Greek word · G2472

ἰσότιμος

isotimos

equally valuable

'Equal in timē': equal in honour, value, rank or privilege. Used of people who hold the same civic rights or status, or of things of equal worth.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 22, 2026

What it means

ἰσότιμος, -ον

(ἴσος, τιμή),

equally privileged, held in equal honour: πίστις, 2 Peter 1:1 (R, mg., equally precious, but v Field, Notes, 240; Mayor, in l).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: 'Equal in timē': equal in honour, value, rank or privilege. Used of people who hold the same civic rights or status, or of things of equal worth.
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'like precious', BSB/NIV 'as precious as ours', ESV 'of equal standing', NASB 'of the same kind'. 'Precious' makes it sound sentimental or devotional, but the word is about rank and rights: the readers' faith is not second-tier.
How it drifted: The KJV's 'like precious' (meaning 'equally valuable') was fair in 1611. But 'precious' in modern devotional English suggests something treasured and dear, which hides the word's main sense of equal status.
Used elsewhere in the period: Josephus (Antiquities 12.119) uses isotimos for the Jews of Antioch being granted civic privileges equal to those of the Greeks. The related noun isotimia is a standard word for equal civic rights in Greek political writing and inscriptions. Philo also uses it for equality of honour. This is its only occurrence in the New Testament.

2 Peter · 1

2 Peter 1:1 ἰσότιμον equally precious

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Here: 'Equal in value, rank or privilege'. The readers' faith is not second-class: it has the same standing as that of the apostles (or of the first, Jewish believers).

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