noun · masculine
arithmos
Strong’sG706
a number, total
stem arithm-18 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books4 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
Ἀριθμός means a number, count, or total — the quantity arrived at by counting or reckoning something up 1234. It is used of the size of a group of people, of a total amount, or of a specific numerical figure 13.
The word is also used for the numerical value represented by a name, that is, a number obtained by treating the letters of a name as figures and summing them 3.
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
ἀριθμός, -οῦ, ὁ,
[in LXX chiefly for מִסְפָּר;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G706 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidar-ith-mos'
a number (as reckoned up)
Fromfrom G142;
King Jamesnumber.
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
(ἁρ-Refs, ὁ, number, first in Refs 8th c.BC+; πλῆθος ἐς ἀ. the amount in point of number,Refs 5th c.BC+ 'count the pebbles on the shore', Refs 5th c.BC+; οὐ γιγνώσκων ψήφων ἀριθμούς, of a blockhead, Refs 4th c.BC+
2 amount, sum, πολὺς ἀ. χρόνουRefs 5th c.BC+; ἀ. [χρυσίου] a sum of money, Refs
3 ἀριθμῷ, absolutely, in certain numbers, Refs 5th c.BC+by tale, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 item or term in a series, ὁ δεύτερος ἀ.Refs 5th c.BC+; τοὺς ἀ. τοῦ σώματος points of the body, Refs 5th c.BC+: hence as a mark of completeness, πάντας τοὺς ἀ. περιλαβώνRefs 5th c.BC+; τοῦ καθήκοντος τοὺς ἀριθμούς the sum total of duty, Refs 2nd c.AD+
5 number, account, as a mark of station, worth, rank, μετ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ἵζει ἀριθμῷ takes his place among men, Refs 8th c.BC+; ξενίας ἀριθμῷ πρῶτ᾽ ἔχειν ἐμῶν φίλων in regard of friendship, Refs; δειλοὶ γὰρ ἄνδρες οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἐν μάχῃ ἀριθμόν have no account made of them, Refs; οὐδ᾽ εἰς ἀ. ἥκει λόγων she comes not into my account, Refs 3rd c.BC+
6 mere number, quantity, opposed to quality, ταῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἀ. ἐστιν, ὦ πάτερ, λόγων a mere set of words, Refs 5th c.BC+; of men, οὐκ ἀ. ἄλλως not a mere lot, Refs 5th c.BC+; sometimes even of a single man, οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἀλλ᾽ ἐτητύμως ἄνδρ᾽ ὄντα not a mere unit, Refs 5th c.BC+; also ἀριθμὸν πληροῦν to be a mere cipher, Refs 6th c.AD+
II numbering, counting, μάσσων ἀριθμοῦ past counting, Refs 5th c.BC+; especially in phrases, ἀ. ποιεῖσθαι τῶν νεῶν to hold a muster of.., Refs 5th c.BC+ can be stated in numbers, Refs 5th c.BC+
III the science of numbers, arithmetic, ἀριθμόν, ἔξοχον σοφισμάτωνRefs 5th c.BC+
IV in Philos., abstract number, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἀ. οὐσιώδης, opposed to τοῦ ποσοῦ, Refs 3rd c.AD+; ἀ. ἑνιαῖος, οὐσιώδης, ἑτεροῖος, Refs 5th c.AD+
V Grammars, number, Refs 2nd c.BC+; compare ἑνικός, δυικός, πληθυντικός.
VI numeral, Refs, etc.; ὁ τέσσαρα ἀ.Refs 2nd c.AD+; παιδὸς ἀ., ={δεκάτη}, Refs 5th c.BC+
VII unknown quantity (x), defined as πλῆθος μονάδων ἀορίστων, Refs 3rd c.AD+
VIII Rhet., rhythm in Prose, in plural, Refs 4th c.BC+
IX line of a book, Refs 2nd c.AD+
X sum of numerical values of letters in a name, NT; φιλῶ ἧς ἀριθμὸς φμέ Pompeian Inscription in Refs
XI unit of troops, = Latin numerus, Refs 6th c.AD+; = legio, Refs 4th c.AD+ad Ath.280d, Refs 1st c.BC+
XII Astrology texts, mostly in plural, degrees traversed in a given time, Refs 2nd c.AD+; τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀ. at her normal speed, of the moon, Refs 2nd c.AD+; also of degrees of latitude, Refs 4th c.AD+
XIII in Medicine texts, in plural, precise conditions, παρόντων τῶν πρὸς τὴν φλεβοτομίαν ἀριθμῶν Herod.middle in Refs 5th c.BC+
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 | arithmos10×ἀριθμὸς | arithmois |
| object accusative | arithmon5×ἀριθμὸν | arithmoin |
| direct address vocative | arithmor | arithmoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | arithmou2×ἀριθμοῦ | arithmoiu |
| to, for dative | arithmo1×ἀριθμῷ | arithmoi |
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
arithmo 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
18 occurrences, every one of them listed
arithmos“number”subjectnominative singular10×
Acts 4:4… ton logon pisteuala, kai genita tos arithmos toiu androiu hōs chiliadais pente.… heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five …
Acts 5:36“number”… arō tinon heauton, ho prosklinita androiu arithmos hōs tetrakosioi; hos anairita, kai pantois …… claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to …
Acts 6:7… tou theou auxanate, kai plēthunote tos arithmos toiu mathētoiu en Ierousalēm sfodra, pollos …… of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly …
Acts 11:21… cheiras kuriou meta autoiu, pollos tē arithmos tos pisteuarantos epistrefata epi ton kurion.… was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to …
Romans 9:27… huper tou Israēl; Ean ateiō tos arithmos toiu huioiu Israēl hōs tas ammoas …… cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the …
Revelation 5:11… kai toiu presbuteroiu, kai ate tos arithmos autoiu muriadais muriadaiu kai chiliadais chiliadaiu,… creatures and the elders. And their number was myriads of myriads and thousands …
Revelation 9:16kai tos arithmos teiu strateumeiu teu hippikeu dismuriadais muriadaiu; …And the number of mounted troops was two hundred …
Revelation 13:18… nouon psēfizatar ton arithmon teu thēreu, arithmos gar anthrōpou atō; kai tos arithmos …… the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number …
Revelation 13:18… arithmos gar anthrōpou atō; kai tos arithmos auteu hexakosioi hexēkonta hex.… number of a man, and that number is 666.
Revelation 20:8… autoin eis ton polemon, hoiu tos arithmos autoiu hōs tas ammoas tau thalassau.… to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the …
arithmon“number”objectaccusative singular5×
John 6:10“number”… topo. anapiptala oun tois androis ton arithmon hōs pentakischilioi.… in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
Revelation 7:4Kai akouama ton arithmon toiu sfragizorēntoiu, hekaton tesserakonta tessares chiliadais, …And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from …
Revelation 9:16… teu hippikeu dismuriadais muriadaiu; akouama ton arithmon auteiu.… two hundred million; I heard their number.
Revelation 13:17… tem onomem teu thēreu ē ton arithmon teu onomeu auteu.… name of the beast or the number of its name.
Revelation 13:18… atō; tos echarōntos nouon psēfizatar ton arithmon teu thēreu, arithmos gar anthrōpou atō; …… one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is …
arithmou“number”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Luke 22:3“number”… ton kalorōnton Iskariōton, arōnton ek tou arithmou toiu dōdeka;… entered Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve.
Revelation 15:2… tau eikonau auteu kai ek tou arithmou teu onomeu auteu stēarēntoin epi tan …… beast and its image and the number of its name. They were holding …
arithmo“numbers”to, fordative singular1×
Acts 16:5… stereoole ta pistia kai perisseuale to arithmo kata hēmeran.… the faith and grew daily in numbers.