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Heis is the Greek numeral “one,” inflected in forms that can identify one item, one person, uniqueness, singularity, or unity according to the noun and argument. It appears in ordinary counting, yet Scripture also uses it in confessional and ecclesial statements: the Lord is one, the Father and Son are one, there is one body and one Spirit, believers are one in Christ, and there is one God and one mediator.
Reader summary
Full entry for εἷς (G1520) · Open the biblical lexicon
Heis is the Greek numeral “one,” inflected in forms that can identify one item, one person, uniqueness, singularity, or unity according to the noun and argument. It appears in ordinary counting, yet Scripture also uses it in confessional and ecclesial statements: the Lord is one, the Father and Son are one, there is one body and one Spirit, believers are.
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).
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).
This entry includes 8 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Heis is the Greek numeral “one,” inflected in forms that can identify one item, one person, uniqueness, singularity, or unity according to the noun and argument. It appears in ordinary counting, yet Scripture also uses it in confessional and ecclesial statements: the Lord is one, the Father and Son are one, there is one body and one Spirit, believers are one in Christ, and there is one God and one mediator.
The word marks oneness, but it does not tell readers by itself what kind of oneness is meant. Numerical identity, uniqueness, relational unity, and corporate union are not interchangeable. Faithful teaching names what is called one and lets the sentence define why. It must preserve the Bible’s monotheistic confession, Trinitarian witness, Christ’s unique mediation, and the real diversity that remains within the one body.
Heis marks one in number and can serve statements of uniqueness or unity. The modified noun and the author’s argument define the kind of oneness in view.
Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Jesus cites Israel’s confession of the one Lord. The numeral serves monotheistic confession within the command to love God wholly.
I and the Father are one.”
Jesus speaks of oneness with the Father in the context of preserving His sheep. The plural subject and neuter form require careful attention to unity without collapsing the persons.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
Repeated one language joins the Spirit’s work and the church’s one body while preserving the many members and their diverse gifts.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Believers across stated social distinctions are one in Christ. Union with Him establishes shared standing without denying embodied or vocational distinctions everywhere.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
Paul grounds the church’s call to unity in one body, one Spirit, and one hope. The surrounding confession expands the pattern.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
One God and one mediator ground prayer for all kinds of people. The verse confesses the unique mediation of the man Christ Jesus.
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. Unity emphasizing singularity to exclusion of others; theologically expresses oneness in Christ and divine nature.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek 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.
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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 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.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 342 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Heis can be mathematically simple and theologically weighty because Scripture places “one” inside carefully formed confessions. Mark 12 repeats Israel’s confession of the one Lord and joins it to wholehearted love. John 10 speaks of the Father and Son as one without confusing their personal distinction. First Corinthians 12 grounds a many-membered church in one Spirit and one body.
Galatians 3 locates shared standing across real social distinctions in union with Christ. Ephesians 4 summons believers to preserve unity because the gospel has already given one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and God and Father. First Timothy 2 confesses one God and the unique mediator, the man Christ Jesus. Faithful teaching must therefore resist using the numeral as a shortcut.
It lets each passage define the oneness and preserves the distinctions that the same passage maintains.
1Tim.2.5
Heis is a cardinal numeral with masculine, feminine, and neuter forms that inflect for case. It can function adjectivally or substantivally. Agreement and syntax show what is counted or described as one; discourse determines whether the stress falls on number, uniqueness, unity, or contrast. The local word table contains about 345 aligned hits.
The Old Testament confesses the one Lord and calls His covenant people to undivided love. The New Testament maintains that confession while revealing the Father, Son, and Spirit, proclaiming the one mediator, and forming one people in Christ. Heis marks these statements, but the canon defines their Trinitarian and ecclesial coherence.