“The Greek Verb Μέλλω and the Eschatological Future in the New Testament”

The Greek verb μέλλω is a significant word in the New Testament. It occurs 109 times (often with an infinitive complement) and is often regarded by scholars as, in eschatological contexts, indicating the imminence of the end. Biblical scholars regularly state that the default meaning of μέλλω is “to be about to”, that is, it indicates primarily an imminent event or state. This article traces the semantic development of μέλλω from Homer to the Roman period, giving attention to studies by Classical linguists which have been ignored by New Testament scholars. The article then seeks to give a systematic account of the semantics of μέλλω in the New Testament, and applies these conclusions especially to the exegesis of the eschatological passages. This article challenges the idea that there is a default “imminent” sense of μέλλω, showing that the verb does not in itself indicate any particular time-frame. It can encompass a wide variety of intervals from immediacy to the distance in time between Adam and Christ.