What does καινότης (kainótēs) mean in the Bible?
καινότης (kainótēs): Spiritual renewal or transformative freshness—not mere novelty but vital newness of life and Spirit.
Greek · G2538
καινότης
Renewal (figuratively)
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καινότηςG2538
Pronunciationkainótēs
What does καινότης (kainótēs) mean in the Bible?
καινότης (kainótēs): Spiritual renewal or transformative freshness—not mere novelty but vital newness of life and Spirit.
Full entry for καινότης (G2538) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2538?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include newness (1), the new way (1).
Where does καινότης (kainótēs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 6:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (2).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itnewness1×Romans 6:4
the new way1×Romans 7:6
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowRomans 6:4
Aligned rows2
Books represented1
Romans2
Source forms
καινότητι2xkainotētiRomans 6:4, Romans 7:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular2xRomans 6:4, Romans 7:6
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Spiritual renewal or transformative freshness—not mere novelty but vital newness of life and Spirit.
Strong'sG2538
Lexical occurrences2 versesGreek text appearances2 timesWord forms1 form2 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkRomans 7:1-6Source Gloss
renewal (figuratively)
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Spiritual renewal or transformative freshness—not mere novelty but vital newness of life and Spirit.
(καινός), [in LXX: 3Ki.8:53, Eze.47:12 * ;]
1novelty (Thuc., Isocr., LS, see word).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 6:4Noun Dative Singular Feminine
καινότητιkainothti
freshness, newness
Read verseRomans 7:6Noun Dative Singular Feminine
καινότητιkainothti
freshness, newness
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 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns1Aligned forms2Case patternDative (2)Number patternSingular (2)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Singular · FeminineRom 6:4 · Rom 7:62×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Newness, freshness of quality.
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
καινότης is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Highlights the new mode of service characterized by the Spirit’s transformative power.Romans 7:1-6