StrongerBible

haplotēs

ἁπλότης

GreekG0572“sincerity, generosity, ...”

Appears 8 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Rom 12:82Co 1:122Co 8:22Co 9:112Co 9:132Co 11:3Eph 6:5Col 3:22
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradehap-LOT-acenoun

What haplotēs means

singleness of heart: an undivided, sincere inner life with no hidden motive, which in giving overflows as open-handed generosity

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

The picture inside this word is something laid open rather than folded over on itself. Its root adjective (ἁπλοῦς) is the opposite of the word for "double," so a person who has it is not two-faced or self-divided: what they show is what they are. The Greek Old Testament reached for this word to translate Hebrew terms for a whole, upright heart, and that is the meaning it carries everywhere in the New Testament: sincerity, integrity of motive, single-minded devotion.

The one stretch where readers stumble is Paul's letters about the collection for the poor, where most modern Bibles translate it "generosity" or "liberality." The two senses below are not two different words. They are one disposition seen from two angles. The undivided heart is, by its very nature, the open hand: where the inner life is singular and unmixed, the giving is whole-hearted and ungrudging. So in the giving passages Paul names the inward quality in order to praise the outward act it produces.

This is why translators are caught between options. "Sincerity" keeps what the word says but sounds odd in a sentence about money; "generosity" reads naturally in that sentence but loses the note of an unmixed heart. The word itself does not force the choice, because for Paul the single heart and the open hand are the same heart and the same hand.

Nuances

1aa single, undivided heart: sincerity with no hidden motive or double-dealing
2Co 1:122Co 11:3Eph 6:5Col 3:22
1bthat same single-hearted devotion expressed as open-handed, ungrudging giving
Rom 12:82Co 8:22Co 9:112Co 9:13

Disputed

Whether ἁπλότης has a second, autonomous lexical sense "generosity / liberality" in Paul's collection passages (2 Corinthians 8:2; 9:11, 13; Romans 12:8), or whether those verses are the same single-hearted-sincerity meaning applied to a giving context.

  • majorityOne meaning: "generosity" is a contextual extension of single-hearted sincerity, not a separate lexical sense. The undivided heart is named to denote the open-handed action it produces.; Joseph Amstutz, ΑΠΛΟΤΗΣ (1968); BDAG, 3rd ed. (2000), s.v. ἁπλότης; Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament; Otto Bauernfeind, TDNT vol. 1; Mark A. Seifrid, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (Pillar, 2014); C. E. B. Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans (ICC)
  • minority"Generosity" is a genuinely distinct Pauline sense: in the collection contexts the word denotes the concrete virtue of generous, open-handed giving as a real second meaning.; Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, 57.106; Robert Jewett, Romans (Hermeneia, 2007), on Romans 12:8

What scholars say about haplotēs

Specialized lexicography now treats ἁπλότης as having one underlying meaning, singleness of heart or sincere, undivided devotion, with the "generosity" of Paul's collection passages emerging as a contextual outworking rather than an autonomous lexical sense. This view was consolidated by Joseph Amstutz's 1968 monograph and is reflected in BDAG (which lists "sincerity" as sense 1 and notes that it likely covers even the disputed giving verses), Spicq, Bauernfeind's TDNT article, EDNT, and NIDNTTE. The Greek Old Testament supplies the bridge: ἁπλότης renders Hebrew תֹּם (2 Samuel 15:11) and יֹשֶׁר (1 Chronicles 29:17, itself a giving context), and the patriarchal-virtue tradition of the Testament of Issachar names single-hearted devotion that overflows in care for the poor and sets ἁπλότης against greed. The four undisputed New Testament passages (2 Corinthians 1:12; 11:3; Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22) fix the core as sincerity or singleness of heart and function as lexical controls. A minority tradition, preserved by Louw-Nida's domain split and by Robert Jewett on Romans 12:8, treats "generosity" as a genuinely distinct Pauline sense; most commentators navigate a both-and position, taking the contextual gloss as "generosity" while grounding it in undivided devotion.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • Joseph Amstutz, ΑΠΛΟΤΗΣ: Eine begriffsgeschichtliche Studie zum jüdisch-christlichen Griechisch (Bonn: Hanstein, 1968)monograph
  • BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed. (2000), s.v. ἁπλότηςlexicon
  • Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. ἁπλότηςlexicon
  • Otto Bauernfeind, "ἁπλοῦς, ἁπλότης," in TDNT vol. 1dictionary
  • Hans Hübner, "ἁπλότης," in EDNT vol. 1dictionary
  • Moisés Silva, ed., NIDNTTE, s.v. ἁπλοῦς / ἁπλότηςdictionary
  • Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 57.106 and 88.44lexicon
  • Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC, 2005)commentary
  • Margaret E. Thrall, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (ICC)commentary
  • Mark A. Seifrid, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (Pillar, 2014)commentary
  • C. E. B. Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans (ICC)commentary
  • Robert Jewett, Romans (Hermeneia, 2007)commentary
  • Hans Dieter Betz, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 (Hermeneia, 1985)commentary
  • H. W. Hollander and M. de Jonge, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: A Commentary (1985)monograph

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of ἁπλότης

dative f s

ἁπλότητι

Rom 12:8, 2Co 1:12, 2Co 9:13, Eph 6:5, Col 3:22

genitive f s

ἁπλότητος

2Co 8:2, 2Co 11:3

accusative f s

ἁπλότητα

2Co 9:11