What does ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos) mean in the Bible?
ἐπίσκοπος names an overseer, one entrusted with watchful care. In the New Testament, the word is never a bare honorific.
Greek · G1985
ἐπίσκοπος
Overseer
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ἐπίσκοπος G1985
Pronunciation epískopos
What does ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos) mean in the Bible?
ἐπίσκοπος names an overseer, one entrusted with watchful care. In the New Testament, the word is never a bare honorific.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπίσκοπος (G1985) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1985?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include overseer (2), [the] overseers (1), an overseer (1), overseers (1).
Where does ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 20:28. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (1), 1 Timothy (1), Acts (1), Philippians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
ἐπίσκοπος names an overseer, one entrusted with watchful care. In the New Testament, the word is never a bare honorific. In 1 Timothy and Titus, the overseer must be above reproach, able to teach, self-controlled, hospitable, and not ruled by appetite, anger, violence, or greed. Titus calls him God’s steward, which means the church is not his possession. Acts 20 joins overseers to shepherding the flock that God purchased with blood, while 1 Peter names Christ Himself the Shepherd and Overseer of souls.
The word therefore helps readers see church leadership as accountable care under Christ, tested by character, doctrine, household faithfulness, and humble service.
How the Bible Uses It
ἐπίσκοπος is a compact but weighty leadership word. Its Pastoral Epistles usage appears in qualification lists, where the accent falls on character, teaching ability, household credibility, and stewardship before God. Acts 20 shows overseers shepherding the blood-bought church, Philippians names overseers alongside deacons, and 1 Peter grounds all human oversight under Christ, the Shepherd and Overseer of souls.
- 1Tim.3.2
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
The overseer must be above reproach and able to teach. Paul begins the office with tested character, household faithfulness, hospitality, and doctrinal competence.
- Titus.1.7
As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.
The overseer is God’s steward and therefore must not be self-willed, quick-tempered, violent, or greedy. Oversight is accountable management of what belongs to God.
- Acts.20.28
Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
The Holy Spirit makes overseers, and their task is to shepherd God’s blood-bought church. Oversight is Spirit-given watchfulness, not personal ownership.
- Php.1.1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Paul greets the saints with the overseers and deacons. The word sits inside local congregational life, not above or outside the saints.
- 1Pet.2.25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of souls. Every human overseer serves under the care and authority of the One who watches over His people perfectly.
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 overseer 2× 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Peter 2:25
[the] overseers 1× Philippians 1:1
an overseer 1× Titus 1:7
overseers 1× Acts 20:28
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 20:28 ἐπισκόπους to overseers Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural Philippians 1:1 ἐπισκόποις to [the] overseers Noun - Dative Masculine Plural 1 Timothy 3:2 ἐπίσκοπον to overseer Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Titus 1:7 ἐπίσκοπον to an overseer Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1 Peter 2:25 Ἐπίσκοπον to Overseer Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 20:28
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 5
Acts 1 Philippians 1 1 Timothy 1 Titus 1 1 Peter 1
Source forms
ἐπίσκοπον 2x episkopon 1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:7
ἐπισκόποις 1x episkopois Philippians 1:1
Ἐπίσκοπον 1x Episkopon 1 Peter 2:25
ἐπισκόπους 1x episkopous Acts 20:28
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 3x 1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:7, 1 Peter 2:25
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x Acts 20:28
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural 1x Philippians 1:1
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Evaluate overseer language through Scripture’s qualifications before discussing influence or office mechanics.
- Let Christ’s oversight of souls humble every human claim to church leadership.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that overseers own the church. Titus calls the overseer God’s steward, not God’s replacement.
- Do not claim that oversight is only administration. Acts 20 joins overseers to shepherding the flock.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Overseer or superintendent; in NT letters, a formal church office supervising a local congregation.
Strong's G1985
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 3 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 20:25-38 Source Gloss
overseer
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 20:28 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
ἐπισκόπους, episkopouv
overseer, supervisor, ruler
Read verse Philippians 1:1 Noun Dative Plural Masculine
ἐπισκόποις episkopoiv
overseer, supervisor, ruler
Read verse 1 Timothy 3:2 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἐπίσκοπον episkopon
overseer, supervisor, ruler
Read verse Titus 1:7 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἐπίσκοπον episkopon
overseer, supervisor, ruler
Read verse 1 Peter 2:25 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ἐπίσκοπον episkopon
overseer, supervisor, ruler
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 3 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 3 Aligned forms 5 Case pattern Accusative (4) Number pattern Singular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Plural · Masculine Phil 1:1 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine 1 Tim 3:2 · Titus 1:7 · 1 Pet 2:25 3×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Acts 20:28 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Supervisors or guardians.
One who watches over and exercises responsible supervision on behalf of God.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐπίσκοπος is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
By calling the elder an ἐπίσκοπος and God’s steward, Paul emphasizes accountability to God and the protective role leaders must exercise over doctrine and conduct. Acts 20:25-38
Identifies Spirit-appointed leadership in the church. Titus 1:5-9
Canonical Themes
For the Preacher and Teacher
ἐπίσκοπος carries authority, but Scripture frames that authority as accountable care. The overseer is not introduced as the most gifted speaker, strongest personality, or owner of the church. First Timothy and Titus press character before platform: above reproach, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, not greedy, not violent, and faithful in household life.
Titus adds the decisive phrase, God’s steward. Acts 20 deepens the charge by saying the Holy Spirit has made overseers over a flock God purchased with His own blood. First Peter then lifts the reader’s eyes to Christ, the Shepherd and Overseer of souls. Human oversight is legitimate only as it reflects and answers to His watchful care.
Anchor passage
1Tim.3.2
Doctrinal connections
- G1577 Ekklesia: Overseers care for the church as God’s household and Christ’s blood-bought people.
- G1959 Epimeleomai: First Timothy 3:5 connects leadership credibility to the ability to care for the church of God.
- G4245 Presbyteros: Titus 1 moves from elders to overseer language, showing overlapping leadership categories in local church order.
- G3056 Logos: Overseers must be able to teach and hold the faithful word, so oversight includes doctrinal stewardship.
- G1249 Diakonos: Philippians distinguishes overseers and deacons while locating both among the saints in one congregation.
- G5547 Christos: Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of souls, the pattern and judge of all human oversight.
ἐπίσκοπος is a noun for an overseer or guardian. The New Testament usage is sparse, so each context carries significant weight. The word should be read with nearby elder, steward, teaching, shepherding, and household language rather than isolated as a title.
From Old to New Testament
Scripture repeatedly presents God as the true shepherd and guardian of His people. The New Testament places church overseers under Christ’s shepherding oversight, so human leaders watch over souls as servants accountable to the Chief Shepherd.
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