📖 Biblical Definition
Greek hupakoe, obedience, literally hearing under — the NT term for the response of attentive hearing that issues in obedient action. The compound structure (hupo, under + akouo, to hear) carries the biblical sense of obedience as deferential listening: the obedient person is the one who places himself under the speaker's word and acts upon it. The NT lexicon of hupakoe is rich and integrated. Paul opens Romans with the phrase obedience to the faith (Romans 1:5, hupakoen pisteos); Paul closes Romans with the same phrase (Romans 16:26), bracketing the entire letter with the goal of his apostolic ministry: obedience to the faith among all nations. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the great Obedient One: he learned obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8); he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8); the great by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:19) anchors imputed-righteousness theology in Christ's active obedience to the Father. The believer's obedience is the response of faith to the gospel: through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). The patriarchal-Reformed reader recovers hupakoe as the integrated NT category: obedience as attentive hearing under the LORD's word, anchored in Christ's perfect obedience, worked in the believer by the Spirit, expressed in life-shaping covenantal fidelity to the LORD's revealed commands.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Greek hupakoe (G5218), obedience / attentive hearing-under; the NT category for response of faith expressed in obedient action; anchored in Christ's active obedience (Romans 5:19; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:8).
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HUPAKOE, Greek noun (G5218; obedience, attentive hearing) Literally hearing under; from hupakouo (G5219, to listen to, obey). The NT term for the response of attentive hearing that issues in obedient action. Paul opens and closes Romans with obedience to the faith (hupakoen pisteos; Romans 1:5; 16:26). Christ the great Obedient One: he learned obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8); obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8); by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:19, the active-obedience-of-Christ anchor for imputed righteousness). Believer's obedience as Spirit-worked fruit of regeneration: 1 Peter 1:2.
📖 Key Scripture
Romans 5:19 — "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
Philippians 2:8 — "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Hebrews 5:8 — "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."
Romans 1:5 — "By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. The principal contemporary mishandling is the easy-believism severance of saving faith from genuine hupakoe — treating faith without obedience as a saving option.
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Hupakoe as a Greek term does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal contemporary mishandling is the easy-believism severance of saving faith from genuine obedience: a profession of faith without corresponding obedience is treated as a saving option, and the call to obedient discipleship is dismissed as legalism. The NT teaching is precise: saving faith is obedience to the faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26); the obedient believer is the one whom Christ called His friend (John 15:14, ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you); James 2:14-26 rules out the faith-without-obedience profession as dead faith. The Reformed-confessional doctrine of saving faith (Westminster XIV; Heidelberg Q. 21) integrates assent, trust, and obedience under the work of the Spirit; the patriarchal-Reformed reader holds the doctrine intact.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
G5218; from hupakouo (G5219); NT obedience-to-the-faith; Christ's active obedience.
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['Greek', 'G5218', 'hupakoe', 'obedience, attentive hearing']
['Greek', 'G5219', 'hupakouo', 'to listen under, obey (verbal root)']
['Greek', 'G191', 'akouo', 'to hear (base verb)']
Usage
"Hupakoe: obedience as attentive hearing-under the LORD's word."
"Christ's active obedience anchors imputed righteousness (Romans 5:19)."
"Believer's obedience is Spirit-worked fruit of regeneration (1 Peter 1:2)."