Definition

to owe (pecuniarily); figuratively, to be under obligation (ought, must, should); morally, to fail in duty

Etymology

probably from the base of G3786 (ὄφελος) (through the idea of accruing);

Where the KJV renders it

• behove
• be bound
• (be) debt(-or)
• (be) due(-ty)
• be guilty (indebted)
• (must) need(-s)
• ought
• owe
• 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.