What does μόνος (mónos) mean in the Bible?
Μόνος (mónos) means alone, only, or the sole one within a stated comparison. Jesus says humanity does not live by bread alone, denying bread's sufficiency rather than its usefulness.
Greek · G3441
μόνος
Alone
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μόνος G3441
Pronunciation mónos
What does μόνος (mónos) mean in the Bible?
Μόνος (mónos) means alone, only, or the sole one within a stated comparison. Jesus says humanity does not live by bread alone, denying bread's sufficiency rather than its usefulness.
Reader summary
Full entry for μόνος (G3441) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3441?
The BSB source-word alignment has 47 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include only (15), alone (14), . . . (3), [the] only (2), - (1).
Where does μόνος (mónos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:4. Its strongest book concentrations include John (10), Luke (9), Matthew (6), 1 Timothy (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Μόνος (mónos) means alone, only, or the sole one within a stated comparison. Jesus says humanity does not live by bread alone, denying bread's sufficiency rather than its usefulness. His opponents rightly recognize that God alone can forgive sins, but wrongly refuse to see God's authority present in Jesus. Jesus says the Father has not left Him alone, describing the fellowship and obedience of His mission.
Paul remembers that only the Philippian church entered financial partnership with him at a particular stage. Revelation confesses that the Lord alone is holy as all nations come to worship. Exclusivity must be defined by the sentence: only what, among whom, and during which period? The word can mark insufficiency, divine prerogative, personal isolation, unique partnership, or incomparable holiness without making those claims interchangeable.
How the Bible Uses It
Μόνος marks what stands alone or is uniquely sufficient within a comparison: bread is not enough for life, God alone forgives sins, the Father does not abandon the Son, one church uniquely partners with Paul, and the Lord alone is holy.
- Matt.4.4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus answers temptation from Deuteronomy: bread alone cannot sustain the covenant life God intends, because humans depend on every word proceeding from God's mouth.
- Luke.5.21
But the scribes and Pharisees began thinking to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
The scribes ask who can forgive sins but God alone; their premise recognizes a divine prerogative, while Jesus' healing sign confronts them with the Son of Man's authority.
- John.8.29
He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”
Jesus says the Father has not left Him alone because He does what pleases Him, describing unbroken mission fellowship rather than independence from the Father.
- Phil.4.15
And as you Philippians know, in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving.
Paul says no church except the Philippians partnered with him in giving and receiving during the early Macedonian stage, commending a historically specific generosity.
- Rev.15.4
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
The song declares the Lord alone holy and anticipates all nations worshiping before Him because His righteous acts have been revealed.
Passage contextBook context
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 only 15× Matthew 4:10, Matthew 12:4, Matthew 24:36, Luke 4:8
alone 14× Matthew 4:4, Matthew 14:23, Mark 4:10, Mark 6:47
. . . 3× Mark 9:2, Luke 6:4, John 6:15
[the] only 2× Colossians 4:11, 1 Timothy 1:17
- 1× Philippians 4:15
[am] the only one 1× Romans 11:3
[to the] only 1× Romans 16:27
all alone 1× John 16:32
alone [are] 1× Revelation 15:4
on our own 1× 1 Thessalonians 3:1
only [a seed] 1× John 12:24
private 1× Luke 9:18
privately 1× Matthew 18:15
the only 1× Luke 24:18
the only [ apostles ] 1× 1 Corinthians 9:6
the only [ones] 1× 1 Corinthians 14:36
to [the] only 1× Jude 1:25
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 4:4 μόνῳ to alone Adjective - Dative Masculine Singular Matthew 4:10 μόνῳ to only Adjective - Dative Masculine Singular Matthew 12:4 μόνοις to only Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural Matthew 14:23 μόνος to alone Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 18:15 μόνου to privately Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 24:36 μόνος to only Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 4:10 μόνας to alone Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural Mark 6:47 μόνος to alone Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 9:2 μόνους to . . . Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural Luke 4:4 μόνῳ to alone Adjective - Dative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 4:4
Aligned rows 47
Books represented 16
Matthew 6 Mark 3 Luke 9 John 10 Romans 3 1 Corinthians 2 Galatians 1 Philippians 2 Colossians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 1 Timothy 3 2 Timothy 1 Hebrews 1 2 John 1 Jude 2 Revelation 1
Source forms
μόνος 20x monos Matthew 14:23, Matthew 24:36, Mark 6:47, Luke 5:21
μόνῳ 7x monō Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:4, Luke 4:8
μόνον 6x monon John 8:29, John 16:32, John 17:3, Galatians 6:4
μόνοι 4x monoi John 6:22, Philippians 4:15, Colossians 4:11, 1 Thessalonians 3:1
μόνους 3x monous Mark 9:2, Luke 6:4, 1 Corinthians 14:36
μόνας 2x monas Mark 4:10, Luke 9:18
μόνου 2x monou Matthew 18:15, John 5:44
μόνα 1x mona Luke 24:12
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 20x Matthew 14:23, Matthew 24:36, Mark 6:47, Luke 5:21
Adjective - Dative Masculine Singular 7x Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:4, Luke 4:8
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular 6x John 8:29, John 16:32, John 17:3, Galatians 6:4
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 4x John 6:22, Philippians 4:15, Colossians 4:11, 1 Thessalonians 3:1
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 3x Mark 9:2, Luke 6:4, 1 Corinthians 14:36
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural 2x Mark 4:10, Luke 9:18
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular 2x Matthew 18:15, John 5:44
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular 1x Luke 10:40
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not universalize a historically bounded “only,” such as Philippi's unique partnership in one period, into a claim that no other church ever supported Paul.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that “God alone forgives” counts against Jesus without addressing the Gospel's presentation of His authority.
- Do not claim that bread is unnecessary; Jesus denies its sufficiency as the sole basis of life, not its ordinary goodness.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Emphasizes exclusive solitude or singularity; theologically, God's unique, incomparable oneness distinct from all creation.
Strong's G3441
Lexical occurrences 110 verses Greek text appearances 45 times 16 shown below Word forms 10 forms 110 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 9:28-36 Source Gloss
alone
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 45 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 4:4 Adjective Dative Singular Masculine
μόνῳ monw
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Matthew 4:10 Adjective Dative Singular Masculine
μόνῳ monw
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Matthew 12:4 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
μόνοις; monoiv
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Matthew 14:23 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
μόνος monov
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Matthew 18:15 Adjective Genitive Singular Masculine
μόνου. monou
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Matthew 24:36 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
μόνος. monov
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Mark 6:47 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
μόνος monov
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Mark 9:2 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
μόνους· monouv
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 4:4 Adjective Dative Singular Masculine
μόνῳ monw
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 4:8 Adjective Dative Singular Masculine
μόνῳ monw
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 5:21 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
μόνος monov
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 6:4 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
μόνους monouv
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 9:36 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
μόνος. monov
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 10:40 Adjective Accusative Singular Feminine
μόνην monhn
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 24:12 Adjective Accusative Plural Neuter
μόνα· mona
only, solitary, desolate
Read verse Luke 24:18 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
μόνος monov
only, solitary, desolate
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 110 Case pattern Accusative (77) Number pattern Singular (99)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 14:23 · Matt 24:36 · Mark 6:47 · Luke 5:21 · Luke 9:36 · Luke 24:18 · John 6:15 · John 8:16 · John 12:24 · John 16:32 · Rom 11:3 · Rom 16:4 · 1 Cor 9:6 · 1 Tim 6:15 · 1 Tim 6:16 · 2 Tim 4:11 19×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine John 6:22 · Phil 4:15 · Col 4:11 · 1 Thess 3:1 4×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 18:15 · John 5:44 2×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Matt 4:4 · Matt 4:10 · Luke 4:4 · Luke 4:8 · 1 Tim 1:17 · Jude 1:25 6×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Matt 12:4 1×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Matt 5:47 · Matt 8:8 · Matt 9:21 · Matt 14:36 · Matt 21:19 · Matt 21:21 · Mark 5:36 · Mark 6:8 · Luke 8:50 · John 5:18 · John 11:52 · John 13:9 · John 17:20 · Acts 8:16 · Acts 11:19 · Acts 18:25 60×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 17:8 · Mark 9:8 · John 8:29 · John 12:9 · John 16:32 · John 17:3 · Acts 26:29 · Rom 4:23 · Gal 6:4 · Phil 2:27 · Jude 1:4 11×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Mark 9:2 · Luke 6:4 · 1 Cor 14:36 3×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Mark 4:10 · Luke 9:18 2×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Luke 10:40 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Jesus alone with disciples on mountain, solitary setting for transfiguration event
Sitting alone at Jesus' feet, emphasizing sole focus on listening to his word
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 110 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
μόνος is built from this root:
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
The Bible's “alone” language draws boundaries that protect dependence and worship. Bread is a real gift, but bread alone cannot give the life God sustains through His word. God alone forgives sins, and Jesus' authority to forgive therefore presses hearers toward His identity rather than away from it. Yet the Son does not minister in solitary independence; the Father is with Him as He continually does what pleases the Father.
Paul uses the same word on a humbler scale to honor Philippi's unique generosity during a defined season. Revelation brings exclusivity to worship: the Lord alone is holy, and every nation comes before Him. Teachers should resist turning μόνος into a universal superlative detached from syntax. Its faithful use names what is insufficient by itself, what belongs uniquely to God, and where companionship or partnership has been withheld or graciously supplied.
Anchor passage
Matt.4.4
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 4:1-4, bread's insufficiency and dependence on God's word
- Luke 5:17-26, God's prerogative to forgive and Jesus' authority
- John 8:28-30, the Father with the obedient Son
- Philippians 4:10-20, unique partnership and God's provision
- Revelation 15:2-4, the Lord alone holy and worshiped by nations
- Deuteronomy 6:4-5, the one Lord and undivided love
Μόνος is an adjective and pronoun meaning alone or only, agreeing with the person or thing singled out. Its placement can emphasize exclusivity. A negation, exception, comparison, or temporal qualifier defines the boundary of the claim.
From Old to New Testament
Israel confesses the one Lord, prophets deny rivals to God, wisdom warns against isolated self-reliance, and the New Testament reveals the Father's presence with the Son while reserving worship for God alone.
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