Greek · G3056 · unreviewed
λόγος
Word
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λόγος G3056
Pronunciation lógos
What does λόγος (lógos) mean in the Bible?
λόγος (lógos) is a Greek word meaning "word". λόγος, -ου, ὁ (λέγω) [in LXX chiefly for דָּבָר, also for מִלָּה ,אֵמֶר, etc. Identifies the seed as the gospel proclamation. This term runs through the canonical themes of Kingdom, Messiah, Revelation.
Meaning
word
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Word embodying a conception or idea, not mere sound; in NT especially God's authoritative speech and teaching
IOf that by which the inward thought is expressed, Lat. oratio, sermo, vox, verbum.
1a word, not in the grammatical sense of a mere name (ἔπος, ὄνομα, ῥῆμα), but a word as embodying a conception or idea: Mat.8:8, Luk.7:7, 1Co.14:9, 19 Heb.12:19, al.
2a saying, statement, declaration: Mat.19:22 (T om.), Mrk.5:36 7:29, Luk.1:29, Jhn.2:22 6:60, Act.7:29, al.; with genitive attrib., Act.13:15, Rom.9:9, Heb.7:28, al.; of the sayings, commands, promises, etc., of teachers, Mat.7:24 10:14, Mrk.8:38, Luk.9:4, Jhn.14:24, al.; λ. κενοί, Eph.5:6; ἀληθινοί, Rev.19:9; πιστοί, Rev.22:6; esp. of the precepts, decrees and promises of God, ὁ λ. τ. θεοῦ, the word of God: Mrk.7:13, Jhn.10:35, Rom.13:9, 1Co.14:36, Php.1:14, al.; absol., ὁ λ., Mat.13:21, 22 Mrk.16:[20], Luk.1:2, Act.6:4, Heb.4:12, al.
3speech, discourse: Act.14:12, 2Co.10:10, Jas.3:2; opposite to ἐπιστολή, 2Th.2:15; disting, from σοφία, 1Co.2:1; ἀναστροφή, 1Ti.4:12; δύναμις, 1Co.4:19, 1Th.1:5; ἔργον, Rom.15:18; οὐδενὸς λ. τίμιον (not worthy of mention), Act.20:24; of the faculty of speech, Luk.24:19, 2Co.11:6; of the style of speech, Mat.5:37, 1Co.1:5; of instruction, Col.4:3, 1Pe.3:1; with genitive of person(s), Jhn.5:24 8:52, Act.2:41, al.; ὁ λ. ὁ ἐμός, Jhn.8:31; with genitive obj. (τ.) ἀληθείας, 2Co.6:7, Col.1:5, Jas.1:18; τ. καταλλαγῆς, 2Co.5:19; τ. σταυροῦ, 1Co.1:18; of mere talk, 1Co.4:19, 2o, Col.2:23, 1Jn.3:18; of the talk which one occasions, hence, repute: Col.2:23.
4subject-matter, hence, teaching, doctrine: Act.18:15, 2Ti.2:17, al.; esp. of Christian doctrine: Mat.13:20-23, Mrk.4:14-20 8:32, Luk.1:2, Act.8:4, Gal.6:6, 1Th.1:6, al.; with genitive of person(s), τ. θεοῦ, Luk.5:1, Jhn.17:6, Act.4:29, 1Co.14:36, I Jhn.1:10, Rev.6:9, al.; τ. Κυρίου, Act.8:25, 1Th.1:8, al.; τ. Χριστοῦ, Col.3:16, Rev.3:8; with genitive appos., Act.15:7; with genitive attrib., Heb.5:13.
6That which is spoken of (Plat., al.; V. Kennedy, Sources, 124), matter, affair, thing: Mat.21:24, Mrk.1:45 11:29, Luk.20:3, Act.8:21; of a matter in dispute, as a case or suit at law, Act.19:38; pl. (1Ma.7:33, al.), Luk.1:4.
IIOf the inward thought itself, Lat. ratio.
