G2407 — ἱερατεύω (hierateuō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2407
Original: ἱερατεύω
Transliteration: hierateuō
Pronunciation: hee-er-at-yoo
Part of Speech: Verb
Root / Word Family: Built on the ἱερ- priestly/sacred word family; related to ἱερεύς (G2409, priest), ἱερατεία (G2405, priestly office), and ἱεράτευμα (G2406, priestly body/order).
Occurrences: 1 unique verse (1 token) in NT
Books: 1 (Luke)
First Occurrence: Luke 1:8 — "while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course"
Hapax Legomenon: YES — this word appears only once in the NT/Bible.

Lexicon Definition¶

The raw Strong's lexicon entry gives the sense "to be a priest" or "perform his [priestly office]." The Thayer data in the local lexicon expands this as "to be priest, discharge the priest's office, be busied in sacred duties," with Luke 1:8 as the NT occurrence and LXX usage corresponding to כָּהַן (H3547).

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 053.009: Roles and Functions
Broader Domain 053: Religious Activities
Other words in 053.009: ἀντίχριστος (G500), ἀποστολή (G651), ἀπόστολος (G652), ἀρχιερατικός (G748), ἀρχιερεύς (G749), ἀρχισυνάγωγος (G752), γραμματεύς (G1122), διακονέω (G1247), διάκονος (G1249), ἐπισκοπέω (G1983), ἐπισκοπή (G1984), ἐπίσκοπος (G1985)

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 053.009 — Roles and Functions)¶

Strong's	Word	Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)	Key Difference from G2407
G749	ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus)	102	chief priests, high priest	The chief/high priest as officeholder; G2407 is the act of priestly service.
G2409	ἱερεύς (hiereus)	30	priests, priest	The priest/person; G2407 is the verb for serving as priest.
G1247	διακονέω (diakoneō)	13	ministered, serve	General service/ministry; G2407 is specifically priestly service.
G1249	διάκονος (diakonos)	15	minister, a minister	Servant/minister role; not specifically sacerdotal.
G1985	ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos)	6	bishop, overseer	Oversight role; not priestly officiation.
G652	ἀπόστολος (apostolos)	70	apostles, an apostle	Sent representative; not priestly office or temple service.

Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Count	Parsing	Typical Context
ἱερατεύειν	1	Present Active Infinitive (V-PAN)	Infinitival phrase in Luke 1:8: "while he executed the priest's office."

The single NT form is an infinitive governed in the phrase ἐν τῷ ἱερατεύειν, marking the activity being performed.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
executed the priest's office	1	100.0%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Luke	1	0.1

G2407 is confined to Luke's infancy narrative. It does not appear in Hebrews, Revelation, or the passion narratives; those passages use related priest nouns and offering language rather than this verb.

Semantic Categories¶

Because G2407 is a biblical hapax, only one NT usage category can be derived from the verse data.

1. Performing Priestly Service in an Appointed Course¶

Luke 1:8 — "And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course"

The verse ties the action to priestly service "before God" and to an ordered course (τάξις, G5010; ἐφημερία, G2183). The word itself denotes the action of functioning as priest, not the priest as a person or the priesthood as an institution.

Common Collocations¶

The unified gatherer returned no ranked content-word collocations for G2407, because the word occurs in only one NT verse. The verse-level parser and Strong's occurrence table identify the following immediate co-occurring terms in Luke 1:8:

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
τάξις (taxis)	G5010	1x	"in the order" — priestly service performed according to an arranged course.
ἐφημερία (ephēmeria)	G2183	1x	"course" — the priestly division/course in which Zechariah served.
θεός (theos)	G2316	1x	"before God" — Godward setting of the priestly action.

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2405 ἱερατεία (hierateia) — priestly office/service as an abstract function.
G2406 ἱεράτευμα (hierateuma) — priesthood as a body or sacerdotal order.
G2409 ἱερεύς (hiereus) — priest; the person who holds or performs the office.
G2411 ἱερόν (hieron) — temple/sacred precinct; the spatial setting for priestly and temple activity.
G2413 ἱερός (hieros) — holy, sacred; root adjective for the ἱερ- family.
G2420 ἱερωσύνη (hierōsynē) — priesthood as an institution.

Synonyms¶

G37 ἁγιάζω (hagiazō) — to sanctify/consecrate; related by religious-activity domain, not a direct equivalent for serving as priest.
G4137 πληρόω (plēroō) — to fulfill/fill; overlaps in the sense of fully discharging an appointed role, but not specifically priestly by itself.

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2407.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation / Concept	Key Difference
ἱερεύς (hiereus)	G2409	priest / priestly office	G2409 names the priest; G2407 describes serving or functioning as priest.
ἱερατεία (hierateia)	G2405	priestly office	G2405 names the office/function; G2407 is the action of executing it.
ἱεράτευμα (hierateuma)	G2406	priesthood	G2406 names the priestly body/order; G2407 is the verbal act of priestly service.
ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus)	G749	priestly role	G749 identifies the high/chief priest; G2407 does not specify rank.
διακονέω (diakoneō)	G1247	minister/serve	G1247 is broad service; G2407 is specifically priestly service.

Semantic Domain¶

[053] Religious Activities — returned by search_relationships.py.
Related domain words include ἁγιάζω (G37), ἁγιασμός (G38), ἅγιος (G40), ἁγιωσύνη (G42), ἁγνίζω (G48), and ἁγνισμός (G49).

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Score	Notes
כָּהַן (kahan)	H3547	19	9.73	29.16	Primary verbal bridge: to officiate or minister as priest.
אַהֲרוֹן (Aharon)	H175	13	5.36	14.14	Aaronic/priestly context, not a direct verbal equivalent.
מָשַׁח (mashach)	H4886	6	6.64	12.92	Anointing in priestly/service contexts.
קָדַשׁ (qadash)	H6942	6	5.36	10.42	Consecration/holiness context around priestly service.
בֶּגֶד (beged)	H899	5	4.78	8.56	Garment/vestment context associated with priestly office.

The strongest Hebrew bridge is H3547 כָּהַן (kahan), the verb "to officiate as priest." This is the natural Hebrew verbal counterpart to G2407's single NT use as the action of priestly office.