What does ἁμαρτωλός (hamartōlós) mean in the Bible?
G268 names a sinner or sinful person. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
Greek · G268
ἁμαρτωλός
Sinful
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ἁμαρτωλός G268
Pronunciation hamartōlós
What does ἁμαρτωλός (hamartōlós) mean in the Bible?
G268 names a sinner or sinful person. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἁμαρτωλός (G268) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G268?
The BSB source-word alignment has 47 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include sinners (25), a sinner (5), a sinful (4), sinful (3), sinner (3).
Where does ἁμαρτωλός (hamartōlós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 9:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (18), Mark (6), Matthew (5), John (4).
What This Word Actually Means
G268 names a sinner or sinful person. In its New Testament settings, the word is used with the range and pressure described by its local passages rather than by a bare gloss alone. It can be used socially for the morally disreputable, theologically for those needing justification, and personally for the one confessing guilt before God. This companion therefore treats the word as a Scripture-governed guide, not as a shortcut around exegesis.
It helps teachers name guilt without contempt and show why Jesus\' mission is good news. It should help readers ask better questions of the passage: who is speaking or acting, what covenant or gospel reality is in view, and how the surrounding context limits or strengthens the claim. The word must not become a weapon of religious superiority.
How the Bible Uses It
G268 names sinners in need of repentance, mercy, justification, and priestly mediation.
- Luke.5.32
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus says He came to call sinners to repentance.
- Luke.18.13
But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
The tax collector pleads for mercy as a sinner.
- Rom.5.8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
- 1Tim.1.15
This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
- Heb.7.26
Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
Jesus is holy and set apart from sinners as the priest sinners need.
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 sinners 25× Matthew 9:10, Matthew 9:11, Matthew 9:13, Matthew 11:19
a sinner 5× Luke 7:39, John 9:24, John 9:25, Romans 3:7
a sinful 4× Luke 5:8, Luke 7:37, Luke 19:7, John 9:16
sinful 3× Mark 8:38, Romans 7:13, 1 Timothy 1:9
sinner 3× Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 18:13
of sinners 2× Matthew 26:45, Mark 14:41
[the] sinner 1× 1 Peter 4:18
[you] sinners 1× James 4:8
of sinful 1× Luke 24:7
to sinners 1× Luke 6:34
vvv 1× Mark 2:16
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 9:10 ἁμαρτωλοὶ to sinners Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Matthew 9:11 ἁμαρτωλῶν to sinners Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Matthew 9:13 ἁμαρτωλούς to sinners Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural Matthew 11:19 ἁμαρτωλῶν to sinners Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Matthew 26:45 ἁμαρτωλῶν to of sinners Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Mark 2:15 ἁμαρτωλοὶ to sinners Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural Mark 2:16 ἁμαρτωλῶν to vvv Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Mark 2:16 ἁμαρτωλῶν to sinners Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Mark 2:17 ἁμαρτωλούς to sinners Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural Mark 8:38 ἁμαρτωλῷ to sinful Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 9:10
Aligned rows 47
Books represented 11
Matthew 5 Mark 6 Luke 18 John 4 Romans 4 Galatians 2 1 Timothy 2 Hebrews 2 James 2 1 Peter 1 Jude 1
Source forms
ἁμαρτωλῶν 13x hamartōlōn Matthew 9:11, Matthew 11:19, Matthew 26:45, Mark 2:16
ἁμαρτωλοὶ 9x hamartōloi Matthew 9:10, Mark 2:15, Luke 6:32, Luke 6:33
ἁμαρτωλός 5x hamartōlos Luke 5:8, Luke 7:37, Luke 7:39, John 9:24
ἁμαρτωλῷ 5x hamartōlō Mark 8:38, Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 18:13
ἁμαρτωλὸς 4x hamartōlos John 9:16, Romans 3:7, Romans 7:13, 1 Peter 4:18
ἁμαρτωλοὺς 3x hamartōlous Luke 5:32, Luke 15:2, 1 Timothy 1:15
ἁμαρτωλοί 2x hamartōloi Galatians 2:17, James 4:8
ἁμαρτωλοῖς 2x hamartōlois Luke 6:34, 1 Timothy 1:9
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural 13x Matthew 9:11, Matthew 11:19, Matthew 26:45, Mark 2:16
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 11x Matthew 9:10, Mark 2:15, Luke 6:32, Luke 6:33
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 6x Luke 5:8, John 9:16, John 9:24, John 9:25
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 5x Matthew 9:13, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:32, Luke 15:2
Adjective - Dative Masculine Singular 4x Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 18:13, Luke 19:7
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular 3x Luke 7:37, Luke 7:39, Romans 7:13
Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 2x Luke 6:34, 1 Timothy 1:9
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x James 5:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Invite honest confession because Christ came to save sinners, not to affirm self-protection.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Jesus\' welcome means no repentance is needed.
