noun · neuter
bibliem
Strong’sG975
a papyrus roll
stem bibli-34 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books5 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
βιβλίον refers to a written document, such as a legal paper: the term for a certificate of divorce is a bibliaria apostasiou-type phrase built on this word 13. Strong's and Dodson likewise note the underlying sense of a written or rolled piece of writing, such as a bill or a scroll 24.
βιβλίον also means a book or scroll, a roll of writing such as those read in worship or containing a larger written work 13. Dodson specifies this as a papyrus roll 4, and Strong's includes book and scroll among its glosses 2. The phrase "book of life" uses this same word for a book 1.
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
βιβλίον, -ου, τό
(dim. of βίβλος, q.v.), [in LXX also in the alternat. form βυβ-, chiefly for סֶפֶר and the most freq. of the cognate forms;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G975 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidbib-lee'-on
a roll
Froma diminutive of G976;
King Jamesbill, book, scroll, writing.
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
or βυβλίον, τό, strip of βύβλος, Refs 4th c.BC+: hence, paper, document, Refs 5th c.BC+; β. ἀποστασίου notice of divorce, NT
2 ={βιβλίδιον}, petition to the Government, = Latin libellus, Refs 2nd c.AD+
3 ={δέλτος}, tablet, LXX
II book, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 book as the division of a work, ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ β. Refs 1st c.AD+
II.3 τὰ β. place in which books are kept, library, ἀνεθήκατε εἰς τὰ β. Refs 1st c.AD+
II.4 τὰ β. τὰ ἅγια the sacred books or LXX
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 | bibliem3×βιβλίον | biblieim1×βιβλία |
| of, belonging to genitive | biblieu6×βιβλίου | biblieiu |
| to, for dative | biblie6×βιβλίῳ | bibliei1×βιβλίοις |
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
biblie 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.
34 occurrences, every one of them listed
bibliem“scroll”subject or objectdirect singular3×
Luke 4:17kai epidōita auto bibliem tou profētou Ēsaiou kai anaptussarantos tem …the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed …
Revelation 6:14kai tos ouranos apochōrizita hōs bibliem helissorōntem, kai pantem orem kai nēsas …The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain …
Revelation 20:12… thronou, kai biblieim anoigila; kai allosem bibliem anoigita, hem atō tau zōau; kai …… and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were …
biblieu“book”of, belonging togenitive singular6×
Hebrews 10:7“book”tote legama; Idou hēkamō, en kefalida biblieu grafotē peri mu, teu poiara, tos …Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will …
Revelation 22:7… tērarōntos toin logoin tau profēteiau teu biblieu houteu.… the words of prophecy in this book.”
Revelation 22:9… kai toiu tērarōntoiu toin logoin teu biblieu houteu; to theo proskunasar.… who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
Revelation 22:10… sfragizaseia toin logoin tau profēteiau teu biblieu houteu, tos kairos gar engus atō.… the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near.
Revelation 22:18… akouarōnto toin logoin tau profēteiau teu biblieu houteu; ean tinos epitithateia epi auteim, …… the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God …
Revelation 22:19… tinos afairateia apo toiu logoiu teu biblieu tau profēteiau houtau, afairati tos theos …… away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away …
biblie“book”to, fordative singular6×
John 20:30… heim ouk atō graforēnteim en te biblie houte;… which are not written in this book.
Galatians 3:10… emmenatō pantei tei graforēntei en te biblie tou nomou teu poiara auteim.… to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
Revelation 13:8… grafotē tem onomem autou en te biblie tau zōau teu arnieu teu sfazorēnteu …… foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb …
Revelation 21:27… ei mē tois graforēntois en te biblie tau zōau teu arnieu.… names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Revelation 22:18… tain plēgain tain graforēntain en te biblie houte;… him the plagues described in this book.
Revelation 22:19… tau hagiau, toiu graforēntoiu en te biblie houte.… city, which are described in this book.
biblieim“books”subject or objectdirect plural1×
Revelation 20:12… mikroin, stēarēntoin enōpion tou thronou, kai biblieim anoigila; kai allosem bibliem anoigita, hem …… small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them …
bibliei“books”to, fordative plural1×
Revelation 20:12… nekrois ek teiu graforēnteiu en tei bibliei kata teim ergeim autoiu.… their deeds, as recorded in the books.
bibliem15×
Matthew 19:7… auto; Tinem oun Mōusos enteleta dōara bibliem apostasieu kai apoluara autan?… man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
Mark 10:4tois de legala; Epitrepata Mōusos bibliem apostasieu grafara kai apoluara.… man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
Luke 4:17“scroll”… tou profētou Ēsaiou kai anaptussarantos tem bibliem heuriskata ton topon hou ate graforēntem;the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:
Luke 4:20kai ptussarantos tem bibliem apodōarantos to hupēreto kathizata; kai pantoiu …Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and …
Hebrews 9:19… kokkineu kai hussōpau autem tē tem bibliem kai panton ton laon rantizata,… wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,
Revelation 1:11“book”legarōntau; Hem blepasō grafasar eis bibliem kai pempasar tai hepta ekklēsai, eis …saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna …
Revelation 5:1… dexan tou kathorōntou epi tou thronou bibliem graforēntem esōthen kai opisthen, katasfragizorēntem sfragidai …Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the …
Revelation 5:2… fōna mega; Tinos axios anoigara tem bibliem kai luara tain sfragidain auteu?… break the seals and open the scroll?”
Revelation 5:3… oude hupokatō tau gēau anoigara tem bibliem oute bleparō autem.… earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it.
Revelation 5:4… hoti oudenos axios heuriskita anoigara tem bibliem oute bleparō autem;… was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it.
Revelation 5:5… Ioudou, tas rizas David, anoigara tem bibliem kai tain hepta sfragidain auteu.… David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:8kai hote labata tem bibliem, teim tessares zōeim kai tois eikosi …When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the …
Revelation 5:9… kainan legarōntois; Axios asō labara tem bibliem kai anoigara tain sfragidain auteu, hoti …… Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You …
Revelation 10:8… mu kai legarōntan; Hupagasōr labasar tem bibliem tem anoigorēntem en ta cheira tou …… again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand …
Revelation 17:8… ouk grafotē tem onomem epi tem bibliem tau zōau apo katabolau kosmou, bleparōntoiu …… names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of …
biblieim2×
John 21:25… oiomō ton kosmon chōrari teim graforōnteim biblieim.… itself would have space for the books that would be written.
2 Timothy 4:13“books”… para Karpo, erchorōntos ferasōr, kai teim biblieim, malista tain membranain.When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.