What does ἀληθεύω (alētheúō) mean in the Bible?
ἀληθεύω (alētheúō): Speaking truth with integrity, not merely stating facts but living out truthful profession in relationships.
Greek · G226
ἀληθεύω
To be true (in doctrine and profession)
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ἀληθεύω G226
Pronunciation alētheúō
What does ἀληθεύω (alētheúō) mean in the Bible?
ἀληθεύω (alētheúō): Speaking truth with integrity, not merely stating facts but living out truthful profession in relationships.
Full entry for ἀληθεύω (G226) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G226?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [by] telling you the truth (1), speaking the truth (1).
Where does ἀληθεύω (alētheúō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Galatians 4:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Ephesians (1), Galatians (1).
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 [by] telling you the truth 1× Galatians 4:16
speaking the truth 1× Ephesians 4:15
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Galatians 4:16
Aligned rows 2
Books represented 2
Galatians 1 Ephesians 1
Source forms
ἀληθεύοντες 1x alētheuontes Ephesians 4:15
ἀληθεύων 1x alētheuōn Galatians 4:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Ephesians 4:15
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Galatians 4:16
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Speaking truth with integrity, not merely stating facts but living out truthful profession in relationships.
Strong's G226
Lexical occurrences 2 verses Greek text appearances 2 times Word forms 1 form 2 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Ephesians 4:15 Source Gloss
to be true (in doctrine and profession)
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Speaking truth with integrity, not merely stating facts but living out truthful profession in relationships.
(ἀληθής), [in LXX: Gen.20:16 (יָכַח) Gen.42:16 (אֶמֶת), Pro.21:3 (מִשְׁפָּט), Isa.44:26 (שָׁלַם), Sir.34:4 * ;] to speak the truth (R, mg., deal truly; Field, Notes, 192): Gal.4:16, Eph.4:15.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Galatians 4:16 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀληθεύων alhqeuwn
I say, speak truth, I do truth
Read verse Ephesians 4:15 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀληθεύοντες alhqeuontev
I say, speak truth, I do truth
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 1 Aligned forms 2 Tenses Present Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Active Gal 4:16 · Eph 4:15 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 2 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 2
Voice
active 2
Mood
participle 2
NT Occurrences
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
to speak truth in love as part of spiritual maturity and growth in Christ
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀληθεύω is built from this root:
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