כֵּן
gnat
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
- Adverb
- A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H3654 appears in the Book of Exodus — 3 distinct verses. 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.
Exodus
- Exodus 8:16 לְ/כִנִּ֖ם prep + n c mp Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'"
- Exodus 8:17 הַ/כִּנָּ֔ם כִנִּ֖ים ptcl def.art + n c ms n c mp They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 8:18 הַ/כִּנִּ֖ים הַ/כִּנָּ֔ם ptcl def.art + n c mp ptcl def.art + n c ms The magicians tried with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal.
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.
At its core, כן (kên) means “gnat.” A scarce word — 5 verses in all of the Hebrew Bible. The word gravitates to Exodus (60%), then Psalms and Isaiah. It first appears in Exodus 8:16. It clusters with כנן, כנה and כנני under a shared root. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3654 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 →
- 5
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 5 distinct verses.
- 3 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 3 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,835
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,835 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 5 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 5 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 3 verses · 60%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 1 verse · 20%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 1 verse · 20%
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 6 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†: Became lice 2×, Lice 2×
- American Standard Version†: Lice 2×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Gnats 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Lice 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3654 across 7† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 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 H3654 across 7† 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.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3654 across 6† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears 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 H3654 across 7† 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.
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:
I. v. iv. כֵּן sub II. כנן.
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 כנן (kânan) (H3661) — root, support , shoot.
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 6 distinct written forms H3654 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| הַ/כִּנָּ֔ם | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 8:17 | 2 |
| הַ/כִּנִּ֖ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Exodus 8:18 | 1 |
| כִנִּ֖ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Exodus 8:17 | 1 |
| כֵ֣ן | Adverb | Isaiah 51:6 | 1 |
| כִּ֝נִּ֗ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Psalms 105:31 | 1 |
| לְ/כִנִּ֖ם | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Exodus 8:16 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3654, 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
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 5 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 5 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.
