What does μορφή (morphḗ) mean in the Bible?
μορφή (morphḗ): Essential form or nature itself, not merely outward appearance or accidental shape
Greek · G3444
μορφή
Shape; figuratively, nature
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μορφήG3444
Pronunciationmorphḗ
What does μορφή (morphḗ) mean in the Bible?
μορφή (morphḗ): Essential form or nature itself, not merely outward appearance or accidental shape
Full entry for μορφή (G3444) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3444?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [the] form (2), form (1).
Where does μορφή (morphḗ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 16:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Philippians (2), Mark (1).
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[the] form2×Philippians 2:6, Philippians 2:7
form1×Mark 16:12
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMark 16:12
Aligned rows3
Books represented2
Mark1Philippians2
Source forms
μορφῇ2xmorphēMark 16:12, Philippians 2:6
μορφὴν1xmorphēnPhilippians 2:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular2xMark 16:12, Philippians 2:6
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular1xPhilippians 2:7
Evidence Summary
Messiah
Greek word. Essential form or nature itself, not merely outward appearance or accidental shape
Strong'sG3444
Lexical occurrences3 versesGreek text appearances3 timesWord forms2 forms3 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkPhilippians 2:5–11Source Gloss
shape; figuratively, nature
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Mark 16:12Noun Dative Singular Feminine
μορφῇ,morfh
form, shape, outward appearance
Read versePhilippians 2:6Noun Dative Singular Feminine
μορφῇmorfh
form, shape, outward appearance
Read versePhilippians 2:7Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
μορφὴνmorfhn
form, shape, outward appearance
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 2 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 patterns2Aligned forms3Case patternDative (2)Number patternSingular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Singular · FeminineMark 16:12 · Phil 2:62×
Accusative · Singular · FemininePhil 2:71×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
essential nature or form
Showing 1 selected witness from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
μορφή is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Affirms Christ’s full deity.Philippians 2:5–11
Canonical Themes
Messiah