Definition

also deon deh-on'; neuter active participle of the same; both used impersonally; it is (was, etc.) necessary (as binding)

Etymology

3rd person singular active present of G1210 (δέω);

Where the KJV renders it

• behoved
• be meet
• must (needs)
• (be) need(-ful)
• ought
• should

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.