noun · feminine
spoudas
Strong’sG4710
haste, diligence
stem spoud-12 times in the New Testamentin 7 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
Haste, speed — moving or acting quickly, without delay. 1234 This sense appears in the phrase "with haste" describing how someone went or hurried somewhere. 13
Zeal, diligence, earnestness — eager effort, care, and attentiveness applied to a task or duty. 1234 This covers being diligent or earnest in conduct generally, 12 as well as showing eager care or support on behalf of another person. 3 Strong's also notes the range of English words used to render it in translation, including business, carefulness, forwardness, and diligence. 2
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
σπουδή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< σπεύδω), [in LXX chiefly for בּהל, its parts and derivatives;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4710 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidspoo-day'
"speed", i.e. (by implication) despatch, eagerness, earnestness
Fromfrom G4692;
King Jamesbusiness, (earnest) care(-fulness), diligence, forwardness, haste.
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
(σπεύδω) haste, speed, σπουδὴν ἔχειν make haste, Refs 5th c.BC+; σ. ἔσται τῆς ὁδοῦ haste on the journey, Refs 5th c.BC+; χωρίον.., οἷ σπουδὴν ἔχω whither I am hastening, Refs 5th c.BC+; σπουδῇ in haste, see infr. IV; σὺν σπουδῇ ταχύς Refs 5th c.BC+; σὺν πάσῃ σ. with all dispatch, Refs 2nd c.AD+; διὰ σπουδῆς Refs 5th c.BC+; μετὰ σ. NT+5th c.BC+
II zeal, pains, trouble, effort, ἄτερ σπουδῆς Refs 8th c.BC+; σῆς ὑπὸ σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; frequently in dative σπουδῇ, zealously, see belowRefs; σὺν πολλῇ σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐπὶ μεγάλης σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; μετὰ πολλῆς σ. Refs; σπουδὴν ποιεῖσθαι exert oneself, take pains, be eager, Refs 5th c.BC+; with infinitive, Refs 5th c.BC+; σ. ποιεῖσθαι περί τινος Refs 5th c.BC+; περί τιναRefs 2nd c.AD+ make much ado about.. , Refs 5th c.BC+; σπουδαὶ λόγων κατατεινομένων zeal for the conflicting arguments, Refs 5th c.BC+; σ. ἔχειν, with infinitive, to be eager, Refs 5th c.BC+; with accusative et infinitive, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ σ. τῆς ἀπίξιος my zeal in coming, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὅπλων σπουδῇ with great attention to the arms, Refs 5th c.BC+ eagerness for.. , Refs; zealous exertions, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.b in a religious sense, zeal, πρὸς τὴν θεάν NT+2nd c.BC+; ἐνδείκνυσθαι σ. NT
II.2 esteem, regard for a person, διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; good will, good offices, σ. ὑπέρ τινος NT+2nd c.AD+; support in political life, Refs 1st c.AD+: plural, party feelings or attachments, rivalries, σ. ἰσχυραὶ φίλων περί τινος Refs 5th c.BC+; σπουδαὶ ἐρώτων erotic enthusiasms, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 disputation, Refs 2nd c.AD+
III earnestness, σ. ἔχειν, ποιεῖσθαι,= σπουδάζειν, NT+5th c.BC+ in earnest, seriously, Refs 8th c.BC+; μετὰ σπουδῆς, opposed to ἐν παιδιαῖς, Refs 5th c.BC+; μετά τε παιδιᾶς καὶ μετὰ σ. Refs 5th c.BC+
III.2 object of attention, serious engagement or pursuit, σπουδὴν ἐπ᾽ ἄλλην Ἡρακλῆς ὁρμώμενος Refs 5th c.BC+
IV σπουδῇ as adverb, in haste, hastily, προερέσσαμεν Refs 8th c.BC+; Doric dialect, σπουδᾷ ἐξελθοῦσα Refs 4th c.BC+; frequently in Attic dialect, σ. πάνυ Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.2 with great exertion and difficulty, and so, hardly, scarcely, σπουδῇ ἕζετο λαός Refs 8th c.BC+
IV.3 earnestly, seriously, urgently, τί με καλεῖς σπουδ; Refs 5th c.BC+; πάνυ σ. attentively, Refs; πολλῇ σ. very busily, Refs 5th c.BC+
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 | spoudas | spoudais |
| object accusative | spoudan6×σπουδὴν | spoudain |
| direct address vocative | spoudar | spoudair |
| of, belonging to genitive | spoudau3×σπουδῆς | spoudaiu |
| to, for dative | spouda3×σπουδῇ | spoudai |
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
spouda 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
spoudan“diligence”objectaccusative singular6×
2 Corinthians 7:11… kata theon lupira posan katergazeta vi spoudan, alla apologian, alla aganaktēsian, alla fobon, …… sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what …
2 Corinthians 7:12… adikirantou, alla heneken teu fanerira tan spoudan vu tan huper nu pros vin …… was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made …
2 Corinthians 8:16“concern”… to theo to dōarōnto tan autan spoudan huper vu en ta kardia Titou,… be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you.
Hebrews 6:11… de hekaston vu tan autan endeikorō spoudan pros tan plēroforian tau elpidau achri …… of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order …
2 Peter 1:5“diligence”kai autem houtem de spoudan pantan pareisferarantois epichorēgavar en ta pistia …For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and …
Jude 1:3“eager”Agapētoir, pantan spoudan poiorōntos grafarō vi peri tau koinau …Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we …
spoudau“haste”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
Mark 6:25“haste”kai eisercharantas euthuos meta spoudau pros ton basilevon aiteta legarōntas; Thelamō …… hurried back to the king with her request: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.”
Luke 1:39“haste”… houtai poreuita eis tan oreinan meta spoudau eis polan Ioudou,In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
2 Corinthians 8:8… epitagan legamō alla dia tau heteroiu spoudau kai tem tau humeterau agapau gnēsiem …… sincerity of your love through the earnestness of others.
spouda“zeal”to, fordative singular3×
Romans 12:8… metadōarōntos en haplota, tos prostēorōntos en spouda, tos elēarōntos en hilarota.… is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let …
Romans 12:11ta spouda mē oknērois, te pneume zesarōntois, to …Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving …
2 Corinthians 8:7… kai logo kai gnōsia kai panta spouda kai ta ek nu en vi …… in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired …