What does χωρίς (chōrís) mean in the Bible?
Χωρίς (chōrís) means without, apart from, or separately from. Matthew says Jesus did not address the crowds without a parable, describing the consistent form of that teaching moment.
Greek · G5565
χωρίς
Without
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χωρίς G5565
Pronunciation chōrís
What does χωρίς (chōrís) mean in the Bible?
Χωρίς (chōrís) means without, apart from, or separately from. Matthew says Jesus did not address the crowds without a parable, describing the consistent form of that teaching moment.
Reader summary
Full entry for χωρίς (G5565) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5565?
The BSB source-word alignment has 41 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include without (19), apart from (7), . . . (2), besides (2), independent (2).
Where does χωρίς (chōrís) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:34. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (13), Romans (6), James (4), 1 Corinthians (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Χωρίς (chōrís) means without, apart from, or separately from. Matthew says Jesus did not address the crowds without a parable, describing the consistent form of that teaching moment. Paul argues that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law, excluding law works as the ground or instrument of justification rather than excluding obedient fruit from Christian life.
Philippians commands service without grumbling or arguing. Hebrews says forgiveness does not occur without bloodshed within its exposition of covenant purification and Christ's sacrifice. James says faith without deeds is dead, denying that an unproductive claim to faith is living faith. The preposition marks separation, but theology depends on what is separated from what and in which respect.
Romans and James must not be made opponents by ignoring their different questions.
How the Bible Uses It
Χωρίς marks absence or separation: teaching not given without parables, justification apart from Law works, obedience without grumbling, forgiveness not occurring without blood, and professed faith without deeds.
- Matt.13.34
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
Matthew observes that Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables and did not speak without one in that setting, fulfilling the evangelist's stated scriptural pattern.
- Rom.3.28
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Paul concludes that justification is by faith apart from works of the Law, removing human performance as the basis of the verdict and excluding boasting.
- Phil.2.14
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
Believers are to do everything without grumbling or disputing so they shine as blameless children amid a crooked generation while holding fast the word of life.
- Heb.9.22
According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews says that under the Law nearly everything is cleansed with blood and forgiveness does not occur without bloodshed, preparing the exposition of Christ's effective sacrifice.
- Jas.2.26
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James compares a body without spirit to faith without deeds, arguing that a barren profession lacks the living action by which genuine faith is shown.
Passage contextBook context
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 without 19× Luke 6:49, John 1:3, Romans 10:14, 1 Corinthians 4:8
apart from 7× John 15:5, Romans 3:21, Romans 3:28, Romans 4:6
. . . 2× John 20:7, Hebrews 12:8
besides 2× Matthew 14:21, Matthew 15:38
independent 2× 1 Corinthians 11:11
without using 2× Matthew 13:34, Mark 4:34
[happened] without 1× Hebrews 7:20
[yet was] without 1× Hebrews 4:15
not to bear 1× Hebrews 9:28
out of 1× 2 Corinthians 12:3
separate from 1× Ephesians 2:12
together with 1× Hebrews 11:40
vvv 1× Hebrews 7:7
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 13:34 χωρὶς to without using Preposition Matthew 14:21 χωρὶς to besides Preposition Matthew 15:38 χωρὶς to besides Preposition Mark 4:34 χωρὶς to without using Preposition Luke 6:49 χωρὶς to without Preposition John 1:3 χωρὶς to without Preposition John 15:5 χωρὶς to apart from Preposition John 20:7 χωρὶς to . . . Adverb Romans 3:21 χωρὶς to apart from Preposition Romans 3:28 χωρὶς to apart from Preposition
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 13:34
Aligned rows 41
Books represented 13
Matthew 3 Mark 1 Luke 1 John 3 Romans 6 1 Corinthians 3 2 Corinthians 2 Ephesians 1 Philippians 1 1 Timothy 2 Philemon 1 Hebrews 13 James 4
Source forms
χωρὶς 38x chōris Matthew 13:34, Matthew 14:21, Matthew 15:38, Mark 4:34
Χωρὶς 2x Chōris 2 Corinthians 11:28, Philemon 1:14
χωρίς 1x chōris Hebrews 12:8
Parsing patterns
Preposition 40x Matthew 13:34, Matthew 14:21, Matthew 15:38, Mark 4:34
Adverb 1x John 20:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use Romans 3:28 to deny the obedience produced by faith or James 2:26 to make works the meritorious basis of justification.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that “without shedding of blood” means repeated sacrifices remain necessary after Christ's once-for-all offering.
- Do not claim that a verbal profession without deeds is the living faith James commends.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Emphasizes exclusion or absence; distinguishes what lies outside or apart from something else entirely.
Strong's G5565
Lexical occurrences 42 verses Greek text appearances 40 times 16 shown below Word forms 2 forms 42 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Romans 3:21-26 Source Gloss
without
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 40 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 13:34 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Matthew 14:21 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Matthew 15:38 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Mark 4:34 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Luke 6:49 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse John 1:3 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse John 15:5 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse John 20:7 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Romans 3:21 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Romans 3:28 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Romans 4:6 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Romans 7:8 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Romans 7:9 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse Romans 10:14 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse 1 Corinthians 4:8 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:11 Adverb
χωρὶς cwriv
apart from, without
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 42
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Matt 13:34 · Matt 14:21 · Matt 15:38 · Mark 4:34 · Luke 6:49 · John 1:3 · John 15:5 · Rom 3:21 · Rom 3:28 · Rom 4:6 · Rom 7:8 · Rom 7:9 · Rom 10:14 · 1 Cor 4:8 · 1 Cor 11:11 · 2 Cor 11:28 41×
John 20:7 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
God's righteousness manifested separate from the law
Gentiles separated from Christ and covenant promises
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 42 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
χωρίς is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Theology becomes distorted when “without” is read without its relation. Romans excludes works of the Law from the basis of justification, so sinners receive God's verdict through faith and have no ground for boasting. James excludes deeds from a merely verbal faith and concludes that what remains is dead. The apostles address different errors: self-justifying performance and empty profession.
Philippians brings separation into congregational conduct, requiring obedience free from grumbling so the church's witness shines. Hebrews uses a negative condition within covenant sacrifice, then directs readers to Christ's once-for-all offering rather than endless bloodshed. Matthew's use remains literary, describing Jesus' parabolic speech to the crowds. Χωρίς trains teachers to preserve relationships with precision.
Salvation is apart from works as its earning basis, never apart from Christ, and living faith is never permanently apart from obedient fruit.
Anchor passage
Matt.13.34
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 13:34-35, Jesus not speaking to crowds without parables
- Romans 3:21-31, justification by faith apart from Law works
- Philippians 2:12-18, obedience without grumbling
- Hebrews 9:11-28, blood, forgiveness, and Christ's sacrifice
- James 2:14-26, faith without deeds being dead
- Genesis 15:1-6, Abraham believing God and counted righteous
Χωρίς functions as a preposition with the genitive or as an adverb meaning separately. It identifies absence or separation but does not specify whether that separation concerns cause, accompaniment, evidence, manner, or location.
From Old to New Testament
Covenant faith rests on God's promise, sacrificial blood addresses guilt, and obedient life displays trust. The New Testament distinguishes justification's ground from the fruit that living faith necessarily bears.
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