What does κοινωνία (koinōnía) mean in the Bible?
Koinonia means fellowship, participation, sharing, communion, or partnership. In the New Testament it is not mere friendliness or social warmth.
Greek · G2842
κοινωνία
Participation
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κοινωνία G2842
Pronunciation koinōnía
What does κοινωνία (koinōnía) mean in the Bible?
Koinonia means fellowship, participation, sharing, communion, or partnership. In the New Testament it is not mere friendliness or social warmth.
Reader summary
Full entry for κοινωνία (G2842) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2842?
The BSB source-word alignment has 19 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include fellowship (10), a participation (2), contribution (2), partnership (2), of fellowship (1).
Where does κοινωνία (koinōnía) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 2:42. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 John (4), 2 Corinthians (4), 1 Corinthians (3), Philippians (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Koinonia means fellowship, participation, sharing, communion, or partnership. In the New Testament it is not mere friendliness or social warmth. The church in Acts devotes itself to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. Paul says believers are called into fellowship with God's Son, share in the cup and bread as participation in Christ, and join in practical service for the saints.
He also speaks of fellowship in Christ's sufferings. John says apostolic proclamation brings hearers into fellowship with the witnesses, and that this fellowship is with the Father and His Son. The word joins shared life, shared gospel, shared worship, shared suffering, and shared care.
How the Bible Uses It
Koinonia moves from shared church life in Acts to participation in Christ, gospel partnership, generosity to the saints, suffering with Christ, and fellowship with the Father and the Son. It is relational, doctrinal, sacramental, and practical because fellowship is created by the gospel and lived under Christ.
- Acts.2.42
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The first Jerusalem believers devote themselves to fellowship alongside apostolic teaching, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Koinonia belongs to gospel-formed church life.
- 1Cor.1.9
God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
God calls believers into fellowship with His Son. Fellowship begins with God's faithful summons, not with human preference or social chemistry.
- 1Cor.10.16
Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
Paul uses koinonia for participation in Christ's blood and body at the cup and bread. The word carries communion with Christ and shared covenant identity.
- 2Cor.8.4
They earnestly pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
The Macedonians plead for the privilege of sharing in service to the saints. Fellowship becomes costly generosity and partnership in relief.
- Phil.3.10
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,
Paul wants to know the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. Koinonia includes participation in the cruciform path of the risen Lord.
- 1John.1.3
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
John's proclamation invites hearers into fellowship with apostolic witnesses and with the Father and the Son. Fellowship is grounded in revealed life in Christ.
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 fellowship 10× Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 13:14
a participation 2× 1 Corinthians 10:16
contribution 2× Romans 15:26, 2 Corinthians 9:13
partnership 2× Philippians 1:5, Philemon 1:6
of fellowship 1× Galatians 2:9
of sharing 1× 2 Corinthians 8:4
to share with others 1× Hebrews 13:16
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 2:42 κοινωνίᾳ to fellowship Noun - Dative Feminine Singular Romans 15:26 κοινωνίαν to contribution Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 1 Corinthians 1:9 κοινωνίαν to fellowship Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 1 Corinthians 10:16 κοινωνία to a participation Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 1 Corinthians 10:16 κοινωνία to a participation Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 6:14 κοινωνία to fellowship Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 8:4 κοινωνίαν to of sharing Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 9:13 κοινωνίας to contribution Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2 Corinthians 13:14 κοινωνία to fellowship Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Galatians 2:9 κοινωνίας to of fellowship Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Acts 2:42
Aligned rows 19
Books represented 9
Acts 1 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 3 2 Corinthians 4 Galatians 1 Philippians 3 Philemon 1 Hebrews 1 1 John 4
Source forms
κοινωνία 7x koinōnia 1 Corinthians 10:16, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Philippians 2:1
κοινωνίαν 7x koinōnian Romans 15:26, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 8:4, Philippians 3:10
κοινωνίας 3x koinōnias 2 Corinthians 9:13, Galatians 2:9, Hebrews 13:16
κοινωνίᾳ 2x koinōnia Acts 2:42, Philippians 1:5
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 7x Romans 15:26, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 8:4, Philippians 3:10
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular 7x 1 Corinthians 10:16, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Philippians 2:1
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 3x 2 Corinthians 9:13, Galatians 2:9, Hebrews 13:16
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 2x Acts 2:42, Philippians 1:5
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use this word to strengthen church life around shared life in Christ rather than around affinity alone.
