Law
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G3551 commonly names law, but its governed New Testament settings are too varied for one theological paraphrase. It can refer to the Mosaic law, to the books of Moses, or more broadly to Scripture cited as law.
Reader summary
Full entry for νόμος (G3551) · Open the biblical lexicon
G3551 commonly names law, but its governed New Testament settings are too varied for one theological paraphrase. It can refer to the Mosaic law, to the books of Moses, or more broadly to Scripture cited as law.
The BSB source-word alignment has 194 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Law (105), [the] Law (47), of the law (7), a law (5), of [the] law (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (74), Galatians (32), Acts (17), John (15).
This entry includes 9 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G3551 commonly names law, but its governed New Testament settings are too varied for one theological paraphrase. It can refer to the Mosaic law, to the books of Moses, or more broadly to Scripture cited as law. Qualified phrases speak of the law of Christ, the law of faith, the royal law, and the law of liberty. Romans also uses the noun for an operative principle, as when Paul describes a law at work in his members or contrasts the law of the Spirit of life with the law of sin and death.
The surrounding clause, quotation, and argument must identify the sense. The selected Greek artifact contains 193 morphology forms, while the governed BSB word table contains 194 rows in 154 verses. This record preserves that source difference rather than hiding it. Matthew 5:17-18 places the Law and the Prophets within Jesus' fulfillment claim. Romans 3:19-31 distinguishes what the law says, works of law, the Law and Prophets as witness, and a principle of faith within one argument.
Romans 7 calls the law holy while describing sin's use of the commandment and several law or principle expressions. Romans 10:4 calls Christ the τέλος of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes; interpreters debate whether τέλος emphasizes goal, culmination, termination, or a combination, and the noun G3551 cannot settle that question by itself. Teaching should resist both anti-Jewish portrayals of Torah and attempts to make possession or performance of law the basis for boasting.
It should also avoid reducing every command, covenant question, or Pauline use to one slogan.
The governed BSB table has 194 G3551 rows in 154 verses, while the selected morphology artifact has 193 forms. Across the corpus, law can identify Mosaic instruction, a body of Scripture, a rule or operative principle, or a qualified law named by its governing relation.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
Jesus denies coming to abolish the Law or the Prophets and says He came to fulfill them. The sentence establishes His claim; the wider Gospel must show what fulfillment entails.
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
Paul calls the law holy and the commandment holy, righteous, and good after describing sin's use of the commandment. The verse prevents the paragraph's critique of sin from becoming a declaration that the law itself is sinful.
So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Paul says the law became a guardian until Christ so that justification might be by faith. The surrounding argument about promise, law, faith, and sonship governs the temporal and covenant claim.
Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.
Paul denies justification by works of law and says knowledge of sin comes through law. The next verse announces God's righteousness apart from law while saying the Law and Prophets testify to it.
For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.
Paul identifies Christ as the τέλος of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Goal, culmination, termination, and combined readings are debated; responsible teaching should argue from Romans 9:30-10:13 rather than announce a disputed sense as settled by one gloss.
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Hebrews quotes the new-covenant promise that God will put His laws in the people's minds and write them on their hearts. The quotation establishes inward divine action without making this noun alone define every continuity and discontinuity between covenants.
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
James describes the law as perfect and as a law of freedom while contrasting a forgetful hearer with an active doer. James 2 develops royal-law, partiality, whole-law, and mercy themes that should govern the phrase.
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. Encompasses both the Mosaic law and any binding principle or force impelling moral action
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 197 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
Read versea law, the Mosaic Law
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 193 lexical occurrence verses.
Reliance on possession of the law without obedience results in greater accountability.1 Timothy 1:8-11
Paul clarifies that faith does not nullify the law but fulfills its intended role.Matthew 7:12
Highlights both God’s revealed standard and the internal principle of conflict.Romans 2:17-29
Affirms continuity and fulfillment of covenant revelation.Romans 3:27-31
Understanding the law’s proper function prevents both legalism and antinomianism and preserves its role as a mirror that exposes sin.Romans 7:14-25
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Begin by asking what law denotes in the particular sentence. Matthew can pair the Law with the Prophets; John can call a Psalm part of the Law; Paul can discuss works of law, cite the Law and Prophets as witnesses, and use law for an operative principle; James can speak of the royal law and the law of freedom. Those are related uses, not interchangeable formulas.
Romans 7:12 calls the law holy, while Romans 3:20 denies justification by works of law and says law brings knowledge of sin. Galatians 3 locates law within an argument about promise, faith, and Christ. Romans 10:4 names Christ as the τέλος of the law, but the precise force of τέλος must be argued from the paragraph rather than asserted from a gloss. This range guards against contempt for Torah and Jewish people, against boasting in possession or performance, and against using one occurrence to settle every covenant question.
Christ-centered teaching should preserve each author's reasoning before drawing synthesis.
Rom.7.12
Case inflection ranges across all four singular cases, while Hebrews supplies the corpus's two plural tokens, both accusative. Article presence, qualifying genitives, quotation source, and discourse context all contribute to sense. Article absence can be relevant, but it is not a mechanical switch between general law and the Mosaic law. The selected morphology artifact counts 193 forms; the BSB table counts 194 rows, including translation-alignment repetitions.
New Testament writers use νόμος when citing or discussing Israel's Scriptures, including the Sinai law, the Law and Prophets, and the new-covenant promise from Jeremiah 31. These connections must follow the cited passage. The Greek noun does not by itself prove that every Old Testament use of Torah, every covenant command, and every qualified New Testament law phrase has identical scope.