noun · neuter
bēmem
Strong’sG968
the space covered by a step of the foot, a tribunal
stem bēm-12 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books2 of 6 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
βῆμα in its most basic sense denotes the space covered by a single step of the foot — a stride or pace 124.
From this it came to denote a raised platform reached by steps, and so a tribunal or judgment seat — the elevated place from which a ruler or magistrate presided 124. Abbott-Smith notes it was originally used of the platform at Athens from which speeches were delivered, and was commonly used of the tribunal of a Roman magistrate or ruler, as well as, in a few New Testament passages, of the judgment seat of God or of Christ 1. Strong's likewise renders it as a rostrum or judgment seat, and notes it can also be translated as a throne or as the place where a foot is set 2.
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
βῆμα, -τος, τό
(< βαίνω), [in LXX: De 2:5 (מִדְרָךְ), Ne 8:4 (מִגְדָּל), I Es 9:42, Si 19:30 45:9, II Mac 13:26*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G968 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidbay'-ma
a step, i.e. foot-breath; by implication, a rostrum, i.e. a tribunal
Fromfrom the base of G939;
King Jamesjudgment-seat, set (foot) on, throne.
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
Refs 5th 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 or object direct | bēmem | bēmeim |
| of, belonging to genitive | bēmeu9×βήματος | bēmeiu |
| to, for dative | bēme1×βήματι | bēmei |
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
bēme 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
bēmeu“tribunal”of, belonging togenitive singular9×
Matthew 27:19Kathorōntou de autou epi teu bēmeu apostelata pros auton tas gunaikas autou …While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message …
John 19:13… exō ton Iēsun, kai kathizata epi bēmeu eis topon legorōnton Lithostrōton, Hebraisti de …… Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone …
Acts 12:21… esthan basilikan kai kathizarantos epi teu bēmeu dēmēgorate pros autoin;… his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people.
Acts 18:16“tribunal”kai apelaunata autoin apo teu bēmeu.And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
Acts 18:17“tribunal”… Sōsthenon ton archisunagōgon tuptale emprosthen teu bēmeu; kai oudenem houteiu to Galliōno meleiate.… crowd seized Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.
Acts 25:6“tribunal”… Kaisareian, ta epaurion kathizarantos epi teu bēmeu keleuata ton Paulon agira.… down to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judgment seat and ordered that Paul be brought in.
Acts 25:10“tribunal”legata de tos Paulos; Epi teu bēmeu Kaisarou stēarēntos amō, hou min datō …Paul replied, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be …
Acts 25:17“tribunal”… poierantos ta hexēs kathizarantos epi teu bēmeu keleuama agira ton andron;… me, I did not delay. The next day I sat on the judgment seat and ordered that the man be brought in.
2 Corinthians 5:10… pantoin nin fanerira datō emprosthen teu bēmeu tou Christou, hina komizeteia hekastos teim …… we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may …
bēme“judgment seat”to, fordative singular1×
Romans 14:10… adelfon su? pantois gar parastēeni te bēme tou theou,… we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
bēmem2×
Acts 7:5… dōata auto klēronomian en auta oude bēmem podou, kai epangeleta dōara auto eis …… here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession …
Acts 18:12“tribunal”… Paulo kai agala auton epi tem bēmem,… attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.