- Keep fellowship with God, fellowship with believers, and participation in Christ together.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that koinonia is only a word for church social events.
- Do not claim that fellowship can be maintained apart from truth, repentance, and obedience to Christ.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Shared participation in something sacred (Christ, Spirit, suffering), not merely emotional fellowship
Strong's G2842
Lexical occurrences 19 verses Greek text appearances 20 times 16 shown below Word forms 4 forms 19 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 John 1:1-4 Source Gloss
participation
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 20 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 2:42 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
κοινωνίᾳ, koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Romans 15:26 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
κοινωνίαν koinwnian
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:9 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
κοινωνίαν koinwnian
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 1 Corinthians 10:16 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 1 Corinthians 10:16 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 2 Corinthians 6:14 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 2 Corinthians 8:4 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
κοινωνίαν koinwnian
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 2 Corinthians 9:13 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
κοινωνίας koinwniav
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse 2 Corinthians 13:14 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Galatians 2:9 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
κοινωνίας, koinwniav
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Ephesians 3:9 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Philippians 1:5 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
κοινωνίᾳ koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Philippians 2:1 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Philippians 3:10 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
κοινωνίαν koinwnian
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Philemon 1:6 Noun Nominative Singular Feminine
κοινωνία koinwnia
participation, communion, fellowship
Read verse Hebrews 13:16 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
κοινωνίας koinwniav
participation, communion, fellowship
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 4 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 4 Aligned forms 19 Case pattern Accusative (7) Number pattern Singular (19)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Feminine 1 Cor 10:16 · 2 Cor 6:14 · 2 Cor 13:13 · Phil 2:1 · Phlm 1:6 · 1 John 1:3 7×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine 2 Cor 9:13 · Gal 2:9 · Heb 13:16 3×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Acts 2:42 · Phil 1:5 2×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Rom 15:26 · 1 Cor 1:9 · 2 Cor 8:4 · Phil 3:10 · 1 John 1:3 · 1 John 1:6 · 1 John 1:7 7×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
A shared participation in the life of God and in the benefits of Christ, which in turn creates a real spiritual and relational bond among believers.
Participation, sharing, or partnership in a common life.
participation, partnership
Fellowship, sharing.
Additional Occurrences
1-john Fellowship koinōnía
shared participation, communion
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 19 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κοινωνία is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Describes the shared participation of churches in financial and spiritual support. 1 John 1:1-4
Defines fellowship as active involvement in gospel mission. Acts 2:42-47
The gospel creates a shared life rooted in union with Christ, not mere social association. Philippians 1:3–8
Defines salvation as relational participation in the life shared between the Father and the Son. Romans 15:22-33
It shows that the church is not merely a social group but a community rooted in shared life with the Father and the Son. True fellowship depends on shared faith in the apostolic gospel.
Canonical Themes
For the Preacher and Teacher
Koinonia gives the church a richer word than social connection. It says believers share in a life they did not create. God calls them into fellowship with His Son, the apostolic message brings them into fellowship with the Father and the Son, and the church expresses that shared life in teaching, prayer, table fellowship, generosity, and costly service. The word also guards against a painless idea of community.
Paul can speak of fellowship in Christ's sufferings because union with Christ reshapes what believers share. Koinonia therefore makes Christian fellowship doctrinally anchored, sacramentally serious, relationally concrete, and missionally generous. It also keeps partnership visibly tied to worship, truth, and service.
Anchor passage
1John.1.3
Doctrinal connections
- Acts 2:42: fellowship belongs with apostolic teaching, worship, breaking bread, and prayer.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9: God faithfully calls believers into fellowship with His Son.
- 1 Corinthians 10:16-17: participation in the cup and bread joins communion with Christ to the one body.
- 2 Corinthians 8:4: fellowship includes practical sharing in service to needy saints.
- Philippians 3:10: fellowship with Christ includes participation in His sufferings.
- 1 John 1:1-4: fellowship is grounded in apostolic witness to the Word of life.
Koinonia can stress fellowship, sharing, participation, communion, or partnership. Context decides whether the emphasis falls on shared life, material generosity, gospel partnership, or participation in Christ.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's worship, covenant meals, and shared life before the Lord prepare readers to see that fellowship is never merely social. The New Testament centers that shared life on Christ, His saving work, His people, and the Spirit-created communion of the church.
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