noun · feminine
tapeinofrosunas
Strong’sG5012
humility
stem tapeinofrosun-7 times in the New Testamentin 5 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
Humility, lowliness of mind 1234 — a self-effacing, modest disposition 12.
In certain New Testament passages the word is used negatively, describing a false or affected humility rather than the genuine virtue 1; consistent with this, outside the New Testament the word can carry the sense of mean-spiritedness rather than true humility 3.
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
*† ταπεινοφροσύνη, -ης, ἡ
(< ταπεινόφρων)
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5012 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
humility, NT; mean-spiritedness, Refs 1st 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 | tapeinofrosunas | tapeinofrosunais |
| object accusative | tapeinofrosunan2×ταπεινοφροσύνην | tapeinofrosunain |
| direct address vocative | tapeinofrosunar | tapeinofrosunair |
| of, belonging to genitive | tapeinofrosunau2×ταπεινοφροσύνης | tapeinofrosunaiu |
| to, for dative | tapeinofrosuna3×ταπεινοφροσύνῃ | tapeinofrosunai |
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
tapeinofrosuna 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.
7 occurrences, every one of them listed
tapeinofrosunan“humility”objectaccusative singular2×
Colossians 3:12… hagiois kai agaporēntois, splanchneim oiktirmou, chrēstotan, tapeinofrosunan, prautan, makrothumian,… yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
1 Peter 5:5… hupotassivar presbuteroi. pantoir de allēloi tan tapeinofrosunan enkombevar, hoti Tos theos huperēfanoi antitassotō …… all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes …
tapeinofrosunau“humility”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Acts 20:19douleuarōntos to kurio meta pantau tapeinofrosunau kai dakrueiu kai peirasmoiu toiu sumbainarantoiu …I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the …
Ephesians 4:2meta pantau tapeinofrosunau kai prautau, meta makrothumiau, anechorōntois allēloiu …with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with …
tapeinofrosuna“humility”to, fordative singular3×
Philippians 2:3… eritheian mēde kata kenodoxian, alla ta tapeinofrosuna allēloin hēgorōntois huperecharōntoin heautoiu,… ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
Colossians 2:18mēdenos vin katabrabeuatōr thelarōntos en tapeinofrosuna kai thrēskeia toiu angeloiu, heim horatē …… let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify …
Colossians 2:23… men echarōnteim sofiau en ethelothrēskia kai tapeinofrosuna kai afeidia sōmeu, ouk en tima …… with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the …