βαθμός

From the study of 1 Timothy 3:13

Range of meaning

Basic sense: a step, stair or threshold, something you set your foot on. From that comes the figurative sense of a grade, rank or stage, a position someone stands in. In later Greek it could mean a stage of progress, and some scholars note it in religious contexts for a stage of initiation. This is the only place it appears in the New Testament.

Against the English

KJV 'degree', YLT 'step', BSB/NASB 'high standing', ESV/WEB 'good standing', NIV 'excellent standing', NLT 'respect from others' (an interpretation). 'Step' keeps the concrete picture. 'Standing' gives the likely sense. 'High' adds a sense of rank above others that 'good' (kalon) does not strictly say.

How it drifted

Through the Latin Vulgate's 'gradum' (grade, step), the KJV wrote 'degree'. In 1611 that still meant a step or rank. Today it suggests an academic qualification or an amount. The 'grade' picture also supported the later idea that the diaconate is the bottom rung of a clerical ladder.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament): 1 Kingdoms (1 Samuel) 5:5, the threshold of Dagon's temple. 4 Kingdoms (2 Kings) 20:9–11, the 'steps' of Ahaz's sundial, which the KJV also calls 'degrees'. Sirach 6:36: 'let your foot wear out the steps of his door', said of visiting a wise man. BDAG gives the figurative 'standing' for 1 Tim 3:13.