noun · masculine
laos
Strong’sG2992
a people, the crowd
stem la-142 times in the New Testamentin 14 of 27 books8 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
λαός refers to a people, the crowd — a group of people considered as a whole, especially when gathered together in one place, such as a crowd assembling to watch or listen 14. Strong's gives the general sense simply as "a people" 2.
The word also refers to a people in the sense of a nation or group united by shared race and language, often listed alongside "tribe," "tongue," and "nation" 1. In this sense it is used, especially as in the Greek Old Testament, above all for Israel as God's own people 13, and by extension for Christians as the people of God 1. In some contexts "the people" in this sense stands apart from and is distinguished from the rulers, priests, or Levites 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
λαός, -οῦ, ὁ,
[in LXX very freq. for עַם, Ge 14:16, al.; occasionally for לְאֹם (Ge 25:23, al.), etc.;]
a word rarely found in Att. prose;SYN.: v.s. δῆμος.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2992 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidlah-os'
a people (in general; thus differing from G1218, which denotes one's own populace)
Fromapparently a primary word;
King Jamespeople.
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
Ionic dialect ληός Refs 6th c.BC+ (variant{λαόν}, which is in all Mss. in Refs 6th c.BC+; Attic dialect λεώς, which is also used in Refs 5th c.BC+ and in late Prose, as Foed.Byzantine cited in Refs 5th c.BC+
1 in Refs 8th c.BC+ (λαοί) usually means men, i.e. soldiers, both of the whole army and smaller divisions, κριτὸς ἔγρετο λ. Ἀχαιῶν Refs; periphrastic, στρατὸς λαῶνRefs; mostly including both foot and horse, as Refs; but sometimes λαός denotes foot, as opposed to horse, Refs; also, a land army, opposed to a fleet, Refs; also, the common men, opposed to their leaders, Refs; but
2 in Refs 8th c.BC+, almost always means men or people; as subjects of a prince, e.g. Refs 8th c.BC+; λαοὶ ἀγροιῶται country-folk, Refs; work-people, Refs; of sailors, Refs 8th c.BC+ seafaring folk, Refs 5th c.BC+: in singular, slave, τὸν Εὐρυσθέως λεών, of Heracles, Refs 4th c.BC+; and so perhaps λεὼς αὔτοικος Refs, i.e. mankind, Refs 4th c.BC+; λ. ἐγχώριοι the natives,Refs 8th c.BC+; especially in Egypt, of the fellahin, Refs 3rd c.BC+; civil population, opposed to priests and soldiers, Refs 3rd c.BC+
3 people assembled, as in the theatre, ὁ πολὺς λαῶν ὄχλος Refs 5th c.BC+; especially in the Ecclesia, αἱ στίχες τῶν λαῶν Refs hear O people!—the usual way of beginning proclamations at Athens, like our Refs 6th c.BC+; τιμῶσιν οἱ πάντες λεῴRefs 4th c.BC+; ὁ πολὺς λεώς the multitude, Refs 5th c.BC+
4 in LXX, of the people, as opposed to priests and Levites, NT; of NT
II a people, i.e. all who are called by one name, first in Refs 5th c.BC+; ἱππόται λαοί, i.e. the Thessalians, Refs 5th c.BC+ people and λᾶος stone (compare λᾶας) is implied in Refs 8th c.BC+; and so Refs 5th c.BC+ explains the word from the legend of Deucalion, Refs 5th c.BC+ (From λᾱϝ-, as shown by the proper noun Λαϝοπτόλεμος Refs
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 | laos24×λαὸς | laois4×λαοὶ |
| object accusative | laon44×λαὸν | laoin |
| direct address vocative | laor1×λαός | laoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | laou38×λαοῦ | laoiu3×λαῶν |
| to, for dative | lao26×λαῷ | laoi2×λαοῖς |
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
lao 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.
142 occurrences, 100 of them printed here — the rest are in the reader
laos“people”subjectnominative singular24×, 22 shown
Matthew 4:16tos laos tos kathorōntos en skotia fōtem horata …the people living in darkness have seen a …
Matthew 15:8Tos laos houtos tei cheilei min timatō, tas …‘These people honor Me with their lips, but …
Matthew 27:25kai apokrinirantos pantos tos laos legata; Tem haimem autou epi nin …All the people answered, “His blood be on us …
Mark 7:6… hupokritoiu, hōs grafotē hoti Houtos tos laos tei cheilei min timatō, tas de …… hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but …
Luke 1:21Kai ate tos laos prosdokarōntos ton Zacharion, kai thaumazale en …Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering …
Luke 7:29kai pantos tos laos akouarantos kai tois telōnois dikaiala ton …All the people who heard this, even the tax …
Luke 18:43… doxazarōntos ton theon. kai pantos tos laos horarantos dōata ainon to theo.… Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise …
Luke 19:48… ouk heuriskale tem tinem poialeia, tos laos gar hapantos ekkremeta autou akouarōntos.… to do so, because all the people hung on His words.
Luke 20:6ean de leganeia; Ek anthrōpoiu, tos laos hapantos katalithazati nin, peithorēntos gar atō …… we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are …
Luke 21:38kai pantos tos laos orthrizate pros auton en te hiere …… early in the morning all the people would come to hear Him at …
Luke 23:35kai stēatelē tos laos theōrarōntos. ekmuktērizale de kai tois archontois …The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered …
John 8:2… eis tem hierem, kai pantos tos laos archote kai kathizarantos didaskate autoin.… into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat …
Acts 3:9kai horata pantos tos laos auton peripatarōnton kai ainarōnton ton theon,When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
Acts 3:11… kai ton Iōannon suntrechata pantos tos laos pros autoin epi ta stoa ta …… to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and ran to them …
Acts 5:13… kollorō autoi, alla megalunate autoin tos laos,Although the people regarded them highly, no one else …
Acts 7:17… tos theos to Abraam, auxanata tos laos kai plēthunita en Aigupta,… fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
Acts 18:10… epititheti si teu kakara sin, dioti laos atō mi pollos en ta pola …… on you, because I have many people in this city.”
Romans 9:26… to topo hou legita autoi; Ouk laos mu vis, ekei kalili huiois theou …… to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of …
1 Corinthians 10:7… tinois autoiu; hōsper grafotē; Kathizata tos laos esthiara kai pinara, kai anastēala paizarō.… were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink …
2 Corinthians 6:16… autoiu theos, kai autois eli mu laos.… God, and they will be My people.”
Hebrews 7:11… dia tau Levitikau hierōsunau ate, tos laos gar epi autau nomothetotē, tinas ēti …… priesthood ( for on this basis the people received the law), why was there …
1 Peter 2:9… genem eklektem, basileiem hierateumem, ethnem hagiem, laos eis peripoiēsian, hopōs tain aretain exangelaveia …… royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim …
laon“people”objectaccusative singular44×, 23 shown
Matthew 1:21… autou Iēsun, autos gar sōzati ton laon autou apo taiu hamartaiu autoiu.… Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 2:6… gar exercheti hēgorōntos, hotinos poimanati ton laon mu ton Israēl.… will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
Luke 1:17… apeithoin en fronēsia dikaioiu, hetoimazara kurio laon kataskeuazorēnton.… the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 3:18… oun kai hetereim parakalarōntos euangelizote ton laon;… proclaimed the good news to the people.
Luke 3:21… de en te baptizira hapanton ton laon kai Iēsu baptizirantou kai proseuchorōntou anoigira …When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized …
Luke 7:16… kai hoti Episkepteta tos theos ton laon autou.… they said. “God has visited His people!”
Luke 9:13… poreuirantois nis agorazaneia eis panton ton laon houton brōmeim.… and buy food for all these people.”
Luke 20:1… hena taiu hēmeraiu didaskarōntou autou ton laon en te hiere kai euangelizorōntou epistēala …… day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming …
Luke 20:9Archeta de pros ton laon legarō tan parabolan houtan; Anthrōpos futeuata …Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a …
Luke 20:19… auta ta hōra, kai fobila ton laon, gnōskala gar hoti pros autoin legata …… But they were afraid of the people.
Luke 22:2… pōs anairaleia auton, fobole gar ton laon.… to death, for they feared the people.
Luke 23:5… de epischuale legarōntois hoti Anaseiatō ton laon didaskarōntos kata holau tau Ioudaiau, kai …… kept insisting, “He stirs up the people all over Judea with His teaching …
Luke 23:13… archierevoin kai toin archontoin kai ton laon… chief priests, the rulers, and the people,
Luke 23:14… ton anthrōpon houton hōs apostrefarōnton ton laon, kai idou mis enōpion vu anakrinarantos …… as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined Him …
Acts 2:47… kai echarōntois charitan pros holon ton laon. tos de kurios prostithate toin sōzorōntoin …… enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their …
Acts 3:12… de tos Petros apokrineta pros ton laon; Androir Israēlitoir, tinem thaumazavō epi houte, …… Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you …
Acts 4:1Lalarōntoiu de autoiu pros ton laon epistēala autoi tois hierevois kai tos …… and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of …
Acts 4:2diaponorōntois dia tem didaskarō autoin ton laon kai katangelarō en to Iēso tan …… disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection …
Acts 4:17… mē epi polloterem dianemiteia eis ton laon, apeileneia autoi mēketi lalarō epi te …… from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to …
Acts 4:21… tem pōs kolazeleia autoin, dia ton laon, hoti pantois doxazale ton theon epi …… to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had …
Acts 5:25… te hiere stēarēntois kai didaskarōntois ton laon.… in the temple courts teaching the people!”
Acts 5:26… ouk meta biau, fobole gar ton laon, mē lithazileia.… not by force, for fear the people would stone them.
Acts 5:37… tai hēmerai tau apografau kai apostēata laon opisō autou; kakeinos apoleta kai pantois …… of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and …
laor“people”direct addressvocative singular1×
Revelation 18:4… ek tou ouranou legarōntan; Exerchavar, tos laor mu, ek autau, hina mē sunkoinōnaveia …… say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share …
laou“people”of, belonging togenitive singular38×, 23 shown
Matthew 2:4… pantoin toin archierevoin kai grammatevoin tou laou punthanote para autoiu pou tos christos …… chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ …
Matthew 13:15pachunita gar tas kardias tou laou houtou, kai tei ouei bareōs akouala, …For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly …
Matthew 21:23… tois archierevois kai tois presbuterois tou laou legarōntois; En poia exousia houteim poiasō? …… chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what …
Matthew 26:3… tois archierevois kai tois presbuterois tou laou eis tan aulan tou archierevou tou …… chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the …
Matthew 26:47… apo toiu archierevoiu kai presbuteroiu tou laou.… chief priests and elders of the people.
Matthew 27:1… tois archierevois kai tois presbuterois tou laou kata tou Iēsu hōste thanatara auton;… chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him …
Mark 14:2… ta heorta, mēpote eti thorubos tou laou.… may be a riot among the people.”
Luke 1:10“people”kai pantem tem plēthem ate tou laou proseuchorōntem exō ta hōra teu thumiameu;And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.
Luke 2:32fōtem eis apokalupsian ethneiu kai doxan laou su Israēl.… Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
Luke 3:15Prosdokarōntou de tou laou kai dialogizorōntoiu pantoiu en tai kardiai …The people were waiting expectantly and were all …
Luke 6:17… mathētoiu autou, kai plēthem pollem tou laou apo pantau tau Ioudaiau kai Ierousalēm …… along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and …
Luke 7:1… rēmeim autou eis tain akoain tou laou, eiserchata eis Kafarnaoum.… discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.
Luke 8:47… hapteta autou apangelata enōpion pantou tou laou kai hōs iita parachrēma.… In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched …
Luke 19:47… auton apolara kai tois prōtois tou laou,… priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him.
Luke 20:26… ischuala epilabera tou rēmeu enantion tou laou, kai thaumazarantois epi ta apokrisia autou …… Him in His words before the people. And amazed at His answer, they …
Luke 20:45Akouarōntou de pantou tou laou legata toi mathētoi;In the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to His disciples,
Luke 22:66… geneta hēmeras, sunagita tem presbuteriem tou laou, archierevois tē kai grammatevois, kai apagala …… council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes …
Luke 23:27Akolouthate de auto pollem plēthem tou laou kai gunaikaiu hais koptole kai thrēnale …A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept …
Luke 24:19… enantion tou theou kai pantou tou laou,… action before God and all the people.
John 11:50… hina henos anthrōpos apothnēskateia huper tou laou kai mē holem tem ethnem apoleteia.… that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
John 18:14… sumferatō henon anthrōpon apothnēskara huper tou laou.… if one man died for the people.
Acts 3:23… tou profētou ekeinou exolethreuiti ek tou laou.… completely cut off from among his people.’
Acts 4:8… hagieu legata pros autoin; Archontoir tou laou kai presbuteroir,… them, “Rulers and elders of the people!
lao“people”to, fordative singular26×, 22 shown
Matthew 4:23… nosan kai pantan malakian en to lao.… every disease and sickness among the people.
Matthew 26:5… hina mē thorubos geneteia en to lao.… may be a riot among the people.”
Matthew 27:64… autou kleptaleia auton kai legaleia to lao; Egerita apo toiu nekroiu, kai eti …… steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead …
Luke 1:68… hoti episkepteta kai poiata lutrōsian to lao autou,… He has visited and redeemed His people.
Luke 1:77teu dōara gnōsian sōtērēau to lao autou en afesia hamartaiu autoiu,to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the …
Luke 2:10… charan megan hotinas eti panto to lao,… that will be for all the people:
Luke 21:23… epi tau gēau kai orgas to lao houto,… the land and wrath against this people.
Acts 4:10… atōr pantoi vi kai panto to lao Israēl hoti en te onome Iēsu …… of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the …
Acts 5:12… sēmeim kai terateim polleim en to lao; kai ale homothumadōs hapantois en ta …… many signs and wonders among the people, and with one accord the believers …
Acts 5:20… stēirantois lalavōr en te hiere to lao panteim teim rēmeim tau zōau houtau.… the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new …
Acts 5:34… onome Gamaliēl, nomodidaskalos timios panto to lao, keleuata exō brachuem toin anthrōpoin poiara,… who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and …
Acts 6:8… terateim kai sēmeim megeim en to lao.… great wonders and signs among the people.
Acts 10:2… oiko autou, poiarōntos eleēmosunain pollain to lao kai dorōntos tou theou dia pantou,… God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly.
Acts 10:41ouk panto to lao alla marturoi toi procheirotonorēntoi hupo tou …not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had …
Acts 10:42kai parangelata ni kērussara to lao kai diamarturera hoti houtos atō tos …… commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is …
Acts 12:4… meta tem pascha anagara auton to lao.… to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
Acts 13:24… eisodau autou baptismem metanoiau panto to lao Israēl.… baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
Acts 19:4… Paulos; Iōannos baptizata baptismem metanoiau, to lao legarōntos eis ton erchorōnton meta auton …… baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming …
Acts 21:40“people”… toiu anabathmoiu kataseiata ta cheira to lao, pollau de sigau generantau prosfōnata ta …… stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in …
Acts 26:23… nekroiu fōtem mellatō katangelarō to tē lao kai tei ethnei.… dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
Acts 28:17… androir adelfoir, oudenem enantiem poiarantos to lao ē tei ethei tei patrōei desmios …… I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers …
1 Corinthians 14:21… kai en cheilei heteroiu lalami to lao houto, kai oude houtōs eisakoueli mu, …… lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not …
laois“peoples”subjectnominative plural4×
Acts 4:25… su legarantos; Hinati fruassala ethneim kai laois meletala keneim?… do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
Romans 15:11… kurion, kai epainalar auton pantois tois laois.… Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.”
Revelation 17:15… heim horasa, hou tas pornas kathotō, laois kai ochlois alō kai ethneim kai …… where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Revelation 21:3… kai skēnati meta autoiu, kai autois laois autou eli, kai autos tos theos …… with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with …
laoiu“peoples”of, belonging togenitive plural3×
Luke 2:31“peoples”hem hetoimazasa kata prosōpem pantoiu toiu laoiu,which You have prepared in the sight of all people,
Revelation 7:9“peoples”… ek panteu ethneu kai fulaiu kai laoiu kai glōssaiu, stēarēntois enōpion tou thronou …… to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before …
Revelation 11:9kai blepalō ek toiu laoiu kai fulaiu kai glōssaiu kai ethneiu …… three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations …
laoi“peoples”to, fordative plural2×
Acts 4:27“peoples”… kai Pontios Pilatos sun ethnei kai laoi Israēl,… where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your …
Revelation 10:11… mi; Datō sin palin profēteuara epi laoi kai ethnei kai glōssai kai basilevoi …… You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”