G5485 — χάρις (cháris)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G5485
Original: χάρις
Transliteration: cháris
Pronunciation: khar'-ece
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: G5463 χαίρω (chairo) — to rejoice, be glad
Occurrences: 147 unique verses (156 tokens), 23 books
First Occurrence: Luke 1:30 — "thou hast found favour with God"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude). KJV: grace, liberality, pleasure, thanks, worthy.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 088: Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior
Domain 088009: Kindness, Harshness — other words in subdomain include: ἐνευλογέω (G1757), εὐλογέω (G2127), εὐλογία (G2129), φιλανθρωπία (G5363), χαριτόω (G5487), χρηστεύομαι (G5541)
Also in: 025008 (Acceptable To), 033036 (Thanks), 057008 (Give)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior — primary UBS placement for grace as beneficent favor or gracious quality.
[057] Possess, Transfer, Exchange — reflects grace as gift, grant, or benefaction bestowed.
[033] Communication — accounts for thanksgiving and greeting-formula uses.
[025] Attitudes and Emotions — covers grace's overlap with joy, gratitude, and glad response.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
grace / Grace	106	72%
favour	5	3%
thank / thanks / I thank	9	6%
of grace / the grace / by grace	13	9%
benefit, gift, liberality, joy	6	4%
Other	8	5%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Philemon	3	12.0
1 Peter	10	9.5
Titus	4	8.7
2 Thessalonians	4	8.5
Ephesians	12	7.7
2 John	1	7.7
2 Corinthians	18	7.0
2 Timothy	5	6.0
Colossians	5	5.3
Romans	21	4.8
Galatians	7	4.7
1 Timothy	4	3.5
2 Peter	2	3.3
Hebrews	7	2.3
1 Thessalonians	2	2.2
1 Corinthians	8	1.8
Acts	16	1.6
James	1	0.9
Luke	8	0.7
Revelation	2	0.5
John	3	0.3

Observation: Dominantly Pauline — Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the Pastorals account for ~80 of 147 verses. Pauline letters open and close with charis formulas. Sparse in the Gospels (only Luke and John carry it). Absent from Matthew and Mark entirely.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Epistolary Greeting — "Grace and Peace"¶

Opening formula in virtually every Pauline letter, linking charis with eirēnē. - Rom 1:7 — "Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ" - Eph 1:2 — "Grace [be] to you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ" - 1 Tim 1:2 — "Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord"

2. Divine Saving Grace — Unmerited Favor in Justification¶

The theological core: salvation, justification, and calling are entirely by God's free gift, not works. - Rom 3:24 — "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" - Eph 2:5 — "by grace ye are saved" - Tit 2:11 — "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" - 2 Tim 1:9 — "not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace"

3. Appointed Ministry Grace — Grace Given for Service¶

Grace as specific divine enablement distributed for apostolic or ministerial function. - Rom 1:5 — "By whom we have received grace and apostleship" - Rom 12:6 — "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us" - 1 Cor 3:10 — "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder" - Eph 4:7 — "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ"

Luke and early Acts preserve the OT idiom of ḥēn: finding favor in someone's sight. - Luke 1:30 — "thou hast found favour with God" - Luke 2:52 — "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" - Acts 2:47 — "having favour with all the people" - Acts 7:10 — "gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh"

5. Gratitude / Thanks to God¶

Charis used as an exclamation of thanks — the gratitude that grace evokes. - Rom 6:17 — "God be thanked (charis de tō theō)" - 1 Cor 15:57 — "thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory" - 2 Cor 2:14 — "thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph" - 2 Tim 1:3 — "I thank God, whom I serve from [my] forefathers"

6. Epistolary Benediction — Closing Grace Blessing¶

Virtually every NT letter closes with charis upon the recipients. - Rom 16:20 — "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you" - 1 Cor 16:23 — "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you" - Rev 22:21 — "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all. Amen"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theós)	G2316	69x (47%)	"grace of God," "God be thanked"
Χριστός (Christós)	G5547	56x (38%)	"grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" — opening/closing formula
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs)	G2424	52x (35%)	same formula with full name
κύριος (kýrios)	G2962	44x (30%)	"grace of our Lord"
δίδωμι (dídōmi)	G1325	22x (15%)	"grace given to me/us" — grace as divine appointment
εἰρήνη (eirḗnē)	G1515	18x (12%)	"grace and peace" — the formulaic letter pair
πατήρ (patḗr)	G3962	18x (12%)	"from God our Father" — doxological source of grace
πίστις (pístis)	G4102	12x (8%)	"grace through faith," "faith and grace" — theological pair
δόξα (dóxa)	G1391	8x (5%)	"to the praise of the glory of his grace" (Eph 1:6)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G5463 χαίρω (chairo) — root verb: to rejoice, be glad; also used in greetings
G5479 χαρά (chara) — joy, gladness (noun)
G5483 χαρίζομαι (charizomai) — to give freely, forgive, grant as a favor
G5486 χάρισμα (charisma) — a grace-gift, especially a spiritual gift (1 Cor 12)
G5487 χαριτόω (charitoo) — to bestow grace upon, make highly favored (Luke 1:28; Eph 1:6)

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py did not return a clean synonym set for G5485 beyond the χαρ-/χαριτ- family already listed above. The clearest additional neighbor it surfaced was: - G2746 καύχησις (kauchēsis) — boasting / rejoicing; adjacent where grace overflows into thankful exultation rather than functioning as a direct equivalent.

Antonyms¶

No stable antonym set was returned by search_relationships.py for G5485 suitable for canonical listing.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ḥēn (חֵן)	H2580	both → "grace," "favour" in KJV	ḥēn = relational goodwill/favor in someone's sight (OT idiom); charis = divinely-sourced saving grace, theologically expanded in NT
εὐχαριστέω (eucharistéō)	G2168	both → "thank," "I thank"	eucharisteo = verbal act of giving thanks; charis = the quality/gift being responded to
χάρισμα (chárisma)	G5486	both relate to "grace" / "gift"	charisma = specific spiritual gift or ability granted; charis = the divine attribute of favor from which gifts flow

Domain Neighbors (LN 025008 — Acceptable To, To Be Pleased With)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Verses	Primary KJV
G587	ἀπόδεκτος	2	acceptable
G700	ἀρέσκω	11	pleased
G1184	δεκτός	5	accepted, acceptable
G2100	εὐαρεστέω	3	is well pleased
G2101	εὐάρεστος	6	acceptable
G2106	εὐδοκέω	8	I am well pleased
G2107	εὐδοκία	7	good pleasure

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
ḥēn (חֵן)	H2580	58	33.09 — primary
mâtsâʼ (מָצָא)	H4672	38	17.71 — contextual ("find favor")
ʻayin (עַיִן)	H5869	44	15.74 — contextual ("in the eyes of")
râtsôwn (רָצוֹן)	H7522	4	7.24 — "delight, favor"