What does ἐγκράτεια (enkráteia) mean in the Bible?
Ἐγκράτεια means self-control or restraint. The local artifact records four noun forms in three verses because Second Peter 1:6 repeats the noun.
Greek · G1466
ἐγκράτεια
Self-control (especially continence)
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ἐγκράτεια G1466
Pronunciation enkráteia
What does ἐγκράτεια (enkráteia) mean in the Bible?
Ἐγκράτεια means self-control or restraint. The local artifact records four noun forms in three verses because Second Peter 1:6 repeats the noun.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐγκράτεια (G1466) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1466?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include self-control (3), [and] self-control (1).
Where does ἐγκράτεια (enkráteia) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 24:25. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Peter (2), Acts (1), Galatians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Ἐγκράτεια means self-control or restraint. The local artifact records four noun forms in three verses because Second Peter 1:6 repeats the noun. Galatians 5:23 includes self-control in the fruit produced by the Spirit within a passage that contrasts the works of the flesh with walking by the Spirit. Acts 24:25 says Paul reasoned with Felix about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.
Second Peter 1:5-7 places self-control between knowledge and perseverance in a call to diligent growth grounded in God's prior gift of what is needed for life and godliness. These passages join divine provision and responsible practice. The noun does not praise emotional numbness, authorize another person to control someone's choices, or imply that struggles with addiction, trauma, appetite, or impulse can always be resolved by private willpower.
How the Bible Uses It
G1466 appears as four noun forms in three verses: Galatians 5:23, Acts 24:25, and twice in Second Peter 1:6. Related adjectives and verbs may illuminate the theme but are not occurrences of this noun.
- Gal.5.23
Gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Self-control belongs to the singular fruit of the Spirit and must be read with Paul's calls to walk by the Spirit and not gratify the flesh. The list's order does not establish a rank or stage sequence.
- Acts.24.25
As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”
Paul's reasoning places self-control within moral accountability before God. Luke records Felix becoming frightened, but the narrative does not isolate self-control as the cause.
- 2Pet.1.6
And to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
The repeated noun links knowledge, self-control, and perseverance within a larger call to growth. Verses 3 and 5 keep God's provision and the believers' diligence together.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It self-control 3× Acts 24:25, 2 Peter 1:6
[and] self-control 1× Galatians 5:23
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 24:25
Aligned rows 4
Books represented 3
Acts 1 Galatians 1 2 Peter 2
Source forms
ἐγκρατείᾳ 1x enkrateia 2 Peter 1:6
ἐγκράτεια 1x enkrateia Galatians 5:23
ἐγκράτειαν 1x enkrateian 2 Peter 1:6
ἐγκρατείας 1x enkrateias Acts 24:25
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 1x 2 Peter 1:6
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 1x 2 Peter 1:6
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 1x Acts 24:25
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x Galatians 5:23
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Spirit-produced self-control and deliberate practice belong together, but neither permits shame toward people who need structured recovery, clinical care, or patient communal support.
- Self-control governs one's own conduct; it is not permission to control another person's conscience, body, money, relationships, or access to safety.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that 'against such things there is no law' places anyone beyond accountability or correction.
- Do not claim that the last position in the fruit list makes self-control least important, most advanced, or the list's climax.
- Do not claim that a visible struggle proves the Spirit is absent or that willpower alone is the prescribed remedy.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Self-control as active mastery over one's desires and impulses, not mere restraint.
Strong's G1466
Lexical occurrences 4 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 4 forms 4 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 24:22-27 Source Gloss
self-control (especially continence)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 24:25 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐγκρατείας egkrateiav
self-mastery, self-control
Read verse Galatians 5:23 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
ἐγκράτεια· egkrateia
self-mastery, self-control
Read verse 2 Peter 1:6 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐγκράτειαν, egkrateian
self-mastery, self-control
Read verse 2 Peter 1:6 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἐγκρατείᾳ egkrateia
self-mastery, self-control
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 4 Aligned forms 4 Case pattern Accusative (1) Number pattern Singular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Gal 5:23 1×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Acts 24:25 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine 2 Pet 1:6 1×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine 2 Pet 1:6 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Mastery over one’s desires.
Showing 1 selected witness from 4 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐγκράτεια is built from this root:
ἐγκρατής G1468
Why This Word Matters
Highlights ethical transformation demanded by the gospel. Acts 24:22-27
For the Preacher and Teacher
Galatians identifies self-control as the Spirit's fruit, while Second Peter calls believers to diligent growth and Acts places the virtue under coming judgment. These emphases are complementary. Christian self-control is neither autonomous mastery nor passive waiting. It is responsive, accountable practice within God's enabling grace. Its aim is not emotional suppression, public respectability, or superiority over people whose struggles are visible.
It serves love, faithfulness, perseverance, and truthful stewardship of one's body and choices. Teaching must also distinguish self-control from control imposed by others. A leader cannot claim this noun as permission to manage another adult's conscience, finances, medical care, relationships, or safety. People facing addiction, trauma, disordered eating, compulsions, or neurological limitations may need structured help and patient community.
Seeking such help can be an exercise of responsible self-control rather than evidence that the Spirit is absent.
Anchor passage
Gal.5.23
Doctrinal connections
- G1939 Epithumia — desire/craving; the antithetical concept; egkrateia is the governance of what epithumia drives
- G4561 Sarx — flesh; the flesh produces its works without restraint; the Spirit's fruit includes the self-mastery the flesh cannot provide
- G4151 Pneuma — Spirit; egkrateia is specifically a fruit of the Spirit, not a human achievement; Spirit-dependence is its ground
- G5281 Hupomone — patient endurance; paired with egkrateia in 2 Pet 1:6; together they describe the character that holds steady under both temptation and pressure
- G3809 Paideia — discipline, training; Heb 12:11 — 'no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful; later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness'; the training dimension of self-control
- Prov.16.32 — 'Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city'; the OT wisdom tradition on inner mastery as greater than military conquest
The local morphology records four noun forms in three verses because Second Peter 1:6 uses ἐγκράτεια twice. The established gloss self-control is safer than deriving a supposedly literal meaning from word parts. Related forms in First Corinthians and Titus are cognates, not additional occurrences of G1466.
From Old to New Testament
Proverbs commends patience, restraint of anger, guarded speech, and mastery over destructive desire. Those themes offer canonical parallels, but G1466's meaning and theological role come from its three New Testament verses rather than from assigning the Greek noun to every restrained biblical character.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain