Extremely valuable
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G4186 describes something costly, precious, or of great value. Its three governed forms modify a pearl in Jesus' kingdom parable, Mary's nard in John 12, and the tested genuineness of faith in 1 Peter.
Reader summary
Full entry for πολύτιμος (G4186) · Open the biblical lexicon
G4186 describes something costly, precious, or of great value. Its three governed forms modify a pearl in Jesus' kingdom parable, Mary's nard in John 12, and the tested genuineness of faith in 1 Peter.
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include more precious (1), of expensive (1), very precious (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:46. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (1), John (1), Matthew (1).
G4186 describes something costly, precious, or of great value. Its three governed forms modify a pearl in Jesus' kingdom parable, Mary's nard in John 12, and the tested genuineness of faith in 1 Peter. The adjective identifies high value within each comparison; it does not say that price creates moral worth or that all three subjects are valuable in the same way.
In Matthew 13, a merchant sells all to obtain one very precious pearl within a parable about the kingdom of heaven. In John 12, Mary anoints Jesus with expensive perfume, Judas names a possible sale price, and Jesus places the act in relation to his burial. First Peter compares tested faith with perishable gold and says its genuineness is more precious. These passages can illuminate devotion, the kingdom, faith, and Christ's death, but none supplies a universal spending rule.
Costly-language must not become a fundraising weapon, a measure of spiritual worth, or permission to shame people with little money. John's narrative does not authorize contempt for the poor, and Mary's act does not create a fixed threshold for faithful giving. First Peter does not call trauma good or require people to remain in preventable danger so that faith can be tested. Responsible application protects voluntary consent, truthful finances, practical care for people in need, and safety from exploitation.
Three governed forms describe one very precious pearl, expensive nard used to anoint Jesus, and tested faith considered more precious than perishable gold.
He found one very precious pearl
The pearl's value serves a kingdom parable and must remain within that literary comparison.
Expensive perfume, made of pure nard
The adjective marks real cost in a scene Jesus connects with his burial.
More precious than gold
Faith's tested genuineness is compared with perishable gold and oriented toward Christ's revelation.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Value expressed through costliness or rarity; worth measured by monetary or material expense.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
of great value
Read verseof great value
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
πολύτιμος is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G4186 asks what a passage calls precious and why. Matthew's merchant recognizes one pearl of exceptional value inside a kingdom parable. Mary chooses expensive nard and anoints Jesus in a scene he interprets toward burial. First Peter tells tested believers that the genuineness of their faith is more precious than gold that still perishes. The shared adjective does not convert these texts into a fundraising scale or teach that the costliest gift is automatically the holiest.
Value is supplied by the kingdom, by Jesus and his approaching death, and by faith oriented toward his revelation. Application should honor voluntary devotion, protect people with limited means, care for those under trial, and reject pressure that measures belonging by money or pain.
John.12.3
Three adjective forms appear, each with a different morphology label. Matthew uses an accusative masculine singular form for the pearl. John uses a genitive feminine singular form modifying the perfume. First Peter uses a comparative nominative neuter singular form, more precious, for the genuineness of faith. Grammar and comparison clarify the relation, while the passage supplies the kind of value.
David's refusal to offer what costs him nothing in 2 Samuel 24 may illuminate voluntary costly worship, but it does not set a price rule for Mary's act. Wisdom texts that call wisdom more precious than jewels also show comparative value language, while each New Testament passage retains its own subject and argument.
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Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain