Word study
Kind
9 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: kind, kinds. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “kind” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- כֹּל kôlthe whole, alltranslated this way 38 times of its 5,107 uses · Strong’s H3605Noun · Translated: all 1,589, and all 471, whole 223, every 196Full study and all 4,112 verses →
Genesis 6:20 Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive.
Genesis 6:21 You are also to take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten and gather it as food for yourselves and for the animals.”
- מִין mînkind, speciestranslated this way 22 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H4327Noun · Translated: kind 12, according to their kinds 7, according to its kind 2, kinds 1Full study and all 17 verses →
Genesis 1:11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so.
Leviticus 11:14 the kite, any kind of falcon,
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 5 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
1 Kings 12:7 They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
2 Chronicles 10:7 They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
- זַן zankind, sorttranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2178Noun · Translated: kinds 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 3:5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Daniel 3:7 Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and all kinds of music, the people of every nation and language would fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
- מִשְׁפָּחָה mishpâchâhclantranslated this way 3 times of its 285 uses · Strong’s H4940Noun · Translated: clans 135, clan 100, families 17, family 12Full study and all 217 verses →
Genesis 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird — everything that moves upon the earth — came out of the ark, kind by kind.
Jeremiah 15:3 I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
- כִּלְאַיִם kilayimtwo kindstranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3610Noun · Translated: two different kinds 1, two kinds 1, made of two kinds 1, two types of seed 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Leviticus 19:19 You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
- בָּשָׂר bâsârfleshtranslated this way 2 times of its 231 uses · Strong’s H1320Noun · Translated: flesh 91, meat 59, body 22, himself 8Full study and all 212 verses →
Genesis 9:15 I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Genesis 9:16 And whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.”
- חָנַן chânanshew favour, be gracioustranslated this way 2 times of its 76 uses · Strong’s H2603Verb · Translated: gracious 17, mercy 14, merciful 7, favor 4Full study and all 72 verses →
Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
Proverbs 28:8 He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- כָּנָף kânâphwing, extremitytranslated this way 2 times of its 96 uses · Strong’s H3671Noun · Translated: wings 53, wing 12, corners 4, corner 3Full study and all 79 verses →
Ezekiel 17:23 I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.
Ezekiel 39:4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall — you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πᾶς pâsall, the whole, every kind oftranslated this way 14 times of its 1,133 uses · Strong’s G3956Adjective · Translated: all 462, everyone 131, every 116, everything 87Full study and all 998 verses →
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- ποταπός potapósof what kindtranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4217Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun · Translated: kind 4, manner 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 8:27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
Luke 1:29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
- ποῖος poîosof what sorttranslated this way 4 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s G4169Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun · Translated: what 16, which 4, kind 4Full study and all 31 verses →
John 12:33 He said this to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.
Acts 7:49 ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?
- γένος génosoffspring, family, race, kindtranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G1085Noun · Translated: people 3, offspring 3, family 2, native 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Matthew 13:47 Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
Mark 9:29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”
- χρηστός chrēstósuseful, gentle, pleasant, kindtranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G5543Adjective · Translated: kind 2, good 2, easy 1, better 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
- ποικίλος poikílosvarious, of different colorstranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G4164Adjective · Translated: various 6, sorts 1, kinds 1, many kinds 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.