μισθόω
misthóō
G3409 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To engage or let out (property or labor) for payment; to offer, grant, or secure the use or service of something or someone for an agreed wage. In the middle voice (which is standard in Koine usage), to hire for oneself or arrange the service of another in exchange for compensation. Semantic range extends from the commercial leasing of property (e.g., renting a house or vineyard), to employing laborers or servants (hiring workers), and, by extension, to making any formal arrangement for paid work or temporary possession.
Semantic Range
to hire for wages, to lease out property for pay, to employ laborers temporarily, to arrange for paid services or use, to engage a worker for compensation
Root / Etymology
From μισθός (wages, payment, reward), with the verb-forming suffix -όω, meaning 'to provide with a wage' or 'to engage for pay.'
Historical & Contextual Notes
μισθόω, though rooted in classical and Hellenistic commercial vocabulary, is attested mainly in later Greek (including papyri and the New Testament) for the act of leasing property or hiring laborers. In Koine Greek, the verb is most often encountered in the middle voice, reflecting the hiring of laborers for one’s own purposes (as in Matthew 20:1, 7, 8, where landowners hire day-laborers—misthōsamenos). The term does not carry the later English sense of 'sub-contracting' or complex employment structures, but rather describes direct commercial agreements typical of the agrarian and urban economies of the period. In Septuagint use, reflective of wider Hellenistic administrative Greek, it parallels Hebrew שָׂכַר (śākar, to hire/pay wages). In English translation traditions, μισθόω is sometimes simply rendered 'hire,' but this does not always convey the reciprocal or contractual nuance present in Greek. There is no evidence for usage indicating permanent servitude or slavery—the word denotes temporary or wage-based arrangements. Related terms: μισθός (wage/payment); contrast with δουλόω (to enslave), ἐργάζομαι (to work).
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from μισθός; to let out for wages, i.e. (middle voice) to hire:--hire.
Root Family
μισθ- (místhios) — to hire, to pay wages, to earn compensation
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| G3407 | μίσθιος | wage-workers |
| G3408 | μισθός | recompense |
| G3410 | μίσθωμα | to a rented dwelling |
| G3411 | μισθωτός | of hired workers |
| G489 | ἀντιμισθία | reciprocal recompense |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G3409-01 |
ἐμισθώσατο | emisthosato | V AOR MID IND 3P SG |
has hired | hired for himself | hired for himself | 1 |
G3409-02 |
μισθώσασθαι | misthosasthai | V AOR MID INF |
to hire | to hire for oneself | to hire for himself | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G3409-02 |
Matthew 20:1 | μισθώσασθαι | misthosasthai | V AOR MID INF |
to hire | to hire for oneself | to hire for himself |
G3409-01 |
Matthew 20:7 | ἐμισθώσατο | emisthosato | V AOR MID IND 3P SG |
has hired | hired for himself | hired for himself |