noun · masculine
archontos
Strong’sG758
a ruler, prince, leader
stem archont-37 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books9 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
ἄρχων means a ruler, leader, chief, or magistrate – someone who holds a position of authority or command 1234. In the New Testament it covers a wide range of such figures: rulers of nations, magistrates, judges, members of the Jewish ruling council, and officials who presided over a synagogue 13.
The word is also used in the New Testament for supernatural or spiritual authorities: Jesus is called "ruler" in this sense, and the term is applied to the power that dominates "this age," to the devil as "ruler of the demons" and "ruler of the world," and to the "ruler of the power of the air" 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἄρχων, -οντος, ὁ
(pres. ptcp. of ἄρχω), [in LXX for נשׂא, רֹאשׁ, שַׂר, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G758 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidar'-khone
a first (in rank or power)
Frompresent participle of G757;
King Jameschief (ruler), magistrate, prince, ruler.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(participle of ἄρχω) ruler, commander, νεόςRefs 5th c.BC+; chief, king, ἈσίαςRefs 4th c.BC+; ἄ. τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, of Satan, NT
II as official title, chief magistrate, especially at Athens, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἱ ἄ., at Sparta, the authorities, Refs 5th c.BC+ the eponymous magistrate of the year, Refs 4th c.BC+; so in Boeotia, at Delphi, Delos, and elsewhere, Refs; = Latin consul, Refs 2nd c.BC+
II.2 governor of a dependency or province, e.g. in the Athenian Empire, Refs; of a Roman governor, Refs; = praefectus, Refs 2nd c.BC+
II.3 generally, magistrate, official, Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to ἰδιώτης, Refs; ruler of a synagogue, NT; president of a club, Refs 2nd c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | archontos8×ἄρχων | archontois8×ἄρχοντες |
| object accusative | archonton6×ἄρχοντα | archontoin3×ἄρχοντας |
| direct address vocative | archontor | archontoir1×Ἄρχοντες |
| of, belonging to genitive | archontou1×ἄρχοντος | archontoiu5×ἀρχόντων |
| to, for dative | archonto4×ἄρχοντι | archontoi1×ἄρχουσιν |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
archonto is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
37 occurrences, every one of them listed
archontos“ruler”subjectnominative singular8×
Matthew 9:18“ruler”Houteim autou lalarōntou autoi idou archontos henos ercharantos proskunate auto legarōntos hoti …… Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But …
Luke 8:41“ruler”… andros ho onomem Iairos, kai houtos archontos tau sunagōgau huparchate, kai piptarantos para …… then a synagogue leader named Jairus came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He begged Him …
Luke 18:18Kai eperōtata tinos auton archontos legarōntos; Didaskalor agathor, tinem poiarantos zōan …Then a certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must …
John 3:1“ruler”… ek toiu Farisaioiu, Nikodēmos onomem auto, archontos toiu Ioudaioiu;… a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
John 12:31“ruler”… atō tou kosmou houtou, nun tos archontos tou kosmou houtou ekbaliti exō;Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.
John 14:30“ruler”… vu, erchotō gar tos tou kosmou archontos; kai en mi ouk echatō oudenem,… speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me.
John 16:11“ruler”peri de krisiau, hoti tos archontos tou kosmou houtou krinotē.and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been …
Revelation 1:5… tos prōtotokos toiu nekroiu kai tos archontos toiu basilevoiu tau gēau. To agaparōnto …… firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth …
archonton“ruler”objectaccusative singular6×
Luke 12:58… hupagasō meta tou antidikou su epi archonton, en ta hoda dōasar ergasian apallaxorē …… are on your way to the magistrate. Otherwise, he may drag you off …
Acts 7:27… apōtheta auton legarantos; Tinos sin katastēata archonton kai dikaston epi nu?… aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
Acts 7:35… hon arnela legarantois; Tinos sin katastēata archonton kai dikaston, houton tos theos kai …… with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom …
Acts 7:35… kai dikaston, houton tos theos kai archonton kai lutrōton apostelatē sun cheira angelou …… whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who …
Acts 23:5… hoti atō archierevos; grafotē gar hoti Archonton tou laou su ouk legasi kakōs.… Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”
Ephesians 2:2… aiōnon tou kosmou houtou, kata ton archonton tau exousiau tou aerou, teu pneumeu …… of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air …
archontou“ruler’s”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Matthew 9:23“ruler’s”… tos Iēsus eis tan oikian tou archontou kai horarantos toin aulētoin kai ton …When Jesus entered the house of the synagogue leader, He saw the flute players and the noisy crowd.
