noun
paidos
Strong’sG3816
a boy or girl child
stem paid-24 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books8 of 20 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
Παῖς refers to a young person, especially in relation to their parents – a child, whether son or daughter, or more loosely a boy or girl or young person still in the age of childhood 1234. It can be used with a genitive to specify whose child someone is 1.
The same word also means servant or slave, an attendant of either sex, corresponding to a familiar Hebrew word for a servant 123. In this sense it is used especially of an attendant or minister serving a king, and by extension of one serving God – applied to the nation of Israel, to David, and to Jesus as God's servant 1. Strong's notes that as "a boy" the word carries the association of one who might be beaten with impunity 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
παῖς, gen., παιδός, ὁ, ἡ,
[in LXX chiefly for עֶבֶד, also for נַעַר, נַעֲרָה, etc.;]
SYN.: 1. τέκνον, child, with emphasis on parentage and the consequent community of nature; υἱός, son, with emphasis on the privileged position of heirship; π. refers both to age and parentage, but with emphasis on the former. Cf. also παιδάριον, παιδίον, παιδίσκη, and v. Westc. on I Jo 3:1. 2. v.s. θεράπων, and cf. Thackeray, Gr., 7 f.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3816 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpaheece
a boy (as often beaten with impunity), or (by analogy), a girl, and (genitive case) a child; specially, a slave or servant (especially a minister to a king; and by eminence to God)
Fromperhaps from G3817;
King Jameschild, maid(-en), (man) servant, son, young man.
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
also παῦς (which see), παιδός, ὁ, ἡ, genitive plural παίδων, Doric dialect παιδῶνRefs 5th c.BC+; dative plural παισί, Epic dialect παίδεσσι Refs 8th c.BC+; in early Epic dialect frequently disyllable in nominative πάϊς, e. g. when forming part of two different feet, Refs 8th c.BC+; probably also in the fifth foot, Refs; and before bucolic diaeresis, Refs; also in Lyric poetry, Refs 7th c.BC+; and in Boeotian dialect, Refs, compare πῆ; πάϊ [ᾰῑ] Refs 8th c.BC+ (παιδ- is never disyllable in oblique cases in Refs 8th c.BC+; genitive παϊδός epigram cited in Refs 2nd c.AD+; dative παϊδί probably in Refs 6th c.BC+
I in relation to Descent, child, whether son, Refs 8th c.BC+; or daughter, Refs 8th c.BC+; παῖς, opposed to κόρα, Refs 5th c.BC+; of an adopted son, ἀλλά σε παῖδα ποιεύμην Refs 8th c.BC+; frequently in orators of legal issue, Refs 5th c.BC+; of animals, Refs 4th c.BC+
I.2 metaphorically, ἀμπέλου π., of wine, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὀρείας πέτρας π., of Echo, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὅρκου π. ἀνώνυμος, of the penalty of perjury, Oracle texts cited in Refs 5th c.BC+.; ἄναυδοι π. τᾶς ἀμιάντου, of fishes, Refs 4th c.BC+
I.3 periphrastic, οἱ Λυδῶν παῖδες sons of the Lydians, i. e. the Lydians, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἱ [Ἀσκληπιοῦ] π., i. e. physicians, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἱ ζωγράφων π. painters, Refs; παῖδες ῥητόρων orators, Refs 2nd c.AD+; π. ἰατρῶν, π. πλαστῶν καὶ γραφέων, Refs
II in relation to Age, child, boy or girl, νέος π. Refs 8th c.BC+ substantive, π. συφορβός boy-swineherd, Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐκ παιδός from a child, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡλικίαν ἔχειν τὴν ἄρτι ἐκ π. to be just out of one's childhood, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν παισὶ (variant{παιδὶ}) ποιμαίνων Refs 2nd c.AD+; χορηγεῖν παισί Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔνι τις καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν π., of the superstitious fears of a child, Refs 5th c.BC+
III in relation to Condition, slave, servant, man or maid (of all ages), παῖ, παῖ Refs 5th c.BC+: plural, of the crew of a ship, Refs 4th c.BC+, Latin puer.)
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 | feminine singular | masculine singular | feminine plural | masculine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | paidas | paidos8×παῖς | paidais | paidois |
| object accusative | paidan | paidon5×παῖδα | paidain | paidoin3×παῖδας |
| direct address vocative | paidar1×παῖς | paidor | paidair | paidoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | paidau1×παιδὸς | paidou4×παιδὸς | paidaiu | paidoiu1×παίδων |
| to, for dative | paida | paido | paidai | paidoi1×παισὶν |
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
paid 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.
24 occurrences, every one of them listed
paidar“child”direct addressvocative singular1×
Luke 8:54… tau cheirau autau fōnata legarōntos; Tas paidar, egerasōr.… by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”
paidau“child’s”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Luke 8:51… kai Iakōbon kai ton patron tau paidau kai tan mētēran.… except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.
paidos“servant”subjectnominative singular8×
Matthew 8:6kai legarōntos; Kurior, tos paidos mu balotē en ta oikia paralutikos, …“Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in …
Matthew 8:8… monem legasar logo, kai iiti tos paidos mu;… just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Matthew 8:13… pisteuasa genitar si; kai iita tos paidos en ta hōra ekeina.… be done for you.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Matthew 12:18Idou tos paidos mu hon hairetizama, tos agapētos mu …“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved …
Matthew 17:18… autou tem daimonem; kai therapeuita tos paidos apo tau hōrau ekeinau.… and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that …
Luke 2:43… te hupostrefarō autoin hupomenata Iēsus tos paidos en Ierousalēm, kai ouk gnōskala tois …… and they were returning home, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but …
Luke 7:7… alla legasar logo, kai iitar tos paidos mu;… just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
John 4:51“son”… autou hupantala auto legarōntois hoti tos paidos autou zōatō.… the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive.
paidon“servant”objectaccusative singular5×
Luke 9:42… pneume te akatharte, kai ieta ton paidon kai apodōata auton to patro autou.… rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his …
Acts 3:13… theos toiu patroiu nu, doxazata ton paidon autou Iēsun, hon vis men paradōava …… of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and …
Acts 3:26vi prōtem anastēarantos tos theos ton paidon autou apostelata auton eulogarōnton vin en …When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you …
Acts 4:27… ta pola houta epi ton hagion paidon su Iēsun, hon chriasa, Hērōdos tē …… people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
Acts 20:12agala de ton paidon zōarōnton, kai parakalila ouk metriōs.… were greatly relieved to take the boy home alive.
paidou“servant”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
Luke 1:54antilabeta Israēl paidou autou, mimnēskira eleseu,He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,
Luke 1:69… keratem sōtērēau ni en oiko David paidou autou,… us in the house of His servant David,
Acts 4:25… nu dia pneumeu hagieu stomeu David paidou su legarantos; Hinati fruassala ethneim kai …… Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the …
Acts 4:30… genorō dia teu onomeu tou hagiou paidou su Iēsu.… through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”
paidoin“children”objectaccusative plural3×
Matthew 2:16“children”… liōs, kai apostelarantos anairata pantoin toin paidoin toin en Bēthleem kai en pantei …… to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according …
Matthew 21:15… teim thaumasieim heim poiata kai toin paidoin toin krazarōntoin en te hiere kai …… the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna …
Luke 12:45“slaves … men”… mu erchorō, kai archeteia tuptarō toin paidoin kai tain paidiskain, esthiarō tē kai …… his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.
paidoiu“servants”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Luke 15:26kai proskalerantos henon toiu paidoiu punthanote tinem an atoiō houteim;So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on.
paidoi“servants”to, fordative plural1×
Matthew 14:2kai legata toi paidoi autou; Houtos atō Iōannos tos baptistos; …and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he …