G2511 — καθαρίζω (katharizō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2511
Original: καθαρίζω
Transliteration: katharizō
Pronunciation: kath-ar-id'-zo
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: καθαρός (G2513) — clean, pure
Occurrences: 29 unique verses (37 tokens) in NT
Books: 10
First Occurrence: Matt 8:2 — "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G2513; to cleanse (literally or figuratively): — (make) clean(-se), purge, purify.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 053.003 — Religious Activities: Purify, Cleanse
Related Domain: 079.010 — Features of Objects: Clean, Dirty
Related Domain: 023.008 — Physiological: Health, Vigor, Strength
Other words in 053.003: ἁγνίζω (G0048), ἁγνισμός (G0049), βαπτίζω (G0907), βαπτισμός (G0909), καθαρισμός (G2512), καθαρός (G2513), καθαρότης (G2514), ῥαντίζω (G4472)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[053] Religious Activities — purification, consecration, and ritual cleansing.
[079] Features of Objects — the clean/unclean contrast as a state.
[023] Physiological Processes and States — cleansing in healing and bodily-restoration contexts.

search_relationships.py keeps καθαρίζω anchored in ritual-purity language while also recognizing its overlap with physical cleanness and restoration.

Verb Form Distribution¶

Tense	Count	Notes
Aorist	20	Specific, completed cleansing acts
Present	9	Ongoing or habitual cleansing
Future	1	Heb 9:14 — what Christ's blood will cleanse
Perfect	1	Heb 10:2 — "having been cleansed" (complete state)

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
cleanse/cleansed (var. forms)	~16	~55%
clean / be thou clean / make clean	~8	~27%
purge/purged/purging	3	~10%
purify/purified/purifying	3	~10%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Titus	1	2.2
1 John	2	1.9
Hebrews	3	1.0
James	1	0.9
Matthew	6	0.6
Mark	4	0.6
Luke	7	0.6
Ephesians	1	0.6
2 Corinthians	1	0.4
Acts	3	0.3

Absent from all Pauline prison epistles except Ephesians. Concentrated in Synoptic miracle accounts and the theological Epistles (Hebrews, 1 John). Titus and 1 John have highest density despite few verses — indicating focused doctrinal usage.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Miraculous Cleansing of Leprosy (Synoptics)¶

The largest single cluster: Jesus pronounces and effects the purification that Levitical law could only declare. - Matt 8:2–3 — "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean... I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." - Matt 10:8 — "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead..." (disciples commissioned) - Luke 4:27 — "Many lepers were in Israel... none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian" - Luke 17:14–17 — "Go shew yourselves unto the priests... Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?"

2. God Redefining "Clean" — Gentile Inclusion (Acts)¶

Katharizō used by a divine voice to declare that categories have changed. - Acts 10:15 — "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common" - Acts 11:9 — Peter repeats the same word to the Jerusalem council - Acts 15:9 — "purifying their hearts by faith" — the inner reality behind the outer declaration

3. Ritual / Blood Purification (Hebrews)¶

The Levitical purification system — then its eschatological fulfillment in Christ's blood. - Heb 9:14 — "the blood of Christ... purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" - Heb 9:22 — "almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission" - Heb 9:23 — "the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices" - Heb 10:2 — "worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins"

4. Spiritual/Divine Cleansing Through Christ (Epistles)¶

Christ's redemptive work as the agent and ground of cleansing. - Eph 5:26 — "That he might sanctify and cleanse it [the church] with the washing of water by the word" - Tit 2:14 — "Who gave himself for us, that he might... purify unto himself a peculiar people" - 1 John 1:7 — "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" - 1 John 1:9 — "he is faithful and just... to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"

5. Ethical / Self-Purification (Call to Action)¶

Imperatives addressed to believers to purify themselves. - 2 Cor 7:1 — "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" - Jas 4:8 — "Cleanse [your] hands, ye sinners; and purify [your] hearts, ye double minded"

6. Hypocritical Outer Cleansing (Jesus' Critique)¶

Used in Jesus' woe against washing the outside while leaving the inside defiled. - Matt 23:25 — "for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion" - Matt 23:26 — "cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" - Luke 11:39 — parallel to Matt 23:25

