Myth
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Mythos means a myth, invented tale, fabricated account, or story treated as an alternative to reliable truth. Paul warns against myths joined to endless genealogies, irreverent speculation, and human commands that turn hearers from truth and godliness.
Reader summary
Full entry for μῦθος (G3454) · Open the biblical lexicon
Mythos means a myth, invented tale, fabricated account, or story treated as an alternative to reliable truth. Paul warns against myths joined to endless genealogies, irreverent speculation, and human commands that turn hearers from truth and godliness.
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include myths (3), fables (1), to myths (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Timothy 1:4. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (2), 2 Peter (1), 2 Timothy (1), Titus (1).
Mythos means a myth, invented tale, fabricated account, or story treated as an alternative to reliable truth. Paul warns against myths joined to endless genealogies, irreverent speculation, and human commands that turn hearers from truth and godliness. Second Peter denies that the apostolic proclamation of Christ's majesty followed cleverly devised myths, appealing instead to eyewitness testimony and prophetic confirmation.
The noun does not condemn imagination, parable, literary artistry, or every traditional story. Its polemical uses concern accounts that displace God's revealed work, feed speculation, satisfy preferred desires, or claim authority without trustworthy warrant. Churches should test stories by Scripture, apostolic gospel, evidence, fruit, and accountability while teaching truth compellingly enough that novelty and conspiracy do not become substitutes for faith.
Mythos names truth-displacing tales that capture attention and turn hearers away from apostolic witness and godliness. The Pastoral warnings meet Peter's insistence on eyewitness and prophetic warrant.
Or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.
First Timothy 1:4 forbids devotion to myths and endless genealogies because they promote speculations rather than God's stewardship by faith.
But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.
First Timothy 4:7 names the rejected material as irreverent myths, invented tales set against Timothy's disciplined training in godliness. The contrast is between speculative tale and practiced devotion.
So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Second Timothy 4:4 foresees hearers turning away from truth and turning aside to myths because they gather teachers suited to their desires.
And will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.
Titus 1:14 warns against Jewish myths and human commands associated with people turning from truth. Ethnic labeling must not be detached from this doctrinal context.
For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Second Peter 1:16 says the apostles did not follow cleverly devised myths when announcing Christ's power and coming, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
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. A fabricated narrative explicitly opposed to true logos; a false story presented as authoritative truth.
A fabricated narrative explicitly opposed to true logos; a false story presented as authoritative truth.
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.
an idle tale, fable
Read versean idle tale, fable
Read versean idle tale, fable
Read versean idle tale, fable
Read versean idle tale, fable
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 2 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 1 selected witness from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
μῦθος is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Mythos identifies more than a story someone dislikes. In the Pastoral Epistles, myths absorb attention, multiply speculation, cooperate with man-made commands, and turn people from truth and godliness. Second Timothy exposes a demand side: hearers select teachers and tales that fit their desires. Second Peter answers the charge that Christian proclamation is another clever construction by pointing to eyewitness majesty and the prophetic word.
Churches should teach members to verify sources, distinguish inference from fact, resist conspiracy's emotional rewards, and recognize when a story supplies identity without obedience. At the same time, Jesus' parables and Scripture's poetry show that imaginative form can convey truth. The decisive issue is not literariness but a tale's claim, warrant, relation to revelation, and fruit.
2Pet.1.16
Mythos can mean speech, tale, story, legend, or myth. In these New Testament contexts it carries a negative force for fabricated or unreliable accounts opposed to truth.
False prophets tell visions from their own minds, while Israel's faith repeatedly appeals to God's public acts in history. Wisdom also warns against receiving a report before examination.