κοιν-όω G2840
To defile or make ritually unclean; to declare profane or call common what God has cleansed.
Koinoo enters the New Testament at the flashpoint of purity law. In Jesus' teaching (Matt 15; Mark 7), it is what comes out of the mouth — evil thoughts, murder, adultery — that 'defiles' a person, not unwashed hands or forbidden foods. The word literally means 'to make common,' to strip something of its holy or pure status and reduce it to the profane. Spanish contaminar, French souiller, and German verunreinigen all reach for pollution language, yet the underlying Greek preserves an older, more sociological concept: what is koinos is simply 'shared, ordinary' — the opposite of set apart. Peter's rooftop vision (Acts 10:15; 11:9) makes the full force of this tension explicit: 'What God has cleansed, do not call common.' Here the verb shifts from actual defilement to the act of declaring something profane, a distinction with enormous implications for the inclusion of Gentiles in the early church.
Senses
1. to defile, make ritually unclean — To defile or make ritually and morally unclean — the dominant active sense in Jesus' purity discourse. What enters the mouth does not defile (koinoi) a person, but what comes out of the heart does (Matt 15:11, 18, 20; Mark 7:15, 18, 20, 23). Spanish contaminar, French souiller, and German verunreinigen converge on pollution language. The teaching radically redefines defilement from external contact to internal moral corruption, overturning the oral-law tradition about handwashing. 11×
AR["المُنَجِّسَاتُ", "تُنَجِّسُ", "مُنَجِّسَةُ", "نَجَّسَ", "يُنَجِّسُ"]·ben["অপবিত্র-করেছে", "অশুচি-করতে", "অশুচি-করে"]·DE["verunreinigen", "verunreinigt"]·EN["defile", "defiled", "defiles", "defiling", "to-defile"]·FR["rendre-commun", "souiller"]·heb["חִלֵּל", "לְטַמֵּא", "מְטַמְּאִים", "מְטַמְּאוֹת", "מְטַמֵּא"]·HI["अपवित्र-किया-है", "अशुद्ध-करना", "अशुध-करति", "अशुध-करति-है", "अशुध-करति-हैन", "अशुध-करने-वलि", "उसे", "बिनती-करती-थी", "मनुष्य-को"]·ID["menajiskan", "yang-menajiskan"]·IT["contaminare", "rendere-impuro"]·jav["najisaken", "najisaken?", "njisihaken", "sampun-najisaken"]·KO["더럽혔다", "더럽히기를", "더럽히는-것들", "더럽히는-것이다", "더럽히다", "더럽힌다"]·PT["contamina", "contaminam", "profanou", "torna-impuro", "tornam-impuro", "tornando-impuro", "torná-lo-impuro"]·RU["осквернил", "осквернить", "оскверняет", "оскверняющее", "оскверняющие"]·ES["contamina", "contaminan", "contaminando", "contaminar", "ha-profanado", "que-contaminan"]·SW["amelinajisi", "kinamtia-unajisi", "kinanajisi", "kumnajisi", "mti-unajisi", "vinamnajisi", "vinamtia-unajisi", "vinavyomnajisi", "yanayomtia-unajisi"]·TR["kirletenler", "kirletir", "kirletmeye", "kirletti"]·urd["ناپاک-کرتا", "ناپاک-کرتا-ہے", "ناپاک-کرتی-ہیں", "ناپاک-کرتی-ہے", "ناپاک-کرتیں-ہیں", "ناپاک-کرنا", "ناپاک-کیا"]
2. to declare profane, call common — To declare profane or call common — treating as ritually unacceptable what God has in fact purified. In Peter's vision a heavenly voice commands: 'What God has cleansed, you must not call common' (Acts 10:15; 11:9). Spanish hacer comun and German fur gemein erklaren capture the declarative force. This is not about actual contamination but about the human judgment that labels something unclean — a crucial distinction that opened the door for Gentile inclusion in the apostolic church. 2×
AR["تُنَجِّسْ"]·ben["অশুদ্ধ-বল"]·DE["verunreinigt"]·EN["make-common"]·FR["rendre-commun"]·heb["תְּטַמֵּא"]·HI["अशुद्ध-ठहरा"]·ID["najiskan"]·IT["contaminare"]·jav["najisaken."]·KO["속되게-하라", "속되다-하지-말라"]·RU["считай-нечистым"]·ES["hagas-común"]·SW["najisi."]·TR["murdar-say"]·urd["حرام-کہہ"]
3. to be defiled (passive) — To be in a state of defilement (passive) — the resultant condition of having been made ritually impure. In Heb 9:13, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sanctify 'those who have been defiled' (kekoinomenous) for the purification of the flesh. Spanish contaminados and French souilles use passive participles that mirror the Greek perfect passive, pointing to an existing state of impurity that requires cleansing. 1×
AR["المُنَجَّسينَ"]·ben["যারা-অশুদ্ধ-হয়েছে"]·DE["verunreinigen"]·EN["having-been-defiled"]·FR["souiller"]·heb["טְמֵאִים"]·HI["अशुद्धों,"]·ID["yang-najis"]·IT["kekoinōmenous"]·jav["ingkang-najis"]·KO["더럽혀진-자들을"]·PT["contaminados"]·RU["осквернённых"]·ES["contaminados"]·SW["waliotiwa-unajisi"]·TR["kirlenenler"]·urd["ناپاک-ہونے-والوں-پر"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
κοιν-όω, future κοινώσω Refs 4th c.BC+: aorist ἐκοίνωσα Refs 5th c.BC+; Doric dialect ἐκοίνᾱσα Refs 5th c.BC+:—middle, future κοινώσομαι Refs codices (to be read -άσομαι (Doric dialect)), Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐκοινωσάμην Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, aorist ἐκοινώθην Refs 5th c.BC+perfect κεκοίνωμαι (in middle sense) Refs 5th c.BC+:—communicate, impart information, κ. τινί τι Refs 5th c.BC+; νυκτὶ…