adjective
leukos
Strong’sG3022
white, bright
stem leuk-25 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books11 of 26 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
λευκός describes something that is bright or brilliant, especially the shining, dazzling appearance of clothing or other objects — used of garments that gleam like snow or shine with radiant light, and of a bright throne 1.
It also describes the color white in the ordinary sense, as in something as white as wool, or the color of ripened grain ready for harvest 1. Strong's and Dodson likewise give "white" as the basic gloss, with Strong's noting the word is related to a root meaning "light" 24.
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
λευκός, ή, -όν,
[in LXX chiefly for לָבָן;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3022 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidlyoo-kos'
white
Fromfrom λύκη ("light");
King Jameswhite.
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
light, bright, clear (opposed to μέλας in all senses), αἴγλη Refs 8th c.BC+; λευκὸν (variant{λαμπρόν}).. ἠέλιος ὥς Refs 8th c.BC+; of metallic surfaces, λέβης Refs 8th c.BC+; λ. γαλήνη a glassy calm, Refs 8th c.BC+; of water, clear, limpid, Refs 8th c.BC+
2 metaphorically, clear, distinct, of the voice, Refs 4th c.BC+: in literary sense, clear, λ. στίχος Refs 1st c.AD+, when a rogue was detected, Refs adverb -κῶς, πάντα φαίνειν, of Hermes, Refs 1st c.AD+: comparative -ότερον, διαλεχθῆναι Refs 3rd c.AD+
II of colour, white, frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+, varying from the pure white of snow ([ἵπποι] -ότεροι χιόνος Refs 8th c.BC+ to the grey of dust (λευκοὶ ἐγένοντο κονισάλῳ Refs; λ. ἅρμα, ={λεύκιππον}, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the white horses used by tyrants, λ. ζεῦγος Refs 4th c.BC+, compare λεύκιππο; λ. λίθος marble, Refs 3rd c.BC+, etc., compare λευκόλιθο; λευκῷ[ν]λίθῳ λ. στάθμη a white line on a white stone, proverbial of explanations which do not explain, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ λ. ῥίζα white root (= ἡ τοῦ δρακοντίου, accusative to Refs 5th c.BC+; frequently of white or grey hair, λ. κάρη Refs 7th c.BC+
II.b of the human skin, white, fair, sometimes as a sign of youth and beauty, χρώς, πήχεε, Refs 8th c.BC+; λ. παρειά, παρηΐς, Refs 5th c.BC+; frequently with the notion of bare, κῶλον, πούς, Refs; compare λευκόπους.
II.c of persons, white-skinned, Refs 5th c.BC+: hence, weakly, womanish, Refs 5th c.BC+; compare λευκόπρωκτος, λευκόχρως.
II.d λευκαὶ φρένες in Refs 5th c.BC+, frantic, passionate (compare λευκῶν πραπίδων· κακῶν φρενῶν, Refs
II.2 λ. χρυσός, pale gold, i.e. gold alloyed with silver (probably the same as ἤλεκτρον), opposed to ἄπεφθος χρυσός, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 metaphorically, bright, fortunate, happy, λευκὸν ἦμαρ νυκτὸς ἐκ μελαγχίμου Refs 4th c.BC+; a joyful day or holiday, Refs 3rd c.BC+; λ. ἡμέρα a happy day, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ λ. ψῆφος the vote of acquittal, Refs 2nd c.AD+
III λεύκη, ἡ, leuko/n, τό, as substantive, (see entry). (Cogn. with Latin lux, etc.)
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 | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | leukos3×λευκός | leukas2×λευκή | leukem3×λευκὸν | leukois | leukais2×λευκαί | leukeim3×λευκὰ |
| object accusative | leukon1×λευκὸν | leukan3×λευκήν | leukoin | leukain2×λευκάς | ||
| direct address vocative | leukor | leukar | leukoir | leukair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | leukou | leukau | leukeu | leukoiu | leukaiu | leukeiu |
| to, for dative | leuko | leuka | leuke | leukoi1×λευκοῖς | leukai1×λευκαῖς | leukei4×λευκοῖς |
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
leuk 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
leukos“white”subjectnominative singular3×
Luke 9:29… autou heterem kai tos himatismos autou leukos exastraptarōntos.… changed, and His clothes became radiantly white.
