Wealthy; figuratively, abounding with
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Plousios means rich, wealthy, or possessing abundance. Jesus applies it to a landowner whose surplus deepens self-reliance, while Paul applies richness to the Lord's generosity and to the grace believers receive through Christ's poverty.
Reader summary
Full entry for πλούσιος (G4145) · Open the biblical lexicon
Plousios means rich, wealthy, or possessing abundance. Jesus applies it to a landowner whose surplus deepens self-reliance, while Paul applies richness to the Lord's generosity and to the grace believers receive through Christ's poverty.
The BSB source-word alignment has 28 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include rich (16), a rich man (4), [to be] rich (1), a rich (1), rich [man] (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 19:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (11), James (5), Revelation (4), Matthew (3).
Plousios means rich, wealthy, or possessing abundance. Jesus applies it to a landowner whose surplus deepens self-reliance, while Paul applies richness to the Lord's generosity and to the grace believers receive through Christ's poverty. The adjective can describe material position, divine abundance, or wealth in faith, so no occurrence should be flattened into a single economic claim.
Scripture neither treats riches as proof of favor nor makes poverty automatically virtuous. Those rich in the present age face particular temptations toward pride and misplaced hope and receive particular commands toward generosity. Gospel richness is received from God, shared with neighbors, and ordered toward the kingdom rather than used to rank human worth.
Plousios describes material wealth and forms of abundance defined by God. Its uses expose self-secure riches, announce the Lord's generosity, center Christ's self-giving, and honor the poor as rich in faith.
Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.
Luke 12:16 introduces a rich man whose land produces abundantly. His plans enlarge storage but omit God, neighbors, mortality, and the purpose of entrusted surplus.
For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
Romans 10:12 says the same Lord is Lord of all and rich toward all who call on Him. Divine abundance crosses the Jew-Gentile distinction through generous salvation.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
Second Corinthians 8:9 says the rich Christ became poor for believers so that through His poverty they might become rich. The context appeals to grace-shaped generosity, not guaranteed affluence.
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
First Timothy 6:17 commands the rich in the present age to reject arrogance and hope in uncertain wealth, placing hope instead in God who richly provides.
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
James 2:5 says God chose those poor in the world's eyes to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, confronting status-based partiality in the assembly.
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. Wealth used metaphorically for spiritual abundance; rich in mercy, faith, or divine resources, not material possessions.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 28 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
rich
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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 6 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 28 lexical occurrence verses.
πλούσιος is built from this root:
Wealth itself is addressed directly as a pastoral concern.1 Timothy 6:17-19
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Plousios prevents wealth from becoming a simple spiritual score. The rich landowner is not condemned for a productive field but for a self-enclosed future that stores abundance without reckoning with God, death, or neighbor. Paul redirects richness toward the Lord who gives generously to all who call and toward Christ whose voluntary poverty enriches His people by grace.
First Timothy addresses materially rich believers without denying their place in the church, but strips wealth of certainty and commands generous action. James exposes assemblies that honor visible status while dishonoring kingdom heirs. Churches should name material advantage honestly, refuse favoritism, protect the poor from shame, and teach wealth as uncertain stewardship beneath God's abundant gift in Christ.
2Cor.8.9
Plousios is the adjective rich or wealthy and may describe material possession, abundant capacity, or metaphorical richness. Its complement and context identify what kind of abundance is meant.
Wisdom treats riches as useful yet fleeting, prophets condemn luxury joined to neglect, and covenant law directs harvest abundance toward the poor and stranger.