χωλός
chōlos
lame
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word "χωλός" (chōlos) means lame. It is used 15 times in the Bible, indicating that this term held some importance for the ancient writers. Given its translation as "lame," we can assume that this word refers to individuals with physical disabilities or impairments. Its frequency of use suggests that lameness was a common enough issue in ancient Greek culture to warrant a distinct term. The writers likely employed "χωλός" to describe someone's physical ability or limitations, without referencing their identity or social status. The significance of "χωλός" lies in its straightforward meaning and the fact that it is explicitly defined. Its use in 15 occurrences across the Bible underscores the importance of physical characteristics in conveying a person's ability or potential in ancient societies.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
15 total occurrences across the text
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
Matthew 15:30Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them,
Matthew 15:31so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the injured healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing—and they glorified the God of Israel.
Matthew 18:8If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
Matthew 21:14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
Mark 9:45If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna, into the fire that will never be quenched—
Luke 7:22Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
Luke 14:13But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;
Luke 14:21“That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
John 5:3In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;
Acts 3:11As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
Acts 8:7For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
Acts 14:8At Lystra a certain man sat, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked.
Acts 3:2A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple.
Hebrews 12:13and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.