What does ἀκέραιος (akéraios) mean in the Bible?
ἀκέραιος (akéraios): Unmixed purity applied to character: guileless simplicity free from deceit or malice.
Greek · G185
ἀκέραιος
Innocent
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
ἀκέραιος G185
Pronunciation akéraios
What does ἀκέραιος (akéraios) mean in the Bible?
ἀκέραιος (akéraios): Unmixed purity applied to character: guileless simplicity free from deceit or malice.
Full entry for ἀκέραιος (G185) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G185?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include as innocent (1), innocent (1), pure (1).
Where does ἀκέραιος (akéraios) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (1), Philippians (1), Romans (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It as innocent 1× Matthew 10:16
innocent 1× Romans 16:19
pure 1× Philippians 2:15
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 10:16
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Matthew 1 Romans 1 Philippians 1
Source forms
ἀκέραιοι 2x akeraioi Matthew 10:16, Philippians 2:15
ἀκεραίους 1x akeraious Romans 16:19
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x Matthew 10:16, Philippians 2:15
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x Romans 16:19
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Unmixed purity applied to character: guileless simplicity free from deceit or malice.
Strong's G185
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 2 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
innocent
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Unmixed purity applied to character: guileless simplicity free from deceit or malice.
(κεράννυμι), [in LXX: Est.8:13 * ;] unmixed, pure, hence, metaphorically (cf. MM, VGT, see word), guileless, simple: Mat.10:16, Rom.16:19, Php.2:15.
Synonymsἄδολος, ἄκακος, ἁπλοῦς (cf. Ellic. on Phl., l.with; Tr., Syn., §lvi).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 10:16 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀκέραιοι akeraioi
simple, unsophisticated, innocent
Read verse Romans 16:19 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ἀκεραίους akeraiouv
simple, unsophisticated, innocent
Read verse Philippians 2:15 Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀκέραιοι, akeraioi
simple, unsophisticated, innocent
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 2 Aligned forms 3 Case pattern Nominative (2) Number pattern Plural (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Matt 10:16 · Phil 2:15 2×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Rom 16:19 1×
Word Origins
ἀκέραιος is built from these roots:
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain