Greek number—singular, plural, and the historical dual—shapes how meaning unfolds in a sentence. Singular forms like ὁ ἀνήρ or τὸ βιβλίον point to individual entities, while plurals such as οἱ ἄνδρες or τὰ βιβλία expand the scope to many. Though the dual once marked “exactly two,” as in τὼ ὀφθαλμώ, it faded by the Koine period, leaving δύο and plural forms to carry that meaning. Agreement in number across articles, adjectives, and verbs is essential for clarity, and in interpretation, it can signal whether a passage speaks to individuals, groups, or symbolic collectives—sometimes with theological weight.
Overview of Number in Greek
Number in Greek is a grammatical category indicating whether a word refers to one, more than one, or—historically—two entities. In Koine Greek, two numbers are used: singular and plural. Earlier stages of the language, especially Homeric and Classical Greek, also featured a dual number, which survived only in a few fossilized forms by the Hellenistic period.
Singular
The singular form refers to a single person, object, or concept. It appears in all parts of speech that inflect for number, including nouns, pronouns, adjectives, participles, and verbs.
- ὁ ἀνήρ – “the man”
- ἡ γυνή – “the woman”
- τὸ βιβλίον – “the book”
Plural
The plural form denotes more than one entity. Like the singular, it occurs in all inflected parts of speech, with endings marking plural agreement.
- οἱ ἄνδρες – “the men”
- αἱ γυναῖκες – “the women”
- τὰ βιβλία – “the books”
Plural forms often show significant stem or accent changes, especially in third-declension nouns and irregular verbs.
The Historical Dual Number
The dual number, used for exactly two persons or things, was a feature of Homeric, Archaic, and Classical Greek. It had distinct endings in the nominative, accusative, and genitive/dative for both nouns and verbs. By the Koine period, the dual had disappeared as a productive form, replaced by the plural, though certain set expressions preserve its memory.
Example from Classical Greek: τὼ ὀφθαλμώ – “the two eyes” (dual nominative/accusative masculine).
In the New Testament and other Koine texts, dual meaning is expressed with the plural plus the numeral δύο (“two”) or contextually by pairing nouns.
Number in Agreement
Number agreement in Greek requires that articles, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs match their nouns or subjects in number. This is fundamental to Greek syntax and aids in identifying sentence relationships:
- ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἀνήρ – singular subject and adjective
- οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἄνδρες – plural subject and adjective
- τὰ δύο βιβλία – plural with numeral specifying “two books”
Practical Observations
In exegesis, paying attention to number can clarify meaning. For example, a plural noun may indicate a group or a corporate body, while a singular form may be generic or specific. The disappearance of the dual in Koine means that translators must rely on context to determine whether a plural refers to “exactly two” or “more than two.”
