Quick Definition
βίβλος, ου, ἡ n.f. a written book, roll, or volume
Strong's Definition
properly, the inner bark of the papyrus plant, i.e. (by implication) a sheet or scroll of writing
KJV Usage: book
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ου | βιβλαρίδιον · βιβλίον
6.64 · Artifacts · Instruments Used in Marking and Writing
scroll, roll, book a document consisting of a scroll or book The books referred to in ACT 19:19 consisted of sheets of parchment or of papyrus sewn together in the form of long scrolls or bound in the form of a book.
33.52 · Communication · Written Language
book the contents of a book
33.38 · Communication · Written Language
written statement, certificate, notice, record relatively short statements in written form
1 As noted in the case of ἐπιστολή[b] (33.48), there is an intimate semantic relationship between letter, document, and book as physical objects and the contents of such writings. For book as an object, see βίβλος[a] and βιβλίον[b] (6.64).
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
βίβλος, -ov, 7, (or rather ἡ βύβλος [but the form βίβλ. more com. when it denotes a writing], the plant called papyrus, Theophr. hist. plant. 4, 8, 2 sq.; [Plin. h. n. 13, 11 sq. (21 sq.)]; fr. its bark [rather, the cellular substance of its stem (for it was an endogenous plant) ] paper was made [see Tristram, Nat. Hist. ete. p. 433 sq.; esp. Dureau de la Malle in the Mémoires de I’ Acad. ἃ. Inserr. ete. tom. 19 pt. 1 (1851) pp. 140-183, and (in correction of current misapprehensions) Prof. E. Abbot in the Library Journal for Nov. 1878, p.323 sq., where other reff. are also given ]), a written book, a roll or scroll: Mt. 1.1; Lk. iii. 4; Mk. xii. 26; Acts i. 20; τῆς ζωῆς, Phil. iv. 3; Rev. iii. 5, ete.; see βιβλίον. [From Aeschyl. down. |
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
βίβλος biblos 10x
pr. the inner bark or rind of the papyrus, which was anciently used instead of paper; hence, a written volume or roll, book, catalogue, account, Mt. 1:1; Mk. 12:26
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
βίβλος, -ου, ἡ (variant form of βύβλος, the Egyptian papyrus, paper made from its fibrous coat),
[in LXX for סֶפֶר, the form βύβ- being sometimes used;]
a book, a roll, used much less freq. than βιβλίον, and with a "connotation of sacredness and veneration" (MM, Exp., x), Mt 1:1 Mk 12:26, Lk 3:4 20:42 Ac 1:20 7:42 19:19; β. τ. ζωῆς, Phl 4:3, Re 3:5 20:15.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
βίβλος βίβλος. Nageli (p. 19) well draws attention to the connotation of | sacredness and veneration which always attaches to βίβλος in its rare occurrences. He quotes Lucian, and two papyti, the first of these referring to ‘‘old, wise, that is Chaldaean books,” P Par 19! (A.D. 138) σκεψάμενος ἀπὸ πολλῶν βίβλων ds παρεδόθη ἡμεῖν ἀπὸ σοφῶν ἀρχαίων, τουτέστι | “Χαλδαϊκῶν, and the other to a citation in a mathematical treatise from a book of Hermes, P Oxy III. 4704 (iii/A.p.) βίβλος λέγει κτλ. According to Thackeray (Arist. p. 55 n.1) what seems to be the earliest use of ἡ βίβλος for a collection of sacred writings is to be found in Aristeas 316. In the NT 8. is either Scripture (Mk 1228), or the Book of Life (Phil 4%), or magical writings regarded as highly potent (Ac 19!*), or again a royal pedigree record (Mt 11). In accordance with this is the inscription OG/S 567° (B.c. 239) dv kal τὰ ἀντίγραφα καταχωρισθήσεται cis τὰς ἱερὰς βύβλους: cf P Oxy VI. 8865 (iii/A-D.) and P Leid ΨΥ. 19,11. 29 (ji/jii a.p.), both occult or magical. As distinguished from χάρτης, the single sheet of papyrus for writing purposes, βίβλος was the roll, made up of χάρται glued together (Dziatzko Das antihke Buchwesen, p. 48), while in contrast to βιβλίον and βιβλίδιον it implies a literary work, see the passages cited above (P Par 191, P Oxy IIL 4704), and the interesting P Tebt If. 291 (a.p. 162) where a candidate for the priesthood gave proof of his knowledge of hieratic and Egyptian writing by reading from a hieratic hook produced by the sacred scribes—rtod ἐπίστασθαι [ἱε]ρατικὰ [kal] Alyitria γράμ[ματ]α ἐξ ἧς of ἱερογραμματεῖς προήνεγκαν βίβλου ἱερατικῆς. It may be added that βίβλος can still mean the papyrus plant, as P Tebt II. 308? (a.p. 174) τιμὴν βίβλου μυριάδων δύο, ‘the price of 20,000 papyrus | stalks,” and in the case of the adjective BGU II. 544¢ | (ii/A.D.) ζυγείδας βιβλίνας. For the spelling see the reff. under βιβλίον, the derivative ] in which dissimilation produced the change of v to ι. Βύβλος, being a decidedly rarer word, naturally yielded to | the influence of βιβλίον, and then reactions between the two produced the variations which affect them both and their derivatives.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
βίβλος (biblos) — book. Related to: βιβλίον or βυβλίον, τό, strip of βύβλος, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: hence, paper, document, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; β. ἀποστασίου notice of divorce, [NT]
2. ={βιβλίδιον}, petition to the Government, = Latin libellus, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
3. ={δέλτος}, tablet, [LXX]
II. book, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. book as the division of a work, ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ β. [Refs 1st c.AD+]
II.3. τὰ β. place in which books are kept, library, ἀνεθήκατε εἰς τὰ β. [Refs 1st c.AD+]
II.4. τὰ β. τὰ ἅγια the sacred books or [LXX]