noun · masculine
hēgemonos
Strong’sG2232
a governor
stem hēgemon-20 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books7 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 governor — specifically a Roman provincial official (proconsul, legate, or procurator) 13, used in the New Testament for governors in general 13 and especially for the Roman procurator of Judea 1. Strong's and Dodson give this same basic sense as "governor," "chief person (or figuratively, place) of a province," or simply "a governor" 24.
More broadly, the word can also denote a leader, guide, or commander — one who leads the way, goes first, or takes charge, such as a military commander or chief 13. This broader range of meaning (guide, front-runner, commander, chief) is attested widely in Greek literature generally 3, though it is the governor-sense above that the New Testament actually uses.
In one Old Testament quotation within the New Testament, the word is used to render a Hebrew term for "chiefs," apparently because the underlying Hebrew word for "thousands" was misread as the word for "chiefs" 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
ἡγεμών, -όνος, ὁ
(ἡγέομαι), [in LXX for אַלּוּף, שַׂר, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2232 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhayg-em-ohn'
a leader, i.e. chief person (or figuratively, place) of a province
Fromfrom G2233;
King Jamesgovernor, prince, ruler.
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
Doric dialect ἁγ-, Aeolic dialect ἀγίμων Refs, όνος, ; also ἡ, Refs 5th c.BC+:— one who leads; and so,
I in Refs 8th c.BC+, guide, Refs 5th c.BC+; of a charioteer, Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2 one who does a thing first, shows the way to others, τοῖς νεωτέροις ἡ. ἠθῶν χρηστῶν γίγνεσθαι Refs 5th c.BC+: absolutely, of choir-leaders, Mnemos.Refs 2nd c.BC+
II in Refs 8th c.BC+, leader, commander, chief, opposed to λαοί, πληθύς, Refs 5th c.BC+; στρατηγὸς καὶ ἡ. τῶν 'Ελλήνων πρὸς τὸν βάρβαρονRefs; ἔχοντες ἡγεμόνας τῶν πάνυ [στρατηγῶν] Refs 5th c.BC+; ={λοχαγός}, Refs 2nd c.BC+; chief, sovereign, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the queen-bee and queen-wasp, regarded by Refs 5th c.BC+; ὁ ἡ. τῶν προβάτων, of the bell-wether, Refs 4th c.BC+; τῶν βοῶνRefs 5th c.BC+
II.b ἡ. χοροῦ leader of a chorus, Refs 2nd c.AD+; president of a gymnasium, Refs
II.c a Roman Emperor, Refs 1st c.BC+; as translation of princeps, Refs; ἡ. νεότητος, = Latin princeps juventutis, Refs; a provincial governor, NT+1st c.BC+: frequently of the praefectus Aegypti, Refs 1st c.AD+, etc.; ἡ. ἀμφοτέρων, i.e. of Upper and Lower Egypt, Refs 1st c.AD+; ἡ. Κύπρου Refs 3rd c.AD+
II.2 as adjective, ἀνήρ Refs 5th c.BC+; [ναῦς], of the flagship, Refs 5th c.BC+
III in Prosody, ={πυρρίχιος}, Refs 1st c.BC+
IV ἡγεμόνες, Doric dialect ἁγ-, αἱ, in Architecture, coping-tiles of the roof, Refs
V a kind of fish, ={ἡγητήρ} 2, Refs 1st 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 | hēgemonos4×ἡγεμὼν | hēgemonois |
| object accusative | hēgemonon2×ἡγεμόνα | hēgemonoin2×ἡγεμόνας |
| direct address vocative | hēgemonor | hēgemonoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | hēgemonou5×ἡγεμόνος | hēgemonoiu1×ἡγεμόνων |
| to, for dative | hēgemono4×ἡγεμόνι | hēgemonoi2×ἡγεμόσιν |
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
hēgemono 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.
20 occurrences, every one of them listed
hēgemonos“governor”subjectnominative singular4×
Matthew 27:11“governor”… tou hēgemonou; kai eperōtata auton tos hēgemonos legarōntos; Sis asō tos basilevos toiu …… stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You …
Matthew 27:15“governor”Kata de heortan eiōthatelē tos hēgemonos apoluarō henon to ochlo desmion hon …Now it was the governor’s custom at the feast to release to the crowd a prisoner of their …
Matthew 27:21apokrinirantos de tos hēgemonos legata autoi; Tinon thelavō apo toiu …… to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they replied.
Acts 26:30Anastēata tē tos basilevos kai tos hēgemonos tas tē Bernikas kai tois sunkathorōntois …Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those …
hēgemonon“governor”objectaccusative singular2×
Matthew 27:14“governor”… oude henem rēmem, hōste thaumazarō ton hēgemonon liōs.… no answer, not even to a single charge, much to the governor’s amazement.
Acts 23:24… ton Paulon diasōzaleia pros Fēlikon ton hēgemonon,… Paul to take him safely to Governor Felix.”
hēgemonou“governor”of, belonging togenitive singular5×
Matthew 27:11Tos de Iēsus stēita emprosthen tou hēgemonou; kai eperōtata auton tos hēgemonos legarōntos; …Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are You the …
Matthew 27:27“governor”Tote tois stratiōtois tou hēgemonou paralabarantois ton Iēsun eis tem praitōriem …Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company …
Matthew 28:14“governor’s”kai ean akouiteia houtem epi tou hēgemonou, nis peithani auton kai vin amerimnoin …If this report reaches the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
Luke 20:20… ta archa kai ta exousia tou hēgemonou.… the rule and authority of the governor.
Acts 24:10… tē tos Paulos neuarantou auto tou hēgemonou legarō; Ek polleiu eteiu arōnton sin …When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he …
hēgemono“governor”to, fordative singular4×
Matthew 27:2… auton apagala kai paradōala Pilato to hēgemono.… handed Him over to Pilate the governor.
Acts 23:26Klaudios Lusios to kratisto hēgemono Fēliko chairarō.Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.
Acts 23:33… Kaisareian kai anadōarantois tan epistolan to hēgemono parastēala kai ton Paulon auto.… they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him.
Acts 24:1… rētōrou Tertullou tinou, hotinois emfanizala to hēgemono kata tou Paulou.… named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.
hēgemonoin“governors”objectaccusative plural2×
Matthew 10:18kai epi hēgemonoin de kai basilevoin agivi heneken mu …… account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them …
Luke 21:12… kai fulakain, apagorōntoin epi basilevoin kai hēgemonoin heneken teu onomeu mu;… will bring you before kings and governors.
hēgemonoiu“governors”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Mark 13:9… kai eis sunagōgain derivi kai epi hēgemonoiu kai basilevoiu stēivi heneken mu eis …… My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
hēgemonoi“rulers”to, fordative plural2×
Matthew 2:6… Ioudou, oudamōs elachistas asō en toi hēgemonoi Ioudou; ek su gar exercheti hēgorōntos, …… by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you …
1 Peter 2:14eite hēgemonoi hōs dia autou pemporōntoi eis ekdikēsian …or to governors as those sent by him to …