Greek word · G2151

εὐσεβέω

eusebeō

to show piety

To act with eusebeia: the dutiful reverence owed to those above you in the order of things, meaning the gods, parents, ancestors and one's city. In Greek it was always a matter of how you treated someone, never only an inner state.

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

What it means

εὐ-σεβέω, -ῶ

(εὐσεβής, which see), [in LXX: Dan LXX Sus 1:64, 4Ma.9:6 אR, 4Ma.11:5 4Mac 11:8 4Mac 11:23 4Mac 18:2 * ;]

to reverence, show piety towards; with accusative (else­where more frequently before εἰς., περί, πρός): οἶκον, 1 Timothy 5:4; θεόν, Acts 17:23 (Cremer, 525).†

(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 1 Timothy 5:4

Range of meaning

To act with eusebeia: the dutiful reverence owed to those above you in the order of things, meaning the gods, parents, ancestors and one's city. In Greek it was always a matter of how you treated someone, never only an inner state. The verb is used both of worshipping a deity (Acts 17:23) and of honoring parents.

Against the English

BSB, ESV and NLT say "show godliness"; KJV and WEB say "shew/show piety"; NIV paraphrases "put their religion into practice." "Godliness" can make modern readers think of personal holiness or devotional life. "Piety" now sounds churchy or sentimental. Neither suggests the sense here: a concrete duty of support toward parents.

How it drifted

English "piety" comes from Latin pietas, which at first meant exactly this duty to gods, parents and country (Aeneas carrying his father out of Troy was the classic picture). Over the centuries it narrowed to private religious devotion, and "godliness" pulled the same way.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek moral writers list duty to parents as part of eusebeia (for example, the Stoic Hierocles, preserved in Stobaeus, on how to treat parents). In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), 4 Maccabees uses eusebeia for loyal devotion to God's law. Philo, the Jewish philosopher of Alexandria, calls honoring parents the hinge between the two tablets of the commandments (On the Decalogue 106–120). The eusebeia word group is a favorite of the Pastoral Letters (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus): 2:2; 3:16; 4:7–8; 6:3–6.

Similar words

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 17:23 εὐσεβεῖτε, you worship,

    For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.

    Here: "You revere / pay your religious duties to." Eusebeia ("piety") was a prized civic virtue in Greek life. It covered proper honor to the gods, shown in rites and offerings. Paul uses their own respectful word, which echoes σεβάσματα.

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 5:4 εὐσεβεῖν to be devout

    But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show godliness to their own family and repay their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

    Here: To give the dutiful reverence owed. In Greek ethics that was owed to the gods, to parents and to one's city. Here it is aimed at the household, and it means practical care, not a religious feeling.

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