Greek word · G5091

τιμάω

timaō

to honor

To give someone the worth or value due to them: to honor, revere or esteem. It is related to timē, which means both "honor" and "price" or "value". So timaō can mean honoring someone with tangible goods, such as payment, gifts or support. BDAG lists both "set a price on" and "honor, revere".

Appears 20 times in 15 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

τιμάω, -ῶ

(τιμή), [in LXX for כָּבַד pi., עָרַךְ hi., etc. ;]

1. to fix the value, price: with accusative of person(s), of Christ, Matthew 27:9 (LXX).

2. to honour: with accusative of person(s), Matthew 15:4 (LXX), Matthew 15:5, 8" (LXX) Matthew 19:19 (LXX), Mark 7:6, 10 10:19, Luke 18:28" (LXX), John 5:23 8:49 12:26, Ephesians 6:2" (LXX), 1 Timothy 5:3, 1 Peter 2:17; πολλαῖς τιμαῖς, Acts 28:10.†

(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 15:4

Range of meaning

To give someone the worth or value due to them: to honor, revere or esteem. It is related to timē, which means both "honor" and "price" or "value". So timaō can mean honoring someone with tangible goods, such as payment, gifts or support. BDAG lists both "set a price on" and "honor, revere". Its Hebrew source in the commandment is kabbēd, from the root kbd, "to be heavy": literally "give weight to" your parents.

Against the English

Every English version has "honor", which is accurate. But in modern English "honor" is mostly an attitude (respect, politeness) or, for children, obedience. The Greek and Hebrew words also include material care. Verses 5–6 are only coherent with that sense: a son who declares his resources "a gift to God" "need not honor his father", which means he need not support him.

How it drifted

In modern English "honor" has become a matter of attitude and ceremony, and it has lost the economic side that timē and kabōd (honor, weight) carried. Children's teaching on the commandment has also centered on young children obeying, and that pushed the adult duty of support into the background.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16: tima ton patera sou kai tēn mētera sou. Sirach 3:1–16 spells out honoring parents as caring for a father in old age, even when his mind fails. Philo (On the Decalogue 106–120) places the commandment on the border between duties to God and duties to people. Josephus (Against Apion 2.206) says the Law ranks honor to parents second only to honor of God. Later rabbinic teaching (b. Qiddushin 31b) defines honor as feeding a parent, giving them drink, clothing them, and helping them in and out. Paul uses timaō for financial support of widows (1 Tim 5:3), and "double honor" for elders likely includes pay (1 Tim 5:17–18).

From the study of John 12:26

Range of meaning

To give someone honor: to recognize publicly their worth and standing, to show respect, and sometimes to reward them materially. In the ancient Mediterranean world, honor (timē) was a person's public value, and the community granted it or took it away.

Against the English

Modern "honor" can sound like a polite compliment or a ceremonial award. In the first century, being honored by a great household's head changed your standing for real, with status, belonging and often reward.

How it drifted

Modern Western culture is no longer organized around public honor and shame. The word has lost the weight of a social status that the head of a household grants and everyone recognizes.

Used elsewhere in the period

John 5:23 says all should "honor the Son just as they honor the Father". John 8:49: "I honor my Father, and you dishonor me." John 12:43 says some leaders "loved the glory of men more than the glory of God." The Septuagint (the ancient Greek Old Testament) has 1 Sam 2:30: "those who honor me I will honor."

From the study of 1 Timothy 5:3

Range of meaning

To set a value on something or someone. This covers (1) honoring or respecting a person and (2) the money side of value: setting a price, paying someone, providing for them. The related noun τιμή (timē) means both 'honor' and 'price' (Matt 27:9; Acts 4:34; 5:2; 1 Cor 6:20 'bought with a price'). The verb often joins the two ideas: showing that you value someone by giving them something concrete.

Against the English

Today the English word 'honor' is about attitude and words: esteem, public recognition, a plaque. The Greek word was broader. In this passage it clearly includes money, food and housing. Some modern versions make this explicit ('support,' 'take care of'). Others keep 'honor' and leave readers to infer the support from context.

