TR: lābān → leukós (White)

The Chain

Hebrew OT             LXX (Greek OT)          Greek NT
─────────────         ──────────────────       ────────────────
לָבָן (lābān)     →   λευκός (leukós)     →   λευκός (leukós)
H3836, 24x in OT      LXX co-occ: 22x         23x in NT
"white"               PMI score: 30.06

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Transliteration	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H3836	לָבָן	lābān	24	white

KJV Translation of H3836:

Translation	Verses
white	20
and the white	1
and white	1
into white	1
and	1

Key OT passages (first occurrence per book): - Gen 30:35 — "he removed the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted...and every one that had some white in it" - Exod 16:31 — "the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey" - Lev 13:3 — "when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy" - Eccl 9:8 — "Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment" - Zech 1:8 — "I saw by night a man riding upon a red horse...and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white"

Library: TODO(need H3836 study)

LXX Bridge

Hebrew	LXX Greek	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
H3836 לָבָן (lābān)	G3022 λευκός	22	30.06	Primary, dominant equivalence

Secondary LXX renderings of H3836:

Greek	Strong's	Co-occ	Notes
δέρμα (derma) — skin	G1192	12	19.34 — LXX uses "skin" context when translating laban in Lev 13 leprosy passages
μεταβάλλω (metaballō) — change	G3328	8	18.37 — contextual in transformation passages
θρίξ (thrix) — hair	G2359	7	15.56 — hair turning white (Lev 13)

Semantic continuity: The LXX renders H3836 lābān almost exclusively with λευκός (22/24 occurrences), establishing a direct, stable lexical bridge. No semantic shift — both words mean "white" as a color descriptor.

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Transliteration	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G3022	λευκός	leukós	23	white
G3021	λευκαίνω	leukaínō	2	to make white, whiten

Distribution: 14/23 NT uses are in Revelation (61%). Outside Revelation: Transfiguration (Matt 17:2; Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29), post-resurrection/ascension narratives (Mark 16:5; John 20:12; Acts 1:10), and one agricultural simile (John 4:35).

Key NT passages: - Matt 17:2 — "his raiment was white as the light" (Transfiguration — connects to heavenly radiance) - Rev 1:14 — "his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow" (vision of Christ — echoes Dan 7:9 where the Ancient of Days has "hair like pure wool") - Rev 20:11 — "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it" (judgment scene)

Library: G3022-leukos.md

Direct OT→NT Intertextual Links

NT Verse	Echoes OT	Shared Concept	Note
Rev 1:14	Dan 7:9	White hair of divine figure	Dan 7:9 LXX uses λευκόν (acc.) for "white like pure wool" — same word applied to Ancient of Days and to Christ
Rev 19:11, 14	Zech 1:8; 6:3	White horse	Zechariah's horse visions use λευκός in LXX; Revelation draws on the same imagery
Rev 3:4–5	Eccl 9:8	White garments	OT wisdom tradition of white garments as honor/joy (Eccl 9:8 LXX: λευκά τὰ ἱμάτιά σου)

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same: - "White" as color of purity and honor persists from OT to NT — Eccl 9:8 (garments), to Rev 3:4–5 (redeemed) - "White" as descriptor of the divine: Dan 7:9 (Ancient of Days) → Rev 1:14 (Christ), same word in LXX and NT - Zechariah's apocalyptic horse visions (white horses) → Revelation's white horse (Rev 6:2; 19:11)

What shifts: - OT dominant usage: natural objects (linen, manna, leprosy marks, hair), livestock (Gen 30), prophetic horses (Zech) - NT dominant usage (61% in Revelation): eschatological garments of the redeemed, heavenly throne/horse/cloud imagery — white becomes a concentrated symbol of heavenly authority and the victorious state of the saints - The Levitical leprosy associations (white skin marks) present in LXX entirely absent from NT; NT never uses leukós for skin conditions

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Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py Last updated: 2026-04-02