What does κηπουρός (kēpourós) mean in the Bible?
κηπουρός names a gardener, the keeper of a garden. "' The mistake is understandable and, in John's telling, temporary; it dissolves the moment Jesus speaks her name (John 20:16).
Greek · G2780
κηπουρός
Gardener
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κηπουρός G2780
Pronunciation kēpourós
What does κηπουρός (kēpourós) mean in the Bible?
κηπουρός names a gardener, the keeper of a garden. "' The mistake is understandable and, in John's telling, temporary; it dissolves the moment Jesus speaks her name (John 20:16).
Reader summary
Full entry for κηπουρός (G2780) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2780?
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include gardener (1).
Where does κηπουρός (kēpourós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 20:15. Its strongest book concentrations include John (1).
What This Word Actually Means
κηπουρός names a gardener, the keeper of a garden. Its only New Testament occurrence describes Mary Magdalene's mistaken assumption about the risen Jesus in John 20:15: 'Thinking He was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him."' The mistake is understandable and, in John's telling, temporary; it dissolves the moment Jesus speaks her name (John 20:16).
John has already placed the tomb 'in a garden' near the crucifixion site (John 19:41), so Mary's assumption fits its immediate setting exactly before it is corrected. Some readers have connected the garden setting typologically to Eden, the first garden where death entered through disobedience, now the site where resurrection life is first recognized, though John does not state this connection explicitly.
Teachers should let Mary's honest mistake do its narrative work, showing recognition of the risen Jesus as relational and personal rather than automatic, before drawing further symbolic connections with appropriate caution.
How the Bible Uses It
John 20:15 captures a moment of real, understandable human confusion. Mary is grieving, the setting is dim, and a man standing in a garden near a tomb is not an unreasonable thing to mistake for its keeper. Genesis 3 locates humanity's fall and death's entrance in a garden, and some readers see John's careful placement of the resurrection recognition scene in a garden setting (John 19:41; 20:15) as a deliberate echo of that beginning, though this connection rests on typological reading rather than an explicit statement in the text itself.
- John.20.15
“Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”
John 20:15 records Mary Magdalene mistaking the risen Jesus for the gardener, a natural assumption in the garden setting John has already described.
- John.20.16
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
John 20:16 immediately corrects the mistake: Jesus speaks Mary's name, and she recognizes him at once, turning a case of mistaken identity into one of the Gospel's most intimate recognition scenes.
- 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 19:41 has already noted that the tomb was located 'in a garden' near the crucifixion site, giving Mary's assumption a concrete, immediate basis in the setting rather than presenting it as an unexplained error.
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 gardener 1× John 20:15
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 20:15
Aligned rows 1
Books represented 1
John 1
Source forms
κηπουρός 1x kēpouros John 20:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x John 20:15
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Present the Eden-garden connection as a thoughtful typological reading some interpreters draw, not as John's own explicit claim in the text.
- Use Mary's mistake pastorally to normalize grief-clouded perception rather than to suggest doubt or confusion is itself a spiritual failure.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim John explicitly identifies the garden setting as a deliberate Eden echo; the connection is a later typological reading, not the text's own stated point.
- Do not treat Mary's temporary mistake as a mark against her faith; John immediately resolves it into one of the Gospel's clearest recognition scenes.
theological_synthesisPastoral applicationlexicalPassage context
Evidence Summary
Greek word. One who tends and guards a garden; emphasizes stewardship care rather than mere cultivation.
Strong's G2780
Lexical occurrences 1 verse Greek text appearances 1 time Word forms 1 form 1 reference Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
gardener
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
One who tends and guards a garden; emphasizes stewardship care rather than mere cultivation.
(κῆπος + οὖρος, a watcher) a gardener: Jhn.20:15.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 20:15 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
κηπουρός khpourov
a gardener
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 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 1 Aligned forms 1 Case pattern Nominative (1) Number pattern Singular (1)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine John 20:15 1×
Word Origins
κηπουρός is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
John 20:15 captures a moment of real, understandable human confusion. Mary is grieving, the setting is dim, and a man standing in a garden near a tomb is not an unreasonable thing to mistake for its keeper. John does not treat her mistake as failure; it simply precedes the personal, unmistakable recognition that follows when Jesus speaks her name. Preachers can use this word to show that recognizing the risen Jesus in John's Gospel is relational rather than automatic, drawing near through a personal word rather than through unmistakable outward appearance alone.
This word opens a teaching doorway on personal recognition of the risen Christ: Mary's honest mistake, taking Jesus for the gardener, dissolves the instant he speaks her name, showing that resurrection faith in John's Gospel is relational and personal rather than a matter of unaided visual recognition. It gives teachers a tender, realistic picture of how grief can cloud perception even in the presence of good news.
It corrects readings that expect instant, automatic recognition of the risen Jesus; John presents an honest case of mistaken identity resolved through a personal word, not through unaided sight. Frame κηπουρός as Mary's understandable, temporary mistake in a garden setting John has already established, resolved through Jesus' personal address rather than through appearance alone.
Anchor passage
John.20.15
Doctrinal connections
- John.20.15 - primary John anchor for a gardener, keeper of a garden.
- John.20.16 - local narrative or book-level context that supports the companion's claim.
- John.19.41 - canonical parallel or background that keeps the entry's theological claim bounded.
- Gospel of John - book context that keeps this entry anchored in John's witness to Jesus.
Frame κηπουρός as Mary's understandable, temporary mistake in a garden setting John has already established, resolved through Jesus' personal address rather than through appearance alone. Linguistically, κηπουρός should be allowed to name a gardener, keeper of a garden without carrying claims the cited passages do not make.
From Old to New Testament
Genesis 3 locates humanity's fall and death's entrance in a garden, and some readers see John's careful placement of the resurrection recognition scene in a garden setting (John 19:41; 20:15) as a deliberate echo of that beginning, though this connection rests on typological reading rather than an explicit statement in the text itself.
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