noun · neuter
skotem
Strong’sG4655
darkness
stem skot-30 times in the New Testamentin 15 of 27 books3 of 6 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
σκότος means darkness, the literal absence of light 1234, and by extension can be used figuratively for obscurity or hiddenness — something shadowy, unclear, or concealed 23.
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
σκότος, -ου, ὁ the more usual cl. form (cf. σ., τό),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4655 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidskot'-os
shadiness, i.e. obscurity (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom the base of G4639;
King Jamesdarkness.
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
more rarely σκότος, εος, τό (see. entry near the end), darkness, gloom, Refs 8th c.BC+; opposed to φάος, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἡμέρα, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 in Refs 8th c.BC+ always of the darkness of death, mostly in phrase τὸν δὲ σ. ὄσσε κάλυψεν Refs; so in Trag. and Comedy texts, σκότῳ θανεῖν Refs 5th c.BC+; ἤδη με περιβάλλει σ. Refs 5th c.BC+; σκότον εἶναι τεθνηκότος (i.e. Αἰσχύλου) Refs 5th c.BC+
3 of the nether world, Refs 5th c.BC+; παῖδες ἀρχαίου ΣκότουRefs 5th c.BC+
4 the darkness of the womb, φυγόντα μητρόθεν σκότον Refs 4th c.BC+
5 of blindness, σκότου νέφος Refs 5th c.BC+; βλέποντα νῦν μὲν ὄρθ᾽, ἔπειτα δὲ σκότον, i.e. μηδέν,Refs 5th c.BC+
5.b dizziness, vertigo, Refs 5th c.BC+; compare σκοτόδινος, -δινιάω.
6 metaphorically, σκότῳ κρύπτειν hide in darkness, Refs 5th c.BC+; σκότον ἔχειν to be in darkness, obscurity, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπορία καὶ σ. Refs 5th c.BC+ it is dark and uncertain, Refs 5th c.BC+
7 of a person, Μητρότιμος ὁ σ., like{ὁ σκοτεινός}, the mystery-man, Refs 6th c.BC+; also, darkness, i.e. ignorance, Refs 4th c.BC+; deceit, σ. καὶ ἀπάτη Refs 5th c.BC+
8 plural, σκότη shadows in a picture, Refs 2nd c.AD+ regarded the masculine as the Attic dialect form: the neuter never occurs in Refs 5th c.BC+, and is nowhere required by the metre in Trag., though it sometimes occurs in codices, Refs 5th c.BC+; it is found, however, without variant, in Refs 5th c.BC+ and Attic dialect Prose, Refs 5th c.BC+; the word is always neuter in LXX and “NT.”
σκοτί-α, ἡ,
(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 or object direct | skotem8×σκότος | skoteim |
| of, belonging to genitive | skoteu12×σκότους | skoteiu |
| to, for dative | skote4×σκότει | skotei |
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
skote 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
30 occurrences, every one of them listed
skotem“darkness”subject or objectdirect singular8×
Matthew 6:23… oun tem fōtem tem en si skotem atō, tem skotem posem.… then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 6:23… tem en si skotem atō, tem skotem posem.… is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 27:45Apo de hektau hōrau skotem geneta epi pantan tan gēan heōs …… sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
Mark 15:33Kai generantau hōrau hektau skotem geneta epi holan tan gēan heōs …… sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
Luke 11:35… mē tem fōtem tem en si skotem atō.… the light within you is not darkness.
Luke 23:44… ate ēdē hōsei hōras hektas kai skotem geneta epi holan tan gēan heōs …… now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until …
Acts 13:11… de piptata epi auton achluas kai skotem, kai periagarōntos zētate cheiragōgoin.… of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped …
Ephesians 5:8ave gar pote skotem, nun de fōtem en kurio; hōs …For you were once darkness, but now you are light in …
skoteu“darkness”of, belonging togenitive singular12×
Luke 22:53… tas hōras kai tas exousias teu skoteu.… you and to the power of darkness.”
Acts 26:18anoigara ofthalmoin autoiu, teu epistrefara apo skoteu eis fōtem kai tau exousiau tou …… so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power …
Romans 13:12… engizatē. apobaleneia oun teim ergeim teu skoteu, endueneia de teim hopleim teu fōteu.… us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of …
1 Corinthians 4:5… hos kai fōtizati teim krupteim teu skoteu kai fanerati tain boulain taiu kardiaiu, …… to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of …
2 Corinthians 4:6hoti tos theos tos legarantos; Ek skoteu fōtem lampati, hos lampata en tai …… said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our …
Ephesians 5:11… sunkoinōnavōr tei ergei tei akarpei teu skoteu, mallon de kai elenchavōr,… fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Ephesians 6:12… tain exousiain, pros toin kosmokratōroin teu skoteu houteu, pros teim pneumatikeim tau ponēriau …… against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of …
Colossians 1:13… rueta nin ek tau exousiau teu skoteu kai metastēata eis tan basileian tou …… rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom …
1 Thessalonians 5:5… huiois hēmerau. ouk anō nuktau oude skoteu;… to the night or to the darkness.
1 Peter 2:9… hopōs tain aretain exangelaveia tou ek skoteu vin kalarantou eis tem thaumastem autou …… Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
2 Peter 2:17… lailapau elaunorōntais, hoi tos zofos teu skoteu tērotē.… mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
Jude 1:13… asterois planētois hoi tos zofos teu skoteu eis aiōnon tērotē.… shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
skote“darkness”to, fordative singular4×
Luke 1:79epifanara toi en skote kai skia thanatou kathorōntoi, teu kateuthunara …… shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death …
Romans 2:19… hodēgon arō tufloiu, fōtem toiu en skote,… blind, a light for those in darkness,
1 Thessalonians 5:4vis de, adelfoir, ouk avō en skote, hina tas hēmeras vin hōs kleptos …… you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake …
1 John 1:6… echanō meta autou kai en te skote peripataneiō, pseudonō kai ouk poianō tan …… with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice …
skotem6×
Matthew 8:12… huiois tau basileiau ekbalili eis tem skotem tem exōterem; ekei eti tos klauthmos …… will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and …
Matthew 22:13… kai cheirain ekbalavar auton eis tem skotem tem exōterem; ekei eti tos klauthmos …… and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and …
Matthew 25:30… ton achreion doulon ekbalavar eis tem skotem tem exōterem; ekei eti tos klauthmos …… that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and …
John 3:19… kai agapala tois anthrōpois mallon tem skotem ē tem fōtem, ate gar autoiu …… the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their …
Acts 2:20tos hēlios metastrefiti eis skotem kai tas selēnas eis haimem prin …The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before …
2 Corinthians 6:14… anomia, ē tinas koinōnias fōte pros skotem?… what fellowship does light have with darkness?