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ὁποῖος

hopoîos

G3697 interrogative pronoun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Interrogative or relative adjective denoting 'of what sort, of what kind, of what manner'. Used to inquire about or describe the qualitative nature, character, or type of someone or something. In different contexts, may indicate uncertainty, specification, or a generalizing sense: 'whatever sort, such as', often in correlative constructions.

Semantic Range

of what kind, of whatever sort, what manner of (interrogative or relative), such as, whatsoever (qualitative emphasis); unspecified or indeterminate quality

Root / Etymology

Composed from the relative pronoun ὅς ('who, which') and the qualitative interrogative adjective ποῖος ('of what kind?'). Thus, ὁποῖος expresses an indefinite or generic type based on the construction.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In classical Greek, ὁποῖος functions as both a relative and indirect interrogative, frequently paired with demonstratives (e.g., τοιοῦτος... ὁποῖος) to express correlative relationships ('such as... as'). In Hellenistic and Koine Greek, including the New Testament and Septuagint, it continues to serve as an interrogative of quality or kind, generally meaning 'of whatever sort', 'what manner of', and sometimes introducing clauses describing a person's actions or character. The nuance can shade from specific inquiry about quality to an open, indefinite reference. Standard English renderings like 'what manner of' or 'such as' sometimes flatten the qualitative sense. The word's construction and use is comparable to Latin 'qualis' and is distinct from more definite or quantitative adjectives like πόσος ('how much, how many').

Translation Consistency

primary "what" 5 occurrences

ὁποῖος asks about the kind or manner of something and most naturally renders as the interrogative/relative word “what.” “What” covers the primary senses (of what kind, what manner, whatever sort) in natural English and will remain consistent across contexts and correlative constructions.

✓ All renderings match approved senses

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from ὅς and ποῖος; of what kind that, i.e. how (as) great (excellent) (specially, as an indefinite correlative to the definite antecedent τοιοῦτος of quality):--what manner (sort) of, such as whatsoever.

Root Family

ποι- (eupoiḯa) — to do, to make, to accomplish

Root ποι- of what kind, of what sort, of what manner
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
G2140 εὐποιΐα of beneficence
G4160 ποιέω he was doing
G4169 ποῖος to what sort of

Word Forms

4 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G3697-04 ὁποῖος opoios PRO.Q NOM M SG as what sort what sort (one) 2
G3697-01 ὁποίαν opoian DET ACC F SG what kind of what kind of what kind of 1
G3697-02 ὁποῖοί opoioi PRO.Q NOM M PL whatever what sort what sort 1
G3697-03 ὁποῖόν opoion DET ACC N SG what sort what sort what sort 1

Occurrences in Scripture

5 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G3697-04 Acts 26:29 ὁποῖος opoios PRO.Q NOM M SG as what sort what sort (one)
G3697-03 1 Corinthians 3:13 ὁποῖόν opoion DET ACC N SG what sort what sort what sort
G3697-02 Galatians 2:6 ὁποῖοί opoioi PRO.Q NOM M PL whatever what sort what sort
G3697-01 1 Thessalonians 1:9 ὁποίαν opoian DET ACC F SG what kind of what kind of what kind of
G3697-04 James 1:24 ὁποῖος opoios PRO.Q NOM M SG what kind what sort what sort (one)
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