Revelation 6:2kai horama, kai idou hippos leukos, kai tos kathorōntos epi auton echarōntos …So I looked and saw a white horse, and its rider held a …
Revelation 19:11… ton ouranon anoigorēnton, kai idou hippos leukos, kai tos kathorōntos epi auton pistos …… and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called …
leukon“white”objectaccusative singular1×
Revelation 20:11Kai horama thronon megon leukon kai ton kathorōnton epi autou, hou …Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on …
leukas“white”subjectnominative singular2×
Revelation 6:11kai dōita autoi hekasto stolas leukas, kai legita autoi hina anapaueli ēti …… each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a …
Revelation 14:14Kai horama, kai idou nefelas leukas, kai epi tan nefelan kathorōnton homoion …And I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud …
leukan“white”objectaccusative singular3×
Matthew 5:36… omnuaseia, hoti ouk dunosō henan trichan leukan poiara ē melanan.… you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Mark 16:5… kathorōnton en tei dexei peribalorēnton stolan leukan, kai ekthambila.… a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side …
Revelation 2:17… teu kruptorēnteu, kai dōami auto psēfan leukan, kai epi tan psēfan onomem kainem …… I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name …
leukem“white”subject or objectdirect singular3×
Matthew 28:3… hōs astrapas kai tem endumem autou leukem hōs chiōnas.… like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
Revelation 1:14… kai tais trichais leukais hōs eriem leukem, hōs chiōnas, kai tois ofthalmois autou …… head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were …
Revelation 19:14… auto epi hippoi leukoi, enduorēntois bussinem leukem katharem.… of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white …
leukoi“white”to, fordative plural1×
Revelation 19:14… to ourano akolouthate auto epi hippoi leukoi, enduorēntois bussinem leukem katharem.… white and pure, follow Him on white horses.
leukais“white”subjectnominative plural2×
John 4:35“white”… vu kai theasevar tain chōrain hoti leukais alō pros therismon; ēdē… lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.
Revelation 1:14… de kefalas autou kai tais trichais leukais hōs eriem leukem, hōs chiōnas, kai …The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow …
leukain“white”objectaccusative plural2×
Revelation 7:9… kai enōpion teu arnieu, peribalorēntoin stolain leukain, kai foinikois en tai cheirai autoiu;… before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in …
Revelation 7:13… Houtois tois peribalorēntois tain stolain tain leukain tinois alō kai pothen erchala?… the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they …
leukai“white”to, fordative plural1×
Acts 1:10… androis duo parastēalelē autoi en esthai leukai,… when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
leukeim“white”subject or objectdirect plural3×
Matthew 17:2… hēlios, teim de himatieim autou geneta leukeim hōs tem fōtem.… sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
Mark 9:3kai teim himatieim autou geneta stilbarōnteim leukeim liōs hoieim gnafevos epi tau gēau …His clothes became radiantly white, brighter than any launderer on earth …
Revelation 3:18… ek pureu hina ploutaseia, kai himatieim leukeim hina peribaleseia kai mē faneriteia tas …… so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be …
leukei“white”to, fordative plural4×
John 20:12kai theōratō duo angeloin en leukei kathezorōntoin, henon pros ta kefala kai …and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus …
Revelation 3:4… autoiu, kai peripatali meta mu en leukei, hoti axiois alō.… they will walk with Me in white.
Revelation 3:5tos nikarōntos houtōs peribaleti en himatiei leukei, kai ouk mē exaleifami tem onomem …… who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out …
Revelation 4:4… tessares presbuteroin kathorōntoin peribalorēntoin en himatiei leukei, kai epi tain kefalain autoiu stefanoin …… thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads.