Bible word study

Psephos (Strong’s G5586): Meaning in the Bible

Psephos (ψῆφος) is the Greek word numbered G5586 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as a pebble (as worn smooth by handling), i.e. (by implication, of use as a counter or ballot) a verdict (of acquittal) or ticket (of admission); a vote. In the King James Bible it is translated stone, voice..

• Original wordψῆφος
• Transliterationpsēphos
• Pronunciationpsay'-fos
• Strong’s numberG5586
• LanguageGreek

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. from the same as G5584;

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Psephos appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Psephos (G5586) stands behind 3 English renderings in 2 verses across 2 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Revelation (2), Acts (1).

How the King James Bible renders Psephos, by count

• stone1 of 3 (33 percent)
• the stone1 of 3 (33 percent)
• voice1 of 3 (33 percent)

Three places to read Psephos

• Acts 26:10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
• Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Psephos in the original Greek lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

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