noun · feminine
sōtērēas
Strong’sG4991
deliverance, salvation
stem sōtērē-46 times in the New Testamentin 16 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
Deliverance, preservation, or safety — rescue from danger or harm, in a physical sense 123. This sense covers being kept safe or saved from a threat, such as being delivered from enemies or preserved through danger 13; Strong's notes it can be physical or moral in nature 2.
In the New Testament the word is especially used for Messianic and spiritual salvation 1 — the deliverance and safety brought through God, referred to as a present possession already received as well as something more fully realized in the future 1. LSJ likewise records this as the sense the word carries in the Old and New Testament writings, distinct from its everyday classical use 3. Dodson's gloss simply renders the word as "deliverance, salvation" 4.
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
σωτηρία, -ας, ἡ
(< σωτήρ), [in LXX for יֶשַׁע, יְשׁוּעָה, תְּשׁוּעָה, פְּלֵיטָה, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4991 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidso-tay-ree'-ah
rescue or safety (physically or morally)
Fromfeminine of a derivative of G4990 as (properly, abstract) noun;
King Jamesdeliver, health, salvation, save, saving.
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 -ιη, ἡ, deliverance, preservation, σωτηρίην ὑποθησόμενον ὑμῖν Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπεργάζεσθαι, πορίζειν, ἐκπορίζεσθαι, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐνεύχομαί σοι τὴν Ἀπολλωνίου σ. Refs 3rd c.BC+; ὀμνύω σωι (or σοι) τὴν σαυτοῦ σ. Refs 3rd c.BC+; ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας.. Αὐτοκράτορος, = Latin pro salute Imperatoris, Refs 2nd c.AD+
2 a way or means of safety (= μηχανὴ σωτηρίας Refs 4th c.BC+; ἔχεις τιν᾽.. σ.; Refs 5th c.BC+
3 safe return, ἡ ἐς τὴν πατρίδα σ. Refs; ἡ οἴκαδε σ. Refs 4th c.BC+; νόστιμος σ. Refs 4th c.BC+
4 in LXX and NT, salvation, ὁ θεὸς τῆς σ. μου LXX+NT; εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σ. NT
II of things, keeping safe, preservation, Refs 5th c.BC+; maintenance, τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων καὶ ὁδῶν Refs 5th c.BC+; τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τῶν ἄστρων, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.2 security, guarantee for safety, σ. ἔστω τῶν ὑποκειμένων guarantee for the safe keeping of.., Syngr. cited in Refs 4th c.BC+; σωτηρίας ἕνεκα τοῖς πολλοῖς τῶν σωμάτων for their safe custody,, Refs 5th c.BC+; σωτηρίαι τῆς πολιτείας ways of preserving it, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 security, safety, τοῦ κοινοῦ Refs 5th c.BC+
II.4 with genitive object, security against, ἀπορίας Refs 4th c.BC+
II.5 bodily health, well-being, Refs 2nd c.AD+
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 | sōtērēas8×σωτηρία | sōtērēais |
| object accusative | sōtērēan18×σωτηρίαν | sōtērēain |
| direct address vocative | sōtērēar | sōtērēair |
| of, belonging to genitive | sōtērēau20×σωτηρίας | sōtērēaiu |
| to, for dative | sōtērēa | sōtērēai |
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
sōtērēa 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.
46 occurrences, every one of them listed
sōtērēas“salvation”subjectnominative singular8×
Luke 19:9… pros auton tos Iēsus hoti Sēmeron sōtērēas to oiko houto geneta, kathoti kai …Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because …
John 4:22… nis proskunanō hem oidanē, hoti tas sōtērēas ek toiu Ioudaioiu atō;… worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Acts 4:12… ouk atō en alloso oudeno tas sōtērēas, oude gar onomem atō heterem hupo …Salvation exists in no one else, for …
Romans 11:11… genetoia; alla te autoiu paraptōme tas sōtērēas tei ethnei, eis tem parazēlara autoin.… not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to …
Romans 13:11… egerira, nun gar enguteron nu tas sōtērēas ē hote pisteuana.… up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we …
Revelation 7:10kai krazalō fōna mega legarōntois; Tas sōtērēas to theo nu to kathorōnto epi …… cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation to our God, who sits on …
Revelation 12:10… to ourano legarōntan; Arti geneta tas sōtērēas kai tas dunamias kai tas basileias …… heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom …
Revelation 19:1… en to ourano legarōntoiu; Hallēlouia; tas sōtērēas kai tas doxas kai tas dunamias …… great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to …
sōtērēan“salvation”objectaccusative singular18×
Luke 1:71sōtērēan ek echthroiu nu kai ek cheirau …salvation from our enemies and from the …
Acts 7:25“deliverance”… tos theos dia cheirau autou dōatō sōtērēan autoi, tois de ouk suniēkala.… understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
Acts 13:47… fōtem ethneiu teu arō sin eis sōtērēan heōs eschateu tau gēau.… light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Romans 1:16… euangeliem, dunamias gar theou atō eis sōtērēan panto to pisteuarōnto, Ioudaio tē prōtem …… is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to …
Romans 10:1“saved”… pros ton theon huper autoiu eis sōtērēan.… and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation.
Romans 10:10“salvation”… eis dikaiosunan, stome de homologotō eis sōtērēan;… with your mouth you confess and are saved.
2 Corinthians 7:10… gar kata theon lupas metanoian eis sōtērēan ametamelētan ergazotō; tas de tou kosmou …… sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings …
Philippians 1:19… gar hoti houtem mi apobaineti eis sōtērēan dia tau vu deēsiau kai epichorēgiau …… distress will turn out for my deliverance.
Philippians 2:12… meta fobou kai tromou tan heautoiu sōtērēan katergazovōr,… absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
2 Thessalonians 2:13“salvation”… haireta vin tos theos aparchan eis sōtērēan en hagiasmo pneumeu kai pistia alētheiau,… Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.
2 Timothy 3:15… oidasē, teim dunorōnteim sin sofizara eis sōtērēan dia pistiau tau en Christo Iēso;… able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 1:14… diakonian apostelorōnteim dia toin mellarōntoin klēronomarō sōtērēan?… to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 9:28… hamartau horiti toi auton apekdechorōntoi eis sōtērēan.… to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
Hebrews 11:7… mēdepō bleporōnteiu eulabirantos kataskeuazata kibōtan eis sōtērēan tou oikou autou, dia hau katakrinata …… godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned …
1 Peter 1:5… dunamia theou frourorōntoin dia pistiau eis sōtērēan hetoiman apokaluptira en kairo eschato.… shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed …
1 Peter 1:9komizorōntois tem telem tau pistiau vu sōtērēan psuchaiu.… the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 2:2… epipothavar, hina en aute auxaniveia eis sōtērēan,… you may grow up in your salvation,
2 Peter 3:15kai tan tou kuriou nu makrothumian sōtērēan hēgovōr, kathōs kai tos agapētos nu …… also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul …
sōtērēau“salvation”of, belonging togenitive singular20×
Mark 16:8“salvation”… hierem kai afthartem kērugmem tau aiōniau sōtērēau. amēn.So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
Luke 1:69kai egerata keratem sōtērēau ni en oiko David paidou autou,… has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of …
Luke 1:77teu dōara gnōsian sōtērēau to lao autou en afesia hamartaiu …… to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
Acts 13:26… ton theon, ni tos logos tau sōtērēau houtau exapostelita.… to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
Acts 16:17… hupsistou alō, hotinois katangelalō vi hodan sōtērēau.… proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”
Acts 27:34“survival”… trofēau, houtem gar pros tau humeterau sōtērēau huparchatō; oudenou gar vu trichas apo …So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat something, because not a single hair of your …
2 Corinthians 1:6… thlibonō, huper tau vu paraklēsiau kai sōtērēau; eite parakalonō, huper tau vu paraklēsiau …… it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is …
2 Corinthians 6:2… dekto epakouama su kai en hēmera sōtērēau boēthama si; idou nun kairos euprosdektos, …… you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is …
2 Corinthians 6:2… nun kairos euprosdektos, idou nun hēmeras sōtērēau;… favor; now is the day of salvation!
Ephesians 1:13… logon tau alētheiau, tem euangeliem tau sōtērēau vu, en ho kai pisteuarantois sfragiziva …… of truth — the gospel of your salvation — you were sealed with the promised …
Philippians 1:28… atō autoi endeixias apōleiau, vu de sōtērēau, kai houtem apo theou,… of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.
1 Thessalonians 5:8… pistiau kai agapau kai perikefalaian elpidan sōtērēau;… the helmet of our hope of salvation.
1 Thessalonians 5:9… theos eis organ alla eis peripoiēsian sōtērēau dia tou kuriou nu Iēsu Christou,… to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 2:10… dia toin eklektoin, hina kai autois sōtērēau tuchaleia tau en Christo Iēso meta …… that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with …
Hebrews 2:3pōs nis ekfeugeni tēlikoutau amelarantois sōtērēau, hotinas, archan labarantas lalorō dia tou …… if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by …
Hebrews 2:10… eis doxan agaranton ton archēgon tau sōtērēau autoiu dia pathēmeiu teleiara.… to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Hebrews 5:9… geneta pantoi toi hupakouarōntoi auto aitios sōtērēau aiōniau,… He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
Hebrews 6:9… vu, agapētoir, teim kreittoneim kai echorōnteim sōtērēau, ei kai houtōs lalanō;… in your case— things that accompany salvation.
1 Peter 1:10Peri hau sōtērēau ekzētala kai exeraunala profētois tois peri …Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace …
Jude 1:3… grafarō vi peri tau koinau nu sōtērēau anankan echama grafara vi parakalarōntos epagōnizorō …… to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary …