to follow
akoloutheo denotes going after a person, often with the concrete commitment of joining Jesus in his way.
The verb most often describes people going after a person in movement or company, whether crowds, disciples, or individuals. In commands and statements about following Jesus, the same action is set in contexts of leaving possessions, serving, or taking up a cross; one occurrence instead depicts a spiritual rock as following “them.”
Senses in use
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Going after a person in movement · dominant
Aorist, imperfect, and participial forms describe people proceeding behind or with someone: in John 1:37 the APB renders two disciples as having “followed Jesus,” while in Luke 22:54 Peter is “following at a distance.” Crowds likewise go after Jesus in Matthew 14:13, and in Luke 22:10 the plural command directs listeners to go after a man into the house he enters.
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Joining Jesus as a committed follower · common
Present singular commands address individuals with the call to follow Jesus: in Luke 5:27 the APB renders the command “Follow me,” and Luke 18:22 places it after selling possessions and giving to the poor. In Luke 9:23, the command stands with denying oneself and taking up a cross each day; in Mark 10:28, Peter says that they have left all and followed.
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A rock accompanying those it followed · rare
In 1 Corinthians 10:4, a present active genitive feminine participle modifies the spiritual rock; the APB renders the clause, “a spiritual rock that followed them.” The nonhuman subject makes this a distinct application of going along after others.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the verb with “followed” or “follow,” including commands such as “Follow me” and descriptions of crowds or disciples going after someone. In 1 Corinthians 10:4 it renders the participial clause as a rock that “followed them”; these English expressions reflect the verse contexts rather than a word-for-word alignment.