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Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #2150 - εὐσέβεια
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- reverence, respect
- piety towards God, godliness
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εὐσέβεια, ἡ
(cf. εὐσεβία),
1. reverence towards the gods or parents, piety or filial respect, εὐ. εἰς θεοὺς καὶ γονέας Pl. R. 615c, etc.; μιαίνων εὐσέβειαν Ἄρης A. Th. 344 (lyr.); εὐ. Ζηνός towards him, S. El. 1097 (lyr.); πρὸς εὐσέβειαν, = εὐσεβῶς, ib. 464; εὐ. πρός, περὶ τοὺς θεούς, Pl. Smp. 193d, Isoc. 12.124, cf. 10.58; πρὸς ἀδελφόν D.C. 48.5; ἡ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐ. Inscr.Prien. 117.63 (i B.C.), etc.; τὴν εὐ. τῶν πραχθέντων Antipho 3.2.12: pl., acts of piety, Arist. Rh.Al. 1423b28.
2. loyalty, ἡ ὑμετέρα πρός με εὐ. PLond. 3.1178.14 (Claudius); ἡ εἴς με εὔνοια καὶ εὐ. SIG 814.2 (Nero).
3. = Lat. Pietas, App. BC 2.104, Mitteis Chr. 71.12 (V A.D.), Orph. Fr. 159, etc.
4. credit or character for piety, εὐσέβειαν οἴσῃ S. El. 968.
εὐσέβεια, εὐσεβείας, ἡ (εὐσεβής), reverence, respect; in the Bible everywhere piety toward God, godliness: Acts 3:12; 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Timothy 4:7, 8; 1 Timothy 6:5f, 11; 2 Timothy 3:5; 2 Peter 1:3, 6f; ἡ κατ' εὐσέβειαν διδασκαλία, the doctrine that promotes godliness, 1 Timothy 6:3 (see κατά, II. 3 d.); ἡ ἀλήθεια ἡ κατ' εὐσέβειαν, the truth that leads to godliness, Titus 1:1; τό μυστήριον τῆς εὐσεβείας, the mystery which is held by godliness and nourishes it, 1 Timothy 3:16; in plural, aims and acts of godliness, 2 Peter 3:11; cf. Pfieiderer, Paulinism., p. 477f (English translation, ii. 209f). (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Xenophon, Plato, and following; often in Josephus; the Sept. Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 13:11; Isaiah 11:2; Wis. 10:12; often in 4 Macc.; πρός τόν Θεόν, Josephus, Antiquities 18, 5, 2; (περί τό θεῖον) contra Apion 1, 22, 2; εἰς Θεούς καί γονεας, Plato, rep. 10, p. 615 c.) (Cf. Schmidt, chapter 181.)
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εὐ -σέβεια , -ας , ἡ
(< εὐσεβής , q.v.),
[in LXX: Proverbs 1:7, Isaiah 33:6 (H3374), Proverbs 13:11 (aliter in Heb.), Isaiah 11:2 (H3068 H3374), 1 Esdras 1:23, Wisdom of Solomon 10:12, Sirach 49:3, and very freq. in 4Mac;]
1. piety, reverence (towards parents and others).
