noun · feminine
skotias
Strong’sG4653
darkness
stem skoti-17 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books3 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
σκοτία means darkness, the absence of light 4. It is used literally of physical darkness, as of the darkness of night 1. Strong's describes it as dimness or obscurity, taken either literally or figuratively 2, and LSJ likewise gives its basic sense as darkness or gloom 3. In the Greek Old Testament it renders various Hebrew words for darkness or gloom 1.
Figuratively, the word is used in two related ways. It can describe secrecy, what is done or kept hidden, set in contrast to what is spoken or shown openly in the light 1. It is also used of spiritual darkness, a condition of the soul or of the world opposed to spiritual light 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
† σκοτία, -ας, ἡ
[in LXX: Jb 28:3 (אֹפֶל), Mi 3:6 (חָשְׁכָה), Is 16:3 *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4653 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidskot-ee'-ah
dimness, obscurity (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G4655;
King Jamesdark(-ness).
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
(σκότος) darkness, gloom, NT+3rd c.BC+
II in Architecture, scotia, cavetto, a sunken moulding, so called from the dark shadow it casts, Refs 1st c.BC+
III Σκοτιά, epithet of Aphrodite in Egypt, 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 | skotias6×σκοτία | skotiais |
| object accusative | skotian | skotiain |
| direct address vocative | skotiar | skotiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | skotiau1×σκοτίας | skotiaiu |
| to, for dative | skotia10×σκοτίᾳ | skotiai |
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
skotia 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.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
skotias“darkness”subjectnominative singular6×
John 1:5… en ta skotia fanatō, kai tas skotias autem ouk katalabata.… shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 6:17… peran tau thalassau eis Kafarnaoum. kai skotias ēdē genatelē kai oupō erchatelē pros …… sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone …
John 12:35… hōs tem fōtem echavō, hina mē skotias vin katalabateia, kai tos peripatarōntos en …… you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one …
1 John 1:5… hoti tos theos fōtem atō kai skotias en auto ouk atō oudenas.… and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 2:8… auto kai en vi, hoti tas skotias paragotō kai tem fōtem tem alēthinem …… and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light …
1 John 2:11… ouk oidatē pou hupagatō, hoti tas skotias tuflata toin ofthalmoin autou.… where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
skotiau“dark”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
John 20:1… sabbateiu Marias tas Magdalēnas erchotō prōi skotiau ēti arōntau eis tem mnēmeiem, kai …… the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb …
skotia“darkness”to, fordative singular10×
Matthew 4:16tos laos tos kathorōntos en skotia fōtem horata megem, kai toi kathorōntoi …the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on …
Matthew 10:27hem legamō vi en ta skotia, legavar en te fōte; kai hem …What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is …
Luke 12:3anti heiu hoseim en ta skotia legava en te fōte akouiti, kai …What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight …
John 1:5kai tem fōtem en ta skotia fanatō, kai tas skotias autem ouk …The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome …
John 8:12… mi ouk mē peripatateia en ta skotia, alla echati tem fōtem tau zōau.… Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of …
John 12:35… katalabateia, kai tos peripatarōntos en ta skotia ouk oidatē pou hupagatō.… The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is …
John 12:46… tos pisteuarōntos eis min en ta skotia mē menateia.… believes in Me should remain in darkness.
1 John 2:9… ton adelfon autou misarōntos en ta skotia atō heōs arti.… brother, he is still in the darkness.
1 John 2:11… misarōntos ton adelfon autou en ta skotia atō kai en ta skotia peripatatō, …… the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he …
1 John 2:11… ta skotia atō kai en ta skotia peripatatō, kai ouk oidatē pou hupagatō, …… hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He …