πέντε

five

Definition

The Greek word πέντε is a cardinal numeral meaning 'five'. It is used exclusively in its literal sense to denote the quantity five, with no extended metaphorical meanings in the New Testament. It appears in various contexts, such as counting objects like loaves and fish (Matthew 14:17, Mark 6:38), people like the five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:2), or units of money like talents (Matthew 25:15). Its usage is straightforward and consistent across all occurrences.

Biblical Usage

The word is used 33 times in the New Testament, primarily in the Gospels (especially Matthew) and Revelation. It consistently denotes the literal number five. Common contexts include the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:17, 19), parables involving quantities (e.g., the ten virgins in Matthew 25:2, the talents in Matthew 25:15-16, 20), and symbolic numbers in Revelation (e.g., the five months of torment in Revelation 9:5, 10). Its pattern is simply quantitative, whether describing people, objects, or periods of time.

Etymology

Derived directly from the ancient Greek πέντε (pente), meaning 'five'. It is a primary numeral with Indo-European roots, related to the Latin 'quinque', Sanskrit 'pañca', and English 'five'. Its form and meaning remained stable from classical through Koine Greek.

Semantic Range

In the biblical world, the number five sometimes carried symbolic weight, such as representing a modest or incomplete number (half of ten) or being associated with the Torah (the five books of Moses). However, in the New Testament passages where πέντε is used, it is almost always a simple, literal count without explicit symbolic intent imposed by the text itself. The cultural understanding was primarily numerical.

πεντάκις (pentakis, G3999) — an adverbial form meaning 'five times'. πέμπτος (pemptos, G3991) — an ordinal adjective meaning 'fifth'.

Word Details

Scripture References