Lexical Summary
laos: the people
Original Word: λαόςTransliteration: laos
Phonetic Spelling: (lah-os')
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Short Definition: the people
Meaning: the people
Strong's Concordance
people.
Apparently a primary word; a people (in general; thus differing from demos, which denotes one's own populace) -- people.
see GREEK demos
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2992: λαόςλαός,
λαοῦ,
ὁ ((cf.
Curtius, § 535)); the
Sept. more than fifteen hundred times for
עַם; rarely for
גּוי and
לְאֹם; (from
Homer down);
people;
1. a people, tribe, nation, all those who are of the same stock and language: universally, of any people; joined with γλῶσσα, φυλή, ἔθνος, Revelation 5:9; Revelation 7:9; Revelation 10:11; Revelation 11:9; Revelation 13:7 (Rec. omits); (see γλῶσσα, 2); πάντες οἱ λαοί. 2:31; Romans 15:11; especially of the people of Israel: Matthew 4:23; Matthew 13:15; Mark 7:6; Luke 2:10; John 11:50 (where it alternates with ἔθνος); ; Acts 3:23; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 7:11, etc.; with Ἰσραήλ added, Acts 4:10; distinguished from τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, Acts 26:17, 23; Romans 15:10; the plural λαοί Ἰσραήλ (R. V. the peoples of Isa.) seems to be used of the tribes of the people (like עַמִּים, Genesis 49:10; Deuteronomy 32:8; Isaiah 3:13, etc.) in Acts 4:27 (where the plural was apparently occasioned by Psalm 2:1 in its reference to Christ, cf. Acts 4:25); οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ λαοῦ, Matthew 21:23; Matthew 26:3, 47; Matthew 27:1; οἱ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ, Matthew 2:4; οἱ πρῶτοι τοῦ λαοῦ, Luke 19:47; τό πρεσβυτέριον τοῦ λαοῦ, Luke 22:66; ἄρχοντες τοῦ λαοῦ, Acts 4:8. with a genitive of the possessor, τοῦ Θεοῦ, αὐτοῦ, μου (i. e. τοῦ Θεοῦ, Hebrew יְהוָה עַם, הָאֱלֹהִים עַם), the people whom God has chosen for himself, selected as peculiarly his own: Hebrews 11:25; Matthew 2:6; Luke 1:68; Luke 7:16; without the article Jude 1:5 (Sir. 46:7; Wis. 18:13); cf. Winer's Grammar, § 19, 1; the name is transferred to the community of Christians, as that which by the blessing of Christ has come to take the place of the theocratic people of Israel, Hebrews 4:9; Revelation 18:4; particularly to a church of Christians gathered from among the Gentiles, Acts 15:14; Romans 9:25ff; 1 Peter 2:10; with εἰς περιποίησιν added, 1 Peter 2:9; περιούσιος, Titus 2:14, cf. Acts 18:10; Luke 1:17. ὁ λαός the people (of Israel) is distinguished from its princes and rulers ((1 Esdr. 1:10 1 Esdr. 5:45; Judith 8:9, 11; etc.)), Matthew 26:5; Mark 11:32 (here WH Tr marginal reading read ὄχλος); Mark 14:2; Luke 20:19; Luke 22:2; Luke 23:5; Acts 5:26, etc.; from the priests, Hebrews 5:3; Hebrews 7:5, 27. 2. indefinitely, of a great part of the population gathered together anywhere: Matthew 27:25; Luke 1:21; Luke 3:15; Luke 7:1, 29; Luke 8:47; Luke 9:13; Luke 18:43, etc.; τό πλῆθος τοῦ λαοῦ, Luke 1:10. (The Gospels of Mark and John use the word but three times each. Synonym: see δῆμος, at the end)
