Word study
Manager
5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: manager, managers. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “manager” or one of its forms.
Compare the Greek words side by side
Greek words (New Testament)
- οἰκονόμος oikonómosa stewardtranslated this way 4 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G3623Noun · Translated: manager 4, stewards 3, treasurer 1, trustees 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Luke 12:42 And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?
Luke 16:1 Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
- ἐπίτροπος epítroposa steward, guardiantranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2012Noun · Translated: foreman 1, household manager 1, guardians 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 8:3 Joanna the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza, Susanna, and many others. These women were ministering to them out of their own means.
- οἰκονομέω oikonoméōI am a stewardtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3621Verb · Translated: manager 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Luke 16:2 So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’
- προΐστημι proḯstēmiI ruletranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s G4291Verb · Translated: manage 2, devote 2, leading 1, care 1Full study and all 8 verses →
1 Timothy 3:12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife, a good manager of his children and of his own household.
- οἰκουρός oikourósa housekeepertranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3626Adjective · Translated: managers of their households 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Titus 2:5 to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Short definition: Dodson Greek Lexicon (2010, public domain). Full entry: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922, public domain). Strong’s Greek Dictionary (1890) in the edition by Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen (CC0). These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.