A writing
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
γραφή is the Greek noun for 'writing' — from γράφω (to write) — and in the NT it functions almost exclusively as a technical term for the Scripture: the written OT texts that Jesus and the apostles treated as the authoritative word of God. The plural αἱ γραφαί (the Scriptures) and the singular ἡ γραφή (the Scripture, a Scripture passage) together appear 51 times in the NT.
Reader summary
Full entry for γραφή (G1124) · Open the biblical lexicon
γραφή is the Greek noun for 'writing' — from γράφω (to write) — and in the NT it functions almost exclusively as a technical term for the Scripture: the written OT texts that Jesus and the apostles treated as the authoritative word of God. The plural αἱ γραφαί (the Scriptures) and the singular ἡ γραφή (the Scripture, a Scripture passage) together appear 51.
The BSB source-word alignment has 50 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Scripture (27), Scriptures (17), [the] Scriptures (1), of Scripture (1), Scripture [ pronounces ] (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:42. Its strongest book concentrations include John (12), Acts (7), Romans (7), Luke (4).
γραφή is the Greek noun for 'writing' — from γράφω (to write) — and in the NT it functions almost exclusively as a technical term for the Scripture: the written OT texts that Jesus and the apostles treated as the authoritative word of God. The plural αἱ γραφαί (the Scriptures) and the singular ἡ γραφή (the Scripture, a Scripture passage) together appear 51 times in the NT.
The pattern of use is consistent: Jesus appeals to γραφή as the highest court of appeal in argument ('have you not read the Scripture?' Matt 21:42; 'the Scripture cannot be broken' John 10:35), Paul cites γραφή as the source of authoritative doctrine ('all Scripture is breathed out by God,' 2 Tim 3:16), and the apostolic letters treat the fulfillment of γραφή as the verification of the gospel ('Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,' 1 Cor 15:3).
The most theologically concentrated use of γραφή is in John 10:35: 'the Scripture cannot be broken (λυθῆναι).' The verb λύω means to loose, to dissolve, to break, to render void — it is the word used for dissolving covenants, canceling obligations, breaking laws. To say γραφή cannot be λύω-d is to make the strongest possible claim about its binding authority: it is not a merely human writing that can be reinterpreted away or overridden by new circumstances.
Jesus uses this as a subordinate clause in an argument — the point he is making is actually about something else, but he rests that point on the inviolability of γραφή as the unquestionable given. The NT's treatment of γραφή as the fulfillment of prophecy is also central: Luke 24:27 has Jesus walking through the OT γραφαί and showing that they all pointed to him.
The risen Christ's hermeneutic is that all the Scriptures find their coherence and goal in himself. γραφή in the NT is therefore not just 'the old written texts' — it is the written divine word that is being fulfilled in real time in the events of the gospel.
γραφή appears in the local Greek index about 49 times in the NT (singular and plural) as the technical designation for the OT Scriptures and, by extension, authoritative apostolic teaching. The NT uses γραφή in three primary modes: (1) as the authority that settles arguments and cannot be broken; (2) as the prophetic text whose fulfillment verifies the gospel; (3) as the source of doctrine, correction, and formation.
All three modes share the premise that γραφή is the written word of God, carrying divine authority regardless of its human authorship.
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
Jesus's parenthetical claim 'the Scripture cannot be broken' is the NT's most direct statement about the inviolability of γραφή. The argument Jesus is making concerns a Psalm that calls certain human figures 'gods' (Ps 82:6). His point is that if γραφή can use that language for them, it can certainly use it for the one the Father consecrated and sent. But the argument rests on the parenthetical premise: whatever γραφή says cannot be dissolved or overridden.
The claim is not about a particular passage being convenient for Jesus's argument — it is about the character of γραφή as such: it cannot be broken. This is the ground on which all Jesus's appeals to γραφή rest.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Paul's claim that 'all Scripture is God-breathed (θεόπνευστος)' is the NT's most concentrated statement of the divine origin of γραφή. θεόπνευστος is a compound: God (θεός) + breathed (πνευστός, from πνέω, to breathe). The Scripture's origin is the divine breath — not merely the divine mind, but the breath, the most intimate and life-giving divine action. The purpose that follows is formation: teaching, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness.
γραφή is not an artifact of information but an instrument of transformation: it is profitable (ὠφέλιμος) for every dimension of the person's formation in righteousness.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
Paul's foundational gospel summary uses κατὰ τὰς γραφάς (according to the Scriptures) twice — for the death (15:3) and the resurrection (15:4) of Christ. The phrase indicates that the events of the gospel are not novel historical accidents but the fulfillment of what γραφή had written. The Scriptures are the framework within which the gospel events are intelligible — they make sense 'according to the Scriptures.'
The γραφή is both the predictive text and the interpretive lens: Christ's death and resurrection are what they are because they fulfill what was written.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
The Emmaus road scene has the risen Jesus performing the definitive γραφή reading: starting from Moses and going through all the prophets, he shows that all the Scriptures concern himself. The word 'explained' (διερμήνευεν) is thorough interpretation — going through the entire OT as one coherent testimony to Christ. This is not a proof-text exercise but a hermeneutical claim: the whole γραφή is christological in its ultimate reference.
The disciples' burning hearts (24:32) and opened eyes are the experiential result of the γραφή being read in the light of its fulfillment.
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.
Greek word. In NT, γραφή denotes a specific scriptural passage or the OT writings collectively; singular for individual texts, plural for the complete canon.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 51 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
Read versea writing, passage of scripture, the scriptures
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 8 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 49 lexical occurrence verses.
γραφή is built from this root:
Paul affirms the authority of the biblical writings as God’s revealed Word. 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
γραφή is the NT's word for the document that cannot be broken. Jesus says it plainly in John 10:35, as a parenthetical — not even as the main argument, but as the premise so obvious that it need only be mentioned in passing: the Scripture cannot be broken. What is remarkable about this claim is its context. Jesus is using γραφή to make a specific exegetical point, and he rests that point on the character of the document itself.
The Scripture cannot be dissolved, cannot be overridden, cannot be rendered void by a new situation or a newer revelation. Paul makes the same claim from a different angle: all Scripture is God-breathed. The origin is the divine breath — the same breath by which God created (Gen 2:7, 'breathed into his nostrils the breath of life'). The Scripture carries that origin.
But the NT's most remarkable claim about γραφή is the one Jesus makes on the Emmaus road: all of it — from Moses through the prophets — is about him. The γραφή is not a collection of ancient wisdom sayings or religious history. It is a coherent testimony whose subject is Christ, and the risen Christ himself is the one who opens this up. The preacher who holds γραφή has the word that places them in a very long argument — one that started with the first written texts of Israel and runs through the NT and into the present.
The γραφή cannot be broken means that the preacher's authority is not personal authority or cultural relevance but the unbreakable word that has been given. That is both a great comfort and a great demand: the unbreakable word is the only authority in the pulpit.
John.10.35
γραφή derives from γράφω (to write) and literally means 'a writing, a document.' In non-Christian Greek, it covers any written text. In the NT, it becomes a technical term for the Hebrew/Aramaic OT texts. The plural αἱ γραφαί (the Scriptures) refers to the OT corpus; the singular ἡ γραφή can refer to a specific passage (Mark 12:10, 'have you not read this Scripture?')
Or to the authority of Scripture in general (John 10:35). The verb γράφω itself is used 191 times in the NT, including the formula γέγραπται (it is written) which introduces OT citations as binding authority in argument — Jesus uses this formula repeatedly in the temptation narrative (Matt 4:4, 7, 10). The related noun γράμμα (letter, document) covers the written dimension more broadly; γραφή in the NT concentrates on the authoritative, inspired text specifically.
Abbott-Smith notes the progression from 'a writing' to 'THE writing' — the NT's use of the definite article with γραφή reflects its status as the writing that does not need further identification.
γραφή sits at the intersection of the OT and NT in a unique way: it is the NT's word for the OT. When Jesus says 'the Scripture cannot be broken' or Paul says 'all Scripture is God-breathed,' they are speaking about texts that are now the 'Old Testament' — but for them, these texts were simply the Scripture. The NT's own texts gradually acquired the same γραφή status: 2 Peter 3:16 refers to Paul's letters as γραφαί, suggesting that the early church was extending the category to apostolic writings.
The hermeneutical claim of Luke 24:27 — that all γραφαί concern Christ — is the premise of the NT's entire OT citation strategy. The 40+ instances of γέγραπται (it is written) in the NT are the practical outworking of this claim: every OT citation is an argument that the Christ-event is γραφή-confirmed, and therefore cannot be dissolved by human objection. Romans 1:2 — the gospel 'he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures' — is the most compressed form of the claim: the gospel is the fulfillment of what γραφή wrote, and that is what makes it the gospel.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain