What does νομοδιδάσκαλος (nomodidáskalos) mean in the Bible?
G3547 names a teacher of the law. Its three governed forms occur in three different scenes.
Greek · G3547
νομοδιδάσκαλος
Teacher of the law
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νομοδιδάσκαλος G3547
Pronunciation nomodidáskalos
What does νομοδιδάσκαλος (nomodidáskalos) mean in the Bible?
G3547 names a teacher of the law. Its three governed forms occur in three different scenes.
Reader summary
Full entry for νομοδιδάσκαλος (G3547) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3547?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include teachers of the law (2), a teacher of the law (1).
Where does νομοδιδάσκαλος (nomodidáskalos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 5:17. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Timothy (1), Acts (1), Luke (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G3547 names a teacher of the law. Its three governed forms occur in three different scenes. Luke 5:17 introduces Pharisees and teachers of the law who have gathered while Jesus teaches and heals; the following verses narrate their reasoning when Jesus forgives and heals the paralyzed man. Acts 5:34 applies the title to Gamaliel, a Pharisee honored by all the people, before reporting his counsel to the Sanhedrin.
First Timothy 1:7 describes people who want to be teachers of the law but do not understand what they say or confidently assert. The title therefore identifies a role or aspiration without by itself approving or condemning the person who bears it. Each narrative or letter supplies the evaluation. The word also does not turn every scribe, rabbi, legal expert, pastor, or Bible teacher into the same office.
Teaching should honor the Jewish setting of the first two scenes, resist stereotypes about Jewish teachers or the law, and take Paul's warning against uninformed confidence seriously. A title, audience, or forceful manner does not establish faithful interpretation. At the same time, one false claim does not prove that a teacher is malicious or beyond correction.
Competence, character, evidence, and accountable handling of Scripture must be assessed rather than inferred from this noun alone.
Lexical sourcePassage contextBook context
How the Bible Uses It
The three occurrences identify teachers of the law in a healing controversy, a Sanhedrin deliberation, and a warning about uninformed teaching ambition.
- Luke.5.17
One day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. People had come from Jerusalem and from every village of Galilee and Judea, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.
The title identifies people present while Jesus teaches and heals. The following controversy concerns Jesus' authority to forgive and the reasoning of the scribes and Pharisees.
- Acts.5.34
But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a short time.
Luke reports Gamaliel's recognized standing and then his proposal concerning the apostles. The title alone neither canonizes every conclusion nor marks him as a villain.
- 1Tim.1.7
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
Paul criticizes would-be teachers for confident assertions without understanding, within a paragraph that contrasts speculation with love and the lawful use of the law.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It teachers of the law 2× Luke 5:17, 1 Timothy 1:7
a teacher of the law 1× Acts 5:34
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 5:17
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Luke 1 Acts 1 1 Timothy 1
Source forms
νομοδιδάσκαλοι 2x nomodidaskaloi Luke 5:17, 1 Timothy 1:7
νομοδιδάσκαλος 1x nomodidaskalos Acts 5:34
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x Luke 5:17, 1 Timothy 1:7
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Acts 5:34
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Evaluate a teacher's claims from Scripture, evidence, character, and accountable practice rather than title or confidence.
- Correct specific errors without turning a biblical warning into contempt for an ethnic or religious group.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim every teacher of the law in the three passages receives the same evaluation.
- Do not claim the noun itself means false teacher, rabbi, scribe, pastor, or legalist in every setting.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Specialist in Torah instruction, often associated with Pharisaic legal interpretation rather than scribal copying.
Strong's G3547
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 2 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 5:17 Source Gloss
teacher of the law
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Specialist in Torah instruction, often associated with Pharisaic legal interpretation rather than scribal copying.
a teacher of the law: Luk.5:17, Act.5:34, 1Ti.1:7 (NT and eccl. only; cf. νομοδείκτης, -διδάκτης, Plut.).
Synonymsγραμματεύς, q.v
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 5:17 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
νομοδιδάσκαλοι, nomodidaskaloi
a teacher and interpreter of the Mosaic Law
Read verse Acts 5:34 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
νομοδιδάσκαλος, nomodidaskalov
a teacher and interpreter of the Mosaic Law
Read verse 1 Timothy 1:7 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
νομοδιδάσκαλοι, nomodidaskaloi
a teacher and interpreter of the Mosaic Law
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 2 Aligned forms 3 Case pattern Nominative (3) Number pattern Plural (2)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Luke 5:17 · 1 Tim 1:7 2×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Acts 5:34 1×
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
Pharisaic experts in Jewish law present to observe and critique Jesus
Gamaliel, respected Pharisaic instructor advising the Sanhedrin on apostles
False teachers claiming authority in Torah without proper understanding or competence
Word Origins
νομοδιδάσκαλος is built from these roots:
For the Preacher and Teacher
Preach the title through all three scenes rather than making First Timothy erase Luke's other uses. In Luke 5, teachers of the law are present when Jesus teaches, forgives, and heals; the paragraph exposes contested reasoning and Jesus' authority, not a defect contained in the title itself. In Acts 5, Gamaliel's recognized standing introduces counsel that must still be read and assessed within Luke's narrative.
First Timothy 1 supplies the explicit warning: some desire to teach the law while failing to understand their own confident assertions. That warning reaches modern teachers without turning the verse into an anti-Jewish stereotype or a tool for silencing questions. Religious credentials, certainty, and visibility are not substitutes for comprehension, character, or accountability.
Yet correction should address demonstrable claims and conduct, not merely a disliked title or group identity. The noun opens a sober examination of teaching authority while leaving each passage responsible for its own judgment.
Anchor passage
1Tim.1.7
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 5:17-26 - Jesus' authority amid scribal and Pharisaic reasoning
- Acts 5:34-39 - Gamaliel's standing and the limited counsel Luke reports
- 1 Timothy 1:3-11 - speculation, love, confident assertion, and lawful use
- James 3:1 - greater accountability for teachers
- Titus 1:9 - holding firmly to trustworthy teaching
The compound noun combines the elements for law and teacher, but its components do not supply a moral verdict. Luke and First Timothy use the plural subject form; Acts identifies Gamaliel with the corresponding singular masculine noun. Clause and narrative context decide how each bearer is evaluated.
From Old to New Testament
Ezra 7:10 portrays study, practice, and teaching together, while Malachi 2:7 joins priestly instruction to guarded knowledge. These passages may illuminate accountable teaching, but they do not establish that every New Testament teacher of the law held the same office or character.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain