Greek word · G6031

ἐλεγμός

elegmos

rebuke

Reproof, rebuke, exposure, conviction: confronting something false or wrong until it is seen and admitted. It belongs with the verb ἐλέγχω (expose, refute, convict) and the noun ἔλεγχος (proof, reproof), which the Byzantine text has here instead.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐλεγμός, -οῦ, ὁ

(ἐλέγχω), [in LXX: Psalms 38:14 39:11 (תּוֹכֵחָה), Sirach 20:29 21:6 41:4, al. ;]

reproof: 2 Timothy 3:16.†

ἔλεγχος, -ου, ὁ

(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 2 Timothy 3:16

Range of meaning

Reproof, rebuke, exposure, conviction: confronting something false or wrong until it is seen and admitted. It belongs with the verb ἐλέγχω (expose, refute, convict) and the noun ἔλεγχος (proof, reproof), which the Byzantine text has here instead.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'reproof'; BSB/YLT 'conviction'; NIV 'rebuking'; NLT 'make us realize what is wrong'. 'Rebuke' can sound like a scolding. The Greek idea is exposing and proving wrong, so that the person sees it for themselves.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mainly a Septuagint and Jewish Greek word: e.g. the 'water of testing/conviction' in Num 5:18 LXX, and Sirach 21:6 ('whoever hates reproof...'). The verb appears in 2 Tim 4:2 ('reprove, rebuke, exhort').

Where it appears

2 Timothy · 1

  1. 2 Timothy 3:16 ἐλεγμόν, conviction,

    All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

    Here: Bringing something wrong into the open and making the person see it: refuting error or confronting fault until it is admitted.

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