G4388 — προτίθεμαι (protithēmi)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4388
Original: προτίθεμαι
Transliteration: protithēmi / protíthemai
Pronunciation: prot-ith'-em-ahee
Part of Speech: Verb (middle voice)
Root: πρό (pro, G4253 — "before, in front of") + τίθημι (tithēmi, G5087 — "to place, set, lay")
Occurrences: 3 unique verses (3 tokens) across 2 books
First Occurrence: Rom 1:13 — "Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Middle voice from πρό (G4253) and τίθημι (G5087); to place before, i.e. (for oneself) to exhibit; to propose (to oneself), i.e. to purpose, determine.

The middle voice is significant: the subject acts on or for himself — either placing something before others (public display) or placing something before oneself (resolving, purposing).

Morphological Distribution¶

All three NT occurrences appear in the same form: aorist middle indicative.

Form	Parsing	Occurrences	Verses
προεθέμην	Aor Mid Ind 1st Sg	1	Rom 1:13
προέθετο	Aor Mid Ind 3rd Sg	2	Rom 3:25, Eph 1:9

The aorist tense in all three occurrences presents the action as a completed, decisive act — not an ongoing process but a definitive resolution or display.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 30.004: To Intend, To Purpose, To Plan
Other words: βουλεύω (G1011), βουλή (G1012), βούλομαι (G1014), γνώμη (G1106)
Domain 13.001: State (secondary classification)

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
I purposed	1	33.3%
hath set forth	1	33.3%
he hath purposed	1	33.3%

The KJV reflects the two main semantic poles: "purpose" (internal resolution) and "set forth" (public display).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Romans	2	0.5
Ephesians	1	0.6

Exclusively Pauline. Both occurrences with God as subject (Rom 3:25, Eph 1:9) use the third-person aorist προέθετο; the one occurrence with Paul as subject (Rom 1:13) uses the first-person aorist προεθέμην.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Human Purpose / Intention¶

Rom 1:13 — "Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles."

Paul uses protithēmi to describe a personal resolve — a deliberate intention formed repeatedly ("oftentimes") but prevented from fulfillment. The middle voice captures the reflexive sense: Paul placed this plan before himself.

2. Divine Public Display¶

Rom 3:25 — "Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God."

God is the subject; Christ is the object publicly displayed as hilastērion. The middle voice indicates God acting for himself — displaying Christ as his own provision. The context of "declare his righteousness" reinforces the public-display sense: the act makes something visible that was previously unseen.

3. Divine Eternal Purpose¶

Eph 1:9 — "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself."

God purposes "in himself" (ἐν αὐτῷ) — the middle voice naturally suits the reflexive: God set this plan before himself. The collocation with "mystery" (mystērion) emphasizes that this was a hidden resolve now made known, bridging the "purpose beforehand" and "display" senses.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theos)	G2316	1x (33%)	God as subject of protithēmi
ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion)	G2435	1x (33%)	Object of divine display
δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē)	G1343	1x (33%)	Purpose of the display — "to declare his righteousness"
αἷμα (haima)	G129	1x (33%)	Means — "through faith in his blood"
εὐδοκία (eudokia)	G2107	1x (33%)	Motivation — "according to his good pleasure"
θέλημα (thelēma)	G2307	1x (33%)	"The mystery of his will"
μυστήριον (mystērion)	G3466	1x (33%)	Hidden plan now revealed
ἔνδειξις (endeixis)	G1732	1x (33%)	"To declare" — the demonstration of righteousness
ἀνοχή (anochē)	G463	1x (33%)	"Forbearance of God" — temporal patience before display

With only 3 verses, no collocations reach statistical significance. The thematic clustering in Rom 3:25 links protithēmi to the atonement vocabulary: blood, propitiation, righteousness, forbearance.

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4253 πρό (pro) — preposition: "before, in front of" (48v)
G5087 τίθημι (tithēmi) — root verb: "to place, set, lay, appoint" (96v)
G4295 πρόκειμαι (prokeimai) — "to lie before the view, be set before" (5v) — shares the pro- prefix and "place before" concept but uses keimai instead of tithēmi
G4270 προγράφω (prographō) — "to write previously, display publicly, placard" (5v) — another pro- compound with both temporal ("before") and spatial ("publicly") senses

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
τίθημι (tithēmi)	G5087	"purposed" (1x), "set forth" (1x)	Root verb without the pro- prefix; general "place/set/appoint" without the "before" dimension
ποιέω (poieō)	G4160	"purposed" (1x)	General "do/make"; when translated "purposed" it describes execution rather than prior resolve
γνώμη (gnōmē)	G1106	"purposed" (1x)	Noun meaning "opinion/purpose/judgment"; cognitive content rather than volitional act
πρόκειμαι (prokeimai)	G4295	"set forth" (1x)	"Lie before" — static position already visible, versus protithēmi's active placement
προγράφω (prographō)	G4270	"set forth" (1x)	"Write/placard publicly" — written/inscribed display versus physical/personal placement
ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeiknymi)	G584	"set forth" (1x)	"Exhibit, demonstrate" — proving/showing versus purposeful placement

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 30.004 — To Intend, To Purpose, To Plan)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G1011	βουλεύω	6	consulted, determined
G1012	βουλή	12	counsel, will
G1014	βούλομαι	34	will, would, be minded
G1106	γνώμη	9	judgment, mind, purpose

These neighbors all express deliberation and resolve but lack the pro- prefix that gives protithēmi its "beforehand" or "before others" dimension.

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 13.001 — State)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G115	ἀθέτησις	2	a disannulling, put away
G373	ἀναπαύω	6	rest, are refreshed
G525	ἀπαλλάσσω	3	deliver, departed
G863	ἀφίημι	36	left, forgive

Hebrew Source¶

No Hebrew sources found via LXX alignment data. The word does appear in the LXX (e.g., Exod 40:4, 40:23 for setting forth the showbread), but no quantifiable PMI-scored alignment is recorded in the database.

The LXX usage in Exodus 40 for setting forth the showbread (the "bread of the Presence" — literally "bread of the face/before") provides an instructive background: items placed before God in the sanctuary for public/divine viewing. This resonates with the Rom 3:25 usage where God sets forth Christ publicly.