Greek word · G2948

κυλλός

kyllos

crippled

Crooked or bent, especially of a hand or limb. So: crippled, deformed, maimed. It is paired with χωλός (chōlos, G5560), lame in the legs.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

κυλλός, -ή, -όν

1. crooked, crippled: Matthew 15:30-31 (WH, txt. om.);

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Crooked or bent, especially of a hand or limb. So: crippled, deformed, maimed. It is paired with χωλός (chōlos, G5560), lame in the legs.
Against the English: BSB and ESV have "crippled or lame"; NIV and WEB have "maimed or crippled"; KJV has "halt or maimed" ("halt" being old English for lame). All are fair. "Maimed" best fits a hand that has been cut off.
Used elsewhere in the period: Hippocrates uses it of a bent or deformed limb. In Matt 15:30–31 crowds bring the kylloi and chōloi to Jesus, and the maimed are made whole. Lev 21:18 (LXX chōlos) bars the lame and blemished from priestly service at the altar. The Dead Sea Scrolls go further: 1QSa 2:3–9 and 1QM 7:4–5 shut "anyone crippled in feet or hands, lame..." out of the end-time assembly and the holy war, because angels are present.

Range of meaning: Crooked, bent. Used of a limb that is crippled, deformed, or missing.
Against the English: 'Maimed' (KJV, WEB, YLT) fits the result of cutting off a hand. 'Crippled' (BSB, ESV) is fine but sounds more like a condition someone was born with.
Used elsewhere in the period: Matt 15:30–31 lists kylloi among the people Jesus healed. Lev 21:17–23 kept priests with physical defects from serving at the altar. The Dead Sea Scrolls' Rule of the Congregation (1QSa 2:3–9) barred anyone 'crippled in feet or hands, lame, blind' from the assembly of the last days.

Range of meaning: The word means crooked or bent, and so describes a deformed, crippled or disabled limb. It can also mean maimed, missing a limb. Matthew 18:8 and Mark 9:43 use it of entering life having cut off a hand or foot.
Against the English: BSB, NIV and ESV say 'crippled'. KJV and WEB say 'maimed'. 'Crippled' does not tell the reader that the word can mean a missing or mutilated limb. 'Maimed' brings out that sense.
Used elsewhere in the period: Hippocratic medical writings use it of a deformed or bent limb. In the New Testament it appears only in Matthew 15:30–31; 18:8 and Mark 9:43.

Matthew · 3

Matthew 15:30 κυλλούς, crippled

Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.

Here: The word literally means 'crooked' or 'bent'. It is used of a deformed or disabled limb, and in Matthew 18:8 of someone who has lost a hand or foot. Verse 31 says these people were seen 'whole' (hygieis).
Matthew 15:31 κυλλοὺς crippled

The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Here: People with bent, withered or maimed limbs, especially hands and arms. Matthew 18:8 uses the same word for entering life after losing a hand. It is narrower than the modern catch-all 'crippled'.
Matthew 18:8 κυλλὸν crippled

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

Here: A crooked or damaged limb, especially a hand or arm. Here it describes someone missing a hand.

Mark · 1

Mark 9:43 κυλλὸν crippled

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.

Here: A person whose limb is bent, deformed or missing. Some Jewish groups shut people like this out of holy places. Here such a person is the one who gets in.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.