Word

ποιμήν

poimḗn · G4166 · Greek · 18 occurrences

See all 18 in Search

Meanings

shepherd

(Derivative of ποιμαίνω ‘to take care of sheep or goats,’) One who takes care of sheep or goats

Examples
Matthew 9:36 Seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 25:32 “And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I WILL STRIKE THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK WILL BE SCATTERED.’
pastor, minister

(A figurative extension of meaning of ποιμήν ‘shepherd,’) One who is responsible for the care and guidance of a Christian congregation

Examples
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
John 10:12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock.
John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me,

How it’s used In 8 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

3 occurrences in 2 groups

πρόβατονsheep 2
ψυχήlife, soul 1

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

5 occurrences in 3 groups

καλόςgood 3
εἷςone 1
μέγαςgreat, large 1

Named alongside itApposition

1 occurrences in 1 groups

κύριοςLord 1

What it doesIt is the subject

4 occurrences in 4 groups

λαλέωto speak 1
τίθημιto put 1
ὑποστρέφωto return, to go back, to come back 1
ἀφορίζωto separate, to set apart 1

What is done to itIt is the object

5 occurrences in 3 groups

ἔχωto have 2
πατάσσωto strike a blow 2
ἀνάγωto set sail, to bring up 1

What it is said to bePredicate

1 occurrences in 1 groups

χώραcountry, region, land 1

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

3 occurrences in 2 groups

ἐγώI, we 2
εἰσέρχομαιto enter, to go into, to come into 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

2 occurrences in 2 groups

ἐπίon 2
ὑπόby, under 2

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

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.

In the other Testament 1 word

רֹעִי rôʻîy · H7473 · to graze, to pasture, to feed: Hebrew רֹעִי (rôʻîy, H7473) and Greek ποιμήν (poimḗn, G4166) share the core sense 'shepherd' with both literal (one who tends sheep) and figurative (leader, pastor) applications, representing direct translation equivalence across the Septuagint alignment.

Semantic domains 2 entries

Shepherd44.4: ποιμήν names a shepherd, one who literally tends sheep, and is applied figuratively to Jesus and to church leaders. Matthew records Jesus's own compassion for the crowds: “Seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
Pastor, minister53.72: The same noun, applied to a church office, names a pastor or minister who cares for a congregation. Paul lists this gift among those Christ gave the church: “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).

Word family 5 words

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

ποιμήνpoimḗn · G4166ποιμαίνω poimaínō · G4165 · to shepherd, to take care of, to tend · 11×ποίμνη poímnē · G4167 · flock, people who are like a flock · 5×ποίμνιον poímnion · G4168 · people who are like a flock · 5×

Also from the root ποιμήν

ἀρχιποίμην archipoímēn · G750 · chief shepherd, head shepherd · 1×

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon ποιμένος, ὁ (akin to the noun ποίᾳ, which see: (or from the root meaning 'to protect';…

ποιμένος, ὁ (akin to the noun ποίᾳ, which see: (or from the root meaning 'to protect'; cf. Curtius, § 372; Fick 1:132)), from Homer down; the Sept. for רֹעֶה, a herdsman, especially a shepherd;
a. properly: Mt 9:36; Mt 25:32; Mt 26:31; Mk 6:34; Mk 14:27; Lk 2:8, Lk 2:15, Lk 2:18, Lk 2:20; Jn 10:2, Jn 10:12; in the parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow, Jn 10:11, Jn 10:14.
b. metaphorically, the presiding officer, manager, director, of any assembly: so of Christ the Head of the church, Jn 10:16; 1 Pet 2:25; Heb 13:20 (of the Jewish Messiah, Ezek 34:23); of the overseers of the Christian assemblies (A. V. pastors), Eph 4:11; cf. Ritschl, Entstehung der altkathol. Kirche, edition 2, p. 350f; (Hatch, Barnpron Lects. for 1880, p. 123f). (Of kings and princes we find ποιμένες λαῶν in Homer and Hesiod.)

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain

Topical studies with this word 2 entries

Animal Husbandry, Fishing12 occurrences Roles and Functions6 occurrences

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.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0