What does ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû) mean in the Bible?
Ἑαυτοῦ is a Greek reflexive pronoun. It points action or relation back to the subject: himself, herself, itself, themselves, or oneself.
Greek · G1438
ἑαυτοῦ
Themself
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ἑαυτοῦ G1438
Pronunciation heautoû
What does ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû) mean in the Bible?
Ἑαυτοῦ is a Greek reflexive pronoun. It points action or relation back to the subject: himself, herself, itself, themselves, or oneself.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἑαυτοῦ (G1438) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1438?
The BSB source-word alignment has 319 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include himself (65), . . . (35), yourselves (26), themselves (25), his (16).
Where does ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (58), Matthew (32), 2 Corinthians (29), John (27).
What This Word Actually Means
Ἑαυτοῦ is a Greek reflexive pronoun. It points action or relation back to the subject: himself, herself, itself, themselves, or oneself.
Pastorally, this word matters because Scripture uses reflexive language in both discipleship and Christology. Jesus calls a disciple to deny himself. Christ gave Himself for us. Believers no longer live for themselves. The grammar points back to the subject, while the passage decides whether the focus is self-denial, self-giving, possession, or selfishness.
The word should not be moralized every time it appears. A reflexive pronoun is a grammar marker first; the context supplies the spiritual force.
Lexical sourcegrammatical
How the Bible Uses It
Heautou is currently counted about 333 times in the local Greek artifact. It points a relation or action back to the subject: himself, herself, itself, themselves, or oneself.
- Mark.8.34
Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
Jesus says the one who follows Him must deny himself. The reflexive pronoun marks the self being denied in discipleship.
- Luke.9.23
Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Jesus repeats the call to deny oneself daily. The pronoun belongs to continuing discipleship.
- 2Cor.5.15
And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.
Those who live should no longer live for themselves. The reflexive pronoun exposes the old center of life.
- Eph.5.2
And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. The pronoun marks Christ's self-giving love.
- Titus.2.14
He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Christ gave Himself to redeem and purify a people. The pronoun serves the purpose of redemption.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It himself 65× Matthew 12:26, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 18:4, Matthew 23:12
. . . 35× Matthew 12:45, Matthew 13:21, Matthew 15:30, Matthew 25:3
yourselves 26× Matthew 3:9, Matthew 16:8, Mark 9:50, Luke 3:8
themselves 25× Matthew 9:3, Matthew 14:15, Matthew 16:7, Matthew 21:25
his 16× Luke 11:21, Luke 13:19, Luke 14:26, Luke 14:27
their 14× Matthew 18:31, Matthew 21:8, Matthew 25:1, Matthew 25:4
one another 13× Matthew 21:38, Mark 1:27, Mark 10:26, Mark 12:7
ourselves 13× Acts 23:14, Romans 15:1, 2 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:1
- 11× Mark 6:51, Luke 20:20, John 11:33, Acts 19:31
itself 8× Matthew 6:34, Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:24, Mark 3:25
their own 7× Matthew 8:22, Luke 9:60, Luke 16:8, Luke 18:9
his own 6× Luke 2:3, John 11:51, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 10:24
you 6× Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 5:42, John 6:53
them 4× Mark 8:14, Mark 9:8, John 17:13, Acts 20:30
to himself 4× 1 Corinthians 14:28, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 2 Corinthians 5:19, Ephesians 5:27
for themselves 3× 2 Corinthians 5:15, 1 Timothy 3:13, 1 Timothy 6:19
of his 3× Luke 16:5, Luke 19:13, Romans 4:19
your own 3× 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 10:29, Philippians 2:4
for himself 2× Luke 12:21, Titus 2:14
for yourselves 2× Matthew 25:9, Luke 16:9
her 2× Luke 13:34, 1 Thessalonians 2:7
herself 2× Matthew 9:21, Revelation 2:20
on themselves 2× Romans 13:2, 2 Peter 2:1
than itself 2× Matthew 12:45, Luke 11:26
to himself [alone] 2× Romans 14:7
to his 2× Luke 19:12, Revelation 10:7
