ESTUDIO DE LA PALABRA GRIEGA
Patḗr (G3962) — Father in the Greek New Testament
πατήρ (patḗr) is the standard Greek word for 'father,' used in the New Testament for a literal male parent, ancestors, figurative originators or honored seniors, and—most theologically significant—for God the Father and the Father of Christ.
Significado de la palabra
πατήρ is the ordinary Greek noun for a 'father,' rendered in the KJV as 'father' or 'parent.' The lexicon entry notes it can refer literally to a male parent (Matthew 2:22; John 4:53), or in the plural to both parents (Hebrews 11:23), and is the regular LXX translation of Hebrew אָב.
In a broader sense πατήρ names ancestors and forefathers (Matthew 3:9; Luke 1:73; John 8:39), the originator or author of something (John 8:41-44; Romans 4:11-12, 16), and is used as an honorific title for seniors and teachers (Matthew 23:9; Acts 7:2; 1 John 2:13).
Most significantly, πατήρ is the standard title for God as Father, including the phrases 'your Father who is in heaven' (Matthew 5:16; 6:14; 7:11), and the application of 'Father' to Christ (John 5:20-23; Romans 15:6; 1 Peter 1:3).
Uso en las Escrituras
πατήρ appears 351 times across 309 distinct verses in the Greek New Testament, making it one of the most frequent family terms in Scripture. In the Gospels it is used for Herod's father (Matthew 2:22), Zebedee as the father of James and John (Matthew 4:21-22), and the crowd's appeal to Abraham as 'our father' (Matthew 3:9).
Theologically, Matthew 5-6 clusters the phrase 'your Father' in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:16, 48; 6:4, 6, 8, 14, 15), shaping how Jesus' disciples are to address and relate to God. Because the same word covers literal, ancestral, honorific, and divine senses, a reader must weigh the immediate context to decide which sense is in view in any given verse.
La palabra en detalle
- G3962 πατήρ, πατρός, -τρί, τέρα is declined with a fourth-century Classical stem pattern; it is the chief LXX equivalent of Hebrew אָב. The lexicon distinguishes (1) literal father, (2) ancestor/originator and an honorific for seniors, and (3) God as Father, with sub-categories covering the Father of created things, of all sentient beings, of men in covenant, and—most frequently in the NT—the Father of Christ. Of its 351 NT occurrences, the divine and Christological uses dominate the theological weight of the term.
Versículos de ejemplo
- Matthew 2:22 πατρός here is a literal 'father'—Herod, ruling in place of his own father—showing the everyday familial sense of πατήρ in the Gospels.
- Matthew 3:9 The crowd's claim 'We have Abraham to our father' uses πατήρ in the ancestral sense; the Baptist warns against relying on this biological-spiritual descent.
- Matthew 5:16 Here πατήρ shifts to its divine sense: the disciples' good works are to glorify 'your Father who is in heaven,' a recurring Matthean idiom built on this noun.
- Matthew 6:14 The phrase 'your heavenly Father' (ὁ πατὴρ ὁ οὐράνιος) uses πατήρ as God's title, tied here to the disciple's practice of forgiveness.
Preguntas frecuentes
Is πατήρ always about God?
No. The lexicon entry lists four main ranges: literal father, ancestor, figurative originator or honored senior, and God as Father. Only the last category is theological; the others are ordinary familial or honorific uses of the same noun.
How do I tell when πατήρ means God?
Look for clues such as 'in heaven,' 'heavenly,' vocative address in prayer, or the Son–Father relationship of Jesus. Passages like Matthew 5:16 and 6:14 make the divine sense explicit; Matthew 2:22 and 4:21-22 clearly refer to a human father.
Why does the KJV sometimes translate πατήρ as 'parent'?
The lexicon notes that the plural of πατήρ can refer to both parents, not just fathers. KJV uses 'parent' where the passage clearly intends a mother-and-father pair rather than a single male parent.