What does πηλός (pēlós) mean in the Bible?
Pelos means clay or mud. In John 9, Jesus makes mud from the ground and applies it to the blind man's eyes before sending him to wash.
Greek · G4081
πηλός
Clay
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πηλός G4081
Pronunciation pēlós
What does πηλός (pēlós) mean in the Bible?
Pelos means clay or mud. In John 9, Jesus makes mud from the ground and applies it to the blind man's eyes before sending him to wash.
Reader summary
Full entry for πηλός (G4081) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4081?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [some] mud (2), mud (2), [it] (1), of clay (1).
Where does πηλός (pēlós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 9:6. Its strongest book concentrations include John (5), Romans (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Pelos means clay or mud. In John 9, Jesus makes mud from the ground and applies it to the blind man's eyes before sending him to wash. The word appears repeatedly as the healed man, the narrator, and the Pharisees discuss what Jesus did. The mud is concrete, tactile, and public enough to become part of the dispute over Sabbath and sight. In Romans 9, clay appears in Paul's potter-and-clay image about God's right over vessels.
Pelos therefore should not be reduced to a magical substance or treated as a formula for healing. It helps readers notice embodied action, created material, obedience, controversy, and divine authority. In John, the mud serves Jesus' work of opening eyes; in Romans, clay serves an analogy about the Creator's freedom.
How the Bible Uses It
Pelos names mud or clay. John 9 uses it in Jesus' healing of the blind man and the resulting Sabbath dispute; Romans 9 uses clay in potter imagery.
- John.9.6
When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
Jesus makes mud from the ground and applies it to the blind man's eyes.
- John.9.11
He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”
The healed man testifies that Jesus made mud, anointed his eyes, sent him to wash, and he received sight.
- John.9.14
Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.
John notes that the day Jesus made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath.
- John.9.15
So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
The man repeats to the Pharisees that Jesus put mud on his eyes, he washed, and now he sees.
- Rom.9.21
Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?
Paul uses clay in the potter image to speak about the Maker's right over vessels.
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 [some] mud 2× John 9:6, John 9:11
mud 2× John 9:14, John 9:15
[it] 1× John 9:6
of clay 1× Romans 9:21
Show sample aligned rows
John 9:6 πηλὸν to [some] mud Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 9:6 πηλὸν to [it] Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 9:11 πηλὸν to [some] mud Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 9:14 πηλὸν to mud Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 9:15 Πηλὸν to mud Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Romans 9:21 πηλοῦ to of clay Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 9:6
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 2
John 5 Romans 1
Source forms
πηλὸν 4x pēlon John 9:6, John 9:11, John 9:14
Πηλὸν 1x Pēlon John 9:15
πηλοῦ 1x pēlou Romans 9:21
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 5x John 9:6, John 9:11, John 9:14, John 9:15
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 1x Romans 9:21
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not confuse God's use of ordinary means with trust in the means themselves.
- Do not use clay imagery to speak harshly about suffering people apart from the passage's argument.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Clay as malleable material in potter's hands, symbolizing human susceptibility to God's sovereign formation and judgment
Strong's G4081
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 2 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Isaiah 64:5-12 Source Gloss
clay
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 9:6 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πηλὸν phlon
clay, mud
Read verse John 9:6 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πηλὸν phlon
clay, mud
Read verse John 9:11 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πηλὸν phlon
clay, mud
Read verse John 9:14 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πηλὸν phlon
clay, mud
Read verse John 9:15 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Πηλὸν phlon
clay, mud
Read verse Romans 9:21 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
πηλοῦ, phlou
clay, mud
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 2 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 2 Aligned forms 6 Case pattern Accusative (5) Number pattern Singular (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Rom 9:21 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine John 9:6 · John 9:11 · John 9:14 · John 9:15 5×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Potter's material for shaping, metaphor for human malleability before God
Potter's clay being reshaped on the wheel, illustrating divine sovereignty over nations
Wet clay or mud as prison pit, representing physical peril and degradation
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
πηλός is a primary word - no further derivation.
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
Pelos is earthy language, and that concreteness matters. In John 9, Jesus does not merely speak about sight. He acts with ground, mud, eyes, washing, and public testimony. The healed man can tell the story plainly: Jesus made mud, put it on his eyes, told him to wash, and he came back seeing. The repeated mention of mud also fuels controversy because the healing happens on the Sabbath.
The word therefore helps teachers keep the sign embodied and contested. Romans 9 uses clay differently, as part of a potter image about God's right as Maker. Pelos should not be blended into one theme of matter or miracle. It asks readers to honor the passage: in John, mud belongs to Jesus' sign; in Romans, clay belongs to Paul's argument about divine freedom.
Anchor passage
John.9.6
Doctrinal connections
- G5185 Typhlos: John 9's mud is tied to the healing of a man blind from birth.
- G5457 Phos: The sign belongs to John's wider light-and-sight theme.
- G4521 Sabbaton: The mud becomes part of the Sabbath controversy around Jesus' work.
- G3068 Louo: Washing at Siloam is part of the man's obedient response to Jesus' command.
- G2763 kerameus: Romans 9 uses the potter image to frame clay under the Maker's right.
- G4632 Skeuos: The clay image in Romans concerns vessels and divine purpose.
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