G3789 - ὄφις (ophis)
Core Data
- Strong's: G3789
- Original: ὄφις
- Transliteration: ophis
- Pronunciation: of
- Part of Speech: Masculine noun
- Occurrences: 14 verses / 14 tokens across 7 NT books
- First Occurrence: Matthew 7:10 - "will he give him a serpent?"
- Hapax Legomenon: No
Lexicon Definition
-is; probably from (through the idea of sharpness of vision); a snake,
Louw-Nida Semantic Domain
- 004004 - Reptiles and Other 'Creeping Things': neighbors ἀσπίς (G785), βάτραχος (G944), δράκων (G1404), ἑρπετόν (G2062), ἔχιδνα (G2191), σκορπίος (G4651), σκώληξ (G4663)
- 088015 - Bad, Evil, Harmful, Damaging: secondary domain includes διάβολος (G1228), ἔχιδνα (G2191), θηρίον (G2342)
Translation Distribution (KJV)
| Translation |
Verses |
% |
| serpent |
6 |
42.9% |
| serpents |
5 |
35.7% |
| a serpent |
2 |
14.3% |
| unto serpents |
1 |
7.1% |
Distribution by Book
| Book |
Count |
Per 100 Verses |
| Revelation |
5 |
1.2 |
| 2 Corinthians |
1 |
0.4 |
| Matthew |
3 |
0.3 |
| Luke |
2 |
0.2 |
| 1 Corinthians |
1 |
0.2 |
| Mark |
1 |
0.1 |
| John |
1 |
0.1 |
Semantic Categories
1. Literal Serpent in Comparison or Warning
- Matthew 7:10; Luke 11:11 - serpent contrasted with fish in father/son request analogy.
- Matthew 10:16 - "wise as serpents."
2. Serpents as Dangerous Creatures
- Mark 16:18 - taking up serpents.
- Luke 10:19 - authority to tread on serpents and scorpions.
- 1 Corinthians 10:9 - destroyed of serpents.
3. Serpent in Wilderness / Moses Allusion
- John 3:14 - Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
4. Serpent and Deception
- 2 Corinthians 11:3 - serpent beguiled Eve through subtilty.
5. Revelation Serpent Imagery
- Revelation 9:19 - tails like serpents.
- Revelation 12:9; 20:2 - old serpent identified with dragon/devil/Satan.
- Revelation 12:14-15 - serpent pursues the woman and casts water from its mouth.
Common Collocations
| Word |
Strong's |
Co-occurrences |
Typical Pattern |
| ἀρχαῖος (old/ancient) |
G744 |
2 |
"old serpent" |
| βάλλω (cast) |
G906 |
2 |
Revelation casting action |
| διάβολος (devil) |
G1228 |
2 |
explicit identification |
| δράκων (dragon) |
G1404 |
2 |
explicit identification |
| Σατανᾶς (Satan) |
G4567 |
2 |
explicit identification |
| στόμα (mouth) |
G4750 |
2 |
serpent mouth imagery |
Synonyms / Domain Neighbors
- G785 ἀσπίς (aspis) - asp/serpent.
- G1404 δράκων (drakon) - dragon/serpent-like apocalyptic creature.
- G2062 ἑρπετόν (herpeton) - creeping thing/reptile.
- G2191 ἔχιδνα (echidna) - viper.
- G4651 σκορπίος (skorpios) - scorpion; shared danger/creeping-creature domain.
Easily Confused Words
| Word |
Strong's |
Shared Translation |
Key Difference |
| δράκων (drakon) |
G1404 |
serpent/dragon imagery |
drakon is dragon/large serpent imagery, Revelation-only in NT; ophis is the broader serpent word |
| ἔχιδνα (echidna) |
G2191 |
viper/serpent domain |
poisonous viper; ophis is general serpent |
| נָחָשׁ (nachash) |
H5175 |
serpent |
dominant Hebrew source behind serpent language |
| שָׂרָף (saraph) |
H8314 |
serpent |
fiery/poisonous serpent term |
Hebrew Source
| Hebrew Source |
Strong's |
Co-occurrences |
PMI |
Score |
| נָחָשׁ (nachash) |
H5175 |
26 |
9.50 |
31.32 |
| נָשַׁךְ (nashak) |
H5391 |
9 |
8.97 |
20.66 |
| שָׂרָף (saraph) |
H8314 |
4 |
8.80 |
14.17 |
| צֶפַע (tsepha`) |
H6848 |
3 |
8.87 |
12.30 |
See Also
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, search_relationships.py, search_strongs.py, louw_nida.db
Last updated: 2026-05-07