BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
GREEK · G1654
eleēmosunē — charity
ἐλεημοσύνη, -ης, ἡ (ἐλεέω), [in LXX chiefly for חֶסֶד, צְדָקָה ;] 1. mercy, pity. 2. almsgiving, alms (like the German Almosen, a corruption of the Greek word ἐ): Mat.6:4; ποιεῖν ἐ., Mat.6:2-3, Act.9:36 10:2 24:17; ἐ. διδόναι, Luk.11:41 (cf. Mat.23:36; Dalman, Words, 62 f.) 12:33; αἰτεῖν, Act.3:2; λαβεῖν, Act.3:3; πρὸς (in order to ask) ἐ., Act.3:10; pl., Act.10:4, 31 (Cremer, 711).† (AS)
13 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →(1 Cor. 13), the rendering in the Authorized Version of the word which properly denotes love, and is frequently so rendered (always so in the Revised Version). It is spoken of as the greatest of the three Christian graces (1 Cor. 12:31-13:13).
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
