What does ἐπιστάτης (epistátēs) mean in the Bible?
ἐπιστάτης (epistátēs): Direct address form for "master" emphasizing immediate authority and command; specific to Luke's Gospel usage.
Greek · G1988
ἐπιστάτης
Master
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ἐπιστάτης G1988
Pronunciation epistátēs
What does ἐπιστάτης (epistátēs) mean in the Bible?
ἐπιστάτης (epistátēs): Direct address form for "master" emphasizing immediate authority and command; specific to Luke's Gospel usage.
Full entry for ἐπιστάτης (G1988) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1988?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Master (7).
Where does ἐπιστάτης (epistátēs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 5:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (7).
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 Master 7× Luke 5:5, Luke 8:24, Luke 8:45, Luke 9:33
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 5:5 Ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular Luke 8:24 Ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular Luke 8:24 ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular Luke 8:45 Ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular Luke 9:33 Ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular Luke 9:49 Ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular Luke 17:13 Ἐπιστάτα to Master Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 5:5
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 1
Luke 7
Source forms
Ἐπιστάτα 6x Epistata Luke 5:5, Luke 8:24, Luke 8:45, Luke 9:33
ἐπιστάτα 1x epistata Luke 8:24
Parsing patterns
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular 7x Luke 5:5, Luke 8:24, Luke 8:45, Luke 9:33
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Direct address form for "master" emphasizing immediate authority and command; specific to Luke's Gospel usage.
Strong's G1988
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 1 form 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
master
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Direct address form for "master" emphasizing immediate authority and command; specific to Luke's Gospel usage.
(ἐφίστημι), [in LXX: 4Ki.25:19, Jer.29:26 52:25 (פָּקִיד), 2Ch.31:12 (נָגִיד), 2Ma.5:22, etc. ;] a chief, commander, master: Luk.5:5 8:24, 45 9:33, 49 17:13 (cf. Dalman, Words, 336 ff.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 5:5 Noun Singular Masculine
Ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
Read verse Luke 8:24 Noun Singular Masculine
Ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
Read verse Luke 8:24 Noun Singular Masculine
ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
Read verse Luke 8:45 Noun Singular Masculine
Ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
Read verse Luke 9:33 Noun Singular Masculine
Ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
Read verse Luke 9:49 Noun Singular Masculine
Ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
Read verse Luke 17:13 Noun Singular Masculine
ἐπιστάτα, epistata
master, teacher
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 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 1 Aligned forms 7 Case pattern Vocative (7) Number pattern Singular (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Vocative · Singular · Masculine Luke 5:5 · Luke 8:24 · Luke 8:45 · Luke 9:33 · Luke 9:49 · Luke 17:13 7×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 5:1–11 ἐπιστάτα epistátēs
Master, overseer
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐπιστάτης is built from these roots:
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