graphō · write

What it means

graphō (γράφω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “write”.

"It is written": that is what the Scriptures say.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To set down words in writing: letters, laws, books.
2. So the Bible says; a passage is quoted.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To write. Abbott-Smith: to grave, scratch; to draw; to write. Of the same family as γραφή, “Scripture”, and γράμμα, “letter”.

• “It is written”: quoting the Scriptures Matthew 4:4Luke 4:4
• “What I have written, I have written” John 19:22
• Writing a letter 1 John 2:1Galatians 6:11
• The command “write” in Revelation Revelation 2:1

How we translate it

“It is written” 60 times, “written” 59, “write” 36, “wrote” 20, “I am writing” 9, “writing” 5… The perfect form γέγραπται, used to quote the Scriptures, is translated “It is written”: it says that what was written still stands.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• it is written ×60
• written ×59
• write ×36
• wrote ×20
• I am writing ×9
• writing ×5
• writes ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×10
• Mark×10
• Luke×20
• John×21
• Acts×12
• Romans×21
• 1 Corinthians×18
• 2 Corinthians×10
• Galatians×7
• Philippians×1
• 1 Thessalonians×2
• 2 Thessalonians×1
• 1 Timothy×1
• Philemon×2
• Hebrews×1
• 1 Peter×2
• 2 Peter×2
• 1 John×13
• 2 John×2
• 3 John×3
• Jude×2
• Revelation×29

• Matthew 2:5

  And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written through the prophet:

• Matthew 4:4

  But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘A person will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out through the mouth of God.’”

• Matthew 4:6

  and says to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’”

• Matthew 4:7

  Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”

• Matthew 4:10

  Then Jesus says to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall bow down before the Lord your God, and him alone you shall serve.’”

• Matthew 11:10

  This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

• Matthew 21:13

  And he says to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.”

• Matthew 26:24

  The Son of Man goes as it is written about him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is handed over! It would have been good for him if that man had not been born.”

• Matthew 26:31

  Then Jesus says to them, “You will all fall away because of me on this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

• Matthew 27:37

  And they put above his head the charge against him written: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

• Mark 1:2

  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;

• Mark 7:6

  But he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied well about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

• Mark 9:12

  And he said to them, “Elijah does come first and restores all things. And how is it written about the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

• Mark 9:13

  But I tell you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, as it is written of him.”

• Mark 10:4

  And they said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.”

• Mark 10:5

  But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

• Mark 11:17

  And he was teaching and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

• Mark 12:19

  “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

• Mark 14:21

  For the Son of Man goes as it is written about him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is handed over! It would have been good for him if that man had not been born.”

• Mark 14:27

  And Jesus says to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

• Luke 1:3

  it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely from the start, to write for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus,

• Luke 1:63

  And asking for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, “John is his name.” And they were all amazed.

• Luke 2:23

  (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb will be called holy to the Lord”),

• Luke 3:4

  as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

• Luke 4:4

  And Jesus answered him, “It is written: A human being will not live on bread alone.”

• Luke 4:8

  And answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written: Before the Lord your God you will bow down, and him alone you will serve.”

• Luke 4:10

  for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,

• Luke 4:17

  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

• Luke 7:27

  This is the one about whom it is written: Look, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way ahead of you.

• Luke 10:26

  And he said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

• Luke 16:6

  And he said, ‘A hundred baths of olive oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

• Luke 16:7

  Then he said to another, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He says to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

• Luke 18:31

  And taking aside the twelve, he said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

• Luke 19:46

  saying to them, “It is written, ‘And my house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

• Luke 20:17

  But he looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner’?

• Luke 20:28

  saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

• Luke 21:22

  for these are days of vengeance, so that all things written may be fulfilled.

• Luke 22:37

  For I tell you that this that is written must be accomplished in me: ‘And he was counted with the lawless.’ For indeed what is written about me has its fulfillment.”

• Luke 24:44

  And he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”

• Luke 24:46

  And he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

And 150 more times.