To owe
ὀφείλωStrong’s G3784opheilō
Appears in 34 verses of the New Testament
In short
Opheilō is the Greek word usually translated “ought”, “we ought” and “was owing”. It appears in 34 verses of the New Testament.
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;”
Meaning
Usually translated “ought”, “we ought” and “was owing”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- ought 11
- we ought 3
- was owing 2
- is being owed 2
- is bound 2
- you owe 1
- indebted 1
- owe you 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Matthew 5
- Luke 5
- 1 Corinthians 5
- Romans 3
- Hebrews 3
- 1 John 3
13 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13In contextBut we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
- Philemon 1:18In contextIf he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
- 3 John 1:8In contextWe therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.
- Matthew 18:28But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
- Matthew 18:30And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
- Matthew 18:34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Greek dictionary
ὀφείλω opheilō · to owe
ὀφείλω [in LXX: Deu.15:2, Isa.24:2 (נָשָׁה), Eze.18:7 (חוֹב), Wis.12:15, 20, al. ;] to owe, be a debtor: with accusative of thing(s), Mat.18:28, Luk.7:41 16:7, Phm 18; id. with dative of person(s), Mat.18:28, Luk.16:5. Pass., to be owed, to be due: τ. ὀφειλόμενον, Mat.18:30, 34. Metaphorical: absol. (= Rabbinic חַיָּב; see McNeile, in l), Mat.23:16, 18; with accusative of thing(s) and dative of person(s), Rom.13:8; with inf., to be bound or obliged to do (of. Westc., Epp. Jo., 50), Luk.17:10, Jhn.13:14 19:7, Act.17:29, Rom.15:1, 27, 1Co.5:10 7:36 9:10 11:7 11:10, 2Co.12:14, Eph.5:28, 2Th.1:3 …
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “owe” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
OWE, verb transitive
o. [Gr., Eng. own.]
- To be indebted; to be obliged or bound to pay.“One was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents” Matthew 18:24“OWE no man any thing, but to love one another” Romans 13:8
- To be obliged to ascribe to; to be obliged for; as, that he may owe to me all his deliverance.
- To possess; to have; to be the owner of. [This is the original sense, but now obsolete.
- To be due or owing.
All definitions and other forms of “owe”
OWE, verb intransitive
To be bound or obliged.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.