adjective
alēthinos
Strong’sG228
true, real, genuine
stem alēthin-28 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books10 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
Real, genuine — describing something as true in the sense of authentic and ideal, as opposed to what is false, counterfeit, or merely apparent 1. Strong's and Dodson give the same basic range, glossing the word as true, real, genuine 24.
The word can also carry the narrower sense of truthful, equivalent to the ordinary Greek word for "true" (ἀληθής), describing persons or statements as truthful and trustworthy rather than false 13. Strong's likewise glosses it as truthful 2, and LSJ notes this use of persons, along with related adverbs meaning "truly, really" and "honestly, straightforwardly" 3.
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
ἀληθινός, -ή, -όν
(< ἀληθής), [in LXX for אֶמֶת;]
SYN.: ἀληθής, q.v
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G228 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidal-ay-thee-nos'
truthful
Fromfrom G227;
King Jamestrue.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
agreeable to truth:
1 of persons, truthful, trusty, στράτευμα, φίλοι, Refs 5th c.BC+. adverb -νῶς, φιλεῖνRefs 5th c.BC+: superlative -ώταταRefs 2nd c.BC+
2 of things, true, genuine, Refs 5th c.BC+; especially of purple, πορφυρίςRefs 5th c.BC+; ἰχθύς Amph.26; πέλαγοςRefs 4th c.BC+; τὰ ἀ. real objects, opposed to τὰ γεγραμμένα, Refs 4th c.BC+; of persons, ἐς ἀ. ἄνδρ᾽ ἀποβῆναι to turn out a genuine man, Refs 3rd c.BC+: Astron., true (opposed to φαινόμενος apparent), of risings and settings, Refs 4th c.BC+
II adverb -νῶς truly, really, opposed to γλίσχρως, Refs 5th c.BC+; ζῶντα ἀ. really alive, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 honestly, straightforwardly, Refs
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 | alēthinos6×ἀληθινὸς | alēthinas3×ἀληθινή | alēthinem3×ἀληθινὸν | alēthinois4×ἀληθινοὶ | alēthinais3×ἀληθιναὶ | alēthineim |
| object accusative | alēthinon3×ἀληθινόν | alēthinan | alēthinoin | alēthinain | ||
| direct address vocative | alēthinor1×ἀληθινός | alēthinar | alēthinoir | alēthinair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | alēthinou | alēthinau2×ἀληθινῆς | alēthineu | alēthinoiu | alēthinaiu | alēthineiu1×ἀληθινῶν |
| to, for dative | alēthino2×ἀληθινῷ | alēthina | alēthine | alēthinoi | alēthinai | alēthinei |
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
alēthin 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
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
28 occurrences, every one of them listed
alēthinos“true”subjectnominative singular6×
John 4:37en gar houte tos logos atō alēthinos hoti Allosos atō tos sperarōntos kai …… One sows and another reaps’ is true.
John 7:28… apo miautou ouk erchamē, alla atō alēthinos tos pemparantos min, hon vis ouk …… but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him,
1 John 5:20… autou Iēso Christo. houtos atō tos alēthinos theos kai zōas aiōnias.… Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Revelation 3:7… grafasar; Hōdeim legatō tos hagios, tos alēthinos, tos echarōntos tan kleidan David, tos …… the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David …
Revelation 3:14… Amēn, tos marturos tos pistos kai alēthinos, tas archas tau ktisiau tou theou;… of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
Revelation 19:11… kathorōntos epi auton pistos kalorōntos kai alēthinos, kai en dikaiosuna krinatō kai polematō.… its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages …
alēthinon“true”objectaccusative singular3×
John 6:32… ton arton ek tou ouranou ton alēthinon;… My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
John 17:3… zōas hina gnōskaleiō sin ton monon alēthinon theon kai hon apostelasa Iēsun Christon.… they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You …
1 John 5:20… dōatē ni dianoian hina gnōskaneiō ton alēthinon; kai anō en to alēthino, en …… we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who …
alēthinor“true”direct addressvocative singular1×
Revelation 6:10… pote, tos despotor tos hagior kai alēthinor, ouk krinasō kai ekdikasō tem haimem …… How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell …
alēthino“true”to, fordative singular2×
1 Thessalonians 1:9… teiu eidōleiu douleuarō theo zōarōnto kai alēthino,… idols to serve the living and true God
1 John 5:20… ton alēthinon; kai anō en to alēthino, en to huio autou Iēso Christo. …… we are in Him who is true — in His Son Jesus Christ. He …
alēthinas“true”subjectnominative singular3×
John 8:16… de mis, tas krisias tas ēmas alēthinas atō, hoti monos ouk amō, alla …… I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone; I …
John 15:1Mis amō tas ampelas tas alēthinas, kai tos patros mu tos geōrgos …“I am the true vine, and My Father is the …
John 19:35kai tos horarēntos marturatē, kai alēthinas autou atō tas marturias, kai ekeinos …… to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling …
alēthinau“true”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Hebrews 8:2… hagieiu leitourgos kai tau skēnau tau alēthinau, han pēgata tos kurios, ouk anthrōpos.… who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord …
Hebrews 10:22“true”proserchoneiō meta alēthinau kardiau en plēroforia pistiau, rantizorēntois tain …let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse …
alēthinem“true”subject or objectdirect singular3×
Luke 16:11… adiko mamōno pistois ouk geneva, tem alēthinem tinos vi pisteuati?… wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?
John 1:9ate tem fōtem tem alēthinem hem fōtizatō panton anthrōpon erchorōnton eis …The true Light, who gives light to everyone …
1 John 2:8… skotias paragotō kai tem fōtem tem alēthinem ēdē fanatō.… the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.
alēthinois“true”subjectnominative plural4×
John 4:23… hōras kai nun atō, hote tois alēthinois proskunētois proskunali to patro en pneume …… and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in …
Revelation 19:9… kai legatō mi; Houtois tois logois alēthinois tou theou alō.… said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 21:5… hoti houtois tois logois pistois kai alēthinois alō.… for these words are faithful and true.”
Revelation 22:6… mi; Houtois tois logois pistois kai alēthinois, kai tos kurios, tos theos teiu …… me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the …
alēthinais“true”subjectnominative plural3×
Revelation 15:3… tos theor, tos pantokratoror; dikaiais kai alēthinais tais hodais su, tos basilevos toiu …… O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of …
Revelation 16:7… Nai, kurior, tos theor, tos pantokratoror, alēthinais kai dikaiais tais krisiais su.… altar reply: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”
Revelation 19:2hoti alēthinais kai dikaiais tais krisiais autou; hoti …For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the …
alēthineiu“true”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Hebrews 9:24… cheiropoiēteim eiserchata hagieim Christos, antitupeim teiu alēthineiu, alla eis auton ton ouranon, nun …… enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself …