StrongerBible

pepoithēsis

πεποίθησις

GreekG4006“confidence, trust, ...”

Appears 6 times · tap a cell to see the verses

2Co 1:152Co 3:42Co 8:222Co 10:2Eph 3:12Php 3:4
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradepeh-POY-thay-sisnoun

What pepoithēsis means

confidence: a settled state of trust or reliance, taking its whole character from whatever it rests on

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This word names confidence as a settled condition rather than a passing feeling. It comes from the family of words for being persuaded and trusting, and it points to the state you are left in once you have come to trust something: you are now sure of it, and you rest your weight on it. Every one of its six appearances is in Paul's letters, and four of them fall in 2 Corinthians, where Paul is defending the trustworthiness of his own ministry.

The key to the word is that it is neutral in itself. Its worth is decided entirely by what it leans on, which is almost always spelled out by a small word like "in," "toward," or "through" that follows it. Pointed toward God and grounded in Christ, it is the quiet assurance of someone truly welcome in God's presence. Placed in a friend or a fellow worker, it is trust in a relationship. Rested on one's own achievements, it is the folly Paul mocks. The same word carries all three, sometimes within a single letter.

Paul draws a sharp line between this settled trust and self-reliance. In one breath he can claim great confidence toward God, and in the next insist that none of it comes from his own adequacy. So the word sits close to two of its neighbors: it is the inward assurance that lies behind the outward openness of παρρησία, and it is the firm resting-place that faith, πίστις, settles into once it has taken hold.

Nuances

1aassured confidence directed toward God and resting on Christ
2Co 3:4Eph 3:12
Eph 3:12

Whether πεποίθησις in Ephesians 3:12 is essentially synonymous with the adjacent παρρησία ("boldness, openness") or adds a distinct nuance.

  • minorityThe two are near-tautologous here; πεποίθησις is practically synonymous with παρρησία.; E. Best, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians (ICC, 1998), ad 3:12; R. Bultmann, "πείθω κτλ.," TDNT 6:7
  • majorityπεποίθησις adds the inward, dispositional side, the settled assurance behind the outwardly directed παρρησία and the objective privilege of access.; A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC 42, 1990), ad 3:12; P. T. O'Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians (Pillar, 1999), ad 3:12; H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (2002), ad 3:12
1btrust placed in a person or in one's standing with them
2Co 1:152Co 8:222Co 10:2
1cmisplaced self-confidence: trust put in one's own human credentials
Php 3:4

What scholars say about pepoithēsis

πεποίθησις is an abstract noun in -σις built on the perfect stem πεποιθ- of πείθω, corresponding to the stative perfect πέποιθα ("I have come to trust, and so am confident"). It is a late, post-classical formation: the Atticist Phrynichus expressly censured it as sub-classical (Lobeck, Phrynichi Ecloga 295; Rutherford, New Phrynichus 355), and Moulton-Milligan find no documentary papyrological parallels, marking it as near-technical vocabulary of Hellenistic Jewish-Christian religious speech. In the LXX it is effectively a hapax, at 4 Kingdoms 18:19, where Rabshakeh mocks Hezekiah's misplaced trust (rendering Hebrew בִּטָּחוֹן); the noun is otherwise confined in the NT to the Pauline corpus (six times, four in 2 Corinthians). BDAG glosses "a state of certainty about something to the extent of placing reliance on, trust, confidence," and Louw-Nida place it in the "Trust, Rely" sub-domain (31.82-87). EDNT distinguishes an objective confidence toward God (2 Cor 3:4; Eph 3:12), an interpersonal confidence toward fellow believers (2 Cor 1:15; 8:22; 10:2), and the polemical confidence "in the flesh" of Phil 3:4. Bultmann's TDNT article on πείθω κτλ. formulates the governing principle: in Paul the noun names the state flowing from πίστις, never independent self-assurance but always specified by its object; Spicq calls the Christian usage "the tranquil audacity of the child of God."

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

  • R. Bultmann, "πείθω κτλ.," TDNT 6:1-11, esp. 6:7theological-dictionary
  • F. W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG), 3rd ed. (2000), 796lexicon
  • C. Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (1994), 3:74-75theological-dictionary
  • H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (EDNT), 3:69theological-dictionary
  • M. Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), 3:663-71theological-dictionary
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (1989), Domain 31, 31.82-87lexicon
  • M. J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC, 2005), ad 3:4, 8:22, 10:2commentary
  • A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC 42, 1990), ad 3:12commentary
  • P. T. O'Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians (NIGTC, 1991), ad 3:4commentary

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

All attested forms of πεποίθησις

dative f s

πεποιθήσει

2Co 1:15, 2Co 8:22, 2Co 10:2, Eph 3:12

accusative f s

πεποίθησιν, Πεποίθησιν

Php 3:4, 2Co 3:4