Sense: do gooder
n. — a person who performs morally admirable deeds.
or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right [ἀγαθοποιός].
1 Peter 2:14 (NRSV)
Today’s sense is one for which we only have a single reference, 1 Peter 2:14. So what happens if we want to ask what “do gooders” or what “those who do right” are like? The Bible Sense Lexicon hierarchy allows us to examine this question further. We find the following sister terms to “do gooder” in the BSL hierarchy:
Perhaps we might decide to look at the concept of the “upright person.” All of its examples are in the Hebrew Bible, since several English translations such as the NRSV, NASB, and NIV render ἀγαθοποιός as “those who do right.” Thus, where we might have felt like our analysis had reached a stopping point for this rare word, we can explore the concept further.
What is the Bible Sense Lexicon?
Sense of the Day is based on content from Logos’ Bible Sense Lexicon, which organizes biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words by meaning based on a variety of semantic relationships. Sense of the Day provides examples of senses in context, along with insight into their application for theology and interpretation.
The Bible Sense Lexicon is a Logos dataset available in Logos 5 Gold and higher base packages. If you’re enrolled in the Logos Academic Discount Program, you can also find the Bible Sense Lexicon in the Biblical Languages base package. Take your studies even further by exploring semantic domains, engaging the biblical text like never before.
Learn more about the Bible Sense Lexicon.