Word

ἐλεέω

eleéō · G1653 · Greek · 32 occurrences

See all 32 in Search

Meanings

to show mercy, to be merciful toward, to have mercy on, mercy

To show kindness or concern for someone in serious need

Examples
Romans 9:16 So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.
Jude 1:22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
Jude 1:23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

How it’s used In 6 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

32 occurrences in 11 groups

Not stated: you (one person) 11
Not stated: I 4
Not stated (participle) 4
Not stated: you (more than one) 3
Not stated: he, she or it 3
Other words · 6 groups that occur once or twice (7) 7

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

19 occurrences in 11 groups

ἐγώI, we 8
Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

3 occurrences in 3 groups

διάthrough+ οὗτοςthis 1
ἐνin+ φόβοςfear 1
ὑπόby, under+ κύριοςLord 1

With adverbsAdverbs

4 occurrences in 2 groups

νῦνnow 3
οὐnot 1

What it doesIt is the subject

1 occurrences in 1 groups

δεῖmust, to be necessary 1

What is done to itIt is the object

12 occurrences in 4 groups

λέγωto say 8
κράζωto cry out, to shout 2
ἐλεέωto have mercy 1
ἀπαγγέλλωto tell 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

In the other Testament 3 words

חָנַן chânan · H2603 · to be kindly disposed, to be generous, to be merciful: Greek ἐλεέω emphasizes the emotional aspect of compassion and mercy shown (particularly divine mercy), while Hebrew חָנַן focuses on the act of showing favor or grace, often in response to a petition or plea.
רָחַם râcham · H7355 · to love, to be merciful, to have mercy (on someone): Greek ἐλεέω and Hebrew רָחַם share core semantic overlap as verbs denoting compassionate action or mercy, with רָחַם frequently rendered by ἐλεέω in LXX translations of compassion/mercy contexts.
חָמַל châmal · H2550 · to be concerned for, to have pity on, to show mercy: Greek ἐλεέω and Hebrew חָמַל both denote compassionate action toward someone in distress, with חָמַל emphasizing the withholding of harm or judgment, that is, sparing, while ἐλεέω more directly expresses active mercy or grace; the two function as translation equivalents in contexts of divine or human compassion.

Semantic domains 1 entry

To show mercy, to be merciful toward, to have mercy on, mercy88.76: Used repeatedly in the Gospels of those seeking Jesus' compassion, as in Matthew 9:27, where two blind men cry out for Him to have mercy on them, and in Matthew 5:7, where the merciful are blessed, for they will receive mercy.

Word family 6 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

ἔλεος éleos · G1656 · to show mercy, to be merciful toward, to have mercy on · 27×ἐλεέωeleéō · G1653ἐλεημοσύνη eleēmosýnē · G1654 · acts of charity, alms, giving to the needy · 13×ἐλεεινός eleeinós · G1652 · pitiable, miserable · 2×ἐλεήμων eleḗmōn · G1655 · merciful · 2×ἀνελεήμων aneleḗmōn · G415 · merciless, unmerciful · 1×

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon adopted for the more common ἐληω (which see) by L T Tr WH in Rom 9:16 and Jude 1:23 (also…

adopted for the more common ἐληω (which see) by L T Tr WH in Rom 9:16 and Jude 1:23 (also by WH Tr marginal reading in 22); (Prov 21:26 Vat.; 4 Macc. 9:3 variant; Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 13, 2 [ET]; Polycarp, ad Philip. 2, 2 [ET]). Cf. Winers Grammar, 85 (82); Buttmann, 57 (50); (Mullach, p. 252; WHs Appendix, p. 166; Tdf. Proleg., p. 122).

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain

Topical studies with this word 1 entry

Mercy, Merciless64 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0