What does βαπτισμός (baptismós) mean in the Bible?
βαπτισμός (baptismós): Emphasizes the physical act of washing/dipping itself, distinct from the resulting state or the sacrament as institution.
Greek · G909
βαπτισμός
Ablution (ceremonial or Christian)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
βαπτισμόςG909
Pronunciationbaptismós
What does βαπτισμός (baptismós) mean in the Bible?
βαπτισμός (baptismós): Emphasizes the physical act of washing/dipping itself, distinct from the resulting state or the sacrament as institution.
Full entry for βαπτισμός (G909) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G909?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [including] the washing (1), about baptisms (1), baptism (1), washings (1).
Where does βαπτισμός (baptismós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 7:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (2), Colossians (1), Mark (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[including] the washing1×Mark 7:4
about baptisms1×Hebrews 6:2
baptism1×Colossians 2:12
washings1×Hebrews 9:10
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMark 7:4
Aligned rows4
Books represented3
Mark1Colossians1Hebrews2
Source forms
βαπτισμοῖς1xbaptismoisHebrews 9:10
βαπτισμοὺς1xbaptismousMark 7:4
βαπτισμῷ*1xbaptismōColossians 2:12
βαπτισμῶν1xbaptismōnHebrews 6:2
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural1xMark 7:4
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural1xHebrews 9:10
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular1xColossians 2:12
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural1xHebrews 6:2
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Emphasizes the physical act of washing/dipping itself, distinct from the resulting state or the sacrament as institution.
Strong'sG909
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms4 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
ablution (ceremonial or Christian)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Mark 7:4Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
βαπτισμοὺςbaptismouv
dipping, washing
Read verseMark 7:8Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
βαπτισμοὺςbaptismouv
dipping, washing
Read verseHebrews 6:2Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
βαπτισμῶνbaptismwn
dipping, washing
Read verseHebrews 9:10Noun Dative Plural Masculine
βαπτισμοῖςbaptismoiv
dipping, washing
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 patterns4Aligned forms4Case patternDative (2)Number patternPlural (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Plural · MasculineHeb 6:21×
Dative · Singular · MasculineCol 2:121×
Dative · Plural · MasculineHeb 9:101×
Accusative · Plural · MasculineMark 7:41×
Word Origins
βαπτισμός 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.