Hebrew word · H3653
כֵּן
khen
stand
Ken II means a base, pedestal or stand (the stand of the bronze laver, Exod 30:18; 1 Kgs 7:29, 31), and by extension a place or position (Gen 40:13; 41:13, 'restore you to your office'). The idiom 'al-kannô means 'in his place / as his successor'.
Appears 17 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) base, stand, pedestal, office, foot, place, estate
1a) base, pedestal
1b) office, place
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Daniel 11:38
- Range of meaning
Ken II means a base, pedestal or stand (the stand of the bronze laver, Exod 30:18; 1 Kgs 7:29, 31), and by extension a place or position (Gen 40:13; 41:13, 'restore you to your office'). The idiom 'al-kannô means 'in his place / as his successor'. It is a different word from the common adverb kēn, 'so, thus'.
- Against the English
BSB/WEB: 'in their place'. NIV: 'instead of them'. ESV: 'instead of these'. NASB: 'instead'. KJV: 'in his estate'. YLT: 'on his station'. The plural 'their/them/these' is an interpretation: the Hebrew suffix is singular.
- How it drifted
KJV 'estate' meant rank or position. Today it suggests land or property.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Within Daniel 11 the idiom recurs for royal succession: a ruler 'will arise in his place' (11:7, 20, 21). Elsewhere ken is the physical base of cultic furniture (Exod 30:18, 28; 31:9).
Where it appears
Genesis · 2
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Genesis 40:13 כַּנֶּ֑ךָ office your
Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.
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Genesis 41:13 כַּנִּ֖י office my
And it happened to us just as he had interpreted: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”
Exodus · 7
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Exodus 30:18 וְכַנּ֥וֹ and base of its
“You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it,
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Exodus 30:28 כַּנּֽוֹ׃ base its
the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.
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Exodus 31:9 כַּנּֽוֹ׃ base its
the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand—
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Exodus 35:16 כַּנּֽוֹ׃ base its
the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand;
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Exodus 38:8 כַּנּ֣וֹ base its
Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Here: The pedestal the basin rested on. The word comes from the idea of something set firmly in place. Exodus never gives the stand's shape or the basin's size.
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Exodus 39:39 כַּנּֽוֹ׃ base its
the bronze altar with its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand;
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Exodus 40:11 כַּנּ֑וֹ base its
Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.
Leviticus · 1
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Leviticus 8:11 כַּנּ֖וֹ base its
He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.
1 Kings · 2
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1 Kings 7:29 כֵּ֣ן a base
and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work.
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1 Kings 7:31 כֵ֔ן a base
The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 33:23 כֵן־ [the] base of
Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.
Daniel · 4
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Daniel 11:7 כַּנּ֑וֹ place his
But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing.
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Daniel 11:20 כַּנּ֛וֹ place his
In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.
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Daniel 11:21 כַּנּוֹ֙ place his
In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
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Daniel 11:38 כַּנּ֖וֹ place its
And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.
Here: This is ken, 'base, stand, position', with 'his/its' attached. It is not the common adverb kēn 'thus'. It means either 'in its (the rejected gods') place', 'in his (the king's) position', or 'on its (the idol's) pedestal'. The word is singular, so English 'in their place' smooths over it.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.