WG — Faith / Belief¶
Concept Overview¶
The faith word group centers on πίστις (pistis) and its cognates, covering the full semantic range of believing, trusting, and being faithful. In the NT, this cluster appears most densely in Paul's justification theology (Romans, Galatians) and the Hebrews 11 faith catalogue.
Group Members¶
| Word | Strong's | POS | Role | Occurrences | Library Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| πίστις (pistis) | G4102 | noun | The state/act of faith | 243 | G4102 |
| πιστεύω (pisteuō) | G4100 | verb | To believe, trust | 248 | G4100 |
| πιστός (pistos) | G4103 | adj | Faithful, trustworthy | 67 | TODO(need G4103 study) |
| ἀγάπη (agapē) | G26 | noun | Love (paired companion) | 116 | G26-agape |
| δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) | G1343 | noun | Righteousness (received by faith) | 92 | G1343-dikaiosyne |
| ἐλπίς (elpis) | G1680 | noun | Hope (triad companion) | 54 | G1680-elpis.md |
| ἀπιστία (apistia) | G570 | noun | Unbelief (antonym) | 12 | G570 |
Pairwise Co-occurrence¶
| Word A | Word B | Shared Verses | Notable Passages |
|---|---|---|---|
| pistis (G4102) | agapē (G26) | 24x | Eph 6:23, 1 Tim 1:14, 1 Th 1:3 |
| pistis (G4102) | dikaiosynē (G1343) | 17x | Rom 9:30, Phil 3:9, Rom 1:17 |
| pistis (G4102) | pisteuō (G4100) | 8x | Gal 2:16, Acts 14:27, Rom 4:5 |
| pistis (G4102) | elpis (G1680) | 8x | 1 Cor 13:13, 1 Th 1:3, Heb 11:1 |
| pistis (G4102) | pistos (G4103) | 4x | Heb 11:11, 2 Th 1:3-4, 1 Tim 1:12 |
| pistis (G4102) | apistia (G570) | 4x | Rom 3:3, Rom 11:20-23 |
| pisteuō (G4100) | dikaiosynē (G1343) | 8x | Rom 4:3-5, Rom 10:4-10 |
| agapē (G26) | elpis (G1680) | 4x | 1 Cor 13:13, Col 1:4-5, 1 Th 1:3 |
Semantic Relationships¶
Core (Cognate Family)¶
πείθω (peithō, G3982) — root: "to persuade"
├── πίστις (pistis, G4102) — noun: faith, trust, belief
├── πιστεύω (pisteuō, G4100) — verb: to believe, trust
├── πιστός (pistos, G4103) — adj: faithful, believing
├── πιστόω (pistoō, G4104) — verb: to assure (hapax)
└── Negatives:
├── ἀπιστία (apistia, G570) — noun: unbelief
├── ἄπιστος (apistos, G571) — adj: unbelieving
└── ὀλιγόπιστος (oligopistos, G3640) — adj: of little faith
Theological Companions¶
- ἀγάπη (agapē) — love; paired with pistis in the Pauline triad (1 Cor 13:13) and as the expression of faith (Gal 5:6 "faith which worketh by love")
- ἐλπίς (elpis) — hope; the third member of the triad; faith is present trust, hope is future expectation
- δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) — righteousness; the result received through faith (Rom 9:30 "the righteousness which is of faith")
Contrastive¶
- ἀπιστία (apistia) — the direct antonym; absence of faith (Rom 3:3 "shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?")
- νόμος (nomos, G3551) — law; the other basis for righteousness, set in opposition to pistis (Rom 3:27-28; Gal 3:11-12). See WG-law.
Key Intersection Verses¶
- 1 Cor 13:13 — pistis + agapē + elpis: "now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three"
- Gal 5:6 — pistis + agapē: "faith which worketh by love"
- Rom 9:30 — pistis + dikaiosynē: "the righteousness which is of faith"
- Rom 3:3 — pistis + apistia: "shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?"
- Heb 11:1 — pistis + elpis: "faith is the substance of things hoped for"
Generated from: strongs_translations.db co-occurrence analysis, louw_nida.db Last updated: 2026-03-31