νίπτω
níptō · G3538 · Greek · 17 occurrences
Meanings
-
to wash
To wash a part of a body, usually the hands or feet
ExamplesMatthew 6:17 “But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Matthew 15:2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
John 13:5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself.
-
to be very hospitable to
(An idiom, literally: to wash the feet, derived from the practice of washing the feet of any guest entering the home) To show sincere and gracious hospitality to someone
Examples1 Timothy 5:10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.
-
to act humbly, to behave in a humble manner
(An idiom, literally: to wash the feet) To show humility by doing humble tasks
ExamplesJohn 13:14 “So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
1 Timothy 5:10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.
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
Who or what does itSubject
17 occurrences in 8 groups
- Not stated: you (one person) 4
- Not stated: he, she or it 3
- Not stated (infinitive) 3
- Not stated: I 2
- Not stated: they 2
- ἐγώI, we 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
12 occurrences in 4 groups
- πούςfoot 8
- χείρhand 2
- πρόσωπονface 1
- σύyou 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- εἰςto+ αἰώνage, forever 1
- εἰςto+ κολυμβήθραpool (primarily used for bathing) 1
With adverbsAdverbs
5 occurrences in 2 groups
- μήnot 3
- οὐnot 2
What is done to itIt is the object
6 occurrences in 4 groups
- ἔπωto say 2
- λέγωto say 2
- ὀφείλωought, to owe 1
- ἄρχωto be first 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 1 word
- רָחַץ râchats · H7364 · to take a bath, to bathe, to wash
- Hebrew רָחַץ (râchats, H7364) denotes general washing/bathing of the body or body parts, while Greek νίπτω (níptō, G3538) specifically denotes ritual or ceremonial cleansing focused on hands, feet, or face; both share the core semantic domain of cleansing with water, with the Greek term carrying stronger ceremonial connotations that the Hebrew term can contextually bear.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- To be very hospitable to34.59
- Listing a widow's qualifying works, 1 Timothy 5:10 speaks of one who “has washed the saints’ feet,” the closely related Johannine account in John 13:14 giving the fuller teaching, “So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet,” where “washed” renders this verb used here in its extended sense of an act of humble hospitality toward another.
- To wash47.9
- Describing the healing of the man born blind, John 9:7 states “and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he left and washed, and came back seeing,” where “washed” renders this verb in its ordinary sense of cleansing the body with water.
- To act humbly, to behave in a humble manner88.58
- Explaining the meaning of the foot washing, John 13:14 records Jesus saying, “So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet,” where “washed” renders this same verb, here illustrating an act of deliberate humility rather than ordinary bodily cleansing.
Word family 4 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (a later form for νίζω; cf. Lob. ad Phryn., p. 241 (Veitch, under the word νίζω;…
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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