adjective
alēthos
Strong’sG227
unconcealed, true
stem alēth-26 times in the New Testamentin 12 of 27 books7 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
True, meaning conforming to reality or fact, said of things such as statements, testimony, or judgments 1234.
Also truthful, said of persons, describing someone who speaks or acts honestly rather than falsely 13. The word's underlying idea is of something unconcealed or not hidden, from which the sense "true" develops 123.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἀληθής, -ές
(< λήθω = λανθάνω, hence primarily, unconcealed, manifest; hence, actual, real), [in LXX for אֶמֶת, etc.;]
SYN.: ἀληθινός, real, genuine, ideal, as opp. to spurious or imperfect ἀληθής, true to fact, as opp. to false, lying, denotes the actuality of a thing: ἀληθινός, its relation to the corresponding conception. (Cf. Tr., Syn., § viii; Cremer, 84 f., 631 Abbott, JV, 234 f.; DB, iv, 818 f.; MM, VGT, s.vv.)
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G227 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Doric dialect ἀλᾱθής, ές, (λήθω, ={λανθάνω}: ἀληθὲς τὸ μὴ λήθῃ ὑποπῖπτονRefs:—unconcealed, so true, real, opposed to false, apparent:
I Refs 8th c.BC+; ἀληθέϊ λόγῳ χρᾶσθαιRefs 5th c.BC+
I.2 of persons, etc., truthful, honest (not in Refs 8th c.BC+; οἶνος ἀ. `in vino veritas', Refs 5th c.BC+
I.3 of oracles, true, unerring, ἀλαθέα μαντίων θῶκονRefs 5th c.BC+; of dreams, Refs 4th c.BC+
II of qualities or events, true, real, φίλοςRefs 5th c.BC+; genuine, ἀ. εἶναι δεῖ τὸ σεμνόν, οὐ κενόνRefs 4th c.BC+
II.2 realizing itself, coming to fulfilment, ἀράRefs 4th c.BC+
III adverb ἀληθῶς, Ionic dialect -θέως, truly, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.b actually, in reality, γένος τόδε Ζηνός ἐστιν ἀ.Refs 5th c.BC+; τὴν ἀ. μουσικήν (i.e. οὖσαν) Refs 4th c.BC+ —ὡς ἀ. in the true way, really, Refs 5th c.BC+: comparative -εστέρωςRefs 5th c.BC+ -έστερον Refs 5th c.BC+: superlative -έσταταRefs 5th c.BC+
III.2 neuter as adverb, proparoxytone ἄληθε; indeed? really? ironically, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3 τὸ ἀληθές truly, Ionic dialect τὠληθέςRefs 3rd c.BC+
B not forgetting, careful, γυνὴ χερνῆτις ἀ.Refs 8th c.BC+:—the sense honest is post- Refs 8th c.BC+ ἀληθ-ίζω, dye with genuine purple, Refs
B.II middle -ίζομαι, ={ἀληθεύω}, Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | alēthos6×ἀληθής | alēthas10×ἀληθής | alēthem4×ἀληθές | alēthois1×ἀληθεῖς | alēthais | alētheim3×ἀληθῆ |
| object accusative | alēthon | alēthan1×ἀληθῆ | alēthoin | alēthain | ||
| direct address vocative | alēthor | alēthar | alēthoir | alēthair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | alēthou | alēthau1×ἀληθοῦς | alētheu | alēthoiu | alēthaiu | alētheiu |
| to, for dative | alētho | alētha | alēthe | alēthoi | alēthai | alēthei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
alēth is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
26 occurrences, every one of them listed
alēthos“true”subjectnominative singular6×
Matthew 22:16“truthful”… toiu Hērōdianoiu legarōntois; Didaskalor, oidanē hoti alēthos asō kai tan hodan tou theou …… with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You …
Mark 12:14“truthful”… ercharantois legalō auto; Didaskalor, oidanē hoti alēthos asō kai ouk meleiatō si peri …“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we …
John 3:33“true”… tan marturian sfragizata hoti tos theos alēthos atō.… accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.
John 7:18“true”… tan doxan tou pemparantou auton houtos alēthos atō kai adikias en auto ouk …… who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.
John 8:26“true”… kai krinarō; alla tos pemparantos min alēthos atō, kamis heim akouama para autou …… about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell …
Romans 3:4mē genetoia; genotōr de tos theos alēthos, pantos de anthrōpos pseustos, kathōs grafotē; …Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As …
alēthas“true”subjectnominative singular10×
John 5:31“true”… miautou, tas marturias mu ouk atō alēthas;… testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.
John 5:32“true”… marturarōntos peri mu, kai oidamē hoti alēthas atō tas marturias han marturatō peri …… another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.
John 6:55“true”tas gar sarkas mu alēthas atō brōsias, kai tem haimem mu …For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real …
John 6:55“true”… atō brōsias, kai tem haimem mu alēthas atō posias.… My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.
John 8:13“true”… marturasō; tas marturias su ouk atō alēthas.… You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid.”
John 8:14“true”… autoi; Kan mis marturameiō peri miautou, alēthas atō tas marturias mu, hoti oidamē …Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I …
John 8:17“true”… grafotē hoti duo anthrōpoiu tas marturias alēthas atō.… it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
John 21:24… tos grafarantos houteim, kai oidanē hoti alēthas autou tas marturias atō.… we know that his testimony is true.
Titus 1:13tas marturias houtas atō alēthas. dia han aitian elenchasōr autoin apotomōs, …This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that …
3 John 1:12… kai oidasē hoti tas marturias nu alēthas atō.… you know that our testimony is true.
alēthan“true”objectaccusative singular1×
1 Peter 5:12… grafama, parakalarōntos kai epimarturarōntos houtan arō alēthan charitan tou theou; eis han stēavar.… and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in …
alēthau“true”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
2 Peter 2:22sumbainatē autoi tem tau alēthau paroimiau; Kunos epistrefarantos epi tem idiem …Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit …
alēthem“true”subject or objectdirect singular4×
John 4:18“true”… echasō ouk atō su andros; houtem alēthem legasē.… you now have is not your husband. You have …
Acts 12:9… exercharantos akolouthate, kai ouk oidatelē hoti alēthem atō tem genorōntem dia tou angelou, …… what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing …
1 John 2:8… entolan kainan grafamō vi, hem atō alēthem en auto kai en vi, hoti …… you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you …
1 John 2:27… chrismem didaskatō vin peri panteiu, kai alēthem atō kai ouk atō pseudem, kai …… teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about …
alēthois“true”subjectnominative plural1×
2 Corinthians 6:8“true”… dusfēmiau kai eufēmiau; hōs planois kai alēthois,… and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet …
alētheim“true”subject or objectdirect plural3×
John 10:41… de hoseim legata Iōannos peri houtou alētheim ate.… he said about this man was true.”
Philippians 4:8Tem loipem, adelfoir, hoseim atō alētheim, hoseim semneim, hoseim dikaieim, hoseim hagneim, …Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right …
John 19:35… tas marturias, kai ekeinos oidatē hoti alētheim legatō, hina kai vis pisteuaveiō.… knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.