Greek word · G3503

νεότης

neotēs

youth

The state or period of being young (neos). Greek age categories were fluid. In one widely cited scheme (attributed to Hippocrates and quoted by Philo, On the Creation 105), a neaniskos ('young man') ran to about 28. The word means young relative to the full maturity expected of leaders.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

νεότης, -ητος, ἡ

(νέος), [in LXX chiefly for נָעוּר ;]

youth: Mark 10:20, Luke 18:21, Acts 26:4, 1 Timothy 4:12.†

(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 4:12

Range of meaning

The state or period of being young (neos). Greek age categories were fluid. In one widely cited scheme (attributed to Hippocrates and quoted by Philo, On the Creation 105), a neaniskos ('young man') ran to about 28. Others stretched 'youth' further: Polybius (18.12.5) calls Flamininus neos at about 30, and Irenaeus (Against Heresies 2.22.5) treats a man as still 'young' until near forty. The word means young relative to the full maturity expected of leaders.

Against the English

English 'youth' now suggests adolescence, a 'youth group', a teenager. Most translations ('your youth', 'because you are young') are accurate, but readers fill in a teenage picture the Greek does not require.

How it drifted

Modern Western life has a sharp category of 'youth' as teenage years, and church youth ministry has widely adopted this verse as its motto, so the word is heard through that lens.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same noun is used in Mark 10:20 and Acts 26:4 ('from my youth'). In the LXX it often means early life (Gen 8:21; Ps 25:7). On the ages: Timothy was already a respected disciple when Paul recruited him around AD 49 (Acts 16:1–3). If 1 Timothy was written in the 60s, he was probably around 30 to 35.

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 10:20 νεότητός [the] youth

    “Teacher,” he replied, “all these I have kept from my youth.”

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 18:21 νεότητος [the] youth

    “All these I have kept from my youth,” he said.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 26:4 νεότητος youth

    Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from my earliest childhood among my own people, and also in Jerusalem.

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 4:12 νεότητος youth

    Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

    Here: Timothy's relative youth. In Greek usage this could cover a man well into his thirties; here it means young compared to the older men (elders) he had to oversee and correct.

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