The adjective hellenikos means 'Greek' or 'in the Greek language.' It appears in Luke 23:38 and Revelation 9:11 describing inscriptions or names written in Greek.
The inscription on Jesus's cross was written in three languages: Aramaic (Hebrew), Latin, and Greek (Luke 23:38; John 19:20). The Greek inscription β Hellenikos β ensured that any passerby from anywhere in the Mediterranean world could read the charge: 'This is the King of the Jews.' What was meant as mockery became proclamation: the crucified One is identified as king in the three great languages of the ancient world. In Revelation 9:11, the angel of the bottomless pit has a name in Hebrew (Abaddon) and in Greek (Apollyon β Destroyer). The three-language inscription of the cross anticipated the universal scope of Christ's kingdom; the NT itself was written in Hellenikos β Greek β for the widest possible audience.