noun · neuter
charismem
Strong’sG5486
an undeserved favor
stem charism-17 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books5 of 6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
χάρισμα means an undeserved favor or free gift 412 - something given out of grace rather than earned, and in the New Testament it is set in contrast to wages or earnings that a person has worked for 3. In classical Greek the word could simply mean grace or favor in general 3, but in the New Testament it refers particularly to a gift of God's grace 13, and especially to the extraordinary spiritual gifts and endowments given to believers in the apostolic church, though it can cover all spiritual graces and endowments more broadly 1. It can also denote a religious qualification a person possesses or a miraculous ability at work in them 2, and even deliverance from danger or from passion 2.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
† χάρισμα, -τος, τό
(< χαρίζομαι) [in LXX: Si 7:33א(AB, χάρις) 38:30 Bl(אAB2R, χρῖσμα) *;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5486 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkhar'-is-mah
a (divine) gratuity, i.e. deliverance (from danger or passion); (specially), a (spiritual) endowment, i.e. (subjectively) religious qualification, or (objectively) miraculous faculty
Fromfrom G5483;
King James(free) gift.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
grace, favour, θεοῦ Refs 1st c.AD+; especially in NT, gift of God's grace, NT; opposed to ὀψώνια, NT; later, generally, favour bestowed, Refs 4th c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | charismem4×χάρισμα | charismeim2×χαρίσματα |
| of, belonging to genitive | charismeu1×χαρίσματος | charismeiu1×χαρισμάτων |
| to, for dative | charisme1×χαρίσματι | charismei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
charisme is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
charismem“gift”subject or objectdirect singular4×
Romans 5:15“free gift”… hōs tem paraptōmem, houtōs kai tem charismem; ei gar te tou henou paraptōme …… is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how …
Romans 5:16“free gift”… ek heneu eis katakrimem, tem de charismem ek polleiu paraptōmeiu eis dikaiōmem.… result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.
Romans 6:23… opsōnieim tau hamartau thanatos, tem de charismem tou theou zōas aiōnias en Christo …… of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in …
2 Corinthians 1:11“gift”… ek polleiu prosōpeiu tem eis nin charismem dia polloiu eucharistiteia huper nu.… help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.
charismeu“gift”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
1 Timothy 4:14mē amelasōr teu en si charismeu, hem dōita si dia profēteiau meta …Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was …
charisme“spiritual gift”to, fordative singular1×
1 Corinthians 1:7hōste vin mē husterorō en mēdene charisme, apekdechorōntoin tan apokalupsian tou kuriou nu …Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation …
charismeim“gifts”subject or objectdirect plural2×
Romans 11:29ametamelēteim gar teim charismeim kai tas klēsias tou theou.For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
1 Corinthians 12:9… pistias en te aute pneume, alloso charismeim iameiu en te hene pneume,… by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
charismeiu“gifts”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
1 Corinthians 12:4Diairesiais de charismeiu alō, tem de autem pneumem;There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
charismem4×
Romans 1:11… gar horara vin, hina tinem metadōameia charismem vi pneumatikem eis tem stērizira vin,… may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
1 Corinthians 7:7… kai miauton; alla hekastos idiem echatō charismem ek theou, tos men houtōs, tos …… But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift …
2 Timothy 1:6… han aitian anamimnēskamō sin anazōpurarō tem charismem tou theou, hem atō en si …… you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you …
1 Peter 4:10hekastos kathōs labata charismem, eis heautoin autem diakonarōntois hōs kalois …… each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one …
charismeim4×
Romans 12:6echarōntois de charismeim kata tan charitan tan dōirantan ni …We have different gifts according to the grace given us …
1 Corinthians 12:28… profētoin, tritem didaskaloin, epeita dunamiain, epeita charismeim iameiu, antilēmpsiain, kubernēsiain, geneim glōssaiu.… workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various …
1 Corinthians 12:30mē pantois charismeim echalō iameiu? mē pantois glōssai lalalō? …Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in …
1 Corinthians 12:31zēlavōr de teim charismeim teim megotereim. kai ēti kata huperbolan …But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you …