archonto“ruler”to, fordative singular4×
Matthew 9:34“ruler”tois de Farisaiois legale; En to archonto teiu daimoneiu ekbalatō teim daimoneim.But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons.”
Matthew 12:24“ruler”… daimoneim ei mē en to Beelzeboul archonto teiu daimoneiu.… said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”
Mark 3:22“ruler”… Beelzeboul echatō kai hoti en to archonto teiu daimoneiu ekbalatō teim daimoneim.… He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”
Luke 11:15“ruler”… ek autoiu legala; En Beelzeboul to archonto teiu daimoneiu ekbalatō teim daimoneim;but some of them said, “It is by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons, that He drives out demons.”
archontois“rulers”subjectnominative plural8×
Matthew 20:25… proskalerantos autoin legata; Oidavē hoti tois archontois teiu ethneiu katakurieualō auteiu kai tois …… and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over …
Luke 23:35… laos theōrarōntos. ekmuktērizale de kai tois archontois legarōntois; Allosoin sōzata, sōzatar heauton, ei …The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved …
Luke 24:20… paradōala auton tois archierevois kai tois archontois nu eis krimem thanatou kai staurala …Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence …
John 7:26“authorities”… auto legalō; mēpote alēthōs gnōskala tois archontois hoti houtos atō tos christos?… are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ?
Acts 3:17“rulers”… kata agnoian prassava, hōsper kai tois archontois vu;… that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.
Acts 4:26… tois basilevois tau gēau kai tois archontois sunagila epi tem autem kata tou …… earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and …
Acts 13:27… gar katoikarōntois en Ierousalēm kai tois archontois autoiu houton agnoarantois kai tain fōnain …The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in …
Romans 13:3tois gar archontois ouk alō fobos te agathe erge …For rulers are not a terror to good …
archontoin“rulers”objectaccusative plural3×
Luke 23:13… de sunkalerantos toin archierevoin kai toin archontoin kai ton laon… called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,
Acts 4:5… epi tan aurion sunagira autoiu toin archontoin kai toin presbuteroin kai toin grammatevoin …The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
Acts 16:19… helkala eis tan agoran epi toin archontoin,… Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.
archontoir“rulers”direct addressvocative plural1×
Acts 4:8… pimplēirantos pneumeu hagieu legata pros autoin; Archontoir tou laou kai presbuteroir,… the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people!
archontoiu“rulers”of, belonging togenitive plural5×
Luke 14:1“leaders”… erchara auton eis oikon tinou toiu archontoiu toiu Farisaioiu sabbate esthiara arton kai …One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee …
John 7:48mē tinos ek toiu archontoiu pisteuata eis auton ē ek toiu …“Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him?
John 12:42“rulers”homōs mentoi kai ek toiu archontoiu pollois pisteuala eis auton, alla dia …Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees …
1 Corinthians 2:6… ouk tou aiōnou houtou oude toiu archontoiu tou aiōnou houtou toiu katargorōntoiu;… of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming …
1 Corinthians 2:8han oudenos toiu archontoiu tou aiōnou houtou gnōskatē, ei gar …None of the rulers of this age understood it. For …
archontoi“rulers”to, fordative plural1×
Acts 14:5… ethneiu tē kai Ioudaioiu sun toi archontoi autoiu hubrizara kai lithobolara autoin,… Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone …