Free/freedom
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.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Ἐλεύθερος (eleutheros) means free, exempt, or not enslaved within a stated relation. Jesus says royal sons are exempt from a tax collected from others, then chooses to pay to avoid unnecessary offense.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐλεύθερος (G1658) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ἐλεύθερος (eleutheros) means free, exempt, or not enslaved within a stated relation. Jesus says royal sons are exempt from a tax collected from others, then chooses to pay to avoid unnecessary offense.
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include free (11), free [woman] (3), free of obligation (2), [or] free (1), [was] a free man (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 17:26. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (6), Galatians (6), Revelation (3), John (2).
Ἐλεύθερος (eleutheros) means free, exempt, or not enslaved within a stated relation. Jesus says royal sons are exempt from a tax collected from others, then chooses to pay to avoid unnecessary offense. His opponents claim ancestral freedom while denying their bondage to sin. Romans reminds believers that when they were slaves to sin they were “free” from righteousness, exposing a disastrous freedom that means alienation from what is good.
Paul tells enslaved Christians not to let status consume them, yet to use an opportunity for freedom if available. Galatians declares slave and free one in Christ without pretending social distinctions or injustice cease to exist. Freedom is always freedom from or for something; it may be civic exemption, spiritual release, moral alienation, social manumission, or equal standing in Christ.
Ἐλεύθερος describes exemption or freedom. Royal sons may be exempt, sinners need release from bondage, former slaves were wrongly free from righteousness, enslaved believers may pursue manumission, and slave and free share equal standing in Christ.
“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.
Jesus affirms the sons' exemption from royal tax yet provides payment to avoid offense, showing freedom exercised through voluntary restraint rather than demanded privilege.
“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”
Abraham's descendants claim never to have been enslaved, but Jesus exposes everyone practicing sin as sin's slave and directs true freedom to the Son.
For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness.
Being enslaved to sin once meant being free from righteousness, an ironic freedom whose fruit produced shame and death rather than flourishing.
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.
Paul acknowledges the hardship of enslavement and says to take an opportunity for freedom, while grounding ultimate worth in belonging to the Lord.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In Christ, slave and free stand as one and share Abraham's promise, removing status as a basis of covenant privilege without endorsing slavery.
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. Liberation from external constraint or obligation, whether social, legal, or spiritual bondage.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 23 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
free, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
Read versefree, delivered from obligation
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 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 23 lexical occurrence verses.
ἐλεύθερος is built from this root:
Spiritual liberation granted by the Son. 1 Peter 2:11-17
Defines Christian liberty as accountable service under God rather than autonomous self-rule.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Freedom is not the absence of every claim but release from a false master for life under the rightful Lord. Jesus models freedom that can surrender an exemption for another's good without denying sonship. John 8 strips ancestral confidence of its power to hide slavery to sin; only the Son grants real freedom. Romans exposes autonomy's lie by calling former sinners free from righteousness, a condition that produced shame and death.
First Corinthians refuses both despair and romanticism about slavery: belonging to Christ gives dignity within a cruel status, while an available path to freedom should be used. Galatians makes enslaved and free believers one in Christ and heirs of promise. Churches should proclaim liberation from sin, defend human dignity, encourage just freedom, and reject any use of spiritual language to preserve exploitation.
Matt.17.26
Ἐλεύθερος is an adjective meaning free or exempt and may function substantivally for a free person. Genitives, prepositions, or contrast with slavery identify the relation from which freedom is asserted.
God frees Israel from bondage to serve Him, jubilee announces release, wisdom exposes slavery to sin, and Christ frees a people for righteousness, love, and mutual service.
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