What does γάλα (gála) mean in the Bible?
Milk is food that nourishes, and Scripture uses that ordinary reality in more than one way. In 1 Corinthians 9:7, milk belongs to the shepherd's argument for receiving support from the flock he tends.
Greek · G1051
γάλα
Milk is food that nourishes, and Scripture uses that ordinary reality in more than one way. In 1 Corinthians 9:7, milk belongs to the shepherd's argument for receiving support from the flock he tends.
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γάλαG1051
Pronunciationgála
What does γάλα (gála) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
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).
What This Word Actually Means
Milk is food that nourishes, and Scripture uses that ordinary reality in more than one way. In 1 Corinthians 9:7, milk belongs to the shepherd's argument for receiving support from the flock he tends. Elsewhere the Greek noun gala becomes a teaching picture. Paul rebukes Corinthian jealousy by describing believers as people still unready for solid food. Hebrews similarly exposes dull hearing and the failure to advance toward practiced discernment.
Peter, however, urges believers to desire pure spiritual milk so that they grow. These passages do not contradict one another. Each writer sets the comparison's purpose: some rebuke arrested maturity, while another commends a healthy appetite. Teachers should explain that purpose before labeling a lesson or a person milk. The image invites nourishment and growth, not contempt for learners.
How the Bible Uses It
An everyday food supports Paul's argument about ministry provision, then becomes a flexible image for Christian instruction. Corinth and Hebrews rebuke persistent immaturity, whereas Peter calls for the appetite by which growth proceeds.
- 1Cor.3.2
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,
Paul's complaint is clarified by the jealousy and dissension named in the next verse. Their continued need for milk exposes spiritual immaturity expressed in factional conduct, rather than merely a small store of facts.
- 1Cor.9.7
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?
The shepherd drinking the flock's milk is one of three everyday examples supporting a worker's right to provision. Here milk is literal produce, and the surrounding argument explains its relevance to apostolic support.
- Heb.5.12
Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
The rebuke addresses hearers who should have become teachers but need the basics again. The milk contrast follows the problem of dull hearing and prepares the call for trained discernment.
- Heb.5.13
For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.
Living only on milk depicts an infant inexperienced in the message of righteousness. Verse 14 identifies maturity with practiced discrimination between good and evil, keeping the image connected to responsive hearing and conduct.
- 1Pet.2.2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
Peter commands a newborn-like appetite for pure spiritual milk after calling believers to abandon relational sins. In this setting the image commends nourishment that leads to growth, rather than condemning the milk itself.
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
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not shame a beginner for needing straightforward teaching; Peter presents a newborn's appetite as something believers should desire.
- Do not use the claim of providing solid food to discourage questions or place a teacher's unexplained system beyond examination.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that milk always means bad or inadequate teaching; 1 Peter 2:2 commands its desire as a means of growth.
- Do not claim that maturity consists in secret doctrines unavailable to ordinary believers; Hebrews points to trained discernment and Paul confronts visible jealousy.
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A church needs both a nourishing beginning and a movement toward maturity, but these texts do not define that movement as abandoning the gospel for hidden knowledge. Paul identifies jealous rivalry among the Corinthians; Hebrews asks for trained discernment; Peter directs believers toward nourishment while setting aside malice, deceit and slander. The picture therefore tests how truth is received and lived, not how impressive a person's vocabulary has become.
Teachers can offer clear foundational instruction with patience while also confronting a refusal to practice it. New learners are not failures because they require explanation, and longtime hearers are not mature simply because they have accumulated years of attendance. The ordinary shepherd's milk in 1 Corinthians 9 also reminds readers that the noun's metaphorical uses must not erase its literal meaning in another argument.
Anchor passage
1Pet.2.2
Doctrinal connections
- Peter's call to desire nourishment follows the living and enduring word by which believers have been born again in 1 Peter 1:23-25.
- The Lord's goodness in 1 Peter 2:3 gives growing believers a reason to desire what truly nourishes them.
- Paul connects Corinthian immaturity with jealousy and factional loyalty, directing growth toward the unity appropriate to Christ's people.
- Hebrews 5:12 joins learning and teaching responsibilities without treating time alone as a guarantee of mature understanding.
- Discernment between good and evil develops through practiced response to instruction in Hebrews 5:14.
- The flock's milk in 1 Corinthians 9:7 supports the legitimacy of providing for ministry workers within Paul's wider argument.
Gala is an ordinary noun for milk. Its direct witnesses include accusative gala and genitive galaktos, without a change to a secret theological definition. Spiritual, pure and the contrast with solid food are supplied by the surrounding expressions and must be interpreted with them.
From Old to New Testament
Isaiah 55:1-3 offers milk within an invitation to receive freely and listen so that the hearer lives. Deuteronomy 8:3 connects life with God's word through the provision of manna. These are contextual nourishment parallels, not direct occurrences of the Greek noun or a single fixed feeding metaphor.