pistis · faith

What it means

pistis (πίστις) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “faith”.

Firm trust in God; also faithfulness.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Truly trusting in God or in Jesus.
2. "The faith": what is believed.
3. Being trustworthy, keeping one's word.
4. A proof that gives confidence.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Faith: firm trust. Abbott-Smith and Thayer also give the senses of belief, conviction, “the faith” (what is believed) and faithfulness. It comes from πείθω, “persuade, trust” (G3982). Its adjective is πιστός, faithful or believing (G4103).

• A person's faith Matthew 8:10Mark 5:34
• Living by faith Romans 1:17Hebrews 11:1
• The faithfulness of God Romans 3:3
• “The faith”: what is believed Jude 1:3
• A guarantee, proof Acts 17:31

How we translate it

“Faith” 237 times, “faithfulness” 4, “assurance” 1. This edition's glossary sets “faith” and allows “faithfulness” when it is someone's quality (Romans 3:3: “the faithfulness of God”). In Acts 17:31 it is translated “assurance”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• faith ×237
• faithfulness ×4
• assurance ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×8
• Mark×5
• Luke×11
• Acts×15
• Romans×39
• 1 Corinthians×7
• 2 Corinthians×7
• Galatians×22
• Ephesians×8
• Philippians×5
• Colossians×5
• 1 Thessalonians×8
• 2 Thessalonians×5
• 1 Timothy×19
• 2 Timothy×8
• Titus×6
• Philemon×2
• Hebrews×32
• James×16
• 1 Peter×5
• 2 Peter×2
• 1 John×1
• Jude×2
• Revelation×4

• Matthew 8:10

  Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

• Matthew 9:2

  And look, they were bringing to him a paralytic lying on a bed. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, child; your sins are forgiven.”

• Matthew 9:22

  Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Take courage, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

• Matthew 9:29

  Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be done for you.”

• Matthew 15:28

  Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

• Matthew 17:20

  And he says to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

• Matthew 21:21

  And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

• Matthew 23:23

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe the mint and the dill and the cumin, and you have left aside the weightier things of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without leaving aside those.

• Mark 2:5

  And Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralyzed man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

• Mark 4:40

  And he said to them, “Why are you cowards? Do you still not have faith?”

• Mark 5:34

  And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

• Mark 10:52

  And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” And at once he regained his sight and was following him on the way.

• Mark 11:22

  And Jesus answers them, “Have faith in God.

• Luke 5:20

  And seeing their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

• Luke 7:9

  And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

• Luke 7:50

  And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

• Luke 8:25

  And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And being afraid, they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”

• Luke 8:48

  And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

• Luke 17:5

  And the apostles said to the Lord, “Add faith to us!”

• Luke 17:6

  And the Lord said, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

• Luke 17:19

  And he said to him, “Get up and go; your faith has saved you.”

• Luke 18:8

  I tell you that he will bring about justice for them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?”

• Luke 18:42

  And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your faith has made you well.”

• Luke 22:32

  but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

• Acts 3:16

  And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong; and the faith that comes through him has given him this complete health in the presence of all of you.

• Acts 6:5

  And the matter pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch,

• Acts 6:7

  And the word of God kept growing, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was multiplying greatly, and a great crowd of the priests were obeying the faith.

• Acts 11:24

  for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large crowd was added to the Lord.

• Acts 13:8

  But Elymas the magician (for that is how his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

• Acts 14:9

  This man heard Paul speaking; and he, staring at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

• Acts 14:22

  strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to remain in the faith, and saying that through many afflictions we must enter into the kingdom of God.

• Acts 14:27

  And when they arrived and gathered together the assembly, they reported all that God had done with them, and that he had opened to the nations a door of faith.

• Acts 15:9

  and he made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

• Acts 16:5

  So the assemblies were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number daily.

• Acts 17:31

  because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the inhabited world in righteousness, by a man whom he has appointed, having given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

• Acts 20:21

  testifying to both Jews and Greeks of the change of mind toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

• Acts 24:24

  And after some days Felix, coming with Drusilla, his wife, who was Jewish, sent for Paul and heard him about faith in the Messiah Jesus.

• Acts 26:18

  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me.’

• Romans 1:5

  through whom we received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith among all the nations for the sake of his name,

• Romans 1:8

  First, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed in the whole world.

And 202 more times.