Original Word: ἀδυνατέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: adunateó
Pronunciation: ah-doo-nat-EH-oh
Phonetic Spelling: (ad-oo-nat-eh'-o)
KJV: be impossible
NASB: impossible
Word Origin: [from G102 (ἀδύνατος - impossible)]

1. to be unable
2. (passively) to be impossible

be impossible.

From adunatos; to be unable, i.e. (passively) impossible -- be impossible.

see GREEK adunatos

Word Origin
from adunatos
Definition
to be unable
NASB Translation
impossible (2).

STRONGS NT 101: ἀδυνατέω

ἀδυνατέω, (ῶ: future ἀδυνατήσω; (ἀδύνατος);

a. not to have strength, to be weak; always so of persons in classic Greek

b. a thing ἀδυνατεῖ, cannot be done, is impossible; so only in the Sept. and N. T.: οὐκ ἀδυνατήσει παρά τῷ Θεῷ (τοῦ Θεοῦ L marginal reading T Tr WH) πᾶν ῤῆμα, Luke 1:37 (the Sept. Genesis 18:14) (others retain the active sense here: from God no word shall be without power, see παρά, I.

b. cf. Field, Otium Norv. pars iii. at the passage); οὐδέν ἀδυνατήσει ὑμῖν, Matthew 17:20 (Job 42:2).

Word Group and Conceptual Range

Strong’s Greek 101 belongs to the family of words that describe incapacity or impossibility. In Scripture the term functions, not to draw attention to mere difficulty, but to absolute inability—whether human, demonic, or created—as contrasted with God’s limitless power.

Occurrences in the New Testament

Matthew 17:20 and Luke 1:37 provide the only two verbal occurrences:

• Matthew 17:20 – After the disciples fail to cast out a demon, Jesus explains, “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
• Luke 1:37 – Gabriel assures Mary, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

In both contexts the verb is future middle—“will be impossible”—and marks the end of human resources but the beginning of divine action.

Human Inability and Divine Omnipotence

Matthew 17:20 couples the term with a conditional promise: authentic faith links believers to the omnipotence of God, rendering “nothing … impossible.” Luke 1:37 reveals the foundation of that promise: God Himself knows no impossibility. The juxtaposition highlights a tension that runs through all of Scripture:

• Genesis 18:14 – “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?”
• Jeremiah 32:17 – “Nothing is too difficult for You.”
• Romans 4:21 – Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.”

The New Testament uses the adjective cognate (Strongs 102) more often, but the two verbal uses crystallize the doctrine: impossibility exists only on the creaturely side of reality.

Faith as the Avenue to the Impossible

In Matthew, failure in ministry is traced not to method or environment but to lack of faith. The mountain-moving hyperbole recalls Zechariah 4:6–7 and underscores that even the smallest authentic faith accesses God’s power. The verb reinforces the lesson: apart from such faith, ministry efforts lie in the realm of the impossible; with it, they stand in the realm where impossibilities cease.

Christological Significance

Luke 1:37 centers on the incarnation. Mary receives a promise biologically impossible: a virgin conception. The verb declares the miracle certain because the initiative is God’s. The passage thus anchors Christology and soteriology in divine omnipotence; human power could never produce the Savior.

Ministry Implications through Church History

• Prayer movements have continually appealed to these verses, believing that no gospel advance, however daunting, is impossible for God.
• Missionaries such as William Carey adopted Matthew 17:20 as motivation to “expect great things from God,” penetrating regions once considered unreachable.
• Pastoral counseling draws on Luke 1:37 when confronting situations that appear hopeless—addiction, fractured families, or terminal illness—reminding believers that ultimate limitations are not set by circumstance but by divine sovereignty.

Practical Theology: Boundaries of Application

The promise is not a blank check for self-willed ventures. Scripture maintains that prayers aligned with God’s character and purposes (1 John 5:14) are the sphere in which impossibilities dissolve. The two occurrences guard against triumphalism: Mary’s submission (“May it be to me according to your word”) and Jesus’ emphasis on faith tied to prayer and fasting (see the textual note in Matthew 17:21) define the posture required.

Related Old Testament Parallels

Old Covenant narratives prepare the way:
• Red Sea crossing (Exodus 14) – impossible escape.
• Sun standing still (Joshua 10) – impossible cosmic event.
• Elisha’s floating axe head (2 Kings 6) – impossible physics.

Each episode anticipates Luke 1:37, illustrating that the God of Israel consistently acts beyond natural limitation.

Eschatological Outlook

The same power that made a virgin conceive and that grants mountain-moving faith assures believers of future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) and new creation (Revelation 21:1-5). What is impossible to human science—life from the dead, a renewed cosmos—is certain by God’s decree.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 101 serves as a verbal signpost marking the boundary between created inability and divine capability. Found in two pivotal texts—one highlighting discipleship, the other incarnation—it teaches that what creatures cannot possibly achieve, God both can and will, when it accords with His redemptive purposes.

αδυνατεί αδυνατησει αδυνατήσει ἀδυνατήσει αδυνατήση αδυνατήσουσιν αδυνατούσι adunatesei adunatēsei adynatesei adynatēsei adynatḗseiInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts