Definition

literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)

Etymology

active participle of H3547 (כָּהַן);

Where the KJV renders it

• chief ruler
• own
• priest
• prince
• principal officer

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.