vvv 2× Matthew 19:12, Acts 21:23
[His] own 1× John 19:17
[I myself] 1× Acts 25:4
[only] themselves 1× Jude 1:12
[treats] his own 1× 1 Thessalonians 2:11
[yourselves] 1× Luke 16:15
{around} His {waist} 1× John 13:4
against yourselves 1× Matthew 23:31
among them 1× John 19:24
because they themselves 1× Hebrews 6:6
by itself 1× John 15:4
each other 1× Ephesians 4:32
he 1× Luke 14:33
her own 1× Acts 7:21
Him 1× Luke 9:47
Himself {to be} 1× John 19:7
his own [authority] 1× John 7:18
his senses 1× Luke 15:17
his very self 1× Luke 9:25
on himself 1× 1 Corinthians 11:29
oneself 1× James 1:27
our [bounds] 1× 2 Corinthians 10:14
ourselves [with] 1× 2 Corinthians 10:12
ourselves {properly} 1× 1 Corinthians 11:31
own 1× 1 Thessalonians 2:8
that he 1× 2 Corinthians 10:7
the 1× 1 Corinthians 7:37
their [own] 1× Luke 2:39
to be 1× Revelation 2:2
to one another 1× Ephesians 5:19
to themselves 1× Romans 2:14
upon himself 1× Hebrews 5:4
us 1× 2 Corinthians 3:5
we were under 1× 2 Corinthians 1:9
with themselves 1× 2 Corinthians 10:12
you yourselves 1× Hebrews 10:34
your 1× Philippians 2:12
yourself 1× Mark 12:33
yourselves [to see] 1× 2 Corinthians 13:5
yourselves {up} 1× Jude 1:20
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 3:9 ἑαυτοῖς to yourselves Reflexive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural Matthew 6:34 ἑαυτῆς to itself Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular Matthew 8:22 ἑαυτῶν to their own Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural Matthew 9:3 ἑαυτοῖς to themselves Reflexive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural Matthew 9:21 ἑαυτῇ to herself Reflexive Pronoun - Dative Feminine 3rd Person Singular Matthew 12:25 ἑαυτῆς to itself Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular Matthew 12:25 ἑαυτῆς to itself Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular Matthew 12:26 ἑαυτὸν to himself Reflexive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular Matthew 12:45 ἑαυτοῦ to . . . Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Neuter 3rd Person Singular Matthew 12:45 ἑαυτοῦ to than itself Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 3:9
Aligned rows 319
Books represented 25
Matthew 32 Mark 24 Luke 58 John 27 Acts 21 Romans 22 1 Corinthians 16 2 Corinthians 29 Galatians 7 Ephesians 14 Philippians 6 Colossians 2 1 Thessalonians 6 2 Thessalonians 4 1 Timothy 5 2 Timothy 3 Titus 2 Hebrews 13 James 5 1 Peter 4 2 Peter 1 1 John 3 2 John 1 Jude 6 Revelation 8
Source forms
ἑαυτὸν 57x heauton Matthew 12:26, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 18:4, Matthew 23:12
ἑαυτοῖς 50x heautois Matthew 3:9, Matthew 9:3, Matthew 14:15, Matthew 16:7
ἑαυτοὺς 49x heautous Matthew 19:12, Mark 1:27, Mark 9:10, Mark 11:31
ἑαυτοῦ 45x heautou Matthew 12:45, Luke 2:3, Luke 11:21, Luke 11:26
ἑαυτῶν 42x heautōn Matthew 8:22, Matthew 15:30, Matthew 18:31, Matthew 21:8
ἑαυτῷ 27x heautō Matthew 13:21, Mark 5:30, Luke 7:39, Luke 9:47
ἑαυτούς 14x heautous Mark 10:26, Mark 13:9, Mark 14:4, Luke 7:30
ἑαυτόν 9x heauton Luke 23:35, John 11:33, John 13:4, Acts 5:36
Parsing patterns
Reflexive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular 67x Matthew 12:26, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 18:4, Matthew 23:12
Reflexive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural 64x Matthew 19:12, Mark 1:27, Mark 9:10, Mark 10:26
Reflexive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural 50x Matthew 3:9, Matthew 9:3, Matthew 14:15, Matthew 16:7
Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular 41x Luke 2:3, Luke 11:21, Luke 13:19, Luke 14:26
Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural 36x Matthew 8:22, Matthew 15:30, Matthew 18:31, Matthew 21:8
Reflexive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular 28x Matthew 13:21, Mark 5:30, Luke 7:39, Luke 9:47
Reflexive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular 7x Mark 3:24, Mark 3:25, Luke 1:24, Luke 11:17
Reflexive Pronoun - Genitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular 6x Matthew 6:34, Matthew 12:25, Luke 13:34, 1 Corinthians 13:5
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask who the pronoun points back to and what the sentence says that person does with or for himself.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim heautou always teaches selfishness or self-denial.
- Do not claim a reflexive pronoun creates an application apart from the surrounding command or argument.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Reflexive pronoun emphasizing the subject's action upon itself; also used reciprocally for "one another
Strong's G1438
Lexical occurrences 333 verses Greek text appearances 339 times 16 shown below Word forms 10 forms 333 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 15:11-32 Source Gloss
themself
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 339 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 3:9 F-2DPM
ἑαυτοῖς, eautoiv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 6:34 F-3GSF
ἑαυτῆς. eauthv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 8:22 F-3GPM
ἑαυτῶν eautwn
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 9:3 F-3DPM
ἑαυτοῖς, eautoiv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 9:21 F-3DSF
ἑαυτῇ, eauth
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 12:25 F-3GSF
ἑαυτῆς eauthv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 12:25 F-3GSF
ἑαυτῆς eauthv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 12:26 F-3ASM
ἑαυτὸν eauton
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 12:45 F-3GSN
ἑαυτοῦ eautou
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 12:45 F-3GSN
ἑαυτοῦ, eautou
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 13:21 F-3DSM
ἑαυτῷ, eautw
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 14:15 F-3DPM
ἑαυτοῖς eautoiv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 15:30 F-3GPM
ἑαυτῶν eautwn
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 16:7 F-3DPM
ἑαυτοῖς, eautoiv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 16:8 F-2DPM
ἑαυτοῖς, eautoiv
himself, herself, itself
Read verse Matthew 16:24 F-3ASM
ἑαυτόν, eauton
himself, herself, itself
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 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.
Form patterns 10 Aligned forms 333 Case pattern Genitive (97) Number pattern Plural (93)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Luke 2:3 · Luke 11:21 · Luke 13:19 · Luke 14:26 · Luke 14:27 · Luke 14:33 · Luke 15:20 · Luke 16:5 · Luke 19:13 · Luke 24:27 · John 5:19 · John 7:18 · John 9:21 · John 11:51 · John 16:13 · Acts 8:34 43×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Matt 8:22 · Matt 15:30 · Matt 18:31 · Matt 21:8 · Matt 26:11 · Mark 8:14 · Mark 9:8 · Mark 14:7 · Luke 2:39 · Luke 9:60 · Luke 12:36 · Luke 12:57 · Luke 16:4 · Luke 16:8 · Luke 19:36 · Luke 21:30 36×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Matt 6:34 · Matt 12:25 · Luke 13:34 · 1 Cor 13:5 · 1 Thess 2:7 6×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter Matt 12:45 · Luke 11:26 · John 15:4 · Rom 14:14 · Eph 4:16 6×
Genitive · Plural · Feminine Matt 25:1 · Matt 25:3 · Matt 25:4 · Matt 25:7 · Rev 10:3 5×
Genitive · Plural · Neuter Jude 1:13 1×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Matt 3:9 · Matt 9:3 · Matt 14:15 · Matt 16:7 · Matt 16:8 · Matt 21:25 · Matt 21:38 · Matt 23:31 · Mark 2:8 · Mark 4:17 · Mark 6:36 · Mark 6:51 · Mark 9:50 · Luke 3:8 · Luke 7:49 · Luke 12:1 50×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Matt 13:21 · Mark 5:30 · Luke 7:39 · Luke 9:47 · Luke 12:17 · Luke 12:21 · Luke 16:3 · Luke 18:4 · Luke 19:12 · John 5:26 · John 6:61 · John 11:38 · John 13:32 · John 19:17 · Acts 10:17 · Acts 12:11 32×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Matt 9:21 · Acts 7:21 2×
Dative · Plural · Feminine Matt 25:9 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Reflexive pronoun marking introspection, coming to oneself in repentance
Reflexive action applied to marriage relationships, mutual self-giving and love
Reflexive pronoun emphasizing selfish possession and personal gain
Reflexive pronoun indicating Israel's own disobedience and self-interest
Reflexive pronoun describing reciprocal social behavior and self-exaltation
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 333 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἑαυτοῦ is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Heautou marks reflexive reference. It tells readers that the action or relation points back to the subject.
Anchor passage
Mark.8.34
Doctrinal connections
- σταυρός: cross, related to discipleship in Mark 8:34.
- ἀγάπη: love, related to Christ giving Himself in Ephesians 5:2.
- λύτρωσις: redemption, related to Titus 2:14.
- ζωή: life, related to no longer living for oneself in 2 Corinthians 5:15.
Reflexive pronouns are not moral claims by themselves. They identify a self-reference that the sentence and argument interpret.
From Old to New Testament
Scripture contrasts self-centered life with love for God and neighbor, and it reveals Christ as the One who gives Himself for His people. heautou helps mark that reflexive direction in Greek.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain