Greek word · G2239
ἦθος
ēthos
moral
Accustomed place or habit. In the plural, customs and ways of life. Then character as formed by habit: a person's settled moral disposition. Greek moral thinkers (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 2.1) connected ēthos with ethos ("habit"): character is built by repeated practice.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἦθος, -εος (-ους), τό
[in LXX: Sirach 20:26, 4Ma.1:29 4Mac 2:7 4Mac 2:21 4Mac 5:24 4Mac 13:27 * ;]
1 1, a haunt, abode.
2. = ἔθος, custom, manner: pl., 1 Corinthians 15:33.†
(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 Corinthians 15:33
- Range of meaning
Accustomed place or habit. In the plural, customs and ways of life. Then character as formed by habit: a person's settled moral disposition. Greek moral thinkers (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 2.1) connected ēthos with ethos ("habit"): character is built by repeated practice.
- Against the English
KJV "manners" meant "morals, way of life" in 1611 (compare Latin mores). Today it means etiquette and politeness. "Character" (BSB, NIV, NLT) and "morals" (WEB, ESV, NASB) are accurate.
- How it drifted
English "manners" shrank from "moral conduct, habits of life" to "polite social behaviour" in later centuries.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Septuagint 4 Maccabees 1:29; 2:7, 21; 5:24; 13:27 (habits of character trained by the Law). Sirach 20:26 (the "character" of a liar). Common in Hellenistic moral writers and in Greek-speaking Jewish authors such as Philo.
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 1
-
1 Corinthians 15:33 ἤθη morals
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Here: Settled habits of life, a person's moral character as shown in how they usually behave. It occurs only here in the New Testament. The English word "ethics" comes from it.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.