Bible Dictionary
PRECEPT
A precept is an authoritative rule or command, especially a divine instruction setting forth human obligation before God.
Definition
A precept is an authoritative rule, command, or divine injunction setting forth a person’s obligation. It is an instruction intended to govern conduct.
Biblical Usage
The term represents commandments or authoritative instructions in Scripture, especially in the Psalms and other Old Testament passages. In the New Testament, the underlying word is generally translated “commandment.”
Historical Background
The English word comes from Latin for an instruction. Several Hebrew words and one Greek word are translated “precept” in older English versions, while later versions often use “commandment.”
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>pre'-sept: A commandment, an authoritative rule for action; in the Scriptures generally a divine injunction in which man's obligation is set forth (Latin praeceptum, from praecipere, "to instruct").</p><p>Four words are so rendered in the King James Version:</p><p>(1) mitswah, very frequently (168 times) translated "commandment," but 4 times "precept" (in the Revised Version (British and American) only Jer 35:18; Da 9:5);</p><p>(2) from the same root is tsaw, or tsaw (Isa 28:10,13);</p><p>(3) piqqudhim, only in the Psalms (21 times in Ps 119, e.g. verses 4,15,27; also the Revised Version (British and American) Ps 19:8; 103:18; 111:7);</p><p>(4) in the New Testament, entole, generally in the King James Version translated "commandment" (68 times), but twice "precept" (Mr 10:5; Heb 9:19; in both cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "commandment").</p><p>See COMMANDMENT.</p><p>D. Miall Edwards</p>