Greek word · G1677

ἐλλογέω

ellogeō

to charge

A commercial and administrative term: to enter something in an account, to charge it to someone, to put it on their bill. It is a narrow technical word, not a general word for 'think' or 'consider'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐλλογάω, -ῶ

(a κοινή word, elsewhere usually -έω; cf. Bl., § 22, 2),

to charge to one's account, impute: Phm 18 (on parallels, cf. Deiss., LAE, 79 f., 335 f.; Milligan, NTD, 73; MM, Exp., xii); of sin, Romans 5:13 (Cremer, 400).†

(AS)

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 Romans 5:13

Range of meaning

A commercial and administrative term: to enter something in an account, to charge it to someone, to put it on their bill. It is a narrow technical word, not a general word for 'think' or 'consider'.

Against the English

KJV and NASB (1995) say 'imputed', ESV 'counted', BSB 'taken into account', WEB 'charged', and NIV 'charged against anyone's account'. 'Charged' and 'account' keep the ledger picture. 'Imputed' has become a technical term of doctrine, and 'counted' is so general that the bookkeeping image disappears.

How it drifted

'Impute' came into English through the Latin Vulgate's imputabatur. In Protestant theology it became the standard word for doctrines about imputing Adam's sin or Christ's righteousness. Modern readers hear that whole doctrinal system in it, while Paul's word is an everyday accountant's term. It is also a different word from logizomai ('reckon, credit'), the one Paul uses throughout Romans 4.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears only twice in the New Testament. The other place is Philemon 18, where Paul writes, 'if he owes you anything, charge that to my account' (elloga), which is plainly a business usage. Documentary papyri and inscriptions of the Roman period use it for entering debits and credits in accounts (Moulton–Milligan; BDAG). It is not a Septuagint word. The image fits a widespread Jewish picture of God keeping books of human deeds (Daniel 7:10; 1 Enoch; later Revelation 20:12).

Where it appears

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 5:13 ἐλλογεῖται is imputed

    For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

    Here: A bookkeeping word meaning 'to enter an item in a ledger, put it on someone's account'. It is passive, with God as the implied bookkeeper. The present tense states a general principle: where there is no law, sin is not itemized as a charge.

Philemon · 1

  1. Philemon 1:18 ἐλλόγα.¶ do charge.

    But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.