noun · neuter
elesem
Strong’sG1656
pity, mercy
stem eles-27 times in the New Testamentin 13 of 27 books3 of 6 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
ἔλεος means pity, mercy, compassion 1234 — kindness and compassion shown toward someone in need or trouble, whether from one person to another, from God to people, or from Christ 1. It is used of human compassion, as when a person shows mercy to someone in distress, and of divine mercy, especially God's compassion toward his people, often appearing in blessings and greetings 1. Strong's notes that this compassion can be either human or divine, and describes it as particularly active rather than merely a feeling 2.
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
ἔλεος, -ους, τό
(cl. -ου, ὁ, and so Rec., Mt 9:13 12:7 23:23, Tit 3:5, He 4:16; on the Hellenistic form τό ἔ., v. WH, App., 158; M, Pr., 60; Mayser, 277; Kühner, i, 515), [in LXX chiefly for חֶסֶד;]
SYN.: οἰκτιρμός (v.s. ἐλεέω)
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1656 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidel'-eh-os
compassion (human or divine, especially active)
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King James(+ tender) mercy.
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, compassion, Refs 8th c.BC+: also in plural, Refs 5th c.BC+; μ᾽ ἔ. τινος ἐσῆλθε pity for.., LXX+5th c.BC+; ἐ. ποιεῖν μετά τινοςLXX (but masculine is also found,LXX+5th c.BC+
II personified. worshipped at Athens, Refs 5th c.BC+
III object of compassion, piteous thing, 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | elesem7×ἔλεος | eleseim |
| of, belonging to genitive | eleseu5×ἐλέους | eleseiu |
| to, for dative | elese2×ἐλέει | elesei |
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
elese 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.
27 occurrences, every one of them listed
elesem“mercy”subject or objectdirect singular7×
Luke 1:50kai tem elesem autou eis geneain kai geneain toi …His mercy extends to those who fear Him …
Galatians 6:16… houto stoichali, eirēnas epi autoin kai elesem, kai epi ton Israēl tou theou.Peace and mercy to all who walk by this …
1 Timothy 1:2Timotheo gnēsie tekne en pistia; charitas, elesem, eirēnas apo theou patrou kai Christou …… true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father …
2 Timothy 1:2Timotheo agapēte tekne; charitas, elesem, eirēnas apo theou patrou kai Christou …To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father …
James 2:13… anelesas to mē poiaranto elesem; katakauchotō elesem krisiau.For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who …
2 John 1:3eti meta nu charitas elesem eirēnas para theou patrou, kai para …Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father …
Jude 1:2elesem vi kai eirēnas kai agapas plēthunitoia.Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to …
eleseu“mercy”of, belonging togenitive singular5×
Luke 1:54“mercy”antilabeta Israēl paidou autou, mimnēskira eleseu,He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to …
Luke 1:78dia splanchneim eleseu theou nu, en hei episkepteti nin …because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the …
Romans 9:23… plouton tau doxau autou epi skeveim eleseu, heim proetoimazata eis doxan,… known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for …
Romans 15:9teim de ethneim huper eleseu doxazara ton theon; kathōs grafotē; Dia …… Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I …
James 3:17… atō, epeita eirēnikas, epieikas, eupeithas, mestas eleseu kai karpoiu agathoiu, adiakritas, anupokritas;… then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
elese“mercy”to, fordative singular2×
Romans 11:31… kai houtois nun apeithala te humetere elese hina kai autois nun elēileia;… that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you.
Ephesians 2:4tos de theos plousios arōntos en elese, dia tan pollan agapan autou han …… us, God, who is rich in mercy,
elesem11×
Matthew 23:23… tou nomou, tan krisian kai tem elesem kai tan pistian; houteim date poiara …… weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced …
Luke 1:58… sungenois autau hoti megalunata kurios tem elesem autou meta autau, kai sunchairale auta.… the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.
Luke 1:72poiara elesem meta toiu patroiu nu kai mimnēskira …to show mercy to our fathers and to remember …
Luke 10:37tos de legata; Tos poiarantos tem elesem meta autou. legata de auto tos …“The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law …
2 Timothy 1:16dōatoia elesem tos kurios to Onēsiforou oiko, hoti …May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because …
2 Timothy 1:18dōatoia auto tos kurios heuriskara elesem para kuriou en ekeina ta hēmera …May the Lord grant Onesiphorus His mercy on that day. You know very …
Titus 3:5… poiana nis alla kata tem autou elesem sōzata nin dia loutreu palingenesiau kai …… had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth …
Hebrews 4:16… to throno tau charitau, hina labaneia elesem kai charitan heuriskaneia eis eukairan boētheian.… confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us …
James 2:13… gar krisias anelesas to mē poiaranto elesem; katakauchotō elesem krisiau.… anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
1 Peter 1:3… Christou, tos kata tem pollem autou elesem anagennarantos nin eis elpidan zōarōntan dia …… Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth …
Jude 1:21… en agapa theou tēravar prosdechorōntois tem elesem tou kuriou nu Iēsu Christou eis …… of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to …
Elesem2×
Matthew 9:13poreuirantois de mathavar tinem atō; Elesem thelamō kai ouk thusian; ouk gar …… learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not …
Matthew 12:7ei de gnōskavelē tinem atō; Elesem thelamō kai ouk thusian, ouk an …… known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have …