What does ἀρέτη (arétē) mean in the Bible?
ἀρέτη (arétē): Excellence or moral virtue as a quality that produces admiration and recognition in others.
Greek · G703
ἀρέτη
Virtue
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ἀρέτη G703
Pronunciation arétē
What does ἀρέτη (arétē) mean in the Bible?
ἀρέτη (arétē): Excellence or moral virtue as a quality that produces admiration and recognition in others.
Full entry for ἀρέτη (G703) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G703?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include virtue (2), excellence (1), excellent (1), virtues (1).
Where does ἀρέτη (arétē) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Philippians 4:8. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Peter (3), 1 Peter (1), Philippians (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 virtue 2× 2 Peter 1:5
excellence 1× 2 Peter 1:3
excellent 1× Philippians 4:8
virtues 1× 1 Peter 2:9
Show sample aligned rows
Philippians 4:8 ἀρετὴ to excellent Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 1 Peter 2:9 ἀρετὰς to virtues Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 2 Peter 1:3 ἀρετῇ to excellence Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2 Peter 1:5 ἀρετήν to virtue Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2 Peter 1:5 ἀρετῇ to virtue Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Philippians 4:8
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 3
Philippians 1 1 Peter 1 2 Peter 3
Source forms
ἀρετῇ 2x aretē 2 Peter 1:3, 2 Peter 1:5
ἀρετὰς 1x aretas 1 Peter 2:9
ἀρετὴ 1x aretē Philippians 4:8
ἀρετήν 1x aretēn 2 Peter 1:5
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2x 2 Peter 1:3, 2 Peter 1:5
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x 1 Peter 2:9
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 1x 2 Peter 1:5
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x Philippians 4:8
Evidence Summary
Messiah
Greek word. Excellence or moral virtue as a quality that produces admiration and recognition in others.
Strong's G703
Lexical occurrences 0 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Philippians 4:8–9 Source Gloss
virtue
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Philippians 4:8 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἀρετὴ areth
virtue, moral excellence, perfection
Read verse 1 Peter 2:9 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
ἀρετὰς aretav
virtue, moral excellence, perfection
Read verse 2 Peter 1:3 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἀρετῆς· arethv
virtue, moral excellence, perfection
Read verse 2 Peter 1:5 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἀρετήν, arethn
virtue, moral excellence, perfection
Read verse 2 Peter 1:5 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἀρετῇ areth
virtue, moral excellence, perfection
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.
Sampled Scripture Occurrences
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
New Testament Witnesses
moral excellence
Word Origins
ἀρέτη is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Reorients virtue within Christ-centered ethics. Philippians 4:8–9
Canonical Themes
Messiah
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