What does כְּפִיר (kĕpiyr) mean in the Bible?
כְּפִיר (kĕpiyr): Two distinct meanings share one root: young lion dominates biblical usage; village sense rare and archaic.
Hebrew · H3715
כְּפִיר
A village (as covered in by walls); also a young lion (perhaps as covered with a mane)
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כְּפִיר H3715
Pronunciation kĕpiyr
What does כְּפִיר (kĕpiyr) mean in the Bible?
כְּפִיר (kĕpiyr): Two distinct meanings share one root: young lion dominates biblical usage; village sense rare and archaic.
Full entry for כְּפִיר (H3715) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3715?
The BSB source-word alignment has 32 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a young lion (4), of the young lions (3), The young lions (3), like a young lion (2), like young lions (2).
Where does כְּפִיר (kĕpiyr) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Judges 14:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (7), Psalms (6), Isaiah (3), Jeremiah (3).
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 young lion 4× Judges 14:5, Ezekiel 19:3, Ezekiel 19:5, Ezekiel 19:6
of the young lions 3× Job 4:10, Nahum 2:11, Zechariah 11:3
The young lions 3× Psalms 104:21, Jeremiah 2:15, Ezekiel 19:2
like a young lion 2× Psalms 17:12, Micah 5:8
like young lions 2× Isaiah 5:29, Jeremiah 51:38
of a lion 2× Proverbs 19:12, Proverbs 20:2
a lion 1× Ezekiel 32:2
and like a young lion 1× Hosea 5:14
and young lion 1× Isaiah 11:6
as a lion 1× Proverbs 28:1
Does a young lion 1× Amos 3:4
from these lions 1× Psalms 35:17
in [one of] the villages 1× Nehemiah 6:2
its villages 1× Ezekiel 38:13
like a lion 1× Jeremiah 25:38
of a young lion 1× Ezekiel 41:19
of the lions 1× Psalms 58:6
of young lions 1× Job 38:39
or a young lion 1× Isaiah 31:4
the young lion 1× Psalms 91:13
Young lions 1× Psalms 34:10
your young lions 1× Nahum 2:13
Show sample aligned rows
Judges 14:5 כְּפִ֣יר to a young lion Noun - masculine singular construct Nehemiah 6:2 בַּכְּפִירִ֖ים to in [one of] the villages Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural Job 4:10 כְפִירִ֣ים to of the young lions Noun - masculine plural Job 38:39 כְּפִירִ֣ים to of young lions Noun - masculine plural Psalms 17:12 וְ֝כִכְפִ֗יר to like a young lion Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular Psalms 34:10 כְּ֭פִירִים to Young lions Noun - masculine plural Psalms 35:17 מִ֝כְּפִירִ֗ים to from these lions Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural Psalms 58:6 כְּ֝פִירִ֗ים to of the lions Noun - masculine plural Psalms 91:13 כְּפִ֣יר to the young lion Noun - masculine singular Psalms 104:21 הַ֭כְּפִירִים to The young lions Article | Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Judges 14:5
Aligned rows 32
Books represented 13
Judges 1 Nehemiah 1 Job 2 Psalms 6 Proverbs 3 Isaiah 3 Jeremiah 3 Ezekiel 7 Hosea 1 Amos 1 Micah 1 Nahum 2 Zechariah 1
Source forms
כְּפִ֣יר 4x kə·p̄îr Judges 14:5, Psalms 91:13, Ezekiel 19:3, Ezekiel 19:6
כַּ֭כְּפִיר 2x kak·kə·p̄îr Proverbs 19:12, Proverbs 20:2
כְּפִ֥יר 2x kə·p̄îr Ezekiel 19:5, Ezekiel 32:2
בַּכְּפִירִ֖ים 1x bak·kə·p̄î·rîm Nehemiah 6:2
הַ֭כְּפִירִים 1x hak·kə·p̄î·rîm Psalms 104:21
וְהַכְּפִ֜יר 1x wə·hak·kə·p̄îr Isaiah 31:4
וְ֝כִכְפִ֗יר 1x wə·ḵiḵ·p̄îr Psalms 17:12
וְכַכְּפִ֖יר 1x wə·ḵak·kə·p̄îr Hosea 5:14
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine plural 7x Job 4:10, Job 38:39, Psalms 34:10, Psalms 58:6
Noun - masculine singular 6x Psalms 91:13, Ezekiel 19:3, Ezekiel 19:5, Ezekiel 19:6
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular 3x Proverbs 19:12, Proverbs 20:2, Jeremiah 25:38
Noun - masculine singular construct 2x Judges 14:5, Ezekiel 32:2
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular 2x Proverbs 28:1, Micah 5:8
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine plural 2x Isaiah 5:29, Jeremiah 51:38
Article | Noun - masculine plural 1x Psalms 104:21
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | second person feminine singular 1x Nahum 2:13
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Two distinct meanings share one root: young lion dominates biblical usage; village sense rare and archaic.
Source Gloss
a village (as covered in by walls); also a young lion (perhaps as covered with a mane)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Two distinct meanings share one root: young lion dominates biblical usage; village sense rare and archaic.
a village (as covered in by walls); also a young lion (perhaps as covered with a mane) BDB: young lion Usage: (young) lion, village. Compare 3723.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Young lions roaring together, depicting fierce animals in their strength and ferocity
King's wrath compared to young lion's roar, metaphor for terrifying and destructive anger
Fear of king's anger likened to young lion's roar, demonstrating power and authority
Righteous person bold as young lion, illustrating courage and fearlessness in moral character
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 32 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
כְּפִיר 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