G3195 — μέλλω (mello)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3195
Original: μέλλω
Transliteration: mello
Pronunciation: mel'-lo
Part of Speech: Verb
Occurrences: 106 unique verses (109 tokens) across 18 NT books
First Occurrence: Mat 2:13 — "for Herod will (mello) seek the young child to destroy him"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A strengthened form of G3199 (melo, "to be of interest") through the idea of expectation; to intend, i.e. be about to be, do, or suffer something. Often used with an infinitive to express imminence, intention, or certainty of a future action.

Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Count	Typical Usage
Present Active Indicative	33	Direct statement: "he is about to" (μέλλει)
Present Active Participle	47	Substantival/adjectival: "the coming one," "things to come" (μέλλων, μέλλοντα)
Imperfect Active Indicative	18	Narrative past: "he was about to" (ἔμελλεν/ἤμελλεν)
Present Active Infinitive	6	Indirect discourse: "that it was about to" (μέλλειν)
Present Active Subjunctive	3	Conditional/temporal: "when it is about to" (μέλλῃ)
Future Active Indicative	2	Emphatic future: "you will be about to" (μελλήσετε)

The participle dominates (43%), functioning substantivally for "the coming one" (Rom 5:14), "things to come" (Col 2:17, Heb 10:1), and "the age to come" (Heb 2:5). The imperfect (16%) carries narrative force in the Gospels and Acts for events that were about to unfold.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 067: Time
Subdomain 067.006: Duration of Time with Reference to Some Point of Time
Domain 071: Mode
Subdomain 071.005: Necessary, Unnecessary
Other words in subdomain 071.005: δεῖ (G1163), ὀφείλω (G3784), ἀνάγκη (G318), ἀναγκαῖος (G316), ἀπόκειμαι (G606)

Domain Neighbors (071.005 — Necessary, Unnecessary)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G1163	δεῖ	71	must, ought
G3784	ὀφείλω	15	ought, he ought
G318	ἀνάγκη	10	necessity, distress
G316	ἀναγκαῖος	6	necessary, it necessary
G606	ἀπόκειμαι	3	is laid up, it is appointed
G1876	ἐπάναγκες	1	necessary things

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
shall	12	11.3%
should	11	10.4%
to come	8	7.5%
he should	3	2.8%
things to come	3	2.8%
will	3	2.8%
would	3	2.8%
about (various phrases)	6	5.7%
intending/minding/meaning	3	2.8%
ready	3	2.8%
Other (44 renderings)	51	48.1%

The extreme translation variety (60+ distinct renderings for 106 verses) reflects mello's function as an auxiliary verb — its meaning is shaped by context (imminence, intention, destiny, or simple futurity), and translators render the accompanying infinitive rather than mello itself.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Acts	34	3.4
Hebrews	10	3.3
Revelation	12	3.0
1 Timothy	3	2.7
2 Peter	1	1.6
John	11	1.3
2 Timothy	1	1.2
Romans	5	1.2
Colossians	1	1.1
1 Thessalonians	1	1.1
Luke	11	1.0
1 Peter	1	1.0
James	1	0.9
Matthew	9	0.8
Galatians	1	0.7
Ephesians	1	0.6
Mark	2	0.3
1 Corinthians	1	0.2

Acts dominates with 34 occurrences (32% of all uses). Luke-Acts together account for 45 uses (42%). Hebrews and Revelation are the densest books per 100 verses. Absent from 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 2 Thessalonians, Titus, Philemon, 2/3 John, Jude. NT-only word — never occurs in LXX OT as a primary Hebrew translation equivalent.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Imminent Future — "About To"¶

The core temporal sense: an event on the verge of happening. - Acts 3:3 — "Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms" - Acts 27:30 — "as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship" - Rev 10:4 — "I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven" - Acts 18:14 — "when Paul was now about to open his mouth"

2. Destined / Divinely Appointed Future¶

Events determined by divine purpose — prophetic certainty rather than mere proximity. - Mat 16:27 — "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father" - Acts 17:31 — "he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world" - Rev 12:5 — "a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron" - Acts 26:23 — "That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead"

3. Intention / Purpose¶

What someone plans or intends to do — volitional futurity. - Acts 5:35 — "take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men" - Acts 20:13 — "there intending to take in Paul" - Acts 27:2 — "meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia" - John 6:15 — "they would come and take him by force, to make him a king"

4. Eschatological "Things to Come"¶

The substantival participle (ta mellonta) as a technical term for eschatological realities — the coming age, future blessings, or future judgment. - Col 2:17 — "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" - Heb 2:5 — "the world to come, whereof we speak" - Heb 9:11 — "Christ being come an high priest of good things to come" - Heb 10:1 — "the law having a shadow of good things to come" - Rom 8:38 — "nor things present, nor things to come" - 1 Cor 3:22 — "things present, or things to come; all are yours"

5. Certainty of Future Event¶

Events that will certainly occur — stronger than simple prediction, carrying overtones of inevitability. - Rom 8:13 — "if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die" - Rom 8:18 — "the glory which shall be revealed in us" - Heb 10:27 — "fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" - Acts 24:15 — "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust" - 2 Tim 4:1 — "the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead"

6. Narrative Expectation (Imperfect)¶

The imperfect (emellen/emellen) introduces what was expected or foreseen in the narrative past — what someone "was about to" do or what "was going to" happen. - John 6:71 — "he it was that should betray him" (narrator foreshadowing) - John 11:51 — "he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation" - Luke 9:31 — "spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem" - John 7:39 — "the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive" - Acts 12:6 — "when Herod would have brought him forth"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
λέγω (lego)	G3004	21x (20%)	Mello in reported speech — "he said ... he was about to"
ἔπω (epo)	G2036	16x (15%)	Mello within direct speech — "he shall / he was about to"
γίνομαι (ginomai)	G1096	15x (14%)	"about to happen/come to pass" — mello + ginomai for imminent events
πᾶς (pas)	G3956	15x (14%)	"all things to come," "all that shall" — universalizing scope
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous)	G2424	11x (10%)	Christological predictions — what Jesus would do/suffer
ἔρχομαι (erchomai)	G2064	10x (9%)	"about to come" — mello modifying erchomai for imminent arrival
ζωή (zoe)	G2222	7x (7%)	"the life to come" — eschatological life formula
ἡμέρα (hemera)	G2250	7x (7%)	"the day to come," "in those days about to" — temporal markers
νεκρός (nekros)	G3498	7x (7%)	Resurrection contexts — "about to raise," "the dead shall"

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
δεῖ (dei)	G1163	"should," "shall," "must"	dei = divine/logical necessity ("it is binding"); mello = temporal imminence ("it is about to happen"). dei is deontic; mello is temporal
ἔρχομαι (erchomai)	G2064	"to come," "is to come"	erchomai = actual movement/arrival; mello = the state of being about to (modifies erchomai when both appear together)
θέλω (thelo)	G2309	"will," "would"	thelo = volitional desire/willingness ("I want to"); mello = inevitable or imminent futurity ("I am about to")
βούλομαι (boulomai)	G1014	"would"	boulomai = deliberate purpose/counsel; mello = imminence without necessarily implying deliberation
ἔσομαι (esomai)	G2071	"shall be"	esomai = simple future of eimi ("will be"); mello = imminent/destined futurity with aspectual force

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrence	PMI
יָדַע (yada)	H3045	3x	2.50
עַל (al)	H5921	4x	0.60

No strong Hebrew equivalent exists. Mello is a distinctly Greek auxiliary verb with no direct Hebrew counterpart. The LXX does not consistently use mello to render any single Hebrew word; instead, Hebrew expresses imminence through temporal adverbs and contextual indicators rather than a dedicated auxiliary.