adjective
nēpios
Strong’sG3516
an infant, child, unlearned
stem nēpi-14 times in the New Testamentin 7 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
νήπιος refers most basically to an infant or young child 1234. It can also describe someone who is legally still a minor, not yet of age 13.
By extension the word is used metaphorically of a person who is childish, unskilled, or simple — someone unlearned or immature in understanding rather than in years 134. In this sense it stands in contrast to someone mature or fully grown, and can describe an immature believer 12.
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
νήπιος, -α, -ον,
[in LXX chiefly for עוֹלֵל, also for פְּתִי, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3516 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidnay'-pee-os
not speaking, i.e. an infant (minor); figuratively, a simple-minded person, an immature Christian
Fromfrom an obsolete particle νή- (implying negation) and G2031;
King Jamesbabe, child (+ -ish).
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
Refs 2nd c.AD+, Ionic dialect η, ον, also ος, ον Refs 3rd c.BC+:— infant, child, frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐκ νηπίου from a child, from infancy, [τὸ ἡδὺ] ἐκ ν. ἡμῖν συντέθραπται Refs 2nd c.BC+; infant in law, minor, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ὁ κληρονόμος ν. ἐστιν NT; of children up to puberty, αἱ τῶν ν. ἐκλάμψιες Refs 5th c.BC+; but of the foetus in its early stage, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 less frequently of animals, Refs 8th c.BC+; νήπια alone, the young of an animal, Refs
3 of plants, Refs 4th c.BC+
II metaphorically,
II.1 of the understanding, childish, silly, Refs 8th c.BC+; simply, without foresight, blind, Refs 8th c.BC+; οὔτε πρὶν νήπιον, νῦν τ᾽.. μέγαν no child before and now full-grown (i.e. in mind), Refs; of words, νήπια βάζεις Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 of bodily strength, like that of a child, βίη δέ τε ν. αὐτῶν Refs 8th 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 | nēpios6×νήπιος | nēpias | nēpiem | nēpiois2×νήπιοι | nēpiais | nēpieim |
| object accusative | nēpion | nēpian | nēpioin | nēpiain | ||
| direct address vocative | nēpior | nēpiar | nēpioir | nēpiair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | nēpiou1×νηπίου | nēpiau | nēpieu | nēpioiu2×νηπίων | nēpiaiu | nēpieiu |
| to, for dative | nēpio | nēpia | nēpie | nēpioi3×νηπίοις | nēpiai | nēpiei |
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
nēpi 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
nēpios“child”subjectnominative singular6×
1 Corinthians 13:11hote ome nēpios, lalame hōs nēpios, froname hōs nēpios, …When I was a child, I talked like a child, I …
1 Corinthians 13:11hote ome nēpios, lalame hōs nēpios, froname hōs nēpios, logizome hōs nēpios; …… a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I …
1 Corinthians 13:11… nēpios, lalame hōs nēpios, froname hōs nēpios, logizome hōs nēpios; hote genamē andros, …… a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When …
1 Corinthians 13:11… nēpios, froname hōs nēpios, logizome hōs nēpios; hote genamē andros, katargamē teim tou …… a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I …
Galatians 4:1… de, epi hoson chronon tos klēronomos nēpios atō, oudenem diaferatō doulou kurios panteiu …… long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a …
Hebrews 5:13… tos metecharōntos galakteu apeiros logou dikaiosunau, nēpios gar atō;… lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.
nēpiou“childish”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
1 Corinthians 13:11… hote genamē andros, katargamē teim tou nēpiou.… became a man, I set aside childish ways.
nēpiois“children”subjectnominative plural2×
Galatians 4:3houtōs kai nis, hote ane nēpiois, hupo teim stoicheieim tou kosmou one …So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic …
Ephesians 4:14“children”hina mēketi aneiō nēpiois, kludōnizorōntois kai periferorōntois panto anemo tau …Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching …
nēpioiu“infants”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Matthew 21:16… Nai. oudepote anagnōskava hoti Ek stomeu nēpioiu kai thēlazarōntoiu katartizesa ainon?… From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
Romans 2:20“immature”paideuton afronoiu, didaskalon nēpioiu, echarōnton tan morfōsian tau gnōsiau kai …an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth —
nēpioi“infants”to, fordative plural3×
Matthew 11:25“infants”… sofoiu kai sunetoiu, kai apokaluptasa auteim nēpioi;… from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little …
Luke 10:21“infants”… sofoiu kai sunetoiu, kai apokaluptasa auteim nēpioi; nai, tos patror, hoti houtōs eudokias …… from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing …
1 Corinthians 3:1… hōs pneumatikoi alla hōs sarkinoi, hōs nēpioi en Christo.… as spiritual, but as worldly — as infants in Christ.