noun · masculine
despotos
Strong’sG1203
a lord, master, or prince
stem despot-10 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books5 of 10 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
δεσπότης, -ου, ὁ
[in LXX chiefly for אָדוֹן, אֲדֹנָי; in Jth 9:17, δ. τ. οὐρανῶν κ. τ. γῆς];
SYN.: κύριος (q.v.), implying limitation of authority and a more general relation than δ., which "denoted absolute ownership and uncontrolled power" (Thayer).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1203 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddes-pot'-ace
an absolute ruler ("despot")
Fromperhaps from G1210 and πόσις (a husband);
King JamesLord, master.
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
vocative δέσποτᾰ: Ionic dialect accusative δεσπότεα Refs 5th c.BC+:—master, lord, properly the master of the house, δόμων Refs 4th c.BC+: plural, of a family, Refs; in respect of slaves, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὦναξ δέσποταRefs 4th c.BC+
2 despot, absolute ruler, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the Roman Emperors, Refs 1st c.AD+
3 of the gods, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 dominant planet, Refs
II generally, master, lord, owner, κώμου, ναῶν, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἑπτὰ δεσποτῶν, of the seven Refs 8th 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | despotos | despotois |
| object accusative | despoton2×δεσπότην | despotoin2×δεσπότας |
| direct address vocative | despotor3×δεσπότης | despotoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | despotou | despotoiu |
| to, for dative | despoto1×δεσπότῃ | despotoi2×δεσπόταις |
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
despoto 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.
10 occurrences, every one of them listed
despoton“master”objectaccusative singular2×
2 Peter 2:1… hairesiain apōleiau, kai ton agorazaranton autoin despoton arnorōntois, epagarōntois heautoi tachinan apōleian;… introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them — bringing swift destruction …
Jude 1:4… metatitharōntois eis aselgeian kai ton monon despoton kai kurion nu Iēsun Christon arnorōntois.… immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
despotor“Lord”direct addressvocative singular3×
Luke 2:29Nun apoluasō ton doulon su, despotor, kata tem rēmem su en eirēna;“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now …
Acts 4:24… fōnan pros ton theon kai legala; Despotor, sis tos poiarantos ton ouranon kai …… to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven …
Revelation 6:10… fōna mega legarōntois; Heōs pote, tos despotor tos hagior kai alēthinor, ouk krinasō …… a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge …
despoto“master”to, fordative singular1×
2 Timothy 2:21… skevem eis timan, hagiazorēntem, euchrēstem to despoto, eis pantem ergem agathem hetoimazorēntem.… for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.
despotoin“masters”objectaccusative plural2×
1 Timothy 6:1… alō hupo zugon doulois, toin idioin despotoin pantau timau axioin hēgolōr, hina mē …… yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so …
1 Timothy 6:2tois de pistoin echarōntois despotoin mē katafronalōr, hoti adelfois alō; alla …Those who have believing masters should not show disrespect because they …
despotoi“masters”to, fordative plural2×
Titus 2:9Douloin idioi despotoi hupotassorō en pantei, euarestoin arō, mē …… are to submit to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not …
1 Peter 2:18… oiketoir hupotassorōntois en panto fobo toi despotoi, ouk monem toi agathoi kai epieikoi …Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to …