G2409 — ἱερεύς (hiereús)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2409
Original: ἱερεύς
Transliteration: hiereús
Pronunciation: hee-er-yooce
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: ἱερός (hieros, G2413) — holy, sacred
Occurrences: 30 unique verses (32 tokens) in NT
Books: 7 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Hebrews, Revelation)
First Occurrence: Matt 8:4 — "go thy way, shew thyself to the priest"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From ἱερός (hieros); a priest (literally or figuratively): — (high) priest.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 053 — Religious Activities - 053.009 — Roles and Functions

Other words in subdomain: ἀρχιερεύς (G749), ἀρχιερατικός (G748), γραμματεύς (G1122), διάκονος (G1249), ἐπίσκοπος (G1985), ἀπόστολος (G652)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [053] Religious Activities

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
priests	14	46.7%
priest	10	33.3%
a priest	5	16.7%
high priest	1	3.3%
the priest	1	3.3%
those priests	1	3.3%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hebrews	12	4.0
Revelation	3	0.7
Luke	5	0.4
Acts	4	0.4
Matthew	3	0.3
Mark	2	0.3
John	1	0.1

Hebrews dominates by density (12 of 30 NT occurrences, 4.0 per 100 verses), driven by its sustained typological argument contrasting the Levitical priesthood with the Melchizedekian order of Christ. The word is largely absent from the epistles outside Hebrews and appears in narrative contexts in the Gospels/Acts as a reference to active Levitical officiants.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Priestly Certification of Ritual Purity (Show Yourself to the Priest)¶

Matt 8:4 — "go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded"
Mark 1:44 — "go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded"
Luke 5:14 — "shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded"
Luke 17:14 — "Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed."

2. Levitical Priests as Active Officials (NT Era Historical)¶

Luke 1:5 — "There was in the days of Herod...a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia"
John 1:19 — "the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?"
Acts 4:1 — "the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them"
Acts 6:7 — "a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith"

3. Priestly Privilege as Argument (Sabbath / Shewbread)¶

Matt 12:5 — "the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless"
Mark 2:26 — "in the days of Abiathar the high priest...he did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful...but for the priests"

4. Pagan Priest¶

Acts 14:13 — "the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates"

5. Christ as Eternal Priest After the Order of Melchisedec (Hebrews)¶

Heb 5:6 — "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec"
Heb 7:1 — "Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God"
Heb 7:11 — "if...perfection were by the Levitical priesthood...what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec"
Heb 10:11 — "every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins"

6. Believers as Royal Priests (Revelation)¶

Rev 1:6 — "hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father"
Rev 5:10 — "hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth"
Rev 20:6 — "they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (God)	G2316	10x (33%)	"priest of the most high God"; "priests unto God"
Μελχισεδέκ	G3198	6x (20%)	"priest after the order of Melchisedec"
προσφέρω (offer)	G4374	5x (17%)	"offer for thy cleansing"; "offer gifts"
τάξις (order)	G5010	4x (13%)	"after the order of Melchisedec"
βασιλεύς (king)	G935	4x (13%)	"kings and priests" (Rev 1:6; 5:10)
αἰών (age/ever)	G165	4x (13%)	"a priest for ever"
ἱερόν (temple)	G2411	3x (10%)	"priests in the temple"
ἄρτος (bread)	G740	3x (10%)	shewbread (artos tēs protheseos)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2405 ἱερατεία (hierateia) — the priestly office (Luke 1:9; Heb 7:5)
G2406 ἱεράτευμα (hierateuma) — priesthood as a body; "royal priesthood" (1 Pet 2:5, 9)
G2407 ἱερατεύω (hierateuō) — to serve as a priest (Luke 1:8)
G2411 ἱερόν (hieron) — the temple/sanctuary complex (G2409 serves in it)
G2413 ἱερός (hieros) — holy, sacred (root adjective)
G749 ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus) — high priest / chief priest; compound: ἀρχι- (chief) + ἱερεύς

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2409.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2409.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
κόην (kôhên)	H3548	priest, priests	Hebrew OT equivalent; ἱερεύς is its direct LXX rendering (623 co-occurrences in LXX)
ἀρχιερεύς	G749	high priest	Specifically the chief/ruling priest; G2409 is the general term for any priest

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 053009 — Roles and Functions)¶

Strong's	Word	Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference from G2409
G749	ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus)	102	chief priests, high priest	The ruling/chief priest; G2409 is any priest
G652	ἀπόστολος (apostolos)	70	apostles	Sent messenger/representative, not sacerdotal
G1122	γραμματεύς (grammateus)	63	scribes	Legal/scribal expert, not priestly
G1249	διάκονος (diakonos)	15	minister, deacon	Servant ministry, not hereditary office
G1985	ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos)	6	bishop, overseer	Church overseer, not sacrificial role

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
כֹּהֵן (kôhên)	H3548	623	32.55	Dominant OT equivalent; direct LXX bridge
לֵוִיִּי (Lēvîyîy)	H3881	96	17.05	Levite; sometimes rendered ἱερεύς in LXX