ἀληθινός
alēthinós · G228 · Greek · 28 occurrences
Meanings
-
real, really, true, truly
Pertaining to being real and not imaginary
ExamplesJohn 4:23 “But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
John 6:32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
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true, truth
Pertaining to being in accordance with historical fact
ExamplesLuke 16:11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you?
John 4:37 “For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
John 7:28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
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genuine, sincere, true
Pertaining to being what something should be
ExamplesJohn 1:9 This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report about us as to the kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
How it’s used In 5 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἅγιοςholy 1
What is done to itIt is the object
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- γινώσκωto know 1
- πιστεύωto believe 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
10 occurrences in 6 groups
- κρίσιςjudgment 3
- λόγοςword, saying, message 3
- κάθημαιto sit 1
- μαρτυρίαtestimony, witness 1
- ὁδόςway, road 1
- πέμπωto send 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἐνin 1
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἀντίτυπονcorrespondence 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.
Near synonyms 1 word
- γνήσιος gnḗsios · G1103 · genuine, real
- Both terms express authenticity or genuineness, but γνήσιος emphasizes legitimacy with a birth-metaphor foundation (the genuine article as opposed to spurious), while ἀληθινός emphasizes correspondence to reality or truth as opposed to what is false or merely apparent.
In the other Testament 2 words
- אֶמֶת ʼemeth · H571 · faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness
- Hebrew אֶמֶת (ʼemeth, H571) אֶמֶת (emet, 'truth/faithfulness') is the standard LXX rendering underlying Greek ἀληθινός (alēthinós, G228) ἀληθινός ('truthful/genuine'), both denoting reliability and correspondence to reality; ἀληθινός emphasizes the quality of being genuine or real (often in Johannine literature contrasting with false copies), while אֶמֶת carries covenantal overtones of faithfulness and steadfastness alongside propositional truth.
- יָשָׁר yâshâr · H3477 · straight, "straight way" = safe journey
- Hebrew יָשָׁר denotes structural/moral straightness and uprightness (including ethical rectitude), while Greek ἀληθινός focuses on truthfulness and genuineness; the overlap occurs where uprightness entails truthfulness in character or testimony.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Real, really, true, truly70.3
- In John 4:37, Jesus says, “in this case the saying is true (alēthinós): ‘One sows and another reaps,’” affirming that the proverb accurately describes what is really so.
- True, truth72.1
- In John 1:9, Jesus is described as “the true Light (tō phōs tó alēthinón) that, coming into the world, enlightens every person,” where the adjective marks Him as the ultimate, truth-bearing source of revelation.
- Genuine, sincere, true73.2
- In Luke 16:11, Jesus asks who will “entrust the true wealth (tó alēthinón) to you” if one has not been faithful with “unrighteous wealth,” where the adjective marks wealth that is genuine and lasting, as opposed to a lesser, worldly counterfeit.
Word family 11 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (ή, (frequent in secular writings from Plato down; (twenty-three times in John's…
1. that which has not only the name and semblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name (Tittmann, p. 155; ("particularly applied to express that which is all that it pretends to be, for instance, pure gold as opposed to adulterated metal" Donaldson, New Crat. § 258; see, at length, Trench, § viii.)), in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real and true, genuine;
a. opposed to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated, pretended: Θεός (אֱמֶת אֱלֹהַי, 2 Chr 15:3), 1 Thess 1:9; Heb 9:14 Lachmann; Jn 17:3; 1 Jn 5:20. (ἀληθινοί φίλοι, Demosthenes, Philippians 3, p. 113, 27.)
b. it contrasts realities with their semblances: σκηνή, Heb 8:2; the sanctuary, Heb 9:24. (ὁ ἵππος contrasted with ὁ ἐν τῇ εἰκόνι, Aelian v. h. 2, 3.)
c. opposed to what is imperfect, defective, frail, uncertain: Jn 4:23, Jn 4:37; Jn 7:28; used without adjunct of Jesus as the true Messiah, Rev 3:7; φῶς, Jn 1:9; 1 Jn 2:8; κρίσις, Jn 8:16 (L T Tr WH; Isa 59:4); κρίσεις, Rev 16:7; Rev 19:2; ἄρτος, as nourishing the soul unto life everlasting, Jn 6:32; ἄμπελος, Jn 15:1; μαρτυρία Jn 19:35; μάρτυς, Rev 3:14; δεσπότης, Rev 6:10; ὁδοί, Rev 15:3; coupled with πιστός, Rev 3:14; Rev 19:11; substantively, τό ἀληθινόν the genuine, real good, opposed to external riches, Lk 16:11 ((οἷς μέν γάρ ἀληθινός πλοῦτος οὐρανῷ, Philo de praem, et poen. § 17, p. 425, Mang. edition; cf. Wetstein (1752) on Luke, the passage cited); ά᾿θληται, Polybius 1, 6, 6).
2. equivalent to ἀληθής, true, veracious, sincere, (often so in the Sept.): καρδία, Heb 10:22 (μετ' ἀληθείας ἐν καρδία ἀληθινή, Isa 38:3); λόγοι, Rev. (); Rev 21:5; (Plutarch, apoph, p. 184 e.). (Cf. Cremer, 4te Aufi. under the word ἀλήθεια.)
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
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
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