verb
sebomō
Strong’sG4576
I reverence, worship
stem seb-10 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books8 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
σέβω
[in LXX (chiefly for יָרֵא, Jos 4:24, al.) and NT always mid., σέβομαι, exc. IV Mac 5:24;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4576 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidseb'-om-ahee
to revere, i.e. adore
Frommiddle voice of an apparently primary verb;
King Jamesdevout, religious, worship.
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
mostly used in present: imperfect in Refs 5th c.BC+: future σεβήσομαι Refs 2nd c.AD+: aorist ἐσέφθην Refs 5th c.BC+:—feel awe or fear before God,feel shame, οὔ νυ σέβεσθ; Refs 8th c.BC+; σεφθεῖσα awe-stricken, Refs [same place]: rarely with infinitive, dread or fear to do a thing, σ. προσιδέσθαι.., ἀντία φάσθαι Refs 5th c.BC+: so with accusative of things, to fear to do it, Refs 5th c.BC+: with participle, σ. προσορῶν Refs 5th c.BC+
2 after Refs 8th c.BC+, with accusative person, revere, worship, Κρονίδαν Refs 5th c.BC+; πάντων ἀνάκτων κοινοβωμίανRefs 5th c.BC+; Λυκοῦργον σέβεσθαι worship him as a hero, Refs 5th c.BC+; do homage to Zeus, Refs 4th c.BC+: generally, pay honour or respect to.. , θνατοὺς ἄγαν σ. Refs; τὸ φίλον Refs 5th c.BC+
2.b especially of Jewish proselytes, σεβομένη τὸν θεόν NT+1st c.AD+; σεβόμενοι προσήλυτοι, Ἕλληνες, NT
3 of things, τὰ βυβλία σεβόμενοι μεγάλως Refs 5th c.BC+
II active σέβω is post-Refs 8th c.BC+, used only in present and imperfect, worship, honour, mostly of the gods, σ. Δήμητρος πανήγυριν Refs 7th c.BC+; τἀν ἍιδουRefs; rare in Prose, νομίζεται θεοὺς σέβειν Refs 5th c.BC+; but also of parents, Refs 5th c.BC+; of kings, Refs; of suppliants, Refs 5th c.BC+; σέβειν ἐν τιμῇ with accusative, Refs 5th c.BC+infinitive, ὑβρίζειν ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐ σέβω, i.e. τὸ ὑβρίζειν, I do not respect, approve it, Refs 4th c.BC+: rarely of a god, Ποσειδῶν.. τὰς ἐμὰς ἀρὰς σέβων Refs 5th c.BC+ —σέβομαι as passive, to be reverenced, ἡ δ᾽ οἴκοι [πόλις] πλέον δίκῃ σέβοιτ᾽ ἄν Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ σεβόμενον reverence, Refs 1st c.AD+
II.2 less frequently absolutely, to worship, to be religious, τὸν σέβοντ᾽ εὐεργετεῖν Refs 5th c.BC+; but in all these places an object should perhaps be supplied from the context. (σέβομαι probably originally 'I shrink from.. ', of which σοβέω is the causal; perhaps cognate with Sanskrit tyajati 'desert, let go'.)
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
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| sebotōσέβεται | happening now · he/she/itpresent middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular | worship | 1× |
| sebolōσέβονταί | happening now · theypresent middle or passive indicative 3rd person plural | worship | 2× |
| seborōσέβεσθαι | happening now · the “to …” formpresent middle or passive infinitive | worship | 1× |
| seborōntasσεβομένη | happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular feminine | worshiper | 1× |
| seborōntouσεβομένου | happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive singular masculine | worshiper | 1× |
| seborōntainσεβομένας | happening now · objectpresent middle or passive participle accusative plural feminine | devout | 1× |
| seborōntoiuσεβομένων | happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive plural masculine | devout | 2× |
| seborōntoiσεβομένοις | happening now · to, forpresent middle or passive participle dative plural masculine | god-fearing | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 54, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sebomō | sebome | sebomē | sebomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | sebosō | sebose | sebosē | seboselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sebotō1×σέβεται | sebote | sebotē | sebotelē |
| we 1st person plural | sebonō | sebone | sebonē | sebonelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | sebovō | sebove | sebovē | sebovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | sebolō2×σέβονταί | sebole | sebolē | sebolelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sebomeiō | sebomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | seboseiō | seboseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | seboteiō | seboteiē |
| we 1st person plural | seboneiō | seboneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | seboveiō | seboveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | seboleiō | seboleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | sebosōr | sebosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sebotōr | sebotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | sebovōr | sebovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | sebolōr | sebolēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | sebomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | sebosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | sebotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | sebonoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | sebovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | seboloiō |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | seborō1×σέβεσθαι | seborē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 6 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | seborōntos6× | seborēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
seb 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.
10 occurrences, every one of them listed
sebotō“worship”happening now · he/she/itpresent middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular1×
Acts 19:27“worship”… holas tas Asias kai tas oikoumenas sebotō.… worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
sebolō“worship”happening now · theypresent middle or passive indicative 3rd person plural2×
Matthew 15:9matēn de sebolō min, didaskarōntois didaskaliain entalmeim anthrōpoiu.They worship Me in vain; they teach as …
Mark 7:7matēn de sebolō min, didaskarōntois didaskaliain entalmeim anthrōpoiu;They worship Me in vain; they teach as …
seborō“worship”happening now · the “to …” formpresent middle or passive infinitive1×
Acts 18:13… ton nomon anapeithatō houtos toin anthrōpoin seborō ton theon.… man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the …
seborōntas“worshiper”happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular feminine1×
Acts 16:14… gunaikas onome Ludias, porfuropōlias polau Thuateireiu seborōntas ton theon, akouate, hau tos kurios …… city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her …
seborōntou“worshiper”happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive singular masculine1×
Acts 18:7… eis oikian tinou onome Titiou Ioustou seborōntou ton theon, hou tas oikias ate …… the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.
seborōntain“devout”happening now · objectpresent middle or passive participle accusative plural feminine1×
Acts 13:50“devout”tois de Ioudaiois parotrunala tain seborōntain gunaikain tain euschēmōnain kai toin prōtoin …The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of …
seborōntoiu“devout”happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive plural masculine2×
Acts 13:43… akolouthala pollois toiu Ioudaioiu kai toiu seborōntoiu prosēlutoiu to Paulo kai to Barnabo, …… dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and …
Acts 17:4… Paulo kai to Silo, toiu tē seborōntoiu Hellēnoiu plēthem pollem gunaikaiu tē taiu …… along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading …
seborōntoi“god-fearing”happening now · to, forpresent middle or passive participle dative plural masculine1×
Acts 17:17… ta sunagōga toi Ioudaioi kai toi seborōntoi kai en ta agora kata pantan …… the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with …