What does ἀρνίον (arníon) mean in the Bible?
Ἀρνίον (arníon) means lamb or little lamb. John 21 uses the plural for vulnerable believers entrusted to Peter's care: love for Jesus must take pastoral form in feeding His lambs.
Greek · G721
ἀρνίον
A lambkin
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ἀρνίον G721
Pronunciation arníon
What does ἀρνίον (arníon) mean in the Bible?
Ἀρνίον (arníon) means lamb or little lamb. John 21 uses the plural for vulnerable believers entrusted to Peter's care: love for Jesus must take pastoral form in feeding His lambs.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀρνίον (G721) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G721?
The BSB source-word alignment has 30 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Lamb (26), a Lamb (2), Lamb’s (1), lambs (1).
Where does ἀρνίον (arníon) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 21:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (29), John (1).
Are there verse guides for ἀρνίον (arníon)?
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
Ἀρνίον (arníon) means lamb or little lamb. John 21 uses the plural for vulnerable believers entrusted to Peter's care: love for Jesus must take pastoral form in feeding His lambs. Revelation overwhelmingly uses the singular as a title for Jesus. The Lamb receives the worship of an innumerable redeemed multitude, stands victorious on Mount Zion, has a bride, shares God's throne, and is worshiped by God's servants.
The title holds together sacrifice, apparent weakness, conquest, royal authority, covenant marriage, and divine honor. It should not be reduced to gentleness or detached from Revelation's earlier identification of the slain yet standing Lamb. Nor should John 21's lambs be confused with the messianic title. Number, referent, and literary setting determine whether the noun names Christ's people or Christ Himself.
How the Bible Uses It
Ἀρνίον can name the lambs Jesus entrusts to Peter, but Revelation makes the Lamb a majestic title for Jesus: worshiped by the nations, standing on Zion, joined to His bride, and sharing God's throne.
- John.21.15
When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”
Jesus connects Peter's confessed love with feeding His lambs, placing tender and sustained care for believers under the risen Shepherd's command.
- Rev.7.9
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
The uncountable multitude stands before the throne and before the Lamb, attributing salvation to God and to the Lamb rather than to nation, suffering, or human merit.
- Rev.14.1
Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with a sealed people bearing His and His Father's names, presenting sacrificial identity together with victory and covenant ownership.
- Rev.21.9
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
The bride is identified as the wife of the Lamb, so the city's splendor belongs to a covenant people whose identity and future are inseparable from Christ.
- Rev.22.3
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him.
God's throne and the Lamb's throne occupy the city, the curse is gone, and God's servants worship Him, placing the Lamb within the climactic reign and worship of the new creation.
Passage contextBook context
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 Lamb 26× Revelation 5:8, Revelation 5:12, Revelation 5:13, Revelation 6:1
a Lamb 2× Revelation 5:6, Revelation 13:11
Lamb’s 1× Revelation 21:27
lambs 1× John 21:15
Show sample aligned rows
John 21:15 ἀρνία to lambs Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Revelation 5:6 Ἀρνίον to a Lamb Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 5:8 Ἀρνίου to Lamb Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular Revelation 5:12 Ἀρνίον to Lamb Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 5:13 Ἀρνίῳ to Lamb Noun - Dative Neuter Singular Revelation 6:1 Ἀρνίον to Lamb Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 6:16 Ἀρνίου to Lamb Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular Revelation 7:9 Ἀρνίου to Lamb Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular Revelation 7:10 Ἀρνίῳ to Lamb Noun - Dative Neuter Singular Revelation 7:14 Ἀρνίου to Lamb Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 21:15
Aligned rows 30
Books represented 2
John 1 Revelation 29
Source forms
Ἀρνίου 15x Arniou Revelation 5:8, Revelation 6:16, Revelation 7:9, Revelation 7:14
Ἀρνίον 8x Arnion Revelation 5:6, Revelation 5:12, Revelation 6:1, Revelation 7:17
Ἀρνίῳ 4x Arniō Revelation 5:13, Revelation 7:10, Revelation 14:4
ἀρνία 1x arnia John 21:15
ἀρνίου 1x arniou Revelation 21:9
ἀρνίῳ 1x arniō Revelation 13:11
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular 16x Revelation 5:8, Revelation 6:16, Revelation 7:9, Revelation 7:14
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular 8x Revelation 5:6, Revelation 5:12, Revelation 6:1, Revelation 7:17
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 5x Revelation 5:13, Revelation 7:10, Revelation 13:11, Revelation 14:4
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural 1x John 21:15
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not import every feature associated with an animal into the title; let Revelation's own visions define the Lamb through sacrifice, victory, wrath, marriage, and reign.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Lamb language presents Jesus as passive, powerless, or absent from judgment.
- Do not claim that Peter's lambs in John 21 are another title for Jesus rather than people entrusted to pastoral care.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Revelation 22:1 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου. arniou a lambkin The form gently supports the picture of shared source and authority in the throne phrase, while leaving the larger meaning to the verse context. Read verse guide Revelation 22:3 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου arniou a lambkin The form adds relational force to the throne phrase, helping the reader understand that the Lamb is included in the same rule-centered setting as God. Read verse guide Evidence Summary
Greek word. Diminutive form emphasizing littleness or tenderness; used theologically for Christ as vulnerable sacrifice in Revelation.
Source Gloss
a lambkin
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Diminutive form emphasizing littleness or tenderness; used theologically for Christ as vulnerable sacrifice in Revelation.
(dimin. of ἀρήν; see MM, see word), [in LXX: Psa.114:4, 6 (pl., צֹאן בֵּן), Jer.11:19 (כֶּבֶשׂ), Jer.50:45 (צָעִיר)* ;] a little lamb, a lamb: Jhn.21:15, Rev.2:7.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 30 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 21:15 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ἀρνία arnia
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 5:6 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίον arnion
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 5:8 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου, arniou
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 5:12 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίον arnion
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 5:13 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίῳ arniw
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 6:1 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίον arnion
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 6:16 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου· arniou
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 7:9 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου, arniou
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 7:10 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίῳ. arniw
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 7:14 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου. arniou
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 7:17 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίον arnion
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 12:11 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου, arniou
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 13:8 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ἀρνίου arniou
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 13:11 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίῳ, arniw
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 14:1 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίον arnion
a lamb
Read verse Revelation 14:4 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
ἀρνίῳ arniw
a lamb
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 4 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 4 Aligned forms 30 Case pattern Genitive (16) Number pattern Singular (29)
Nominative · Singular · Neuter Rev 5:6 · Rev 5:12 · Rev 6:1 · Rev 7:17 · Rev 14:1 · Rev 17:14 · Rev 21:22 · Rev 21:23 8×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter Rev 5:8 · Rev 6:16 · Rev 7:9 · Rev 7:14 · Rev 12:11 · Rev 13:8 · Rev 14:10 · Rev 15:3 · Rev 17:14 · Rev 19:7 · Rev 19:9 · Rev 21:9 · Rev 21:14 · Rev 21:27 · Rev 22:1 · Rev 22:3 16×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Rev 5:13 · Rev 7:10 · Rev 13:11 · Rev 14:4 5×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter John 21:15 1×
Word Origins
ἀρνίον is built from this root:
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
The Lamb rules without ceasing to be the sacrificed one. Jesus begins by entrusting His lambs to Peter, making care for vulnerable disciples an expression of love for their Shepherd. Revelation then expands the noun into a governing Christological title. The redeemed multitude stands before the Lamb because salvation belongs to God and to Him. On Zion, the Lamb is neither defeated nor alone; He stands with a people marked by His name and His Father's.
The bride belongs to the Lamb, so the holy city's beauty is covenantal before it is architectural. At the end, the throne is the throne of God and of the Lamb, the curse is removed, and worship fills the city. Teachers should preserve this union of atoning sacrifice, victory, belonging, and reign. The Lamb's meekness is not weakness, and His triumph never outgrows the cross.
Anchor passage
John.21.15
Doctrinal connections
- John 21:15-19, love for Christ expressed in feeding His lambs
- Revelation 5:5-14, the slain and standing Lamb worshiped
- Revelation 7:9-17, salvation belonging to God and the Lamb
- Revelation 14:1-5, the Lamb and His sealed people on Zion
- Revelation 21:9-27, the bride and the Lamb's city
- Exodus 12:1-13, the Passover lamb and deliverance through blood
Ἀρνίον is a diminutive-form noun for a lamb, though Revelation's repeated titular use carries majestic theological force. The article, number, and referent distinguish ordinary or pastoral uses from the book's title for Jesus.
From Old to New Testament
Passover sacrifice, the servant led like a lamb, temple offerings, and shepherd imagery prepare readers for Jesus as the Lamb whose blood redeems, whose victory gathers a people, and whose throne anchors the new creation.
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