ὀφειλ-έτης G3781
A debtor, one who owes; used literally of financial obligation and figuratively of moral or spiritual indebtedness.
Opheiletes denotes someone under obligation, whether monetary or moral. In the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:12), 'our debtors' are those who have sinned against us, collapsing financial and moral debt into a single image. The parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:24) features a debtor who owes ten thousand talents, an absurdly vast sum meant to picture the unpayable debt of sin before God. Paul calls himself a 'debtor' to both Greeks and barbarians (Rom 1:14), meaning he is under obligation to preach the gospel to all. Spanish 'deudor' and German 'Schuldner' both derive from words meaning 'guilt/debt,' preserving the same moral-financial ambiguity that makes this word so theologically fertile.
Senses
1. debtor, one who owes — A person who owes a debt, whether financial or moral/spiritual, and is therefore under obligation. The NT exploits the overlap between literal and figurative debt with great theological effect. In Matt 6:12 Jesus teaches his disciples to pray for forgiveness using debtor language, and in Matt 18:24 the parable's enormous debt (ten thousand talents) illustrates the infinite scale of divine forgiveness. Luke 13:4 uses opheiletes of the eighteen killed by the tower of Siloam, meaning 'guilty ones' or those under moral debt. Paul extends it to apostolic obligation (Rom 1:14) and to the Spirit-led life (Rom 8:12, 'we are debtors, not to the flesh'). Spanish 'deudor' and German 'Schuldner' both carry the dual financial-moral valence. 7×
AR["مَديونٌ", "مَدِينٌ", "مَدِينُونَ", "مُذنِبينَ-إِلَينا", "مُذْنِبُونَ", "مُلزَمٌ"]·ben["ঋণী", "ঋণীদের"]·DE["Schuldner", "ὀφειλέται", "ὀφειλέταις", "ὀφειλέτης"]·EN["a-debtor", "debtor", "debtors"]·FR["débiteur"]·heb["הַחַיָּבִים", "חַיָּב", "חַיָּבִים"]·HI["अपराधियों-को", "अपराधी", "ऋणी", "करज़दअर", "करज़दर", "कर्जदार"]·ID["berhutang", "bersalah", "berutang"]·IT["debitore", "opheiletai", "opheiletais", "opheiletes", "opheiletēs"]·jav["ingkang-kagungan-utang", "kula-kagungan-kuwajiban", "tiyang-bersalah", "tiyang-ingkang-kagungan-kewajiban", "tiyang-ingkang-kalepatan", "utang", "wajib"]·KO["빚진-자", "빚진-자들-이다", "빚진-자들이", "빚진-자로", "빚진-자이라", "우리-에게-빚진-자들"]·PT["devedor", "devedores"]·RU["-должниками", "должник", "должникам", "должниками", "должники"]·ES["deudor", "deudores"]·SW["mdaiwa", "mdeni", "wadaiwa", "wadeni"]·TR["borçludur", "borçlular", "borçlularımıza", "borçlularız", "borçlusu", "borçluyum"]·urd["قرضدار", "قرضداروں"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ὀφειλ-έτης, ου, ὁ, debtor, τινι Refs 5th c.BC+; ὀ. εἰμί with infinitive, I am under bond to.., NT+5th c.BC+: —feminine ὀφειλ-έτις, ιδος, Refs 5th c.BC+