StrongerBible

bebaios

βέβαιος

GreekG0949“sure, firm, ...”

Appears 9 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Rom 4:162Co 1:7(6)Heb 2:2Heb 3:6Heb 3:14Heb 6:19Heb 9:172Pe 1:102Pe 1:19
Word studyBEH-bah-yosadjective

What bebaios means

firm: not liable to give way, so it holds good and can be counted on

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This word describes something that stays put when weight is put on it. Greek writers used it for an anchor that will not drag, a footing that will not slip, and a signed agreement that will hold up if anyone challenges it. The picture behind every use is the same: lean on this, and it will not give way.

In the New Testament that one picture turns up in three settings:

  • something you can count on not to fail, such as an anchor, a hope, or a message that has been tested
  • a promise or a document that is legally in force, so it can be held to and enforced
  • a grip that is kept up to the very end without slipping

The legal side is the one most easily missed. Everyday business papers of the first century used this word, and the matching verb "to confirm" (βεβαιόω), for guaranteeing a sale or making a seller's title good. Hebrews works that language hard: a will only takes effect once the person who wrote it has died (Hebrews 9:17), and the law given through angels "proved binding", so every breach of it drew a penalty (Hebrews 2:2). Paul builds on the same footing in Romans 4:16, where the promise rests on trust rather than on law precisely so that it will hold good for everyone in Abraham's family.

Once, in Hebrews 6:19, it is paired with another adjective meaning "safe" (ἀσφαλής). Together the two describe the hope Christians hold as an anchor: safe, because nothing can get at it, and firm, because it will not shift. The words are close in sense, and the pairing is there for weight rather than for contrast.

Nuances

1areliable: able to be counted on not to fail
TranslatabilityDirect
2Co 1:7(6)Heb 6:192Pe 1:19
1bin force: valid and binding, so it can be held to
Rom 4:16Heb 2:2Heb 9:172Pe 1:10
1cheld fast: kept up to the end without slipping
TranslatabilityDirect
Heb 3:6Heb 3:14

What scholars say about bebaios

BDAG groups the nine New Testament occurrences under three heads: reliable or dependable (2 Cor 1:7; Heb 6:19; 2 Pet 1:19, comparative βεβαιότερον), valid and binding in law (Rom 4:16; Heb 2:2; Heb 9:17), and steadfast or firmly held (Heb 3:6, 14), with βεβαίαν ποιεῖσθαι in 2 Pet 1:10 handled as a fixed idiom. LSJ documents the same range from classical usage onward, including the forensic sense of a title or claim that will stand. Moulton and Milligan collect the documentary papyri in which βέβαιος, βεβαιόω and βεβαίωσις are standard vocabulary for guaranteeing a sale and warranting a vendor's title, which is the background most commentators invoke for Heb 9:17 and for the ratifying force of 2 Pet 1:10. Schlier's TDNT article traces the same legal and religious usage and stresses that the adjective predicates objective validity rather than subjective assurance. Attridge reads Heb 9:16-17 as a deliberate shift to testamentary language, where διαθήκη is a will that becomes βεβαία only at the death of the one who made it; Bauckham reads 2 Pet 1:10 against the commercial idiom while allowing that the weaker sense of making one's calling certain is defensible. Text-critically, μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν in Heb 3:6 is bracketed in NA28 and absent from P13, P46 and B, so that verse's witness to the steadfastness sense depends on the longer reading, while Heb 3:14 carries the phrase without dispute.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. βέβαιοςlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. βέβαιοςlexicon
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. βέβαιος, βεβαιόω, βεβαίωσιςlexicon
  • H. Schlier, "βέβαιος, βεβαιόω, βεβαίωσις," TDNT 1:600-603dictionary
  • Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1989), on Hebrews 2:2; 3:6, 14; 6:19; 9:16-17commentary
  • Richard J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter (Word Biblical Commentary 50; Waco: Word, 1983), on 2 Peter 1:10, 19commentary

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

All attested forms of βέβαιος

accusative f s

βεβαίαν

Rom 4:16, Heb 3:6, Heb 3:14, Heb 6:19, 2Pe 1:10

nominative f s

βεβαία

2Co 1:7, Heb 9:17

accusative m s

βεβαιότερον

2Pe 1:19

nominative m s

βέβαιος

Heb 2:2