Genesis 1:31 · Symbol · Goodness
The Words Tov and Agathosyne
Tov in Hebrew and agathos with its noun agathosyne in Greek are the words Scripture uses for good and goodness, from the days of creation to the fruit of the Spirit.
The tree good for food in Genesis 2:9 and the psalmist's praise, You are good, carry one adjective.
And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
- The word
- טוֹב (tov), H2896
- First appears
- Genesis 1:31 “And God looked upon all that He had…”
Summary
The Bible's main word for good can mean pleasant to taste or see, right, or well off. The Greek word agathos has the same wide range. A third word names goodness as a mark of believers. A reader who knows the range can tell in each verse whether the writer means useful, pleasant or morally good.
- The adjective tov (H2896) stands 538 times in the Hebrew Bible, most often in Proverbs, Psalms and Ecclesiastes.
- Genesis 1 calls creation good seven times: six times with the verb, and the last time, very good, with the adjective.
- The two Greek words for good, agathos (G18) and kalos (G2570), stand 102 and 101 times in the New Testament.
- Jesus answers the man who calls Him good with the words, No one is good except God alone (Mark 10:18).
- Agathosyne (G19), goodness, stands four times, all in Paul's letters.
Scripture's Words for Good
A psalm uses two Hebrew words for good in one line, and Paul names goodness among the fruit of the Spirit.
Goodness is one of the values Scripture asks of God's people, and Scripture grounds it first in God, who is good and does good. The Bible teaches goodness through a small set of Hebrew and Greek words, and the sense of each word decides what a verse claims.
This word study asks which terms the two Testaments choose for what is good, how often each stands and what each means. It counts each term in the site's tagged text, follows tov from Genesis to the Psalms and agathos through the Gospels and Paul, and sets agathosyne beside its neighbour in the fruit of the Spirit. It closes with the fathers on Jesus' answer about who is good, and with Barnabas.
You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.The verse joins the adjective tov, You are good, to u-metiv, a participle of the verb yatav, You do what is good.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,Paul writes agathosyne, rendered goodness, directly after chrestotes, rendered kindness.
Where the Words Stand
The adjective tov stands in 35 books of the Hebrew Bible, and agathos in 21 books of the New Testament.
The adjective tov stands more often than the six other words of the table together.
| Word | Sense in the lexicon | Uses | Books with the most uses | A verse where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew | ||||
| tov, טוֹב, H2896, adjective | pleasant, good, welfare | 538 | Proverbs 62, Psalms 59, Ecclesiastes 52; 35 books in all | “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me” (Psalm 23:6) |
| yatav, יָטַב, H3190 | be good | 117 | Deuteronomy 19, Jeremiah 18, Genesis 11; 27 books in all | “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7) |
| tov, טוֹב, H2895, verb | be pleasing | 45 | Psalms 10, Genesis 7; 16 books in all | “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good” (Psalm 107:1) |
| tuv, טוּב, H2898 | goodness | 32 | Psalms 7, Genesis 4, Nehemiah 4; 13 books in all | “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you” (Exodus 33:19) |
| Greek | ||||
| agathos, ἀγαθός, G18 | good | 102 | Romans 21, Matthew 16, Luke 16; 21 books in all | “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21) |
| kalos, καλός, G2570 | properly beautiful, chiefly good | 101 | Matthew 21, 1 Timothy 16, Mark 11; 16 books in all | “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11) |
| agathosyne, ἀγαθωσύνη, G19 | goodness | 4 | Romans, Galatians, Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians, one use each | “all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Ephesians 5:9) |
agathos, ἀγαθός, G18, kalos, καλός, G2570, agathosyne, ἀγαθωσύνη, G19
The counts are those of the site's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, and a printed concordance may differ by a few. Some verses hold a word twice, so a word's uses can outnumber its verses.
Tov and agathos book by book2 figures
Proverbs, Psalms and Ecclesiastes hold 173 of the 538 uses of the adjective tov.
The thirty-five counts as a table
| Book | Uses |
|---|---|
| Proverbs | 62 |
| Psalms | 59 |
| Ecclesiastes | 52 |
| 1 Samuel | 37 |
| Genesis | 34 |
| Jeremiah | 34 |
| Deuteronomy | 27 |
| 1 Kings | 23 |
| 2 Chronicles | 23 |
| Esther | 22 |
| 2 Samuel | 21 |
| Isaiah | 13 |
| 2 Kings | 12 |
| Nehemiah | 12 |
| Job | 12 |
| Judges | 11 |
| Ezekiel | 9 |
| Joshua | 8 |
| 1 Chronicles | 8 |
| Numbers | 7 |
| Lamentations | 7 |
| Ezra | 6 |
| Exodus | 5 |
| Leviticus | 5 |
| Hosea | 4 |
| Amos | 4 |
| Micah | 4 |
| Ruth | 3 |
| Song of Solomon | 3 |
| Zechariah | 3 |
| Daniel | 2 |
| Jonah | 2 |
| Nahum | 2 |
| Joel | 1 |
| Malachi | 1 |
35 bars from zero, one for each book of the Hebrew Bible where the adjective tov (H2896) stands, in the order of their counts.
Romans holds 21 of the 102 uses of agathos, more than any other book of the New Testament.
The twenty-one counts as a table
| Book | Uses |
|---|---|
| Romans | 21 |
| Matthew | 16 |
| Luke | 16 |
| 1 Peter | 7 |
| Mark | 4 |
| Ephesians | 4 |
| 1 Timothy | 4 |
| Titus | 4 |
| John | 3 |
| Acts | 3 |
| Hebrews | 3 |
| 2 Corinthians | 2 |
| Galatians | 2 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 2 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 2 |
| 2 Timothy | 2 |
| Philemon | 2 |
| James | 2 |
| Philippians | 1 |
| Colossians | 1 |
| 3 John | 1 |
21 bars from zero, one for each book of the New Testament where agathos (G18) stands, in the order of their counts.
Tov from Creation to the Psalms
The tov family stands in the days of creation, in the LORD's goodness shown to Moses and in the Psalms.
Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.The tree good for food shows tov in its plain sense, and the same verse names the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”The LORD's goodness here is tuv, the noun of the family, and it passes before Moses as the LORD proclaims His name.
The Psalms join the words to the LORD Himself. Psalm 34:8 uses the verb in Taste and see that the LORD is good. The Greek of 1 Peter 2:3 gives the line with chrestos, kind, in the words now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. The study You Are Good, and You Do What Is Good is built on Psalm 119:68.
The King James renderings of tov and yatavStrong's dictionary, H2896 and H3190
Strong's dictionary lists the King James renderings of the adjective tov, among them beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, fair, fine, glad, good, graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, loving, merry, pleasant, precious, prosperity, sweet, wealth and welfare. For the verb yatav it lists, among others, be accepted, amend, benefit, find favour, be glad and please.
Agathos and Kalos Side by Side
The two Greek adjectives stand almost equally often, and one saying of Jesus uses both of a tree and its fruit.
Strong's dictionary defines kalos as properly beautiful but chiefly good, and Abbott-Smith's lexicon quotes Cremer, who held that kalos is related to agathos as the appearance to the essence.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.Jesus calls Himself the shepherd ho kalos twice in this verse, and the Berean text renders kalos good both times.
Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.Jesus calls the tree agathon and its fruit kalous in one sentence, and the Berean text renders both words good.
Cremer's line is one lexicographer's distinction, and a reader should hold it loosely, since one saying uses the two words of one tree and its fruit.
Agathosyne and the Doing-Good Words
Agathosyne names the goodness of believers and of the light, and five compound words name the doing of good.
Agathosyne is the noun built on agathos, and the site's count of it covers the New Testament alone.
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, brimming with knowledge, and able to instruct one another.Paul says the believers in Rome are full of agathosyne and sets it beside knowledge and the power to instruct one another.
for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.Agathosyne heads the three marks of the fruit of the light, with righteousness and truth.
To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith,The Berean text renders eudokian agathosynes as every good desire, so the noun stands inside the English word good.
Five compound words join agathos or kalos to a verb of doing, and they stand 14 times in 13 verses. Agathopoieo, to do good, takes 9 of them in Luke, 1 Peter and 3 John, and 1 Peter holds 6 of the 14.
Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”The testimony to His goodness translates agathourgon, doing good, a form of agathoergeo, and the verse names the goodness as rain from heaven and fruitful seasons.
agathopoieo, ἀγαθοποιέω
to do good
agathoergeo, ἀγαθοεργέω
to do good
agathopoiia, ἀγαθοποιΐα, and agathopoios, ἀγαθοποιός, G17
well-doing; a well-doer
kalopoieo, καλοποιέω
to do good
The lexicon in full1 table or figure, 1 quotation, 1 paragraph
The five doing-good wordsG15, G14, G16, G17, G2569
Luke and 1 Peter hold 10 of the 14 uses of the five compound words.
| Word | Sense in the lexicon | Uses | Books | A verse where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| agathopoieo, ἀγαθοποιέω, G15 | to do good | 9 | Luke 4, 1 Peter 4, 3 John 1 | “love your enemies, do good to them” (Luke 6:35) |
| agathoergeo, ἀγαθοεργέω, G14 | to do good | 2 | Acts 1, 1 Timothy 1 | “Instruct them to do good” (1 Timothy 6:18) |
| agathopoiia, ἀγαθοποιΐα, G16, and agathopoios, ἀγαθοποιός, G17 | well-doing; a well-doer | 2 | 1 Peter, one use each | “to praise those who do right” (1 Peter 2:14) and “continue to do good” (1 Peter 4:19) |
| kalopoieo, καλοποιέω, G2569 | to do good | 1 | 2 Thessalonians 1 | “do not grow weary in well-doing” (2 Thessalonians 3:13) |
Christ called goodnessJerome, on Ephesians 5:9
A Latin father read the three words of the verse as names of Christ.
“Christ himself is rightly called goodness, righteousness and truth. He is goodness in that he gives grace to those who believe in him, not according to their works but according to his mercy. He is himself righteousness in that he gives to each what he deserves. He is himself truth in that he is the one who knows the causes of all creatures and all things.”
Jerome · Commentary on Ephesians 5:9 · on Ephesians 5:9Patristic
2 Thessalonians 1:11, Acts 14:17, Jerome
Jesus Calls God Alone Good
Mark and Luke give Jesus' answer in the same words, and Matthew gives it as There is only One who is good.
“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one is good except God alone.Jesus uses agathos twice, first for the title the man gives Him and then for God alone.
The fathers read the answer as pointing the man to God as the source of all goodness.
Goodness belongs to God aloneGregory of Nazianzus, Oration 30
“The words, ‘None is good’ are a reply to the young ruler who was testing him and had borne witness to his goodness as a human being. Consummate goodness, he meant, belongs to God alone, though the word ‘good’ can be derivatively applied to human beings.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · Oration 30, on the Son 13 · on Mark 10:18Patristic
The Son is good as the Father is goodAmbrose of Milan, in the Catena Aurea
As Thomas Aquinas gathers him in the Catena Aurea on Luke 18:19, Ambrose of Milan wrote that "He does not deny that He is good, but points to God". He added that "if the Son is not excepted from God, surely neither is Christ excepted from good".
Goodness Beside Kindness
Paul set the two graces side by side, and readers ask whether they differ in manner or in substance.
Chrestotes is the Greek word for kindness.
Goodness may be stern, and kindness is gentleJerome, as Trench prints him
Jerome's Latin calls chrestotes benignitas and agathosyne bonitas. He wrote on Galatians 5:22 that goodness differs little from kindness, since it too stands ready to do good. He held that goodness can be sterner, potest bonitas esse tristior, and can do good with a brow furrowed by strict ways, while kindness is lenis, blanda, tranquilla, gentle, pleasant and calm. Richard Chenevix Trench printed the Latin in his Synonyms of the New Testament (New York, 1871, appendix a).
Against this reading, the site's lexicon gives chrestotes the first sense goodness, excellence, uprightness, at Romans 3:12, so the two words overlap.
The two words overlapAbbott-Smith; John Chrysostom
Abbott-Smith's lexicon gives chrestotes two senses, goodness, excellence, uprightness, and goodness of heart, kindness. John Chrysostom glossed the good man of Acts 11:24 with the Greek chreston in his Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles (Homily 25). He wrote, "By good man, I take it, he means one that is kind".
Against this reading, Paul names the two words one after the other in a list of nine, which suggests he meant two qualities.
Books to Read Next
Three works on the words, each free to read in full.
The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
James Strong · 1890
Its Hebrew and Greek dictionaries give a short definition of every word it numbers.
Read on archive.orgA Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament
G. Abbott-Smith · 1922
Its entries give each Greek word its senses with the New Testament verses for each sense.
Read on archive.orgSynonyms of the New Testament
Richard Chenevix Trench · 1871
Its appendix gives passages from Jerome, Augustine and other writers on words the lectures left out.
Read on archive.orgThe Word in a Life
Acts calls one man agathos, Barnabas, whom the church in Jerusalem sent to Antioch.
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.The verse joins aner agathos, a good man, to the fullness of the Holy Spirit and faith.
The story Barnabas, a Good Man tells the life the verse describes. Theophylact of Ohrid wrote on this verse in his Commentary on Acts, "It is not the same thing to say that God is good and that a man is good."
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- STEP Bible TBESH and TBESG glosses (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0), the Brief lexicon based on Abbott-Smith (1922), with the Strong's definitions (1890) the rows carry.
- The word-by-word morphology of the Hebrew and Greek text in the site's database.
- James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, with brief dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek words of the original (1890)
- Richard Chenevix Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner and Company, 1871, from the third London edition), appendix a, printing Jerome's Latin on Galatians 5:22.
- John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, Homily 25, on Acts 11:24, NPNF 1.11.
- Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts, on Acts 11:24.
- Jerome, Commentary on Ephesians, on Ephesians 5:9.
- Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 30, On the Son, 13, on Mark 10:18.
- Ambrose of Milan, on Luke 18:19, as Thomas Aquinas gathers him in the Catena Aurea.
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