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πιστεύω

pisteúō

G4100 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To trust, to believe, to consider something or someone as trustworthy or reliable. The verb primarily indicates the act of believing or having confidence in the truth, reliability, or trustworthiness of something or someone. Contextually, it may range from accepting a statement as true, to placing personal trust in a person (such as a leader or deity), to formally entrusting something valuable, including responsibility or information, to another.

Semantic Range

to trust, to have confidence in, to believe (a statement or person), to entrust something to someone, to be convinced of truth, to rely upon, to give credence to, to put confidence in

Root / Etymology

Derived from πίστις (pistis, 'trust, faith, belief'), itself from the stem πειθ- (peith-, 'to persuade, be convinced'). The formation pisteúō is a denominative verb from the noun πίστις.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical Greek, πιστεύω generally meant 'to trust,' 'have confidence in,' or 'to rely on,' whether relating to people, statements, or documents. In the Hellenistic and Koine periods, the range expanded in religious, social, and legal contexts. The Septuagint often uses πιστεύω to translate various Hebrew verbs connoting trust, belief, or faithfulness, particularly with respect to Israelite trust in their deity. In the New Testament, πιστεύω typically describes confidence in the truth or divine reliability of a proclamation, message, or person, notably in relation to Jesus as a figure of trust or authority. In some legal or administrative settings, it can mean 'to entrust' possessions or responsibilities to another. English translations frequently render it as 'believe,' 'have faith,' or 'trust,' but these may not always convey the full dynamics of relational trust, reliance, and entrusting present in Koine Greek usage. While often found in connection with divine subjects, πιστεύω is also used for secular or interpersonal beliefs and trust, including believing reports, trusting leaders, or entrusting items or people for safekeeping.

Translation Consistency

primary "trust" 44 occurrences

'Trust' best captures the primary relational and confidence-based sense of pisteúō (having faith in or relying on someone) while also naturally covering contexts of entrusting. It is simple, natural English and aligns with the dominant renderings in the data (e.g., 'trusting', 'trusted'), allowing consistent treatment of all forms.

Alternatives (6 occurrences):
"believed" (2x) "believing" (1x) "believe" (1x) "having believed" (1x) "entrust" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from πίστις; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ):--believe(-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.

Root Family

πιστευ- (pisteúō) — to trust, to believe, to consider trustworthy, to entrust

Root πιστευ- to trust, to believe, to consider trustworthy, to entrust

Word Forms

55 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G4100-30 πιστεύετε pisteuete V PRS ACT IND 2P PL believe you are trusting you are trusting 25
G4100-33 πιστεύων pisteuon V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M SG believing the one trusting the one trusting 24
G4100-06 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL believed they trusted they trusted 22
G4100-09 ἐπίστευσεν episteusen V AOR ACT IND 3P SG believed trusted trusted 14
G4100-39 πιστεύουσιν pisteuousin V PRS ACT IND 3P PL who believe they trust they trust 14
G4100-49 πιστεύσητε pisteusete V AOR ACT SUBJ 2P PL believe you might trust you might trust 11
G4100-28 πιστεύεις pisteueis V PRS ACT IND 2P SG believe you are trusting you are trusting 8
G4100-08 ἐπιστεύσατε episteusate V AOR ACT IND 2P PL you believed you trusted you trusted 7
G4100-36 πιστεύοντες pisteuontes V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M PL believing those trusting believing 7
G4100-42 πιστεύσαντες pisteusantes V AOR ACT PTCP NOM M PL having believed having trusted having trusted 7

