For an introduction, see The Symbolism of Numbers in the Bible.
Greek Words | Meaning | Freq. | Refs. in John |
εἷς, μία, ἕν |
one | 40x | 1:3; 3:27; 9:25 ("not one thing"; "one thing") 1:40; 6:8, 70, 71; 12:4; 13:21, 23; 20:24 ("one of" the disciples) 6:22; 7:21 ("one boat"; "one work") 7:50; 11:49, 50; 12:2; 18:14, 39 ("one of them"; "someone") 8:9 (they departed "one by one") 8:41; 10:30 ("one father"; "The father and I are one') 10:16 ("one flock, one shepherd") 11:52 ("gather into one") 17:11, 21, 22, 23 ("that they may be one"; "...as we are one") 18:22, 26; 19:34 ("one of the officers"; "...slaves"; "...soldiers") 20:1, 19 ("on the first day of the week"; lit. "on day one...") 20:7 ("in a place by itself" ; lit. "in one place") 20:12 ("one [angel] at the head and one at the feet") 21:25 ("if every one were written down...") |
πρῶτος |
first | 14x | 1:15, 30 ("he was before me"; lit. "he was first vis-à-vis me") 1:41; 2:10; 7:51; 8:7; 15:18; 18:13; 20:4, 8 (actions done "first") 10:40; 12:16; 19:39 (something happening "earlier"; "at first") 19:32 ("the first" person) |
δύο |
two | 13x | 1:35, 37, 40 ("two disciples") 2:6 ("two to three measures", often translated "twenty to thirty gallons") 4:40, 43; 11:6 ("two days") 6:9 ("two fish") 8:17 ("two witnesses") 19:18 ("two others" crucified) 20:4; 21:2 ("the two" disciples; "two others") 20:12 ("two angels") [11:18 - "about two miles" is literally "about 15 stadia" in Greek] |
δεύτερος |
second | 4x | 3:4; 9:24; 21:16 ("a second time") 4:54 ("the second sign") |
τρεῖς |
three | 3x | 2:6 ("two to three measures", often translated "twenty to thirty gallons") 2:19, 20 (days) [6:19 - "three to four miles" is literally "25 to 30 stadia" in Greek] |
τρίς |
three times | 1x | 13:38 ("three times") |
τρίτος |
third | 4x | 2:1 ("on the third day") 21:14, 17, 17 ("the third time") |
τέσσαρες |
four | 2x | 11:17 ("four days") 19:23 ("four parts") [1:39 - "4 o'clock in the afternoon" is literally "the tenth hour" in Greek] [6:19 - "three to four miles" is literally "25 to 30 stadia" in Greek] |
τεταρταῖος |
on the fourth day | 1x | 11:39 (often translated "four days") |
τετράμηνος |
lasting four months | 1x | 4:35 (often translated "four months more") |
πέντε |
five | 4x | 4:18 ("five husbands") 5:2 ("five porticoes") 6:9, 13 ("five barley loaves") |
ἕξ |
six | 2x | 2:6 ("six stone water jars") 12:1 ("six days") [6:7 - "six months wages" is literally "200 denarii" in Greek] |
ἕκτος |
sixth | 2x | 4:6; 19:14 ("about the sixth hour", usually translated "about noon") |
ἑπτά |
seven | 0x | (not used in John) |
ἕβδομος |
seventh | 1x | 4:52 ("at the seventh hour"; often translated "at one o'clock in the afternoon") |
ὀκτώ |
eight | 1x | 20:26 ("with eight days", often translated "a week later") |
ἐννέα, δέκα |
nine, ten | 0x | (not used in John) |
δέκατος |
tenth | 1x | 1:39 ("the tenth hour", often translated "4 o'clock in the afternoon") |
δώδεκα |
twelve | 6x | 6:13 ("twelve baskets") 6:67, 70, 71; 20:24 ("the Twelve" disciples) 11:9 (twelve hours in the day") |
δεκαπέντε |
fifteen | 1x | 11:18 ("fifteen stadia", often translated "two miles") |
εἴκοσι πέντε ἢ τριάκοντα |
twenty-five or thirty | 1x | 6:19 ("twenty-five to thirty stadia", often translated "three to four miles") [2:6 - "twenty to thirty gallons" is literally "two to three measures" in Greek] |
τριάκοντα καὶ ὀκτώ |
thirty-eight | 1x | 5:5 ("thirty-eight years") |
τεσσεράκοντα καὶ ἕξ |
forty-six | 1x | 2:20 ("forty-six years") |
πεντήκοντα |
fifty | 1x | 8:57 ("not yet fifty years old") |
ἑκατόν |
one hundred | 1x | 19:39 ("100 pounds") |
ἑκατόν πεντήκοντα τριῶν |
one hundred fifty-three | 1x | 21:11 ("153 fish") |
διακόσιοι |
two hundred | 2x | 6:7 ("200 denarii",
often translated "six months' wages") 21:8 ("200 cubits", often translated "about 100 yards") |
τριακόσιοι |
three hundred | 1x | 12:5 ("300 denarii") |
πεντακισχίλιοι |
five thousand | 1x | 6:10 ("about 5000 men") |
Note: Contrary to what many people assume, the numbers"seven" and "seventy" are never used in John's Gospel, and "seventh" appears only once!
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