(An-, the) other or different
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Ἕτερος (héteros) means other, another, or different, with the precise relationship supplied by context. Jesus contrasts one master with the other to show that divided slavery between God and wealth is impossible.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἕτερος (G2087) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ἕτερος (héteros) means other, another, or different, with the precise relationship supplied by context. Jesus contrasts one master with the other to show that divided slavery between God and wealth is impossible.
The BSB source-word alignment has 97 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include other (19), Another (17), others (13), a different (5), to another (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 6:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (32), Acts (17), 1 Corinthians (11), Matthew (9).
Ἕτερος (héteros) means other, another, or different, with the precise relationship supplied by context. Jesus contrasts one master with the other to show that divided slavery between God and wealth is impossible. Luke distinguishes other hearers who demand a heavenly sign from those already responding to Jesus' works. Stephen introduces a different king whose ignorance of Joseph changes Egypt's treatment of Israel.
Paul directs each believer away from private advantage toward the good of the other person. Jude speaks of pursuing other or strange flesh in a judgment passage about sexual rebellion. The word can mark an alternative, a distinct party, a successor with a changed disposition, a neighbor, or an improper object. It does not always encode “another of a different kind” as a fixed technical definition.
Ἕτερος marks another or contrasting person, party, ruler, good, or object of desire. Its force ranges from exclusive alternatives to a successor king, a neighbor's welfare, and a transgressive pursuit.
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Jesus sets one master against the other because slavery demands allegiance; love and devotion cannot be equally divided between God and wealth.
And others tested Him by demanding a sign from heaven.
Other members of the crowd demand a sign from heaven even after Jesus' works, distinguishing their testing posture from honest reception of the evidence before them.
Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.
A different king arises who does not know Joseph, and the changed ruler's ignorance becomes the political setting for Israel's oppression.
No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Paul tells believers to seek the good of the other person, applying freedom through self-restraint for a neighbor's conscience and salvation.
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
Jude describes the cities as pursuing strange flesh, locating their desire outside God's created boundaries and placing them under exemplary judgment.
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. Denotes the second of a pair, or another of different kind; encroaches on ἄλλος in later Greek.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 99 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
another, different
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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 10 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 5 selected witnesses from 97 lexical occurrence verses.
ἕτερος is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The “other” in a passage can expose either rivalry or responsibility. Jesus' two masters are rival claimants, and the disciple cannot disguise service to wealth as equal service to God. Luke's other hearers respond to revelation with another demand, showing that unbelief can keep moving the standard of proof. In Acts, another king introduces a changed historical order whose ignorance of Joseph opens the way to oppression.
Paul turns alterity toward love: freedom asks not only what is permissible for oneself but what serves the other person's good. Jude gives the term a boundary-setting use, where desire reaches toward what is strange to God's design and incurs judgment. Teachers should not force these diverse relations into a lexical slogan. Ἕτερος helps the sentence identify an alternative or counterpart; Scripture then judges whether that distinction represents idolatry, testing, political change, neighbor love, or rebellion.
Matt.6.24
Ἕτερος functions as an adjective or pronoun for another or other. It can distinguish alternatives, members of a sequence, or one party from another. Context determines whether difference is strong, neutral, successive, or merely relational.
Israel must reject other gods, rulers succeed one another, and covenant ethics require care for the other person. The New Testament brings those distinctions under allegiance to Christ and love of neighbor.