Greek word · G4738

στῆθος

stēthos

chest

Sternon: the chest or breast, and sometimes the seat of feeling ('heart'). Pterna: the heel (John 13:18, 'lifted up his heel').

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

στῆθος, -ους, τό

[in LXX: Exodus 28:23, 26 (29-30) (לֵב), etc. ;]

the breast: John 13:25 21:10, Revelation 15:6; as a sign of penitence, τύπτειν (εἰς) τὸ σ., Luke 18:13 23:48,†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: Sternon: the chest or breast, and sometimes the seat of feeling ('heart'). Pterna: the heel (John 13:18, 'lifted up his heel').
Against the English: KJV/Brenton 'constant heart' takes sternon as 'heart'. WEB keeps it literally as 'breasts'. Translations following the critical text read 'heels' or simply 'feet'.
How it drifted: The 1611 translators followed the manuscripts that read 'breast' and made sense of the odd image by taking it as the heart, the seat of character. That turned a picture of stance and posture into a statement about loyalty.
Used elsewhere in the period: The two Greek words differ by one letter (σ/π), a common kind of copying confusion. The surviving Hebrew fragments of chapter 26 (Cairo Genizah MS C) preserve verses 15–17 but, as far as is known, not verse 18, so the Hebrew cannot settle the question. The Latin's 'upon the soles' (super plantas) supports a foot-word.

Range of meaning: The chest or breast as a body part. In Luke 18:13 and 23:48 people beat their chest in grief or repentance. In Revelation 15:6 angels wear gold sashes around the chest.
Against the English: KJV and NASB have "breast" or "bosom", WEB has "chest", and BSB/NIV have "against Jesus". All are acceptable. The issue is that English readers often merge stēthos with the kolpos ("bosom") of v.23, which carries different overtones.
Used elsewhere in the period: Common in Greek of every period for the physical chest. John 21:20 reuses the exact phrase "upon his chest" to identify this disciple.

Luke · 2

Luke 18:13 στῆθος breast

But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

Here: Beating the chest was a gesture of deep grief or anguish. Luke uses it again for the crowds at the cross (23:48).
Luke 23:48 στήθη breasts

And when all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts.

John · 2

John 13:25 στῆθος breast

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked, “Lord, who is it?”

Here: The plain physical word for the upper chest. It differs from kolpos ("bosom, lap") in v.23, which describes his regular place at the table. Here the stress is on where his head actually ends up as he leans to speak privately.
John 21:20 στῆθος bosom

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”

Here: The physical chest. Given how people lay at a reclining meal, it marks him as the one lying next to Jesus, close enough to speak privately.

Revelation · 1

Revelation 15:6 στήθη chests

And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests.

Here: The sash sits at chest height, not at the waist. That is a mark of priestly or royal dignity and matches the glorified Christ in 1:13.

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