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rhema names a word, saying, utterance, message, or specific spoken declaration. In the New Testament it can describe God's reliable speech, Jesus' own words, apostolic proclamation, accountable human speech, or a particular matter spoken about.
Reader summary
Full entry for ῥῆμα (G4487) · Open the biblical lexicon
rhema names a word, saying, utterance, message, or specific spoken declaration. In the New Testament it can describe God's reliable speech, Jesus' own words, apostolic proclamation, accountable human speech, or a particular matter spoken about.
The BSB source-word alignment has 67 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include words (18), word (11), [the] word (4), message (4), statement (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (18), Acts (14), John (12), Matthew (5).
Rhema names a word, saying, utterance, message, or specific spoken declaration. In the New Testament it can describe God's reliable speech, Jesus' own words, apostolic proclamation, accountable human speech, or a particular matter spoken about. Its force is usually concrete: not word in abstraction, but a saying heard, received, rejected, remembered, or proclaimed.
Jesus lives by every word from God's mouth, gives words that are spirit and life, and gives His disciples the words of eternal life. Paul says faith comes through hearing the word of Christ, while Ephesians calls the word of God the Spirit's sword. This companion should therefore teach rhema as divine speech made known and answered, not as a magic formula or private slogan detached from Christ and Scripture.
The selected passages move from God's sustaining speech, to the certainty of His promise, to Jesus' life-giving words, to gospel hearing, and finally to the word of God as the Spirit's sword.
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 by confessing that human life depends on every word from God's mouth, not merely on bread. rhema here grounds obedience in God's spoken authority.
For no word from God will ever fail.”
Gabriel declares that no word from God will fail. The term carries the certainty of divine promise rather than wishful religious speech.
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Jesus says His spoken words are spirit and life. The saying connects His teaching with the Spirit's life-giving work instead of treating His words as mere information.
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Peter confesses that Jesus has the words of eternal life. The disciples' loyalty rests on Christ's life-giving speech when others turn away.
Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Paul ties faith to hearing, and hearing to the word of Christ. rhema is bound to proclaimed gospel hearing, not to self-generated certainty.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The word of God is named as the sword of the Spirit. The image frames God's word as Spirit-given defense and proclamation within persevering discipleship.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. A spoken word or statement, often divinely authoritative; contrasts with ὄνομα (single name).
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 70 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
Read versea thing spoken
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.
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 67 lexical occurrence verses.
ῥῆμα is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Rhema teaches that God's people live by what God has truly spoken. The word can be a particular saying, promise, message, or declaration, but its theological weight comes from the speaker and context. Jesus resists the tempter by resting on every word from God's mouth. Gabriel assures Mary that no word from God will fail. In John 6, Jesus' words are spirit and life, and Peter knows there is nowhere else to go because Jesus has the words of eternal life.
Paul then shows how the word of Christ reaches hearers through proclamation and produces faith. Ephesians places the word of God in the Spirit's armor, showing that believers stand and speak by divine provision. The word is therefore neither magic nor mere data. It is God's reliable speech centered in Christ, heard in the gospel, and wielded by the Spirit for faith and endurance.
John.6.63
Rhema overlaps with logos but should not be flattened into it. In many contexts it highlights a saying, utterance, matter, or spoken message. The interpreter should ask who speaks, what is spoken, whether the word is promise, command, proclamation, or accountable speech, and how the hearer responds.
The Old Testament repeatedly presents God's word as creating, promising, judging, and sustaining. The New Testament continues that pattern by showing Jesus living by Scripture, speaking life-giving words, and sending gospel proclamation that creates faith.
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Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain