adjective
katharos
Strong’sG2513
clean, pure, unstained
stem kathar-26 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books10 of 26 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
καθαρός describes something physically clean or unstained — free of dirt, defilement, or blemish, as of a dish, a cup, a garment, a body washed clean, fine linen, or a precious stone 124. In this sense it can also mean clear of any mixture, as water, light, or metal free of impurity 3.
It also describes ceremonial cleanness — the state of being fit for sacred use under ritual law, as opposed to being ceremonially defiled, said of foods, practices, and persons 1. This matches the wider use of the word for food and sacrificial victims judged ritually pure 3.
Finally, it describes moral or ethical purity — a person, heart, or conscience free from sin, guilt, or corrupt motive, and so sincere and blameless; it can be used with "from" to say someone or something is clear or free of a particular fault 13. Strong's and Dodson likewise give the general sense of being clean, clear, or pure 24.
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
καθαρός, -ά, -όν,
[in LXX chiefly for טָהוֹר;]
SYN.: v.s. ἁγνός.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2513 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkath-ar-os'
clean (literally or figuratively)
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jamesclean, clear, pure.
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
Doric dialect καθαρός Refs 5th c.AD+, Aeolic dialect κόθ- Refs 7th c.BC+; compare ἀνακαθαίρω, κάθαρσις:
1 physically clean, spotless (not in Refs 8th c.BC+; of persons, cleanly, κ. περὶ ἐσθῆτα Refs 4th c.BC+
2 clear of admixture, clear, pure, especially of water, Βορυσθένης ῥέει καθαρὸς παρὰ θολεροῖσι LXX+5th c.BC+; κ. φάος, φέγγος, Refs 5th c.BC+; of white bread, Wilcken LXX+3rd c.BC+; ἄλευρον κ. Refs; χρυσίον, ἀργύριον -ώτατον, Refs 5th c.BC+winnowed, πυρὸς κ. ἄδολος Refs 2nd c.BC+, etc.; of metals, etc., σίδηρος Refs 5th c.AD+, etc.; ἀρωμάτων, καθαρῶν, λαχάνων, uncertain meaning in Refs 4th c.AD+; ἄκρατος καὶ κ. νοῦς Refs 5th c.BC+; of feelings, unmixed, μῖσος τῆς ἀλλοτρίας φύσεως Refs 6th c.BC+; serene, φρήν Refs 5th c.BC+
3 clear of objects, free, ἐν καθαρῷ (i.e. τόπῳ) in an open space, ἐν κ., ὅθι δὴ νεκύων διεφαίνετο χῶρος Refs 8th c.BC+; πάξαις Ἄλτιν ἐν κ. in a clearing, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν κ. βῆναι to leave the way clear, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν τῷ κ. οἰκεῖν live in the clear sunshine, Refs 5th c.BC+; διὰ καθαροῦ ῥέειν, of a river whose course is clear and open, Refs 5th c.BC+ substantive, κελεύθῳ ἐν κRefs 5th c.BC+; χῶρος κ. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν ἡλίῳ κ. in the open sun, opposed to σκιά, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὥς σφι τὸ ἐμποδὼν ἐγεγόνεε κ. was cleared away, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. ποιεῖσθαι τὰς ἀρκυστασίας set up the nets in open ground, Refs 5th c.BC+; frequently of land, free from weeds, etc., παραδώσω τὸν κλῆρον κ. ἀπὸ θρύου καλάμου ἀγρώστεως κτλ. Refs 2nd c.BC+; παραδώσω τὰς ἀρούρας κ. ὡς ἔλαβον Refs 3rd c.AD+ clear of the marks, Refs 5th c.BC+; καθαρὸν τῶν προβόλων, of a fort, Refs 2nd c.AD+; of documents, free from mistakes, Refs 3rd c.AD+; χειρόγραφον κ. ἀπὸ ἐπιγραφῆς καὶ ἀλείφαδος free from interlineation and erasure, Refs 2nd c.AD+
3.b metaphorically, free, clear of debt, liability, etc., κ. ἀπὸ δημοσίων καὶ παντὸς εἴδους Refs 1st c.AD+; γῆ κ. ἀπὸ γεωργίας βασιλικῆς Refs 2nd c.AD+; καθαρὰ ποιῆσαι to give a discharge, Refs; in moral sense, free from pollution, καθαρῷ θανάτῳ an honourable death, Refs 8th c.BC+; frequently free from guilt or defilement, pure, χεῖρες Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔρχομαι ἐκ κοθαρῶν κοθαρά OrphRefs; of ceremonial purity, καθαρὰ καὶ ἁγνή εἰμι ἀπό τε τῶν ἄλλων τῶν οὐ καθαρευόντων καὶ ἀπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς συνουσίας Jusj. cited in LXX+4th c.BC+; especially of persons purified after pollution, ἱκέτης προσῆλθες κ. Refs 5th c.BC+; also of things, βωμοί, θύματα, δόμος, μέλαθρα, Refs 5th c.BC+: with genitive, clear of or from.. , κ. ἐγκλημάτων Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀδικίας, κακῶν, NT+5th c.BC+; ceremonially pure, of food, ὄσπριον Refs 5th c.BC+; of victims, LXX+2nd c.AD+, etc.; κ. ἡμέραι, opposed to ἀποφράδες, Refs 5th c.BC+
3.c in active sense, purifying, cleansing, λέβης Refs 5th c.BC+
4 of birth, pure, genuine, σπέρμα θεοῦ Refs 5th c.BC+; πόλις Refs 5th c.BC+; τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὅπερ ἐστράτευε καθαρὸν ἐξῆλθε, i.e. were citizens of pure blood, Refs 5th c.BC+; οἱ τῷ γένει μὴ κ. Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. ἀστοί Refs 5th c.BC+; καθαρόν a real, genuine saying, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. Τίμων a Timon pure and simple, Refs 4th c.BC+; ζημία κ., of a person, Alciphro 3.21.
5 of language, pure, ὀνόματα, λέξις, Refs 1st c.BC+; so of writers, [Λυσίας] κ. τὴν ἑρμηνείαν Refs; also, clear, simple, σεμνὸς καὶ κ. Refs 4th c.AD+
5.b Grammars, preceded by a vowel, pure, Refs 2nd c.BC+; containing a 'pure' syllable, Refs
6 without blemish, sound, ὁ κ. στρατός, τὸ κ. τοῦ στρατοῦ, the sound portion of the army, Refs 5th c.BC+
7 clear, exact, ἂν κ. ὦσιν αἱ ψῆφοι if the accounts are exactly balanced, Refs 4th c.BC+
II adverb purely, ἁγνῶς καὶ καθαρῶς Refs 8th c.BC+: comparative -ωτέρωςRefs 3rd c.AD+
II.2 of birth, κ. γεγονέναι Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 with clean hands, honestly, σὺν δίκῃ.. καὶ κ. Refs 6th c.BC+; δικαίως καὶ κ. Refs 5th c.BC+
II.4 clearly, plainly, λέγειν Refs 5th c.BC+
II.5 of language, purely, correctly, -ώτερον διαλέγεσθαι Refs 1st c.AD+
II.6 entirely, Refs 5th c.BC+ in its purest form, Refs 1st c.BC+
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 | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | katharos3×καθαρὸς | katharas1×καθαρὰ | katharem7×καθαρόν | katharois4×καθαροί | katharais | kathareim3×καθαρὰ |
| object accusative | katharon | katharan | katharoin | katharain | ||
| direct address vocative | katharor | katharar | katharoir | katharair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | katharou | katharau2×καθαρᾶς | kathareu | katharoiu | katharaiu | kathareiu |
| to, for dative | katharo1×καθαρῷ | kathara3×καθαρᾷ | kathare1×καθαρῷ | katharoi1×καθαροῖς | katharai | katharei |
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
kathar 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.
26 occurrences, every one of them listed
katharos“innocent”subjectnominative singular3×
John 13:10… mē toin podoin niptera, alla atō katharos holos; kai vis katharois avō, alla …… feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not …
Acts 18:6… haimem vu epi tan kefalan vu; katharos mis; apo tou nun eis teim …… on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I …
Acts 20:26… vi en ta sēmeron hēmera hoti katharos amō apo teu haimeu pantoiu,… you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
katharo“clear”to, fordative singular1×
Revelation 21:18“clear”… tas polas chrusiem katharem homoiem hualo katharo;… and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.
katharas“pure”subjectnominative singular1×
James 1:27thrēskeias katharas kai amiantas para to theo kai …Pure and undefiled religion before our God …
katharau“pure”of, belonging togenitive singular2×
1 Timothy 1:5… telem tau parangeliau atō agapas ek katharau kardiau kai suneidēsiau agathau kai pistiau …… the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a …
2 Timothy 2:22… meta toiu epikalorōntoiu ton kurion ek katharau kardiau.… on the Lord out of a pure heart.
kathara“clear”to, fordative singular3×
Matthew 27:59… sōmem tos Iōsēf entulissata autem sindona kathara,… the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
1 Timothy 3:9echarōntoin tem mustēriem tau pistiau en kathara suneidēsia.… mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
2 Timothy 1:3… theo, ho latreuamō apo progonoiu en kathara suneidēsia, hōs adialeiptan echamō tan peri …… God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as …
katharem“pure”subject or objectdirect singular7×
Matthew 23:26… hina geneteia kai tem ektos auteu katharem.… so that the outside may become clean as well.
Titus 1:15… toi de mianorēntoi kai apistoi oudenem katharem, alla mianotē autoiu kai tos nouos …… the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their …
Revelation 21:18… autau iaspias, kai tas polas chrusiem katharem homoiem hualo katharo;… city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.
Revelation 21:21… kai tas plateias tau polau chrusiem katharem hōs hualos diaugos.… main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
Revelation 15:6“pure”… plēgain ek tou naou, enduorēntois linem katharem lamprem kai perizōnorēntois peri teim stētheim …And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests.
Revelation 19:8“clean”… dōita auta hina peribaleteia bussinem lamprem katharem, tem gar bussinem teim dikaiōmeim toiu …… clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19:14“clean”… epi hippoi leukoi, enduorēntois bussinem leukem katharem.… dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses.
kathare“pure”to, fordative singular1×
Hebrews 10:22… ponērau kai louorēntois tem sōmem hude kathare;… conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
katharois“clean”subjectnominative plural4×
Matthew 5:8makariois tois katharois ta kardia, hoti autois ton theon …Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see …
John 13:10… alla atō katharos holos; kai vis katharois avō, alla ouchi pantois.… be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”
John 13:11… dia houtem legata hoti Ouchi pantois katharois avō.… said, “Not all of you are clean.”
John 15:3ēdē vis katharois avō dia ton logon hon lalamē …You are already clean because of the word I have …
katharoi“pure”to, fordative plural1×
Titus 1:15panteim kathareim toi katharoi; toi de mianorēntoi kai apistoi oudenem …To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving …
kathareim“clean”subject or objectdirect plural3×
Luke 11:41… eneiarōnteim dōavar eleēmosunan, kai idou panteim kathareim vi atō.… you, and behold, everything will be clean for you.
Romans 14:20… tem ergem tou theou. panteim men kathareim, alla kakosem to anthrōpo to dia …… sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a …
Titus 1:15panteim kathareim toi katharoi; toi de mianorēntoi kai …To the pure, all things are pure; but to …