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מִקְנֶה

cattle

‘cattle’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓

H4735 Strong's Hebrew
miqneh Transliteration
/mik-neh'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 76 appearances

Compare with another word →

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.

מקנה — transliterated miqneh — is a Hebrew noun carrying the sense “cattle.” Its English rendering has broadened — “cattle” classically, “livestock” (Berean Standard Bible) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 64 verses — moderately common. More than a third of its appearances fall in Genesis. It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
cattle
Modern gloss
cattle
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H4735 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 →

64
distinct verses
The word appears in 64 distinct verses.
16 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 4:20
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 4:20.
Ezekiel 38:13
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Ezekiel 38:13.
#523
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 523 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 64 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 39 · 61%
  • Historical 15 · 23%
  • Wisdom 5 · 8%
  • Prophets 5 · 8%

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 64 distinct verses.

  • Torah (Pentateuch) 39 verses · 61%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 13 verses · 20%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 12 verses · 19%

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).

  • King James Version: Cattle 45×, Flocks 2×, Have cattle 2×
  • American Standard Version: Cattle 40×, Possessions 4×, 's cattle 2×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Livestock 41×, Cattle 6×, Flocks 3×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Livestock 46×, Cattle 9×, Livestock of 6×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H4735 across 75 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Cattle” 45×
  • “Flocks” 2×
  • “Have cattle” 2×
  • “Possession” 2×
  • “Possessions” 2×
  • “Substance” 2×

Plus 20 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 H4735 across 75 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Cattle” 40×
  • “Possessions” 4×
  • “'s cattle” 2×
  • “Flocks” 2×
  • “Have cattle” 2×
  • “Substance” 2×

Plus 23 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 H4735 across 69 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Livestock” 41×
  • “Cattle” 6×
  • “Flocks” 3×
  • “Herds” 2×

Plus 17 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 6 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H4735 across 77 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Livestock” 46×
  • “Cattle” 9×
  • “Livestock of” 6×
  • “Herd s of” 3×
  • “Possession of” 2×
  • “S livestock” 2×

Plus 9 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


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 2 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.

  • 1. cattle in gen., including cows, sheep, horses, asses, camels (any or all of them), as purchasable domestic animals, Gn 47:16(×2), 17(×2); Ex 9:3 + (J), 10:26 (E), Dt 3:19 (not in P), Jb 1:3 ψ 78:48 Je 9:9; 1 Ch 5:12 +; so prob. ישֵׁב אֹהֶל וּמִקְנֶה Gn 4:20 (J) of nomads, מִקְנֵה הַבְּהֵמָה Gn 47:18 (J). e.g. Genesis 47:16
  • 2. specif. of cows, sheep, and goats in herds and flocks Gn 13:2 (J), 31:9 (E), v 18 36:7; 46:6 Nu 32:1 (all P), Is 30:23 +; אַנְשֵׁי מ׳ Gn 46:32, 34 (J), שָׂרֵי מ׳ Gn 47:6 (P), cf. 1 Ch 28:1; רֹעֵי מ׳ Gn 13:7(×2) (J); disting. from בְּהֵמָה Nu 31:9 (P), 32:26; 2 K 3:17; from קנין Jos 14:4 (P); Ez 38:12, 13; from both Gn 34:23; 36:6 (P); מ׳ צאן ובקר 2 Ch 32:29 מ׳ בקר וצאן Ec 2:7; מ׳ צאן ומ׳ בקר Gn 26:14; 47:17 (J); sheep only Gn 29:7 (J); Nu 32:16 (E).—מִקְנֵה הַשָּׂדֶה Gn 49:32 (P) read מִקְנַת; מִקְנֶת אַף על עוֹלֶה Jb 36:33 read מַקְנֶה (Hiph. Pt.), or מְקַנֶּה (Pi. Pt.) metapl. from קנא, Hi Bö Di Du; 1 S 30:20 del. הַמּ׳ 𝔊 We Dr al., v. especially HPS. e.g. Genesis 13:2

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

n.m. Ex 10:26 cattle;—abs. מ׳ Gn 46:32 +; cstr. מִקְנֵה Gn 13:7 +; sf. מִקְנֵהוּ Gn 3:18 +, מִקְנֶיךָ Is 30:23 (Ges§ 93 ss), etc.; pl. sf. (but v. Köii. 112 f.) מִקְנַי Ex 17:3 +, מִקְנֵיכֶם Gn 47:16 +, etc.;—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from קנה (qânâh) (H7069) — to acquire.

Part of speech: Noun Masculine TWOT: 2039b


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.

מִקְנֶה

  • property, esp. cattle. Num. R. s. 22 היה להם מ׳ גדול they had a large stock of cattle; a. e.

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 62 distinct written forms H4735 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
מִקְנֶ֖ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 12:38 5
מִקְנֵ֖/הוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 9:20 3
מִקְנֵ֣ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 9:4 3
וּ/בְ/מִקְנֵ֥ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 47:17 2
מִקְנֵה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 13:7 2
מִקְנֵי/הֶ֗ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 46:6 2
מִקְנֵי/הֶֽם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 36:7 2
מִקְנֶ֣ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 38:12 2
מִקְנֶֽה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 32:1 2
בְּ/מִקְנְ/ךָ֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 9:3 1
בְּ/מִקְנֵי/כֶ֑ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Genesis 47:16 1
בַּ/מִּקְנֶ֕ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 13:2 1
הַ/מִּקְנֶ֑ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 29:7 1
הַ/מִּקְנֶ֛ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Judges 18:21 1
הַ/מִּקְנֶ֣ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Samuel 30:20 1
וּ/בְ/מִקְנֶ֣ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 22:8 1
וּ/לְ/מִקְנֵ֨/הוּ֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 33:17 1
וּ/מִ/מִּקְנֵ֥ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 9:6 1
וּ/מִקְנֵ/כֶם֒ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 3:19 1
וּ/מִקְנֵ֖/הוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Job 1:10 1
וּ/מִקְנֵ֣ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 26:14 1
וּ/מִקְנֵ֥ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 47:18 1
וּ/מִקְנֵה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 2 Chronicles 32:29 1
וּ/מִקְנֵי/הֶ֨ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Judges 6:5 1
וּ/מִקְנֵי/כֶ֖ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct 2 Kings 3:17 1
וּ/מִקְנֵי/כֶם֒ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Joshua 1:14 1
וּ/מִקְנֶ֣ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 32:1 1
וּ/מִקְנֶֽה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 4:20 1
וּ/מִקְנֶה֩ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 28:1 1
וּ/מִקְנַ֔/י Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Numbers 20:19 1
וּ֝/מִקְנֵי/הֶ֗ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Psalms 78:48 1
לְ/מִקְנֵ֖/נוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Numbers 32:16 1
לְ/מִקְנֵי/הֶ֖ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Joshua 14:4 1
מִ/מִּקְנֵ֥ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 9:7 1
מִ֝קְנֶ֗ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Job 36:33 1
מִ֠קְנֵ/הוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Job 1:3 1
מִקְנְ/ךָ֔ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 9:19 1
מִקְנְ/ךָ֖ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 30:29 1
מִקְנְ/ךָ֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 34:19 1
מִקְנֵ/הֶ֔ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 47:17 1
מִקְנֵ/הֶ֛ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Numbers 31:9 1
מִקְנֵ/הֶ֤ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 34:23 1
מִקְנֵ֖/נוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Numbers 32:26 1
מִקְנֵ֗/הוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 31:18 1
מִקְנֵ֜/נוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 10:26 1
מִקְנֵ֣/הוּ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 36:6 1
מִקְנֵ֥ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 31:9 1
מִקְנֵ֧ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 49:32 1
מִקְנֵֽה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 13:7 1
מִקְנֵה֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Genesis 31:18 1
מִקְנֵי/הֶ֔ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 Samuel 23:5 1
מִקְנֵי/הֶ֛ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 5:9 1
מִקְנֵי/הֶם֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Jeremiah 49:32 1
מִקְנֵי/הֶם֮ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Genesis 47:17 1
מִקְנֵי/כֶ֔ם Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Genesis 47:16 1
מִקְנֶ֑ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Jeremiah 9:10 1
מִקְנֶ֛י/ךָ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Isaiah 30:23 1
מִקְנֶ֜ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 46:34 1
מִקְנֶ֥ה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 3:19 1
מִקְנֶה Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 26:10 1

The 60 most common forms are shown; 2 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.


Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4735, 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

Derived from this word

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 8 — 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 61 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 64 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.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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