What does οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespótēs) mean in the Bible?
οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespótēs): Master of household with absolute authority; used of both literal householders and God's authority in parables.
Greek · G3617
οἰκοδεσπότης
The head of a family
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
οἰκοδεσπότης G3617
Pronunciation oikodespótēs
What does οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespótēs) mean in the Bible?
οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespótēs): Master of household with absolute authority; used of both literal householders and God's authority in parables.
Full entry for οἰκοδεσπότης (G3617) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3617?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include homeowner (2), owner (2), . . . (1), a homeowner (1), a landowner (1).
Where does οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespótēs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:25. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (7), Luke (4), Mark (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 homeowner 2× Matthew 24:43, Luke 12:39
owner 2× Mark 14:14, Luke 22:11
. . . 1× Matthew 21:33
a homeowner 1× Matthew 13:52
a landowner 1× Matthew 20:1
head of the house 1× Matthew 10:25
landowner 1× Matthew 20:11
master of the house 1× Luke 13:25
owner of the house 1× Luke 14:21
owner’s 1× Matthew 13:27
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 10:25 οἰκοδεσπότην to head of the house Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Matthew 13:27 οἰκοδεσπότου to owner’s Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 13:52 οἰκοδεσπότῃ to a homeowner Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Matthew 20:1 οἰκοδεσπότῃ to a landowner Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Matthew 20:11 οἰκοδεσπότου to landowner Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 21:33 οἰκοδεσπότης to . . . Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 24:43 οἰκοδεσπότης to homeowner Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 14:14 οἰκοδεσπότῃ to owner Noun - Dative Masculine Singular Luke 12:39 οἰκοδεσπότης to homeowner Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Luke 13:25 οἰκοδεσπότης to master of the house Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 10:25
Aligned rows 12
Books represented 3
Matthew 7 Mark 1 Luke 4
Source forms
οἰκοδεσπότης 5x oikodespotēs Matthew 21:33, Matthew 24:43, Luke 12:39, Luke 13:25
οἰκοδεσπότῃ 4x oikodespotē Matthew 13:52, Matthew 20:1, Mark 14:14, Luke 22:11
οἰκοδεσπότου 2x oikodespotou Matthew 13:27, Matthew 20:11
οἰκοδεσπότην 1x oikodespotēn Matthew 10:25
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 5x Matthew 21:33, Matthew 24:43, Luke 12:39, Luke 13:25
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 4x Matthew 13:52, Matthew 20:1, Mark 14:14, Luke 22:11
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 2x Matthew 13:27, Matthew 20:11
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Matthew 10:25
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Master of household with absolute authority; used of both literal householders and God's authority in parables.
Strong's G3617
Lexical occurrences 12 verses Greek text appearances 12 times Word forms 4 forms 12 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 12:35-48 Source Gloss
the head of a family
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Master of household with absolute authority; used of both literal householders and God's authority in parables.
(οἶκος, δεσπότης), the master of a house, a householder: Mat.10:25 13:27 20:11 24:43, Mrk.14:14, Luk.12:39 13:25 14:21; ἄνθρωπος οἰ., Mat.13:52 20:1 21:33; pleonast., oἰ. τ. οἰκίας, Luk.22:11 (see Bl., § 81, 4).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 10:25 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότην oikodespothn
a head of a household
Read verse Matthew 13:27 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότου oikodespotou
a head of a household
Read verse Matthew 13:52 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότῃ, oikodespoth
a head of a household
Read verse Matthew 20:1 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότῃ, oikodespoth
a head of a household
Read verse Matthew 20:11 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότου, oikodespotou
a head of a household
Read verse Matthew 21:33 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότης, oikodespothv
a head of a household
Read verse Matthew 24:43 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότης oikodespothv
a head of a household
Read verse Mark 14:14 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότῃ oikodespoth
a head of a household
Read verse Luke 12:39 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότης oikodespothv
a head of a household
Read verse Luke 13:25 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότης oikodespothv
a head of a household
Read verse Luke 14:21 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότης oikodespothv
a head of a household
Read verse Luke 22:11 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
οἰκοδεσπότῃ oikodespoth
a head of a household
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 patterns 4 Aligned forms 12 Case pattern Nominative (5) Number pattern Singular (12)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 21:33 · Matt 24:43 · Luke 12:39 · Luke 13:25 · Luke 14:21 5×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 13:27 · Matt 20:11 2×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Matt 13:52 · Matt 20:1 · Mark 14:14 · Luke 22:11 4×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 10:25 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Master returning from a journey, servants await his arrival and accountability
Master of house who shuts door, excludes those who claim familiarity but lack relationship
Master who prepares great banquet and sends servants to summon invited guests
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
οἰκοδεσπότης is built from these roots:
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