noun · neuter
genem
Strong’sG1085
offspring, family, race, kind
stem gen-20 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books4 of 6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
γένος refers to family or offspring — one's immediate relatives or descendants, in the sense of kin, whether thought of as an individual, a group, or a lineage 12. It can denote a person's family of origin or the children/descendants belonging to someone 14.
The word also means race or nation — a whole people or ethnic group, as in a nation or generation of people 124. Strong's notes this can cover a "country(-man)" as well as a broader people-group 2.
Finally, γένος can mean kind, sort, or class — a category or type into which things are divided, rather than a group of people related by descent 14. Strong's likewise allows for a sense of "diversity" or variety of kinds 2.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
γένος, -ους, τό
(< γίγνομαι), [in LXX for עַם, מִין, זֶרַע, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1085 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidghen'-os
"kin" (abstract or concrete, literal or figurative, individual or collective)
Fromfrom G1096;
King Jamesborn, country(-man), diversity, generation, kind(-red), nation, offspring, stock.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
or ους, τό, race, stock, kin, ἀμφοτέροισιν ὁμὸν γ. ἠδ᾽ ἴα πάτρη Refs 8th c.BC+ from Ithaca I am by race,Refs 8th c.BC+; in Attic dialect frequently with the Article, ποδαπὸς τὸ γένος εἶ ; Refs 5th c.BC+: so in dative, γένει πολῖται Refs 4th c.BC+; γένει υἱός, opposed to an adopted son, Refs; οἱ ἐν γένει, ={συγγενεῖς}, Refs 5th c.BC+ to be of his race, ἄναγνος καὶ γένους τοῦ Λαΐου Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐγγυτέρω, ἐγγύτατα γένους, nearer, next of kin, Refs 4th c.BC+
2 direct descent, opposed to collateral relationship, γένος γάρ, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ συγγένεια Refs 4th c.BC+; αἱ κατὰ γένος βασιλεῖαι hereditary monarchies, Refs 4th c.BC+
II offspring, even of a single descendant, σὸν γ. Refs 8th c.BC+; Διὸς γ., of Bacchus, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 collectively, offspring, posterity, ἐκεῖνοι καὶ τὸ γ. τὸ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνων Refs 5th c.BC+
III generally, race, of beings, θεῶν Refs 8th c.BC+; ἡμιόνων, βοῶν γ., Refs 8th c.BC+; ἵππειον γ., i.e. mules, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.b clan, house, family, Refs 5th c.BC+; τοὺς ἀπὸ γένους men of noble family, Refs 5th c.BC+; = Latin gens, Refs 1st c.BC+
III.c tribe, as a subdivision of ἔθνος, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.d caste, Refs
III.e of animals, breed, Refs
III.2 age, generation, Refs 8th c.BC+; γ. χρύσεον, etc., Refs 8th c.BC+: hence, age, time of life, γένει ὕστερος Refs 8th c.BC+
IV sex, Refs 5th c.BC+; gender, Refs 4th c.BC+
V class, sort, kind, τὰ γ. τῶν κυνῶν ἐστι δισσά Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ τῶν γεωργῶν [γ.] Refs 4th c.BC+
V.2 in Logic, opposed to εἶδος (species), Refs 5th c.BC+
V.3 in the animal kingdom, τὰ μέγιστα γ., = the modern Refs, such as birds, fishes, Refs; so in the vegetable kingdom, γένη τὰ μέγιστα, ={σιτώδη, χεδροπά} and ἀνώνυμα, Refs 4th c.BC+
V.3.b genus, τὸ τῶν καρκίνων γ., τὸ τῶν περιστερῶν γ., etc., Refs 4th c.BC+
V.3.c γένος τι a species of plant, Refs 4th c.BC+; so later, γένη, = crops, ἄλλοις γένεσι τοῖς πρὸς πυρὸν διοικουμένοις Refs 2nd c.BC+; οἷς ἐὰν αἱρῶμαι γένεσι πλὴν κνήκου Refs 2nd c.AD+; produce, Refs 2nd c.AD+; materials, Refs 3rd c.AD+; ἐν γένεσιν in kind, opposed to ἐν ἀργυρίῳ, Refs 2nd c.AD+
V.4 τὰ γ. the elements, Refs 5th c.BC+. (Cf. Sanskrit jánas, genitive jánasas; Latin genus, -eris, see at {γίγνομαι}.)
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | genem6×γένος | geneim2×γένη |
| of, belonging to genitive | geneu5×γένους | geneiu |
| to, for dative | gene5×γένει | genei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
gene is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
20 occurrences, every one of them listed
genem“offspring”subject or objectdirect singular6×
Mark 9:29kai legata autoi; Houtem tem genem en oudene dunotō exerchara ei mē …Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”
Acts 7:13… kai fanerem geneta to Faraō tem genem Iōsēf.… identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.
Acts 17:28… vin poiētoiu legalē; Tou gar kai genem anō.… poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
Acts 17:29genem oun huparcharōntois tou theou ouk ofeilanō …Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think …
1 Peter 2:9“race”Vis de genem eklektem, basileiem hierateumem, ethnem hagiem, laos …But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s …
Revelation 22:16“descendant”… mis amō tas rizas kai tem genem David, tos asteros tos lampros, tos …… the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
geneu“family”of, belonging togenitive singular5×
Matthew 13:47“kind”… eis tan thalassan kai ek panteu geneu sunagaranta;… was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
Acts 4:6… kai Alexandros kai hosois ale ek geneu archieratikeu,… many others from the high priest’s family.
Acts 13:26“family”Androir adelfoir, huioir geneu Abraam kai tois en vi foborōntoir …Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it …
2 Corinthians 11:26“people”… kindunoi potamoiu, kindunoi lēstoiu, kindunoi ek geneu, kindunoi ek ethneiu, kindunoi en pola, …… been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the …
Philippians 3:5peritoma oktaēmeros, ek geneu Israēl, fulau Beniamin, Hebraios ek Hebraioiu, …… on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of …
gene“birth”to, fordative singular5×
Mark 7:26“birth”… de gunaikas ate Hellēnidas, Surofoinikissas te gene; kai erōtate auton hina tem daimonem …Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of …
Acts 4:36“birth”… methermēneuorōntem huios paraklēsiau, Leuitos, Kuprios te gene,Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (vvv meaning Son of Encouragement),
Acts 18:2… tinon Ioudaion onome Akulon, Pontikon te gene, prosfatōs ercharēnton apo tau Italiau kai …… found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come …
Acts 18:24… de tinos Apollos onome, Alexandrevos te gene, andros logios, katantata eis Efesan, dunatos …Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He …
Galatians 1:14“people”… Ioudaismo huper polloin sunēlikiōtoin en te gene mu, perissoterōs zēlōtos huparcharōntos taiu patrikaiu …… advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
geneim“kinds”subject or objectdirect plural2×
1 Corinthians 12:10“kinds”… alloso profēteias, alloso diakrisiais pneumeiu, hetero geneim glōssaiu, alloso hermēneias glōssaiu;… miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:10“kinds”tosouteim ei tuchatoia geneim fōnaiu alō en kosmo, kai oudenem …Assuredly, there are many different languages in the world, yet none of them …
genem1×
Acts 7:19“race”houtos katasofizerantos tem genem nu kakata toin patroin teu poiarō …He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers …
geneim1×
1 Corinthians 12:28“kinds”… dunamiain, epeita charismeim iameiu, antilēmpsiain, kubernēsiain, geneim glōssaiu.… workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.