adjective
koinos
Strong’sG2839
common, shared, unclean
stem koin-14 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books6 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
Common, shared — belonging to more than one person, or to a whole group, rather than being private property; used of something held jointly, such as goods, faith, or salvation 1234. This is the ordinary, general sense of the word, as opposed to what belongs to one person alone 3.
Unclean, defiled, profane — used of food or things regarded as not set apart for sacred use, and so ritually impure or unhallowed 1234. This sense grows out of the idea of something being merely "ordinary" or common rather than special, and in this usage the word functions as the opposite of "clean" or "holy" 12.
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
κοινός, -ή, -όν,
[in LXX: Pr 1:14 (אֶחָד) 21:9 25:24 (חֶבֶר), Wi 7:3, al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2839 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkoy-nos'
common, i.e. (literally) shared by all or several, or (ceremonially) profane
Fromprobably from G4862;
King Jamescommon, defiled, unclean, unholy.
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
also ός, όν Refs 5th c.BC+:— common (opposed to ἴδιος), not in Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐκ κοινοῦ shared in common, Refs 8th c.BC+; of a common altar, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. ἔρχεται κῦμ᾽ Ἀΐδα Refs 5th c.BC+; τρεῖς.. κ. ὄμμ᾽ ἐκτημέναι, of the Gorgons, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. ὠφέλημα θνητοῖσιν φανείς, of Prometheus,Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. Ἑρμῆς 'share the luck', Refs; κ. ἀρωγά common aid (i.e. for all), Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν δὲ κοινὸς ἀρσένων ἴτω κλαγγά and let the shouts of males rise jointly, Refs 5th c.BC+ common to or with another, ὑμῖν φῶς.. καὶ τοῖσδ᾽ ἅπασι κ. Refs 5th c.BC+; [πολιτεία] τίς κοινοτάτ; Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τε καὶ Ἀθηναίων shared in by both.., Refs 5th c.BC+, see below see; κ. κατ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων Refs 1st c.AD+; μέρος κ. πρός τινα shared with.., Refs 2nd c.AD+, etc.; κ. μεταξύ τινων Refs 5th c.AD+
II in social and political relations, public, general, τὸ κ. ἀγαθόν the common weal, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. στόλῳRefs 5th c.BC+; κοινότατον of public or general interest,Refs 4th c.BC+; of constitutions, popular, free, κοινοτέραν εἶναι τὴν ἐκείνου μοναρχίαν τῆς αὑτῶν δημοκρατίας Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 τὸ κ. the state, τὸ κ. Σπαρτιητέων Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2.b especially of leagues or federations, τὸ κ. τῶν Ἰώνων Refs 5th c.BC+, etc.; ἄνευ τοῦ πάντων κοινοῦ (i.e. τῶν Θεσσαλῶν) Refs 5th c.BC+; also, of private associations, Refs; of guilds or corporations, τὸ κ. τῶν τεκτόνων Refs 4th c.AD+; of boards of magistrates, τὸ κ. τῶν ἀρχόντων Refs 3rd c.AD+
II.2.c the government, public authorities, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπὸ τοῦ κ. by public authority, Refs 5th c.BC+; σὺν τῷ κ. by common consent, Refs
II.2.d the public treasury, χρημάτων μεγάλων ἐν τῷ κ. γενομένων Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔχειν ἐν κοινῷ (without the Article), Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2.e common right or rights of citizens, τὸ κ. τὸ τῶν πολιτῶν Refs 4th c.BC+
II.3 τὰ κ. public affairs: πρὸς τὰ κ. προσελθεῖν, προσιέναι, to enter public life, Refs 4th c.BC+; but also, the public money, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ κ. τῆς πόλεως, opposed to τὰ ἁγνά, Refs*.383; ἀπὸ κοινοῦ at the public expense, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ κ. from common funds, at joint expense, Refs 2nd c.BC+
III common, ordinary, τὰ κ. εἰδέναι Refs 5th c.BC+; κοινοτάτη τῶν αἰσθήσεων [ἡ ἁφή] Refs; τὰ κ. commonplaces, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἡ κ. ἔννοια or ἐπίνοια, Refs 2nd c.BC+; κ. νοῦς, φρένες, common sense, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. καὶ διήκουσαι κακίαι general and all-pervading vices, Refs 1st c.BC+; ἡ κ. διάλεκτος every-day language (free from archaisms and far-fetched expressions), Refs 1st c.BC+
III.2 Grammars, ordinary, 'regular' Greek, opposed to special dialects, διάλεκτοί εἰσι πέντε, Ἀτθὶς Δωρὶς Αἰολὶς Ἰὰς καὶ κ. Refs 2nd c.BC+ H., etc.; ἡ κ. alone, Refs 2nd c.AD+; τὸ κ. ἔθος, ἡ κ. ἐκφορά, Refs; οἱ κ. the writers who use this language,Refs
III.2.b colloquial, vulgar Greek, Moer.Refs
III.2.c ἡ κ. διάλεκτος demotic Egyptian, Manethoap. Refs 1st c.AD+
III.3 common, of inferior quality, χρυσός Refs 2nd c.AD+
III.4 in magical formulae, of words added at will by the user, 'and so forth', frequently in Papyrus, Refs; compare κοινολογία.
IV of Persons, connected by common origin or kindred, especiallyof brothers and sisters, κ. σπέρμα Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. πατήρ, μήτηρ, Refs 3rd c.AD+; also κ. Χάριτες Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.2 one who shares in a thing, partner, ἐν θύμασιν κ. ποεῖσθαί τινα Refs 5th c.BC+; also κ. τῷ θεῷ belonging in part to the god (who claims tithe of his substance), Refs
IV.3 lending a ready ear to all, impartial, μὴ οὐ κ. ἀποβῆτε Refs 5th c.BC+; neutral,Refs 5th c.BC+; κοινοί, οἱ, arbitrators, Refs 3rd c.AD+; of a capital city, δεῖ.. κοινὴν εἶναι τῶν τόπων ἁπάντων easily accessible on all sides, Refs 4th c.BC+
IV.3.b courteous, affable, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.3.c in bad sense, κοινή, ἡ, prostitute, Refs 2nd c.AD+
IV.3.d of events, κοινότεραι τύχαι more impartial, i.e. more equal, chances, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἔστιν ἐν τῷ κ. πᾶσι with infinitive, Refs 5th c.BC+
V in Logic, general, universal, τὸ κ. λαμβάνειν περί τινων, τὸ ἐπὶ πᾶσι κ., Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. ἔννοιαι axioms, heading in Refs 3rd c.BC+; general, κ. ὅρος Refs 4th c.BC+; κοινὰ καὶ στοιχειώδη general principles, Refs 1st c.BC+.; κ. σημεῖον, opposed to ἴδιον, Refs; κ. κρίσις objectively valid judgement, Refs 1st c.BC+; abstract, ὁ κ. ἄνθρωπος καὶ λογισμῷ ληπτός Refs 5th c.AD+
VI Grammars,
VI.1 κ. συλλαβή common syllable, capable of being long or short, Refs 2nd c.BC+
VI.1.b κ. ποιήματα, poems which are both κατὰ στίχον and συστηματικά, e.g. the Sapphic stanza, Refs C.; also, poems of ambiguous metrical form, Refs
VI.2 see.aboveRefs
VI.3 of gender, κ. γένος Refs 2nd c.BC+; of nouns, Refs 2nd c.AD+
VI.4 ἀπὸ κοινοῦ λαμβάνειν, of two clauses taking a word in common, Refs 2nd c.AD+
VII of forbidden meats, common, profane, φαγεῖν κ. καὶ ἀκάθαρτον NT
VIII κοινόν, τό, name of an eye-salve, Refs
B adverb κοινῶς in common, jointly, Refs 5th c.BC+
B.2 publicly, κ. μᾶλλον ὠφέλησαν ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ἔβλαψαν Refs 5th c.BC+
B.3 sociably, like other citizens, οὐδὲ κ. οὐδὲ πολιτικῶς ἐβίωσαν Refs 5th c.BC+; μετρίως καὶ κ. ὰσπάζεσθαι Refs
B.4 in general, Refs 3rd c.BC+; ἡ κ. σύνεσις, τὸ κ. ἄνθρωπον”, Refs 1st c.BC+; opposed to ἰδίως, Refs 5th c.BC+; -οτέρως Refs 4th c.AD+
B.5 in the common dialect, Refs 2nd c.AD+: comparative -ότερον Refs
B.6 in plain language, opposed to σοφιστικῶς, Refs 1st c.AD+; in the ordinary or wide sense, opposed to κυρίως, Refs 4th c.AD+: comparative, Refs 2nd c.AD+
B.II feminine dative κοινῇ; Doric dialect κοινᾷ Refs 5th c.BC+; Boeotian dialect κυνῆ Refs 2nd c.BC+:—in common, by common consent, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. μετά τινος, κ. σύν τινι, Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.2 publicly, καὶ κ. καὶ ἰδίᾳ Refs 5th c.BC+
B.II.3 as preposition with dative, together with, Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III with Preps., εἰς κοινόν in common, in public, ὑμῖν τῇδέ τ᾽ ἐς κ. φράσω Refs 5th c.BC+; εἰς τὸ κ. λέγειν, ἀγορεύειν, Refs 5th c.BC+; εἰς τὸ κ. for public use, Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III.2 ἀπὸ κοινοῦ, ἐκ κοινοῦ, see.Refs 5th c.BC+
B.III.3 ἀφεῖσαν ἐν κοινῷ ζητεῖν, Latin rem in medio reliquerunt, Refs 4th c.BC+; but οἱ ἐν κ. γιγνόμενοι λόγοι, ={οἱ ἐξωτερικοὶ λόγοι}, Refs
B.III.4 κατὰ κοινόν, opposed to κατ᾽ ἰδίαν, jointly, in common, Legal cited in 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 | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | koinos | koinas | koinem7×κοινὸν | koinois | koinais | koineim2×κοινά |
| object accusative | koinon1×κοινὸν | koinan1×κοινὴν | koinoin | koinain | ||
| direct address vocative | koinor | koinar | koinoir | koinair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | koinou | koinau1×κοινῆς | koineu | koinoiu | koinaiu | koineiu |
| to, for dative | koino | koina | koine | koinoi | koinai2×κοιναῖς | koinei |
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
koin 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
koinon“common”objectaccusative singular1×
Acts 10:28“common”… allofulo; kami tos theos deikata mēdenon koinon ē akatharton legarō anthrōpon;… with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
koinan“common”objectaccusative singular1×
Titus 1:4Tito gnēsie tekne kata koinan pistian; charitas kai eirēnas apo theou …… Titus, my true child in our common faith: Grace and peace from God …
koinau“common”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Jude 1:3“common”… spoudan poiorōntos grafarō vi peri tau koinau nu sōtērēau anankan echama grafara vi …… effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend …
koinem“unclean”subject or objectdirect singular7×
Acts 10:14“common”… Mēdamōs, kurior, hoti oudepote esthiama pantem koinem kai akathartem.“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
Hebrews 10:29… katapatarantos, kai tem haimem tau diathēkau koinem hēgerantos en he hagiazita, kai tem …… trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that …
Acts 11:8“common”legama de; Mēdamōs, kurior, hoti koinem ē akathartem oudepote eiserchata eis tem …‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
Romans 14:14… peithomē en kurio Iēso hoti oudenem koinem dia heauteu; ei mē to logizorōnto …… the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards …
Romans 14:14… heauteu; ei mē to logizorōnto tinem koinem arō, ekeino koinem.… But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
Romans 14:14… to logizorōnto tinem koinem arō, ekeino koinem.… unclean, then for him it is unclean.
Revelation 21:27… ouk mē eiserchateia eis autan pantem koinem kai poiarōntos bdelugmem kai pseudem, ei …But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone …
koinai“unclean”to, fordative plural2×
Mark 7:2“unclean”… horarantois tinoin toiu mathētoiu autou hoti koinai cheirai, houtem atō aniptai, esthialō toin …and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled— that is, unwashed.
Mark 7:5“unclean”… kata tan paradosian toiu presbuteroiu, alla koinai cheirai esthialō ton arton?… not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”
koineim“common”subject or objectdirect plural2×
Acts 2:44… epi tem autem kai echale hapanteim koineim,… were together and had everything in common.
Acts 4:32“in common”… idiem arō, alla ate autoi panteim koineim.… his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.