What does σεμνός (semnós) mean in the Bible?
σεμνός (semnós): Dignified bearing commanding respect; grave and serious, not frivolous or undignified conduct.
Greek · G4586
σεμνός
Noble
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σεμνός G4586
Pronunciation semnós
What does σεμνός (semnós) mean in the Bible?
σεμνός (semnós): Dignified bearing commanding respect; grave and serious, not frivolous or undignified conduct.
Full entry for σεμνός (G4586) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4586?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [must be] dignified (2), [is] honorable (1), dignified (1).
Where does σεμνός (semnós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Philippians 4:8. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (2), Philippians (1), Titus (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 [must be] dignified 2× 1 Timothy 3:8, 1 Timothy 3:11
[is] honorable 1× Philippians 4:8
dignified 1× Titus 2:2
Show sample aligned rows
Philippians 4:8 σεμνά to [is] honorable Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural 1 Timothy 3:8 σεμνούς to [must be] dignified Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 1 Timothy 3:11 σεμνάς to [must be] dignified Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural Titus 2:2 σεμνούς to dignified Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Philippians 4:8
Aligned rows 4
Books represented 3
Philippians 1 1 Timothy 2 Titus 1
Source forms
σεμνούς 2x semnous 1 Timothy 3:8, Titus 2:2
σεμνά 1x semna Philippians 4:8
σεμνάς 1x semnas 1 Timothy 3:11
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 2x 1 Timothy 3:8, Titus 2:2
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x 1 Timothy 3:11
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural 1x Philippians 4:8
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Dignified bearing commanding respect; grave and serious, not frivolous or undignified conduct.
Strong's G4586
Lexical occurrences 4 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 3 forms 4 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Timothy 3:8-13 Source Gloss
noble
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Dignified bearing commanding respect; grave and serious, not frivolous or undignified conduct.
(σέβομαι), [in LXX: Pro.6:8 8:6 15:26, 2Ma.6:11 2Mac 6:28 2Mac 8:15, 4Ma.5:36 4Mac 7:15 4Mac 17:5 * ;]
1reverend, august, venerable, in cl. of the gods and also of human beings.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Philippians 4:8 Adjective Nominative Plural Neuter
σεμνά, semna
honorable
Read verse 1 Timothy 3:8 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
σεμνούς, semnouv
honorable
Read verse 1 Timothy 3:11 Adjective Accusative Plural Feminine
σεμνάς, semnav
honorable
Read verse Titus 2:2 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
σεμνούς, semnouv
honorable
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 3 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 3 Aligned forms 4 Case pattern Accusative (3) Number pattern Plural (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Phil 4:8 1×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine 1 Tim 3:8 · Titus 2:2 2×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine 1 Tim 3:11 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Serious, honorable, deserving respect.
Showing 1 selected witness from 4 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
σεμνός is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Those who serve publicly must reflect gravity and reliability consistent with gospel ministry. 1 Timothy 3:8-13
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