Head
κεφαλήStrong’s G2776kephalē
Appears in 68 verses of the New Testament
In short
Kephalē is the Greek word usually translated “head”, “heads” and “chief”. It appears in 68 verses of the New Testament.
“Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.”
Meaning
Usually translated “head”, “heads” and “chief”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- head 56
- heads 17
- chief 2
- the head 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Revelation 16
- Matthew 12
- Mark 8
- Luke 8
- 1 Corinthians 6
- John 5
11 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Matthew 6:17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
- Matthew 8:20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
- Matthew 10:30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
- Matthew 14:8And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.
- Matthew 14:11And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
- Matthew 21:42Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
All 68 verses, by book
Greek dictionary
κεφαλή kephalē · head
κεφαλή, -ῆς, ἡ [in LXX nearly always for רֹאשׁ ;] the head: Mat.5:35, Mrk.6:24, Rev.1:14 9:7, al. mult.; figuratively, ἄνθρακες ἐπὶ τὴν κ., Rom.12:20 (LXX); αἷμι, Act.18:6; metaphorically, of a husband, with genitive, 1Co.1:13, Eph.5:23; of Christ, 1Co.11:3, Eph.4:15 5:23, Col.1:18 2:10, 19; of things, κ. γωνίας, Mat.21:42 (LXX) (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “head” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
HEAD, noun
hed.
- The uppermost part of the human body, or the foremost part of the body of prone and creeping animals.
- An animal; an individual; as, the tax was raised by a certain rate per head And we use the singular number to express many.
- A chief; a principal person; a leader; a commander; one who has the first rank or place, and to whom others are subordinate; as the head of an army; the head of a sect or party. Ephesians 5:23
- The first place; the place of honor, or of command.
All definitions and other forms of “head”
- Countenance; presence; in the phrases, to hide the head to show the head
- Understanding; faculties of the mind; sometimes in a ludicrous sense; as, a man has a good head or a strong head These men laid their heads together to form the scheme.
- Face; front; forepart.
- Resistance; successful opposition; in the phrase, to make head against, that is, to advance, or resist with success.
- Spontaneous will or resolution; in the phrases, of his own head on their own head But of is more usual than on.
- State of a deer's horns by which his age is known.
- The top of a thing, especially when larger than the rest of the thing; as the head of a spear; the head of a cabbage; the head of a nail; the head of a mast.
- The forepart of a thing, as the head of a ship, which includes the bows on both sides; also, the ornamental figure or image erected on or before the stem of a ship.
- The blade or cutting part of an ax, distinct from the helve.
- That which rises on the top; as the head or yeast of beer.
- The upper part of a bed, or bed-stead.
- The brain.
- The dress of the head; as a laced head [Unusual.]
- The principal source of a stream; as the head of the Nile.
- Altitude of water in ponds, as applicable to the driving of mill-wheels.
- Topic of discourse; chief point or subject; a summary; as the heads of a discourse or treatise.
- Crisis; pitch; highth.
- Influence; force; strength; pitch.
- Body; conflux.
- Power; armed force.
- Liberty; freedom from restrain; as, to give a horse the head Hence,
- License; freedom from check, control or restraint.
- The hair of the head; as a head of hair.
- The top of corn or other plant; the part on which the seed grows.
- The end, or the boards that form the end; as the head of a cask.
- The part most remote from the mouth or opening into the sea; as the head of a bay, gulf or creek.
- The maturated part of an ulcer or boil; hence, to come to a head is to suppurate.
HEAD, verb transitive
hed. To lead; to direct; to act as leader to; as, to head an army; to head an expedition; to head a riot.
- To behead; to decapitate. [Unusual.]
- To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head; as, to head a nail.
- To lop; as, to head trees.
- To go in front of; to get into the front; as, to head a drove of cattle.
- To set on the head; as, to head a cask.
- To oppose; to veer round and blow in opposition to the course of a ship; as, the wind heads us.
HEAD, verb intransitive
hed. To originate; to spring; to have its source, as a river.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.