adjective
palaios
Strong’sG3820
old, ancient, worn out
stem palai-19 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books11 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
Old or ancient, describing something that has existed for a long time, in contrast to what is new or young 1234. In the biblical writings it describes wine, a covenant, a commandment, leaven, and the "old self," as well as general references to old and new things together 1. It is also used of garments and wineskins to describe something not merely old but worn out through use 124.
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
παλαιός, -ά, -όν
(< πάλαι), [in LXX: Le 25:22 26:10, Ca 7:13 (14) (ישׁן), Jos 9:4, 5, Je 45 (38):11 (בָּלֶה), etc.;]
SYN.: v.s. ἀρχαῖος.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3820 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpal-ah-yos'
antique, i.e. not recent, worn out
Fromfrom G3819;
King Jamesold.
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
Aeolic dialect πάλαος Refs; Boeotian dialect παληός Refs; Laconian dialect παλεός (see. below): regular comparative and superlative παλαιότερος Refs 5th c.BC+ [The penultimate is sometimes short in Poets, Refs 5th c.BC+; in these places παλεός (a form mentioned by Hdn.Refs 5th c.BC+
I old in years,
I.1 mostly of persons, aged, ἢ νέος ἠὲ παλαιός Refs 8th c.BC+; π. γέρων, π. γρηῦς, Refs 8th c.BC+: in bad sense, a dotard (μωρός Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2 of things, οἶνος Refs 8th c.BC+; νῆες.. νέαι ἠδὲ π.Refs 5th c.BC+
II of old date, ancient,
II.1 of persons, ξεῖνος π. an old guest-friend, Refs 8th c.BC+; οἱ π. the ancients, LXX+5th c.BC+
II.2 of things, λέκτρον Refs 8th c.BC+; of places, Refs 5th c.BC+; καιροὶ π. ancient times, Refs 3rd c.BC+; τὸ π. as adverb, anciently, formerly, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ παλαιοῦ from of old, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ παλαιτέρου from older time, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀρχαῖα καὶ παλαιά joined, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 of things, also,
II.3.a in good sense, venerable, held in esteem, like Latin antiquus, ἅπερ μέγιστα καὶ παλαιότατα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3.b in bad sense, antiquated, obsolete, κωφὰ καὶ π. ἔπη Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3.c π. δρᾶμα a drama which has been previously acted, Refs 4th c.BC+
III adverb παλαιῶς in an old way, τὰ καινὰ π. διδάσκειν Refs 5th c.BC+ at an earlier time, 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 | palaios2×παλαιὸς | palaias1×παλαιά | palaiem2×παλαιόν | palaiois | palaiais | palaieim1×παλαιά |
| object accusative | palaion3×παλαιὸν | palaian2×παλαιὰν | palaioin3×παλαιούς | palaiain | ||
| direct address vocative | palaior | palaiar | palaioir | palaiair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | palaiou | palaiau1×παλαιᾶς | palaieu1×παλαιοῦ | palaioiu | palaiaiu | palaieiu |
| to, for dative | palaio | palaia1×παλαιᾷ | palaie2×παλαιῷ | palaioi | palaiai | palaiei |
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
palai 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.
19 occurrences, every one of them listed
palaios“old”subjectnominative singular2×
Luke 5:39… palaion thelatō neon; legatō gar; Tos palaios chrēstos atō.… wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
Romans 6:6houtem gnōskarōntois hoti tos palaios nu anthrōpos sustaurita, hina katargiteia tem …We know that our old self was crucified with Him so …
palaion“old”objectaccusative singular3×
Luke 5:39kai oudenos pinarantos palaion thelatō neon; legatō gar; Tos palaios …And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says …
Ephesians 4:22… vin kata tan proteran anastrofan ton palaion anthrōpon ton ftherorōnton kata tain epithumiain …… your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by …
Colossians 3:9mē pseudovōr eis allēloin; apekduerantois ton palaion anthrōpon sun tai praxiai autou,… since you have taken off the old self with its practices,
palaias“old”subjectnominative singular1×
1 John 2:7“old”… echave apo archau; tas entolas tas palaias atō tos logos hon akouava.… you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.
palaian“old”objectaccusative singular2×
1 Corinthians 5:7ekkathairavar tan palaian zuman, hina aveiō neem furamem, kathōs …Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a …
1 John 2:7… entolan kainan grafamō vi, alla entolan palaian han echave apo archau; tas entolas …… you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from …
palaiau“old”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
2 Corinthians 3:14… autem kalummem epi ta anagnōsia tau palaiau diathēkau menatō mē anakaluptorōntem, hoti en …… remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted …
palaia“old”to, fordative singular1×
1 Corinthians 5:8hōste heortazaneiō, mē en zuma palaia mēde en zuma kakiau kai ponēriau, …… keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness …
palaiem“old”subject or objectdirect singular2×
Mark 2:21… epiblēmem rakeu agnafeu epiraptatō epi himatiem palaiem; ei de mē, airatō tem plērōmem …… patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new …
Luke 5:36… himatieu kaineu schizarantos epibalatō epi himatiem palaiem; ei de mēge, kai tem kainem …… garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will …
palaieu“old”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Mark 2:21… plērōmem apo auteu tem kainem teu palaieu, kai cheirōnem schismem genotō.… piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result.
palaie“old”to, fordative singular2×
Matthew 9:16… epibalatō epiblēmem rakeu agnafeu epi himatie palaie; airatō gar tem plērōmem auteu apo …… patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull …
Luke 5:36… kai tem kainem schizati kai te palaie ouk sumfōnati tem epiblēmem tem apo …… the new will not match the old.
palaioin“old”objectaccusative plural3×
Matthew 9:17oude balalō oinon neon eis askoin palaioin; ei de mē ge, rēgolō tois …… do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins …
Mark 2:22… oudenos balatō oinon neon eis askoin palaioin; ei de mē, rēgati tos oinos …… no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine …
Luke 5:37… oudenos balatō oinon neon eis askoin palaioin; ei de mēge, rēgati tos oinos …… no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new …
palaieim“old”subject or objectdirect plural1×
Matthew 13:52… ek tou thēsaurou autou kaineim kai palaieim.… storeroom new treasures as well as old.”