StrongerBible

deilia

δειλία

GreekG1167“cowardice, timidity, ...”

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2Ti 1:7
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeday-LEE-ahnoun

What deilia means

cowardice: a failure of nerve in which fear collapses into giving way

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintyStrong

This word names cowardice, not mere shyness or a nervous temperament. From the earliest Greek writers through the moral philosophers, it was the name for a defect of character: the person who loses heart when courage is called for, who fears the wrong things and folds. It is the direct opposite of courage, and Greek writers treated it as a real fault, even something a person could be charged with in court.

When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek, this word group took on a sharper edge. It rendered the language of armies whose hearts melt and of people who shrink back before God's enemies. The book of Sirach makes the connection plainest: the faint heart fails because it does not believe. So by the time of the New Testament, this is the visible face of unbelief, the moment when fear of suffering wins out over trust and faithfulness.

Its single appearance in the New Testament keeps that weight. Paul tells Timothy that the Spirit God gave is not a spirit of cowardice but of power, love, and a sound, steady mind. The point is not that Timothy was naturally bashful and needed a confidence boost. The contrast is between caving in under pressure and standing firm in the face of cost. Cowardice here is the temptation to abandon the work, and the gifts named against it are exactly what hold a person in place when staying is hard.

2Ti 1:7
2Ti 1:7

Whether 2 Timothy 1:7 diagnoses Timothy's actual character or uses cowardice as a conventional rhetorical foil, and how severe the charge is.

  • majorityConventional encouragement: cowardice is named only as a foil to define the power, love, and self-control the Spirit gives; it is not a biographical claim that Timothy was a coward.; W. D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (WBC 46); C. R. Hutson, "Was Timothy Timid?," Biblical Research 42 (1997): 58-73
  • minorityBiographical: the word describes Timothy's real temperamental timidity and his consequent need for encouragement.; G. W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles (NIGTC), 370-371
  • minorityA grave warning: the phrase echoes the Joshua-succession tradition and activates a "cowardice topos" that raises the specter of apostasy and betrayal.; P. H. Towner, "2 Tim 1,7, Cowardice, and the Specter of Betrayal," Biblica 101.4 (2020): 577-601

What scholars say about deilia

The lexical evidence is uniformly negative: δειλία is a morally loaded vice term from Homer through Aristotle (the deficiency vice opposed to ἀνδρεία, Nic. Eth. III.6-9) and the Stoa, into the LXX and Philo. LSJ glosses "timidity, cowardice" opposed to ἀνδρεία; BDAG "lack of mental or moral strength, cowardice"; Louw-Nida (25.264-268) distinguish it from neutral φόβος by its moral-character connotation; Spicq (TLNT I.300-301) defines it as "a failure of spirit caused by fear." Trench's Synonyms §x fixed the three-way English distinction (δειλία always bad; φόβος neutral; εὐλάβεια good) followed by Thayer and Abbott-Smith. The LXX uses the δειλ- group c. 40 times for Hebrew terms of fear-as-collapse (חתת, רך, מסס/מוג, מרך at Lev 26:36), in holy-war formulae (Deut 31:6; Josh 1:9) and covenant curse (Lev 26:36); Sirach 2:12-13 equates the faint heart with unbelief. On 2 Tim 1:7 the lexically rigorous majority (Marshall, Mounce WBC, Towner NICNT, Fee, Johnson AYB, Quinn-Wacker, Collins) render "cowardice" and read the οὐ...ἀλλά construction as a foil defining δύναμις; Hutson (Biblical Research 42, 1997) shows the δειλία charge was conventional honor-shame paraenesis aimed at young students, not biographical diagnosis. Towner's 2020 Biblica article (101.4: 577-601) argues the verse rewrites Rom 8:15 against the Moses-Joshua succession tradition, activating a "cowardice topos" that raises the specter of betrayal.

Where scholars disagree about deilia

Whether the proper English equivalent is the strong "cowardice" or the milder "timidity."

  • majority"Cowardice": the word is morally loaded and never neutral, the failure-of-nerve vice opposed to courage across Greek usage and the Septuagint. "Timidity" is too weak.; W. D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (WBC 46); C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, I.300-301
  • minority"Timidity/fearfulness": the word can describe a real temperamental hesitancy, read biographically of Timothy.; G. W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles (NIGTC), 370-371; J. R. W. Stott, The Message of 2 Timothy (BST), 19-20
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

  • BDAG, s.v. δειλίαlexicon
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, I.300-301lexicon
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, 25.264-268lexicon
  • W. Mundle, "δειλία," TDNT II.188-190dictionary
  • R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, §xmonograph
  • W. D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles (WBC 46), on 2 Tim 1:7commentary
  • P. H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus (NICNT)commentary
  • P. H. Towner, "2 Tim 1,7, Cowardice, and the Specter of Betrayal," Biblica 101.4 (2020): 577-601article
  • C. R. Hutson, "Was Timothy Timid?," Biblical Research 42 (1997): 58-73article
  • G. W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles (NIGTC), 370-371commentary

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

All attested forms of δειλία

genitive f s

δειλίας

2Ti 1:7