noun · masculine
hupokritos
Strong’sG5273
a hypocrite, dissembler
stem hupokrit-17 times in the New Testamentin 3 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
A pretender, dissembler, hypocrite — someone who puts on a false front, acting the part of what they are not 124. This is the meaning the word carries throughout the Old Testament (Greek) and New Testament 13.
In earlier Greek usage the word was more literal: it could mean one who answers or interprets, an expounder of a saying 13, or a stage actor, one who plays a part on the stage 123; it was also used of an orator's manner of delivery or of someone who recites verse 3. Strong's traces the figurative "hypocrite" sense as growing out of this idea of an actor performing under an assumed character 2. These literal, non-figurative uses belong to classical Greek writing rather than to the biblical text.
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
ὑπο-κριτής, -οῦ, ὁ
(< ὑποκρίνομαι, q.v.) [in LXX Jb 34:30 36:13 (חָנֵף) *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5273 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhoop-ok-ree-tace'
an actor under an assumed character (stage-player), i.e. (figuratively) a dissembler ("hypocrite"
Fromfrom G5271;
King Jameshypocrite.
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
one who answers:
I interpreter or expounder, τῆς δι᾽ αἰνιγμῶν φήμης Refs 5th c.BC+
II in Attic dialect, one who plays a part on the stage, actor, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 of an orator, ποικίλος ὑ. καὶ περιττός (of Dem.) Refs 5th c.BC+; one who delivers, recites, declaimer, ἐπῶν Refs see at {ῥαψῳδοί}; rhapsodist, Refs 1st c.BC+; this sense or sense Refs is possible in Refs 3rd c.BC+
II.3 metaphorically, pretender, dissembler, hypocrite, LXX+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 | hupokritos | hupokritois3×ὑποκριταὶ |
| object accusative | hupokriton | hupokritoin |
| direct address vocative | hupokritor2×ὑποκριτά | hupokritoir10×ὑποκριταί |
| of, belonging to genitive | hupokritou | hupokritoiu2×ὑποκριτῶν |
| to, for dative | hupokrito | hupokritoi |
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
hupokrito 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.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
hupokritor“hypocrite”direct addressvocative singular2×
Matthew 7:5hupokritor, ekbalasar prōtem ek tou ofthalmou su …You hypocrite! First take the beam out of …
Luke 6:42… to ofthalmo su dokan ouk bleparōntos? hupokritor, ekbalasar prōtem tan dokan ek tou …… beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of …
hupokritois“hypocrites”subjectnominative plural3×
Matthew 6:2… mē salpizaseia emprosthen su, hōsper tois hupokritois poialō en tai sunagōgai kai en …… a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on …
Matthew 6:5… hotan proseuchoveiō, ouk evi hōs tois hupokritois; hoti filalō en tai sunagōgai kai …… pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing …
Matthew 6:16… de nēsteuaveiō, mē genovōr hōs tois hupokritois skuthrōpois, afanizalō gar teim prosōpeim autoiu …… do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to …
hupokritoir“hypocrites”direct addressvocative plural10×
Matthew 15:7hupokritoir, kalōs profēteuata peri vu Ēsaios legarōntos;You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
Matthew 22:18… ponērian autoiu legata; Tinem min peirazavō, hupokritoir?… their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?
Matthew 23:13Ouai de vi, grammatevoir kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti kleiavō tan basileian toiu ouranoiu …… to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven …
Matthew 23:15Ouai vi, grammatevoir kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti periagavō tan thalassan kai tan …… to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to …
Matthew 23:23Ouai vi, grammatevoir kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti apodekatavō tem hēduosmem kai tem …… to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill …
Matthew 23:25Ouai vi, grammatevoir kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti katharizavō tem exōthen teu potērieu …… to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the …
Matthew 23:27Ouai vi, grammatevoir kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti paromoiazavō tafoi koniorēntoi, hotinois exōthen …… to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which …
Matthew 23:29Ouai vi, grammatevoir kai Farisaioir hupokritoir, hoti oikodomavō toin tafoin toiu profētoiu …… to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets …
Luke 12:56hupokritoir, tem prosōpem tau gēau kai tou …You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the …
Luke 13:15… de auto tos kurios kai legata; Hupokritoir, hekastos vu te sabbate ouk luatō …“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each …
hupokritoiu“hypocrites”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Matthew 24:51… kai tem merem autou meta toiu hupokritoiu tithati; ekei eti tos klauthmos kai …… assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and …
Mark 7:6… Kalōs profēteuata Ēsaios peri vu toiu hupokritoiu, hōs grafotē hoti Houtos tos laos …… them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people …