adverb
liōs
Strong’sG3029
very, very much, exceedingly
stem lian-12 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 booksnever changes form
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
λίαν is an adverb meaning very, exceedingly, very much 124. It functions as an intensifier, strengthening the word it accompanies, such as an adjective, adverb, or verb 12. Depending on context it can be rendered "greatly," "exceedingly," or "sore" 2.
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
λίαν,
adv.,[in LXX chiefly for מְאֹד Ge 1:31 4:5, Je 24:3, al.; To 9:4, II Mac 11:1, al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3029 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidlee'-an
much (adverbially)
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jamesexceeding, great(-ly), sore, very (+ chiefest).
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
[see. near the end], Ionic dialect and Epic dialect λίην, adverb very, exceedingly, in Refs 8th c.BC+ with an adverb, λ. ἑκάς Refs 8th c.BC+: with an adjective, λ. μέγα εἶπες Refs: alone with a Verb, very much, overmuch, κεχολώατο λ. Refs 8th c.BC+; οὔ τι λ. ποθὴ ἔσσεται not exceedingly,Refs 8th c.BC+, which always begins the sentence or verse, surely, aye surely, καὶ λ. κεῖνός γε ἐοικότι κεῖται ὀλέθρῳ Refs 8th c.BC+
II after Refs 8th c.BC+; λ. πιστεύειν to believe implicitly, Refs 5th c.BC+; καὶ λ. σαφῶς Refs 5th c.BC+: with other words of Refs 5th c.BC+; κόμπος λ. εἰρημένος, opposed to πεπλασμένος (compare our very and verily), Refs 4th c.BC+ —in Trag.and Comedy texts frequently between _Article_ and Noun, ἡ λ. φιλότης βροτῶν his too great love.., Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ λ. μειράκια Theopomp.Refs 4th c.BC+; τὸ λ. excess, violence, Refs 8th c.BC+ has ῐ nine times, ῑ thirty-two times; the latter is found both in arsi and in thesi. In later Epic dialect and Trag. both quantities are found: ᾱ always.]
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.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
liōs12×
Matthew 2:16“very”… hoti empaizita hupo toiu magoiu thumita liōs, kai apostelarantos anairata pantoin toin paidoin …… Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity …
Matthew 4:8… auton tos diabolos eis orem hupsēlem liōs, kai deikatō auto pantain tain basileiain …… the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all …
Matthew 8:28… daimonizorōntois ek teiu mnēmeieiu exerchorōntois, chalepois liōs hōste mē ischuarō tinon parerchara dia …… coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass …
Matthew 27:14“greatly”… henem rēmem, hōste thaumazarō ton hēgemonon liōs.… even to a single charge, much to the governor’s amazement.
Mark 1:35“very”Kai prōi ennucheim liōs anastēarantos exerchata kai aperchata eis erēmon …Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a solitary …
Mark 6:51… ploiem, kai kopazata tos anemos. kai liōs ek perisseu en heautoi ekstēole,… died down. And the disciples were utterly astounded,
Mark 9:3“extremely”… teim himatieim autou geneta stilbarōnteim leukeim liōs hoieim gnafevos epi tau gēau ouk …His clothes became radiantly white, brighter than any launderer on earth could bleach …
Mark 16:2kai liōs prōi ta hena teiu sabbateiu ercholō …Very early on the first day of …
Luke 23:8“very”… de Hērōdos horarantos ton Iēsun chairita liōs, ate gar ek hikanoiu chronoiu thelarōntos …When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased. He had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he …
2 Timothy 4:15“strongly”hon kai sis fulassosōr, liōs gar antistēata toi hēmeteroi logoi.You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.
2 John 1:4“very”Chairima liōs hoti heuriskamē ek teiu tekneiu su …… was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just …
3 John 1:3“very”chairima gar liōs erchorōntoiu adelfoiu kai marturarōntoiu su ta …For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in …