A parent
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Goneus is the ordinary Greek noun for a parent, usually appearing in the plural for parents. The word identifies a family relationship; it does not by itself describe whether a parent is faithful, fearful, negligent, believing, or hostile.
Reader summary
Full entry for γονεύς (G1118) · Open the biblical lexicon
Goneus is the ordinary Greek noun for a parent, usually appearing in the plural for parents. The word identifies a family relationship; it does not by itself describe whether a parent is faithful, fearful, negligent, believing, or hostile.
The BSB source-word alignment has 20 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include parents (16), [their] parents (3), to [their] parents (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:21. Its strongest book concentrations include John (6), Luke (6), 2 Corinthians (2), 2 Timothy (1).
Goneus is the ordinary Greek noun for a parent, usually appearing in the plural for parents. The word identifies a family relationship; it does not by itself describe whether a parent is faithful, fearful, negligent, believing, or hostile. Luke portrays Jesus’ parents observing the law and Passover customs. John 9 rejects the disciples’ assumption that a man’s blindness must be traced to his sin or his parents’ sin, then records parents whose fear shapes their testimony.
Paul uses parental provision as an analogy for his ministry, commands children to obey their parents in the Lord, and names disobedience to parents among signs of rebellion. Faithful teaching therefore honors the creational and covenant significance of parents while allowing each passage to assess conduct. It must not idealize every household, blame parents for every suffering, or use obedience language to shield abuse, silence truth, or override allegiance to the Lord.
Goneus identifies parents within narratives, moral instruction, pastoral analogy, and warnings. The surrounding passage evaluates responsibility, obedience, fear, care, or failure.
Led by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what was customary under the Law,
Jesus’ parents bring Him in accordance with the law. The narrative places family action within covenant obedience and God’s unfolding promise.
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.
Jesus rejects the proposed direct blame of either the man or his parents. The verse cautions against simplistic family explanations for suffering.
See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
Paul draws on ordinary parental provision to explain his self-giving ministry. The family pattern functions as an analogy, not a complete household code.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Children are addressed as responsible members of the congregation. Their obedience is explicitly located in the Lord and followed by instruction to fathers.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Parental obedience is framed by what pleases the Lord within a household section that also restrains fathers from embittering children.
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
Disobedience to parents appears among a broader pattern of self-love, ingratitude, and unholiness. The warning treats family rebellion as morally significant.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. a parent
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 19 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a parent
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
γονεύς is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Goneus reminds teachers that Scripture speaks concretely about family relationships without treating the noun parent as a guarantee of virtue. Luke 2 shows Jesus’ parents acting within Israel’s covenant practices as God’s promise is recognized in the temple. John 9 refuses the disciples’ attempt to assign a man’s blindness directly to either him or his parents, warning against easy blame.
Second Corinthians 12 draws on the expected direction of parental provision to explain Paul’s desire for the Corinthians rather than their possessions. Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 address children within the worshiping community, call them to obedience under the Lord, and immediately place obligations on fathers. Second Timothy 3 treats parental disobedience as part of a larger rebellion against God.
Faithful pastoral application can honor parents, protect children, call households to repentance, and recognize painful complexity at the same time. Christ’s lordship governs the home; the home does not replace His authority.
Eph.6.1
Goneus is a masculine noun meaning parent and commonly appears in the plural to refer to both parents. The local BSB word table contains nineteen New Testament verse witnesses. Number and case identify the grammatical relation, while narrative and commands evaluate conduct.
The Old Testament commands honor for father and mother, entrusts households with covenant instruction, condemns family violence, and places every human authority under God. New Testament household teaching continues those responsibilities under the lordship of Christ.