Greek word · G1129
γυμνασία
gymnasia
training
Exercise or training, especially the regular, strenuous practice of an athlete. It belongs to the same family as gymnazō ('to train', literally 'to exercise naked', as Greek athletes did) and gymnasion, the gymnasium.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 1 Timothy 4:8
- Range of meaning
Exercise or training, especially the regular, strenuous practice of an athlete. It belongs to the same family as gymnazō ('to train', literally 'to exercise naked', as Greek athletes did) and gymnasion, the gymnasium. By extension the word family was used for any disciplined practice that forms a person, including moral and philosophical training.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'bodily exercise', BSB 'physical exercise', NIV 'physical training', ESV 'bodily training', NASB 'bodily discipline'. 'Training' and 'discipline' keep the athletic sense of a regimen better than 'exercise'. 'Exercise' can sound like casual activity for health, where the Greek pictures the systematic regimen of a competitor.
- Used elsewhere in the period
This noun appears only here in the New Testament; the verb is in v.7, Hebrews 5:14 and 12:11, and 2 Peter 2:14. The gymnasium was the main institution of Greek civic education. 1 Maccabees 1:14 and 2 Maccabees 4:9–12 remember the building of a gymnasium in Jerusalem as a symbol of giving in to Greek culture. Moral philosophers (e.g. Epictetus) and Philo regularly used athletic training as a picture of training the soul.
Where it appears
1 Timothy · 1
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1 Timothy 4:8 γυμνασία exercise
For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
Here: The disciplined practice of the athlete, the word family of the Greek gymnasium. It picks up the verb 'train yourself' (gymnaze) from v.7, so the verse sets two kinds of training side by side.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.