Greek word · G5460

φωτεινός

phōteinos

bright

Bright, illuminated, full of light, shining.

Appears 5 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

φωτεινός (WH, φωτινός), ή, όν

(φῶς), [in LXX: Sirach 17:31 23:19 * ;]

bright, light: νεφέλη, Matthew 17:5; opposite to σκοτεινός, Matthew 6:22, Luke 11:34, 36.†

(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 Matthew 6:22

Range of meaning

Bright, illuminated, full of light, shining.

Against the English

'Full of light' (BSB, KJV, WEB) is accurate. YLT's 'enlightened' wrongly suggests intellectual enlightenment.

Used elsewhere in the period

Matthew 17:5 (the 'bright cloud'). In the LXX and other Jewish writings light stands for God's presence, life and goodness, and darkness for evil and death.

From the study of Luke 11:34

Range of meaning

Adjectives: 'luminous, full of light, lit up' and 'dark, unlit, in shadow'.

Against the English

Most versions say 'full of light' and 'full of darkness'. That is fair, but the Greek is simpler: the body is 'bright' or 'dark'. YLT's 'lightened / darkened' is closer.

Used elsewhere in the period

The pair appears in the Matthean parallel (Matt 6:22–23) and in Luke 11:36 ('wholly bright, having no part dark'). Light and darkness as two moral conditions run through Second Temple Jewish writing, most sharply in the Dead Sea Scrolls (the Community Rule, 1QS 3–4, on the 'sons of light' and 'sons of darkness').

From the study of Luke 11:36

Range of meaning

Shining, bright, lit up, full of light. It is used of light sources and of things lit by them. Its opposite is σκοτεινός (skoteinos), 'dark, in shadow'.

Against the English

'Full of light' (KJV, WEB, ESV in the first clause) is accurate. BSB's 'radiant' in the second clause pushes the word toward giving off light, which is an interpretation, though a defensible one.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament only in the lamp sayings (Matt 6:22; Luke 11:34, 36) and of the 'bright cloud' at the Transfiguration (Matt 17:5). In the Greek Old Testament it appears in passages about wisdom and light. In wider Greek it describes lit rooms and shining bodies.

Where it appears

Matthew · 2

  1. Matthew 6:22 φωτεινὸν full of light

    The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

    Here: Filled with light, shining. Matthew uses the same word for the bright cloud at the Transfiguration (17:5). It is the opposite of 'dark' (skoteinon) in v.23.

  2. Matthew 17:5 φωτεινὴ bright

    While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

    Here: A cloud made of light. It recalls the glory-cloud that shone like fire (Exod 24:17), and it matches Jesus' face shining like the sun in v. 2.

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 11:34 φωτεινόν light

    Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness.

    Here: 'Luminous, lit through'. This is one adjective, not 'full of' plus a noun. The person is bright all the way through.

  2. Luke 11:36 φωτεινὸν φωτεινὸν of light, light

    So if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, you will be radiant, as though a lamp were shining on you.”

    Here: Lit through, filled with light. It is the same word as in v. 34 ('your whole body is full of light'), so the verse takes up that state again.

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