Greek word · G3615

οἰκιακός

oikiakos

member of a house

'Belonging to the house'. As a noun, a member of a household. The oikos (house) of the period meant the whole working family unit: several generations, sons' wives who married in, sometimes slaves and dependents, all under the head of the house.

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

What it means

οἰκιακός (in Plut., al., -ειακός), ή, όν

(οἰκία), = οἰκεῖος

belonging to the household, one's own: Matthew 10:36; opposite to οἰκοδεσπότης, Matthew 10:25.†

(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 Matthew 10:36

Range of meaning

'Belonging to the house'. As a noun, a member of a household. The oikos (house) of the period meant the whole working family unit: several generations, sons' wives who married in, sometimes slaves and dependents, all under the head of the house.

Against the English

'Household' (all versions) is right. But modern readers tend to picture a small nuclear family, or whoever happens to share an address. The verse itself (v. 35) names a father, a mother, a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law living together, which is a multi-generation house.

How it drifted

Modern Western households are small and voluntary. The ancient oikos was a person's main source of identity, economic survival, honour and religious practice.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is rare in the New Testament. Its only other use in the Gospels is Matthew 10:25: 'If they called the master of the house (oikodespotēn) Beelzebul, how much more his household members (oikiakous).' It also occurs in Greek papyri for members of a household. The Hebrew of Micah 7:6 has anshe beito, 'the men of his house'.

Where it appears

Matthew · 2

  1. Matthew 10:25 οἰκιακοὺς house members

    It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

    Here: Members of the household: family, dependents and slaves. The same rare word comes back in 10:36, 'a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'

  2. Matthew 10:36 οἰκιακοὶ household

    A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

    Here: Everyone who belongs to a man's house: parents, children, in-laws who married in, other relatives and dependents. These are the people a person most relies on for loyalty, and the same word Jesus used for his own disciples in 10:25.

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