[B-Greek] PISTIS vs PISTOS

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Dec 19 01:24:35 EST 2010


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <fredsmith1000 at usa.com>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 18. december 2010 19:36
Subject: [B-Greek] PISTIS vs PISTOS


>
> I don't believe there is a separate Greek word for "faithfulness" in the N.T.; 
> at least I don't see one.

Yes, PISTIS covers both the English "faith" and "faithfulness".

> That being said, it would seem to me that if Paul or any other N.T. author 
> intended for an existing word like PISTIS or PISTOS to be used to mean 
> faithfulness, he/they would have used PISTOS (faithful) instead of PISTIS 
> (faith).
>
> Would someone shed some light on this please?
>
> Thanks,
> Ren Preston

You would find it helpful to look up in a dictionary and study the occurrences 
where PISTIS is used for "faithfulness". While PISTEUW refers to the event of 
putting one's trust in something or someone, the adjective PISTOS describes a 
person or thing as being trustworthy. But sometimes a Greek construction 
requires a noun to be used, and in that case, PISTIS has to do double duty as 
the noun corresponding to PISTEUW, i.e. "faith", and as the noun corresponding 
to PISTOS, i.e. "trustworthiness, loyalty, committedness".

Iver Larsen




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