noun · feminine
hupakoas
Strong’sG5218
obedience
stem hupako-14 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books4 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
Obedience — compliance with, or submission to, the authority, commands, or teaching of another 1234. Strong's notes that the underlying idea is an attentive hearkening that results in compliance or submission 2. Abbott-Smith describes it as the opposite of disregard or inattention, used generally of obedience owed to a person, of obedience to God's commands, and of the obedience shown by Christ 1.
In the Greek Old Testament the word can also mean an answer to prayer 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
† ὑπακοή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< ὑπακούω), [in LXX: II Ki 22:36 (עֲנָוָה); in Aq.: ib. 23:23 *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5218 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhoop-ak-o-ay'
attentive hearkening, i.e. (by implication) compliance or submission
Fromfrom G5219;
King Jamesobedience, (make) obedient, obey(-ing).
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
(ὑπακούω) obedience, NT+6th c.AD+; answer to prayer, LXX
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 | hupakoas2×ὑπακοὴ | hupakoais |
| object accusative | hupakoan7×ὑπακοὴν | hupakoain |
| direct address vocative | hupakoar | hupakoair |
| of, belonging to genitive | hupakoau3×ὑπακοῆς | hupakoaiu |
| to, for dative | hupakoa2×ὑπακοῇ | hupakoai |
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
hupakoa 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.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
hupakoas“obedience”subjectnominative singular2×
Romans 16:19tas gar vu hupakoas eis pantoin afikneta; epi vi oun …Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But …
2 Corinthians 10:6… pantan parakoan, hotan plēriteia vu tas hupakoas.… of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.
hupakoan“obedience”objectaccusative singular7×
Romans 1:5… hou labana charitan kai apostolan eis hupakoan pistiau en pantei tei ethnei huper …… those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
Romans 6:16“obey”… hoti ho parastēavō heautoin douloin eis hupakoan, doulois avō ho hupakouavō, ētoi hamartau …… not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to …
Romans 15:18… ouk katergazeta Christos dia mu eis hupakoan ethneiu, logo kai erge,… me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,
2 Corinthians 7:15“obedience”… vin atō anamimnēskorōntou tan pantoiu vu hupakoan, hōs meta fobou kai tromou decheva …… affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling.
2 Corinthians 10:5“obey”… kai aichmalōtizarōntois pantem noēmem eis tan hupakoan tou Christou,… of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Hebrews 5:8… huios, mathata apo heiu paschata tan hupakoan,… He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.
1 Peter 1:2… theou patrou, en hagiasmo pneumeu, eis hupakoan kai rantismon haimeu Iēsu Christou; charitas …… and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by …
hupakoau“obedience”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
Romans 5:19… tois pollois, houtōs kai dia tau hupakoau tou henou dikaiois katastēili tois pollois.… made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many …
Romans 6:16… hupakouavō, ētoi hamartau eis thanaton ē hupakoau eis dikaiosunan?… sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
1 Peter 1:14hōs tekneim hupakoau, mē suschēmatizorōntois tai proterem en ta …As obedient children, do not conform to the …
hupakoa“obedience”to, fordative singular2×
Philemon 1:21peitharēntos ta hupakoa su grafama si, horarēntos hoti kai …Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that …
1 Peter 1:22Tain psuchain vu hagnizarēntois en ta hupakoa tau alētheiau eis filadelfian anupokritan ek …… you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you …