1reason,
aof the mental faculty (Hdt., Plat., al.): κατὰ λόγον, Act.18:14;
2account,
aregard: Act.20:24, Rec.;
breckoning: Php.4:15, 17; συναίρειν (which see) λ., Mat.18:23 25:19; in forensic sense, Rom.14:12, Heb.13:17, 1Pe.4:5; with genitive of thing(s), Luk.16:2; before περί, Mat.12:36, Act.19:40, 1Pe.3:15.
3proportion, analogy: Php.2:16 (Field, Notes, 193 f.).
Why This Word Matters
Identifies the seed as the gospel proclamation.
Affirms the enduring authority of Christ.
Refers to the proclaimed message of the kingdom. 1 Peter 1:13-25
Highlights the eternal authority of Christ’s declaration. 2 Timothy 2:14-19
Highlights the authoritative command of Christ. 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Identifies Jesus as eternal divine revelation. 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Establishes Christ's eternal divine identity. Wuest and Mounce help keep lexical nuance clear without weakening John's high Christology. Acts 6:1-7
Highlights Christ’s life-giving authority through speech. John 1:1-18
The apostles’ devotion to the word safeguards doctrinal clarity and gospel advance.
The gospel message entrusted to the church must be handled with accuracy and reverence.
Paul emphasizes that the gospel proclamation cannot be restricted or imprisoned by human authorities.
The content of preaching is God's revealed message, not human opinion.
Identifies the preached gospel as the enduring instrument of regeneration.
Identifies the Son as the personal self-revelation of God, eternal yet manifested in history.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 5:37 · Matt 28:15 · Mark 4:15 · Luke 4:32 · Luke 4:36 · Luke 5:15 · Luke 7:17 · Luke 8:11 · John 1:1 · John 1:14 · John 4:37 · John 6:60 · John 7:36 · John 8:37 · John 10:35 · John 12:38 68×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 24:35 · Mark 13:31 · Luke 21:33 · Luke 24:17 · Luke 24:44 · Acts 15:15 · Rev 17:17 · Rev 19:9 · Rev 21:5 · Rev 22:6 10×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 5:32 · Luke 1:2 · Luke 20:20 · Luke 22:61 · John 15:20 · John 17:20 · Acts 6:4 · Acts 14:12 · Acts 15:6 · Acts 15:27 · Acts 15:32 · Acts 18:15 · Acts 20:24 · Acts 22:22 · 1 Cor 1:17 · 1 Cor 2:1 28×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Matt 12:37 · Luke 1:4 · Luke 3:4 · Luke 6:47 · John 7:40 · John 19:13 · Acts 20:35 · 2 Tim 1:13 · Rev 22:19 10×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Matt 8:8 · Matt 8:16 · Matt 22:15 · Mark 10:22 · Mark 12:13 · Luke 1:29 · Luke 7:7 · Luke 24:19 · John 2:22 · John 4:50 · John 8:31 · Acts 7:29 · Acts 8:21 · Acts 10:29 · Acts 14:3 · Acts 18:5 45×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Mark 10:24 · Luke 1:20 · Luke 4:22 · Luke 23:9 · Acts 2:40 · Acts 7:22 · Acts 15:24 · Rom 3:4 · 1 Cor 2:13 · Eph 5:6 · 1 Thess 4:18 · 1 Tim 4:6 · 1 Tim 6:3 · 2 Tim 4:15 · 2 Pet 2:3 · 3 John 1:10 16×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 12:32 · Matt 12:36 · Matt 13:19 · Matt 13:20 · Matt 13:21 · Matt 13:22 · Matt 13:23 · Matt 15:6 · Matt 15:12 · Matt 15:23 · Matt 18:23 · Matt 19:11 · Matt 19:22 · Matt 21:24 · Matt 22:46 · Matt 25:19 130×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Matt 7:24 · Matt 7:26 · Matt 7:28 · Matt 10:14 · Matt 19:1 · Matt 26:1 · Mark 8:38 · Luke 9:26 · Luke 9:28 · Luke 9:44 · John 10:19 · John 14:24 · Acts 2:22 · Acts 5:5 · Acts 5:24 · Acts 16:36 23×
Canonical Themes
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
Additional Occurrences
New Testament Witnesses
1 Peter 1:13-25 word lógos
message or proclaimed word
2 Timothy 2:14-19 Word lógos
message, word, proclamation
2 Timothy 2:8-13 Word lógos
message, word, proclamation
2 Timothy 4:1-5 Word lógos
message, word, proclamation
Acts 6:1-7 Word lógos Genitive · Singular · Masculine
Message or word, especially the gospel proclamation.
