Greek word · G286

ἀμνός

amnos

lamb

A lamb, usually a young male sheep up to about a year old. In Jewish Greek it is very often a sacrificial animal.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 22, 2026

What it means

ἀμνός, -οῦ, ὁ

[in LXX chiefly for כֶּבֶשׂ ;]

a lamb: figuratively, of Christ (DCG, ii, 620b), John 1:29, 36, Acts 8:32" (LXX), 1 Peter 1:19 (cf. ἀρνίον; Cremer, 102, 635).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 1:29

Range of meaning: A lamb, usually a young male sheep up to about a year old. In Jewish Greek it is very often a sacrificial animal.
Against the English: English 'lamb' brings to mind gentleness, innocence, springtime and children's pictures. Those ideas are not absent: Isaiah 53:7 stresses the lamb's silent submission. But the main associations for a Jewish hearer were the altar and blood.
How it drifted: Pastoral and sentimental images of lambs in later Christian art and hymnody pushed the sacrificial meaning into the background for many modern readers.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament, LXX), amnos is the standard word for the lambs of the daily morning and evening offering, the tamid (Exodus 29:38–42; Numbers 28:3–8). It is used for many other offerings in Leviticus and Numbers. Isaiah 53:7 LXX describes the servant as 'like a lamb (amnos) silent before its shearer'. The Passover animal in Exodus 12 LXX is called probaton ('sheep'), not amnos. In the New Testament amnos appears only four times: John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32 (quoting Isaiah 53:7); and 1 Peter 1:19 ('a lamb without blemish', with its blood). Revelation uses a different word, arnion, 29 times.

From the study of John 1:36

Range of meaning: A lamb: a young sheep, normally a male under a year old, as opposed to a full-grown ram (κριός) or a sheep in general (πρόβατον). In ordinary Greek it simply means 'lamb.' In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) it is used again and again for lambs offered in worship.
Against the English: Every major English version says 'Lamb.' The translation is right. The trouble is what modern readers picture: a soft, gentle, harmless animal, as in children's art and the phrase 'meek as a lamb.' To a first-century Jew, 'lamb' in a religious setting meant first of all an animal that is killed and offered to God.
How it drifted: Over the centuries Christian art and devotion gave the lamb gentle, pastoral associations. Modern readers who have never seen a sacrifice hear 'innocence' and 'meekness' first. Those ideas are not wrong (Isaiah 53:7 stresses the lamb's silence), but they push aside the sacrificial meaning.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Septuagint, ἀμνός is the word for the two lambs of the daily offering, one in the morning and one in the evening (Exodus 29:38–41; Numbers 28:3–8). It is also used for many offerings in Leviticus and Numbers, and in Isaiah 53:7: 'like a lamb (ἀμνός) silent before its shearer.' Acts 8:32 quotes that verse about Jesus, and 1 Peter 1:19 speaks of 'a lamb (ἀμνός) without blemish or spot.' The Passover lamb in Exodus 12 is usually called πρόβατον ('sheep/lamb'), not ἀμνός. In the New Testament, ἀμνός appears only four times: John 1:29, 1:36, Acts 8:32 and 1 Peter 1:19. Revelation uses a different word, ἀρνίον.

From the study of 1 Peter 1:19

Range of meaning: A lamb, a young sheep (often a yearling male). In biblical Greek it is overwhelmingly a sacrificial animal.
Against the English: 'Lamb' is accurate. Modern readers may picture gentleness or cuteness, but the first hearers pictured an animal brought to the altar.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Greek Old Testament uses amnos about 100 times, mostly for sacrificial lambs: the twice-daily burnt offering, 'two male lambs a year old without blemish (amōmous)' (Numbers 28:3; Exodus 29:38). Isaiah 53:7: 'as a lamb (amnos) before its shearer is silent.' Exodus 12:5 (the Passover) uses a different Greek word, probaton ('sheep'), for Hebrew seh. In the New Testament amnos appears only in John 1:29, 36, Acts 8:32 (quoting Isaiah 53) and here. Revelation uses a different word, arnion.

Where it appears

John · 2

John 1:29 ἀμνὸς Lamb

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Here: A young male sheep. In the Greek Old Testament this is the usual word for lambs offered in sacrifice, and it is the word used for the silent servant of Isaiah 53:7. It points to an offering, not to a pet.
John 1:36 ἀμνὸς Lamb

When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

Here: A young sheep, usually a male under a year old. In the Greek Old Testament this is the regular word for a lamb offered in sacrifice: the daily morning and evening offerings, and the lamb of Isaiah 53:7 that is led to the slaughter.

Acts · 1

Acts 8:32 ἀμνὸς a lamb

The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

Here: A young sheep. In the Hebrew of Isaiah the animal here is a *raḥel*, a ewe (female sheep). The Greek translators chose the more general "lamb".

1 Peter · 1

1 Peter 1:19 ἀμνοῦ of a lamb

but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

Here: The usual Greek Old Testament word for the young male sheep offered in Israel's sacrifices. It also appears in Isaiah 53:7, where the servant goes 'as a lamb' to the slaughter. To a reader of the Greek scriptures it meant an animal for sacrifice, not a pet.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.