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μισθαποδοσία

misthapodosía

G3405 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Payment of wages; compensation for labor or service rendered, typically highlighting the act of giving recompense or reward — whether in a positive or negative sense. In extended or metaphorical contexts, refers to the outcome or result that one receives as due payment for one’s actions, whether reward or punishment.

Semantic Range

payment of wages, compensation for work, reward, recompense, requital (positive or negative), the result or outcome of actions, divine reward or punishment

Root / Etymology

From μισθαποδότης (one who pays wages or rewards), itself from μισθός (wage, pay) + ἀποδίδωμι (to give back, to pay). Thus, μισθαποδοσία is the abstract noun expressing the act or result of giving wages, reward, or recompense.

Historical & Contextual Notes

μισθαποδοσία is rare outside biblical and Hellenistic Jewish Greek sources. In the Septuagint, it typically denotes recompense given by God, primarily in the sense of reward for righteousness but sometimes for punishment, reflecting the underlying Hebrew concepts of divine reward and retribution. In the New Testament (e.g., Hebrews 2:2, 10:35, 11:26), it stresses payment or reward as the appropriate result for service, faithfulness, or action — whether material, spiritual, positive, or negative. Classical Greek preferred simpler terms such as μισθός for wages; μισθαποδοσία exhibits a more formal, abstract flavor, likely shaped by Jewish-Greek idiom and the framework of divine justice. Most English translations render it as 'reward' or 'recompense of reward,' but this may underrepresent the neutral or negative connotations it may bear in certain contexts. Its use in Koine Jewish and early Christian texts is primarily in reference to the outcome received from God as the fair or just consequence of human behavior.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from μισθαποδότης; requital (good or bad):--recompence of reward.

Root Family

μισθαποδοσ- (misthapodosía) — to pay wages, to give compensation, to recompense

Root μισθαποδοσ- to pay wages, to give compensation, to recompense

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G3405-01 μισθαποδοσίαν misthapodosian N ACC F SG reward recompense recompense 3

Occurrences in Scripture

3 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G3405-01 Hebrews 2:2 μισθαποδοσίαν misthapodosian N ACC F SG reward recompense recompense
G3405-01 Hebrews 10:35 μισθαποδοσίαν misthapodosian N ACC F SG reward recompense recompense
G3405-01 Hebrews 11:26 μισθαποδοσίαν misthapodosian N ACC F SG reward recompense recompense
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