noun · neuter
kratem
Strong’sG2904
dominion, strength, power
stem krat-12 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books3 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
κράτος denotes strength, might, or power — the capacity to act forcefully or overcome resistance. In earlier Greek it was used especially of bodily strength 3. In the New Testament it refers to might or power in general, as of God or Christ 1, and appears in the set phrase "with all might" or "mightily" 13, as well as in the description of a mighty deed or act of power 1. It is also the word used in doxologies ascribing power or dominion to God 124, and can be translated as dominion, might, power, or strength depending on context 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
κράτος, -εος (-ους), τό,
[in LXX chiefly for עֹז, Jb 12:16, Ps 89 (90):11 al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2904 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkrat'-os
vigor ("great") (literally or figuratively)
Fromperhaps a primary word;
King Jamesdominion, might(-ily), power, strength.
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
Ionic dialect and Epic dialect κάρτος, εος, τό, both in Refs 8th c.BC+ κρέτος Refs 7th c.BC+:— strength, might, in Refs 8th c.BC+ especially of bodily strength, Refs 8th c.BC+, etc.; τὸ γὰρ αὖτε σιδήρου γε κ. ἐστίν this (i.e. τὸ βάψαι) is what gives strength to iron, Refs 8th c.BC+; κατὰ κράτος with all one's might or strength, Refs 6th c.BC+, etc.: frequently in phrase αἱρεῖν κατὰ κ. take by storm, Refs 6th c.BC+; πρὸς ἰσχύος κράτος, opposed to λόγῳ, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 personified, K. Refs 5th c.BC+.
II power, τοῦ γὰρ κ. ἐστὶ μέγιστον, of Zeus, LXX+8th c.BC+, etc.: plural, Refs 5th c.BC+; especially of political power, rule, sovereignty, Refs 7th c.BC+; τὸ πᾶν κ. ἔχειν to be all-powerful, Refs 5th c.BC+; βασιλεὺς πρῶτος ἐν κράτει Ὀδρυσῶν ἐγένετο in real power, Refs 5th c.BC+ sovereign power, Refs
II.2 with genitive, power over, Refs 6th c.BC+; ὧν ἂν ᾖ τὸ κ. τῆς γῆς whoever have possession of the land, Refs 6th c.BC+: plural, Refs 5th c.BC+ (Lyric poetry).
II.3 of persons, a power, an authority, Refs 5th c.BC+
III mastery, victory, frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+; ἀέθλων κ. victory in.., Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. ἀριστείας the meed of highest valour, Refs 6th c.BC+.
IV in Medicine texts, in plural, ligaments, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.2 ={ταρσός}, back of the hand, Refs 2nd c.AD+
V Refs 4th c.BC+ name for ten, Refs.—This word and its derivations take two forms, κρατ- and καρτ-; the latter is mostly Epic dialect, as κάρτος, κάρτιστος, καρτύνω, but in κρατερός and καρτερός the reverse holds, see at {κρατερός} near the end; κρατέω, κρατύς have no form καρτ-. (κρατ- and καρτ- from kṛt-, weak form of κρετ-, compare κρέτος, κρέσσων.)
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 | kratem6×κράτος | krateim |
| of, belonging to genitive | krateu1×κράτους | krateiu |
| to, for dative | krate1×κράτει | kratei |
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
krate 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
kratem“power”subject or objectdirect singular6×
1 Timothy 6:16“power”… oude horara dunotō; ho timas kai kratem aiōniem; amēn.… Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
1 Peter 4:11… ho atō tas doxas kai tem kratem eis toin aiōnoin toiu aiōnoiu; amēn.… whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:11“dominion”auto tem kratem eis toin aiōnoin toiu aiōnoiu; amēn.To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
Jude 1:25“power”… Christou tou kuriou nu doxas megalōsunas kratem kai exousias pro pantou tou aiōnou …to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now …
Revelation 1:6“dominion”… autou auto tas doxas kai tem kratem eis toin aiōnoin toiu aiōnoiu; amēn.… priests to His God and Father — to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 5:13… timas kai tas doxas kai tem kratem eis toin aiōnoin toiu aiōnoiu.… praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”
krateu“mighty”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Ephesians 1:19… toin pisteuarōntoin kata tan energeian teu krateu tau ischuau autou… accordance with the working of His mighty strength,
krate“strength”to, fordative singular1×
Ephesians 6:10“strength”… endunamovōr en kurio kai en te krate tau ischuau autou.Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
kratem4×
Luke 1:51“strength”Poiata kratem en brachiono autou, diaskorpizata huperēfanoin dianoia …… mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their …
Acts 19:20“power”houtōs kata kratem tou kuriou tos logos auxanate kai …So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.
Colossians 1:11en panta dunamia dunamorōntois kata tem kratem tau doxau autou eis pantan hupomonan …… all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full …
Hebrews 2:14… dia tou thanatou katargateia ton tem kratem echarōnton tou thanatou, houtem atō ton …… might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,