What does τίς (tís) mean in the Bible?
Tis is the Greek interrogative pronoun used to ask who, what, which, or, in some constructions, why. It opens a question rather than supplying its answer.
Greek · G5101
τίς
An interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)
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τίς G5101
Pronunciation tís
What does τίς (tís) mean in the Bible?
Tis is the Greek interrogative pronoun used to ask who, what, which, or, in some constructions, why. It opens a question rather than supplying its answer.
Reader summary
Full entry for τίς (G5101) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5101?
The BSB source-word alignment has 568 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include what (210), who (112), why (78), . . . (40), Which (22).
Where does τίς (tís) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (116), Matthew (92), John (80), Mark (74).
Are there verse guides for τίς (tís)?
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
Tis is the Greek interrogative pronoun used to ask who, what, which, or, in some constructions, why. It opens a question rather than supplying its answer. Jesus asks who people say He is and then presses the disciples personally: “Who do you say I am? ” The crowd at Pentecost asks what they should do after hearing the apostolic proclamation. Peter asks to whom the disciples could go because Jesus has the words of eternal life.
Paul asks who can stand against God’s people if God is for them. Some questions seek information; others expose the heart, summon confession, express deliberation, or make a rhetorical point. Faithful teaching hears the kind of question, identifies who asks and answers, and lets the passage provide the response.
How the Bible Uses It
Tis forms questions about persons, things, choices, identity, action, and reason. Its discourse force ranges from genuine inquiry to deliberation, examination, confession, and rhetorical assurance.
- Mark.8.27
Then Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say I am?”
Jesus asks who people say He is. The pronoun opens the question of public perception.
- Matt.16.15
“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Jesus asks His disciples who they say He is. The question becomes directly confessional.
- Acts.2.37
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
The hearers ask what they shall do after Peter's sermon. The pronoun carries a response question under conviction.
- John.6.68
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Peter asks to whom the disciples would go. The pronoun frames exclusive dependence on Jesus.
- Rom.8.31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Paul asks who can be against us if God is for us. The pronoun serves assurance within the argument.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It what 210× Matthew 5:46, Matthew 5:47, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 6:25
who 112× Matthew 3:7, Matthew 6:27, Matthew 10:11, Matthew 12:48
why 78× Matthew 6:28, Matthew 7:3, Matthew 8:26, Matthew 16:8
. . . 40× Matthew 5:13, Matthew 9:4, Matthew 9:11, Matthew 9:14
Which 22× Matthew 7:9, Matthew 9:5, Matthew 21:31, Matthew 23:17
- 13× Matthew 6:25, Matthew 15:32, Mark 4:22, Luke 12:29
How 11× Luke 1:18, Luke 12:49, John 12:49, Acts 4:9
whom 10× Matthew 12:27, Matthew 17:25, Luke 11:19, Luke 12:5
vvv 8× Matthew 12:7, Matthew 12:11, Matthew 17:19, Mark 8:1
Whose 7× Matthew 22:20, Matthew 22:28, Matthew 22:42, Mark 12:16
What [is] 5× Mark 5:9, Mark 6:2, Luke 16:2, Romans 3:1
To what 4× Matthew 11:16, Luke 7:31, Luke 13:18, Luke 13:20
What [is that] 4× Matthew 27:4, John 2:4, John 21:22, John 21:23
what [will be] 3× Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:4, Luke 21:7
Who [is] 3× Romans 8:34, 2 Corinthians 2:16, 1 Thessalonians 2:19
something 2× Mark 6:36, Acts 25:26
to whom 2× John 12:38, Hebrews 3:18
[and] what 1× Ephesians 6:21
[each of them] 1× Mark 15:24
[someone] 1× 1 Peter 5:8
[Suppose one] 1× Luke 11:5
[the] 1× 1 Thessalonians 4:2
