What does πετεινόν (peteinón) mean in the Bible?
πετεινόν (peteinón): A winged creature; in NT imagery, symbolizes providential care or spiritual forces under human dominion.
Greek · G4071
πετεινόν
Bird
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 the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
πετεινόν G4071
Pronunciation peteinón
What does πετεινόν (peteinón) mean in the Bible?
πετεινόν (peteinón): A winged creature; in NT imagery, symbolizes providential care or spiritual forces under human dominion.
Full entry for πετεινόν (G4071) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4071?
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include birds (14).
Where does πετεινόν (peteinón) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 6:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (4), Matthew (4), Acts (2), Mark (2).
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 birds 14× Matthew 6:26, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 13:4, Matthew 13:32
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 6:26 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Matthew 8:20 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:4 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:32 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Mark 4:4 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Mark 4:32 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Luke 8:5 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Luke 9:58 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Luke 12:24 πετεινῶν to birds Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural Luke 13:19 πετεινὰ to birds Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 6:26
Aligned rows 14
Books represented 6
Matthew 4 Mark 2 Luke 4 Acts 2 Romans 1 James 1
Source forms
πετεινὰ 11x peteina Matthew 6:26, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 13:4, Matthew 13:32
πετεινῶν 3x peteinōn Luke 12:24, Romans 1:23, James 3:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural 7x Matthew 8:20, Matthew 13:4, Mark 4:4, Luke 8:5
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural 4x Matthew 6:26, Matthew 13:32, Mark 4:32, Acts 11:6
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural 3x Luke 12:24, Romans 1:23, James 3:7
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A winged creature; in NT imagery, symbolizes providential care or spiritual forces under human dominion.
Strong's G4071
Lexical occurrences 14 verses Greek text appearances 14 times Word forms 3 forms 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 12:22-34 Source Gloss
bird
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
A winged creature; in NT imagery, symbolizes providential care or spiritual forces under human dominion.
(πέτομαι), [in LXX chiefly for עוֹף ;] in trag., Ion. and late writers, winged, flying; as subst., τὸ π., a winged fowl, a bird: pl., Mat.6:26 8:20 13:4, 32, Mrk.4:4, 32, Luk.8:5 9:58 12:24 13:19, Act.10:12 11:6, Rom.1:23, Jas.3:7.
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 6:26 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Matthew 8:20 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Matthew 13:4 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Matthew 13:32 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Mark 4:4 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Mark 4:32 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Luke 8:5 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Luke 9:58 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Luke 12:24 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
πετεινῶν; peteinwn
a bird
Read verse Luke 13:19 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Acts 10:12 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Acts 11:6 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
πετεινὰ peteina
a bird
Read verse Romans 1:23 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
πετεινῶν peteinwn
a bird
Read verse James 3:7 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
πετεινῶν, peteinwn
a bird
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 14 Case pattern Nominative (7) Number pattern Plural (14)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Matt 8:20 · Matt 13:4 · Mark 4:4 · Luke 8:5 · Luke 9:58 · Luke 13:19 · Acts 10:12 7×
Genitive · Plural · Neuter Luke 12:24 · Rom 1:23 · Jas 3:7 3×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Matt 6:26 · Matt 13:32 · Mark 4:32 · Acts 11:6 4×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Birds as examples of God's provision and care for creation
Birds as agents in parable, eating seeds sown by the wayside
Birds nesting in branches of mustard tree, illustrating kingdom growth
Birds having nests, contrasted with Son of Man having nowhere to lay head
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
πετεινόν is built from this root:
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.
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