StrongerBible

ploion

πλοῖον

GreekG4143boat, ship

Appears 68 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 4:21Mat 4:22Mat 8:23Mat 8:24Mat 9:1Mat 13:2Mat 14:13Mat 14:22Mat 14:24Mat 14:29Mat 14:32Mat 14:33Mat 15:39Mrk 1:19Mrk 1:20Mrk 4:1Mrk 4:36 (2×)Mrk 4:37 (2×)Mrk 5:2Mrk 5:18Mrk 5:21Mrk 6:32Mrk 6:47Mrk 6:54Mrk 8:14Luk 5:2Luk 5:3 (2×)Luk 5:7 (2×)Luk 5:11Jhn 6:19Jhn 6:21Jhn 21:6Act 21:3Act 27:2Act 27:10Act 27:15Act 27:19Act 27:22Act 27:30Act 27:31Act 27:44Jas 3:4Rev 8:9Rev 18:19
Root family
Word studyPLOY-onnoun

What ploion means

a boat: any vessel that travels on water, from a fishing boat to a seagoing ship

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary word for a watercraft in the New Testament. It covers the whole range in one term, with size and purpose supplied by the setting rather than by the word itself.

Most often it is the working fishing boat of the Sea of Galilee, the kind Peter, James, and John owned and the one Jesus repeatedly steps into to teach, to cross, or to ride out a storm. The same word then names the large cargo and passenger vessels of the open Mediterranean, including the grain freighter that carries Paul toward Rome and is wrecked off Malta. Whether it holds a few fishermen or hundreds of passengers, the Greek does not change.

Because one word stretches across all of this, the choice between "boat" and "ship" in English is the translator's, not the text's. The word simply points to the vessel itself.

Mat 4:21Mat 4:22Mat 8:23Mat 8:24Mat 9:1Mat 13:2Mat 14:13Mat 14:22Mat 14:24Mat 14:29Mat 14:32Mat 14:33

What scholars say about ploion

Standard lexica treat the word as a single, general term for a watercraft of any size, the most common New Testament word for a boat or ship, with size and type determined by context rather than by the word. It is the regular term for the fishing boats of the Sea of Galilee in the Gospels and for the seagoing vessels of Acts.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. πλοῖονlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. πλοῖονlexicon

All attested forms of πλοῖον

accusative n s

πλοῖον

Mat 4:22, Mat 8:23, Mat 8:24, Mat 9:1, Mat 13:2, Mat 14:22, Mat 14:32, Mat 15:39

dative n s

πλοίῳ

Mat 4:21, Mat 14:13, Mat 14:33, Mrk 1:19, Mrk 1:20, Mrk 4:36, Mrk 5:21, Mrk 6:32

genitive n s

πλοίου

Mat 14:29, Mrk 5:2, Mrk 6:54, Luk 5:3, Jhn 6:19, Jhn 21:6, Act 27:10, Act 27:15

accusative n p

πλοῖα

Luk 5:2, Luk 5:7, Luk 5:11, Rev 18:19

nominative n s

πλοῖον

Mat 14:24, Mrk 6:47, Jhn 6:21, Act 21:3

genitive n p

πλοίων

Luk 5:3, Rev 8:9

nominative n p

πλοῖα

Mrk 4:36, Jas 3:4