John 1:1-18 λόγος lógos Nominative · Singular · Masculine
divine self-expression
Appears In
Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.
1 Corinthians 1 — The Cross of Christ Against Boasting, Division, and Worldly Wisdom Acts 11 — Jerusalem Recognizes God’s Grace to the Gentiles Acts 12 — The Lord Delivers His Servant and Judges Proud Opposition Acts 13 — The Spirit Sends the Mission and the Word Turns to the Gentiles Acts 16 — The Gospel Enters Macedonia: Opened Hearts, Broken Chains, and Household Faith Acts 18 — The Lord Strengthens the Mission in Corinth and Beyond Acts 19 — The Word of the Lord Grows Mightily in Ephesus Acts 6 — Word Ministry, Servant Leadership, and Stephen’s Faithful Witness Acts 8 — The Scattered Church Carries Christ Beyond Jerusalem Colossians 3 — Raised with Christ: Putting Off the Old Life and Putting On the New Colossians 4 — Prayer, Wise Witness, Faithful Service, and Gospel Fellowship Ephesians 5 — Walking in Love, Light, Wisdom, and Spirit-Filled Order John 1 — The Word Made Flesh, Witnessed, and Followed John 12 — The Anointed King, the Lifted-Up Son of Man, and the Hour of Glory John 14 — The Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Father Revealed in the Son, and the Promise of the Spirit John 15 — The True Vine, Abiding Fruitfulness, Christlike Love, and the World’s Hatred John 17 — The Son’s High Priestly Prayer: Glory, Preservation, Sanctification, Unity, Mission, and Love John 21 — The Risen Lord Restores, Commissions, Shepherds, and Testifies through His Witness John 4 — Living Water, True Worship, and the Savior of the World John 8 — The Light of the World, True Freedom, and the I AM Before Abraham Luke 1 — The Promised Savior Announced in the Fullness of Time Luke 16 — Faithful Stewardship, the Danger of Wealth, and the Finality of Judgment Luke 5 — The Authority of Jesus to Call, Cleanse, Forgive, and Make New Luke 8 — The Word Heard, the Kingdom Revealed, and the Lord’s Authority Displayed Mark 13 — Watch and Endure: Temple Judgment, Gospel Witness, Tribulation, the Son of Man, and Readiness Mark 2 — The Son of Man Has Authority: Forgiveness, Fellowship, and Lordship Mark 4 — The Mystery of the Kingdom: Hearing, Fruitfulness, and the Lord over the Storm Mark 7 — True Defilement and Boundary-Crossing Mercy Matthew 12 — The Lord of the Sabbath, the Servant of the Lord, and the Crisis of Unbelief Matthew 13 — The Kingdom in Parables: Hearing, Hiddenness, Growth, Worth, and Judgment Matthew 15 — Tradition, the Heart, Gentile Faith, and the Compassionate Bread of the Messiah Matthew 18 — Kingdom Humility, Care for the Little Ones, Discipline, and Forgiveness in Christ’s Community Matthew 24 — The Olivet Discourse: Temple Desolation, Coming Judgment, the Son of Man, and Watchful Readiness Matthew 25 — Readiness, Stewardship, and the Final Judgment of the Son of Man Matthew 8 — The Authority of Jesus over Uncleanness, Sickness, Discipleship, Storms, and Demons Philippians 2 — The Mind of Christ and the Humility of Gospel Witness Philippians 4 — Rejoicing, Peace, Contentment, and Gospel Partnership in Christ Romans 14 — Receiving One Another, Honoring the Lord, and Pursuing Peace in Matters of Conscience Romans 15 — Bearing with the Weak, Welcoming One Another, and Paul’s Priestly Mission to the Gentiles Romans 9 — God’s Faithfulness, Sovereign Mercy, and Israel’s Stumbling Over Christ
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain