noun · masculine
misthos
Strong’sG3408
wages, reward
stem misth-29 times in the New Testamentin 13 of 27 books3 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
Wages or pay for service rendered — the sum owed to someone for work done, such as a laborer's hire 124.
More broadly, reward or recompense, whether good or bad, and especially the reward given by God for a person's conduct 1234.
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
μισθός, -οῦ, ὁ,
[in LXX chiefly for שָׂכָר;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3408 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmis-thos'
pay for service (literally or figuratively), good or bad
Fromapparently a primary word;
King Jameshire, reward, wages.
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
hire, μισθῷ ἔπι ῥητῷ for fixed wages, Refs 8th c.BC+; μισθοῖο τέλος the end of our hired service,Refs 8th c.BC+ for hire, Refs 5th c.BC+; μισθὸν δοῦναι, διδόναι, πορίζειν, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὡς ἐς ἑξήκοντα ναῦς μηνὸς μισθόν as a month's pay, Refs 6th c.BC+; μ. πράττεσθαι exact it, Refs 5th c.BC+; hire, μ. ὄνων, πλοίου, Refs
b especially at Athens, pay, allowance for public service, μ. δικαστικός Refs 5th c.BC+; ὁ τῆς πρυτανείας μ. pay received during the prytany, Refs 4th c.BC+
2 physician's fee, μ. ἄρνυσθαι Refs 4th c.BC+
II generally, recompense, reward, NT+8th c.BC+
II.2 in bad sense, requital, Refs 5th c.BC+. (Cf. Avest. mīˇžda-, Gothic mizdō, OSlavonic m[icaron]zda 'pay', ORefs 5th c.BC+ meord, méd 'meed'.)
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 | misthos7×μισθὸς | misthois |
| object accusative | misthon18×μισθὸν | misthoin |
| direct address vocative | misthor | misthoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | misthou4×μισθοῦ | misthoiu |
| to, for dative | mistho | misthoi |
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
mistho 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
29 occurrences, every one of them listed
misthos“reward”subjectnominative singular7×
Matthew 5:12chairavōr kai agalliovōr, hoti tos misthos vu pollos en toi ouranoi; houtōs …… be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same …
Luke 6:23… hēmera kai skirtavar, idou gar tos misthos vu pollos en to ourano; kata …… for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated …
Luke 6:35… daneizavōr mēdenem apelpizarōntois; kai eti tos misthos vu pollos, kai evi huiois Hupsistou, …… expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will …
Romans 4:4to de ergazorōnto tos misthos ouk logizotō kata charitan alla kata …Now the wages of the worker are not credited …
1 Corinthians 9:18tinos oun mu atō tos misthos? hina euangelizorōntos adapanem tithameia tem euangeliem, …What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I …
James 5:4idou tos misthos toiu ergatoiu toiu amarantoiu tain chōrain …Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who …
Revelation 22:12Idou erchomō tachuem, kai tos misthos mu meta mu, apodōara hekasto hōs …… I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to …
misthon“reward”objectaccusative singular18×
Matthew 5:46… gar agapaveia toin agaparōntoin vin, tinon misthon echavō? ouchi kai tois telōnois tem …… love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even …
Matthew 6:1… theasira autoi; ei de mē ge, misthon ouk echavō para to patro vu …… you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matthew 6:2… anthrōpoiu; amēn legamō vi, apechalō ton misthon autoiu.… you, they already have their full reward.
Matthew 6:5… anthrōpoi; amēn legamō vi, apechalō ton misthon autoiu.… you, they already have their full reward.
Matthew 6:16… nēsteuarōntois; amēn legamō vi, apechalō ton misthon autoiu.… you, they already have their full reward.
Matthew 10:41tos dechorōntos profēton eis onomem profētou misthon profētou labeti, kai tos dechorōntos dikaion …… a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man …
Matthew 10:41… tos dechorōntos dikaion eis onomem dikaiou misthon dikaiou labeti.… man will receive a righteous man’s reward.
Matthew 10:42… legamō vi, ouk mē apolateia ton misthon autou.… you, he will never lose his reward.”
Matthew 20:8… toin ergatoin kai apodōasar autoi ton misthon archerantos apo toiu eschatoiu heōs toiu …… the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired …
Mark 9:41… vi hoti ouk mē apolateia ton misthon autou.… you, he will never lose his reward.
John 4:36tos therizarōntos misthon labatō kai sunagatō karpon eis zōan …Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal …
1 Corinthians 3:8“reward”… henem alō, hekastos de ton idion misthon labeti kata ton idion kopon,… who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
1 Corinthians 3:14… tinou tem ergem menati hem epoikodomata, misthon labeti;… built survives, he will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 9:17ei gar hekōnos houtem prassamō, misthon echamō; ei de akōnos, oikonomian pisteuomē.… preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary …
2 Peter 2:13adikorōntois misthon adikiau; hēdonan hēgorōntois tan en hēmera …… harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it …
2 Peter 2:15… hoda tou Balaam tou Bosor hos misthon adikiau agapata… son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
2 John 1:8“reward”… hina mē apolaveia heim ergazena, alla misthon plēron apolabaveia.… yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you …
Revelation 11:18… toiu nekroiu krinira kai dōara ton misthon toi douloi su toi profētoi kai …… to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well …
misthou“wages”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
Luke 10:7… autoiu, axios gar tos ergatos tou misthou autou. mē metabainavōr ek oikiau eis …… the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house …
Acts 1:18“wages”Houtos men oun kteta chōriem ek misthou tau adikiau, kai prēnos generantos lakata …(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the …
1 Timothy 5:18… fimasi, kai; Axios tos ergatos tou misthou autou.… The worker is worthy of his wages.”
Jude 1:11… poreuila, kai ta plana tou Balaam misthou ekchila, kai ta antilogia tou Kore …… of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they …