What does εἷς (heîs) mean in the Bible?
Εἷς is a Greek word for one. It can mark numerical singularity, uniqueness, unity, shared identity, or one member within a larger comparison, depending on the noun and argument.
Greek · G1520
εἷς
One
Reading a lexicon entry
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εἷς G1520
Pronunciation heîs
What does εἷς (heîs) mean in the Bible?
Εἷς is a Greek word for one. It can mark numerical singularity, uniqueness, unity, shared identity, or one member within a larger comparison, depending on the noun and argument.
Reader summary
Full entry for εἷς (G1520) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1520?
The BSB source-word alignment has 345 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include one (192), a (16), . . . (11), a single (11), [the other] (7).
Where does εἷς (heîs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (66), Mark (44), Luke (43), John (40).
Are there verse guides for εἷς (heîs)?
This entry includes 8 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
Εἷς is a Greek word for one. It can mark numerical singularity, uniqueness, unity, shared identity, or one member within a larger comparison, depending on the noun and argument.
Pastorally, this word matters because Scripture uses one language in major confessional and theological places: one God, one mediator, one body, one Spirit, and oneness in Christ. It also appears in ordinary counting and narrative details. Careful reading asks what kind of oneness the sentence is naming.
The word should not be used carelessly to prove more than the passage says. One may mean one in number, one in unity, one as unique, or one in representative contrast.
Lexical sourcegrammatical
How the Bible Uses It
Heis is currently counted about 342 times in the local Greek artifact. It can mean one, single, unique, united, or one member in context.
- Mark.12.29
Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Jesus cites the confession that the Lord is one. The word serves monotheistic confession in the passage.
- John.10.30
I and the Father are one.”
Jesus says, I and the Father are one. The passage carries the theological force; the word marks oneness.
- Gal.3.28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Believers are all one in Christ Jesus. The word marks unity in Christ across social divisions.
- Eph.4.4
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
Paul names one body and one Spirit. The word serves the unity appeal of the passage.
- 1Tim.2.5
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
There is one God and one mediator. The word marks exclusive confession and mediation.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It one 192× Matthew 5:19, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Matthew 5:41
a 16× Matthew 5:18, Matthew 9:18, Matthew 12:11, Matthew 18:5
. . . 11× John 1:3, John 3:27, John 21:25, Acts 1:24
a single 11× Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:36, Matthew 6:27, Matthew 23:15
[the other] 7× Matthew 20:21, Matthew 24:40, Matthew 24:41, Matthew 27:38
one [man] 7× Acts 17:26, Romans 5:15, Romans 5:17, Romans 5:19
vvv 6× John 20:7, Acts 23:6, 1 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 11:5
- 5× Mark 4:20, Luke 5:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:11, Revelation 21:21
first [day] 4× Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, Acts 20:7
only One 4× Matthew 19:17, Matthew 20:12, 1 Corinthians 9:24, James 4:12
alone 3× Mark 2:7, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19
an 3× Luke 22:59, Revelation 8:13, Revelation 19:17
another 3× Mark 4:8, Mark 14:19
for one 3× Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:45, Mark 14:37
of but one 3× 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 3:12, Titus 1:6
[are] one 2× John 17:22, Romans 12:5
[for] one 2× Matthew 26:40, Acts 1:22
[the] one 2× Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13
[There is] one 2× Ephesians 4:4, 1 Timothy 2:5
any 2× Matthew 18:10, Matthew 18:14
first 2× John 20:19, Revelation 9:12
of one 2× 1 Corinthians 12:11, 1 Corinthians 12:14
one [talent] 2× Matthew 25:15, Matthew 25:18
one man 2× Romans 5:17, Hebrews 11:12
Someone 2× Mark 9:17, 1 Corinthians 14:27
to one 2× Matthew 10:42, 2 Corinthians 11:2
[ for only ] one [ party ] 1× Galatians 3:20
[ there is but ] one 1× 1 Corinthians 8:6
[a man] 1× Mark 10:17
[and] one 1× John 10:16
[belongs to] one 1× Romans 12:5
[It is] one of 1× Mark 14:20
[of you] 1× Acts 20:31
[the] first [day] 1× Matthew 28:1
[There is] one [thing] 1× John 9:25
[There is] one thing 1× Mark 10:21
[this final] 1× Acts 28:25
[this] one 1× 2 Peter 3:8
[turn] 1× 1 Corinthians 14:31
a first 1× Titus 3:10
a man 1× Matthew 19:16
a unit 1× 1 Corinthians 12:12
agreement 1× 1 John 5:8
among 1× John 12:2
another {up} 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:11
as one 1× Philippians 1:27
by a single 1× Hebrews 10:14
each 1× Revelation 4:8
for a 1× Acts 21:7
in a single 1× Revelation 18:19
in one 1× 1 Corinthians 10:8
individual 1× Ephesians 4:16
just one [point] 1× James 2:10
On the first [day] 1× 1 Corinthians 16:2
one [ in purpose ] 1× 1 Corinthians 3:8
One [covenant] 1× Galatians 4:24
One [of them] 1× Luke 24:18
one [prisoner] 1× John 18:39
one [sin] 1× Romans 5:16
One [was] 1× Luke 18:10
