keeps the comparative adverb from being read as a blanket description of everything he has written; rather, it signals that in particular segments he has adopted a more forthright tone than might otherwise be presumed.

The immediate pairing with “as reminding you” shows how the comparative boldness serves a pedagogical or pastoral move within the letter’s discourse. A reminder can be gentle, but it can also be pressing; by choosing “more boldly,” Paul identifies his reminder as the latter. The adverb adds an interpersonal nuance: it anticipates that readers might perceive the reminder as strong, perhaps even as bordering on presumption. By naming his manner explicitly, Paul both owns the sharpness and frames it as intentional, aligning the degree of boldness with the communicative goal of bringing things back to mind.

The causal clause “because of the grace that was given to me by God” further shapes how “more boldly” is to be heard. In this verse, boldness is not presented as a technique for dominance but as a response to an entrusted gift of grace. The comparative intensifier therefore participates in a logic of obligation: the grace given becomes the reason that a more direct tone is appropriate. The adverb’s effect is to connect rhetorical force with perceived divine commissioning; it implies that the writer’s stronger speech is proportionate to the seriousness of what he has received and what he is responsible to communicate.

As an adverbial modifier of “write,” τολμηρότερον belongs to the sphere of manner rather than content. The verse does not place the weight on introducing new material, but on the mode of address: “I write… as reminding you.” “More boldly” thus points to the stance in which the reminder is delivered—straightforward, unembellished, and willing to press a point. Its comparative form carries a subtle relational awareness: it signals that Paul is measuring his own tone against what might ordinarily be expected, and he alerts the readers to that tonal difference so it can be interpreted in the light of his purpose and the grace he cites.

Even within a single occurrence, the definition “more boldly” can be seen to operate on multiple levels of the same sentence: it describes the intensity of the communication (“write”), it fits the function of the communication (“reminding”), and it is justified by the stated basis (“because of the grace… by God”). The adverb helps hold these elements together by naming the heightened directness and then immediately binding that directness to motive and warrant within the verse itself.

Imagery

The verse’s imagery is simple and concrete: a writer addressing readers with a deliberate increase in frankness. τολμηρότερον evokes the picture of a letter that contains passages where the pen presses more firmly—words chosen not merely to inform but to remind with a clearer edge—yet whose firmness is presented as flowing from “the grace that was given… by God.”

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).