G2839 — κοινός (koinós)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2839
Original: κοινός
Transliteration: koinós
Pronunciation: koy-nos'
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: From G2844 (κοινωνός, sharer/associate) — shared root concept of participation
Occurrences: 12 unique verses (14 tokens) in NT
First Occurrence: Mark 7:2 — "eat bread with defiled (koinós), that is to say, with unwashen, hands"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From the root concept of being shared/held in common by all; common, i.e. (literally) shared by all or several, or (ceremonially) profane, defiled:

Sense 1 (secular): that which is shared by all, belonging to all in common, communal
Sense 2 (ceremonial/ritual): that which is ordinary/secular (as opposed to set-apart), hence profane, defiled, unclean — what belongs to everyone, not consecrated to God

The dual meaning arises from the same logic: what is common to all is, by definition, not set apart. Ceremonial holiness required separation from the common sphere.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 53.004 — Religious Activities: Defile, Unclean, Common
Other words in subdomain: ἀκάθαρτος (G169), ἀλίσγημα (G234), βδέλυγμα (G946), βεβηλόω (G953), κοινόω (G2840), μιαίνω (G3392)
Secondary Domain: 57.001 — Possess, Property: Have, Possess (what is held in common)
Tertiary Domain: 34 — Association (shared community)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[057] Possess, Transfer, Exchange — what is shared, common, or held jointly rather than privately.
[053] Religious Activities — common/profane status in ritual-purity discourse.
[065] Value — what is ordinary or non-special rather than consecrated.
[089] Relations — shared standing or communal relationship within a group.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
common	5	50%
unclean	1	10%
an unholy thing	1	10%
that is common	1	10%
the common	1	10%
with defiled	1	10%

Note: In Romans 14:14, κοινός appears 3 times in a single verse; KJV translates all three as "unclean" — the only NT occurrence where the ceremonial-defilement sense is explicitly applied to food apart from the Mosaic context.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Titus	1	2.2
Acts	5	0.5
Jude	1	—
Hebrews	1	0.3
Romans	1	0.2
Mark	2	0.1
Revelation	1	0.1

Pattern: Concentrated in Acts, driven by the Peter-Cornelius narrative (Acts 10–11 = 3 of 5 Acts occurrences). Mark provides the Jewish ritual-purity context. Paul reapplies the concept (Romans 14). Titus and Jude use the communal-sharing sense. Hebrews uses it for sacrilege.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Shared / Held in Common (communal life)¶

The positive sense — property, faith, or salvation belonging to all members of a group equally, with no individual claiming exclusive ownership.

Acts 2:44 — "And all that believed were together, and had all things common" (early church community of goods)
Acts 4:32 — "neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common"
Titus 1:4 — "mine own son after the common faith" (a faith shared equally by Paul and Titus)
Jude 1:3 — "when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation" (salvation belonging to all believers)

2. Ceremonially Defiled / Ritually Unclean (Mosaic purity context)¶

The negative religious sense — food, persons, or practices that are "common" (not set apart) and therefore violate Jewish purity boundaries. Repeatedly paired with ἀκάθαρτος (G169, unclean).

Mark 7:2 — "eat bread with defiled (koinós), that is to say, with unwashen, hands" (Pharisees challenge disciples)
Mark 7:5 — "eat bread with unwashen hands" (Pharisees and scribes press the question)
Acts 10:14 — "I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean" (Peter's protest in Cornelius vision)
Acts 10:28 — "God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean" (Peter applies the vision to persons, not just food)
Acts 11:8 — "nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth" (Peter's retelling to Jerusalem)

3. Profane / Ordinary (desecrating what is sacred)¶

Applied to sacred things treated as if they were merely ordinary — the inverse of consecration. What is holy is made koinós by treating it without reverence.

Hebrews 10:29 — "hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing (koinón)" (apostasy = treating the covenant blood as merely common)
Romans 14:14 — "there is nothing unclean (koinón) of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean" (Paul nuances the ceremonial sense — profaneness is relational/conscientious, not intrinsic)
Revelation 21:27 — "there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth (koinón)" (nothing profane/common enters the New Jerusalem)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἀκάθαρτος (akáthartos)	G169	3x (30%)	"common or unclean" — standard doublet in Acts 10–11
κύριος (kýrios)	G2962	4x (40%)	Address "Lord" in Peter's protest; "the Lord Jesus" in Rom 14:14
θεός (theós)	G2316	3x (30%)	"God hath shewed me" — divine redefinition of what is common
πίστις (pístis)	G4102	2x (20%)	"common faith" (Titus 1:4) — shared doctrinal inheritance
μηδαμῶς (mēdamōs)	G3365	2x (20%)	"Not so, Lord" — Peter's refusal formula in Acts 10 vision

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2840 κοινόω (koinóō) — verb: to make common, to defile/profane (15 NT occurrences; Matt 15:11, 18, 20; Mark 7:15–23; Acts 10:15; 21:28; Heb 9:13; Rev 21:27)
G2841 κοινωνέω (koinōnéō) — verb: to share with others, participate in (8 occurrences; Rom 12:13; 15:27; Gal 6:6; Phil 4:15; 1 Tim 5:22; Heb 2:14; 1 Pet 4:13; 2 John 1:11)
G2842 κοινωνία (koinōnía) — noun: fellowship, sharing, communion (20 occurrences)
G2844 κοινωνός (koinōnós) — noun: sharer, associate, partner (10 occurrences; Matt 23:30; Luke 5:10; 1 Cor 10:18; 2 Cor 1:7; 8:23; Phlm 17; Heb 10:33; 1 Pet 5:1; 2 Pet 1:4)

Synonyms¶

No synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2839.

Antonyms¶

ἴδιος (G2398) — one's own, private; the opposite of what is common or shared.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἀκάθαρτος (akáthartos)	G169	both "unclean"	ἀκάθαρτος = ritually/morally dirty (positive defilement); κοινός = merely ordinary/non-sacred (absence of holiness). They pair as a doublet but are distinct concepts
βεβηλόω (bebēlóō)	G953	both relate to desecration	βεβηλόω = to actively desecrate a sacred space; κοινός = the resulting state of being non-sacred
κοινόω (G2840)	G2840	both "defile/common"	G2840 is the verb form (to make common); G2839 is the adjective (being common/defiled). Easily confused in translation
H2455 חֹל (chol)	H2455	both "common/profane"	Hebrew chol = profane, non-holy (opp. of qodesh); semantic equivalent of κοινός in OT ritual vocabulary

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	Notes
טוֹב (ṭôwb)	H2896	3 (PMI 4.73)	"good" — probably incidental overlap
יָשַׁב (yâshab)	H3427	3 (PMI 3.83)	"sit/dwell" — incidental overlap

Note: The Hebrew source data shows no strong lexical bridge (all co-occurrences < 5, no dominant counterpart). κοινός primarily translates the Hellenistic concept. The closest Hebrew equivalent is H2455 (חֹל, chol, "common/profane") but this is established by semantic correspondence, not LXX mapping frequency.