adjective
kōfos
Strong’sG2974
dumb, deaf
stem kōf-14 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books5 of 26 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
κωφός describes someone unable to speak, dumb 124, or unable to hear, deaf 1234. The word's underlying sense is blunt or dull 13, applied to the senses of speech and hearing as if they were blunted or deadened 12.
In the sense of speech, it is used of people who cannot talk 13. In the sense of hearing, it is used of people who cannot hear 13. Both senses occur side by side in the New Testament, sometimes of the same person described as both deaf and dumb 1.
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
κωφός, -ή, -όν
(< κόπτω), [in LXX chiefly (Ex 4:11, al.) for אִלֵּם; for חֵרֵשׁ, Hb 2:18;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2974 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidko-fos'
blunted, i.e. (figuratively) of hearing (deaf) or speech (dumb)
Fromfrom G2875;
King Jamesdeaf, dumb, speechless.
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
blunt, dull, obtuse, opposed to ὀξύς, κ. βέλος Refs 8th c.BC+
II metaphorically,
II.1 of sound, mute, noiseless, κύματι κωφῷ Refs 8th c.BC+; κωφὴν γὰρ δὴ γαῖαν ἀεικίζει is maltreating dumb, senseless earth, Refs; τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἔσκε κωφά the other parts sounded dull, opposed to to the ringing of the hollow parts when struck, Refs 5th c.BC+: neuter plural as adverb, κωφὰ δὲ πόντος κεῖτο Refs 5th c.AD+; ὁ κ. λιμήν, probably the bay of Munychia, as opposed to to the noisy Piraeus, Refs 5th c.BC+; κωφότερος ὁ ψόφος ἔσται, i.e. muffled, Refs 4th c.BC+; τῶν μεταλλικῶν κωφότατος [ὁ σίδηρος] rings least, Refs 1st c.BC+
II.2 after Refs 8th c.BC+, of men or animals, dumb, Refs 4th c.BC+; καὶ κωφοῦ συνίημι καὶ οὐ φωνεῦντος ἀκούω Oracle texts cited in Refs 5th c.BC+; οὐ.. παρὰ κωφὸν ὁ τυφλὸς ἔοικε λαλῆσαι, i.e. is not so dumb but that he will answer the blind fool who assails him, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. χάρις a mute gift (i.e. an epitaph), Refs; so κωφοῖς δάκρυσι Refs; κ. τάφοι probably in Refs; κ. προσωπεῖον mute figure on the stage, Refs 1st c.BC+; κ. καὶ ἄλογος, of a house, with no echoes, Refs 2nd c.AD+
II.2.b deaf, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὅσοι γίνονται κ. ἐκ γενετῆς, πάντες καὶ ἐνεοὶ γίνονται Refs 4th c.BC+ (hence of a deaf and dumb person, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. Ἑλλάδος φωνᾶς deaf of one's Greek ear, i.e. ignorant of Greek, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2.c metaphorically, νοῦς ὁρῇ καὶ νοῦς ἀκούει· τἆλλα κωφὰ καὶ τυφλά Refs 5th c.BC+: neuter plural as adverb, κωφὰ χλιαίνεσθαι feebly, Refs 1st c.BC+
II.3 ὄμμα κ. vacant, lack-lustre eye, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.4 of the senses in general, dull, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.5 of the mind, dull, obtuse, ἐγὼ ὁ πάντα κ. Refs 5th c.BC+
II.5.b of things, senseless, unmeaning, obscure, κ. καὶ παλαί᾽ ἔπη Refs 5th c.BC+; but κ. εὐπραγίαι is probably falsa lectio for{κοῦφαι}, Refs 2nd c.AD+ adverb -φῶς obscurely, Refs 2nd c.AD+: comparative -ότερον, ἐνοχλεῖν less acutely, Refs 1st c.BC+
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 | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | kōfos4×κωφός | kōfas | kōfem2×κωφόν | kōfois2×κωφοὶ | kōfais | kōfeim |
| object accusative | kōfon3×κωφὸν | kōfan | kōfoin3×κωφοὺς | kōfain | ||
| direct address vocative | kōfor | kōfar | kōfoir | kōfair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | kōfou | kōfau | kōfeu | kōfoiu | kōfaiu | kōfeiu |
| to, for dative | kōfo | kōfa | kōfe | kōfoi | kōfai | kōfei |
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
kōf 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
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
kōfos“mute”subjectnominative singular4×
Matthew 9:33“mute”kai ekbaliranteu teu daimoneu lalata tos kōfos. kai thaumazala tois ochlois legarōntois; Oudepote …And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen …
Matthew 12:22Tote prosferita auto daimonizorōntos tuflos kai kōfos; kai therapeuata auton, hōste ton kōfon …… demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He …
Luke 1:22… autos ate dianeuarōntos autoi, kai diamenate kōfos.… making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
Luke 11:14… de teu daimoneu exercharanteu lalata tos kōfos. kai thaumazala tois ochlois;… driving out a demon that was mute. And when the demon was gone …
kōfon“mute”objectaccusative singular3×
Matthew 9:32… de exerchorōntoiu idou prosferala auto anthrōpon kōfon daimonizorōnton;… leaving, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus.
Matthew 12:22“mute”… kōfos; kai therapeuata auton, hōste ton kōfon lalarō kai bleparō.… blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see.
Mark 7:32kai feralō auto kōfon kai mogilalon, kai parakalalō auton hina …… to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and …
kōfem“deaf”subject or objectdirect singular2×
Mark 9:25… akatharte legarōntos aute; Tem alalem kai kōfem pneumem, mis epitassamō si, exerchasar ek …… He rebuked the unclean spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I …
Luke 11:14Kai ate ekbalarōntos daimonem kōfem; geneta de teu daimoneu exercharanteu lalata …… gone, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed,
kōfois“deaf”subjectnominative plural2×
Matthew 11:5… kai chōlois peripatalō, leprois katharizolō kai kōfois akoualō, kai nekrois egerolō kai ptōchois …… walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and …
Luke 7:22… tuflois anablepalō, chōlois peripatalō, leprois katharizolō, kōfois akoualō, nekrois egerolō, ptōchois euangelizolō;… walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and …
kōfoin“mute”objectaccusative plural3×
Matthew 15:30… auto ochlois pollois echarōntois meta heautoiu kōfoin, tufloin, chōloin, kulloin, kai heteroin polloin, …… lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them …
Matthew 15:31hōste ton ochlon thaumazara bleparōntoin kōfoin lalarōntoin kulloin hugioin kai chōloin peripatarōntoin …… was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame …
Mark 7:37… legarōntois; Kalōs panteim poiatē, kai toin kōfoin poiatō akouarō kai alaloin lalarō.… things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”