- Do not claim that calling someone a sinner is always faithful without regard to tone and aim.
Evidence Summary
HolinessMessiah
Greek word. Designates someone as wicked or estranged from God, not merely imperfect; often contrasts righteous persons
Strong's G268
Lexical occurrences 47 verses Greek text appearances 47 times 16 shown below Word forms 10 forms 47 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 5:1–11 Source Gloss
sinful
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Designates someone as wicked or estranged from God, not merely imperfect; often contrasts righteous persons
(ἁμαρτάνω), [in LXX chiefly for רָשָׁע ;] sinful, a sinner: of all men, 1Ti.1:15; of those especially wicked, 1Ti.1:9, 1Pe.4:18; p1., Mat.9:10-13 11:19 26:45, al. (see MM, VGT, see word; Cremer, 102, 634)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 47 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 9:10 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὶ amartwloi
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Matthew 9:11 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Matthew 9:13 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὺς amartwlouv
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Matthew 11:19 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν. amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Matthew 26:45 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν. amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Mark 2:15 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὶ amartwloi
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Mark 2:16 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν, amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Mark 2:16 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Mark 2:17 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὺς amartwlouv
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Mark 8:38 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
ἁμαρτωλῷ, amartwlw
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Mark 14:41 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν. amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Luke 5:8 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἁμαρτωλός amartwlov
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Luke 5:30 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλῶν amartwlwn
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Luke 5:32 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὺς amartwlouv
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Luke 6:32 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὶ amartwloi
sinning, sinful, a sinner
Read verse Luke 6:33 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἁμαρτωλοὶ amartwloi
sinning, sinful, a sinner
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 47 Case pattern Nominative (20) Number pattern Plural (32)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 9:10 · Mark 2:15 · Luke 6:32 · Luke 6:33 · Luke 6:34 · Luke 13:2 · Luke 15:1 · Rom 5:19 · Gal 2:15 · Gal 2:17 · Jude 1:15 11×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Luke 5:8 · John 9:16 · John 9:24 · John 9:25 · Rom 3:7 · 1 Pet 4:18 6×
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Luke 7:37 · Luke 7:39 · Rom 7:13 3×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Matt 9:11 · Matt 11:19 · Matt 26:45 · Mark 2:16 · Mark 14:41 · Luke 5:30 · Luke 7:34 · Luke 24:7 · John 9:31 · Rom 5:8 · Heb 7:26 · Heb 12:3 13×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Luke 15:7 · Luke 15:10 · Luke 18:13 · Luke 19:7 4×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Luke 6:34 · 1 Tim 1:9 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Mark 8:38 1×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Matt 9:13 · Mark 2:17 · Luke 5:32 · Luke 15:2 · 1 Tim 1:15 5×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Jas 5:20 1×
Vocative · Plural · Masculine Jas 4:8 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Additional Occurrences
Luke 13:1–5 ἁμαρτωλοί hamartōlós
Sinners
Luke 5:1–11 ἁμαρτωλός hamartōlós
Sinful
Luke 5:27–32 ἁμαρτωλούς hamartōlós
Sinners
Luke 7:36–50 ἁμαρτωλός hamartōlós
Sinner
Mark 2:13–17 ἁμαρτωλός hamartōlós
sinner
New Testament Witnesses
sinful
sinners
sinner
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 47 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἁμαρτωλός is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Identifies the object of Christ’s redemptive call.
Reveals human unworthiness before Christ’s holiness.
Identifies the objects of Christ’s redemptive mission.
Canonical Themes
Holiness Messiah
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
Teach G268 so that guilt and grace stay together. A faithful teacher should begin with the nearest passage, observe who acts, what is being named, what problem or promise is in view, and what response the text calls for, then move carefully to related passages. It is useful for helping hearers confess sin honestly while seeing why Christ\'s saving mission is necessary and gracious.
The entry should help readers read Scripture more carefully, not replace the work of tracing the sentence, paragraph, book, and covenant setting. This keeps the word useful for shepherds, teachers, leaders, groups, families, and disciples without letting the word carry claims that belong to the whole passage or canon.
Anchor passage
Luke.5.32
Doctrinal connections
- Repentance
- Justification
- High priesthood of Christ
The adjective can function substantively as sinner. Context determines whether the emphasis is reputation, guilt, or condition.
From Old to New Testament
Sacrificial and priestly categories prepare for the sinner\'s need of mercy and mediation fulfilled in Christ.
Canonical parallel
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