7. Purging — Dietary / Ceremonial (Mark)¶

One instance of the word in a food/body context. - Mark 7:19 — "goeth out into the draught, purging all meats" (parenthetical editorial comment)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
λεπρός (leper)	G3015	6x	Jesus cleanses lepers
Ἰησοῦς (Jesus)	G2424	6x	Jesus as agent of cleansing
λέπρα (leprosy)	G3014	4x	Leprosy as the condition cleansed
νεκρός (dead)	G3498	4x	Listed alongside raising dead in commission passages
θεός (God)	G2316	5x	God as agent (Acts) or ground (Hebrews/1 John)
αἷμα (blood)	G0129	3x	Blood as instrument of purification
καρδία (heart)	G2588	3x	Inner cleansing — heart, conscience
ἅπτομαι (touch)	G0680	3x	Jesus touched lepers before declaring them clean

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2513 καθαρός (katharos) — root adjective: clean, pure (27x)
G2512 καθαρισμός (katharismos) — noun: purification, cleansing (7x)
G2514 καθαρότης (katharotēs) — noun: cleanness (1x, Heb 9:13)
G2508 καθαίρω (kathairō) — to cleanse, prune (2x: John 15:2; Heb 10:2)
G1245 διακαθαρίζω (diakatharizō) — to thoroughly cleanse (2x: Matt 3:12, Luke 3:17)

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py surfaced a mixed set of cleansing-field neighbors rather than one tight equivalent set: - G2436 ἵλεως (híleōs) — merciful / propitious; a looser mercy-and-cleansing neighbor surfaced by the tool - G1344 δικαιόω (dikaióō) — justify, declare righteous; overlaps where cleansing language expresses removal of guilt - G0037 ἁγιάζω (hagiázō) — make holy, consecrate; overlaps in ritual-purity contexts - G0863 ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) — send away, forgive; overlaps where purification is expressed as remission

Antonyms¶

search_relationships.py returned one clear impurity opposite and two looser contextual contrasts: - G3392 μιαίνω (miaínō) — defile, stain, contaminate; the direct opposite of cleansing - G5165 τρύβλιον (trýblion) — bowl, dish; a contextual purity-term contrast surfaced by the tool rather than a lexical antonym - G4969 σφάζω (spházō) — slaughter, butcher; bloodshed imagery set against cleansing and purification results

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
καθαρός (katharos)	G2513	"clean"	Adjective (state of being clean); katharizō is the verb (act of cleansing)
ἁγνίζω (hagnizō)	G0048	"purify"	From ἁγνός (holy, chaste); focuses on ritual or moral purity in preparation; less medical/physical range
ἁγιάζω (hagiazō)	G0037	"sanctify / purify"	From ἅγιος (holy); means to set apart as sacred; hagiazō = consecration; katharizō = removal of defilement
ῥαντίζω (rhantizō)	G4472	"purify/sprinkle"	Specifically the act of sprinkling (blood, water); a mechanism for katharizō, not a synonym

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 023.008 — Health)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Occurrences	Primary KJV Translation
G2323	θεραπεύω (therapeúō)	15	heal
G2390	ἰάομαι (iáomai)	9	heal
G1453	ἐγείρω (egeírō)	28	rise/raise
G2395	ἰατρός (iatrós)	5	physician

Note: katharizō of leprosy straddles the healing and purification domains — it is both a medical restoration and a ceremonial reinstatement.

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Definition
טָהֵר (ṭâhêr)	H2891	61	7.52	to be bright; to be clean; to purify (primary source)
טׇהֳרָה (ṭohŏrâh)	H2893	7	6.91	purification, cleanness (noun)
כָּפַר (kâphar)	H3722	14	5.18	to cover, make atonement (overlap in Lev 16 contexts)
נָקָה (nâqâh)	H5352	7	5.72	to be clean, acquit
כֹּהֵן (kôhên)	H3548	27	3.33	priest (structural co-occurrence — priests perform katharizō)

Primary bridge: H2891 טָהֵר (ṭâhêr) — the LXX translates taher with katharizō in 61 of ~94 verbal occurrences.