Occurrences in Scripture

244 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G4100-07 Matthew 8:13 ἐπίστευσας episteusas V AOR ACT IND 2P SG you-have-believed you trusted you believed
G4100-30 Matthew 9:28 πιστεύετε pisteuete V PRS ACT IND 2P PL Do you believe you are trusting you are trusting
G4100-38 Matthew 18:6 πιστευόντων pisteuonton V PRS ACT PTCP GEN M PL believing of the ones trusting of the ones trusting
G4100-36 Matthew 21:22 πιστεύοντες pisteuontes V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M PL believing those trusting believing
G4100-08 Matthew 21:25 ἐπιστεύσατε episteusate V AOR ACT IND 2P PL did you believe you trusted you trusted
G4100-08 Matthew 21:32 ἐπιστεύσατε episteusate V AOR ACT IND 2P PL you believed you trusted you trusted
G4100-06 Matthew 21:32 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL believed they trusted they trusted
G4100-40 Matthew 21:32 πιστεῦσαι pisteusai V AOR ACT INF believe to trust believe
G4100-49 Matthew 24:23 πιστεύσητε pisteusete V AOR ACT SUBJ 2P PL believe you might trust you might trust
G4100-49 Matthew 24:26 πιστεύσητε pisteusete V AOR ACT SUBJ 2P PL believe you might trust you might trust
G4100-51 Matthew 27:42 πιστεύσομεν pisteusomen V FUT ACT IND 1P PL we will believe we will trust we will trust
G4100-30 Mark 1:15 πιστεύετε pisteuete V PRS ACT IMP 2P PL believe you are trusting you are trusting
G4100-25 Mark 5:36 πίστευε pisteue V PRS ACT IMP 2P SG believe be trusting be trusting
G4100-37 Mark 9:23 πιστεύοντι pisteuonti V PRS ACT PTCP DAT M SG who believes to the one trusting to the one trusting
G4100-31 Mark 9:24 πιστεύω pisteuo V PRS ACT IND 1P SG I believe I trust I trust
G4100-38 Mark 9:42 πιστευόντων pisteuonton V PRS ACT PTCP GEN M PL believe of the ones trusting of the ones trusting
G4100-25 Mark 11:23 πιστεύῃ pisteue V PRS ACT SUBJ 3P SG believes be trusting be trusting
G4100-30 Mark 11:24 πιστεύετε pisteuete V PRS ACT IMP 2P PL believe you are trusting you are trusting
G4100-08 Mark 11:31 ἐπιστεύσατε episteusate V AOR ACT IND 2P PL did you believe you trusted you trusted
G4100-30 Mark 13:21 πιστεύετε pisteuete V PRS ACT IMP 2P PL believe you are trusting you are trusting
G4100-51 Mark 15:32 πιστεύσωμεν pisteusomen V AOR ACT SUBJ 1P PL believe we will trust we will trust
G4100-06 Mark 16:13 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL did they believe they trusted they trusted
G4100-06 Mark 16:14 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL they believed they trusted they trusted
G4100-44 Mark 16:16 πιστεύσας pisteusas V AOR ACT PTCP NOM M SG believing having trusted having trusted
G4100-46 Mark 16:17 πιστεύσασιν pisteusasin V AOR ACT PTCP DAT M PL who believe to those having trusted to those having trusted
G4100-07 Luke 1:20 ἐπίστευσας episteusas V AOR ACT IND 2P SG you believed you trusted you believed
G4100-45 Luke 1:45 πιστεύσασα pisteusasa V AOR ACT PTCP NOM F SG who believed having trusted having believed
G4100-42 Luke 8:12 πιστεύσαντες pisteusantes V AOR ACT PTCP NOM M PL having believed having trusted having trusted
G4100-39 Luke 8:13 πιστεύουσιν pisteuousin V PRS ACT IND 3P PL believe they trust they trust
G4100-52 Luke 8:50 πίστευσον pisteuson V AOR ACT IMP 2P SG believe Trust! Trust!
G4100-47 Luke 16:11 πιστεύσει pisteusei V FUT ACT IND 3P SG will entrust will trust will entrust
G4100-08 Luke 20:5 ἐπιστεύσατε episteusate V AOR ACT IND 2P PL did you believe you trusted you trusted
G4100-49 Luke 22:67 πιστεύσητε pisteusete V AOR ACT SUBJ 2P PL believe you might trust you might trust
G4100-27 Luke 24:25 πιστεύειν pisteuein V PRS ACT INF believe to trust to trust
G4100-53 John 1:7 πιστεύσωσιν pisteusosin V AOR ACT SUBJ 3P PL might believe they may trust they may trust
G4100-39 John 1:12 πιστεύουσιν pisteuousin V PRS ACT PTCP DAT M PL believe they trust who trust
G4100-28 John 1:50 πιστεύεις pisteueis V PRS ACT IND 2P SG do you believe you are trusting you are trusting
G4100-06 John 2:11 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL believed they trusted they trusted
G4100-06 John 2:22 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL they believed they trusted they trusted
G4100-06 John 2:23 ἐπίστευσαν episteusan V AOR ACT IND 3P PL believed they trusted they trusted
G4100-01 John 2:24 ἐπίστευεν episteuen V IMPF ACT IND 3P SG entrust was trusting was trusting
G4100-30 John 3:12 πιστεύετε pisteuete V PRS ACT IND 2P PL you believe you are trusting you are trusting
G4100-49 John 3:12 πιστεύσετε pisteusete V FUT ACT IND 2P PL will you believe you might trust will you trust
G4100-33 John 3:15 πιστεύων pisteuon V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M SG believes the one trusting the one trusting
G4100-33 John 3:16 πιστεύων pisteuon V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M SG believes the one trusting the one trusting
G4100-33 John 3:18 πιστεύων pisteuon V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M SG believing the one trusting the one trusting
G4100-33 John 3:18 πιστεύων pisteuon-2 V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M SG believing the one trusting the one trusting
G4100-18 John 3:18 πεπίστευκεν pepisteuken V PRF ACT IND 3P SG has believed has trusted has trusted
G4100-33 John 3:36 πιστεύων pisteuon V PRS ACT PTCP NOM M SG believing the one trusting the one trusting
G4100-25 John 4:21 πίστευέ pisteue V PRS ACT IMP 2P SG believe be trusting be trusting
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