[Who] 1× Romans 8:24
a way 1× Luke 19:48
any 1× Acts 24:20
as to what 1× Acts 12:18
each one 1× Luke 19:15
In what way 1× 2 Corinthians 12:13
some 1× Acts 24:18
that 1× Acts 19:35
the time and setting 1× 1 Peter 1:11
to the 1× 1 Corinthians 15:2
to which 1× Hebrews 1:5
what [ difference ] 1× John 6:9
What [city was ever] 1× Revelation 18:18
what [was] 1× Romans 11:4
what [will] 1× 1 Peter 4:17
what about 1× John 21:21
what else 1× Mark 9:6
where [will] 1× Acts 7:49
which [of them was] 1× Mark 9:34
Which [one] 1× Matthew 27:17
which of them 1× John 13:22
which one 1× John 13:24
who [are you] 1× John 1:21
who [can be] 1× Romans 8:31
who [this is] 1× Luke 7:39
Who is 1× Revelation 5:2
who were the ones who 1× Hebrews 3:16
Why {would} 1× Acts 26:8
with whom 1× Hebrews 3:17
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 3:7 τίς to who Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 5:13 τίνι to . . . Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Neuter Singular Matthew 5:46 τίνα to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular Matthew 5:47 τί to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 6:3 τί to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 6:25 τί to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 6:25 τί to - Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 6:25 τί to what Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 6:27 τίς to Who Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 6:28 τί to why Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 3:7
Aligned rows 568
Books represented 20
Matthew 92 Mark 74 Luke 116 John 80 Acts 59 Romans 44 1 Corinthians 31 2 Corinthians 11 Galatians 5 Ephesians 9 Philippians 2 Colossians 3 1 Thessalonians 3 1 Timothy 1 2 Timothy 1 Hebrews 10 James 4 1 Peter 4 1 John 4 Revelation 15
Source forms
τί 219x ti Matthew 5:47, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 6:25, Matthew 6:28
Τί 126x Ti Matthew 6:31, Matthew 7:3, Matthew 8:26, Matthew 8:29
τίς 101x tis Matthew 3:7, Matthew 6:27, Matthew 7:9, Matthew 10:11
Τίς 44x Tis Matthew 12:11, Matthew 12:48, Matthew 18:1, Matthew 19:25
τίνα 14x tina Matthew 5:46, Matthew 16:15, Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20
τίνι 13x tini Matthew 5:13, Matthew 12:27, Mark 4:30, Mark 9:50
Τίνα 10x Tina Matthew 16:13, Matthew 27:17, Matthew 27:21, Mark 8:27
τίνος 10x tinos Matthew 22:28, Matthew 22:42, Mark 12:23, Luke 20:24
Parsing patterns
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular 273x Matthew 5:47, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 6:25, Matthew 6:28
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular 126x Matthew 3:7, Matthew 6:27, Matthew 7:9, Matthew 10:11
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular 77x Matthew 8:29, Matthew 9:5, Matthew 9:13, Matthew 12:7
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular 21x Matthew 5:46, Matthew 16:13, Matthew 16:15, Matthew 27:17
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Feminine Singular 21x Matthew 12:48, Mark 3:33, Mark 6:2, Luke 7:39
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Singular 11x Matthew 22:20, Matthew 22:28, Matthew 22:42, Mark 12:16
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Neuter Singular 10x Matthew 5:13, Matthew 11:16, Mark 9:50, Luke 7:31
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Masculine Singular 8x Matthew 12:27, Luke 6:47, Luke 11:19, Luke 12:20
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let the biblical question confront the hearer before moving to the passage’s answer.
- Keep application centered on the response the text authorizes, especially confession of and faith in Christ.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every tis occurrence expects an unknown factual answer.
- Do not claim that the interrogative pronoun itself supplies the passage’s doctrine.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Direct question marker functioning as substantive, adjective, or adverb; rhetorical form often implies negation.
