Greek word · G4186

πολύτιμος

polytimos

valuable

'Of great value, very precious, costly', from polu- ('much') and timē ('worth, honour, price'). It describes how much something is worth. NT: John 12:3 (the 'very costly' nard Mary poured on Jesus); the comparative appears in 1 Pet 1:7 (faith 'more precious than gold').

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

πολύτιμος, -ον

(πολύς, τιμή)

1. much revered (Menand.).

2. very costly, very precious: Matthew 13:46 26:7 (βαρύτιμος, WH), John 12:3; comparat., 1 Peter 1:7.†

(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 13:46

Range of meaning

'Of great value, very precious, costly', from polu- ('much') and timē ('worth, honour, price'). It describes how much something is worth. NT: John 12:3 (the 'very costly' nard Mary poured on Jesus); the comparative appears in 1 Pet 1:7 (faith 'more precious than gold').

Against the English

KJV's 'of great price' used 'price' in its older sense of worth or preciousness. BSB 'very precious' and ESV/NASB/NIV 'of great value' say the same thing in current English. A modern reader of 'great price' may hear 'expensive, it costs you a lot', which moves the focus from the pearl's worth to the buyer's cost.

How it drifted

In older English 'price' could mean value or worth (compare KJV Prov 31:10, 'her price is far above rubies'). Modern English mostly uses it for the sum charged.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek writers from the classical period on it is used of costly goods, garments and perfumes. Plutarch and the papyri use it for expensive items. The tim- root is the ordinary Greek vocabulary of worth and honour.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 13:46 πολύτιμον very precious

    When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.

    Here: 'Of great worth.' Literally 'much-valued'. The word describes how much the pearl is worth, not mainly what it costs. Its worth is so great that a professional dealer judges it worth more than all his property put together.

John · 1

  1. John 12:3 πολυτίμου of great price

    Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

    Here: 'Of great value'. Verse 5 puts a price on it: 300 denarii, close to a labourer's wages for a year.

1 Peter · 1

  1. 1 Peter 1:7 πολυτιμότερον more precious

    so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

    Here: Comparative form. It is neuter and agrees with 'dokimion', so the thing valued above gold is the proven genuineness of faith. The root word for 'value' (timē) comes back at the end of the verse as 'honor'.

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