כֵּן
pedestal
also: base, stand, office, foot fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
- Particle
- A short function word — article, negation, interrogative, the sign of the direct object, and the like.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 15 times (88%)
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 time (6%)
- Particle, Demonstrative 1 time (6%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 17 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H3653 appears — 17 distinct verses across 6 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 2 verses
- Genesis 40:13 כַּנֶּ֑/ךָ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cupbearer.
- Genesis 41:13 כַּנִּ֖/י n c ms cs + sfx pers 1cs It happened, as he interpreted to us, so it was: he restored me to my office, and he hanged him."
Exodus 7 verses
- Exodus 30:18 וְ/כַנּ֥/וֹ conj + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms "You shall also make a basin of brass, and the base of it of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
- Exodus 30:28 כַּנּֽ/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.
- Exodus 31:9 כַּנּֽ/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base,
- Exodus 35:16 כַּנּֽ/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of brass, it poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base;
- Exodus 38:8 כַּנּ֣/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He made the basin of brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.
- Exodus 39:39 כַּנּֽ/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms the brazen altar, its grating of brass, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base,
- Exodus 40:11 כַּנּ֑/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it.
Leviticus 1 verse
1 Kings 2 verses
- 1 Kings 7:29 כֵּ֣ן ptcl dem and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.
- 1 Kings 7:31 כֵ֔ן n c ms The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and the mouth of it was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on the mouth of it were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round.
Isaiah 1 verse
Daniel 4 verses
- Daniel 11:7 כַּנּ֑/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.
- Daniel 11:20 כַּנּ֛/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Then shall stand up in his place one who shall cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
- Daniel 11:21 כַּנּ/וֹ֙ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms In his place shall stand up a contemptible person, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
- Daniel 11:38 כַּנּ֖/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms But in his place shall he honor the god of fortresses; and a god whom his fathers didn't know shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“pedestal” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun כן (kên). Translators differ — “foot” in the King James Version, then “stand” (Berean Standard Bible) and “base” (unfoldingWord Literal Text), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 17 verses across 6 books, an uncommon footprint. It concentrates in Exodus, which alone accounts for 41% of its uses. Not a single-sense word: its full sense range also takes in “base”, “stand”, and “office”. See the sense tree, 17-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3653 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 17
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 17 distinct verses.
- 6 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 6 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,671
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,671 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 17 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 17 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 10 verses · 59%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 4 verses · 24%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 3 verses · 18%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 5 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Foot 8×, Estate 4×
- American Standard Version†: Base 7×, Place 4×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Stand 8×, Place 4×, Position 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Base 5×, Base of 3×, Place 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3653 across 17† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3653 across 17† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3653 across 16† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 2 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3653 across 18† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
20 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 20 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
כן I right, veritable, honest (proposes firm, upright
- 1. right, usually indecl., often as subst. a right thing, especially c. vbb. dicendi Ex 10:29 (J) כֵּן דִּבַּרְתָּ, Nu 27:7 כֵּן דֹּבְרֹת, 36:5 (both P); כֵּן יַאֲרִיךְ Pr 28:2 (the) right (i.e. order and justice) shall last long (v. De Now VB); = adv. aright, of pronunciation Ju 12:6; also c. vb. agendi Ec 8:10 (on Is 33:23 v. iii. כֵּן sub כנן); right well ψ 65:10; (Che; al. = so); c. לֹא, as adj., not right דְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא־כֵן 2 K 17:9 things which were not right (vb. agendi); of heart of a fool Pr 15:7; Je 23:10; as subst. = what is not right, upright Je 8:6; c. vb. agendi לֹא־כֵן 2 K 7:9 that which is not right we are doing, Je 48:30b. e.g. Exodus 10:29
- 2. veritable, true, כֵּן־צְדָקָה Pr 11:19 the veritable of righteousness = true righteousness; Is 16:6 = Je 48:30a may be either their boastings are not true or (Thes Che Di Du Gr Gie al.) the untruth of their boastings (לֹא־כֵן as cpd. cstr.); abs., in assent to something already said, Right! Correct! True! Jos 2:4. e.g. Proverbs 11:19
- 3. pl. concr. honest (men) Gn 42:11, 19, 31, 33, 34 (all E).—i. כֵּן thus, so, v. p. 485 infr.; iii. כֵּן place, base, v. sub i. כנן; iv. כֵּן, כִּנִּם, כִּנָּם, v. sub כנן. e.g. Genesis 42:11
כן II so, thus (Ph. NH 𝔗 id.
- 1.
- a. Ju 5:31 כן יאבדו so perish thy enemies, Jb 5:27 כֶּן־הִיא, 8:13 כן ארחות כל שׁכחי אל, Pr 6:29; 8:13; 2 S 16:23 Is 36:6; 47:15 כן היו לך, Nu 13:33 וכן היינו בעיניהם; Nu 9:16 כן יהיה תמיד; Ex 10:14, 14 לא היה כן ארבה כמהו וג׳ (i.e. in such numbers), 1 K 10:12 לא בא כן עצי אלמגים, v 20 2 Ch 1:12, 12, Ju 21:14 ולא מצאו להם כן and they did not suffice for them so (viz. in such numbers of them as there were); 1 K 6:26 וכן הכרוב השׁני, Ez 41:7 (?); וכן ל׳ Ex 27:11 1 K 10:29 Ez 40:16 2 Ch 35:12, cf. 1 Ch 23:30; כן ל׳ Ex 25:33 (cf. 26:24), Jos 21:40. e.g. Judges 5:31
- b. the force of כֵּן has sometimes to be elicited from the context: 1 K 2:7 כי כן קרבו אלי (sc. with kindness such as that enjoined in v a), 20:40 כן משׁפטך, Je 14:10 כן אהבו לנוע (i.e. not less than י׳ has withdrawn from them v 9, Gf Ke; Gie proposes אָכֵן), ψ 61:9 כֵּן אֲוַמְּרָה שִׁמְךָ (Hi כְּצִדְקְךָ, implied in v 6–8), 63:3 כֵּן בַּקֹּדֶשׁ חֲזִיתִךָ (sc. with the longings of v 2), v 5 כֵּן אֲבָרֶכְךָ בְחַיָּי (sc. כִּי־טוֹב חַסְדְּךָ v 4), 65:10 כִּי כֵן תְּכִינֶהָ (i.e. so generously, v 10), 90:12 לִמְנוֹת יָמֵינוּ כֵּן הוֹדַע (Hi כְּיִרְאַת י׳ v 11), 127:2 כֵּן יִּתֵּן לִידִידוֹ שֵׁנָא (sc. as abundantly; but Che אָכֵן), Pr 24:14 (see v 13), Is 52:14 כֵּן מִשְׁחַת מֵאִישׁ מַרְאֵהוּ (sufficiently to justify שׁממו עליך רבים). e.g. 1 Kings 2:7
- c. כן occurs freq. in partic. phrases, as (a) with הָיָה, especially ויהי כן and it was so Gn 1:7, 9, 11 +, 2 K 2:10 if thou seest me taken from thee יהי־לך כן let it be to thee so (sc. as thou desirest), 7:20, with עשׂה (especially וַיַּעַשׂ, וַיַּעֲשׂוּ) Gn 29:28; 42:20; 45:21 + often, Ju 7:16 מִמֶּנִּי תִרְאוּ וְכֵן תַּעֲשׂוּ, + ל׳ Gn 42:25 ויעשׂ להם כן, Ex 22:29; 23:11 כן תעשׂה ל׳, Dt 22:3 2 S 12:31 1 K 11:8 (cf. 6:33; 7:18); Gn 29:26 לא יֵעָשֶׂה כן במקומנו, 34:7 2 S 13:12; rarer usages, דִּבֶּר כֵּן Ex 6:9, אמר כן 1 K 22:8 כֵּן אמרתם Ez 11:5; 33:10, אָמֵן כֵּן יֹאמַר י׳ 1 K 1:36 (cf. Je 28:6), וגם שׁאול אבי יֹדֵעַ כֵּן 1 S 23:17; אָהֵב כֵּן (idiom.) to love (it) so, †Je 5:31 Am 4:5; (b) Gn 50:3 כי כן ימלאו ימי החנֻטים (cf. Ju 14:10 2 S 13:18 Est 2:12); (c) alone, אִם כֵּן if it be so †Gn 25:22; 43:11; †וַיִּרְאוּ כִּי־כֵן 1 S 5:7, יָדַעְתִּי כִּי־כֵן Jb 9:2; (d) לא כן not so (viz. as has been described or implied), with a subst. Nu 12:7 לא כן עבדי משׁה, 2 S 20:21; 23:5 ψ 1:4 Jb 9:35 b כי־לא־כן אנכי עמדי not so am I with myself (i. e. I am not conscious of being one who would fear him, v a), with a vb. Dt 18:14 ואתה לא כן נתן לך י׳ (not so,—viz. as implied in v a), 2 S 18:14 Is 10:7 לא כן יְדַמֶּה, לא כן יחשׁב, absol. Gn 48:18 לא כן אבי, Ex 10:11. e.g. Genesis 1:7
- 2. Often, to emphasize the agreement, in answer to כְּ, and כַּאֲשֶׁר: viz.
- a. כְּ … כֵּן, (a) Gn 44:10 = Jos 2:21 כדבריכם כֶּן־הוּא, according to your words, so be it, 1 S 25:25 כי כשׁמו כֶּן־הוּא, ψ 48:11 Pr 23:7 כֶּן־הוּא (after conj. כְּמוֹ), Ez 42:11 כְּאָרְכָּן כֵּן רָחְבָּן; (b) Lv 27:12 כְּעֶרְכְּךָ כֵּן יִהְיֶה, 2 S 13:35 Nu 8:4; 9:14; 15:20 Dt 8:20 Ju 11:10, so after כְּפִי Nu 6:21; (c) כְּכֹל … כֵּן … 1 S 8:8 2 S 7:17 Je 42:5; (d) in similes, (α) 2 S 14:17 כמלאך הא׳ כן אדני המלך, Je 18:6 ψ 123:2; 127:4 Pr 10:26; 26:8, 19; 27:8, 19 Ct 2:2, 3; (β) Jo 2:4 כְּפָרָשִׁים כֵּן יְרוּצוּן, Is 31:5 38:14 ψ 103:15 Pr 26:1, 2; (γ) ψ 42:2 כאיל תערג … כן נפשׁי וג׳ like the hind which etc., 83:16 Is 61:11; 63:14 Jb 7:3, so after כמו Is 26:17; (δ) Je 2:26 כְּבשֶׁת גַּנָּב … כֵּן הוֹבִישׁוּ 6:7; 34:5 (read כְּמשׂרפות), Ez 22:22 (cf. v 20), 23:44; 34:12; cf. (of degree) 35:15 (om. 𝔊 Co), Ho 4:7 כְּרֻכָּם כֵּן חָֽטְאוּ לִי. Of time (rare) Ho 6:3 (?), 1 S 9:13 כְּבֹאֲכֶם הָעִיר כֵּן תִּמְצְאוּן אֹתוֹ. e.g. Genesis 44:10
- b. †Ezr 10:12 כן כדבריך עלינו לעשׂות. e.g. Ezra 10:12
- c. כַּאֲשֶׁר … כֵּן …, (a) Ex 7:6 כאשׁר צוה י׳ כן עשׂו, 12:28, 50; 39:43 (cf. 27:8), Nu 8:22 (cf. 5:4), 17:26; 36:10 Jos 14:5 (all P); Gn 41:13 כאשׁר פתר כן היה, Jos 10:1, 39; 11:15 Ju 1:7; 15:11 b ψ 48:9; (b) (freq.) Nu 2:17 כאשׁר יַחֲנוּ כֵּן יִסָּ֑עוּ, Ex 1:12 (of degree = the more … the more) כַּאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ; (c) Gn 6:22 ככל אשׁר צוה אתו אלהים כן עשׂה, Ex 39:32, 42; 40:16 Nu 1:54; 2:34; 8:20; 9:5 (all P), cf. Ex 25:9 (וְכֵן), simil. 2 S 9:11 2 K 16:11, cf. Jos 1:17 Je 42:20; (d) Ex 27:8 כאשׁר הֶרְאָה אתך כן יעשׂו, 2 S 16:19 1 K 2:38 Is 20:4; 52:14f.; with the same vb. repeated Lv 24:19, 20 Dt 28:63 כאשׁר שׂשׂ … כן ישׂישׂ, Jos 23:15; 1 S 15:33; 26:24 1 K 1:37 Is 10:11 Je 5:19; 31:28; 32:42; 42:18 Ez 12:11; 20:36 Zc 7:13 Pr 24:29; Nu 14:28 אם לא כאשׁר דברתם כן אעשׂה, Is 14:24, so after הלא 10:11, after asseverative כי 2 S 3:9 1 K 1:30; so כָּל־עֻמַּת שֶׁ׳ … כֵּן † Ec 5:15; (e) Ju 7:17 b כאשׁר אעשׂה כן תעשׂון, Lv 27:14 Nu 15:14, cf. Je 39:12; (f) in similes, Dt 12:22; 22:26 Am 3:12 Is 65:8 Je 13:11. e.g. Exodus 7:6
