G2537 — καινός (kainós)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2537
Original: καινός
Transliteration: kainós
Pronunciation: kahee-nos
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: Of uncertain affinity
Occurrences: 38 unique verses (44 tokens) across 14 NT books
First Occurrence: Mat 9:17 — "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Of uncertain affinity; new (especially in freshness); while νέος (G3501) is properly new with respect to age, καινός is new with respect to nature or quality — something unprecedented, qualitatively different, not merely recently made.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 058 — Nature, Class, Example
Subdomain: 058.011 — New, Old [primarily non-temporal]
Other words in subdomain: ἀνακαινόω (G0341), ἀνακαίνωσις (G0342), ἀνανεόω (G0365), νέος (G3501), παλαιός (G3820), παλαιότης (G3821), πρόσφατος (G4372)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[067] Time
[058] Nature, Class, Example
[028] Know

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
new	22	57.9%
a new	11	28.9%
A new	2	5.3%
of the new	2	5.3%
new piece	1	2.6%
new thing	1	2.6%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 John	1	7.7
1 John	2	1.9
Revelation	7	1.7
2 Peter	1	1.6
Ephesians	2	1.3
Hebrews	3	1.0
Mark	6	0.9
2 Corinthians	2	0.8
Galatians	1	0.7
Matthew	5	0.5
Luke	3	0.3
Acts	2	0.2
1 Corinthians	1	0.2
John	2	0.2

Concentrated in Revelation and Johannine epistles by density. Mark leads in count among the Gospels. Nearly absent from Paul's main epistles (only Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Qualitative Incompatibility with the Old (Wineskins Parable)¶

The parable of new wine and old containers establishes καινός as qualitatively incompatible with what is worn out — the point is not chronology but the nature of what is new. - Mat 9:17 — "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish" - Mar 2:21–22 — "No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment... And no man putteth new wine into old bottles" - Luk 5:36–38 — "No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old... But new wine must be put into new bottles"

2. New Covenant / Testament¶

The dominant theological use. καινός marks the covenant inaugurated by Christ's blood as qualitatively superior to the Mosaic covenant — not simply a renewed version but an unprecedented arrangement foretold in Jer 31:31. - Mat 26:28 — "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" - Luk 22:20 — "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" - 2Co 3:6 — "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit" - Heb 8:8 — "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel" (quoting Jer 31:31) - Heb 9:15 — "He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death... they which are called might receive the promise"

3. New Commandment¶

Jesus introduces a commandment as "new" not because loving one another was unprecedented, but because the sacrificial model of his love gives it an unprecedented quality. The Johannine letters debate whether it is truly "new" or an old one heard from the beginning. - Jhn 13:34 — "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you" - 1Jo 2:7–8 — "I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment... Again, a new commandment I write unto you" - 2Jo 1:5 — "not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning"

4. New Creation / New Person¶

In Paul, καινός marks the eschatological reality of regeneration — the believer is not improved but qualitatively recreated. The "new man" is not the old man renovated. - 2Co 5:17 — "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" - Gal 6:15 — "neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" - Eph 2:15 — "to make in himself one new man, so making peace" - Eph 4:24 — "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness"

5. New Eschatological Realities (Song, Heaven, Earth, Jerusalem)¶

In Revelation, καινός describes the entire renewed cosmic order — new song, new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem. All are qualitatively unprecedented, not merely fresh versions of existing things. - Rev 5:9 — "they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy" - Rev 21:1 — "I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away" - Rev 21:2 — "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven" - Rev 21:5 — "Behold, I make all things new"

6. New Teaching / Doctrine¶

Outsiders respond to Jesus and Paul's message as something qualitatively new — unprecedented in their experience. - Mar 1:27 — "What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits" - Act 17:19 — "May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?" - Act 17:21 — "all the Athenians... spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
λέγω (légō)	G3004	13x	"saying... (new commandment / covenant / doctrine)"
διαθήκη (diathḗkē)	G1242	7x	"the new covenant/testament"
γράφω (gráphō)	G1125	6x	"I write a new commandment"
παλαιός (palaiós)	G3820	6x	"new vs. old" (wineskins, garment, covenant)
πᾶς (pâs)	G3956	6x	"all things new"
αἷμα (haîma)	G0129	5x	"blood of the new covenant"
ἐκχέω (ekchéō)	G1632	5x	"blood poured out (for the new covenant)"
ἐντολή (entolḗ)	G1785	5x	"new commandment"
θεός (theós)	G2316	5x	"new Jerusalem coming down from God"
οὐρανός (ouranós)	G3772	5x	"new heaven(s)"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2538 καινότης (kainótēs) — noun: newness, renewal (2 verses: Rom 6:4, 7:6 — "newness of life," "newness of spirit")

Synonyms¶

G3501 νέος (neos) — new in time or age; the closest NT overlap, though more temporal than qualitative.

Antonyms¶

G3820 παλαιός (palaios) — old, worn, antiquated; the standard opposite in the wineskins/covenant contrast.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
νέος (néos)	G3501	both → "new"	νέος = new in time/age (recently made, youthful); καινός = new in nature/quality (unprecedented, fresh in character). Both appear together in the wineskins parable (Mat 9:17, Mar 2:22).
χαδάσ̌ (châdâsh)	H2319	both → "new"	The Hebrew OT equivalent; carries both the temporal and qualitative senses; κεινός sharpens the qualitative nuance in LXX and NT usage.

Domain Neighbors (LN 058.011 — New/Old)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference
G3501	νέος (néos)	20	new, younger	New in age/time; καινός = new in quality
G3820	παλαιός (palaiós)	15	old, an old	Direct antonym — worn out, antiquated
G2538	καινότης (kainótēs)	2	newness	Abstract noun form of καινός
G4372	πρόσφατος (prósphatos)	1	new	Recently slaughtered/made; freshness by recency

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
חָדָשׁ (châdâsh)	H2319	38	32.00	Primary — overwhelmingly dominant LXX bridge
שִׁיר (shîyr)	H7892	7	11.21	"new song" contexts (Psalms)
שִׁיר (shîyr)	H7891	6	10.33	Variant form of the same song word

The LXX virtually always renders H2319 châdâsh with G2537 καινός (38 co-occurrences, PMI 32.00). This is one of the strongest Hebrew→Greek bridges in the corpus.