pistos describes dependable people and God, and can identify those who believe or characterize a reliable saying.

The dominant usage describes dependability in assigned conduct or in God’s stated action: servants, workers, and leaders are marked by it, while God is described as acting consistently with calling, promise, protection, and forgiveness. The same adjective also identifies people as believers and characterizes sayings or “sacred things” presented as reliable.

1. Dependable in duty or action · dominant

   The adjective marks people whose conduct can be relied upon in a task or relationship. In Luke 16:10 the APB renders the contrast between being so “in a very little” and “in much”; in Matthew 25:21 a slave has been so over a few things, and in 2 Timothy 2:2 men so described are entrusted to teach others.

   Luke 16:10Matthew 25:212 Timothy 2:21 Corinthians 4:2Colossians 4:71 Timothy 3:11
2. God’s dependable commitment · common

   When applied to God or the Lord, the adjective stands with actions that sustain confidence: in 1 Corinthians 10:13 the APB renders God as providing a way of escape, and in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 it renders the Lord as establishing and guarding the readers. Hebrews 10:23 connects the description with the one who promised, while 1 John 1:9 places it in the clause about forgiving and cleansing.

   1 Corinthians 10:132 Thessalonians 3:3Hebrews 10:231 John 1:91 Thessalonians 5:242 Timothy 2:13
3. Believers as a group · common

   Plural forms identify persons by their believing allegiance rather than specifying an assigned duty. In Acts 10:45 the APB calls those from the circumcision “The faithful,” and in 1 Timothy 4:12 it calls the group for whom Timothy is to be an example “the believers”; 1 Timothy 6:2 describes masters and beneficiaries within a brotherly relationship.

   Acts 10:451 Timothy 4:121 Timothy 6:21 Peter 1:21Colossians 1:2Revelation 17:14
4. Reliable statement or promised gift · occasional

   The adjective also characterizes a saying or things spoken of as dependable. In 1 Timothy 3:1 the APB renders the saying “trustworthy,” and 2 Timothy 2:11 introduces a conditional statement with “The word is faithful”; Acts 13:34 calls the promised “sacred things of David” “the faithful things.”

   1 Timothy 3:12 Timothy 2:111 Timothy 1:151 Timothy 4:9Acts 13:34

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “faithful” for persons, God, slaves, servants, and sayings, while it also uses “trustworthy” for a saying and “believers” for some plural personal uses. These renderings indicate the clauses’ presentation rather than a separate English equivalent in every occurrence.