What does ποῖος (poîos) mean in the Bible?
Poios is an interrogative word that asks what kind, which sort, or what manner of thing is in view. It often presses beyond bare identification into quality, authority, category, or character.
Greek · G4169
ποῖος
What?
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ποῖος G4169
Pronunciation poîos
What does ποῖος (poîos) mean in the Bible?
Poios is an interrogative word that asks what kind, which sort, or what manner of thing is in view. It often presses beyond bare identification into quality, authority, category, or character.
Reader summary
Full entry for ποῖος (G4169) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4169?
The BSB source-word alignment has 33 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include what (15), which (3), the kind of (2), . . . (1), a way (1).
Where does ποῖος (poîos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 19:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (8), Matthew (7), Acts (4), John (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Poios is an interrogative word that asks what kind, which sort, or what manner of thing is in view. It often presses beyond bare identification into quality, authority, category, or character. Leaders ask Jesus by what authority He acts. A scribe asks which commandment matters most. Paul uses the word to ask what kind of resurrection body will come. James uses it to unsettle presumption about life itself.
Poios therefore helps readers notice when Scripture is not merely asking for information but forcing discernment about the nature of a claim, the quality of a response, or the kind of life that stands before God.
How the Bible Uses It
Poios marks questions of kind, quality, authority, and character, helping readers ask not only what is present but what sort of reality stands before them.
- Matt.21.23
When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
The leaders' question about what authority Jesus has shows poios functioning in a challenge over the kind and source of His authority.
- Mark.12.28
Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
The scribe asks which commandment is most important, so poios directs attention to priority and weight within the Law.
- Luke.6.32
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
Jesus asks what credit belongs to loving those who love you, pressing hearers to examine the quality of mercy expected of disciples.
- Acts.7.49
‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?
Stephen quotes the question about what kind of house can be built for God, guarding against a small view of God's presence.
- Rom.3.27
Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.
Paul asks on what principle boasting is excluded, using the question to distinguish works from faith in his argument.
- 1Cor.15.35
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
The resurrection-body question asks what kind of body will come, opening Paul's teaching about continuity and transformation.
- Jas.4.14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James asks what life is in order to humble planning that forgets human frailty before God.
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 what 15× Matthew 21:23, Matthew 21:24, Matthew 21:27, Mark 11:28
which 3× Matthew 22:36, Mark 12:28, John 10:32
the kind of 2× John 12:33, John 18:32
. . . 1× 1 Peter 1:11
a way 1× Luke 5:19
at what 1× Luke 12:39
by which 1× John 21:19
How 1× 1 Peter 2:20
in which 1× Matthew 24:43
on which 1× Matthew 24:42
What [is] 1× James 4:14
What kind of 1× Acts 7:49
What things 1× Luke 24:19
when 1× Revelation 3:3
Which [ones] 1× Matthew 19:18
With what kind 1× 1 Corinthians 15:35
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 19:18 Ποίας to Which [ones] Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Feminine Plural Matthew 21:23 ποίᾳ to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 21:24 ποίᾳ to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 21:27 ποίᾳ to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 22:36 ποία to which Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Feminine Singular Matthew 24:42 ποίᾳ to on which Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 24:43 ποίᾳ to in which Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Mark 11:28 ποίᾳ to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Mark 11:29 ποίᾳ to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular Mark 11:33 ποίᾳ to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 19:18
Aligned rows 33
Books represented 10
Matthew 7 Mark 4 Luke 8 John 4 Acts 4 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 1 James 1 1 Peter 2 Revelation 1
Source forms
ποίᾳ 12x poia Matthew 21:23, Matthew 21:24, Matthew 21:27, Matthew 24:42
ποία 5x poia Matthew 22:36, Luke 6:32, Luke 6:33, Luke 6:34
ποίῳ 5x poiō John 12:33, John 18:32, John 21:19, Acts 4:7
ποῖον 4x poion John 10:32, Acts 7:49, 1 Peter 1:11, 1 Peter 2:20
ποίας 2x poias Luke 5:19, Acts 23:34
Ποία 1x Poia Mark 12:28
Ποῖα 1x Poia Luke 24:19
ποίαν 1x poian Revelation 3:3
Parsing patterns
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular 12x Matthew 21:23, Matthew 21:24, Matthew 21:27, Matthew 24:42
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Feminine Singular 6x Matthew 22:36, Mark 12:28, Luke 6:32, Luke 6:33
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Masculine Singular 3x John 12:33, John 18:32, John 21:19
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular 2x Acts 7:49, 1 Peter 1:11
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Neuter Singular 2x Acts 4:7, 1 Corinthians 15:35
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2x Luke 5:19, Acts 23:34
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x Matthew 19:18
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Feminine Singular 1x Revelation 3:3
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use this word to ask better textual questions, especially where Scripture presses for discernment.
- Let the passage answer the question rather than using the word as a prompt for speculation.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim poios always means moral quality.
- Do not claim a doctrine rests on poios apart from the sentence and argument where it appears.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Asks about quality or character rather than identity; distinguishes what kind from which one.
Strong's G4169
Lexical occurrences 33 verses Greek text appearances 34 times 16 shown below Word forms 10 forms 33 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
what?
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 34 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 19:18 Accusative Plural Feminine
Ποίας; poiav
of what sort
Read verse Matthew 21:23 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Matthew 21:24 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Matthew 21:27 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Matthew 22:36 Nominative Singular Feminine
ποία poia
of what sort
Read verse Matthew 24:42 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Matthew 24:43 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Mark 4:30 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Mark 11:28 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Mark 11:29 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Mark 11:33 Dative Singular Feminine
ποίᾳ poia
of what sort
Read verse Mark 12:28 Nominative Singular Feminine
Ποία poia
of what sort
Read verse Luke 5:19 Genitive Singular Feminine
ποίας poiav
of what sort
Read verse Luke 6:32 Nominative Singular Feminine
ποία poia
of what sort
Read verse Luke 6:33 Nominative Singular Feminine
ποία poia
of what sort
Read verse Luke 6:34 Nominative Singular Feminine
ποία poia
of what sort
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 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.
Form patterns 10 Aligned forms 33 Case pattern Dative (17) Number pattern Singular (29)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 22:36 · Mark 12:28 · Luke 6:32 · Luke 6:33 · Luke 6:34 · Jas 4:14 6×
Nominative · Singular · Neuter 1 Pet 2:20 1×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Luke 5:19 · Acts 23:34 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Rom 3:27 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Matt 21:23 · Matt 21:24 · Matt 21:27 · Matt 24:42 · Matt 24:43 · Mark 11:28 · Mark 11:29 · Mark 11:33 · Luke 12:39 · Luke 20:2 · Luke 20:8 · Acts 4:7 12×
Dative · Singular · Masculine John 12:33 · John 18:32 · John 21:19 3×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Acts 4:7 · 1 Cor 15:35 2×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Acts 7:49 · 1 Pet 1:11 2×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Matt 19:18 1×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Luke 24:19 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Mark 3:31–35 ποιήσῃ poîos
may do, does
Showing 1 selected witness from 33 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ποῖος is built from these roots:
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The core insight of poios is that Scripture often asks questions that classify and expose. The word can ask which commandment has priority, what kind of authority Jesus displays, what credit ordinary reciprocal love deserves, what sort of house could contain the Lord, what principle excludes boasting, or what kind of body belongs to resurrection life. Those questions are not neutral curiosities.
They force hearers to name the kind of reality before them. Poios therefore helps preaching move from surface identification to spiritual discernment: What kind of authority is this? What kind of love is this? What kind of hope is promised? What kind of life are we assuming we possess?
Anchor passage
1Cor.15.35
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew.21.23: Jesus' authority is questioned by leaders who resist His works.
- Mark.12.28: the greatest commandment question concerns the weight of love for God and neighbor.
- Luke.6.32: ordinary reciprocal love is exposed as insufficient for kingdom mercy.
- Acts.7.49: no human house can contain the Lord of heaven and earth.
- Romans.3.27: boasting is excluded by the principle of faith.
- 1Corinthians.15.35: resurrection hope includes a transformed kind of body.
Poios is an interrogative pronoun or adjective. It may ask which one, what kind, what sort, or by what manner, so the surrounding noun and argument determine its force.
From Old to New Testament
Biblical questions often reveal the worshiper's assumptions before God. Poios continues that pattern in the New Testament by asking questions that sort authority, worship, mercy, boasting, resurrection, and human frailty.
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