New Testament Greek Law Vocabulary¶

A Plain-English Summary of the Biblical Evidence

When the New Testament speaks about God's law, it does not always use the same Greek word. Different words appear in different situations, and the question this study investigates is whether those vocabulary choices reveal anything meaningful. Specifically: do the Greek words used for "commandment," "ordinance," "handwriting," and "righteous requirement" tell us anything about which parts of God's law continue for believers and which parts were set aside at the cross? By examining every occurrence of five key Greek terms across the entire New Testament, a consistent pattern emerges that deserves careful attention.

Entole: The Word for God's Moral Commands¶

The Greek word entole (Strong's G1785), translated "commandment" or "commandments" in the KJV, appears throughout the New Testament. When this word is used without any qualifying phrase attached to it, it consistently refers to God's moral commands -- particularly the Ten Commandments.

Jesus himself used entole this way. When a young man asked him what he must do to have eternal life, Jesus answered:

"If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." (Matthew 19:17)

The young man then asked "Which?" and Jesus responded by listing specific commandments from the Decalogue:

"Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matthew 19:18-19)

Mark records a parallel account where Jesus again used entole and listed Decalogue commands (Mark 10:19). Paul likewise used entole to refer to the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet," and then declared:

"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (Romans 7:12)

Paul also quoted several Decalogue commandments and then wrote:

"If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Romans 13:9)

And when Paul referred to "Honour thy father and mother," he called it "the first commandment [entole] with promise" (Ephesians 6:2). Luke records that the women who followed Jesus "rested the sabbath day according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56), again using entole.

This pattern holds across multiple New Testament authors. John repeatedly used entole for commands that believers are to keep:

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." (1 John 5:3)

"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar." (1 John 2:3-4)

In the book of Revelation, the end-time people of God are identified by their relationship to entole:

"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12)

"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Revelation 12:17)

When entole does appear in a ceremonial context, a qualifying word is always attached. In Hebrews 7:16, the Levitical priesthood law is called "the law of a carnal commandment" -- the adjective "carnal" (sarkines) narrows the reference. In Ephesians 2:15, the abolished portion is identified as "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" -- where "in ordinances" (en dogmasin) limits what is meant. Without such a qualifier, entole points to moral commands across every New Testament author who uses the word.

Entole Distinguished from Ceremonial Law¶

One of the most striking passages comes from Paul's letter to the Corinthians:

"Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." (1 Corinthians 7:19)

Here Paul explicitly sets up a contrast. Circumcision -- a ceremonial rite -- is "nothing." But keeping the commandments (entole) of God is what matters. Paul himself, in a single sentence, treats the commandments of God as a different category from the ceremonial rite of circumcision.

Dogma: The Word for What Was Abolished¶

The Greek word dogma (G1378), translated "decree" or "ordinance," appears only five times in the New Testament. It is never used for God's moral commandments. Its occurrences are:

Luke 2:1 -- "a decree from Caesar Augustus" (a civil decree)
Acts 16:4 -- "the decrees ordained of the apostles and elders" (an ecclesiastical decision)
Acts 17:7 -- "the decrees of Caesar" (a civil decree)
Ephesians 2:15 -- "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" (what was abolished)
Colossians 2:14 -- "the handwriting of ordinances...nailing it to his cross" (what was nailed to the cross)

This distribution is complete -- there are no other uses. Dogma covers civil decrees, church council decisions, and abolished ceremonial material. It is never once applied to God's moral law.

When the New Testament describes what was abolished at the cross, the word it reaches for is dogma, not entole:

"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." (Ephesians 2:15)

The construction of this verse is significant. It narrows progressively: "the law" is narrowed to "of the commandments" which is further narrowed to "in ordinances [en dogmasin]." The qualifying phrase identifies which commandments were abolished -- those expressed as dogma, not entole broadly.

Paul further identified the content of these dogma-type regulations in Colossians 2:20-22 as dietary and purity rules: "Touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men."

Cheirographon: The Handwriting Nailed to the Cross¶

Colossians 2:14 uses a unique word that appears only once in the entire New Testament:

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."

The word translated "handwriting" is cheirographon (G5498). It is a compound of cheir ("hand") and grapho ("to write") -- literally, a "hand-written document." This word is paired with "of ordinances" (tois dogmasin), the same dogma vocabulary used for abolished ceremonial material.

The Old Testament records that the Ten Commandments were "written with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). By contrast, Moses personally wrote the ceremonial and civil laws in a book and placed it "in the side of the ark" (Deuteronomy 31:24-26). The Decalogue was placed inside the ark, written by God; the book of the law was placed beside the ark, written by Moses's hand. The term cheirographon -- "hand-written" -- does not match the authorship of the Decalogue but does match the authorship of the Mosaic ceremonial code.

Dikaioma: Righteous Requirement vs. Carnal Ordinances¶

The Greek word dikaioma (G1345) appears in different grammatical forms in different contexts, and the forms correspond to different referents.

In Romans 8:4, dikaioma is singular with a definite article -- "THE righteous requirement of THE law":

"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

This singular, definite form points to the moral standard of the law -- the same law Paul identified with the Decalogue in Romans 7:7 ("Thou shalt not covet"). The moral requirement of God's law is being fulfilled in believers who walk by the Spirit.

By contrast, in Hebrews 9:1 and 9:10, dikaioma appears in the plural with qualifying words that identify ceremonial content:

"Ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary" (Hebrews 9:1)
"Carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation" (Hebrews 9:10)

The plural form, combined with modifiers like "carnal" and "of divine service," refers to ceremonial regulations that were temporary by design -- "imposed until the time of reformation."

This pattern of singular for moral law and plural-with-modifiers for ceremonial law holds within passages that discuss law, though it should be noted that the plural form can also mean "righteous deeds" or "righteous judgments" in non-law contexts (Revelation 15:4; 19:8). The distinction is contextual, not an absolute code.

Luke's Two Categories¶

Luke records that Zacharias and Elisabeth were "walking in all the commandments [entolais] and ordinances [dikaiōmasin] of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6). The conjunction "and" coordinates two different Greek nouns as separate items -- commandments (entole) and ordinances (dikaioma) -- under one Lord. Even in a pre-cross context, the vocabulary distinguished between categories of obligation.

Nomos: The Broadest Term¶

The word nomos (G3551), translated "law," is the broadest and most flexible of the Greek law terms. Paul uses it in at least four different senses: the Torah as a whole, the Decalogue specifically (when he quotes its content), an operating principle (like "the law of sin"), and the Pentateuch as a Scripture witness. Context determines which sense is meant in any given passage.

Some have suggested that when nomos appears with the Greek article ("the law"), it refers to the specific Mosaic code, and when it appears without the article, it means "law as a principle." There is a general tendency in this direction, but it is not an absolute rule. In Romans 3:31, Paul uses nomos without the article for the law he emphatically upholds:

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."

If the article pattern were absolute, this anarthrous (article-free) form should mean "law as a generic principle" -- but Paul is clearly talking about something specific that faith establishes rather than destroys. The article pattern is a helpful tendency, but context remains the primary guide for determining what nomos means in any given verse.

What the Bible Does NOT Say¶

Honesty requires acknowledging what the text does not explicitly state:

The New Testament never provides a formal definition stating that entole means "moral law" and dogma means "ceremonial law." The vocabulary pattern is consistent and observable, but no NT author pauses to explain it as a terminological system. The pattern may reflect a conscious distinction or it may be an organic consequence of writing about different subjects -- the text does not tell us which.

The singular/plural pattern for dikaioma is not an absolute rule. While singular dikaioma refers to the moral standard of the law in Romans 8:4, and plural dikaiomata with modifiers refers to ceremonial regulations in Hebrews 9, the plural form also means "righteous deeds" and "righteous judgments" in Revelation 15:4 and 19:8. The pattern is contextual, not universal.

The articular/anarthrous (with article/without article) distinction for nomos shows a general tendency but has clear exceptions. Greek grammar norms, not only theological categories, govern article usage.

It cannot be said that cheirographon in Colossians 2:14 refers to the Ten Commandments. The etymology of the word ("hand-written") and its pairing with dogma vocabulary both point away from the God-written Decalogue. However, there is a separate scholarly view that cheirographon refers metaphorically to a debt certificate (a record of guilt) rather than to any law code at all. This reading draws on ancient Greek papyri evidence from outside the Bible, so while it does not contradict the biblical text, it goes beyond what Scripture itself states.

Finally, the claim that all New Testament law vocabulary is interchangeable -- that the different words are merely stylistic variation with no categorical significance -- does not hold up under examination. The distribution patterns are too consistent across too many authors to be random. But the opposite extreme -- that the vocabulary constitutes a divinely designed categorical system -- also goes beyond what the text claims about itself.

Conclusion¶

The New Testament Greek vocabulary for law shows a consistent and verifiable pattern. Entole without a qualifier refers to God's moral commands, particularly the Ten Commandments, and this usage spans every NT author. Dogma is never used for moral commands and appears only for civil decrees or abolished ceremonial material. Cheirographon, a hand-written document, is paired with dogma vocabulary and does not match the divine authorship of the Decalogue. Dikaioma in singular-articular form points to the moral standard of the law fulfilled in believers, while its plural form with ceremonial modifiers refers to temporary ordinances.

The passages that describe something being abolished at the cross -- Ephesians 2:15 and Colossians 2:14 -- use dogma and cheirographon, the vocabulary associated with ceremonial regulations. The passages that call believers to keep God's commands use entole, the vocabulary consistently tied to Decalogue content. The Greek vocabulary of the New Testament thus supports a distinction between moral commands that continue and ceremonial ordinances that were set aside, even though no New Testament author explicitly theorizes that distinction in formal terms.

Based on the full technical study completed 2026-02-25

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