What does ὄφις (óphis) mean in the Bible?
Ophis means a snake or serpent. The New Testament uses the word in literal, proverbial, accusatory, typological, and warning contexts.
Greek · G3789
ὄφις
Snake
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ὄφις G3789
Pronunciation óphis
What does ὄφις (óphis) mean in the Bible?
Ophis means a snake or serpent. The New Testament uses the word in literal, proverbial, accusatory, typological, and warning contexts.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὄφις (G3789) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3789?
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include snakes (5), serpent (4), a snake (2), serpent’s (1), snake (1).
Where does ὄφις (óphis) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (5), Matthew (3), Luke (2), 1 Corinthians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Ophis means a snake or serpent. The New Testament uses the word in literal, proverbial, accusatory, typological, and warning contexts. Jesus can mention a snake as the opposite of a father's good gift, use snake-like shrewdness in mission instruction, and call hypocritical leaders snakes when exposing deadly religious corruption. Luke records Jesus giving authority over snakes and scorpions as part of mission protection.
John 3 reaches back to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness to explain that the Son of Man must be lifted up. Paul warns that the serpent's cunning deceived Eve and could lead minds away from simple and pure devotion to Christ. Ophis therefore requires careful reading: the word can mark danger, cunning, judgment, mission realism, or typological witness depending on the passage.
How the Bible Uses It
Ophis names a snake or serpent across scenes of danger, mission wisdom, rebuke, protection, typology, and deception. The passage decides whether the image is literal, proverbial, or theological.
- Matt.7.10
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
Jesus uses a snake in a father-child comparison to show that earthly fathers do not answer real need with harm.
- Matt.10.16
Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Jesus commands shrewdness like snakes and innocence like doves for disciples sent into hostile settings.
- Matt.23.33
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
Jesus' accusation against the leaders uses snake language to expose deadly hypocrisy and judgment.
- Luke.10.19
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
The seventy-two receive authority over snakes, scorpions, and enemy power in the mission setting.
- John.3.14
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
Jesus connects Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness with the Son of Man being lifted up.
- 2Cor.11.3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
Paul warns that the serpent's cunning can lead minds away from pure devotion to Christ.
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 snakes 5× Matthew 10:16, Mark 16:18, Luke 10:19, 1 Corinthians 10:9
serpent 4× Revelation 12:9, Revelation 12:14, Revelation 12:15, Revelation 20:2
a snake 2× Matthew 7:10, Luke 11:11
serpent’s 1× 2 Corinthians 11:3
snake 1× John 3:14
You snakes 1× Matthew 23:33
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:10 ὄφιν to a snake Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Matthew 10:16 ὄφεις to snakes Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Matthew 23:33 ὄφεις to You snakes Noun - Vocative Masculine Plural Mark 16:18 ὄφεις to snakes Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural Luke 10:19 ὄφεων to snakes Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural Luke 11:11 ὄφιν to a snake Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 3:14 ὄφιν to snake Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 10:9 ὄφεων to snakes Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural 2 Corinthians 11:3 ὄφις to serpent’s Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Revelation 9:19 ὄφεσιν to snakes Noun - Dative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 7:10
Aligned rows 14
Books represented 7
Matthew 3 Mark 1 Luke 2 John 1 1 Corinthians 1 2 Corinthians 1 Revelation 5
Source forms
ὄφις 4x ophis 2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 12:15, Revelation 20:2
ὄφεις 3x opheis Matthew 10:16, Matthew 23:33, Mark 16:18
ὄφιν 3x ophin Matthew 7:10, Luke 11:11, John 3:14
ὄφεων 2x opheōn Luke 10:19, 1 Corinthians 10:9
ὄφεσιν 1x ophesin Revelation 9:19
ὄφεως 1x opheōs Revelation 12:14
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 4x 2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 12:15, Revelation 20:2
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 3x Matthew 7:10, Luke 11:11, John 3:14
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural 2x Luke 10:19, 1 Corinthians 10:9
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x Mark 16:18
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural 1x Revelation 9:19
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 1x Revelation 12:14
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Matthew 10:16
Noun - Vocative Masculine Plural 1x Matthew 23:33
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- When warning about deception, keep attention on devotion to Christ rather than fascination with evil.
- When teaching mission wisdom, hold shrewdness and innocence together as Jesus does.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that ophis always means Satan or demonic power.
- Do not claim that serpent-like wisdom authorizes deceitful methods in Christian mission.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Symbol of Satan and demonic deception; also represents cunning wisdom requiring Christian discernment.
Strong's G3789
Lexical occurrences 14 verses Greek text appearances 14 times Word forms 8 forms 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 10:1-24 Source Gloss
snake
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Symbol of Satan and demonic deception; also represents cunning wisdom requiring Christian discernment.
a serpent, snake: Mat.7:10 Mrk.16:18, Luk.10:19 11:11, Jhn.3:14, 1Co.10:9, Rev.9:19; as typical of wisdom and cunning, Mat.10:16 23:23, 2Co.11:3 (cf. Gen.31:1-55); of Satan (cf. Gen.3:1, Wis.2:23-24, 4Ma.18:8), Rev.12:9, 14 12:11 20:2.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
14 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:10 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄφιν ofin
a serpent
Read verse Matthew 10:16 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
ὄφεις, ofeiv
a serpent
Read verse Matthew 23:33 Noun Plural Masculine
ὄφεις, ofeiv
a serpent
Read verse Mark 16:18 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
ὄφεις ofeiv
a serpent
Read verse Luke 10:19 Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
ὄφεων ofewn
a serpent
Read verse Luke 11:11 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄφιν ofin
a serpent
Read verse John 3:14 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄφιν ofin
a serpent
Read verse 1 Corinthians 10:9 Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
ὄφεων ofewn
a serpent
Read verse 2 Corinthians 11:3 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ὄφις ofiv
a serpent
Read verse Revelation 9:19 Noun Dative Plural Masculine
ὄφεσιν, ofesin
a serpent
Read verse Revelation 12:9 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ὄφις ofiv
a serpent
Read verse Revelation 12:14 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
ὄφεως. ofewv
a serpent
Read verse Revelation 12:15 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ὄφις ofiv
a serpent
Read verse Revelation 20:2 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄφιν ofin
a serpent
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 8 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 8 Aligned forms 14 Case pattern Nominative (5) Number pattern Singular (8)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine 2 Cor 11:3 · Rev 12:9 · Rev 12:15 · Rev 20:2 4×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 10:16 1×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Luke 10:19 · 1 Cor 10:9 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Rev 12:14 1×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Rev 9:19 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 7:10 · Luke 11:11 · John 3:14 3×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Mark 16:18 1×
Vocative · Plural · Masculine Matt 23:33 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Serpents as symbols of danger and cunning requiring wisdom to navigate
Serpent contrasted with fish, representing natural parental provision and care
Serpents as instruments of divine judgment and danger in judgment oracles
Serpent's movement on a rock exemplifying mysterious or wondrous ways
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
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
Ophis teaches careful contextual discipline because the same word can serve sharply different purposes. In Matthew 7 and Luke 11, a snake is the harmful opposite of a good gift. In Matthew 10, the snake becomes an image of shrewdness that must be held together with dove-like innocence. In Matthew 23, Jesus uses the word in direct prophetic rebuke. In Luke 10, snakes belong to the danger over which Christ grants authority in mission.
John 3 uses the lifted wilderness serpent in a typological comparison that points to the Son of Man being lifted up. Paul then recalls the serpent's cunning to warn against deception. Ophis therefore resists lazy symbolism. The teacher must ask what the passage is doing with danger, wisdom, judgment, salvation, or deception before drawing application.
Anchor passage
John.3.14
Doctrinal connections
- G5312 Hypsoo: John 3 ties the lifted serpent to the Son of Man being lifted up.
- G185 akeraios: Matthew 10 joins serpent-like shrewdness to innocent integrity.
- G4105 Planao: Serpent imagery often warns about deception that leads people away from truth.
- G1228 Diabolos: The broader canonical serpent theme includes Satan, though not every ophis use names him.
- G1849 Exousia: Luke 10 places snakes under Christ-given mission authority.
- G2919 Krisis: Matthew 23 uses snake language in a judgment setting against religious hypocrisy.
Ophis is a common noun for snake or serpent. It can function in ordinary comparison, proverb-like teaching, direct rebuke, Old Testament allusion, or apocalyptic and satanic imagery in wider New Testament usage.
From Old to New Testament
Genesis, the wilderness serpent episode, and later biblical serpent imagery form important background. John 3 does not merely say that snakes are dangerous; it uses the lifted serpent event to explain the necessity of the Son of Man being lifted up.
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