{"id":5092,"date":"2006-10-26T16:19:52","date_gmt":"2006-10-26T21:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=5092"},"modified":"2024-11-25T20:04:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T02:04:15","slug":"can-you-explain-the-difference-between-heautou-and-idios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-the-difference-between-heautou-and-idios\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you explain the difference between heautou and idios?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I would like to ask for your insight. I am trying to understand two Greek words better. As I was doing a Google search I came upon your website and read many of your articles. I also noticed your apparent love for Greek word studies.<\/p>\nHere are the two Greek words I am trying to gain a better understanding of:
\n– heautou (Strongs #1438)
\n– idios (Strongs #2398)\n

I would greatly appreciate your understanding of these words and if there is any subtle difference between them.<\/p>\n

I have many questions regarding Greek words and the differences between them. There can be several Greek words translated into the same English word. Without knowing the differences in Greek, I believe a lot of meaning and understanding can be lost. If you have any suggestions for a good online websites for Greek word studies that would help in this area it would be appreciated as well.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

While understanding Greek is not a requirement for understanding God’s word, seeing what was said in the original language does often add richness to one’s understanding. Over the years, I have collected a nice library of reference works, which spills over into my writings. For online resources, take a look at our Reference Material<\/a> page. Several sources for Greek courses, discussion lists, and the like are listed.<\/p>\n

heautou<\/em>\u00a0is a personal pronoun (third-person reflexive to get technical) meaning himself, herself, themselves, or itself, depending on the case ending. It is used most often in situations where something is acted upon one’s self. They can be internal, such as condemn, deceive, deny, exalt, examine, humble, justify, know, love, and trust. They also can be external, such as save, kill, gird, drink, and purify.<\/p>\n

Example: “for once he has\u00a0looked at himself\u00a0and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was<\/em>” (James 1:24). “H<\/em>ow much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit\u00a0offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?<\/em>” (Hebrews 9:14).<\/p>\n

In a few instances,\u00a0heautou<\/em> can express the idea of possessing a very personal thing. Usually, the translators will use the phrase “his own” in these cases. Hence, you will find verses speaking of his own life, his own body, his own soul, or his own wife.<\/p>\n

Example: “So husbands ought also to love\u00a0their own wives\u00a0as\u00a0their own bodies. He who loves\u00a0his own wife\u00a0loves himself<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:28). The first three are references to possession, and the last is a reference to action upon self. However, notice that there is still the idea that what is being acted upon is seen as a very personal possession. Love is applied to one’s own body and one’s own wife.<\/p>\n

idios<\/em>\u00a0is a possessive pronoun meaning that it belongs to the person, especially as opposed to a group. There is no action or idea being applied to the person or his very personal possession; it simply indicates possession.<\/p>\n

Example: “For each one shall bear\u00a0his own load<\/em>” (Galatians 6:5). Here the load must be born by me, personally, as it belongs to me.\u00a0heautou<\/em>\u00a0would not fit in this case because the load is not me or strongly associated with me.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I would like to ask for your insight. I am trying to understand two Greek words better. As I was doing a Google search I came upon your website and read many of your articles. I also noticed your apparent love for Greek word studies. Here are the two Greek words I am trying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-5092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5090,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-i-corinthians-72-imply-polygyny\/","url_meta":{"origin":5092,"position":0},"title":"Does I Corinthians 7:2 imply polygyny?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello I stumbled on a website about polygyny being biblical still, which stunned me. \u00a0It's not the only one out there promoting this.\u00a0 The author claimed his insight came from I Corinthians 7:2 when two different words are used to show possession of respective spouses. The words are: heautou\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-greek-word-translated-himself-in-james-127-also-be-translated-themselves\/","url_meta":{"origin":5092,"position":1},"title":"Can the Greek word translated “himself” in James 1:27 also be translated “themselves”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While reading a book by Basil Overton, I ran across this argument, \"Some have argued that the church cannot help orphans but the individual Christians must do this. They say James 1:27 is addressed to the 'individual. James 1:27 is not addressed to the individual. \"Himself\" of the text\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16033,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-tell-when-a-word-in-the-new-testament-actually-has-an-article-in-front-of-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":5092,"position":2},"title":"How can I tell when a word in the New Testament actually has an article in front of it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I don't know how to begin without being wordy, so here goes. How do you know when the definite article (the) is in front of a word in Greek? I have the Online Bible program that has Strongs in its King James Version. I was wanting to check more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87351,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-this-a-good-way-to-do-a-word-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":5092,"position":3},"title":"Is this a good way to do a word study?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been working on a personal Greek word study structure because I want to gain a deeper understanding of the original meanings of biblical words. I've created a layout for how I approach these studies, and I'd appreciate your feedback.\u00a0This is what I have so far, and I'd love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39665,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-language-was-the-new-testament-written-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":5092,"position":4},"title":"What language was the New Testament written in?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the real Greek of the New Testament? Koine Greek or Aramaic? Wikipedia says suggests it is Aramaic Greek, but I was taught it was Koine Greek but you can find many websites that say it was Koine Greek, this has become very confusing to me. Which is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65092,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/its-in-the-greek\/","url_meta":{"origin":5092,"position":5},"title":"It’s in the Greek","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin As we study and discuss the New Testament there is sometimes a reference made to things that are contained in the original language. Someone will mention that \"the Greek says\" this or that. It's not a bad thing to try to understand something about the meaning of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}