ὁσίως

From the study of 1 Thessalonians 2:10

Range of meaning

The adjective ὅσιος describes what is sanctioned by divine law and custom, as opposed to what is merely permitted by human law: pious, devout, religiously correct, free of sacrilege. Applied to people, it means someone who keeps their sacred obligations and is untainted by impiety. The adverb ὁσίως means 'in a devout, pious manner'.

Against the English

BSB, KJV, NIV and ESV use 'holy/holily'. NASB has 'devoutly' and NLT 'devout'. YLT's 'kindly' is an outlier: it follows the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), where ὅσιος often stands for Hebrew ḥasid, 'loyal, faithful' (from ḥesed). In ordinary English, 'holy' usually translates a different Greek word, ἅγιος (set apart, consecrated). Using 'holy' for both blurs a real distinction.

How it drifted

English has one main word, 'holy', for two Greek ideas. ἅγιος is about belonging to God and being set apart. ὅσιος is about piety, doing right by God. Most readers of 'holy' picture separateness or saintly aura, not faithful observance of what is owed to God.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek writers standardly paired ὅσιος and δίκαιος to cover the whole of right conduct: ὅσιος toward the gods, δίκαιος toward people. Plato, Gorgias 507b: the person who does what is fitting toward humans acts justly, and toward the gods, piously. Polybius 22.10.8 and many inscriptions contrast τὰ πρὸς θεοὺς ὅσια ('what is due to the gods') with τὰ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους δίκαια ('what is due to people'). Philo uses the pair the same way. In the Septuagint: Deut 32:4 (God is 'just and holy/devout', δίκαιος καὶ ὅσιος); Wisdom 9:3. In the NT: Luke 1:75 ('in holiness [ὁσιότητι] and righteousness'), Eph 4:24, Titus 1:8.