Bible Word Study
πεντήκοντα
pentēkonta · fifty
πεντήκοντα
fifty
Definition
The Greek word πεντήκοντα is a cardinal number meaning 'fifty'. It is used literally to denote the exact quantity of fifty, as in the fifty men arranged in groups at the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:14) or the fifty drachmas owed in a parable (Luke 16:6). It also appears in temporal contexts, signifying a period of fifty years, such as in the statement about Abraham's age in John 8:57 ('You are not yet fifty years old'). The word consistently carries this numerical value without symbolic alteration across its New Testament occurrences.
Biblical Usage
πεντήκοντα is used seven times in the New Testament, appearing in the Gospels and Acts. Its usage is consistently literal and numerical. In the Gospels, it quantifies people (Mark 6:40, Luke 9:14), monetary debt (Luke 16:6), and years of age (John 8:57, John 21:11). In Acts 13:20, it denotes a period of approximately fifty years during Israel's history. There are no metaphorical or symbolic uses; it functions purely as a specific numeral within narratives and teachings.
Etymology
πεντήκοντα is the Greek cardinal number for 'fifty'. It is derived from the Indo-European root *penkʷe- (five), related to the Greek word for five, πέντε (pente, G4002). The suffix '-κοντα' is a common ending for tens (compare εἴκοσι [eikosi] for twenty and ἑκατόν [hekaton] for one hundred). It is a cognate with the Latin 'quinquaginta' and shares the same numerical base as other Greek numbers in its decimal system.
Semantic Range
In the biblical world, the number fifty held cultural significance, most notably in the institution of the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10), where every fiftieth year was a time of liberty and restoration. While the New Testament uses of πεντήκοντα are primarily literal, a first-century Jewish reader might have subtly associated the number with themes of freedom, release, and God's provision from the Jubilee tradition, especially in contexts like debt (Luke 16:6) or abundant provision (John 21:11). πέντε (pente, G4002) — the cardinal number 'five', the root component of fifty. ἑκατόν (hekaton, G1540) — the cardinal number 'one hundred', a larger round number used for comparison or contrast in narratives.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). Concordance and morphology data are derived from the interlinear Bible.
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]