What is the definition of piety?

Answer  
  

The term *piety* usually refers to godliness or [reverence for God](reverence-for-God.html). A person who shows great devotion to God through religious observance is said to be “pious.”  
  

Today, *piety* often carries a vaguely negative connotation, evidenced by the secondary definition provided by one dictionary: “a belief that is accepted with unthinking conventional reverence—the accepted pieties of our time.” It’s the “unthinking” part of this definition that does disservice to true piety. Historically and technically, *piety* still indicates the quality of being holy, religiously devout, or reverent.  
  

Various translations have used *piety* in different ways:  
  

\- The [NIV](New-International-Version-NIV.html) translates a Hebrew idiom that might otherwise be translated “the fear \[or reverence] of the Lord” as “piety” in Job 4:6; 15:4; and 22:4\.   
  

\- The [NRSV](New-Revised-Standard-Version-NRSV.html) uses “piety” for a Greek word usually translated “righteousness” in Matthew 6:1\. It is also the translation for *eusebeia*, a Greek term for “reverence,” in Acts 3:12\.  
  

\- The [NASB](New-American-Standard-Bible-NASB.html) also translates *eusebeia* in Acts 3:12 as “piety.” It does the same in Hebrews 5:7\. In 1 Timothy 5:4, *piety* is used to refer to one’s duty of caring for elderly family members.  
  

*Piety* implies aspects of reverence, external action, and religiosity, any of which may be well\-intended *or* used in a showy, inappropriate manner. Jesus warns against ostentatious shows of piety in Matthew 6:1–18\. Proper piety is characterized by godly behavior, and the end result is that God is glorified: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16\).  
  

