ἔλεος
Compassion (human or divine, especially active)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
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Canonical witness: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
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What does ἔλεος (éleos) mean in the Bible?
ἔλεος (éleos) is a Greek word meaning "compassion (human or divine, especially active)". ἔλεος, -ους, τό (cl. Highlights God’s gracious inclusion of the nations. This term runs through the canonical themes of Covenant, Messiah.
Meaning
Compassion that moves to action; God's covenant mercy actively extended toward the needy and undeserving.
(cl. -ου, ὁ, and so Rec., Mat.9:13 12:7 23:23, Tit.3:5, Heb.4:16; on the Hellenistic form τό ἔ., see WH, App., 158; M, Pr., 60; Mayser, 277; Kühner, i, 515), [in LXX chiefly for חֶסֶד ;] mercy, pity, compassion;
Why This Word Matters
Highlights God’s gracious inclusion of the nations. 1 Timothy 1:1-2
Identifies the covenant priority fulfilled in Christ’s redemptive mission. 2 Timothy 1:15-18
Mercy defines covenant obedience. James 2:8–13
Demonstrates the compassionate action that characterizes those transformed by grace. Luke 10:25–37
Paul’s prayer reflects confidence that God recognizes and remembers faithful acts of service. Matthew 9:9–13
Adding mercy to the usual grace-and-peace greeting (1:2) highlights God's tender compassion toward sinners and strugglers, which Paul will illustrate in His own story (1:13-16). This is crucial in a letter that confronts serious error and sin, reminding readers that correction happens in a context of divine pity, not harshness. Romans 15:7-13
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Canonical Themes
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
New Testament Witnesses
Appears In
Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain