noun · feminine
koinōnias
Strong’sG2842
participation, communion, fellowship
stem koinōni-19 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books4 of 10 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
Fellowship, communion, participation — the sharing of something in common with another, such as a shared life, spirit, faith, suffering, or the sharing of Christ's blood and body in communion 134. Strong's describes this as partnership, whether literal participation or social intercourse 2.
Contribution — a practical gift or benefaction, such as a monetary collection, given as an outcome or expression of that fellowship 13. Strong's likewise notes this pecuniary sense, rendering it as distribution or benefaction 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
κοινωνία, -ας, ἡ
(< κοινωνός), [in LXX: Le 6:2 (5:21) (יָד תְּשׂוּמֶת), Wi 8:18, III Mac 4:6*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2842 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkoy-nohn-ee'-ah
partnership, i.e. (literally) participation, or (social) intercourse, or (pecuniary) benefaction
Fromfrom G2844;
King James(to) communicate(-ation), communion, (contri-)distribution, fellowship.
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
communion, association, partnership, κ. μαλθακά Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ περὶ.. ἀνθρώπους πρὸς ἀλλήλους κ.Refs; ἀνθρωπίνη κ. human society, Refs 4th c.BC+; fellowship, NT; ἡ πρὸς τὸν Δία κ. Refs 2nd c.AD+
b joint-ownership, Refs 2nd c.AD+
2 with genitive objecti, λυγραὶ.. τῶν ὅπλων κ. Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ ἡδονῆς τε καὶ λύπης κ. συνδεῖRefs 4th c.BC+; βίου, of marriage, NT+6th c.AD+; τίς θαλάσσης βουκόλοις κ.; what have herdsmen to do with the sea? Refs 5th c.BC+; τίς δαὶ κατόπτρου καὶ ξίφους κ.; Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἀκοινωνησία, Refs 5th c.AD+
II sexual intercourse, Refs 5th c.BC+
III charitable contribution, alms, NT
III.2 charitable disposition, opposed to πλεονεξία, Refs
IV Refs 4th 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | koinōnias7×κοινωνία | koinōniais |
| object accusative | koinōnian7×κοινωνίαν | koinōniain |
| direct address vocative | koinōniar | koinōniair |
| of, belonging to genitive | koinōniau3×κοινωνίας | koinōniaiu |
| to, for dative | koinōnia2×κοινωνίᾳ | koinōniai |
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
koinōnia 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.
19 occurrences, every one of them listed
koinōnias“fellowship”subjectnominative singular7×
1 Corinthians 10:16… potēriem tau eulogiau hem euloganō, ouchi koinōnias atō teu haimeu tou Christou? ton …… of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And …
1 Corinthians 10:16… Christou? ton arton hon klanō, ouchi koinōnias teu sōmeu tou Christou atō?… the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
2 Corinthians 6:14… metochas dikaiosuna kai anomia, ē tinas koinōnias fōte pros skotem?… righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
2 Corinthians 13:13“fellowship”… tas agapas tou theou kai tas koinōnias teu hagieu pneumeu meta pantoiu vu.All the saints send you greetings.
Philippians 2:1… ei tinem paramuthiem agapau, ei tinas koinōnias pneumeu, ei tinas splanchneim kai oiktirmois,… comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection …
Philemon 1:6“sharing”hopōs tas koinōnias tau pistiau su energas geneteia en …I pray that your partnership in the faith may become effective as you …
1 John 1:3… koinōnian echaveiō meta nu; kai tas koinōnias de tas hēmeteras meta tou patrou …… have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father …
koinōnian“fellowship”objectaccusative singular7×
Romans 15:26eudokala gar Makedonias kai Achaias koinōnian tinan poiera eis toin ptōchoin toiu …… Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints …
1 Corinthians 1:9… tos theos dia hou kaliva eis koinōnian tou huiou autou Iēsu Christou tou …God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our …
2 Corinthians 8:4… dorōntois nu, tan charitan kai tan koinōnian tau diakoniau tau eis toin hagioin… with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
Philippians 3:10… tan dunamian tau anastasiau autou kai koinōnian pathēmeiu autou, summorfizorōntos to thanato autou,… power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to …
1 John 1:3… apangelanō kai vi, hina kai vis koinōnian echaveiō meta nu; kai tas koinōnias …… so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of …
1 John 1:6ean leganeia hoti koinōnian echanō meta autou kai en te …If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the …
1 John 1:7… hōs autos atō en te fōte, koinōnian echanō meta allēloiu kai tem haimem …… is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood …
koinōniau“share”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
2 Corinthians 9:13“sharing”… euangeliem tou Christou kai haplota tau koinōniau eis autoin kai eis pantoin,… obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others.
Galatians 2:9… arō, dexain dōala mi kai Barnabo koinōniau, hina nis eis teim ethneim, autois …… and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to …
Hebrews 13:16tau de eupoiau kai koinōniau mē epilathovōr, toioutai gar thusiai euarestotō …… neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices …
koinōnia“fellowship”to, fordative singular2×
Acts 2:42… ta didacha toiu apostoloiu kai ta koinōnia, ta klasia tou artou kai tai …… the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and …
Philippians 1:5epi ta koinōnia vu eis tem euangeliem apo tau …because of your partnership in the gospel from the first …