What does כֵּן (kēn) mean in the Bible?
כֵּן (kēn): Small biting insect; in plagues narrative, symbol of divine judgment on Egypt's arrogance and uncontrollable proliferation
Hebrew · H3654
כֵּן
A gnat
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כֵּן H3654
Pronunciation kēn
What does כֵּן (kēn) mean in the Bible?
כֵּן (kēn): Small biting insect; in plagues narrative, symbol of divine judgment on Egypt's arrogance and uncontrollable proliferation
Full entry for כֵּן (H3654) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3654?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include gnats (4), . . . (1), And the gnats (1), swarms of gnats (1).
Where does כֵּן (kēn) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 8:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (5), Isaiah (1), Psalms (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 gnats 4× Exodus 8:17, Exodus 8:18, Psalms 105:31
. . . 1× Isaiah 51:6
And the gnats 1× Exodus 8:18
swarms of gnats 1× Exodus 8:16
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 8:16 לְכִנִּ֖ם to swarms of gnats Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural Exodus 8:17 הַכִּנָּ֔ם to gnats Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 8:17 כִנִּ֖ים to gnats Noun - masculine plural Exodus 8:18 הַכִּנִּ֖ים to gnats Article | Noun - masculine plural Exodus 8:18 הַכִּנָּ֔ם to And the gnats Article | Noun - masculine singular Psalms 105:31 כִּ֝נִּ֗ים to gnats Noun - masculine plural Isaiah 51:6 כֵ֣ן to . . . Adverb
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Exodus 8:16
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 3
Exodus 5 Psalms 1 Isaiah 1
Source forms
הַכִּנָּ֔ם 2x hak·kin·nām Exodus 8:17, Exodus 8:18
הַכִּנִּ֖ים 1x hak·kin·nîm Exodus 8:18
כֵ֣ן 1x ḵên Isaiah 51:6
כִנִּ֖ים 1x ḵin·nîm Exodus 8:17
כִּ֝נִּ֗ים 1x kin·nîm Psalms 105:31
לְכִנִּ֖ם 1x lə·ḵin·nim Exodus 8:16
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Exodus 8:17, Exodus 8:18
Noun - masculine plural 2x Exodus 8:17, Psalms 105:31
Adverb 1x Isaiah 51:6
Article | Noun - masculine plural 1x Exodus 8:18
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural 1x Exodus 8:16
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Small biting insect; in plagues narrative, symbol of divine judgment on Egypt's arrogance and uncontrollable proliferation
Source Gloss
a gnat
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Small biting insect; in plagues narrative, symbol of divine judgment on Egypt's arrogance and uncontrollable proliferation
a gnat BDB: gnat Usage: lice, × manner.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Small insects that infested Egypt as the third plague, covering man and beast
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
כֵּן is built from this root:
כָּנַן H3661
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