sēmeion · sign

What it means

sēmeion (σημεῖον) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “sign”.

A wonder that points to something.

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. A mark that identifies something.
2. A miracle that shows God's power.

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

Word study

Sign: something seen that points to or proves something else; in the Gospels, above all an extraordinary deed that shows who Jesus is. Thayer: a sign, mark, token; a miracle or wonder by which God authenticates someone. In the Greek Old Testament it corresponds to אוֹת (H226).

• A sign to recognize something: the baby, the kiss Luke 2:12Matthew 26:48
• Asking for a sign: “the sign of Jonah” Matthew 12:391 Corinthians 1:22
• The signs of Jesus in John John 2:11John 20:30
• “Miracles and wonders and signs” Acts 2:22
• “The sign of your coming” Matthew 24:3

How we translate it

“Signs” 39 times and “sign” 38. This edition's glossary sets σημεῖον = “sign”, also for the miracles in John (“the beginning of his signs”, John 2:11), because the Greek calls them so and the word says that they point to something; δύναμις, “miracle”, and τέρας, “wonder”, have their own words (Acts 2:22).

How it is translated

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

• signs ×39
• sign ×38

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×13
• Mark×7
• Luke×11
• John×17
• Acts×13
• Romans×2
• 1 Corinthians×2
• 2 Corinthians×2
• 2 Thessalonians×2
• Hebrews×1
• Revelation×7

• Matthew 12:38

  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

• Matthew 12:39

  But he answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

• Matthew 16:1

  And the Pharisees and Sadducees came and, testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

• Matthew 16:3

  And in the morning, ‘Today there will be a storm, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but the signs of the times you cannot discern.

• Matthew 16:4

  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” And leaving them, he went away.

• Matthew 24:3

  And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

• Matthew 24:24

  For false messiahs and false prophets will rise and will perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen.

• Matthew 24:30

  And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

• Matthew 26:48

  Now the one who was handing him over had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss, he is the one; seize him.”

• Mark 8:11

  And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him.

• Mark 8:12

  And sighing deeply in his spirit, he says, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

• Mark 13:4

  “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

• Mark 13:22

  For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the chosen.

• Mark 16:17

  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

• Mark 16:20

  And they went out and proclaimed everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message through the signs that accompanied it.

• Luke 2:12

  And this will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

• Luke 2:34

  And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Look, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that will be spoken against

• Luke 11:16

  And others, testing him, were seeking from him a sign from heaven.

• Luke 11:29

  And as the crowds were gathering, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

• Luke 11:30

  For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man also be one to this generation.

• Luke 21:7

  And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, when, then, will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to happen?”

• Luke 21:11

  There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

• Luke 21:25

  And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roar of the sea and the surging waves,

• Luke 23:8

  And when Herod saw Jesus he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.

• John 2:11

  This Jesus did as the beginning of his signs in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

• John 2:18

  So the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign do you show us, since you do these things?”

• John 2:23

  Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, seeing the signs that he was doing.

• John 3:2

  He came to him by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

• John 4:48

  So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”

• John 4:54

  Now this was again a second sign that Jesus did, having come from Judea into Galilee.

• John 6:2

  And a large crowd was following him, because they were seeing the signs that he was doing on the sick.

• John 6:14

  So when the people saw the sign that he had done, they were saying, “This is truly the Prophet who is coming into the world!”

• John 6:26

  Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

• John 6:30

  So they said to him, “What sign then do you do that we may see and believe you? What work are you doing?

• John 7:31

  But many of the crowd believed in him, and they were saying, “When the Messiah comes, he will not do more signs than this man has done, will he?”

• John 9:16

  So some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

• John 10:41

  And many came to him, and they were saying, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

• John 11:47

  So the high priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is doing many signs.

• John 12:18

  For this reason also the crowd went to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign.

• John 12:37

  But though he had done so many signs before them, they were not believing in him,

And 37 more times.