"a member, limb, any part of the body, Mt. 5:29, 30; Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 6:15; 12:12"
Definition and meaning
a member, limb, any part of the body, Mt. 5:29, 30; Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 6:15; 12:12
In the original Greek the word is written: μέλος
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of melos (G3196) across the King James Bible.
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
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Common questions
Strong's G3196 (melos) is a Greek word that means: a member, limb, any part of the body, Mt. 5:29, 30; Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 6:15; 12:12 It appears 24 times in the King James Bible.
The word melos (G3196) appears 24 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G3196 is melos, a Greek word defined as: a member, limb, any part of the body, Mt. 5:29, 30; Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 6:15; 12:12. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
melos is a Greek word found in the New Testament.