Dictionaries :: Must

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Must:

an impersonal verb, signifying "it is necessary" or "one must," "one ought," is found most frequently in the Gospels, Acts and the Apocalypse, and is used

(a) of a necessity lying in the nature of the case e.g., Jhn 3:30; 2Ti 2:6;

(b) of necessity brought about by circumstances, e.g., Mat 26:35, RV, "must," AV, "should;" Jhn 4:4; Act 27:21, "should;" 2Cr 11:30; in the case of Christ, by reason of the Father's will, e.g., Luk 2:49; 19:5;

(c) of necessity as to what is required that something may be brought about, e.g., Luk 12:12, "ought;" Jhn 3:7; Act 9:6; 1Cr 11:19; Hbr 9:26;

(d) of a necessity of law, duty, equity, e.g., Mat 18:33, "shouldest;" Mat 23:23, "ought;" Luk 15:32, "it was meet;" Act 15:5, "it is needful" (RV); Rom 1:27, RV, "was due," AV, "was meet" (of a recompense due by the law of God); frequently requiring the rendering "ought," e.g., Rom 8:26; 12:3; 1Cr 8:2;

(e) of necessity arising from the determinate will and counsel of God, e.g., Mat 17:10; 24:6; 26:54; 1Cr 15:53, especially regarding the salvation of men through the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, e.g., Jhn 3:14; Act 3:21; 4:12.
See BEHOVE, No. 2 (where see the differences in the meanings of synonymous words), MEET, NEED, NEEDFUL, OUGHT, SHOULD.

Must:

"to owe," is rendered "must... needs" in 1Cr 5:10.
See BEHOVE, No. 1.

Notes:

(1) In Mar 14:49, AV, the conjunction hina with the subjunctive mood, "in order that," is represented by "must" (RV, "that... might").

(2) In Hbr 13:17, AV, the future participle of apodidomi, "to give," is translated "they that must give" (RV, "they that shall give").

(3) In 2Pe 1:14, AV, the verb "to be," with apothesis, "a putting off," is translated "I must put off," RV, "(the) putting off... cometh," lit., "is (swift)."

(4) Sometimes the infinitive mood of a verb, with or without the article, is necessarily rendered by a phrase involving the word "must," e.g., 1Pe 4:17, AV, "must (begin);" or "should," Hbr 4:6, RV, "should" (AV "must").

(5) Sometimes the subjunctive mood of a verb, used as a deliberative, is rendered "must," etc., Jhn 6:28, "(what) must (we do)," RV (AV, "shall").