adjective
eleutheros
Strong’sG1658
free, delivered from obligation
stem eleuther-23 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books6 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
Free — not under the control or ownership of another.
In its civil sense, the word describes someone who is not a slave, whether freeborn or set free from slavery, as opposed to those in bondage 123. This is the common contrast drawn in the New Testament between the free person and the slave 1.
More broadly, it describes being free or released from an obligation, restraint, or liability of any kind — for example, free from the law, from sin, from a duty, or from some other binding condition, sometimes expressed with "from" a thing or "in regard to" a thing 12. Classical Greek usage extends this same idea to being free from things like fear, guilt, or blame, and to property free of encumbrance, or to actions being legally open to someone, though these particular uses are not found in the Bible 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
ἐλεύθερος, -α, -ον
[in LXX chiefly for חׇפְשִׁי;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1658 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidel-yoo'-ther-os
unrestrained (to go at pleasure), i.e. (as a citizen) not a slave (whether freeborn or manumitted), or (genitive case) exempt (from obligation or liability)
Fromprobably from the alternate of G2064;
King Jamesfree (man, woman), at liberty.
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
(ος, ον Refs 5th c.BC+: later ἐλαύθερος Refs; Elean ἐλεύθαρος Refs:— free, Refs 8th c.BC+ has the word only in Refs 8th c.BC+ the day of freedom, i.e.freedom, Refs 8th c.BC+; and κρητὴρ ἐλεύθερος the cup drunk to freedom,Refs 4th c.BC+; of persons, Refs 7th c.BC+: comparative, Refs 5th c.BC+: superlative, Refs; τὸ ἐ. freedom, Hdt Refs, etc.; τοὐλεύθερον Refs 5th c.BC+: c.genitive, free or freed from a thing, φόνου, πημάτων, φόβου, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔξω αἰτίας ἐ. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐ. ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων independent, Refs 5th c.BC+
b ἐλευθέρα, ἡ, married woman, Refs 2nd c.AD+; wife, Refs 5th c.AD+; but, freedwoman, Refs
c free, of cities, in Roman Law, Refs 4th c.AD+
2 of things, free, open to all, ἀγορά Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐ. φυλακή,= Latin libera custodia, Refs 1st c.BC+; unencumbered, of property, Refs 4th c.BC+
3 ἐλεύθερον εἶναί τινι, with infinitive, legally permissible, open to.., Refs 5th c.BC+
II ={ἐλευθέριος}, fit for a freeman, free, frank, φρήν Refs 5th c.BC+; βάσανοι ἐ. tortures such as might be used to a freeman, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ ἐ. Refs 5th c.BC+: frequently in adverb -ρως, εἰπεῖν Refs 5th c.BC+; χαίρειν.. καὶ γελᾶν ἐ. Refs 5th c.BC+; παιδευθεὶς ἐ. Refs 4th c.BC+; ἐλεύθεροι ἐλευθέρως free and like free men, Refs 5th c.BC+. (Cf. Latin līber, from Ital. *loufero-(cf. Osc. Refs 5th c.BC+ (e)leudh-ero-: the connexion with Slavonic liud, OHG. liut, etc. 'people' is doubtful.)
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 | eleutheros8×ἐλεύθερος | eleutheras3×ἐλευθέρα | eleutherem | eleutherois6×ἐλεύθεροι | eleutherais | eleuthereim |
| object accusative | eleutheron | eleutheran | eleutheroin1×ἐλευθέρους | eleutherain | ||
| direct address vocative | eleutheror | eleutherar | eleutheroir | eleutherair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | eleutherou | eleutherau4×ἐλευθέρας | eleuthereu | eleutheroiu1×ἐλευθέρων | eleutheraiu | eleuthereiu |
| to, for dative | eleuthero | eleuthera | eleuthere | eleutheroi | eleutherai | eleutherei |
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
eleuther 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
23 occurrences, every one of them listed
eleutheros“free”subjectnominative singular8×
1 Corinthians 7:21“free”… si meleiatōr; alla ei kai dunosō eleutheros genera, mallon chresar.… it concern you— but if you can gain your …
1 Corinthians 7:22… doulos apeleutheros kuriou atō; homoiōs tos eleutheros kalirantos doulos atō Christou.… freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is …
1 Corinthians 9:1Ouk amō eleutheros? ouk amō apostolos? ouchi Iēsun ton …Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have …
1 Corinthians 9:19Eleutheros gar arōntos ek pantoiu pantoi miauton …Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make …
Galatians 3:28… oude Hellēnos, ouk eniatō doulos oude eleutheros, ouk eniatō arsenem kai thēluem; pantois …… neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are …
Ephesians 6:8… komizeti para kuriou, eite doulos eite eleutheros.… does, whether he is slave or free.
Colossians 3:11… peritomas kai akrobustias, barbaros, Skuthos, doulos, eleutheros, alla teim panteim kai en pantei …… or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is …
Revelation 6:15… tois ischurois kai pantos doulos kai eleutheros kruptala heautoin eis teim spēlaieim kai …… the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and …
eleutheras“free”subjectnominative singular3×
Romans 7:3… hetero; ean de apothnēskateia tos andros, eleutheras atō apo tou nomou, teu mē …… if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not …
1 Corinthians 7:39… autau; ean de koimiteia tos andros, eleutheras atō ho thelatō gamira, monem en …… if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as …
Galatians 4:26tas de anō Ierousalēm eleutheras atō, hotinas atō mētēras nu;But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
eleutherau“free”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
Galatians 4:22… tau paidiskau kai henon ek tau eleutherau;… woman and the other by the free woman.
Galatians 4:23… sarkan gennotē, tos de ek tau eleutherau dia epangeliau.… flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.
Galatians 4:30… tau paidiskau meta tou huiou tau eleutherau.… share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”
Galatians 4:31… ouk anō paidiskau tekneim alla tau eleutherau.… the slave woman, but of the free woman.
eleutherois“free”subjectnominative plural6×
Matthew 17:26“free”… fēate auto tos Iēsus; Ara ge eleutherois alō tois huiois.… Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.
John 8:33… douleuanē pōpote; pōs sis legasō hoti Eleutherois genevi?… You say we will be set free?”
John 8:36… oun tos huios vin eleutherateia, ontōs eleutherois evi.… sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Romans 6:20Hote gar doulois ave tau hamartau, eleutherois ave ta dikaiosuna.… were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness.
1 Corinthians 12:13… Ioudaiois eite Hellēnois, eite doulois eite eleutherois, kai pantois henem pneumem potizina.… whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one …
1 Peter 2:16“free”hōs eleutherois, kai mē hōs epikalummem echarōntois tau …… but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of …
eleutheroin“free”objectaccusative plural1×
Revelation 13:16… plousioin kai toin ptōchoin, kai toin eleutheroin kai toin douloin, hina dōaleia autoi …… small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark …
eleutheroiu“free”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Revelation 19:18… kathorōntoiu epi autoiu, kai sarkain pantoiu eleutheroiu tē kai douloiu kai mikroiu kai …… and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”