A portable lamp or other illuminator (literally or figuratively)
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G3088 names a lamp, a portable source of light used to illuminate a room, guide attention, or symbolize the witness that makes something visible. Jesus uses the lamp in household teaching: a lamp is not lit to be hidden under a basket or bed but placed where those who enter can see.
Reader summary
Full entry for λύχνος (G3088) · Open the biblical lexicon
G3088 names a lamp, a portable source of light used to illuminate a room, guide attention, or symbolize the witness that makes something visible. Jesus uses the lamp in household teaching: a lamp is not lit to be hidden under a basket or bed but placed where those who enter can see.
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a lamp (5), lamp (5), of a lamp (2), lamps (1), to a lamp (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (6), Revelation (3), Matthew (2), 2 Peter (1).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G3088 names a lamp, a portable source of light used to illuminate a room, guide attention, or symbolize the witness that makes something visible. Jesus uses the lamp in household teaching: a lamp is not lit to be hidden under a basket or bed but placed where those who enter can see. The image therefore joins light to purpose, public usefulness, and responsible visibility.
John the Baptist is described as a lamp that burned and gave light for a season, which preserves the value of his witness while distinguishing him from the final source of light. Peter uses the prophetic word as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns, connecting present attention to future fulfillment. Revelation moves from the loss of lamp-light in Babylon to the city where God’s glory and the Lamb are its light, showing both judgment and final hope.
G3088 does not mean that every public platform is faithful witness, or that visibility itself proves truth. The lamp must be placed, tended, and interpreted within its context. Read the noun with its action, setting, and source of light so that application honors both humble service and God’s ultimate illumination.
G3088 moves from ordinary lamps in homes to prophetic attention, temporary human witness, warning, search, readiness, and the final light of God and the Lamb. The noun asks what is being illuminated, who benefits, and whether the light points beyond itself.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
The lamp’s purpose is shared illumination, so Jesus connects discipleship with visible good that serves people rather than hidden private display.
No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.
Luke emphasizes reception by those who enter, showing that a lamp’s placement is ordered toward making truth and reality visible to others.
Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.
The burning lamp belongs to readiness for the master’s return, joining illumination to alert service rather than passive religious appearance.
We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Peter calls attention to the prophetic word as a lamp for the dark interval before dawn, encouraging steady listening without confusing the lamp with the final day.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
The new Jerusalem’s light comes from God’s glory and the Lamb, placing every created lamp below the final illuminating presence of redemption.
There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.
The final city no longer depends on lamp or sun because God Himself shines, completing the movement from provisional illumination to unending divine light.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Portable lamp providing localized light; figuratively represents spiritual illumination, witnessing, or divine presence.
Portable lamp providing localized light; figuratively represents spiritual illumination, witnessing, or divine presence.
a lamp (portable, and usually set on a stand, λυχνία): Mat.5:15, Luk.11:36; ἔρχεται ὁ λ., Mrk.4:21; λ. ἅπτειν Luk.8:16 11:33 15:8; φῶς λύχνου, Rev.18:23; id. opposite to φ.ἡλίου, Rev.22:5; metaphorically, of the eye, Mat.6:22 Luk.11:34; of John the Baptist, Jhn.5:35; of the Lamb, Rev.21:23; of prophecy, 2Pe.1:19; of spiritual readiness, pl., λύχνοι (as always in LXX; frequently in Att.. λύχνα), Luk.12:35.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
14 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a lamp
Read versea lamp
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
λύχνος is built from this root:
Symbolizes the revealing light of kingdom truth.
Symbolizes divine revelation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G3088 is a small object with a large biblical reach. In Jesus’ household sayings, a lamp is lit for a purpose: it is placed where those who enter can see. The image makes witness practical. Light is not praised as decoration or private possession but as something that serves people in a shared space. Luke’s call to keep lamps burning adds readiness, so visible faith is joined to alert service while the master’s return is awaited.
Peter gives the noun a textual focus by calling the prophetic word a lamp in a dark place. That lamp is trustworthy and worthy of attention, yet it remains a lamp until the day dawns; present guidance should not be confused with the fullness of final sight. Revelation then carries the image through judgment and hope. Babylon loses lamp-light, while the new Jerusalem needs no lamp because God’s glory illuminates it and the Lamb is its lamp.
Teachers should therefore resist both concealment and celebrity. Faithful witness becomes visible for the sake of others, remains accountable to the source of truth, and points beyond human ministry to God’s final presence. G3088 calls the church to tend its witness humbly while longing for the day when no borrowed light is needed.
2Pet.1.19
G3088 names a portable lamp or illuminator and appears with verbs for lighting, covering, burning, shining, or needing. These actions show whether the lamp functions as household equipment, prophetic guidance, human witness, readiness, judgment, or eschatological contrast.
The New Testament lamp imagery develops the Old Testament’s language of God’s word, lamp, and light while centering fulfillment in Christ and the Lamb. Human witness remains useful and accountable until God’s glory supplies the final light of the renewed creation.