noun · masculine
hierevos
Strong’sG2409
a priest
stem hierev-31 times in the New Testamentin 7 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
ἱερεύς means a priest, someone who performs sacrifices and other religious duties 1234.
In the New Testament the word is used of a priest of a pagan god, of the priests of Judaism, of Christ, and of Christians 1. Strong's likewise notes it can be used literally or figuratively of a priest, and traces it from a related word meaning sacred 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
ἱερεύς, -έως, ὁ
(< ἱερός), [in LXX for כָּהֵן;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2409 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhee-er-yooce'
a priest (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G2413;
King James(high) priest.
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
Ionic dialect -ῆος, Refs 2nd c.BC+:—Ionic dialect nominative ἱρεύς Refs 8th c.BC+: Doric dialect ἱᾰρεύς Refs; accusative plural τὸς ἱαρές Refs:— also ἱέρεως (Attic dialect and proparoxytone accusative to Refs 4th c.BC+; genitive ἱέρεω Refs 3rd c.BC+; dative ἵρεῳ Refs 5th c.BC+; accusative ἱέρεω Refs 2nd c.BC+: ἱερής Refs 4th c.BC+ ἱαρής Refs 4th c.BC+: (ἱερός):—priest, sacrificer, diviner, Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐφ᾽ ἱερέως, as a date, Refs 4th c.BC+, etc. (frequently unaspirated, ἐπ᾽ ἰερέως Refs; of the Jewish High Priest, LXX+1st c.BC+; at Rome, = pontifex, Refs; ἱ. ὁ μέγιστος, = pont. maximus, Refs 1st c.BC+
2 metaphorically, ἱ. τις ἄτας a minister of woe, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἱ. Διονύσου, of a winebibber, 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 nominative | hierevos11×ἱερεὺς | hierevois6×ἱερεῖς |
| object accusative | hierevon2×ἱερέα | hierevoin5×ἱερεῖς |
| direct address vocative | hierevor | hierevoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | hierevou | hierevoiu2×ἱερέων |
| to, for dative | hierevo3×ἱερεῖ | hierevoi2×ἱερεῦσιν |
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
hierevo 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.
31 occurrences, every one of them listed
hierevos“priest”subjectnominative singular11×
Luke 1:5… tai hēmerai Hērōdou basilevou tau Ioudaiau hierevos tinos onome Zacharios ek efēmeriau Abia, …… king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the …
Luke 10:31kata sunkurian de hierevos tinos katabainate en ta hoda ekeina, …Now by chance a priest was going down the same road …
Acts 14:13tos tē hierevos tou Zevou tou arōntou pro tau …The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just …
Hebrews 5:6kathōs kai en hetero legatō; Sis hierevos eis ton aiōnon kata tan taxian …… passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 7:1Houtos gar tos Melchisedek, basilevos Salēm, hierevos tou theou tou hupsistou, tos sunantarantos …… Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met …
Hebrews 7:3… de to huio tou theou, menatō hierevos eis tem diēnekem.… Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.
Hebrews 7:15… ei kata tan homoiotan Melchisedek anastēotō hierevos heteros,… is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,
Hebrews 7:17marturotō gar hoti Sis hierevos eis ton aiōnon kata tan taxian …… it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 7:21… Omnuata kurios, kai ouk metameliti, Sis hierevos eis ton aiōnon,… change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’”
Hebrews 8:4… ate epi gēau, oude an ate hierevos, arōntoiu toiu prosferarōntoiu kata nomon teim …… earth, He would not be a priest, since there are already priests who …
Hebrews 10:11Kai pantos men hierevos stēatē kata hēmeran leitourgarōntos kai tain …Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer …
hierevon“priest”objectaccusative singular2×
Hebrews 7:11… kata tan taxian Melchisedek heteron anastēorō hierevon kai ouk kata tan taxian Aarōn …… was there still need for another priest to appear — one in the order …
Hebrews 10:21kai hierevon megon epi ton oikon tou theou,and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
hierevo“priest”to, fordative singular3×
Matthew 8:4… legaseia, alla hupagasōr siauton deikasar to hierevo, kai prosferasar tem dōrem hem prostassata …… But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by …
Mark 1:44… legaseia, alla hupagasōr siauton deikasar to hierevo kai prosferasar peri tou katharismou su …… But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed …
Luke 5:14… legara, alla apercharantos deikasar siauton to hierevo, kai prosferasar peri tou katharismou su …… But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed …
hierevois“priests”subjectnominative plural6×
Matthew 12:5… to nomo hoti tei sabbatei tois hierevois en te hiere tem sabbatem bebēlalō …… Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath …
Acts 4:1… pros ton laon epistēala autoi tois hierevois kai tos stratēgos teu hiereu kai …… were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple …
Hebrews 7:20… tois men gar chōris horkōmosiau alō hierevois genarēntois,… without an oath. For others became priests without an oath,
Hebrews 7:23Kai tois men polloterois alō genarēntois hierevois dia tem thanato kōluorō paramenarō;Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing …
Hebrews 9:6… prōtan skēnan dia pantou eiseialō tois hierevois tain latreiain epitelarōntois,… been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room …
Revelation 20:6… thanatos ouk echatō exousian, alla eli hierevois tou theou kai tou christou, kai …… over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and …
hierevoin“priests”objectaccusative plural5×
Mark 2:26… ouk exestinatō esthiara ei mē toin hierevoin, kai dōata kai toi sun auto …… which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his …
Luke 6:4… exestinatō esthiara ei mē monoin toin hierevoin?… what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”
John 1:19… hote apostelala tois Ioudaiois ek Hierosolumeiu hierevoin kai Leuitoin hina erōtaleia auton; Sis …… when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who …
Revelation 1:6kai poiata nin basileian, hierevoin to theo kai patro autou auto …… made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to …
Revelation 5:10… autoin to theo nu basileian kai hierevoin, kai basilalō epi tau gēau.… them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they …
hierevoiu“priests”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Acts 6:7… Ierousalēm sfodra, pollos tē ochlos toiu hierevoiu hupakouale ta pistia.… rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Hebrews 7:14… kurios nu, eis han fulan peri hierevoiu oudenem Mōusos lalata.… to which Moses said nothing about priests.
hierevoi“priests”to, fordative plural2×
Matthew 12:4… toi meta autou, ei mē toi hierevoi monoi?… to eat, but only for the priests.
Luke 17:14… legata autoi; Poreuirantois epideikavar heautoin toi hierevoi. kai geneta en te hupagarō autoin …… said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were on their …