What does κῆπος (kēpos) mean in the Bible?
Kepos means garden. In the New Testament, the word appears in a kingdom parable and in John's passion and burial narrative.
Greek · G2779
κῆπος
A garden
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κῆπος G2779
Pronunciation kēpos
What does κῆπος (kēpos) mean in the Bible?
Kepos means garden. In the New Testament, the word appears in a kingdom parable and in John's passion and burial narrative.
Reader summary
Full entry for κῆπος (G2779) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2779?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include garden (3), a garden (2).
Where does κῆπος (kēpos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 13:19. Its strongest book concentrations include John (4), Luke (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Kepos means garden. In the New Testament, the word appears in a kingdom parable and in John's passion and burial narrative. Jesus compares the kingdom to a mustard seed a man tosses into his garden, where it grows into a tree. John then names a garden across the Kidron Valley where Jesus enters with His disciples before His arrest. Later, Peter is questioned by someone who remembers seeing him with Jesus in the garden.
John also notes a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, with a new tomb nearby. Kepos therefore is not merely a pleasant outdoor setting. It can be a place of growth, arrest, memory, denial, crucifixion nearness, and burial. The word helps readers notice how ordinary places can become weight-bearing scenes in the story of the kingdom and Christ's passion.
How the Bible Uses It
Kepos names a garden in a kingdom-growth comparison and in John's passion narrative. The settings include growth, arrest, remembered association, crucifixion, and burial.
- Luke.13.19
It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
Jesus compares the kingdom to a mustard seed tossed into a garden where it grows into a tree.
- John.18.1
After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
John says Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with His disciples and entered a garden.
- John.18.26
One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?”
A servant's relative recalls seeing Peter with Jesus in the garden.
- John.19.41
Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
John notes a garden near the place of crucifixion, with a new tomb in it.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It garden 3× Luke 13:19, John 18:26, John 19:41
a garden 2× John 18:1, John 19:41
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 13:19 κῆπον to garden Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 18:1 κῆπος to a garden Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular John 18:26 κήπῳ to garden Noun - Dative Masculine Singular John 19:41 κῆπος to a garden Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular John 19:41 κήπῳ to garden Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 13:19
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 2
Luke 1 John 4
Source forms
κῆπος 2x kēpos John 18:1, John 19:41
κήπῳ 2x kēpō John 18:26, John 19:41
κῆπον 1x kēpon Luke 13:19
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 2x John 18:26, John 19:41
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 2x John 18:1, John 19:41
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Luke 13:19
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use garden imagery according to the passage's action, not according to modern assumptions about calm or beauty.
- When applying John 18, keep Jesus' willing movement toward suffering at the center.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that kepos always evokes Eden or restoration.
- Do not claim that the word itself proves resurrection hope apart from the tomb and Gospel narrative.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Enclosed cultivated plot for plants, often symbolizing fruitfulness or sacred space in NT narrative.
Strong's G2779
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 3 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 13:18-21 Source Gloss
a garden
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 13:19 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
κῆπον khpon
a garden
Read verse John 18:1 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
κῆπος, khpov
a garden
Read verse John 18:26 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
κήπῳ khpw
a garden
Read verse John 19:41 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
κῆπος, khpov
a garden
Read verse John 19:41 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
κήπῳ khpw
a garden
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 5 Case pattern Dative (2) Number pattern Singular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine John 18:1 · John 19:41 2×
Dative · Singular · Masculine John 18:26 · John 19:41 2×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Luke 13:19 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Metaphorical comparison of kingdom growth, mustard seed planted in garden
Literal cultivated space representing God's restoration and blessing to Zion
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κῆπος is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Kepos is a place word with surprising range. In Luke 13, a garden holds the small mustard seed that grows beyond its beginning, so the image serves kingdom teaching. In John 18, the garden across the Kidron becomes the place Jesus enters after His prayer and before His arrest. It is not an escape from suffering but the next step toward the cross. The later question to Peter shows that the garden is remembered as the place where he was seen with Jesus, making association with Christ public and costly.
John 19 then places a garden near the crucifixion site, with a new tomb where Jesus is laid. Kepos therefore asks teachers to resist sentimental garden language. A garden can hold growth, testing, failure, death, and hope under God's purpose.
Anchor passage
John.18.1
Doctrinal connections
- G932 Basileia: Luke 13 uses garden growth in a comparison about the kingdom of God.
- G4615 sinapi: The mustard seed in Luke's garden image stresses small beginning and surprising growth.
- G5493 cheimarrhos: John's Kidron setting frames Jesus' movement toward arrest.
- G2902 Krateo: The garden scene leads into Jesus being seized by those who come for Him.
- G533 aparneomai: Peter's denial is connected to remembered presence with Jesus in the garden.
- G3419 Mnemeion: John 19 connects the garden with the new tomb near the place of crucifixion.
Kepos is a noun for garden. It may describe a cultivated place in a parable or a real narrative location in John; the word itself does not decide whether the setting is peaceful, dangerous, or hopeful.
From Old to New Testament
Gardens across Scripture can recall creation, cultivation, testing, delight, exile, and hope. The New Testament uses kepos in specific settings, so teachers should let Luke's kingdom parable and John's passion narrative shape the connection rather than importing every garden theme at once.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain