noun · feminine
epistolas
Strong’sG1992
a letter, dispatch, epistle
stem epistol-24 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books8 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
A letter or written message sent to someone; this is the ordinary New Testament meaning, covering both a message and its written form, an "epistle" 42. It is used of actual letters, such as those written by Paul, and appears in the plural to refer to a set of letters 1. A specific phrase built from it denotes letters of recommendation 1.
Before taking on this specific sense of a written letter, the word could also denote a message, order, or commission, whether spoken or written, carried by a messenger; in this older use it could mean a command given to someone, and in the plural it could still refer to a single letter, much like the English word letters used for one communication 3. This broader sense of simply "a message" is also noted as the word's most basic meaning 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
ἐπι-στολή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< ἐπιατέλλω), [in LXX for אִגֶּרֶת, etc.; freq. in Mac;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1992 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidep-is-tol-ay'
a written message
Fromfrom G1989;
King James"epistle," letter.
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
(ἐπιστέλλω) anything sent by a messenger, message, order, commission, whether verbal or in writing, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς by command, Refs 5th c.BC+: used by Trag. always in plural, Refs 5th c.BC+; Πενθέως ἐπιστολαῖς by his commands, Refs 5th c.BC+; τέκνων ἐπιστολὰς ἔγραψεν commands about her children, Refs
2. letter, ἐ. διαπέμπειν, ἀποδοῦναι, Refs 5th c.BC+; πέμπειν τινί Refs 5th c.BC+: in plural of one letter, like{γράμματα}, Latin litterae, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν.. τοῦ Ὄθωνος, Latin ab epistulis Othoni, his secretary, Refs 1st c.AD+; νομογραφικὴ ἐ. Refs 1st 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 | epistolas4×ἐπιστολὴ | epistolais1×ἐπιστολαὶ |
| object accusative | epistolan6×ἐπιστολὴν | epistolain2×ἐπιστολὰς |
| direct address vocative | epistolar | epistolair |
| of, belonging to genitive | epistolau3×ἐπιστολῆς | epistolaiu4×ἐπιστολῶν |
| to, for dative | epistola3×ἐπιστολῇ | epistolai1×ἐπιστολαῖς |
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
epistola 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.
24 occurrences, every one of them listed
epistolas“letter”subjectnominative singular4×
2 Corinthians 3:2tas epistolas nu vis avō, engraforēntas en tai …You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and …
2 Corinthians 3:3fanerorōntois hoti avō epistolas Christou diakonirantas hupo nu, engraforēntas ouk …… is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our …
2 Corinthians 7:8… ei kai metamelome blepamō hoti tas epistolas ekeinas ei kai pros hōran lupata …… it— for I see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for …
Colossians 4:16kai hotan anagnōskiteia para vi tas epistolas, poiavar hina kai en ta Laodikevoiu …After this letter has been read among you, make …
epistolan“letter”objectaccusative singular6×
Acts 15:30… kai sunagarantois tem plēthem epidōala tan epistolan;… assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.
Acts 23:25grafarantos epistolan echarōntan ton tupon houton;And he wrote the following letter:
Acts 23:33… eis tan Kaisareian kai anadōarantois tan epistolan to hēgemono parastēala kai ton Paulon …… arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul …
Romans 16:22… vin mis Tertios tos grafarantos tan epistolan en kurio.I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:27enorkizamō vin ton kurion anagnōskira tan epistolan pantoi toi adelfoi.… before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
2 Peter 3:1Houtan ēdē, agapētoir, deuteran vi grafamō epistolan, en hai diegeiramō vu en hupomnēsia …Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are …
epistolau“letter”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
2 Thessalonians 2:2… pneumeu mēte dia logou mēte dia epistolau hōs dia nu, hōs hoti enstēatē …… by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging …
2 Thessalonians 2:15… didaskiva eite dia logou eite dia epistolau nu.… you, whether by speech or by letter.
2 Thessalonians 3:14… hupakouatō to logo nu dia tau epistolau, houton sēmeiovōr, mē sunanamigorō auto, hina …… instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so …
epistola“letter”to, fordative singular3×
1 Corinthians 5:9Grafama vi en ta epistola mē sunanamigorō pornoi,I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral …
2 Corinthians 7:8… ei kai lupama vin en ta epistola, ouk metamelomō; ei kai metamelome blepamō …… I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although …
2 Thessalonians 3:17… Paulou, hem atō sēmem en panta epistola; houtōs grafamō.… This is my mark in every letter; it is the way I write.
epistolais“letters”subjectnominative plural1×
2 Corinthians 10:10hoti Tais epistolais men, fēatō, baruais kai ischurais, tas …For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his …
epistolain“letters”objectaccusative plural2×
Acts 9:2aiteta para autou epistolain eis Damaskan pros tain sunagōgain, hopōs …and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so …
Acts 22:5… pantem tem presbuteriem; para hoiu kai epistolain decherantos pros toin adelfoin eis Damaskan …… testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in …
epistolaiu“letters”of, belonging togenitive plural4×
1 Corinthians 16:3… de paragenemeia, hoin ean dokimazaveia dia epistolaiu, houtoin pempami apoferara tan charitan vu …… on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry …
2 Corinthians 3:1… ē mē chrēzanō hōs tinois sustatikaiu epistolaiu pros vin ē ek vu?… do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from …
2 Corinthians 10:9… hōs an ekfobarō vin dia taiu epistolaiu;… trying to frighten you by my letters.
2 Corinthians 10:11… hoti hoiois anō to logo dia epistolaiu apeiarōntois, toioutois kai pareiarōntois te erge.… that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in …
epistolai“letters”to, fordative plural1×
2 Peter 3:16hōs kai en pantai tai epistolai lalarōntos en autai peri houteiu, en …… writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters …