Greek Words in the Bible

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the common dialect that served as the lingua franca of the Roman Empire during the first century. Unlike the literary Classical Greek of Homer and Plato, Koine was the language of the marketplace, the harbor, and the household -- precisely the kind of language God chose to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to the widest possible audience. The 27 books of the New Testament, composed by apostles and their associates between roughly AD 45 and AD 95, employ a vocabulary of about 5,420 unique Greek words.

Greek is especially well-suited to theological precision. Where English has a single word "love," Greek distinguishes between agape (selfless, divine love), phileo (brotherly affection), and other nuanced terms. Where English says "word," Greek offers both logos (the rational, abiding Word -- as in John 1:1) and rhema (a specific spoken utterance). These distinctions are not academic trivialities; they carry profound theological weight. Understanding the original Greek vocabulary of the New Testament gives you direct access to the precise shades of meaning that the Holy Spirit inspired the apostolic writers to use.

The Greek word studies below cover the most theologically important terms in the New Testament. Each entry presents the original Greek script, a transliteration to guide pronunciation, the English meaning, and links to the corresponding Strong's Concordance numbers for in-depth research. Whether you are studying for personal devotion, academic work, or sermon preparation, these entries will help you engage with the New Testament at the level of its original language.