Small (in size, quantity, number or (figuratively) dignity)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Μικρός (mikrós) means small, little, lowly, young, or brief, depending on what it modifies. Jesus honors service offered to one of His “little ones,” giving dignity to disciples who might be socially overlooked.
Reader summary
Full entry for μικρός (G3398) · Open the biblical lexicon
Μικρός (mikrós) means small, little, lowly, young, or brief, depending on what it modifies. Jesus honors service offered to one of His “little ones,” giving dignity to disciples who might be socially overlooked.
The BSB source-word alignment has 46 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include small (6), little ones (5), a little (4), a little while (4), little (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:42. Its strongest book concentrations include John (11), Matthew (8), Revelation (8), Luke (5).
Μικρός (mikrós) means small, little, lowly, young, or brief, depending on what it modifies. Jesus honors service offered to one of His “little ones,” giving dignity to disciples who might be socially overlooked. In Gethsemane He goes a little farther before praying, an ordinary measure of distance within His anguish. In John 14, a little while marks the approaching transition through death, resurrection, and the disciples' renewed sight of Him.
Hebrews promises covenant knowledge from the least to the greatest, while Revelation gathers the great and small before the throne. Smallness can describe status, distance, time, age, or comparative standing; it does not imply lesser worth before God. The noun, comparison, and narrative setting must determine whether μικρός speaks of vulnerability, modest extent, brevity, or social rank.
Μικρός marks smallness in person, distance, time, or status. It names Jesus' little ones, a short movement in Gethsemane, a brief interval before renewed sight, the least within the covenant people, and the small before judgment.
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
A cup of cold water given to one of Jesus' little ones because the recipient is His disciple receives a promised reward, dignifying quiet care for lowly believers.
Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him.
Jesus goes a little farther from the disciples, falls to the ground, and prays about the hour, with the modest distance intensifying rather than isolating His anguish.
In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
The world will cease seeing Jesus in a little while, but the disciples will see Him and share life because He lives, making brevity part of resurrection promise.
No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.
The new-covenant promise embraces people from the least to the greatest in direct knowledge of the Lord, removing social rank as a barrier to covenant membership.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
The dead, great and small, stand before the throne and the opened books, placing every human status under the same divine judgment.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Small in size, quantity, or (crucially in NT) dignity, rank, or spiritual significance
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 46 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
little, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
Read verselittle, small
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 46 lexical occurrence verses.
μικρός is a primary word - no further derivation.
Defines kingdom greatness through humility.Luke 9:46–48
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
God's kingdom repeatedly reorders human estimates of smallness. A little one may be overlooked by society, yet Jesus receives even a cup of water given because that disciple belongs to Him. A little distance in Gethsemane places Jesus in solitary prayer without turning the measurement into a hidden symbol. A little while in John 14 holds grief and hope together: absence is approaching, but resurrection life will answer it.
Hebrews stretches the covenant promise across social rank, from least to greatest, because knowledge of God is not an elite possession. Revelation brings the same pair before judgment, where neither greatness nor obscurity prevents truthful assessment. Teachers should honor small service, vulnerable disciples, and lowly people while letting ordinary spatial and temporal uses remain concrete.
The adjective's theological force comes from God's action within the passage, not from smallness itself.
Matt.10.42
Μικρός is an adjective for smallness and can function substantivally or adverbially. It may describe size, age, rank, distance, quantity, or duration. Agreement and accompanying temporal or spatial phrases establish the dimension.
Scripture protects little ones, warns against despising small beginnings, and places rulers and lowly people alike before God. The Lord's measure of worth does not follow social scale.