Source Gloss
an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 540 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 3:7 Nominative Singular Masculine
τίς tiv
who, which, what
Read verse tini
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 5:46 Accusative Singular Masculine
τίνα tina
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 5:47 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:3 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:25 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:25 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:25 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:27 Nominative Singular Masculine
τίς tiv
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:28 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:31 Accusative Singular Neuter
Τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:31 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 6:31 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 7:3 Accusative Singular Neuter
τί ti
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 7:9 Nominative Singular Masculine
τίς tiv
who, which, what
Read verse Matthew 8:26 Nominative Singular Neuter
Τί ti
who, which, what
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 10 Aligned forms 554 Case pattern Nominative (231) Number pattern Singular (246)
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 3:7 · Matt 6:27 · Matt 7:9 · Matt 10:11 · Matt 12:11 · Matt 18:1 · Matt 19:25 · Matt 21:10 · Matt 21:23 · Matt 21:31 · Matt 23:17 · Matt 24:45 · Matt 26:68 · Mark 1:24 · Mark 2:7 · Mark 4:41 126×
Nominative · Singular · Neuter Matt 8:29 · Matt 9:5 · Matt 9:13 · Matt 12:7 · Matt 17:25 · Matt 18:12 · Matt 19:27 · Matt 21:28 · Matt 22:17 · Matt 22:42 · Matt 23:19 · Matt 24:3 · Matt 26:66 · Matt 27:4 · Mark 1:24 · Mark 1:27 77×
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Matt 12:48 · Mark 3:33 · Mark 6:2 · Luke 7:39 · Luke 8:9 · Luke 15:8 · Acts 10:21 · Acts 17:19 · Rom 3:1 · Rom 11:15 · 2 Cor 6:14 · 2 Cor 6:15 · 2 Cor 6:16 · Eph 1:18 · Eph 3:9 · 1 Thess 2:19 20×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 12:48 · Luke 24:17 · John 6:64 · Acts 19:15 · Heb 3:16 · Rev 7:13 6×
Nominative · Plural · Neuter John 10:6 · Acts 17:20 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 22:20 · Matt 22:28 · Matt 22:42 · Mark 12:16 · Mark 12:23 · Luke 14:5 · Luke 20:24 · Luke 20:33 · John 13:22 · John 19:24 · Acts 8:34 11×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Matt 17:25 · 2 Tim 3:14 2×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter Acts 19:32 · 1 John 3:12 2×
Genitive · Plural · Neuter 1 Tim 1:7 1×
Dative · Singular · Neuter Matt 5:13 · Matt 11:16 · Mark 9:50 · Luke 7:31 · Luke 13:18 · Luke 13:20 · Luke 14:34 · Acts 4:9 10×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Direct question about identity in dialogue between lawyer and Jesus
Adverbial usage expressing rhetorical question about divine purpose and division
Adjective modifying nouns in conditional statements about discipleship requirements
Rhetorical question negating opposition in eschatological affirmation of God's protection
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 554 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
τίς is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Tis reminds readers that revelation often teaches by asking. In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus first asks about public opinion and then turns the question toward the disciples’ own confession. Acts 2:37 records a wounded crowd asking what response the gospel requires, and Peter answers with repentance, baptism, promise, and continued exhortation. John 6:68 uses a question to confess that no alternative to Jesus can give the words of eternal life.
Romans 8:31 asks who can successfully stand against those for whom God acts, leading into assurance grounded in God’s gift of His Son and Christ’s intercession. The interrogative pronoun creates the opening, but the person of Christ, apostolic proclamation, and gospel argument provide the answer. Good teaching preserves that movement from question to revealed response.
Anchor passage
Matt.16.15
Doctrinal connections
- Mark.8.27 asks who the crowds say Jesus is, exposing inadequate public estimates before the disciples are addressed.
- Matt.16.15 turns the identity question directly to the disciples, and Peter’s confession names Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God.
- Acts.2.37 records the hearers asking what they must do after Peter’s proclamation cuts them to the heart.
- John.6.68 asks to whom the disciples could go and confesses that Jesus possesses the words of eternal life.
- Rom.8.31 asks who can be against God’s people in a way that overturns His saving purpose, grounding assurance in the argument that follows.
- Acts.16.30 asks what must be done to be saved, and the apostolic answer directs the jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus.
Tis is an interrogative pronoun inflected for case, number, and gender where applicable. It asks about identity, selection, object, agency, or reason according to syntax. Accent and form help distinguish it from the indefinite pronoun tis, often translated someone or anyone. The local artifact currently groups about 554 occurrences. Question type, word order, particles, and expected response shape its discourse force.
From Old to New Testament
God, prophets, wisdom teachers, worshipers, Jesus, and apostles use questions throughout Scripture to expose false confidence, invite confession, summon repentance, and strengthen faith. Tis participates in that New Testament pattern. The canonical value lies not in the question word itself but in the truth the question uncovers and the response God’s revelation requires.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain