Light
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G5457 is the noun light. Its seventy-two governed forms include ordinary firelight and lamps, daylight and brilliant radiance, disclosure of what was hidden, ethical and communal identity, witness, revelation, Christ's identity, statements about God, and the illumination of the new Jerusalem.
Reader summary
Full entry for φῶς (G5457) · Open the biblical lexicon
G5457 is the noun light. Its seventy-two governed forms include ordinary firelight and lamps, daylight and brilliant radiance, disclosure of what was hidden, ethical and communal identity, witness, revelation, Christ's identity, statements about God, and the illumination of the new Jerusalem.
The BSB source-word alignment has 72 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include light (43), a light (7), of light (5), [the] light (2), daylight (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:16. Its strongest book concentrations include John (23), Acts (10), Matthew (7), 1 John (6).
This entry includes 10 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G5457 is the noun light. Its seventy-two governed forms include ordinary firelight and lamps, daylight and brilliant radiance, disclosure of what was hidden, ethical and communal identity, witness, revelation, Christ's identity, statements about God, and the illumination of the new Jerusalem. Physical and figurative uses interact, but no single light image carries the entire theology of the corpus.
First John says God is light and denies darkness in him; this is a strong theological predication, yet the noun alone does not settle philosophical categories or make every property of physical light an attribute of God. Jesus is called the light of the world, and disciples are called the light of the world within different passages and roles. Walking in the light includes truthful fellowship and confession, not public exposure of every private detail or forced disclosure to unsafe leaders.
Light and darkness imagery must never be mapped onto skin color, ethnicity, disability, blindness, mental illness, intelligence, wealth, or social status. Texts about sight and light should not shame blind or low-vision people, promise a cure, or treat accessibility needs as spiritual deficiency. Teachers should distinguish physical, revelatory, ethical, christological, communal, and eschatological claims before applying the image.
φῶς operates in four distinct NT registers: (1) physical light (sun, lamp, fire); (2) divine nature and presence ('God is light,' 'the light of his glory'); (3) christological identity ('I am the light of the world'); (4) ethical call ('you are the light of the world,' 'walk as children of light'). The Johannine writings dominate the theological usage; Paul applies the creation-of-light template to the gospel; the Synoptics root the christological claim in Isaiah's prophecy of light to those in darkness.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The prologue relates life in the Word to light for humanity. The Gospel develops the image through witness, response, judgment, signs, and Jesus' claims. Connections to creation and new creation are theological synthesis and should not erase the verse's own wording.
And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
The letter predicates light of God and emphatically denies darkness in him, then tests claimed fellowship through walking in the light, confession, cleansing, and love. The statement carries theological weight, but lexical analysis alone does not decide whether its language should be classified as metaphorical, analogical, or ontological.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Jesus addresses the disciple community and links visible light with good works that direct glory to the Father. The image supports faithful public witness, not domination, branding, compulsory visibility, or exposure that endangers vulnerable people.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Paul's most concentrated φῶς theology. The creation command of Genesis 1:3 ('let light shine out of darkness') is the template for the new creation act of the gospel: God has shone in our hearts. The object of the light is 'the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ' — φῶς here is epistemological and revelatory, not merely ethical. The face of Christ is where the knowledge of God's glory is given, and that giving is described as a shining of light into the heart.
The preacher who handles this verse can hold creation, christology, and the doctrine of illumination in a single phrase.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Spiritual truth and divine revelation revealing God's character and transforming human understanding.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 70 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
light, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
Read verselight, a source of light
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 6 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.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 72 lexical occurrence verses.
φῶς is built from these roots:
Expresses the revelatory influence of kingdom citizens. 1 John 1:5-10
Represents divine revelation embodied in Christ. 1 John 2:7-11
Declares Jesus as illumination for the nations. Acts 26:19-23
Represents divine revelation, purity, and life. John 8:12–20
Symbol of revelation and divine life.
Represents divine revelation and life.
Identifies Christ as the revealer of divine truth.
Symbolizes salvation extended to all peoples.
Defines God’s essential character and establishes the ethical framework for fellowship.
Represents the realm inaugurated by Christ in which believers now walk.
God’s nature as light defines the ethical and spiritual expectations for fellowship. Christian life flows from who God is, not from human preference.
Living in the light means aligning with God’s revealed truth and character, which includes active love.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G5457 gathers a wide set of light uses without making them identical. Narratives mention lamps, firelight, daylight, and overwhelming radiance. Jesus and his witnesses are described through light language. Communities are called light and children of light. Paul connects creation language with knowledge of God's glory in Christ and contrasts works associated with darkness and light.
First John joins God's light with truthful fellowship, confession, cleansing, and love. Revelation depicts God's glory and the Lamb illuminating the city. A sermon can trace canonical relationships among these passages, but it must label synthesis as synthesis and keep each local claim intact. Light language does not authorize racial symbolism, ableist assumptions, surveillance, forced confession, leader-centered transparency, public shaming, or claims that faithful people will always feel safe, cheerful, certain, or intellectually clear.
John.1.4
The seventy-two neuter noun forms occur in singular and plural across nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative constructions. Immediate referents and predicates distinguish ordinary illumination, radiance, disclosure, ethical identity, witness, and theological predication. Related light words and Hebrew correspondences provide background but are not direct G5457 evidence.
Creation light, the pillar of fire, priestly lamps, poetic guidance, and prophetic promises of dawn or glory supply multiple backgrounds. Matthew explicitly cites Isaiah's great-light promise, and 2 Corinthians explicitly recalls God's command of light from darkness. Other connections should be presented as canonical synthesis rather than assumed lexical identity.
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