noun · feminine
morfas
Strong’sG3444
form, shape, outward appearance
stem morf-3 times in the New Testamentin 2 of 27 books2 of 10 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
Form, shape, outward appearance — the visible form or shape that something has, the way it looks 1234. This ranges from the shape and size of an object or plant to the outward look, complexion, or bearing of a person, and can include beauty of appearance 3. Strong's adds that the underlying idea may involve the fitting together or adjustment of parts, and that the word can be used figuratively for nature 2.
In philosophical usage, the word can denote not just outward appearance but the specific, essential character or nature of a thing, as distinguished from a mere outline or semblance of it 1. This sense underlies its use of Christ's form in Philippians and of the form Jesus was seen in after the resurrection in Mark 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-24 — 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
μορφή, -ῆς, ἡ,
[in LXX: Jg 8:18 A (תֹּאַר), Jb 4:16 (תְּמוּנָה), Is 44:13 (תַּבְנִית), Da LXX 3:19 (צְלֵם), Da TH 4:33 5:6, 9, 10 7:28 (זִיו), To 1:13, Wi 18:1, IV Mac 15:4*;]
SYN.: μόρφωσις, the outline, delineation, semblance of the μορφή, as distinct from the μ. itself (Lft., Notes, 262); σχῆμα, shape, fashion, disting. from μορφή as the outward and accidental from the inward and essential (cf. Tr., Syn., § LXX; Lft., Phl., 125 ff.; Gifford., Inc., 126 ff.).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3444 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidmor-fay'
shape; figuratively, nature
Fromperhaps from the base of G3313 (through the idea of adjustment of parts);
King Jamesform.
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
form, shape, twice in Refs 8th c.BC+ thou hast comeliness of words, Refs 8th c.BC+; so probably ἄλλος μὲν.. εἶδος ἀκιδνότερος πέλει ἀνήρ, ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει God adds a crown of shapeliness to his words, Refs 8th c.BC+; μορφῆς μέτρα shape and size, Refs 5th c.BC+; μορφῆς σχῆμα, τύπωμα, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὀνειράτων ἀλίγκιοι μορφαῖσινRefs 5th c.BC+; of plants, Refs 4th c.BC+; especially with reference to beauty of form, ὑπέρφατον μορφᾷ Refs 5th c.BC+; οἷς ποτιστάξῃ χάρις εὐκλέα μ.Refs 5th c.BC+
2 generally, form, fashion, appearance, Refs 5th c.BC+; outward form, opposed to εἶδος, ἑκατέρω τῶ εἴδεος πολλαὶ μ. NT+5th c.BC+; κατά τε μορφὰς καὶ φωνάς gesticulations and cries, Refs 1st c.BC+; τὴν μ. μελάγχρους, τῇ μ. μελίχροας, in complexion, Refs 2nd c.AD+
3 kind, sort, Refs 5th c.BC+ (Possibly cognate with Latin forma for morg[uglide]hmā, with f by dissimilation, compare μύρμηξ.)
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 nominative | morfas | morfais |
| object accusative | morfan1×μορφὴν | morfain |
| direct address vocative | morfar | morfair |
| of, belonging to genitive | morfau | morfaiu |
| to, for dative | morfa2×μορφῇ | morfai |
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
morfa 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.
3 occurrences, every one of them listed
morfan“form”objectaccusative singular1×
Philippians 2:7alla heauton kenata morfan doulou labarantos, en homoiōme anthrōpoiu generantos; …but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in …
morfa“form”to, fordative singular2×
Mark 16:12… ek autoiu peripatarōntoi fanerita en hetera morfa poreuorōntoi eis agron;… this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them as they …
Philippians 2:6hos en morfa theou huparcharōntos ouk harpagmon hēgeta tem …Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality …