interrogative or indefinite pronoun
poios
Strong’sG4169
of what sort
stem poi-33 times in the New Testamentin 10 of 27 books11 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
ποῖος is an interrogative pronoun asking "of what kind or sort" or "which" 124. It corresponds to the demonstrative toios ("such") and the relative hoios ("of which kind") 1.
Most often it asks directly what quality or sort something is, as in questions like "by what sort of power" or "what commandment" 13. It can also introduce an indirect question, functioning much like hopoios ("of whatever sort"), and in this use can ask about which specific day, way, or hour something happens 13. Strong's notes that besides asking about character or quality, it can also individualize by asking "which one" among a number 2.
LSJ additionally records that in earlier Greek usage outside the Bible, the word could be used to repeat a previous speaker's word in scornful surprise, or could serve simply as "what?" or "which?", especially about place, time, or possession, though these particular uses are not the ones found in the biblical text 3.
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
ποῖος, -α, -ον,
interrog. pronom. adj.(corresponding to the demonstr. τοῖος and the relat. οἷος), [in LXX chiefly for אֵי־זֶה;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4169 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect κοῖος, η, ον, of what kind? in Refs 8th c.BC+ what manner of speech hast thou spoken! Refs 8th c.BC+; ποῖοί κ᾽ εἶτ᾽ Ὀδυσῆϊ ἀμυνέμεν what sort would ye be to.. ! Refs 8th c.BC+; in simple questions, ποίῃ.. νηΐ σε ναῦται ἤγαγο; Refs 5th c.BC+; ποῖος οὐ interrogative, equivalent to every affirmative, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 frequently in Comedy texts and Prose dialogue, used in repeating a word used by the former speaker, to express scornful surprise, Πρωτέως τάδ᾽ ἐστὶ μέλαθρα. Answ. ποίου Πρωτέω; Refs 5th c.BC+
3 with the Article, when the question implies a Noun which is defined by the Article or the context, τὸ π. εὑρὼν.. φάρμακο; Refs 5th c.BC+; λέγεις δὲ τὴν π. κατάστασιν ὀλιγαρχία; Answ. τὴν ἀπὸ τιμημάτων πολιτείαν Refs 5th c.BC+: frequently with the demonstrative, ὁ ποῖος οὗτος Λάμαχο; Answ. ὁ δεινός, ὁ ταλαύρινος.. Refs 5th c.BC+: sometimes the answer is given more generally, Refs 5th c.BC+: so also without the Article, κοῖα ταῦτα λέγει; Refs 5th c.BC+; π. Ἐρινὺν τήνδε..; what sort of Fury is this that..? Refs 4th c.BC+; π. ἐρεῖς τόδ᾽ ἔπο; what sort of word is this that thou wilt speak? Refs 5th c.BC+
4 ποῖός τι; making the question less definite, κοῖόν μέ τινα νομίζουσι Πέρσαι εἶνα; Refs 5th c.BC+
II like{ὁποῖος}, in indirect questions, διδάξω.. ποῖα χρὴ λέγειν Refs 5th c.BC+; οὐκ οἶδα ὁποίᾳ τόλμῃ ἢ ποίοις λόγοις χρώμενος ἐρῶRefs 5th c.BC+
III ={ποδαπός}; ποῖος οὑτοσὶ [ὁ] Τιμόθεο;—Μιλήσιός τις.. Refs 5th c.BC+
III.2 whose? ἐν π. δυνάμει ἢ ἐν π. ὀνόματ; NT
IV simply, what, which? especially of place or time, ποίης ἐξ εὔχεται εἶναι γαίη; NT+8th c.BC+; ποίᾳ ἄλλῃ (i.e. ὁδῷ); by what other way? Refs 5th c.BC+ metaphorically, how? Refs 5th c.BC+; ποίου χρόνο; since what time? Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπὸ ποίου ἔτους Refs 1st c.AD+; ποίᾳ ἡμέρ; NT+4th c.BC+; φυλᾶς ἑλομένοις ἑκάστου (={-ῳ}) ποίας κε βέλλειτει (ἧστινος ἂν βούληται, i.e. εἶναι) Refs 3rd c.BC+; ποίας φυλῆς ἐστι LXX; π., = quis, Refs
V ={πότερος}, Refs
VI adverb ποίως Hdn.Gr.2.925, Refs. [The first syllable is sometimes short in Trag. and Comedy texts, Refs 5th 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 | poios | poias6×ποία | poiem2×ποῖον | poiois | poiais | poieim1×Ποῖα |
| object accusative | poion2×ποῖον | poian1×ποίαν | poioin | poiain1×Ποίας | ||
| direct address vocative | poior | poiar | poioir | poiair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | poiou1×ποίου | poiau2×ποίας | poieu | poioiu | poiaiu | poieiu |
| to, for dative | poio3×ποίῳ | poia12×ποίᾳ | poie2×ποίῳ | poioi | poiai | poiei |
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
poi 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.
