πτωχός (ptōⱪόs) — poor / destitute / of little or no value

Form 1

Part of speech: adjc.

Inflections: πτωχός; -ή, -όν

Related lemmas: πτωχεύω

Sense 1: poor, destitute

Semantic entry: 57.53

Semantic domains: Possess, Transfer, Exchange

Subdomains: Be Poor, Be Needy, Poverty

Definition: pertaining to being poor and destitute, implying a continuous state

Notes: See comments at 57.51: ἐνδεής.|Since in all societies there are poor people, there is no difficulty involved in finding a suitable expression to designate such persons, but in some languages idiomatic phrases are used, for example, ‘those who walk in rags’ or ‘those whose ribs are always showing.’

Show passage in OET: MAT 11:5

OET-RV MAT 11:5

5 people who were blind can see now, lame people are now walking, people with leprosy are ‘clean’, deaf people can now hear, dead people have been brought back to life, and the good message is being declared to poor people.

OET-LV MAT 11:5

5 blind are _receiving _sight, and lame are _walking, lepers are _being _cleansed, and deaf are _hearing, and dead are _being _raised, and poor are _being _good _message _preached.

Show passage in OET: MAT 19:21

OET-RV MAT 19:21

21 “If you want to be perfect,” answered Yeshua, “go and sell what you own and give to the poor, and then you’ll have treasure in the heavens. Then come and follow me.”

OET-LV MAT 19:21

21 The Yaʸsous was _saying to _him:
If you _are _wanting to _be perfect, be _going, sell the things possessing of _you and give to_the_poor and you _will _be _having treasure in the_heavens, and come, be _following after _me.

Jump to OET MAT 11:5 section.

Jump to OET MAT 19:21 section.

All 32 recorded passages for this sense

MAT: OET MAT 11:5 · OET MAT 19:21 · OET MAT 26:9 · OET MAT 26:11

MRK: OET MRK 10:21 · OET MRK 12:42–43 · OET MRK 14:5 · OET MRK 14:7

LUK: OET LUK 4:18 · OET LUK 6:20 · OET LUK 7:22 · OET LUK 14:13 · OET LUK 14:21 · OET LUK 16:20 · OET LUK 16:22 · OET LUK 18:22 · OET LUK 19:8 · OET LUK 21:3

JHN: OET JHN 12:5–6 · OET JHN 12:8 · OET JHN 13:29

ROM: OET ROM 15:26

CO2: OET CO2 6:10

GAL: OET GAL 2:10

JAM: OET JAM 2:2–3 · OET JAM 2:5–6

REV: OET REV 3:17 · OET REV 13:16

Sense 2: of little or no value, relatively worthless

Semantic entry: 65.16

Semantic domains: Value

Subdomains: Valuable, Lacking in Value

Definition: pertaining to being of inadequate or insufficient value

Notes: It is possible that πτωχός in OET GAL 4:9 refers to the contrast with that which is beneficial or useful, in which case the meaning of πτωχός in this context would be classified in Subdomain D Useful, Useless (Domain 65 Value).

Show passage in OET: GAL 4:9

OET-RV GAL 4:9

9 But now that you do know God, or rather now that God knows you, why would you turn back again to useless and inferior beliefs, to serve them all over again?

OET-LV GAL 4:9

9 on _the _other _hand now having _known god, and rather having _been _known by god, how are _you _all _turning _back back to the weak and poor principles, for _which again you _all _are _wanting to _be _serving again?
?

Jump to OET GAL 4:9 section.

Sense 3: to be humble

Semantic entry: 88.57

Semantic domains: Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Subdomains: Humility

Definition: (an idiom, literally: poor in spirit) pertaining to one who is humble with regard to his own capacities (in the one NT occurrence, namely, OET MAT 5:3, this humility is in relationship to God)

Notes: A literal translation of πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι may lead to serious misunderstanding, since ‘poor in spirit’ is likely to mean either ‘lacking in the Holy Spirit’ or ‘lacking in ambition or drive.’ In order to indicate clearly that this poverty or need is related in some way to spiritual realities, one may translate ‘happy are those who recognize their need of God.’

Collocations: πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι

Show passage in OET: MAT 5:3

OET-RV MAT 5:3

3 “Those who are poor in the spirit are blessed, because the heavenly kingdom is theirs.

OET-LV MAT 5:3

3 Blessed are the poor in _the spirit, because to _them is the kingdom of _the heavens.

Jump to OET MAT 5:3 section.

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

πτωχός

Form 1

Sense 1: poor, destitute

Sense 2: of little or no value, relatively worthless

Sense 3: to be humble