What does οὐ (ou) mean in the Bible?
Ou is the common Greek negative used especially to deny, reject, or negate what is presented as a fact or assertion. English may render it “not,” “no,” “does not,” or as part of a negative construction.
Greek · G3756
οὐ
The absolute negative (compare ) adverb; no or not
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οὐ G3756
Pronunciation ou
What does οὐ (ou) mean in the Bible?
Ou is the common Greek negative used especially to deny, reject, or negate what is presented as a fact or assertion. English may render it “not,” “no,” “does not,” or as part of a negative construction.
Reader summary
Full entry for οὐ (G3756) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3756?
The BSB source-word alignment has 1,627 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include vvv (794), not (307), No (118), . . . (99), {Does} not (24).
Where does οὐ (ou) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:25. Its strongest book concentrations include John (282), Matthew (203), Luke (174), 1 Corinthians (156).
What This Word Actually Means
Ou is the common Greek negative used especially to deny, reject, or negate what is presented as a fact or assertion. English may render it “not,” “no,” “does not,” or as part of a negative construction. Its force depends on scope: the interpreter must determine which verb, phrase, or proposition the negative governs. In Romans 1:16, Paul denies shame because the gospel is God’s power for salvation.
In John 3:18, belief and unbelief stand on opposite sides of condemnation. In John 1:5, darkness has not overcome the Light. Ou can state decisive truth, but the negative particle does not explain the reason by itself. Faithful teaching identifies what is denied, what contrast follows, and how the passage supplies its grounds.
How the Bible Uses It
Ou negates assertions across commands, confessions, contrasts, promises, and narrative statements. Its interpretive force depends on the precise scope of the negative and the proposition the passage affirms instead.
- Matt.4.4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus denies that man lives by bread alone and points to every word from God.
- Rom.1.16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
Paul denies shame in the gospel and immediately explains why the gospel is God's power for salvation.
- John.3.18
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
The verse contrasts not condemned with already condemned. The negative clarifies the promise attached to faith.
- Matt.5.18
For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Jesus denies that even the smallest part of the Law will disappear before fulfillment.
- John.1.5
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The darkness has not overcome the Light. The negative protects the triumph stated in the verse.
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 vvv 794× Matthew 5:26, Matthew 10:26, Matthew 11:17, Matthew 11:20
not 307× Matthew 3:11, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 6:26, Matthew 7:21
No 118× Matthew 5:37, Matthew 6:1, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 11:11
. . . 99× Matthew 1:25, Matthew 2:18, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:7
{Does} not 24× Luke 13:15, Luke 14:26, Luke 14:27, Luke 15:4
{did} not 23× John 1:10, John 1:11, John 1:31, John 1:33
- 20× Matthew 14:17, Mark 6:4, Mark 8:14, Mark 10:43
{do} not 20× Matthew 9:14, Mark 7:3, Luke 6:46, John 1:26
never 16× Matthew 13:14, Matthew 24:21, Mark 9:48, Mark 13:19
nothing 11× Matthew 15:32, Matthew 25:42, Mark 4:22, Mark 8:2
[It is] not 8× Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31, John 6:26
{will} not 8× Matthew 12:31, Matthew 24:34, Luke 14:5, Luke 17:20
{has} not 7× John 1:5, John 7:19, John 17:25, Acts 28:4
[is] not 6× Luke 21:9, Romans 5:15, Romans 5:16, 1 Corinthians 5:6
none 6× Matthew 12:39, Matthew 16:4, Mark 12:22, Luke 11:29
[it was] not 5× John 6:32, Acts 27:14, Romans 4:10, 2 Corinthians 7:12
no one 5× Romans 3:10, Romans 3:11, Romans 3:12, Galatians 2:16
{have} not 4× John 12:49, Romans 11:4, Colossians 1:9, Revelation 2:24
Doesn’t 4× Mark 4:21, John 7:42, Acts 19:35, 1 Corinthians 9:8
no more 4× Matthew 2:18, John 2:3, Revelation 17:8, Revelation 22:5
(not 3× John 7:22, John 14:22, 1 Corinthians 7:10
[are] not 3× Romans 8:18, Romans 9:26, 2 Corinthians 10:4
[does] not 3× Matthew 13:12, 1 Corinthians 7:4
{will} never 3× Matthew 24:35, Mark 3:29, Revelation 18:7
{you do} not 3× John 6:36, James 4:2, James 4:3
{you will} not 3× Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 12:8
fail 3× Matthew 7:3, Luke 6:41, Acts 7:52
neither 3× John 6:24, 2 Corinthians 10:15, Galatians 3:28
nor 3× 1 Corinthians 6:10
[ make it any less ] 2× 1 Corinthians 12:15, 1 Corinthians 12:16
[any] 2× Mark 9:3, Ephesians 5:5
[but] not 2× Acts 5:26, Galatians 4:17
[does] not [come] 2× Romans 2:29, Galatians 5:8
[quite] 2× Acts 17:4, Acts 17:12
{Was} not 2× James 2:21, James 2:25
{would} not 2× Matthew 24:43, John 21:23
don’t 2× Mark 2:18, Luke 12:57
falsely 2× Revelation 2:2, Revelation 2:9
no [such] 2× 1 Corinthians 12:24, 2 Peter 1:21
not [only] 2× 1 Corinthians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 8:5
not one 2× Luke 21:6, John 19:36
without 2× Luke 11:44, John 3:34
([I,] not 1× 1 Corinthians 7:12
[and follow] 1× 2 Corinthians 12:18
[and is] not 1× Hebrews 9:11
[and your] ‘No 1× Matthew 5:37
[and] {does} not 1× Acts 17:24
[and] never 1× Hebrews 9:7
[and] not 1× Hebrews 13:9
[any extra] 1× Matthew 25:3
[before] 1× John 13:38
[but it is] not 1× Romans 8:12
[Did] not 1× Luke 11:40
[Do] not [be] 1× 1 John 3:12
[I am] not 1× 1 Timothy 2:7
[I] cannot [carry it out] 1× Romans 7:18
[Is it] not 1× James 2:6
[it does] not [depend] 1× Romans 9:16
[It is] no 1× Philippians 3:1
[It will] not 1× Hebrews 8:9
[sent] not 1× Galatians 1:1
[shall] not [be] 1× Luke 22:26
[They do] not 1× Matthew 6:28
[was] not 1× 1 Corinthians 15:46
[Were they] not 1× Hebrews 3:16
[were] not 1× 1 Corinthians 2:4
[who was] not 1× Matthew 22:11
[will He] not 1× Matthew 6:30
[you do] not 1× 1 Corinthians 4:15
{am} not 1× John 7:8
{are} not 1× Romans 16:18
{have} never 1× Galatians 4:27
{I have} not 1× Ephesians 1:16
{is} never 1× James 3:2
{is} not 1× Galatians 6:7
{shall} never 1× Matthew 16:22
{Should we} not 1× Hebrews 12:9
{should} not 1× 1 Peter 3:3
{they} not 1× Romans 1:32
{we do} not 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:1
{We will} not 1× 1 Corinthians 15:51
{will take} no 1× Hebrews 10:38
{you will} never 1× 2 Peter 1:10
Absolutely not 1× Acts 16:37
Are we not 1× John 8:48
at all 1× John 11:56
Didn’t 1× John 18:26
Do you not 1× 2 Corinthians 13:5
does not 1× 1 Thessalonians 2:3
Don’t [they] 1× James 4:1
except 1× Romans 15:18
I am certainly not lacking 1× 2 Corinthians 11:6
I neither 1× Luke 18:4
I was not 1× 1 Corinthians 5:10
is not dead 1× Matthew 9:24
Isn’t 1× Matthew 13:55
never [will] 1× Mark 14:29
no claim 1× John 14:30
No longer 1× Hebrews 8:11
no place 1× Luke 9:58
no reason 1× 1 Corinthians 9:16
nobody 1× Mark 13:20
none of 1× Luke 21:15
none of them 1× 1 John 2:19
not [a matter of] 1× Romans 14:17
not [intended] 1× 1 Corinthians 6:13
Not [one] 1× Mark 13:2
not [that One] 1× Acts 13:25
not [to do so] 1× 2 John 1:12
not even 1× Galatians 1:7
not only 1× Mark 9:37
not true 1× Hebrews 12:8
nothing [about] 1× John 4:32
nowhere 1× Luke 12:17
of no 1× Hebrews 13:9
rather than 1× Colossians 2:8
refuse 1× John 10:26
refusing 1× John 8:44
shouldn’t 1× 1 Corinthians 9:12
Unlike 1× John 6:58
unnecessary 1× Galatians 3:20
was not 1× Romans 4:13
wasn’t 1× John 12:5
who must 1× 1 Corinthians 9:6
will never 1× Romans 10:11
will not 1× Luke 12:2
You show no partiality 1× Luke 20:21
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 1:25 οὐκ to . . . Adverb Matthew 2:18 οὐκ to . . . Adverb Matthew 2:18 οὐκ to no more Adverb Matthew 3:11 οὐκ to not Adverb Matthew 4:4 Οὐκ to . . . Adverb Matthew 4:7 Οὐκ to . . . Adverb Matthew 5:14 οὐ to . . . Adverb Matthew 5:17 οὐκ to . . . Adverb Matthew 5:18 οὐ to not Adverb Matthew 5:20 οὐ to . . . Adverb
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 1:25
Aligned rows 1,627
Books represented 26
Matthew 203 Mark 119 Luke 174 John 282 Acts 111 Romans 122 1 Corinthians 156 2 Corinthians 97 Galatians 38 Ephesians 11 Philippians 13 Colossians 8 1 Thessalonians 18 2 Thessalonians 8 1 Timothy 9 2 Timothy 12 Titus 1 Hebrews 66 James 27 1 Peter 13 2 Peter 13 1 John 48 2 John 5 3 John 4 Jude 2 Revelation 67
Source forms
οὐκ 758x ouk Matthew 1:25, Matthew 2:18, Matthew 3:11, Matthew 5:17
οὐ 613x ou Matthew 5:14, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:20, Matthew 5:26
οὐχ 97x ouch Matthew 6:26, Matthew 7:29, Matthew 12:43, Matthew 13:55
Οὐκ 67x Ouk Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:7, Matthew 5:33, Matthew 10:24
Οὐ 62x Ou Matthew 5:21, Matthew 5:27, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 9:12
Οὔ 8x Ou Matthew 5:37, Matthew 13:29, John 1:21, John 7:12
Οὐχ 8x Ouch John 6:42, John 7:25, John 9:8, Acts 1:7
οὔ 7x ou Matthew 22:17, Mark 12:14, Luke 14:3, Luke 20:22
Parsing patterns
Adverb 1,626x Matthew 1:25, Matthew 2:18, Matthew 3:11, Matthew 4:4
Particle 1x Acts 5:28
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Identify exactly what the passage denies and then state the positive truth it protects.
- Preserve qualifiers and contrasts so that a strong negative is neither weakened nor exaggerated.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that ou always creates an absolute denial without regard to scope.
- Do not claim that the negative particle alone proves the passage’s full theology.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Absolute negation of fact, typically with indicative mood; contrasts with μή which negates possibility or commands
Strong's G3756
Lexical occurrences 1,605 verses Greek text appearances 1,638 times 16 shown below Word forms 2 forms 1,605 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 19:11-20 Source Gloss
the absolute negative (compare ) adverb; no or not
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 1,638 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 1:25 Participle
οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 2:18 Participle
οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 2:18 Participle
οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 3:11 Participle
οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 4:4 Participle
Οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 4:7 Participle
Οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:14 Participle
οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:17 Participle
οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:18 Participle
οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:20 Participle
οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:21 Participle
Οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:26 Participle
οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:27 Participle
Οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:33 Participle
Οὐκ ouk
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:36 Participle
οὐ ou
no, not
Read verse Matthew 5:37 Participle
οὒ ou
no, not
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 1605
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Matt 1:25 · Matt 2:18 · Matt 3:11 · Matt 4:4 · Matt 4:7 · Matt 5:14 · Matt 5:17 · Matt 5:18 · Matt 5:20 · Matt 5:21 · Matt 5:26 · Matt 5:27 · Matt 5:33 · Matt 5:36 · Matt 6:1 · Matt 6:5 1537×
Matt 6:26 · Matt 6:30 · Matt 7:22 · Matt 12:3 · Matt 12:5 · Matt 13:55 · Matt 15:17 · Matt 17:24 · Matt 18:33 · Matt 19:4 · Matt 20:15 · Matt 22:31 · Matt 24:2 · Mark 4:21 · Mark 4:38 · Mark 6:3 68×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Not ordinary or unusual.
Showing 1 selected witness from 1,605 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
οὐ is a primary word - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
Emphasizes the exceptional nature of these miracles. Acts 19:11-20
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Ou teaches that a negative statement can protect a positive truth. Jesus’ reply in Matthew 4:4 denies that human life is sustained by bread alone in order to affirm dependence on every word from God. Paul’s denial of shame in Romans 1:16 introduces the gospel’s saving power and righteousness. John 3:18 uses negation inside a sharp contrast between the believer’s freedom from condemnation and the unbeliever’s existing judgment.
Matthew 5:18 denies the loss of even the smallest part of the Law before fulfillment, while John 1:5 denies darkness the victory over the Light. In each case, ou marks the boundary, but the sentence and argument explain why that boundary matters. Teachers should locate its scope precisely and proclaim both the denied error and the passage’s positive witness.
Anchor passage
Rom.1.16
Doctrinal connections
- Matt.4.4 denies that bread alone sustains human life and positively directs hearers to every word proceeding from God.
- Rom.1.16 denies shame in the gospel because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes.
- John.3.18 denies condemnation for the believer while contrasting unbelief and judgment in relation to God’s one and only Son.
- Matt.5.18 denies the disappearance of the smallest part of the Law before fulfillment, locating the negative inside Jesus’ teaching about Scripture’s abiding purpose.
- John.1.5 denies darkness the power to overcome the Light, supporting the prologue’s witness to the victorious life and revelation in the Word.
- Rom.8.1 announces “no condemnation” for those in Christ Jesus, placing decisive negation inside Paul’s gospel argument about union with Christ.
Ou and its inflected or phonologically adjusted forms commonly negate indicative statements and assertions presented as facts. It differs in typical distribution from me, though the two negatives cannot be reduced to a simplistic factual-versus-subjective rule in every construction. The local artifact currently groups about 1,605 occurrences. Syntax determines whether the negative governs a verb, constituent, infinitive, participle, or larger proposition.
From Old to New Testament
Biblical revelation often advances through holy denials: there is no other God, human strength cannot save, God’s word does not fail, and darkness cannot defeat His light. Ou participates in New Testament statements within that canonical pattern. The negative marks what must be rejected, while covenant history, Christ’s work, and the passage’s positive declaration explain the confidence believers may have.
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