νόμος
nomos
law
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word νόμος (nomos) is a fundamental concept in the New Testament, appearing 198 times in the Bible. At its core, nomos refers to a law or a rule that governs behavior. This can encompass a wide range of contexts, from human-made laws and regulations to divine laws and principles. In its usage, nomos often carries a sense of obligation or requirement, implying a clear expectation or standard to be followed. This can be seen in passages where nomos is used to describe the laws of Moses, the commands of God, or even the rules of human society. The word's significance lies in its ability to convey a sense of order, structure, and accountability, highlighting the importance of adhering to established norms and principles. The frequency and versatility of nomos in the New Testament suggest its importance in the biblical narrative, where it often serves as a backdrop for discussions of morality, ethics, and spiritual growth. By examining the various contexts in which nomos appears, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the biblical authors' perspectives on law, obedience, and the human condition.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
198 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
Hebrews 9:22According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.
Matthew 5:17“Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:18For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.
Matthew 7:12Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Matthew 11:13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Matthew 12:5Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless?
Matthew 22:36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
Matthew 22:40The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Matthew 23:23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
Luke 2:22When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord
Luke 2:23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),
Luke 2:27He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law,
Luke 2:39When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
Luke 10:26He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
Luke 16:16The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God’s Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
Luke 24:44He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
John 1:17For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
John 1:45Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
John 7:19Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
John 7:19Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
John 7:23If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me, because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?
John 7:49But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.”
John 7:51“Does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”
John 8:5Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?”
John 8:17It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.
John 10:34Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’
John 12:34The multitude answered him, “We have heard out of the law that the Christ remains forever. How do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up?’ Who is this Son of Man?”
John 15:25But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
John 18:31Pilate therefore said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is illegal for us to put anyone to death,”
John 19:7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
John 19:7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
Acts 6:13and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.
Acts 7:53You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
Acts 13:15After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak.”
Acts 13:39and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Acts 15:5But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
Acts 15:24Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment;
Acts 18:13saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”
Acts 18:15but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.”
Acts 21:20They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
Acts 21:24Take them and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses for them, that they may shave their heads. Then all will know that there is no truth in the things that they have been informed about you, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law.
Acts 21:28crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!”
Acts 22:3“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today.
Acts 22:12One Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus,
Acts 23:3Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”
Acts 23:29I found him to be accused about questions of their law, but not to be charged with anything worthy of death or of imprisonment.
Acts 24:6He even tried to profane the temple, and we arrested him.
Acts 24:14But this I confess to you, that after the Way, which they call a sect, so I serve the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets;
Acts 25:8while he said in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned at all.”