Son

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: son, sons. 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 “son” or one of its forms.

• בֵּן bên2,793
• υἱός huiós354
• בַּר bar7
• יָלַד yâlad5
• בְּכוֹר bekôr5
• τέκνον téknon5
• בַּר bar4
• υἱοθεσία huiothesía4
• בֵּן bên3
• זָכָר zâkâr2
• יָחִיד yâchîd2
• μονογενής monogenḗs2

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

• בֵּן bênsontranslated this way 2,793 times of its 4,587 uses · Strong’s H1121Noun  ·  Translated: son 1,843, sons 892, Israelites 422, descendants 358

  Genesis 4:17 And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.

  Genesis 4:25 And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

  Full study and all 3,473 verses →
• בַּר barsontranslated this way 7 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H1247Noun  ·  Translated: son 6, age 1, like the son 1

  Ezra 5:1 Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.

  Daniel 3:25 “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire — and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”

  Full study and all 7 verses →
• יָלַד yâladbear, bring forth, begettranslated this way 5 times of its 484 uses · Strong’s H3205Verb  ·  Translated: father 111, born 57, bore 52, gave birth 44

  Genesis 5:3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth.

  1 Chronicles 3:4 These six sons were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. And David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years,

  Full study and all 395 verses →
• בְּכוֹר bekôrfirst-borntranslated this way 5 times of its 117 uses · Strong’s H1060Noun  ·  Translated: firstborn 102, firstborn son 4, firstborn male 3, well as the firstborn 2

  Exodus 11:5 and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.

  Deuteronomy 25:6 The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

  Full study and all 98 verses →
• בַּר barsontranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H1248Noun  ·  Translated: son 4

  Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

  Proverbs 31:2 What shall I say, O my son? What, O son of my womb? What, O son of my vows?

  Full study and all 2 verses →
• בֵּן bêntranslated this way 3 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H1123Noun  ·  Translated: exiles 4, sons 3, young 1, people 1

  Ezra 6:10 Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

  Daniel 2:38 Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

  Full study and all 10 verses →
• זָכָר zâkârmaletranslated this way 2 times of its 80 uses · Strong’s H2145Noun  ·  Translated: male 44, men 13, males 9, man 8

  Leviticus 12:2 “Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.

  Jeremiah 20:15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy.

  Full study and all 78 verses →
• יָחִיד yâchîdonly one, solitarytranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H3173Adjective  ·  Translated: your only 3, child 3, precious life 2, lonely 2

  Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

  Amos 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.

  Full study and all 12 verses →
• יֶלֶד yeledchild, son, boy, youthtranslated this way 2 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H3206Noun  ·  Translated: child 26, children 25, young men 10, boy 7

  Genesis 32:22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

  Ruth 1:5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.

  Full study and all 76 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

• υἱός huiósa son, descendenttranslated this way 354 times of its 365 uses · Strong’s G5207Noun  ·  Translated: Son 301, sons 53, guests 3, people 3

  Matthew 1:1 This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

  Mark 1:1 This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

  Full study and all 334 verses →
• τέκνον téknona child, descendent, inhabitanttranslated this way 5 times of its 99 uses · Strong’s G5043Noun  ·  Translated: children 77, child 15, Son 4, children's 2

  Matthew 9:2 Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

  Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

  Full study and all 91 verses →
• υἱοθεσία huiothesíaadoptiontranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5206Noun  ·  Translated: adoption as sons 3, adoption to sonship 1, adoption as his sons 1

  Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

  Galatians 4:5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.

  Full study and all 5 verses →
• μονογενής monogenḗsonly, only-begotten, uniquetranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G3439Adjective  ·  Translated: one and only 4, Son 2, the only 1, only 1

  John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

  Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar . He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,

  Full study and all 9 verses →

What the Bible says about son: passages by topic →

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.