What does σκιά (skiá) mean in the Bible?
σκιά (skiá): Shadow as mere outline or copy pointing to the substantial reality it represents, especially in Hebrews theology.
Greek · G4639
σκιά
Shadow
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σκιά G4639
Pronunciation skiá
What does σκιά (skiá) mean in the Bible?
σκιά (skiá): Shadow as mere outline or copy pointing to the substantial reality it represents, especially in Hebrews theology.
Full entry for σκιά (G4639) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4639?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include shadow (2), [of the] shadow (1), a shadow (1), in [the] shadow (1), only a shadow (1).
Where does σκιά (skiá) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (2), Acts (1), Colossians (1), Luke (1).
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 shadow 2× Acts 5:15, Hebrews 8:5
[of the] shadow 1× Matthew 4:16
a shadow 1× Colossians 2:17
in [the] shadow 1× Luke 1:79
only a shadow 1× Hebrews 10:1
shade 1× Mark 4:32
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 4:16 σκιᾷ to [of the] shadow Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Mark 4:32 σκιὰν to shade Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Luke 1:79 σκιᾷ to in [the] shadow Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Acts 5:15 σκιὰ to shadow Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Colossians 2:17 σκιὰ to a shadow Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Hebrews 8:5 σκιᾷ to shadow Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Hebrews 10:1 Σκιὰν to only a shadow Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 4:16
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 6
Matthew 1 Mark 1 Luke 1 Acts 1 Colossians 1 Hebrews 2
Source forms
σκιᾷ 3x skia Matthew 4:16, Luke 1:79, Hebrews 8:5
σκιὰ 2x skia Acts 5:15, Colossians 2:17
σκιὰν 1x skian Mark 4:32
Σκιὰν 1x Skian Hebrews 10:1
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 3x Matthew 4:16, Luke 1:79, Hebrews 8:5
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2x Mark 4:32, Hebrews 10:1
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 2x Acts 5:15, Colossians 2:17
Evidence Summary
JusticeMessiah
Greek word. Shadow as mere outline or copy pointing to the substantial reality it represents, especially in Hebrews theology.
Strong's G4639
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 3 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Colossians 2:16–23 Source Gloss
shadow
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 4:16 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
σκιᾷ skia
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
Read verse Mark 4:32 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
σκιὰν skian
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
Read verse Luke 1:79 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
σκιᾷ skia
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
Read verse Acts 5:15 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
σκιὰ skia
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
Read verse Colossians 2:17 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
σκιὰ skia
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
Read verse Hebrews 8:5 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
σκιᾷ skia
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
Read verse Hebrews 10:1 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
Σκιὰν skian
a shadow, thick darkness, an outline
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 7 Case pattern Dative (3) Number pattern Singular (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Acts 5:15 · Col 2:17 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Matt 4:16 · Luke 1:79 · Heb 8:5 3×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Mark 4:32 · Heb 10:1 2×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
shadow
shadow
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
σκιά is a primary word - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
Shows anticipatory nature of the law. Colossians 2:16–23
Indicates temporary anticipatory practices fulfilled in Christ. Hebrews 10:1-10
Canonical Themes
JusticeMessiah
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.
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