What does ἔθος (éthos) mean in the Bible?
ἔθος (éthos): Habit or customary practice, often approaching the force of binding law or religious obligation.
Greek · G1485
ἔθος
A usage (prescribed by habit or law)
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ἔθος G1485
Pronunciation éthos
What does ἔθος (éthos) mean in the Bible?
ἔθος (éthos): Habit or customary practice, often approaching the force of binding law or religious obligation.
Full entry for ἔθος (G1485) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1485?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include custom (4), customs (4), . . . (1), [have made a] habit (1), [our] customs (1).
Where does ἔθος (éthos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 1:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (7), Luke (3), Hebrews (1), John (1).
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 custom 4× Luke 1:9, Luke 2:42, John 19:40, Acts 15:1
customs 4× Acts 6:14, Acts 16:21, Acts 26:3, Acts 28:17
. . . 1× Luke 22:39
[have made a] habit 1× Hebrews 10:25
[our] customs 1× Acts 21:21
[the] Roman custom 1× Acts 25:16
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 1:9 ἔθος to custom Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular Luke 2:42 ἔθος to custom Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular Luke 22:39 ἔθος to . . . Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular John 19:40 ἔθος to custom Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Acts 6:14 ἔθη to customs Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Acts 15:1 ἔθει to custom Noun - Dative Neuter Singular Acts 16:21 ἔθη to customs Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Acts 21:21 ἔθεσιν to [our] customs Noun - Dative Neuter Plural Acts 25:16 ἔθος to [the] Roman custom Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Acts 26:3 ἐθῶν to customs Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 1:9
Aligned rows 12
Books represented 4
Luke 3 John 1 Acts 7 Hebrews 1
Source forms
ἔθος 6x ethos Luke 1:9, Luke 2:42, Luke 22:39, John 19:40
ἔθη 2x ethē Acts 6:14, Acts 16:21
ἔθει 1x ethei Acts 15:1
ἔθεσι 1x ethesi Acts 28:17
ἔθεσιν 1x ethesin Acts 21:21
ἐθῶν 1x ethōn Acts 26:3
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular 3x Luke 1:9, Luke 2:42, Luke 22:39
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular 3x John 19:40, Acts 25:16, Hebrews 10:25
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural 2x Acts 6:14, Acts 16:21
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural 2x Acts 21:21, Acts 28:17
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 1x Acts 15:1
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural 1x Acts 26:3
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Habit or customary practice, often approaching the force of binding law or religious obligation.
Strong's G1485
Lexical occurrences 12 verses Greek text appearances 12 times Word forms 6 forms 12 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
a usage (prescribed by habit or law)
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Habit or customary practice, often approaching the force of binding law or religious obligation.
(ἔθω), [in LXX: Wis.14:16, Da TH Bel 15, 1Ma.10:89, 2Ma.11:25 13:4, 4Ma.18:5 א R* ;] habit, custom; Luk.22:39, Jhn.19:40, Act.16:21 25:16, Heb.10:25; in Luk.1:9 Act.6:14 15:1 21:21 26:3 28:17, almost in the narrower sense of law (Deiss., BS, 251 f.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 1:9 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ἔθος eqov
a custom
Read verse Luke 2:42 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ἔθος eqov
a custom
Read verse Luke 22:39 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ἔθος eqov
a custom
Read verse John 19:40 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἔθος eqov
a custom
Read verse Acts 6:14 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ἔθη eqh
a custom
Read verse Acts 15:1 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
ἔθει eqei
a custom
Read verse Acts 16:21 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ἔθη eqh
a custom
Read verse Acts 21:21 Noun Dative Plural Neuter
ἔθεσι eqesin
a custom
Read verse Acts 25:16 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἔθος eqov
a custom
Read verse Acts 26:3 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ἐθῶν eqwn
a custom
Read verse Acts 28:17 Noun Dative Plural Neuter
ἔθεσι eqesin
a custom
Read verse Hebrews 10:25 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἔθος eqov
a custom
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 6 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 6 Aligned forms 12 Case pattern Accusative (5) Number pattern Singular (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Neuter John 19:40 · Acts 25:16 · Heb 10:25 3×
Genitive · Plural · Neuter Acts 26:3 1×
Dative · Plural · Neuter Acts 21:21 · Acts 28:17 2×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Acts 15:1 1×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Luke 1:9 · Luke 2:42 · Luke 22:39 3×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Acts 6:14 · Acts 16:21 2×
Word Origins
ἔθος 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.
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