2. piety towards God, godliness: Acts 3:12, 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Timothy 4:7-8; 1 Timothy 6:5-6; 1 Timothy 6:11, 2 Peter 1:3; 2 Peter 1:6-7,; τὸ τῆς εὐ . μυστήριον , 1 Timothy 3:16; ἡ κατ᾿ εὐ . διδασκαλία , 1 Timothy 6:3; ἡ ἀλήθεια ἡ κατ᾿ εὐ ., Titus 1:1; μόρφωσις εὐσεβείας , 2 Timothy 3:5; pl. (v. Bl., § 32, 6; Mayor on James 2:1), 2 Peter 3:11 (on the use of εὐ . and cognates in Past. Epp., v. CGT, on 1 Timothy 2:2; cf. also Cremer, 524).†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
As emphasizing the place of this word and its cognates in religious phraseology, see P Par 29.10 (B.C. 161–0) δι᾽ ἣν ἔχετε πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσέβειαν, and the payments made ἐξ εὐ [σεβ (είας) to the temple of Socnopaeus in P Tebt II. 298.45 (A.D. 107–8) : cf. P Leid W sxvi. 21 (ii/iii A.D.) οὕτω τούτῳ (sc. τῷ θεῷ) πάντοτε θυσίαζε, καὶ τὰς εὐσέβιας πρόσφερε. The word = ";loyalty"; occurs in the copy of a letter of date A.D. 46 in which the Emperor Claudius thanks an athletic club for a golden crown sent to him on the occasion of his victorious campaign in Britain—ἐπὶ τῇ κατὰ Βρεταννῶν νεικῇ χρυσοῦν σ ̣[τέ ]φανον ἡδέως ἔλαβον σύμβολον περιέχοντα τῆς ὑμετέρας πρός με εὐσεβείας (P Lond 1178.14 = III. p. 216, Selections, p. 99) : cf BGU I. 326.2 (ii/A.D.) τῇ φρόντιδι καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ τῶν [κ ]ληρονόμων μου, and CP Herm I. 52.19 (A.D. 266–7) (= Chrest. I. p. 57) κατὰ τὴν ἔμφυτον αὐτοῦ πρὸς το [ὺς ὑπ ]ηκόους φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ πρὸς τὰ θεῖ [α ] εὐσέβε [ιαν. In BGU IV. 1197.16 (time of Augustus) a petition to a high state-official Asclepiades, who is addressed—τῷ θεῶι καὶ κυρίωι,—runs δ ]εόμενοι οὖ (l. οὖν) τῆς παρὰ σ ̣ο ̣υ ̣̑ εὐσεβήας [μεταλαβεῖν. . . . . ]ε ̣ι ̣του ἀξιοῦμεν κτλ. The religious connotation of the word denoting ";operative, cultive piety"; (Alford on Acts 3:12) comes out well in the inscrr., as when the inhabitants of Priene are praised ἐπὶ τῇ πρὸς ] τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείᾳ, (Priene 117.63–i/B.C. : cf. ib. 118.33, and Rouffiac Recherches, p. 80 f.), or when a certain Posideus is described as—τῆς τε πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν φιλοστοργίας τὴν μεγίστην πρόνοιαν ποιούμενο [ς (Michel 459.9–ii/B.C. ad init.) : see also the Commiagene rescript of Antiochus I. OG1S 383.14 (mid. i/B.C.) ἐγὼ πάντων ἀγαθῶν οὐ μόνον κτῆσιν βεβαιοτάτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν ἡδίστην ἀνθρώποις ἐνόμισα τὴν εὐσέβειαν, and the pompous decree in which Nero invites the presence of the Greeks at Corinth in A.D. 67—τῆς εἴς με εὐνοίας τε καὶ εὐσεβείας ἀμείψασθαι θέλων τὴν εὐγενεστάτην Ἑλλάδα, ";desiring to requite most noble Hellas for her good-will and piety towards me"; (Syll 376.2). With the list of virtues in 2 Peter 1:5 f. Deissmann (LAE p. 322) compares an inscr. from Asia Minor, i/B.C., in honour of one Herostratus, OGIS 438.8 ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν γενόμενον καὶ διενένκαντα πίστει καὶ ἀρετῇ καὶ δ [ικ ]αιοσύνῃ καὶ εὐσεβείαι καὶ. . . τὴν πλείστ [η ]ν εἰσενηνεγμένον σπουδήν. See also Aristeas 229, Philo Quod Deus sit immutabilis 14 (ed. Cohn ii. p. 72). As showing the true Hellenistic character of this word, it may be noted that in the NT it is confined to 2 Pet, Acts, and the Pastorals, and that of 59 occurrences in the LXX 47 belong to 4 Macc : see Dibelius on 1 Timothy 2:2 (in HZNT).
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