Hebrew verb · H3547
כָּהַן
kahankaw-han'
to minister
23 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: kâhan
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H3547is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 9 of 39Old Testament books
- 15spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H3547
to officiate as a priest; figuratively, to put on regalia
The King James renders it: deck, be (do the office of a, execute the, minister in the) priest('s office).
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
kahan is rendered "to minister". It stands 23 times in the Hebrew text, across nine books.
- Twelve of the uses stand in Exodus, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Exodus 28:1“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
- The Greek text spells it fifteen different ways.
The first use
“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
Exodus 28:1לְכַהֲנוֹ־
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Twelve of the word's twenty-three uses are in Exodus.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- to serve as priests9
- to serve as priest he3
- and he served as priest2
- and they will serve as priests2
- and he will serve as a priest1
- and they served as priests1
- from serving as a priest1
- from serving as priests1
- he acts like a priest1
- he served as a priest1
- to serve as priest1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
All 23, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
15 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- לְכַהֵֽן׃4
- לְכַהֲנוֹ־3
- לְכַהֵ֣ן2
- לְכַהֵ֥ן2
- לְכַהֵ֖ן2
- וַיְכַהֵ֤ן1
- וַיְכַהֵ֛ן1
- וַֽיְכַהֲנ֔וּ1
- וְכִהֵ֥ן1
- וְכִהֲנ֥וּ1
- וְכִהֲנ֖וּ1
- יְכַהֵ֣ן1
and 3 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- preposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)12HR/Vpcc
- preposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular3HR/Vpcc/Sp3ms
- Hc/Vpq3cp2Hc/Vpq3cp
- Hc/Vpw3ms2Hc/Vpw3ms
- Hc/Vpq3ms1Hc/Vpq3ms
- Hc/Vpw3mp1Hc/Vpw3mp
- verb · intensive (piel), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVpi3ms
- verb · intensive (piel), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVpp3ms
Exodus
twelve uses
“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
- לְכַהֲנוֹ־lekhahanov-preposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: to serve as priest he
You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest.
- לְכַהֲנוֹ־lekhahanov-preposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: to serve as priest he
These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.
- לְכַהֲנוֹ־lekhahanov-preposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: to serve as priest he
After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.
- וְכִהֲנ֥וּvekhihanuHc/Vpq3cptagged: and they will serve as priests
“Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,
- לְכַהֵ֣ןlekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.
- לְכַהֵ֥ןlekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.
- לְכַהֵ֥ןlekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
as well as the woven garments, both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests,
- לְכַהֵֽן׃lekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
and the woven garments for ministering in the holy place—both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.”
- לְכַהֵֽן׃lekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
and the woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary, both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.
- לְכַהֵֽן׃lekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
And you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments, anoint him, and consecrate him, so that he may serve Me as a priest.
- וְכִהֵ֥ןvekhihenHc/Vpq3mstagged: and he will serve as a priest
Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.”
- וְכִהֲנ֖וּvekhihanuHc/Vpq3cptagged: and they will serve as priests
Leviticus
two uses
This is the portion of the offerings made by fire to the LORD for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests.
- לְכַהֵ֖ןlekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments
- לְכַהֵ֖ןlekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priest
Numbers
two uses
These were Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests.
- לְכַהֵֽן׃lekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
Nadab and Abihu, however, died in the presence of the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai. And since they had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
- וַיְכַהֵ֤ןvaykhahenHc/Vpw3mstagged: and he served as priest
Deuteronomy
one use
The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
- וַיְכַהֵ֛ןvaykhahenHc/Vpw3mstagged: and he served as priest
1 Chronicles
two uses
Johanan was the father of Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem,
- כִּהֵ֔ןkihenverb · intensive (piel), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he served as a priest
But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
- וַֽיְכַהֲנ֔וּvaykhahanuHc/Vpw3mptagged: and they served as priests
2 Chronicles
one use
For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
- מִכַּהֵ֖ןmikahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: from serving as priests
Isaiah
one use
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- יְכַהֵ֣ןyekhahenverb · intensive (piel), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he acts like a priest
Ezekiel
one use
They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.
- לְכַהֵ֣ןlekhahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to serve as priests
Hosea
one use
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
- מִכַּהֵ֣ןmikahenpreposition + verb · intensive (piel), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: from serving as a priest
The letters
Gematria 75· 725 mispar gadol
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.