How it drifted

In English, 'honor' gradually lost most of its financial sense. A trace survives in 'honorarium,' a fee paid to a speaker, which comes from Latin honor. Earlier English was closer: to 'honour a bill' still means to pay it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Sirach 38:1 (Greek): 'Honor (τίμα) the physician … with the honors due him.' The context is about paying the doctor's fee. Acts 28:10: the Maltese 'honored us with many honors' and then loaded the ship 'with what we needed.' Matthew 15:4–6: Jesus treats 'honor your father and mother' as including financial support, which is why he condemns the Corban loophole for avoiding it. 1 Timothy 5:17–18, in this same chapter: elders deserve 'double honor (τιμῆς),' backed up with 'the worker deserves his wages.'

Where it appears

Matthew · 5
  1. Matthew 15:4 τίμα 'do honor

    For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

    Here: A present-tense command addressed to one person: "keep honoring". It means giving parents their due weight and worth. As verses 5–6 show, that includes the material support grown children owed aging parents.

  2. Matthew 15:8 τιμᾷ, it honors,

    ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

    Here: To give someone the worth and standing that is due them. The verb is singular because 'people' is treated as one body, and present tense because this is their ongoing habit. It picks up 'honour your father and mother' from verses 4 and 6.

  3. Matthew 19:19 τίμα do honor

    honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”

    Here: A present-tense command: keep on honoring, as a settled way of life. It quotes the fifth commandment word for word from the Greek Old Testament (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). In Jewish teaching this honor included material support of parents in old age (compare Matthew 15:4–6).

  4. Matthew 27:9 τετιμημένου, ἐτιμήσαντο priced,, they set a price on

    Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on Him by the people of Israel,

    Here: 'Of the one who has been priced.' The perfect tense presents the valuation as a done deal that stands. It echoes the Hebrew wordplay of Zechariah 11:13 ('the precious price at which I was priced').

Mark · 3
  1. Mark 7:6 τιμᾷ, honors,

    Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

    Here: To give someone their due weight and public respect. Present tense: the people honor God habitually and outwardly. The same verb returns in v. 10, 'Honor your father and mother', which sets up the charge about Korban.

  2. Mark 7:10 τίμα do honor

    For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

    Here: A present-tense command, so a lasting duty rather than a single act. It means to give someone their proper worth. In this passage that clearly includes material support, because the next verses are about money withheld from parents.

  3. Mark 10:19 τίμα do honor

    You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.’”

    Here: Present command, 'keep honoring'. The word matches the Greek Old Testament (Exod 20:12). Said to an adult, it means giving parents their due weight, including practical and financial care (compare Mark 7:10–12).

Luke · 1
  1. Luke 18:20 τίμα do honor

    You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’”

    Here: A positive present-tense command, 'keep honoring'. The four short bans are followed by an ongoing duty: to treat parents as weighty and valuable, which in practice included supporting them in old age.

John · 6
  1. John 5:23 τιμῶσιν τιμῶσιν τιμῶν τιμᾷ may honor, they honor, is honoring

    so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

    Here: Present subjunctive after ἵνα: "may (keep on) honoring." It means publicly recognising someone's worth and status and treating them accordingly, not only feeling respect.

  2. John 8:49 τιμῶ I honor

    “I do not have a demon,” Jesus replied, “but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

    Here: To give someone the public recognition and worth they are owed, shown in conduct and not only felt inside. The present tense describes his steady pattern: his whole activity honors the Father.

  3. John 12:26 τιμήσει will honor

    If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

    Here: Future indicative, placed first in its clause for emphasis: "*honor* him the Father will". To honor is to give someone public worth and standing.

Acts · 1
  1. Acts 28:10 ἐτίμησαν honored

    The islanders honored us in many ways and supplied our needs when we were ready to sail.

Ephesians · 1
  1. Ephesians 6:2 τίμα do honor

    “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),

    Here: A present-tense command addressed to 'you' (singular), as in the Ten Commandments: keep on giving your parents the weight and worth they are due. The word covers respect, but also practical care and support.

1 Timothy · 1
  1. 1 Timothy 5:3 τίμα do honor

    Honor the widows who are truly widows.

    Here: A command to Timothy, in a form that means 'keep doing this.' It means treating someone as valuable, and that includes paying what they are worth. The verses around it (vv. 4, 8, 16) show that material support is the main point, though respect is part of it too.

1 Peter · 2
  1. 1 Peter 2:17 τιμήσατε, τιμᾶτε.¶ do honor,, do honor.

    Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

    Here: A command in the aorist form (a form that presents the action as a whole, not as a process). It means to give people the respect and recognized worth due to them. It is the only one of the four commands not in the ongoing present form, which is why many read it as the heading over the others.

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