G1466 – egkrateia – ἐγκράτεια – an inner strength; fig. a discipline
- Strong’s ID:
- G1466
- Greek Word:
- ἐγκράτεια
- Transliteration:
- egkrateia
- Pronunciation:
- eng-krat’-i-ah
- Part of Speech:
- noun feminine
- Etymology:
- from G1468
- Usage Count:
- 4
- Search:
- Find “egkrateia” in the Bible (New Testament)
Equip God’s People Greek Lexicon
1) an inner strength
2) figuratively: a discipline
Word Picture:
In classical Greek, ἐγκράτεια was often used by stoic philosophers to represent mastery over their desires and passions. It was not about raw willpower alone, but their proclaimed ability to exercise dominion over impulses. This often leads to its translation as “self-control” or possibly even “self-mastery.”
In the context of its biblical usage, it shows that this “inner strength” doesn't come from our own power, but as a sign of spiritual maturity, where by the power of the Holy Spirit within us, our will and actions are aligned with God’s. (Romans 8:5–9; Galatians 5:22–23; 2 Peter 1:5–8; 1 Corinthians 9:25–27) So, the ”self-” prefix is sort of a misnomer, as it’s a “Spirit-led discipline” for us.
Equip God’s People Greek Lexicon © 2013–2025. All rights reserved.
Strong’s Greek Lexicon
from G1468; self-control (especially continence):—temperance.
Owing to changes in the enumeration while in progress, there were no words left for numbers 2717 and 3203–3302, which were therefore silently dropped out of the vocabulary and references as redundant.
Thayer’s Greek Definitions
1) self-control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites)
Thayer’s Definitions are as edited by the Online Bible of Winterbourne, Ontario. They removed the etymology, cross-references, and Greek phrases and changed some of Thayer’s Unitarian doctrinal positions concerning the work and person of Christ.