noun · masculine
lēstos
Strong’sG3027
a robber, brigand, bandit
stem lēst-15 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books6 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
λῃστής means a robber, brigand, or bandit 124 — someone who takes property by open violence, as distinguished from a sneak-thief who steals by stealth 13. The word comes from a root meaning "booty" or "plunder" 123.
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
λῃστής, -οῦ, ὁ
(< Ep. ληίς = λεία, booty), [in LXX for גְּדוּד, etc.;]
SYN.: κλέπτης, q.v.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3027 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidlace-tace'
a brigand
Fromfrom ληΐζομαι (to plunder);
King Jamesrobber, thief.
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 ληϊστής, Doric dialect λᾳστής, (ληΐς, ληΐζομαι) robber, pirate, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to κλέπτης, Refs 5th c.BC+; especially by sea, buccaneer, later πειρατής, Refs 5th c.BC+; ληϊστὴς κατεστήκεε Καρχηδονίων he began a course of piracies upon them, Refs 5th c.BC+; of irregular troops, Refs
II metaphorically, λ. ἐναργὴς τῆς ἐμῆς τυραννίδος Refs 5th c.BC+; λῃστὰ λογισμοῦ, of love, Refs 1st 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 nominative | lēstos2×λῃστής | lēstois3×λῃσταί |
| object accusative | lēston3×λῃστὴν | lēstoin2×λῃστάς |
| direct address vocative | lēstor | lēstoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | lēstou | lēstoiu4×λῃστῶν |
| to, for dative | lēsto | lēstoi1×λῃσταῖς |
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
lēsto 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.
15 occurrences, every one of them listed
lēstos“robber”subjectnominative singular2×
John 10:1… anabainarōntos allachothen ekeinos kleptos atō kai lēstos;… way, is a thief and a robber.
John 18:40“robber”… ton Barabbon. ate de tos Barabbos lēstos.… shouted, “but Barabbas!” ( Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist. )
lēston“robber”objectaccusative singular3×
Matthew 26:55“robber”… tos Iēsus toi ochloi; Hōs epi lēston exerchava meta machairaiu kai xuleiu sullabara …… that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would …
Mark 14:48“robber”… tos Iēsus legata autoi; Hōs epi lēston exerchava meta machairaiu kai xuleiu sullabara …Jesus asked the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would …
Luke 22:52“robber”… teu hiereu kai presbuteroin; Hōs epi lēston exerchava meta machairaiu kai xuleiu?… chief priests, temple officers, and elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against an outlaw?
lēstois“robbers”subjectnominative plural3×
Matthew 27:38Tote staurolō sun auto duo lēstois, henos ek dexeiu kai henos ek …Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on …
Matthew 27:44tem de autem kai tois lēstois tois sustaurirantois sun auto oneidizale auton.In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated …
John 10:8… erchala pro mu kleptois alō kai lēstois; alla ouk akouala autoiu teim probateim.… came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen …
lēstoin“robbers”objectaccusative plural2×
Mark 15:27kai sun auto stauralō duo lēstoin, henon ek dexeiu kai henon ek …Along with Jesus, they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one …
Luke 10:36… si genarē tou empiptarantou eis toin lēstoin?… who fell into the hands of robbers?”
lēstoiu“robbers”of, belonging togenitive plural4×
Matthew 21:13… kaliti, vis de auton poiavō spēlaiem lēstoiu.… are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Mark 11:17… ethnei? vis de poiavē auton spēlaiem lēstoiu.… have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Luke 19:46… proseuchau, vis de auton poiava spēlaiem lēstoiu.… have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
2 Corinthians 11:26“robbers”hodoiporiai pollakis, kindunoi potamoiu, kindunoi lēstoiu, kindunoi ek geneu, kindunoi ek ethneiu, …In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the …
lēstoi“robbers”to, fordative plural1×
Luke 10:30… katabainate apo Ierousalēm eis Ierichō kai lēstoi peripiptata, hois kai ekduarantois auton kai …… he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and …