noun · feminine
eleēmosunas
Strong’sG1654
alms-giving, charity
stem eleēmosun-13 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books5 of 10 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
Mercy or pity, the quality or feeling of compassion. 13
Almsgiving, and by extension the alms or charitable gift itself given to the poor. 1234 This is the meaning found throughout the New Testament, in phrases meaning "to give alms," "to do a merciful/charitable deed," "to ask for alms," and "to receive alms." 1
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
† ἐλεημοσύνη, -ης, ἡ
(< ἐλεέω), [in LXX chiefly for חֶסֶד, צְדָקָה;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1654 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidel-eh-ay-mos-oo'-nay
compassionateness, i.e. (as exercised towards the poor) beneficence, or (concretely) a benefaction
Fromfrom G1656;
King Jamesalms(-deeds).
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
pity, mercy, Refs 3rd c.BC+
2 charity, alms, LXX+NT+3rd c.AD+
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 | eleēmosunas1×ἐλεημοσύνη | eleēmosunais2×ἐλεημοσύναι |
| object accusative | eleēmosunan7×ἐλεημοσύνην | eleēmosunain2×ἐλεημοσύνας |
| direct address vocative | eleēmosunar | eleēmosunair |
| of, belonging to genitive | eleēmosunau | eleēmosunaiu1×ἐλεημοσυνῶν |
| to, for dative | eleēmosuna | eleēmosunai |
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
eleēmosuna 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.
13 occurrences, every one of them listed
eleēmosunas“giving”subjectnominative singular1×
Matthew 6:4hopōs ateiō su tas eleēmosunas en te krupte; kai tos patros …so that your giving may be in secret. And your …
eleēmosunan“alms”objectaccusative singular7×
Matthew 6:2“alms”Hotan oun poiaseiō eleēmosunan, mē salpizaseia emprosthen su, hōsper tois …So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do …
Matthew 6:3“alms”su de poiarōntou eleēmosunan mē gnōskatar tas aristeras su tinem …But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right …
Luke 11:41plēn teim eneiarōnteim dōavar eleēmosunan, kai idou panteim kathareim vi atō.But give as alms the things that are within you …
Luke 12:33“alms”pōlavar teim huparcharōnteim vu kai dōavar eleēmosunan; poiavar heautoi ballantieim mē palaiorōnteim, thēsauron …Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven …
Acts 3:2“alms”… hiereu tan legorōntan Hōraian teu aitarō eleēmosunan para toiu eisporeuorōntoiu eis tem hierem,… to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.
Acts 3:3“alms”… mellarōntoin eiseiarō eis tem hierem erōtate eleēmosunan labara.… and John about to enter, he asked them for …
Acts 3:10“alms”… hoti houtos ate tos pros tan eleēmosunan kathorōntos epi ta Hōraia Pula teu …… recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and …
eleēmosunais“alms”subjectnominative plural2×
Acts 10:4“alms”… auto; Tais proseuchais su kai tais eleēmosunais su anabainala eis mnēmosunem emprosthen tou …… it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
Acts 10:31“alms”… eisakouita su tas proseuchas kai tais eleēmosunais su mimnēskila enōpion tou theou.… said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God.
eleēmosunain“alms”objectaccusative plural2×
Acts 10:2“alms”… sun panto to oiko autou, poiarōntos eleēmosunain pollain to lao kai dorōntos tou …He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God …
Acts 24:17dia eteiu de pollotereiu eleēmosunain poiarintos eis tem ethnem mu paragenema …… I returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to my people and to present …
eleēmosunaiu“charity”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Acts 9:36… houtas ate plēras ergeiu agatheiu kai eleēmosunaiu haiu poiate.… occupied with works of kindness and charity.