adverb
alēthōs
Strong’sG230
truly, really, certainly
stem alēthō-18 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 booksnever changes form
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
ἀληθῶς means truly, really, certainly — used to affirm that a statement is true or corresponds to fact 124. It functions as an adverb expressing genuine assertion, equivalent to "surely" or "in truth" 123, and can also convey the sense of "actually, in reality" 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
ἀληθῶς
adv.(< ἀληθής), [in LXX (Je 28:6, Ps 58:1, al.) chiefly for אָמֵן and cogn. forms;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G230 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidal-ay-thoce'
truly
Fromadverb from G227;
King Jamesindeed, surely, of a surety, truly, of a (in) truth, verily, very.
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
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.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
18 occurrences, every one of them listed
alēthōs12×
Luke 9:27legamō de vi alēthōs, alō tinois toiu autou stēarēntoiu hois …But I tell you truly, some who are standing here will …
Luke 12:44alēthōs legamō vi hoti epi pantei tei …Truly I tell you, he will put …
John 1:47“indeed”… auton kai legatō peri autou; Ide alēthōs Israēlitos en ho dolos ouk atō.… approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
John 4:42“indeed”… akouanē, kai oidanē hoti houtos atō alēthōs tos sōtēros tou kosmou.… we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”
John 6:14… poiata sēmem legale hoti Houtos atō alēthōs tos profētos tos erchorōntos eis ton …… had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is …
John 7:26“really”… lalatō kai oudenem auto legalō; mēpote alēthōs gnōskala tois archontois hoti houtos atō …… He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ?
John 7:40… toiu logoiu houtoiu legale; Houtos atō alēthōs tos profētos;… of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.”
John 8:31… menaveia en to logo to ēmo, alēthōs mathētois mu avō,… continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
John 17:8“truly”… autoi, kai autois labala kai gnōskala alēthōs hoti para su exerchama, kai pisteuala …… have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent …
Acts 12:11“for certain”… en heauto generantos legata; Nun oidamē alēthōs hoti exapostelata tos kurios ton angelon …Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people …
1 Thessalonians 2:13“really”… decheva ouk logon anthrōpoiu alla kathōs alēthōs atō logon theou, hos kai energotō …… us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you …
1 John 2:5… de an tērateiō autou ton logon, alēthōs en houto tas agapas tou theou …… the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we …
Alēthōs6×
Matthew 14:33… en te ploie proskunala auto legarōntois; Alēthōs theou huios asō.… in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”
Matthew 26:73… prosercharantois tois stēarēntois legala to Petro; Alēthōs kai sis ek autoiu asō, kai …… standing nearby came up to Peter. “Surely you are one of them,” they …
Matthew 27:54… kai teim generanteim fobila sfodra legarōntois; Alēthōs theou huios ate houtos.… happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Mark 14:70“certainly”… palin tois parastēarēntois legale to Petro; Alēthōs ek autoiu asō, kai gar Galilaios …… standing nearby said once more to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you too are a Galilean.”
Mark 15:39… enantiau autou hoti houtōs ekpnata legata; Alēthōs houtos tos anthrōpos huios theou ate.… had breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of …
Luke 21:3kai legata; Alēthōs legamō vi hoti tas chēras tas …“Truly I tell you,” He said, “this …