τιμή

τιμή carries two related meanings in the NT: value or price (the economic dimension) and honor or respect (the social and moral dimension). Both are present in the NT, and the movement between them is often theologically significant — what something costs reflects what it is worth, and what is worth most deserves the most honor.

First Corinthians 6:20 and 7:23 both use the economic sense: 'you were bought with a price (times).' The price paid for the believer is the blood of Christ, and the implication is that the person's body, life, and allegiance are not their own to dispose of as they please. Being bought at great price creates a claim on the person: they belong to the one who paid for them. This economic use of time carries enormous ethical weight: the body matters because it was bought at the highest price; decisions about the body are therefore not private but relational.

Romans 12:10 applies time in the community context: 'Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor (time).' The competition here is in generosity of honor — a reversal of the normal human competitive drive to accumulate honor for oneself. The community of Christ is to be a place where people compete to give honor rather than to get it. The related Philippians 2:3 ground ('count others better than yourselves') provides the christological rationale: the mind of Christ is oriented downward, toward honoring others above self.

First Peter 3:7 uses time for the honor due a wife: 'husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor (time) to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life.' The honor-command is grounded in co-heir status — both husband and wife share equally in the inheritance of life, and that equal standing grounds the obligation to honor.

The Revelation doxologies give time its eschatological height: 'Worthy are you to receive glory and honor (time) and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created' (4:11). The ultimate time belongs to God — and the community's practice of giving time to one another is preparation for and reflection of the eternal orientation toward the One who is worthy of all honor.

For the preacher, τιμή is the word that names both what Christ paid for us (a price of infinite worth) and what we are to give one another (honor that exceeds what we seek for ourselves).

τιμή is locally indexed at about 41 G5092 occurrences in the NT. The economic sense (price, value) appears in Acts and 1 Corinthians. The social-moral sense (honor, respect) appears extensively in Romans, the Pastoral Epistles, Hebrews, Peter, and Revelation. The two senses often inform each other: being bought at a price grounds the honor due the one who paid it and shapes the community's practice of honoring one another.