What does γάλα (gála) mean in the Bible?
γάλα (gála): Elementary spiritual nourishment for immature believers, contrasted with solid doctrinal meat.
Greek · G1051
γάλα
Milk (figuratively)
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γάλαG1051
Pronunciationgála
What does γάλα (gála) mean in the Bible?
γάλα (gála): Elementary spiritual nourishment for immature believers, contrasted with solid doctrinal meat.
Full entry for γάλα (G1051) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1051?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include milk (5).
Where does γάλα (gála) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Corinthians 3:2. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (2), Hebrews (2), 1 Peter (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itmilk5×1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Corinthians 9:7, Hebrews 5:12, Hebrews 5:13
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row1 Corinthians 3:2
Aligned rows5
Books represented3
1 Corinthians2Hebrews21 Peter1
Source forms
γάλακτος3xgalaktos1 Corinthians 9:7, Hebrews 5:12, Hebrews 5:13
γάλα2xgala1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Peter 2:2
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular3x1 Corinthians 9:7, Hebrews 5:12, Hebrews 5:13
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular2x1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Peter 2:2
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Elementary spiritual nourishment for immature believers, contrasted with solid doctrinal meat.
Strong'sG1051
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms2 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study link1 Corinthians 3:1-4Source Gloss
milk (figuratively)
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Elementary spiritual nourishment for immature believers, contrasted with solid doctrinal meat.
milk: 1Co.9:7. Metaphorical, of elementary Christian teaching: 1Co.3:2, Heb.5:12, 13; τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γ., the rational (spiritual) genuine milk (see Hort, in l.), 1Pe.2:2 (in support of AV, milk of the word, see ICC, in l.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
1 Corinthians 3:2Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
γάλαgala
milk
Read verse1 Corinthians 9:7Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
γάλακτοςgalaktov
milk
Read verseHebrews 5:12Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
γάλακτος,galaktov
milk
Read verseHebrews 5:13Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
γάλακτοςgalaktov
milk
Read verse1 Peter 2:2Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
γάλαgala
milk
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 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.
Form patterns2Aligned forms5Case patternGenitive (3)Number patternSingular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · Neuter1 Cor 9:7 · Heb 5:12 · Heb 5:133×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter1 Cor 3:2 · 1 Pet 2:22×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Metaphorical: elementary Christian teaching for spiritual infants
Literal: milk from goats as sustenance and livelihood
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
γάλα is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.