What does νήπιος (nḗpios) mean in the Bible?
G3516 describes an infant, child, or immature person. Paul can use it neutrally for a stage of life and pastorally for immaturity that must not remain.
Greek · G3516
νήπιος
Child
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νήπιος G3516
Pronunciation nḗpios
What does νήπιος (nḗpios) mean in the Bible?
G3516 describes an infant, child, or immature person. Paul can use it neutrally for a stage of life and pastorally for immaturity that must not remain.
Reader summary
Full entry for νήπιος (G3516) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3516?
The BSB source-word alignment has 15 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a child (5), infants (2), to little children (2), an infant (1), childish ways (1).
Where does νήπιος (nḗpios) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:25. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (6), Galatians (2), Matthew (2), 1 Thessalonians (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G3516 describes an infant, child, or immature person. Paul can use it neutrally for a stage of life and pastorally for immaturity that must not remain. First Corinthians contrasts childish ways with mature love, Galatians uses childhood language for life under the elementary principles, and Ephesians warns against being infants tossed by false teaching. The word helps teachers call for growth without despising the weak.
For preaching and teaching, this companion keeps the term tied to its cited Pauline settings before moving toward doctrine or application. The aim is not to turn a Greek gloss into a sermon by itself, but to help readers notice how the word functions inside Paul's argument, relationships, warnings, and gospel-centered exhortation with patient clarity.
How the Bible Uses It
G3516 gives Paul a way to speak about stages, immaturity, and the need for growth into stable Christian maturity.
- 1Cor.13.11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways.
Paul uses the child-to-adult analogy to show that some ways of speaking, thinking, and reasoning belong to an earlier stage.
- Gal.4.3
So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.
Galatians 4 uses childhood language for bondage under the elementary principles before the fullness of sonship is revealed.
- Eph.4.14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
Ephesians 4 warns against remaining infants tossed by deceptive teaching, tying maturity to stability in truth and love.
Passage contextBook context
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 a child 5× 1 Corinthians 13:11, Galatians 4:1
infants 2× 1 Corinthians 3:1, Ephesians 4:14
to little children 2× Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21
an infant 1× Hebrews 5:13
childish ways 1× 1 Corinthians 13:11
children 1× Galatians 4:3
gentle 1× 1 Thessalonians 2:7
of children 1× Matthew 21:16
of infants 1× Romans 2:20
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 11:25 νηπίοις to to little children Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural Matthew 21:16 νηπίων to of children Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural Luke 10:21 νηπίοις to to little children Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural Romans 2:20 νηπίων to of infants Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 3:1 νηπίοις to infants Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 13:11 νήπιος to a child Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 13:11 νήπιος to a child Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 13:11 νήπιος to a child Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 13:11 νήπιος to a child Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Corinthians 13:11 νηπίου to childish ways Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 11:25
Aligned rows 15
Books represented 8
Matthew 2 Luke 1 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 6 Galatians 2 Ephesians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
νήπιος 5x nēpios 1 Corinthians 13:11, Hebrews 5:13
νηπίοις 3x nēpiois Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, 1 Corinthians 3:1
νήπιοι 2x nēpioi Galatians 4:3, Ephesians 4:14
νηπίων 2x nēpiōn Matthew 21:16, Romans 2:20
ἤπιοι 1x ēpioi 1 Thessalonians 2:7
νήπιός 1x nēpios Galatians 4:1
νηπίου 1x nēpiou 1 Corinthians 13:11
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 6x 1 Corinthians 13:11, Galatians 4:1, Hebrews 5:13
Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural 3x Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, 1 Corinthians 3:1
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 3x Galatians 4:3, Ephesians 4:14, 1 Thessalonians 2:7
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural 2x Matthew 21:16, Romans 2:20
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 13:11
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use G3516 to mock weak believers. Paul's aim is growth, not contempt.
- Do not confuse childlike humility with childish instability. Ephesians 4 warns against being tossed by false teaching.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not use G3516 to mock weak believers. Paul's aim is growth, not contempt.
- Do not confuse childlike humility with childish instability. Ephesians 4 warns against being tossed by false teaching.
Pastoral applicationPassage context
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Spiritually immature or undeveloped in knowledge; opposite to mature perfection in Christ.
Strong's G3516
Lexical occurrences 14 verses Greek text appearances 14 times Word forms 5 forms 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
child
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
14 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 11:25 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
νηπίοις. nhpioiv
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Matthew 21:16 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
νηπίων nhpiwn
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Luke 10:21 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
νηπίοις· nhpioiv
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Romans 2:20 Adjective Genitive Plural Masculine
νηπίων, nhpiwn
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 3:1 Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
νηπίοις nhpioiv
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 13:11 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
νήπιος, nhpiov
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 13:11 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
νήπιος nhpiov
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 13:11 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
νήπιος nhpiov
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 13:11 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
νήπιος nhpiov
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse 1 Corinthians 13:11 Adjective Genitive Singular Masculine
νηπίου. nhpiou
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Galatians 4:1 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
νήπιός nhpiov
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Galatians 4:3 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
νήπιοι, nhpioi
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Ephesians 4:14 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
νήπιοι, nhpioi
an infant, child, unlearned
Read verse Hebrews 5:13 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
νήπιος nhpiov
an infant, child, unlearned
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 5 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 5 Aligned forms 14 Case pattern Nominative (8) Number pattern Plural (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine 1 Cor 13:11 · Gal 4:1 · Heb 5:13 6×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Gal 4:3 · Eph 4:14 2×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Matt 21:16 · Rom 2:20 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine 1 Cor 13:11 1×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Matt 11:25 · Luke 10:21 · 1 Cor 3:1 3×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 10:21–24 νήπιοις nḗpios
Infants, little ones
Showing 1 selected witness from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
νήπιος is built from this root:
ἔπος G2031
For the Preacher and Teacher
G3516 helps teachers call the church toward maturity without contempt. Paul can speak tenderly about infancy, but he will not let immaturity become an identity. The church must grow in love, discernment, and stability. Immaturity is not solved by pride in knowledge but by formation in Christ and protection from deceptive teaching.
Anchor passage
1Cor.13.11
Doctrinal connections
- 1Cor.13.11 - Paul uses the child-to-adult analogy to show that some ways of speaking, thinking, and reasoning belong to an earlier stage.
- Gal.4.3 - Galatians 4 uses childhood language for bondage under the elementary principles before the fullness of sonship is revealed.
- Eph.4.14 - Ephesians 4 warns against remaining infants tossed by deceptive teaching, tying maturity to stability in truth and love.
Infant or immature child is the reviewed display gloss for G3516. In this Pauline-focused companion, local STEP TAGNT evidence shows about 11 Pauline use(s), with common forms including A-NSM 5, A-NPM 3, A-GPM 1. Treat these form signals as support for reading the passage, not as a replacement for context.
From Old to New Testament
Paul's child language aims at mature sonship and stable truth. The church grows by leaving childish instability while receiving the Fatherly grace that makes growth possible.
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