What does ὀψάριον (opsárion) mean in the Bible?
Opsarion names fish, often small fish prepared for eating, and John uses the word in two feeding scenes. In John 6, a boy's small fish accompany the barley loaves before Jesus feeds the multitude.
Greek · G3795
ὀψάριον
Fish
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ὀψάριον G3795
Pronunciation opsárion
What does ὀψάριον (opsárion) mean in the Bible?
Opsarion names fish, often small fish prepared for eating, and John uses the word in two feeding scenes. In John 6, a boy's small fish accompany the barley loaves before Jesus feeds the multitude.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὀψάριον (G3795) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3795?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include fish (4), small fish (1).
Where does ὀψάριον (opsárion) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 6:9. Its strongest book concentrations include John (5).
What This Word Actually Means
Opsarion names fish, often small fish prepared for eating, and John uses the word in two feeding scenes. In John 6, a boy's small fish accompany the barley loaves before Jesus feeds the multitude. In John 21, fish appear at the charcoal fire after the resurrection, as Jesus provides breakfast and invites the disciples to bring some of their catch. The word is not a symbol that always means mission, abundance, or fellowship.
It is ordinary food within scenes where Jesus reveals His sufficiency, gives thanks, feeds people, restores disciples, and gathers them after failure. The word helps teachers keep both provision and table fellowship concrete, while letting the passage define the theological claim.
How the Bible Uses It
Opsarion names fish in John 6 and John 21. The word appears in provision and resurrection-table scenes where ordinary food becomes part of Jesus' revealing and shepherding care.
- John.6.9
“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”
The boy's small fish seem inadequate for the crowd.
- John.6.11
Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
Jesus gives thanks and distributes fish to those seated.
- John.21.9
When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread.
The disciples find fish already on the charcoal fire after landing.
- John.21.10
Jesus told them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”
Jesus tells them to bring some of the fish they have just caught.
- John.21.13
Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and He did the same with the fish.
Jesus gives bread and fish to the disciples after His resurrection.
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 fish 4× John 6:11, John 21:9, John 21:10, John 21:13
small fish 1× John 6:9
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 6:9
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 1
John 5
Source forms
ὀψάριον 2x opsarion John 21:9, John 21:13
ὀψαρίων 2x opsariōn John 6:11, John 21:10
ὀψάρια 1x opsaria John 6:9
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular 2x John 21:9, John 21:13
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural 2x John 6:11, John 21:10
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural 1x John 6:9
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let the fish remain ordinary food so the grace and sufficiency of Jesus stand out.
- Read John 21 as resurrection fellowship and restoration, not merely as a lesson about work or success.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that opsarion always symbolizes evangelism or abundance.
- Do not separate the fish from the bread, thanksgiving, resurrection setting, and Jesus' own action.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Small fish, often dried or preserved; a relish or delicacy rather than a main staple food.
Strong's G3795
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 3 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
fish
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Small fish, often dried or preserved; a relish or delicacy rather than a main staple food.
(dimin. of ὄψον, (1) cooked meat; (2) a relish or dainty, esp. fish, cf. MGr. τὸ ψάρι, fish; in comic poets and late prose writers only) [in LXX: Tob.2:2 א (Β, ὄψον)* ;] fish: Jhn.6:9, 11 21:9-10, 13
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 6:9 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὀψάρια· oyaria
a little fish
Read verse John 6:11 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ὀψαρίων oyariwn
a little fish
Read verse John 21:9 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ὀψάριον oyarion
a little fish
Read verse John 21:10 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ὀψαρίων oyariwn
a little fish
Read verse John 21:13 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ὀψάριον oyarion
a little fish
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 3 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 3 Aligned forms 5 Case pattern Accusative (3) Number pattern Plural (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Plural · Neuter John 6:11 · John 21:10 2×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter John 21:9 · John 21:13 2×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter John 6:9 1×
Word Origins
ὀψάριον is built from this root:
ὀπτός G3702
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
Opsarion is modest vocabulary, but John places it in scenes full of pastoral force. In John 6, the small fish are part of a visibly insufficient meal that Jesus receives, gives thanks for, and distributes until the crowd is satisfied. In John 21, fish are waiting on the charcoal fire before the disciples bring some of their own catch, and Jesus gives them breakfast after a night of failure and after Peter's denial.
The word does not carry all that theology by itself. It becomes significant because Jesus uses ordinary food to reveal abundance, presence, and restoring care. Teachers should let the fish stay ordinary enough to show the grace of the scene: the risen Lord feeds real disciples in real need.
Anchor passage
John.21.13
Doctrinal connections
- G740 Artos: John pairs fish with bread in both feeding and resurrection-table settings.
- G2168 Eucharisteo: Jesus gives thanks before distributing the fish in John 6.
- G4052 Perisseuo: The feeding sign includes abundance beyond visible scarcity.
- G4442 Pyr: John 21 places fish on a charcoal fire that frames restoration after denial.
- G1453 Egeiro: The breakfast scene belongs to resurrection witness and renewed discipleship.
- G4165 Poimaino: John 21 moves from breakfast into Jesus' call for Peter to shepherd His sheep.
Opsarion is a food word for fish, often small fish for eating. Its interpretive importance in John comes from narrative placement rather than from a specialized theological meaning.
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