What does ὅμοιος (hómoios) mean in the Bible?
Ὅμοιος (hómoios) means like, similar, or comparable. It signals resemblance without asserting identity in every respect.
Greek · G3664
ὅμοιος
Similar (in appearance or character)
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ὅμοιος G3664
Pronunciation hómoios
What does ὅμοιος (hómoios) mean in the Bible?
Ὅμοιος (hómoios) means like, similar, or comparable. It signals resemblance without asserting identity in every respect.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὅμοιος (G3664) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3664?
The BSB source-word alignment has 45 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include like (31), [was] like (3), [is] like (2), [was One] like (2), [were] like (2).
Where does ὅμοιος (hómoios) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (21), Luke (9), Matthew (9), John (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Ὅμοιος (hómoios) means like, similar, or comparable. It signals resemblance without asserting identity in every respect. Jesus compares an unreceptive generation to children who reject every tune, and compares the obedient hearer to a builder whose foundation survives a flood. Paul denies that the divine being is like crafted gold, silver, or stone, using comparison to expose idolatry's category mistake.
Revelation repeatedly says visionary creatures or materials are like familiar things, giving readers analogies for what John saw without collapsing the vision into those objects. A simile selects a point of likeness; surrounding explanation identifies it. Responsible teaching must ask what is being compared, which feature is shared, and where the comparison stops.
The word cannot authorize imaginative claims beyond the passage's stated or visible correspondence.
How the Bible Uses It
Ὅμοιος introduces comparison. Jesus uses likeness to expose resistance and portray obedient stability, Paul rejects likeness between God and idols, and Revelation uses analogical description for visions that exceed ordinary experience.
- Matt.11.16
To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
Jesus likens the generation to marketplace children dissatisfied with opposite invitations, exposing a refusal that criticizes both John's austerity and Jesus' welcome.
- Luke.6.48
He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
The obedient hearer is like a builder who digs deep to rock, and the comparison focuses on endurance when the flood tests the completed house.
- Acts.17.29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
Because humans are God's offspring, Paul says the divine being must not be thought like a crafted image; resemblance language here is explicitly denied to protect the Creator-creature distinction.
- Rev.9.7
And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads; and their faces were like the faces of men.
John says the locusts are like horses prepared for battle and continues with layered comparisons, signaling visionary resemblance rather than ordinary zoological identification.
- Rev.21.18
The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.
The city's pure gold is like clear glass, an analogy that communicates radiant purity while preserving the distinct materials within the vision's symbolic architecture.
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 like 31× Matthew 11:16, Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 13:44
[was] like 3× Revelation 4:7, Revelation 21:11
[is] like 2× Matthew 22:39, Revelation 13:4
[was One] like 2× Revelation 1:13, Revelation 14:14
[were] like 2× Revelation 1:15, Revelation 9:19
[ will be ] like 1× Luke 12:36
[are] like 1× Revelation 2:18
[as clear as] 1× Revelation 4:6
as 1× Revelation 21:18
In like 1× Jude 1:7
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 11:16 ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 13:31 Ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 13:33 Ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 13:44 Ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 13:45 ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 13:47 ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 13:52 ὅμοιός to like Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 20:1 Ὁμοία to like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 22:39 ὁμοία to [is] like Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular Luke 6:47 ὅμοιος to like Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 11:16
Aligned rows 45
Books represented 8
Matthew 9 Luke 9 John 2 Acts 1 Galatians 1 1 John 1 Jude 1 Revelation 21
Source forms
ὁμοία 9x homoia Matthew 11:16, Matthew 13:45, Matthew 13:47, Matthew 22:39
ὅμοιον 9x homoion Acts 17:29, Jude 1:7, Revelation 1:13, Revelation 4:7
ὅμοιος 8x homoios Luke 6:47, John 8:55, John 9:9, Revelation 4:3
ὅμοιοι 6x homoioi Luke 7:31, Luke 12:36, 1 John 3:2, Revelation 1:15
Ὁμοία 4x Homoia Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 13:44, Matthew 20:1
ὅμοιός 3x homoios Matthew 13:52, Luke 6:48, Luke 6:49
ὅμοια 2x homoia Galatians 5:21, Revelation 13:11
ὅμοια* 1x homoia Revelation 9:7
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular 13x Matthew 11:16, Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 13:44
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 11x Matthew 13:52, Luke 6:47, Luke 6:48, Luke 6:49
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 7x Luke 7:31, Luke 7:32, Luke 12:36, 1 John 3:2
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular 5x Revelation 4:7, Revelation 13:2, Revelation 21:18
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular 3x Jude 1:7, Revelation 1:13, Revelation 14:14
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural 3x Galatians 5:21, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 13:11
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x Revelation 9:10
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular 1x Acts 17:29
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not assume that a biblical simile transfers every property of one object to the other; identify only the resemblance supported by the sentence and context.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Revelation's “like” descriptions provide exact technical identifications of modern machines or events.
- Do not claim that humans being God's offspring makes God materially like a humanly crafted image.
Evidence Summary
Messiah
Greek word. Resemblance in nature or character, not merely appearance; used for theological comparisons in parables.
Strong's G3664
Lexical occurrences 45 verses Greek text appearances 47 times 16 shown below Word forms 9 forms 45 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 John 3:1-3 Source Gloss
similar (in appearance or character)
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 11:16 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 13:31 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
Ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 13:33 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
Ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 13:44 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 13:45 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 13:47 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 13:52 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ὅμοιός omoiov
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 20:1 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Matthew 22:39 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Mark 12:31 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ὁμοία omoia
like, similar to
Read verse Luke 6:47 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ὅμοιος· omoiov
like, similar to
Read verse Luke 6:48 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ὅμοιός omoiov
like, similar to
Read verse Luke 6:49 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ὅμοιός omoiov
like, similar to
Read verse Luke 7:31 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ὅμοιοι; omoioi
like, similar to
Read verse Luke 7:32 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ὅμοιοί omoioi
like, similar to
Read verse Luke 12:36 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ὅμοιοι omoioi
like, similar to
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 9 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 9 Aligned forms 45 Case pattern Nominative (40) Number pattern Singular (33)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 11:16 · Matt 13:31 · Matt 13:33 · Matt 13:44 · Matt 13:45 · Matt 13:47 · Matt 20:1 · Matt 22:39 · Luke 13:18 · Luke 13:19 · Luke 13:21 · Rev 4:6 · Rev 18:18 13×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 13:52 · Luke 6:47 · Luke 6:48 · Luke 6:49 · John 8:55 · John 9:9 · Rev 4:3 · Rev 11:1 · Rev 13:4 · Rev 21:11 11×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Luke 7:31 · Luke 7:32 · Luke 12:36 · 1 John 3:2 · Rev 1:15 · Rev 2:18 · Rev 9:7 7×
Nominative · Singular · Neuter Rev 4:7 · Rev 13:2 · Rev 21:18 5×
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Gal 5:21 · Rev 9:7 · Rev 13:11 3×
Nominative · Plural · Feminine Rev 9:19 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Jude 1:7 · Rev 1:13 · Rev 14:14 3×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Acts 17:29 1×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Rev 9:10 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Sharing in likeness or resemblance.
Showing 1 selected witness from 45 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ὅμοιος is built from this root:
ὁμοῦ G3674
Why This Word Matters
Final transformation into Christ’s likeness anchors both assurance and present sanctification. 1 John 3:1-3
Canonical Themes
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
Comparison is one of Scripture's most generous teaching tools because it moves from the familiar toward truth without pretending the two realities are interchangeable. Jesus' marketplace children reveal the inconsistency of a generation determined not to respond, while the deeply founded house gives obedience a memorable picture of tested stability. At Athens, Paul uses a denial of likeness: the living God cannot be represented as though divine nature shared the limitations of an artifact fashioned by human imagination.
Revelation depends on repeated likeness language because visions communicate realities for which ordinary description is inadequate. The locusts are like warhorses; they are not therefore reducible to one modern weapon. Gold is like glass in purity or radiance without becoming chemically identical. Teachers should honor the inspired comparison by pressing its intended feature and refusing speculative details that the text never assigns.
Anchor passage
Matt.11.16
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 11:16-19, comparison exposing resistant unbelief
- Luke 6:46-49, obedient hearing and a rock foundation
- Acts 17:22-31, God unlike human-made images
- Revelation 9:7-11, analogical description in apocalyptic vision
- Revelation 21:18-21, likeness and the city's radiant materials
- Isaiah 40:18-26, no adequate likeness for the Creator
Ὅμοιος is an adjective of likeness and commonly takes a dative or a comparative construction identifying the counterpart. Agreement and syntax show what is called similar; explanatory clauses often disclose the intended point.
From Old to New Testament
Prophets ask what likeness can be set beside the incomparable God, wisdom uses comparisons to train discernment, and Jesus' parables announce kingdom truth through measured analogy. Apocalyptic visions extend that practice with explicit limits.
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