乃 in the Bible: 131 Occurrences, Most of Them Names
Answering: “what does nai mean in the Chinese Bible”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
乃 asserts identity the way 是 does, with emphasis: 'this is indeed'. It marks the register of the passage as much as its meaning.
- HSK level
- 7
- derived from its own words
- Its words occur
- 131
- times — the construction is not counted
- Meet it first in
- Proverbs
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Not counted
- 60% of a checked sample
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
，，。
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 7, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
当dāng复活fù huó的de时候shí hou，人rén也yě不bù娶qǔ也yě不bú嫁jià，乃nǎi像xiàng天上tiān shàng的de使者shǐ zhě一样yí yàng。
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.
Matthew 22:30 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
「这些zhè xiē事shì，我wǒ是shì用yòng比喻bǐ yù对duì你们nǐ men说shuō的de；时候shí hou将jiāng到dào，我wǒ不再bú zài用yòng比喻bǐ yù对duì你们nǐ men说shuō，乃nǎi要yào将jiāng父fù明明míng míng地de告诉gào sù你们nǐ men。
“I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
John 16:25 · 96% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
不义bú yì之zhī人rén的de住处zhù chù总是zǒng shì这样zhè yàng； 此cǐ乃nǎi不bú认识rèn shi 神shén之zhī人rén的de地步dì bù。
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn’t know God.”
Job 18:21 · 94% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
人从rén cóng死sǐ里lǐ复活fù huó，也yě不bù娶qǔ也yě不bú嫁jià，乃nǎi像xiàng天上tiān shàng的de使者shǐ zhě一样yí yàng。
For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Mark 12:25 · 94% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
神shén的de城chéng啊a， 有yǒu荣耀róng yào的de事shì乃nǎi指zhǐ着zhe你nǐ说shuō的de。 （细xì拉lā）
Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.
Psalms 87:3 · 94% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
我们wǒ men所suǒ夸kuā的de是shì自己zì jǐ的de良心liáng xīn，见证jiàn zhèng我们wǒ men凭着píng zhe 神shén的de圣洁shèng jié和hé诚实chéng shí；在世zài shì为人wèi rén不bú靠kào人rén的de聪明cōng ming，乃nǎi靠kào 神shén的de恩惠ēn huì，向xiàng你们nǐ men更是gèng shì这样zhè yàng。
For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
2 Corinthians 1:12 · 94% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read Matthew 22 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 7 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 7 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
乃 asserts identity the way 是 does, with weight behind it: 乃为圣日, it is a holy day; 乃像糠秕被风吹散, they are like the chaff which the wind drives away. It is the mark of a raised register, and where it appears the sentence is usually making a pronouncement rather than a statement.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 乃 131 times. How many of those are this construction is exactly what could not be established.
The site does not publish a count for this construction. Its rule — 乃 with another word after it in the same clause. — was checked against 30 of its matches and 60% of them were right, which is not enough to print a number.
The obstacle is transliteration. 乃 is a common syllable in Hebrew names rendered into Chinese — 乃缦 Naaman, 许米乃 Hymenaeus, 达乃 Tattenai — and the segmenter splits those into syllables, so a rule looking for 乃 followed by a word collects the general of Syria along with the copula. The sample shows how often, and the number is withheld rather than guessed at.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 乃 | nǎi | 7 | 131 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 7.
| Book | Clauses |
|---|---|
| Proverbs | 19 |
| 2 Kings | 12 |
| 1 Corinthians | 6 |
| John | 6 |
| 2 Chronicles | 5 |
Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.
| Clause | Is it the construction? | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| 所谋【乃成】 | no | 乃 is the adverb 'then' (所谋乃成 'plans then succeed'), not a copula |
| 以利约【乃的】儿子是何大雅 | no | part of a transliterated name (乃缦 Naaman, 许米乃 Hymenaeus, 达乃 Tattenai) |
| 【乃像】天上的使者一样 | yes | |
| 【乃缦】进去 | no | 乃缦 is the name Naaman; this verse's English does not name him, so it was not merged |
| 这事【乃出于】耶和华 | yes | |
| 【乃因】你的大怜悯 | yes | |
| 【乃缦】就离开他去了 | no | part of a transliterated name (乃缦 Naaman, 许米乃 Hymenaeus, 达乃 Tattenai) |
| 惟有从里面出来的【乃能】污秽人 | yes | |
| 【乃在】妻子 | yes | |
| 因为在你们中间的以色列圣者【乃为】至大 | yes | |
| 第七日【乃为】圣日 | yes | |
| 他【乃洁净】了 | yes | |
| 【乃将】审判的事全交与子 | yes | |
| 【乃以为】是 | no | 乃 is 'but rather', contrasting two ways of receiving the word |
| 其中有许米【乃和】亚历山大 | no | part of a transliterated name (乃缦 Naaman, 许米乃 Hymenaeus, 达乃 Tattenai) |
| 【乃将】欠债之人的当头还给他 | no | 乃 is 'but rather' before an action |
| 树上的叶子【乃为】医治万民 | yes | |
| 【乃示】利希的女儿 | yes | |
| 【乃照】人间的遗传和世上的小学就把你们掳去 | no | 乃照 'according to' — 乃 is an adverb here |
| 【乃照】大卫和他先见迦得 | no | 乃照 'according to' — 乃 is an adverb here |
| 【乃因】以法莲山地的一个人 | yes | |
| 【乃用】信主之法 | no | 乃用 'but by means of' — instrument, not a copula |
| 【乃知】 | yes | |
| 忠信的使臣【乃医】人的良药 | yes | |
| 【乃因】他们走弯曲之道 | yes | |
| 【乃要得】着满足的赏赐 | no | 乃要 'but rather to receive' — adverb before an action |
| 强壮【乃少年人】的荣耀 | yes | |
| 【乃为】使王知道梦的讲解和心里的思念 | yes | |
| 【乃一】大队极多的军兵 | yes | |
| 【乃要】交在摩押人的手里 | no | 乃要 'in order to' — adverb before an action |
This is the page's evidence in place of a count. Every row was read in context.
Not counted
The rule: 乃 with another word after it in the same clause.
30 of 116 matches were drawn at random and read in context; 60% were right. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 7 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- Is 乃 just an old-fashioned 是?
- Close, but it carries emphasis that 是 does not: it corrects or insists. Several of its clearest uses here follow a negation — not this, but that.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- Its markers occur 131 times in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). How many of those are this construction is not something the site can measure honestly, so it does not claim a figure.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Proverbs, with 19 — followed by 2 Kings (12), 1 Corinthians (6), John (6).
- How do you know the count is right?
- The site does not publish a count for this construction. Its rule — 乃 with another word after it in the same clause. — was checked against 30 of its matches and 60% of them were right, which is not enough to print a number.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.