noun · masculine
episkopos
Strong’sG1985
overseer, supervisor, ruler
stem episkop-5 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books3 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.
ἐπί-σκοπος, -ου, ὁ
(< σκοπός, a watcher), [in LXX for פָּקַד, its parts and derivatives, Nu 4:16 31:14, Jg 9:28, IV Ki 11:15, 18, II Ch 34:12, 17, Ne 11:9, 14, 22; אֵל, Jb 20:29; נוֹגַשׂ:, Is 60:17; Wi 1:6, I Mac 1:51 *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1985 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidep-is'-kop-os
a superintendent, i.e. Christian officer in genitive case charge of a (or the) church (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G1909 and G4649 (in the sense of G1983);
King Jamesbishop, overseer.
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
A (σκοπός 1) one who watches over, overseer, guardian, ἦ γὰρ ὄλωλας ἐπίσκοπος, ὅς τέ μιν αὐτὴν ῥύσκευ (i.e. τὴν πόλιν), of Hector, Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐπίσκοποι ἁρμονιάων watchers over compacts, of the gods, Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐ. ὀϊστῶν, of an archer, variant in Refs 3rd c.BC+; in education, tutor, Refs 5th c.BC+; especially of tutelary gods (compare ἐπισκοπέὠ, Παλλὰς ἐ. Refs 6th c.BC+; Χάριτες Μινυᾶν ἐ. Refs 5th c.BC+; πατρῴων δωμάτων ἐ. Refs; τὸ δεινὸν.. φρενῶν ἐπίσκοπον guardian of the mind, Refs; νυχίων φθεγμάτων ἐ., of Bacchus, Refs 5th c.BC+; [Χριστὸς] ἐ. τῶν ψυχῶν NT+5th c.BC+
A.2. scout, watch, c.dative, ἐ. Τρώεσσι, νήεσσιν ἡμετέρῃσιν, one set to watch them, Refs 8th c.BC+
A.3. supervisor, inspector, sent by Athens to subject states, Refs 5th c.BC+; of municipal officials at Rhodes, Refs 3rd c.BC+
A.4. ecclesiastical superintendent, ἐπίσκοποι καὶ διάκονοι NT
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 | episkopos | episkopois |
| object accusative | episkopon3×ἐπίσκοπον | episkopoin1×ἐπισκόπους |
| direct address vocative | episkopor | episkopoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | episkopou | episkopoiu |
| to, for dative | episkopo | episkopoi1×ἐπισκόποις |
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
episkopo 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.
5 occurrences, every one of them listed
episkopon“overseer”objectaccusative singular3×
1 Timothy 3:2datō oun ton episkopon anepilēmpton arō, henau gunaikau andron, nēfalion, …An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the …
Titus 1:7datō gar ton episkopon anenklēton arō hōs theou oikonomon, mē …As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach — not self-willed …
1 Peter 2:25… epistrefiva nun epi ton poimenon kai episkopon taiu psuchaiu vu.… have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
episkopoin“overseers”objectaccusative plural1×
Acts 20:28… vin tem pneumem tem hagiem titheta episkopoin, poimanarō tan ekklēsan tou theou, han …… the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of …
episkopoi“overseers”to, fordative plural1×
Philippians 1:1… Iēso toi arōntoi en Filippoi sun episkopoi kai diakonoi;… Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: