What does λατρεία (latreía) mean in the Bible?
Latreia names worship or sacred service. The five New Testament witnesses require the passage to say how that service is evaluated.
Greek · G2999
λατρεία
Latreia names worship or sacred service. The five New Testament witnesses require the passage to say how that service is evaluated.
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λατρείαG2999
Pronunciationlatreía
What does λατρεία (latreía) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for λατρεία (G2999) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2999?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a service (1), for worship (1), sacred duties (1), service of worship (1), temple worship (1).
Where does λατρεία (latreía) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 16:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (2), Romans (2), John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Latreia names worship or sacred service. The five New Testament witnesses require the passage to say how that service is evaluated. Romans names temple worship among Israel's privileges and then appeals, on account of God's mercy, for believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. Hebrews describes the first covenant's worship regulations and the priests' sacred duties before turning to Christ's once-for-all entrance and cleansing of the conscience.
John records Jesus' warning that killers of His disciples will think they are offering service to God, while the next verse says they have not known the Father or Him. Religious intention therefore cannot certify an act as faithful worship. The noun helps readers hold sacred practice, embodied response and the need for truthful allegiance together. It does not authorize violence, contempt for Israel's worship or demands that people prove devotion through exhaustion.
How the Bible Uses It
Five direct BSB noun witnesses name Israel's temple worship, embodied worship in response to mercy, sanctuary regulations, priestly duties and persecutors' false claim to serve God. Their contexts distinguish acknowledged worship from religious self-justification.
- Rom.9.4
The people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.
Paul names worship among Israel's privileges while voicing deep sorrow for his own people; the setting excludes contempt for their heritage.
- Rom.12.1
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
The appeal to embodied worship rests on God's mercy and continues with renewed discernment, humility, gifts and sincere neighbor love.
- Heb.9.1
Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.
The first covenant's regulations and sanctuary introduce the letter's careful account of priestly access before the movement to Christ's work.
- Heb.9.6
When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties.
The priests regularly perform sacred duties in the first room, contrasted with the high priest's restricted entrance and Christ's once-for-all redemption.
- John.16.2
They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
The killers think they are serving God, but Jesus identifies their failure to know the Father and Him rather than validating their violence.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Ita service1×John 16:2
for worship1×Hebrews 9:1
sacred duties1×Hebrews 9:6
service of worship1×Romans 12:1
temple worship1×Romans 9:4
Show sample aligned rows
John 16:2λατρείανtoa serviceNoun - Accusative Feminine SingularRomans 9:4λατρείαtotemple worshipNoun - Nominative Feminine SingularRomans 12:1λατρείανtoservice of worshipNoun - Accusative Feminine SingularHebrews 9:1λατρείαςtofor worshipNoun - Genitive Feminine SingularHebrews 9:6λατρείαςtosacred dutiesNoun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowJohn 16:2
Aligned rows5
Books represented3
John1Romans2Hebrews2
Source forms
λατρείαν2xlatreianJohn 16:2, Romans 12:1
λατρείας2xlatreiasHebrews 9:1, Hebrews 9:6
λατρεία1xlatreiaRomans 9:4
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular2xJohn 16:2, Romans 12:1
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural1xHebrews 9:6
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular1xHebrews 9:1
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular1xRomans 9:4
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Examine whether a claimed act of devotion accords with truth and care instead of accepting its religious explanation alone.
- Offer embodied service with honest attention to needs and limits rather than allowing worship language to conceal coercion.
Avoid claiming...
- Calling an act worship cannot authorize killing, degrading a neighbor or suppressing a truthful report of harm.
- This noun does not make exhausted labor the price of belonging to God or purchasing His mercy.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Religious service or worship rendered to God, distinct from secular employment or labor
Strong'sG2999
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms4 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
ministry
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Religious service or worship rendered to God, distinct from secular employment or labor
(λατρεύω, which see), [in LXX (always of divine service): Exo.12:25-26 13:5, Jos.22:27, 1Ch.28:13 (עֲבֹדָה), 1Ma.1:43 1Mac 2:19 1Mac 2:22, 3Ma.4:14 * ;]
1hired service, service.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 16:2Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
λατρείανlatreian
service, worship
Read verseRomans 9:4Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
λατρείαlatreia
service, worship
Read verseRomans 12:1Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
λατρείανlatreian
service, worship
Read verseHebrews 9:1Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
λατρείας,latreiav
service, worship
Read verseHebrews 9:6Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
λατρείαςlatreiav
service, worship
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 4 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 patterns4Aligned forms5Case patternAccusative (3)Number patternSingular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · FeminineRom 9:41×
Genitive · Singular · FeminineHeb 9:11×
Accusative · Singular · FeminineJohn 16:2 · Rom 12:12×
Accusative · Plural · FeminineHeb 9:61×
Word Origins
λατρεία is built from this root:
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Romans 12 begins its appeal with God's mercy rather than a demand to purchase favor through service. The offered body belongs within renewed discernment, sober self-understanding, shared gifts, sincere love and care for those in need. Worship therefore has embodied consequences without becoming an institution's claim to unlimited labor. Hebrews gives another necessary foundation: Christ's own blood secures redemption and cleanses the conscience for service to the living God.
John then supplies a severe counterexample to religious self-certification. People can call a killing service to God while failing to know the Father and Son. Teaching latreia should invite devoted response and careful examination of religious actions. It should honor the sacred history the texts name, center Christ's work and refuse any use of worship language to bless violence or silence the person being harmed.
Anchor passage
Rom.12.1
Doctrinal connections
- Paul's appeal for living sacrifices answers God's mercy rather than presenting worship as a purchase of grace.
- Renewed discernment, humble gifts and sincere love give embodied worship its immediate communal setting.
- Romans 9 honors Israel's worship among the privileges Paul names with anguish for his people.
- Hebrews moves from sanctuary regulations and restricted access to redemption secured by Christ's own blood.
- Christ's cleansing of the conscience prepares people to serve the living God, rather than making service self-redemption.
- Jesus' warning about claimed religious service identifies violence committed without knowing the Father or Him.
Latreia is a feminine noun, appearing in singular forms and in the plural for sacred duties. Its relation to the worship verb does not make every claimed act acceptable; object, speaker and contextual evaluation still determine how it is used.
From Old to New Testament
Exodus 12:21-28 commands the Passover service and its explanation to children through the account of God's deliverance. This source-bound setting illustrates worship shaped by remembered rescue, while Hebrews supplies its own sanctuary comparison. The Hebrew passage is not another Greek noun occurrence.