33 occurrences, every one of them listed
poion“what kind of”objectaccusative singular2×
Acts 7:49… de gēas hupopodiem toiu podoiu mu; poion oikon oikodomavi mi, legatō kurios, ē …… and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me …
1 Peter 1:11“what circumstances”eraunarōntois eis tinon ē poion kairon dēlate tem en autoi pneumem …… determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing …
poiou“what kind of”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Romans 3:27“what kind of”Pou oun tas kauchēsias? ekkleiita. dia poiou nomou? teiu ergeiu? ouchi, alla dia …Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that …
poio“what kind of”to, fordative singular3×
John 12:33“what kind of”houtem de legate sēmanarōntos poio thanato mellate apothnēskarō.He said this to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.
John 18:32“what kind of”… tou Iēsu plēriteia hon legata sēmanarōntos poio thanato mellate apothnēskarō.This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.
John 21:19“what kind of”houtem de legata sēmanarōntos poio thanato doxazati ton theon. kai houtem …Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told …
poias“what”subjectnominative singular6×
Matthew 22:36Didaskalor, poias entolas megas en to nomo?“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the …
Mark 12:28… hoti kalōs apokrinita autoi, eperōtata auton; Poias atō entolas prōtas panteiu?… had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of …
Luke 6:32Kai ei agapavō toin agaparōntoin vin, poias vi charitas atō? kai gar tois …… you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even …
Luke 6:33kai ean agathopoiaveiō toin agathopoiarōntoin vin, poias vi charitas atō? kai tois hamartōlois …… those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even …
Luke 6:34… ean daneizaveia para hoiu elpizavō labara, poias vi charitas atō? kai hamartōlois hamartōloi …… those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even …
James 4:14hotinois ouk epistovō tem tau aurion poias tas zōas vu; atmidas gar avō …… even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a …
poian“what”objectaccusative singular1×
Revelation 3:3“what”… hōs kleptos, kai ouk mē gnōskaseia poian hōran hēkami epi sin;… will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
poiau“way”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
Luke 5:19kai mē heuriskarantois poiau eisferaleia auton dia ton ochlon anabainarantois …but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went …
Acts 23:34anagnōskarantos de kai eperōtarantos ek poiau eparcheiau atō kai punthanerantos hoti apo …… governor read the letter and asked what province Paul was from. Learning that …
poia“what”to, fordative singular12×
Matthew 21:23… tois presbuterois tou laou legarōntois; En poia exousia houteim poiasō? kai tinos si …… people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things …
Matthew 21:24… legaveia mi kamis vi legami en poia exousia houteim poiamō;… Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Matthew 21:27… autos; Oude mis legamō vi en poia exousia houteim poiamō.… Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Matthew 24:42“what”grēgoravōr oun, hoti ouk oidavē poia hēmera tos kurios vu erchotō.Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
Matthew 24:43“what”… gnōskavōr hoti ei oidatelē tos oikodespotos poia fulaka tos kleptos erchotō, grēgorata an …But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept …
Mark 11:28kai legale auto; En poia exousia houteim poiasō? ē tinos si …“By what authority are You doing these things …
Mark 11:29… apokrinivar mi, kai legami vi en poia exousia houteim poiamō;… Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Mark 11:33… autoi; Oude mis legamō vi en poia exousia houteim poiamō.… Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Luke 12:39… gnōskavōr hoti ei oidatelē tos oikodespotos poia hōra tos kleptos erchotō, ouk an …… If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he …
Luke 20:2… legarōntois pros auton; Legasar ni en poia exousia houteim poiasō, ē tinos atō …“Tell us,” they said, “by what authority are You doing these things …
Luke 20:8… autoi; Oude mis legamō vi en poia exousia houteim poiamō.… Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Acts 4:7… autoin en te mese punthanole; En poia dunamia ē en poie onome poiava …… and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you …
poiem“what”subject or objectdirect singular2×
John 10:32… deikama vi ek tou patrou; dia poiem auteiu ergem min lithazavō?… good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
1 Peter 2:20“what”poiem gar kleem ei hamartarōntois kai kolafizorōntois …… to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure …
poie“what”to, fordative singular2×
Acts 4:7… punthanole; En poia dunamia ē en poie onome poiava houtem vis?… question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
1 Corinthians 15:35… legati tinos; Pōs egerolō tois nekrois, poie de sōme ercholō?… How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
poiain“which”objectaccusative plural1×
Matthew 19:18legatō auto; Poiain? tos de Iēsus legata; Tem Ouk …“Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered …
poieim“what”subject or objectdirect plural1×
Luke 24:19kai legata autoi; Poieim? tois de legala auto; Teim peri …“What things?” He asked. “The events involving …