noun · feminine
ktisias
Strong’sG2937
creation, creature, institution
stem ktisi-19 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books3 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
κτίσις most often means creation — either the act of creating the world, or the created world itself. As the act of creating, it refers to God's work in making the universe 1. As the thing made, it can mean creation as a whole, the sum of everything created, or, more narrowly, a particular created being or creature 123. It is also used of a "new creation," describing something made new 1. In its collective sense it can include the irrational, non-human parts of creation 1.
The word can also denote an institution or ordinance — an authority or structure that has been set up or ordained 234.
In classical usage the word could also mean a founding or settling, the act of establishing something, such as a city or colony; this sense is not found in the Bible 13.
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
κτίσις, -εως, ἡ
(< κτίζω), [in LXX: Ps 103 (104):24 (קִנְיָן), Pr 1:13 A (הוֹן), To 8:5, Wi 2:6, Si 16:17, III Mac 2:2, al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2937 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidktis'-is
original formation (properly, the act; by implication, the thing, literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G2936;
King Jamesbuilding, creation, creature, ordinance.
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
(κτίζω) founding, settling, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 loosely, ={πρᾶξις}, κούφα κ. an easy achievement, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 creation, κ. κόσμου NT
II created thing, creature, LXX+NT
III authority created or ordained, NT
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 | ktisias7×κτίσις | ktisiais |
| object accusative | ktisian | ktisiain |
| direct address vocative | ktisiar | ktisiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | ktisiau8×κτίσεως | ktisiaiu |
| to, for dative | ktisia4×κτίσει | ktisiai |
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
ktisia 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
ktisias“creation”subjectnominative singular7×
Romans 8:20ta gar mataiota tas ktisias hupotassita, ouk hekōnas alla dia ton …For the creation was subjected to futility, not by …
Romans 8:21hoti kai autas tas ktisias eleutheriti apo tau douleiau tau fthorau …that the creation itself will be set free from …
Romans 8:22oidanē gar hoti pantas tas ktisias sustenazatō kai sunōdinatō achri tou nun;We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the …
Romans 8:39“created thing”oute hupsōmem oute bathem oute tinas ktisias heteras duneti nin chōrizara apo tau …neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of …
2 Corinthians 5:17hōste ei tinos en Christo, kainas ktisias; teim archaieim parerchata, idou genatē kaineim;… in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold …
Galatians 6:15… tinem atō oute akrobustias, alla kainas ktisias.… anything. What counts is a new creation.
Hebrews 4:13“creature”kai ouk atō ktisias afanas enōpion autou, panteim de gumneim …Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is …
ktisiau“creation”of, belonging togenitive singular8×
Mark 10:6apo de archau ktisiau arsenem kai thēluem poiata autoin;However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
Mark 13:19… hoias ouk genatē toioutas apo archau ktisiau han ktizata tos theos heōs tou …… unseen from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be …
Romans 1:20teim gar aorateim autou apo ktisiau kosmou tei poiēmei noorōnteim kathorotō, tas …For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities …
Romans 8:19tas gar apokaradokias tau ktisiau tan apokalupsian toiu huioiu tou theou …The creation waits in eager expectation for the …
Colossians 1:15… tou theou tou aoratou, prōtotokos pantau ktisiau,… invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Hebrews 9:11… cheiropoiētau, houtem atō ouk houtau tau ktisiau,… is not a part of this creation.
2 Peter 3:4… koimila, panteim houtōs diamenatō apo archau ktisiau.… it has from the beginning of creation.”
Revelation 3:14… pistos kai alēthinos, tas archas tau ktisiau tou theou;… true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
ktisia“creation”to, fordative singular4×
Mark 16:15“creation”… hapanton kērussavar tem euangeliem panta ta ktisia.… Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every …
Romans 1:25… pseude, kai sebazila kai latreuala ta ktisia para ton ktizaranton, hos atō eulogētos …… lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is …
Colossians 1:23“creation”… heu akouava, teu kērussiranteu en panta ktisia ta hupo ton ouranon, heu genema …… you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul …
1 Peter 2:13Hupotassivar panta anthrōpina ktisia dia ton kurion; eite basilevo hōs …… the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the …