πιστός G4103
Faithful, trustworthy, reliable (passive: worthy of trust); also believing, a believer (active: one who exercises faith).
Built on the root peith- ('to persuade, trust'), pistos carries two complementary faces. In its passive sense — by far the more frequent — it describes someone or something worthy of trust: the faithful servant of Jesus' parables (Matt 24:45; 25:21), the 'faithful sayings' of the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim 1:15), and God himself as pistos (1 Cor 1:9; 10:13). In its active sense, pistos denotes one who believes — a believer, a member of the faith community. This active use emerges clearly in Acts and the Epistles: 'the believers' (Acts 10:45), Timothy as a believing son (1 Cor 4:17). Spanish distinguishes 'fiel' (faithful) from 'creyente' (believer), making the voice distinction lexically visible.
1. faithful, trustworthy, reliable — Passive sense: faithful, trustworthy, dependable — describing persons, God, or statements that can be relied upon. The parables of Jesus prize the pistos servant who manages resources well (Matt 24:45; 25:21, 23). Paul applies it to God's character (1 Cor 1:9; 10:13; 1 Thess 5:24) and to doctrinal formulas ('faithful is the saying,' 1 Tim 1:15; 2 Tim 2:11). The multilingual uniformity is striking: English 'faithful,' Spanish 'fiel,' French 'fidele,' German 'treu' — all encode reliability and steadfastness. 54×
AR["أمينٌ","أَميناً","أَمينٌ","أَمِينًا","أَمِينٌ","أُمَنَاءَ","الأَمينُ","الأَمِينُ","المُؤمِنينَ","الْأَمِينُ","مُؤمِنَةً"]·ben["বিশ্বস্ত","বিশ্বস্তদের","বিশ্বাসিনী"]·DE["treu"]·EN["faithful"]·FR["fidèle"]·heb["נֶאֱמֶנֶת","נֶאֱמָן","נֶאֱמָנִים"]·HI["विशवसियोन","विशवस्योग्य","विश्वासयोग्य","विश्वासी"]·ID["Setia","orang-orang-percaya","pelayan-yang-setia","setia","yang-setia"]·IT["fedele"]·jav["setya","tiyang-pitados"]·KO["신실하다","신실하다고","신실하시니","신실하시다","신실하신","신실한","신실한-자들에게","신실한-자들이","춠실한","충성되었으니","충성된"]·PT["fiel","fiéis"]·RU["верен","верное","верной","верный","верным","верными"]·ES["fiel","fieles"]·SW["Mwaminifu","mtumwa","mwaminifu","waaminifu"]·TR["ama-","güvenilir","imanlı","sadik","sadiklara","sadık","sadıktır"]·urd["امانتدار","ایماندار","وفادار"]
Matt 24:45, Matt 25:21, Matt 25:21, Matt 25:23, Matt 25:23, Luke 12:42, Luke 16:10, Luke 16:10, Luke 16:11, Luke 16:12, Luke 19:17, Acts 16:15 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. believing, a believer — Active sense: believing, exercising faith — a person who trusts in God or Christ, a member of the believing community. The risen Jesus tells Thomas 'be not unbelieving but believing' (pistos, John 20:27). In Acts and the Epistles, hoi pistoi becomes a technical designation for Christians (Acts 10:45; 1 Tim 4:10, 12; 6:2). Spanish 'creyente/creyentes' versus 'fiel' sharply differentiates this active sense from the passive, as does the English shift from 'faithful' to 'believer.' 13×
AR["المُؤمِنينَ","المُؤمِنِ","المُؤْمِنينَ","مُؤمِنَةٍ","مُؤْمِنونَ","مُؤْمِنينَ","مُؤْمِنًا","مُؤْمِنَةٌ","ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ"]·ben["বিশ্বস্তেরা","বিশ্বাসিনী","বিশ্বাসী","বিশ্বাসী।","বিশ্বাসীদের,","বিশ্বাসীদের।","বিশ্বাসীর"]·DE["treu"]·EN["believers","believing","believing-woman","faithful","of-believers","to-believer"]·FR["fidèle"]·heb["הַ-מַּאֲמִין","לְמַאֲמִין","מַאֲמִין","מַאֲמִינִים","מַאֲמִינָה","נֶאֱמָנִים","נֶאֱמָנָה"]·HI["विशवअस-वअलोन","विशवअसि","विशवअसि,","विशवअसेए-स्त्रेए","विशवसि","विश्वासी","विश्वासी-को"]·ID["beriman,","orang-percaya","percaya","yang-beriman","yang-percaya"]·IT["fedele"]·jav["kang-pitados","pitados","pitados,","pitados.","tiyang-pitados","tiyang-èstri-pitados"]·KO["믿는","믿는-자","믿는-자들-이","믿는-자들이","믿는-자에게","믿음의","신실한-여자가","신실한-자들,","신실한-자들-의,","신실한-자들-의.","신실한-자들을","이니라,"]·PT["crente","crente,","crentes","dos-fiéis","fiel","fiéis","fiéis,","tem-o-fiel"]·RU["верная","верной","верному","верные","верным","верных","верующим"]·ES["a-fiel","creyente","creyentes","de-fieles","fieles"]·SW["mwamini","mwaminifu","mwaminio","mwenye-kuamini","waaminio","waaminio,","ya-mwamini"]·TR["iman eden","iman-eden","iman-eden-kadının","iman-edenler","iman-edenlere","iman-edenlerin","imanlı","imanlı,","imanlılar","inananlar"]·urd["ایمان-دار","ایماندار","ایماندار-عورت-کے","ایماندار-کو","ایماندار-ہو","ایمانداروں","ایمانداروں۔"]
John 20:27, Acts 10:45, Acts 16:1, 2 Cor 6:15, Gal 3:9, 1 Tim 4:3, 1 Tim 4:10, 1 Tim 4:12, 1 Tim 5:16, 1 Tim 6:2, 1 Tim 6:2, Titus 1:6 (+1 more)
Related Senses
G4102 1. faith, trust, belief (239×)G4100 1. believe / have faith in (233×)H0982 1. trust in, rely on (105×)H3988a 1. reject, refuse (56×)H0530 1. faithfulness, fidelity, reliability (47×)H0539 1. believe, accept as true (42×)H3985 1. refuse, be unwilling (41×)H0539 2. faithful, trustworthy, sure (39×)H8582 1. lead astray, cause to err (22×)H2623 1. faithful ones / saints (community) (21×)G0571 1. unbelieving, unbeliever (20×)G3982 1. be persuaded or convinced (19×)H8582 2. go astray, err morally (19×)G4105 1. to deceive, lead astray (18×)G3982 2. trust or have confidence in (17×)H2186a 1. reject, spurn (Qal) (16×)H3988a 2. despise, scorn (14×)G3982 3. persuade or convince someone (13×)G4105 2. to go astray, wander, err (13×)H5377 1. deceive, beguile (Hifil active) (13×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
πιστός, ή, όν, (πείθω): __B passive, to be trusted or believed: __B.I of persons, faithful, trusty, ἑταῖρος Refs 8th c.BC+: comparative -ότερος Refs 5th c.BC+: superlative πιστότατος Refs 8th c.BC+ a trusted friend of P., Ergias cited in Refs 4th c.BC+; οἱ πιστοί, in Persia, trusty councillors, Refs 5th c.BC+; τάδε Περσῶν πιστὰ καλεῖται Refs 4th c.BC+ __B.I.2 trustworthy, worthy of credit, Refs…