παιδίον

τεκνίον tekníon · G5040 · my child, my dear friend, my dear man

παιδίον is the general narrative term for a young child, while τεκνίον is a diminutive used almost exclusively as an affectionate form of address, especially in speaking to disciples or spiritual children. The two overlap in the sense of tender, affectionate reference to a child, differing mainly in that παιδίον describes children generally while τεκνίον functions specifically as a term of endearment.

τέκνον téknon · G5043 · child, offspring, posterity

Both refer to children, but τέκνον emphasizes the relational aspect of being someone's child or offspring (frequently used in metaphorical/spiritual contexts for disciples or believers), while παιδίον emphasizes the physical developmental stage of a small or young child, often an infant or toddler.

יֶלֶד yeled · H3206 · child, children of

Greek παιδίον (paidíon, G3813) and Hebrew יֶלֶד (yeled, H3206) both denote a young child or infant, with παιδίον emphasizing the diminutive form and יֶלֶד covering the semantic range from infant through young boy; they function as direct translation equivalents in contexts referring to literal children.

נַעַר naʻar · H5288 · boy, lad, youth

Hebrew נַעַר denotes a child, youth, or young servant across a broad age range (infant through young adult), functioning as the standard Hebrew equivalent for Greek παιδίον's core sense of 'child' or 'young person' in LXX translation contexts.

בֵּן bên · H1121 · son, child, descendant

בֵּן (bên, H1121) denotes 'son' or 'child' with primary focus on male offspring and kinship/lineage relationship, while παιδίον (paidíon, G3813) denotes a young child of either sex with emphasis on age/developmental stage rather than genealogical status; Greek παιδίον renders Hebrew בֵּן in contexts where the childhood/youth semantic component is more salient than the son/kinship component.

Child, offspring10.37

This domain covers παιδίον naming a child as a family member or offspring, as Luke narrates the circumcision of John: “And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after his father.” (Luke 1:59)

Child9.42

Here παιδίον names a young child generally, as Mark records Jesus setting an example of humility: “And He took a child and placed him among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,” (Mark 9:36)

My child, my dear friend, my dear man, my dear one, my dear lad9.46

This domain covers παιδίον used as an affectionate form of address rather than a literal reference to a child, as the risen Jesus calls out to His disciples from the shore: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you do not have any fish to eat, do you?’ They answered Him, ‘No.’” (John 21:5)

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.