one [with her] 1× 1 Corinthians 6:16
one [with Him] 1× 1 Corinthians 6:17
one after another 1× Luke 14:18
one thing 1× Luke 18:22
one thing [I do] 1× Philippians 3:13
only 1× John 8:41
purpose 1× Philippians 2:2
the one [man’s] 1× Romans 5:16
the same [family] 1× Hebrews 2:11
to a 1× Luke 15:15
united 1× John 17:23
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 5:18 ἓν to a single Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular Matthew 5:18 μία to a Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 5:19 μίαν to one Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular Matthew 5:29 ἓν to one Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular Matthew 5:30 ἓν to one Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular Matthew 5:36 μίαν to a single Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular Matthew 5:41 ἕν to one Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 6:24 ἕνα to one Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular Matthew 6:24 ἑνὸς to [the] one Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 6:27 ἕνα to a single Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 5:18
Aligned rows 345
Books represented 21
Matthew 66 Mark 44 Luke 43 John 40 Acts 21 Romans 20 1 Corinthians 31 2 Corinthians 3 Galatians 8 Ephesians 15 Philippians 4 Colossians 2 1 Thessalonians 3 2 Thessalonians 1 1 Timothy 5 Titus 2 Hebrews 5 James 3 2 Peter 3 1 John 1 Revelation 25
Source forms
εἷς 93x heis Matthew 8:19, Matthew 9:18, Matthew 18:24, Matthew 19:16
ἓν 52x hen Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Matthew 6:29
ἕνα 42x hena Matthew 6:24, Matthew 6:27, Matthew 10:42, Matthew 13:46
μίαν 36x mian Matthew 5:19, Matthew 5:36, Matthew 17:4, Matthew 19:5
ἑνὸς 29x henos Matthew 6:24, Matthew 18:10, Luke 16:13, Acts 17:26
ἑνὶ 20x heni Matthew 20:13, Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:45, Luke 4:40
μιᾷ 18x mia Mark 16:2, Luke 5:12, Luke 5:17, Luke 8:22
μία 17x mia Matthew 5:18, Matthew 19:6, Matthew 24:41, Matthew 26:69
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 98x Matthew 8:19, Matthew 9:18, Matthew 18:24, Matthew 19:16
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular 45x Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Matthew 6:29
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular 42x Matthew 6:24, Matthew 6:27, Matthew 10:42, Matthew 13:46
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular 36x Matthew 5:19, Matthew 5:36, Matthew 17:4, Matthew 19:5
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular 26x Matthew 5:41, Matthew 12:11, Matthew 18:5, Matthew 25:15
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular 26x Matthew 6:24, Matthew 18:10, Luke 16:13, Acts 17:26
Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular 18x Mark 16:2, Luke 5:12, Luke 5:17, Luke 8:22
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular 17x Matthew 5:18, Matthew 19:6, Matthew 24:41, Matthew 26:69
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask whether one means one in number, one as unique, one in unity, or one within a comparison.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim heis by itself proves a full doctrine without the passage argument.
- Do not claim unity language cancels every distinction named elsewhere in Scripture.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
John 1:3 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
ἓν en one The form sharpens the negation so the verse sounds exhaustive rather than partial. Read verse guide John 1:40 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
εἷς eis one The form adds precision by marking Andrew as one individual from the two, but the surrounding phrase carries the full meaning and limits the scope of the numeral. Read verse guide John 10:16 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
μία mia one The nominative feminine adjective agrees with flock, so the verse speaks of one gathered flock under the shepherd language of the context. Read verse guide John 10:30 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
ἕν en one The neuter predicate adjective carries the sentence's unity claim while the surrounding context keeps that claim tied to Jesus and the Father. Read verse guide Revelation 22:2 Adjective Accusative Singular Masculine
ἕνα ena one The form sharpens the sense of monthly distribution, helping the reader hear the passage as orderly and continuous rather than vague. Read verse guide Romans 3:10 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
εἷς· eis one The form contributes emphasis to the denial by excluding even one exception, which makes the statement more forceful in context. Read verse guide Romans 3:12 Adjective Genitive Singular Masculine
ἑνός· enos one The form adds precision to the negative claim by helping the sentence exclude every possible exception, including a single one. Read verse guide Romans 3:30 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
εἷς eis one The form strengthens the claim of divine unity in the verse, which in turn supports the shared basis of justification for both circumcised and uncircumcised people. Read verse guide Evidence Summary
Greek word. Unity emphasizing singularity to exclusion of others; theologically expresses oneness in Christ and divine nature.
Source Gloss
one
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 355 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 5:18 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
ἓν en
one
Read verse Matthew 5:18 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
μία mia
one
Read verse Matthew 5:19 Adjective Accusative Singular Feminine
μίαν mian
one
Read verse Matthew 5:29 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
ἓν en
one
Read verse Matthew 5:30 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
ἓν en
one
Read verse Matthew 5:36 Adjective Accusative Singular Feminine
μίαν mian
one
Read verse Matthew 5:41 Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
ἕν, en
one
Read verse Matthew 6:24 Adjective Accusative Singular Masculine
ἕνα ena
one
Read verse Matthew 6:24 Adjective Genitive Singular Masculine
ἑνὸς enov
one
Read verse Matthew 6:27 Adjective Accusative Singular Masculine
ἕνα; ena
one
Read verse Matthew 6:29 Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
ἓν en
one
Read verse Matthew 8:19 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
εἷς eiv
one
Read verse Matthew 9:18 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
εἷς eiv
one
Read verse Matthew 10:29 Adjective Nominative Singular Neuter
ἓν en
one
Read verse Matthew 10:42 Adjective Accusative Singular Masculine
ἕνα ena
one
Read verse Matthew 12:11 Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
ἕν, en
one
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 10 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 patterns 10 Aligned forms 342 Case pattern Nominative (157) Number pattern Singular (280)
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 8:19 · Matt 9:18 · Matt 18:24 · Matt 19:16 · Matt 19:17 · Matt 20:21 · Matt 22:35 · Matt 23:8 · Matt 23:9 · Matt 23:10 · Matt 24:40 · Matt 26:14 · Matt 26:21 · Matt 26:22 · Matt 26:47 · Matt 26:51 96×
Nominative · Singular · Neuter Matt 5:18 · Matt 5:29 · Matt 5:30 · Matt 6:29 · Matt 10:29 · Matt 18:12 · Matt 18:14 · Mark 4:8 · Mark 4:20 · Mark 10:21 · Luke 12:6 · Luke 12:27 · Luke 18:22 · John 1:3 · John 6:22 · John 10:30 44×
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 5:18 · Matt 19:6 · Matt 24:41 · Matt 26:69 · Mark 10:8 · Mark 12:42 · Mark 14:66 · Luke 17:35 · John 10:16 · Acts 4:32 · Acts 19:34 · Gal 4:24 · Eph 4:5 · 2 Pet 3:8 · Rev 9:12 17×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 6:24 · Matt 18:10 · Luke 16:13 · Acts 17:26 · Acts 17:27 · Acts 21:26 · Rom 3:12 · Rom 5:12 · Rom 5:15 · Rom 5:16 · Rom 5:17 · Rom 5:19 · Rom 9:10 · 1 Cor 4:6 · 1 Cor 10:17 · Gal 3:20 26×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Luke 14:18 · Luke 17:34 · Luke 22:59 · Acts 24:21 · 1 Tim 3:2 · 1 Tim 3:12 · Titus 1:6 · Heb 12:16 8×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter Luke 10:42 · Rom 5:16 · Rom 5:18 · Gal 3:16 · Eph 4:16 · Rev 6:1 7×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Mark 16:2 · Luke 5:12 · Luke 5:17 · Luke 8:22 · Luke 13:10 · Luke 20:1 · Luke 24:1 · John 20:1 · John 20:19 · Acts 20:7 · 1 Cor 10:8 · Eph 4:4 · Phil 1:27 · Heb 10:14 · Rev 18:8 · Rev 18:10 18×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Matt 20:13 · Matt 25:40 · Matt 25:45 · Luke 4:40 · Luke 11:46 · Luke 12:52 · Luke 15:7 · Luke 15:10 · Luke 15:15 · 2 Cor 11:2 · Gal 5:14 · Eph 4:7 · Col 4:6 13×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Rom 12:4 · Rom 15:6 · 1 Cor 12:9 · 1 Cor 12:13 · Eph 2:16 · Eph 2:18 · Phil 1:27 · Col 3:15 · Jas 2:10 9×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 6:24 · Matt 6:27 · Matt 10:42 · Matt 13:46 · Matt 16:14 · Matt 18:6 · Matt 18:16 · Matt 18:28 · Matt 21:24 · Matt 23:15 · Matt 27:15 · Mark 8:14 · Mark 9:42 · Mark 11:29 · Mark 12:6 · Mark 15:6 42×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Unity within diversity, many members forming one body in Christ
Christ as peace making Jews and Gentiles into one new humanity
One man's sin brought death to all, contrasted with one man's grace
Indefinite numeral introducing a man with two sons in parable narrative
Monotheistic affirmation, one God and one Lord emphasizing exclusivity
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 342 lexical occurrence verses.
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
Heis marks one. It may be numerical, unique, relational, or united, depending on the noun and argument.
Anchor passage
1Tim.2.5
Doctrinal connections
- θεός: God, central to one-God confession.
- μεσίτης: mediator, related to 1 Timothy 2:5.
- σῶμα: body, related to Ephesians 4:4.
- Χριστός: Christ, the sphere of unity in Galatians 3:28.
Heis inflects by gender, case, and number. Its theological weight comes from the modified noun and the argument, not from the numeral alone.
From Old to New Testament
Scripture confesses the one God and then speaks of one mediator, one body, and one people in Christ. heis can mark those claims, but it must not replace the passage argument.
Sources
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