noun · masculine
hellēnos
Strong’sG1672
a Hellene, a Greek
stem hellēn-25 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books7 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
Ἕλλην (Hellēn) means a Greek – a native of Greece or a Greek-speaking person, used in contrast to "barbarian" 1234.
In the New Testament the word is more often used in a broader sense, for a Gentile, someone who is not a Jew, regardless of actual Greek ethnicity 123; this includes non-Jewish proselytes to Judaism 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
Ἕλλην, -ηνος, ὁ
[in LXX: Jl 3:6, Za 9:13 (יָוָן), etc.; I Mac 1:10, al. *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1672 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhel'-lane
a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew
Fromfrom G1671;
King JamesGentile, Greek.
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
2. the Ἕλληνες of [8th/7th c.BC] are the Thessalian tribe of which Hellen was the reputed chief (compare Ἑλλάς 1), [8th/7th c.BC]
3. later, Ἕλληνες was the regularly name for Greeks , opposite to βάρβαροι, Refs 5th c.BC, etc.
4. later still, of Gentiles , Opp. to Jews, Refs 1st c.AD
5. as adjective = Ἑλληνικός, Refs 5th c.BC, etc.:—;even with a fem. Substantive, [6th/5th c.BC, Refs 5th c.BC] (Middle Liddel)
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 | hellēnos4×Ἕλλην | hellēnois3×Ἕλληνες |
| object accusative | hellēnon | hellēnoin5×Ἕλληνας |
| direct address vocative | hellēnor | hellēnoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | hellēnou3×Ἕλληνος | hellēnoiu3×Ἑλλήνων |
| to, for dative | hellēno2×Ἕλληνι | hellēnoi5×Ἕλλησιν |
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
hellēno 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.
25 occurrences, every one of them listed
hellēnos“Greek”subjectnominative singular4×
Acts 16:3… topoi ekeinoi, oidalelē gar hapantois hoti Hellēnos tos patros autou huparchate.… knew that his father was a Greek.
Galatians 2:3alla oude Titos tos sun mi, Hellēnos arōntos, anankazita peritemira;… circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
Galatians 3:28ouk eniatō Ioudaios oude Hellēnos, ouk eniatō doulos oude eleutheros, ouk …There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female …
Colossians 3:11hopou ouk eniatō Hellēnos kai Ioudaios, peritomas kai akrobustias, barbaros, …Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian …
hellēnou“Greek”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
Acts 16:1… huios gunaikau Ioudaiau pistau, patrou de Hellēnou,… a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.
Romans 2:9… tem kakosem, Ioudaiou tē prōtem kai Hellēnou;… for the Jew, then for the Greek;
Romans 10:12… gar atō diastolas Ioudaiou tē kai Hellēnou, tos gar autos kurios pantoiu, ploutarōntos …… is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of …
hellēno“Greek”to, fordative singular2×
Romans 1:16… to pisteuarōnto, Ioudaio tē prōtem kai Hellēno;… to the Jew, then to the Greek.
Romans 2:10… tem agathem, Ioudaio tē prōtem kai Hellēno;… for the Jew, then for the Greek.
hellēnois“Greeks”subjectnominative plural3×
John 12:20Ale de Hellēnois tinois ek toiu anabainarōntoiu hina proskunaleia …Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to …
1 Corinthians 1:22epeidē kai Ioudaiois sēmeim aitalō kai Hellēnois sofian zētalō;Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom,
1 Corinthians 12:13… henem sōmem baptizina, eite Ioudaiois eite Hellēnois, eite doulois eite eleutherois, kai pantois …… into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were …
hellēnoin“Greeks”objectaccusative plural5×
John 7:35… Hellēnoiu mellatō poreuorō kai didaskarō toin Hellēnoin?… among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
Acts 18:4… pantem sabbatem, peithate tē Ioudaioin kai Hellēnoin.… synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.
Acts 19:10… logon tou kuriou, Ioudaioin tē kai Hellēnoin.… the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the …
Acts 21:28… pantoin pantachē didaskarōntos, ēti tē kai Hellēnoin eisagata eis tem hierem kai koinatē …… this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this …
Romans 3:9… pantōs, proaitiena gar Ioudaioin tē kai Hellēnoin pantoin hupo hamartan arō,… made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
hellēnoiu“Greeks”of, belonging togenitive plural3×
John 7:35… auton? mē eis tan diasporan toiu Hellēnoiu mellatō poreuorō kai didaskarō toin Hellēnoin?… the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
Acts 14:1… houtōs hōste pisteuara Ioudaioiu tē kai Hellēnoiu pollem plēthem.… a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
Acts 17:4… kai to Silo, toiu tē seborōntoiu Hellēnoiu plēthem pollem gunaikaiu tē taiu prōtaiu …… with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.
hellēnoi“Greeks”to, fordative plural5×
Acts 19:17… geneta gnōstem pantoi Ioudaioi tē kai Hellēnoi toi katoikarōntoi tan Efesan, kai epipiptata …… known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came …
Acts 20:21diamarturorōntos Ioudaioi tē kai Hellēnoi tan eis theon metanoian kai pistian …testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and …
Romans 1:14Hellēnoi tē kai barbaroi, sofoi tē kai …I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise …
1 Corinthians 1:24… de toi klētoi, Ioudaioi tē kai Hellēnoi, Christon theou dunamian kai theou sofian.… who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and …
1 Corinthians 10:32aproskopois kai Ioudaioi genovōr kai Hellēnoi kai ta ekklēsa tou theou,… stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—