G4103 — πιστός (pistós)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4103
Original: πιστός
Transliteration: pistós
Pronunciation: pis-tos
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: πιστεύω (pisteuō, G4100) — to believe, trust; from πείθω (peithō) — to persuade
Occurrences: 62 unique verses (67 tokens) in NT
Books: 19
First Occurrence: Matt 24:45 — "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From πιστεύω (G4100); objectively, trustworthy; subjectively, trustful. Used of persons who can be relied upon, and of those who place their trust/faith in God or Christ.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 31.010 — Hold a View, Believe, Trust / Be a Believer, Christian Faith
Secondary Domains: 11.002 (Socio-Religious: faithful member of community), 71.003 (Mode: certain/reliable)
Key words in same subdomain (31.010): πιστεύω G4100 (119 vv), πίστις G4102 (201 vv), ἄπιστος G0571 (11 vv), ἀπιστία G0570 (10 vv)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
031	Hold a View, Believe, Trust	Captures the core πισ-/faith vocabulary: one who believes, trusts, or proves trustworthy.
071	Mode	Covers the reliability/certainty nuance in "faithful saying" formulas and divine trustworthiness.
011	Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups and Classes	Fits uses of πιστός for "the faithful" / believing persons as a recognized class within the church.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
faithful / a faithful / the faithful	47	75.8%
Faithful (divine title)	2	3.2%
believing / believers	3	4.8%
true / a true	2	3.2%
sure	1	1.6%
Other	7	11.3%

Note: The word carries two senses in KJV rendering — active (one who believes/trusts) and passive (one who is trustworthy/reliable).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Timothy	10	8.8
3 John	1	7.1
Titus	3	6.5
Colossians	4	4.2
2 Timothy	3	3.6
2 Thessalonians	1	2.1
Revelation	8	2.0
1 Peter	2	1.9
Hebrews	5	1.7
Ephesians	2	1.3
1 Corinthians	5	1.1
1 Thessalonians	1	1.1
1 John	1	1.0
2 Corinthians	2	0.8
Galatians	1	0.7
Luke	5	0.4
Acts	4	0.4
Matthew	3	0.3
John	1	0.1

Pattern: Heavily concentrated in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy especially) and Revelation. Rare in the Gospels — largely a post-resurrection, ecclesial term applied to believers and divine character.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Faithful as a Character Quality of Persons (Servants, Ministers, Disciples)¶

Applied to human beings who prove reliable in their responsibilities. - Matt 24:45 — "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household" - Matt 25:21 — "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things" - Luke 16:10 — "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much" - 2 Tim 2:2 — "Commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also"

2. God / Christ Described as Faithful (Divine Attribute)¶

πιστός as a divine title — God and Christ are reliable and keep their word. - 1 Cor 1:9 — "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord" - 1 Cor 10:13 — "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able" - 1 John 1:9 — "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" - Rev 19:11 — "He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True"

3. "Faithful Sayings" Formula (Pastoral Epistles)¶

A formulaic use — πιστὸς ὁ λόγος — affirming trustworthiness of a doctrinal statement. - 1 Tim 1:15 — "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" - 1 Tim 4:9 — "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation" - 2 Tim 2:11 — "It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him" - Titus 3:8 — "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly"

4. Believing / Those Who Believe (Active Sense)¶

Occasionally πιστός describes those who hold faith — believers as a class. - Acts 10:45 — "They of the circumcision which believed were astonished" (οἱ πιστοί) - Eph 1:1 — "To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus" - 1 Tim 4:12 — "Be thou an example of the believers" - 1 Tim 6:2 — "They that have believing masters, let them not despise them"

5. Christ as the Faithful Witness / Faithful High Priest¶

Christ's faithfulness as the foundation of the new covenant. - Rev 1:5 — "From Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead" - Rev 3:14 — "These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness" - Heb 2:17 — "A merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God" - Heb 3:2 — "Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
κύριος (kýrios)	G2962	15x (24%)	"faithful servant of the Lord" / "the Lord is faithful"
θεός (theós)	G2316	13x (21%)	"God is faithful"
πᾶς (pâs)	G3956	11x (18%)	"faithful in all things"
λόγος (lógos)	G3056	10x (16%)	"faithful saying / faithful word"
Χριστός (Christós)	G5547	9x (15%)	"faithful in Christ" / "faithful minister of Christ"
ἀδελφός (adelphós)	G80	8x (13%)	"faithful brother"
ἀγαπητός (agapētós)	G27	7x (11%)	"faithful and beloved"
ἀληθινός (alēthinós)	G228	5x (8%)	"Faithful and True" (divine title in Revelation)
δοῦλος (doûlos)	G1401	5x (8%)	"faithful servant"
μάρτυς (mártys)	G3144	4x (6%)	"faithful witness"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4100 πιστεύω (pisteuō) — verb: to believe, to trust; the most frequent faith word (119 vv)
G4102 πίστις (pistis) — noun: faith, belief, trust (201 vv)
G4104 πιστόω (pistóō) — verb: to make trustworthy, to confirm; rare (1 vv)
G571 ἄπιστος (apistos) — adjective: unbelieving, faithless; direct antonym (11 vv)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G4103.

Antonyms¶

G571 ἄπιστος (apistos) — alpha-privative opposite within the πισ-/faith family: unbelieving, faithless, untrustworthy; the clearest lexical counterpoint to πιστός.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
πίστις (pistis)	G4102	both → "faithful" or "faith" in some contexts	pistis is the noun (faith itself); pistós is the adjective (one characterized by faith or faithfulness)
ἀληθινός (alēthinós)	G228	both → "true" occasionally	alēthinós = genuine/real; pistós = reliable/trustworthy
ἄπιστος (apistos)	G571	both share "believing" by negation	apistos = unbelieving, faithless — direct antonym
אָמַן (ʼāman)	H539	both → "faithful"	aman = Hebrew root; pistós = the LXX/NT Greek equivalent — see trace

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
ʼāman (אָמַן)	H539	28x	24.22 — primary bridge
ʼêmûwn (אֵמוּן)	H529	3x	11.51
ʻêd (עֵד)	H5707	5x	9.78
tāmîm (תָּמִים)	H8549	3x	5.85
tsaddîq (צַדִּיק)	H6662	4x	5.51
ʼemeth (אֶמֶת)	H571	3x	5.14
chesed (חֶסֶד)	H2617	4x	5.06

Note: The dominant Hebrew source is H539 ʼāman — the root of amen. The LXX regularly renders ʼāman with πιστός (trustworthy/faithful) and πιστεύω (to believe/trust), establishing the conceptual bridge between OT covenant faithfulness and NT believing faith.