- d. כן כאשׁר …, (a) Ex 7:10 ויעשׂו כן כאשׁר צוה י׳, v 20 Jos 4:8 2 S 5:25 Ez 12:7, cf. Gn 50:12 Nu 8:3; iron. Am 5:14 יהי כן י׳ אתּכם כאשׁר אמרתם, Ex 10:10; (b) Gn 18:5 כן תעשׂה כאשׁר דברת, Ne 5;12.—Occasionally in poetry כאשׁר is not expressed: Is 54:9 (De), 55:9 Je 3;20 Jb 7:9 Ho 11:2 קראו להם כן הלכו מפניהם (of degree: so = in the same proportion), ψ 48:6 המה ראו כן תמהו (i.e. in the same measure that they saw); Je 33:22 (according to many, but dub.; read prob. כאשׁר Gie) it is represented by אשׁר (so Is 54:9 Hi Ew Di): Ju 5:15 Ez 22:20 כ is not expressed. Na 1:12 is prob. corrupt; Zc 11:11 for כן עניי read כְּנַעֲנֵי.—כֹּה, כָּכָה, כָּזֹאת are syn., but differ considerably in usage. e.g. Exodus 7:10
- 3. With prepositions:—
- a. אַחַר־כֵּן, אַחֲרֵי־כֵן, מֵאַחֲרֵי־כֵן, lit. after so, i. e. afterwards: v. אַחַר.
- b. †בְּכֵן (late), lit. in such circumstances, i.e. thereupon, then, Ec 8;10 Est 4:16 (𝔗 בְּכֵין often for אָז; e.g. Ex 15:1; SyriacJerus. ܒܟܢ = τότε). e.g. Esther 4:16
- c. †כְּמוֹ־כֵן Is 51:6, according to some, like so, i.e. (Vrss Rabb) in like manner, or (De) like this (accompanied by a contemptuous gesture) = like a mere nothing: but v. iv. כֵּן. e.g. Isaiah 51:6
- d. לָכֵן200 according to such conditions, that being so, therefore Nu 16:11 1 S 27:6 ψ 16:9; 73:6, 10; especially in proph., where it often introduces, after statement of the grounds, a divine declaration or command: Ju 10:13 2 K 1:6 Am 4:12 Is 5:13, 14, 24; 7:14; 10:16; 16:7; 27:9 Je 6:15; 8:10 etc.; לכן כה אמר י׳ 2 K 21:12 Is 10:24; 28:16; 29:22; 30:12; 37:33 Je 5:14; 6:21 + often; sq. נאם האדון Is 1:24; נאם י׳ 1 S 2:30 Je 2:9; לכן הנה ימים באים נאם י׳ Je 7:32; 16:14; 19:6 +; לכן חי אני נאם י׳ Ez 5:11; 35:6, 11 Zp 2:9; לכן הנני … 1 K 14:10 Ho 2:8, 16 Is 29:14 Je 16:21 Ez 16:37; 22:19 b; 25:4, 7, 9 +; לכן אֱמֹר †Ex 6:6 Nu 25:12 (both P), Ez 11:16, 17; 14:6; 20:30; 33:25; 36:22; לָכֵן דַּבֵּר † Ez 14:4; 20:27; לָכֵן הִנָּבֵא †Ez 11:4; 36:3, 6; 37:12; 38:14; לָכֵן שִׁמְעוּ … Is 28:14; 51:21 Je 6:18; 44:26 +. In answer to יען, Nu 20:12 (P), 1 K 14:10 2 K 1:16; 21:12; 22:20 Is 29:14; 30:13 Je 19:6 +, Ez 5:8 13:23 +; so, once, וְלָכֵן Is 8:7; to כי Is 28:16 Je 35:17; על Je 9:14; אם 23:38; 42:15. Special usages:—(a) idiom., in conversation, in reply to an objection, to state the ground upon which the answer is made; Gn 4:15 therefore—this being so—whoso killeth Cain, etc., 30:15 Ju 8:7; 11:8 1 S 28:2 1 K 22:19 Jb 20:2 (𝔊 in Gn K Jb, not perceiving the idiom, renders οὐχ οὕτως (as though לא־כן): so also strangely, elsewhere, as 1 S 3:14 2 K 1:4, 6; 21:12). (b) inferring the cause from the effect, or developing what is logically involved in a statement, Is 26:14 b (cf. De) therefore thou hast visited and destroyed them (not a consequence of v a ‘the dead rise not,’ but the development of what is implicit in it), 61:7 Je 2:33; 5:2 (because viz. אין אמונה v 1), Jb 34:25; 42:3.—Zc 11:7 read לִכְנַעֲנֵי הַצֹּאן. e.g. Numbers 16:11
- e. †עַד־כֵּן hitherto (of time), as yet Ne 2:16. e.g. Nehemiah 2:16
- f. עַל־כֵּן145 upon ground of such conditions, therefore (introducing, more generally than לָכֵן, the statement of a fact, rather than a declaration: never used in the phrases noted under לָכֵן), Gn 20:6; 42:21 Ex 5:8, 17; 16:29; 20:11 1 S 20:29; 28:18 2 S 7:22, 27 1 K 20:23 Is 5:25; 9:16; 13:7, 13; 15:4, 7; 16:9, 11; 17:10; 21:3 Je 5:6, 27; 10:21; 12:8; 20:11; 31:3, 20 Ez 7:20; 22:4; 31:5 etc., ψ 1:5; 42:7; 45:3 c (the poet’s inference from v a. b), v 8 110:7 Jb 6:3; 9:22; 17:4; 20:21 etc., Ct 1:3; and regularly where the origin of a name, or custom, or proverb is assigned, Gn 2:24 על־כן יעזב אישׁ וג׳, 10:9 על־כן יֵאָמַ֔ר, 11:9 על־כן קרא שׁמה בבל, 16:14; 19:22; 21:31; 25:30; 26:33; 29:34, 35; 30:6; 32:33; 47:22 Ex 13:15; 15:23 Nu 18:24; 21:14, 27 Dt 10:9 (cf. 15:11, 15; 19:7; 24:18, 22), Jos 7:26; 14:14 Ju 15:19; 18:12 1 S 5:5; 10:12; 23:28 (? read so 27:6) 2 S 5:8, 20 etc.; הַעַל־כֵּן †Hb 1:17.—Est 9:26 the 2nd על כן (unless dittogr.) points unusually onwards to על כל דברי האגרת on this account, on account, viz., etc. e.g. Genesis 20:6
כן III base, pedestal, office (NH כַּנָּה
- 1. lit. base, pedestal, 1 K 7:31 (like) the work of a pedestal (Th VB), according to StaZAW iii, 1883, 161, 162 מַעֲשֵׂה־כֵן is in wrong place, being orig. part of a gloss to v 35;—כ׳ in v 29 = thus, or is textual error;—כֵּן־תָּרְנָם Is 33:23 the base (support or socket) of their mast (so Thes and most); especially of base of laver of tabernacle Ex 30:18, 28; 31:9; 35:16; 38:8; 39:39; 40:11 Lv 8:11 (all P). e.g. 1 Kings 7:31
- 2. office, place Gn 40:13; 41:13 (both E); hence (late) עַל־כַּנּוֹ in his place Dn 11:20, 21, 38 (i.e. in his stead, as his successor, cf. Germ. an seiner Stelle); עַל om. v 7. e.g. Genesis 40:13
כן IV (?), כִּנִּם, כִּנָּם n.[m.], meaning dub.
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. adj. right, veritable, honest (proposes firm, upright; Syriac ܟܻܐܢ recte PS1662)—abs. כֵּן Ex 10:29 + (on poss. cstr. v. 2 ad fin.); pl. כֵּנִים Gn 42:11, 19, 31, 33, 34;—
II. adv. so, thus (Ph. NH 𝔗 id.; Syriac ܟܶܢ is then, Arabic لٰكِنْ, لٰكِنَّ, but: prob. from the demonstr. √ ka, found in כִּי etc., Köii 1, 254); (הִיא) כֶּן־הוּא Gn 44:10 + 4 times: so thus (i.e. usually, as has been described or commanded, with ref. to what has preceded), mostly of manner, but sometimes also of quantity, quality, or degree:
VI. n.m. base, pedestal, office (NH כַּנָּה; Aramaic כַּנְתָּא, ܟܰܢܳܐ )—abs. כ׳ Is 33:23 1 K 7:31 (but v. infr.); sf. כַּנּוֹ Ex 30:18 + 11 times; כַּנֶּ֑ךָ Gn 40:13; כַּנִּי 41:13;—
VII. (?), כִּנִּם, כִּנָּם n.[m.], meaning dub.; either gnat, gnats, gnat-swarm (so 𝔊 𝔙 PhiloVita Mos. i, p. 97, OrigenHom 4, 6 in Ex., and most moderns), or [louse,] lice (so 𝔖 𝔗 JosAnt. ii, 14, 13 BochHieroz. II, ii, 572 f., as NH כִּנָּה, pl. כִּנִּים = maggots, and especially lice)—abs. perh. כֵּן Is 51:6 (v. infr.); pl. כִּנִּים Ex 8:13, 14 ψ 105:31, כִּנִּם Ex 8:12; Ex 8:13, 14 has, also, כִּנָּם prob. a mere Mas. device for כִּנִּם (cf. Di), on account of preceding וַתְּהִי (on which see Ges§ 145. 4 DaSynt. § 116); Sam. has כנים throughout:—of Egyptian plague Ex 8:12, 13(×2), 14(×2) (all P), hence ψ 105:31; כְּמוֹ־כֵן יְמוּתוּן Is 51:6 like a gnat-swarm (?) shall they die (cf. Di Du; Weir Che read כנים, cf. Buhlp. 355; > Brd De like this). Note.—NöM 54 BaNB § 15, ES 53 BuhlGes HWB ed. 12 connect this word etymol. with Aramaic כלמתא vermin, Ba and Buhl also with Assyrian kalmatu, id. [DlHWB 333], and even with Aramaic קלמתא, ܩܰܠܡܬܳܐ, Arabic قَمْلٌ, etc., Ethiopic ቍማl louse; but these connexions, as well as that with NH כְּנִימָה, all involving radical מ, are most improb.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from כן (kên) (H3651) — thus.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
כַּן
- here, v. כַּאַן.
כֵּן I
- v. כִּי, so, thus. Ber. 11ᵇ וכן הוא אומר and so we read; a. v. fr.—אם כן, אלא אם כן, v. אִם.—לָכֵן for such a purpose. Y. Maas. Sh. II, 53ᵇ bot. דרכו ל׳ it is usually employed for such a purpose. Y. Erub. VII, beg. 24ᵇ ייחדו ל׳ he devoted it to such &c.—יתר על כן, יתר מִכֵּן, v. יֶתֶר I.
כֵּן
- , ch. same. Targ. Is. LI, 6. Targ. O. Ex. I, 12; a. fr.—Ber. 11ᵇ וכן אורי ליה וכ׳ and so taught R. El. &c.; a. v. fr.—בתר כן, contr. בְּכֵן, after this; therefore. Targ. II Sam. II, 1; a. fr.—Ib. XXII, 47; a. e.—וּלְהָלָא מִבְּכֵן, וּלְהָלָה מִבְּכֵין from now and further on = h. מכאן ואילך. Targ. I Kings XIV, 14.—Y. Sabb. XIV, 14ᵈ ר"י מטתיה כן such (disease) befell R. J.; Y. Ab. Zar. II, 40ᵈ הוה ליה כן. Ib. bot. ימות ולא כן let him rather die than do this (idolatrous cure); a. fr.—Y. Ber. III, 6ᵇ top לָכֵן דאתינן (v. preced.) it is for this purpose that we came here (to be reminded of death).—דִּל כֵּן, דִּלָכֵן, v. דִּל.—כל דכן, v. כּוֹל.—כֵּינִי = כין הי it is so; (interrog.) is it so, indeed? Y. Peah II, 17ᵃ bot. וכ׳ אלא כ׳ is that so? (No,) but it is thus. Ib. III, 17ᶜ top כ׳ (insert מתניתא); ib. II, beg. 16ᵈ כ׳ מתניתא (not ב׳) so is the Mishnah to be read. Y. B. Mets. III, beg. 9ᵃ וְאִין כ׳ but if this be so; a. fr.
כֵּן II
- , with suff. כַּנּ־, m. (b. h.; כּוּן or כָּנַן)
- 1. base, stand, rest. Cant. R. to I, 1 (ref. to והנה חלום, I Kings III, 15) החלום … על כַּנּוֹ the dream (after he awoke) remained standing on its firm stand (was realized); Yalk. Kings 175. Yoma V, 3, sq. הניחו על כ׳ וכ׳ he set it down on the stand. Tosef. Kel. B. Mets. II, 17 מחוסרין כן vessels that have lost their rest; a. fr.—Pl. כַּנִּים, constr. כַּנֵּי. Kel. XI, 3.— Trnsf. social status. Yeb. 77ᵇ גיורת מכַּנָּהּ a proselyte of her own status, i.e. born after the conversion of her parents both of whom were of the same nation. e.g. 1 Kings 3:15
- 2. (cmp. כּוּן Pi.) ruler. Ib. XII, 8; Tosef. Kel. B. Bath. VII, 12 הכן והכַּנָּה (Var. והכַּנָּא) the ruler and that which is ruled (the writing material); oth. opin.: the ruled material and the ruler; [oth. opin.: (cmp. σταθμός) the base of the scales and the scales; oth. opin. the strike and the measure.]
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 12 distinct written forms H3653 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| כַּנּֽ/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Exodus 30:28 | 4 |
| כַּנּ֑/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Daniel 11:7 | 2 |
| כַּנּ֖/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Daniel 11:38 | 2 |
| וְ/כַנּ֥/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Exodus 30:18 | 1 |
| כֵ֔ן | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 1 Kings 7:31 | 1 |
| כֵן | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Isaiah 33:23 | 1 |
| כֵּ֣ן | Particle, Demonstrative | 1 Kings 7:29 | 1 |
| כַּנּ/וֹ֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Daniel 11:21 | 1 |
| כַּנּ֛/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Daniel 11:20 | 1 |
| כַּנּ֣/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Exodus 38:8 | 1 |
| כַּנִּ֖/י | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Genesis 41:13 | 1 |
| כַּנֶּ֑/ךָ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Genesis 40:13 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3653, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 15 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 17 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
