Greek word · G6066

ὀλιγοπιστία

oligopistia

little faith

Literally 'little-faith-ness'. The noun is found only here in the New Testament and is very rare elsewhere. Each time the people do trust Jesus, but their trust gives way when a real test comes. In 14:31 it is paired with 'why did you doubt?' (edistasas, 'waver, be of two minds').

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὀλιγοπιστία, -ας, ἡ,

little faith or trust: Matthew 17:20.†

(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 17:20

Range of meaning

Literally 'little-faith-ness'. The noun is found only here in the New Testament and is very rare elsewhere. The related adjective oligopistos ('of little faith') is a Matthew favourite, said by Jesus to his own followers: about worry over food and clothes (6:30), fear in the storm (8:26), Peter sinking in the water (14:31), and forgetting the loaves (16:8). Each time the people do trust Jesus, but their trust gives way when a real test comes. In 14:31 it is paired with 'why did you doubt?' (edistasas, 'waver, be of two minds').

Against the English

'Little faith' (ESV) and 'so little faith' (BSB, NIV) keep the word. 'Unbelief' (KJV, WEB) translates a different reading, apistia, and suggests the disciples did not believe at all. 'You don't have enough faith' (NLT) turns it into a matter of amount, which clashes with the next sentence, where a tiny amount is enough.

How it drifted

Reading it as 'insufficient quantity' comes from English 'little' and from treating faith as a substance you can measure. Matthew uses the word for faltering, divided trust.

Used elsewhere in the period

The adjective oligopistos appears in Matthew and Luke 12:28. Later rabbinic texts use a similar Hebrew phrase, qetanne amanah ('those small in faith'), for people who worry about tomorrow's bread (b. Sotah 48b). BDAG glosses the noun 'poverty of faith'.

Similar words

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 17:20 ὀλιγοπιστίαν little faith

    “Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

    Here: 'Little-faith-ness'. In Matthew this is the word for disciples who really do trust Jesus but whose trust gives way under pressure. It is not unbelief or atheism. This is the only place in the New Testament where the noun appears.

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