πᾰτήρ G3962
Father -- biological parent, God the Father, or ancestral forefather; rarely 'parents' (both father and mother).
Pater is among the most theologically loaded words in the New Testament. It spans the intimate address of a child to a human father, the covenantal title 'God the Father' that Jesus uses over 100 times in John's Gospel, and the honorific reference to Abraham and the patriarchs as 'our fathers.' Nearly every occurrence falls into the first sense, where context alone distinguishes human fatherhood from divine Fatherhood. Korean glosses helpfully separate 'ancestor' (조상) from 'father' (아버지), and Hindi-Swahili evidence ('wazazi,' 'माता-पिता') flags the lone Hebrews 11:23 occurrence where the plural means 'parents.'
1. father or divine Father — A male parent or God as Father, covering the vast majority of occurrences. Includes Jesus' address to God as Father (Matt 6:9; John 17:1), human fathers in genealogies and narratives (Matt 3:9; Luke 1:59), and the Father-Son relational theology of Paul and John. Glosses universally render this as 'Father'/'Padre'/'père'/'Vater,' with the divine-versus-human distinction residing in context rather than vocabulary. 413×
AR["أَبانا","أَبي","أَبيكَ","أَبيكُم","أَبٌ-لَنَا","أَبَاكُمْ","أَبُ","أَبُوكُمْ","أَبِيكُمْ"]·ben["পিতা","পিতাকে","পিতার","পিতার-কাছে"]·DE["Vater"]·EN["Father"]·FR["père"]·heb["אֲבִיכֶם","אָב","אָבִי","אָבִינוּ"]·HI["पिता","पिता-का","पिता-की","पिता-के","पिता-को","पिता-से","हे-पिता"]·ID["Bapa"]·IT["padre"]·jav["Rama"]·KO["아버지","아버지-를","아버지의"]·PT["Pai"]·RU["Отец","Отца","Отцу","Отче"]·ES["Padre"]·SW["Baba"]·TR["Baba","Baba'nın","Baba'nızın","Babamız","Baban","Babana","Babanız","Babanızdan","Babanızı","Babanızın"]·urd["باپ"]
Matt 3:9, Matt 5:16, Matt 5:45, Matt 5:48, Matt 6:1, Matt 6:4, Matt 6:6, Matt 6:6, Matt 6:8, Matt 6:9, Matt 6:14, Matt 6:15 (+38 more)
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
2. ancestor or forefather — An ancestor or forefather in a genealogical or covenantal lineage, as when Paul speaks of Abraham as 'our forefather' (Rom 4:1) or references Israel's patriarchal heritage (Rom 9:5; 11:28; 15:8). Korean 조상 ('ancestor') and Tagalog 'mababu' distinguish this sense lexically from ordinary fatherhood. Though only four occurrences, this sense carries heavy theological weight in discussions of covenant continuity. 4×
AR["-الآبَاءِ","أَبونا","الآبَاءُ","الآبَاءِ"]·ben["পিতৃগণ","পূর্বপুরুষ","পূর্বপুরুষদের,","পূর্বপুরুষদের।"]·DE["Vater"]·EN["fathers","forefather"]·FR["père"]·heb["אֲבִי-אֲבוֹת","אָבוֹת","הָאָבוֹת"]·HI["पितरों-की","पूर्वज","पूर्वजों"]·ID["bapa-bapa-leluhur","nenek-moyang","nenek-moyang,"]·IT["padre"]·jav["lélémbutipun","para-rama,","para-rama.","para-rama;"]·KO["조상","조상들-의","조상들을","조상들이요"]·PT["nosso-antepassado","pais,","pais.","pais;"]·RU["и-","праотец"]·ES["antepasado","padres"]·SW["baba,","baba-yetu-wa-kwanza","mababu","mababu."]·TR["atalar","ataların","atasının"]·urd["باپ","باپ-دادا-کو","باپ-دادا-کی","باپ-دادا؛"]
3. parent — Used in the plural to mean 'parents' -- both father and mother together -- as in Hebrews 11:23 where Moses' parents hid him. Multilingual evidence is decisive: Hindi 'माता-पिता' (mother-father), Korean '부모' (parents), and Swahili 'wazazi' (parents) all confirm the inclusive meaning. A single but important attestation showing pater's semantic flexibility. 1×
AR["أَبَوَيْهِ"]·ben["পিতামাতাদের"]·DE["Vater"]·EN["parents"]·FR["père"]·heb["הוֹרָיו"]·HI["माता-पिता"]·ID["orang-tua"]·IT["Padre"]·jav["tiyang-sepah"]·KO["부모들에-의해"]·PT["pais"]·RU["родителей"]·ES["padres"]·SW["wazazi"]·TR["anne-babası"]·urd["ماں-باپ"]
Related Senses
H0376 1. man, person, human male (2130×)H0001 1. father, immediate male parent (1031×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)G0444 1. human being, person (469×)G0080 1. brother, fellow believer (343×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H0001 2. ancestor, forefather (146×)H5288 1. Youth, young man (122×)H0269 1. sister (female sibling) (113×)H1755 1. generation, contemporaries (96×)G5043 1. child, offspring (89×)G0444 2. people, humankind (86×)H3206 1. child, boy, youth (86×)H2145 1. male (human being) (79×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
πᾰτήρ, ὁ, genitive and dative πατέρος, πατέρι in Epic dialect and Lyric poetry, Attic dialect πατρός, πατρί (which is also the commoner form in Refs 8th c.BC+; accusative always πατέρ; vocative πάτερ: plural πατέρες, πατέρας, πατέρων (πατρῶν only Refs 8th c.BC+; dative πατράσι [ᾰ] (cf. Sanskrit locative plural pitṛ[snull]u, no dative plural occurs in Refs 8th c.BC+, late Epic dialect πατέρεσσι…