StrongerBible

koinōnia

κοινωνία

GreekG2842“fellowship, participation, ...”

Appears 19 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Act 2:42Rom 15:261Co 1:91Co 10:16 (2×)2Co 6:142Co 8:42Co 9:132Co 13:13(14)Gal 2:9Php 1:5Php 2:1Php 3:10Phm 1:6Heb 13:161Jn 1:3 (2×)1Jn 1:61Jn 1:7
Word studyResearch-gradekoy-no-NEE-ahnoun

What koinōnia means

a joint sharing in something held in common: having a real stake in the same thing, and the bond that creates

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

At its root this word is about a share, not a feeling. It names what happens when two or more people genuinely hold one thing in common: they both have a stake in it, and that shared stake binds them together. Everyday Greek used it for a marriage, a business partnership, or a treaty, where two parties pool what they have toward one end.

The New Testament takes that ordinary word and stretches it to name the deepest reality it knows: that believers actually share in Christ himself, in his Spirit, in his sufferings, even in the life of God. From there it also names the community that this shared stake creates, the closeness Christians have with God and with one another. And it stays concrete enough to mean a money gift, because handing over your resources is one literal way of sharing what you have.

These are not three unrelated words but one idea seen from different angles. The thread running through all of them is a thing held jointly: when the thing shared is Christ or his Spirit, it reads as participation; when the focus falls on the people drawn together, it reads as fellowship; when the focus falls on pooled resources, it reads as a contribution. The same act of sharing carries all three at once, which is why no single English word quite holds it.

Nuances

1aan actual share in something jointly held: participating in Christ, in his Spirit, and in his sufferings
1Co 1:91Co 10:16 (2×)2Co 13:13(14)Php 2:1Php 3:10
1Co 10:16

How real is the share in Christ's blood and body in the cup and the bread at 1 Corinthians 10:16: a genuine participation, or only a symbol or memorial?

  • majorityA real, not merely symbolic, share in Christ, parallel to how eating sacrifices makes one a partner of the altar (verse 18) and eating pagan sacrifices makes one a partner of demons (verse 20); confessions still differ on how thick that participation is.; Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), pp. 755-771; Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, Interpretation (Louisville: John Knox, 1997), pp. 167-169; Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), pp. 466-469
  • minorityA symbol or memorial of Christ's death rather than a real share in him; this older reading has largely receded from technical scholarship.
1bthe close bond and shared life between persons: fellowship with God and with one another
Act 2:422Co 6:14Gal 2:9Phm 1:61Jn 1:3 (2×)1Jn 1:61Jn 1:7
1ca sharing of resources: a contribution or gift, and partnership in a common work
Rom 15:262Co 8:42Co 9:13Php 1:5Heb 13:16

What scholars say about koinōnia

Twentieth-century study reframed this word away from the older translation "fellowship." J. Y. Campbell (1932) and Heinrich Seesemann (1933) argued independently that its basic sense is participation in something jointly held rather than association with a person, and Friedrich Hauck's TDNT article consolidated that view as the standard reference, taking the root sense as "having a share in" with fellowship as a secondary, social derivative. The major lexica codify the result: BDAG lists close association, generosity or fellow-feeling, a sign or proof of fellowship such as a gift, and participation; Louw-Nida splits it between the domains of association and of giving. Spicq's lexicon and Moulton-Milligan ground the word in the ordinary Koine of contracts, marriages, and business documents, showing it is everyday vocabulary, not a Hebraic coinage. The chief exegetical debates concern whether "the koinonia of the Spirit" is a sharing given by the Spirit or a sharing in the Spirit (with Fee, Garland, and others now favoring a both-and reading), whether the cup and bread imply a real share in Christ at 1 Corinthians 10:16 (now near-consensus that the participation is real, not merely symbolic), and whether Paul's economic language reflects a Roman business partnership (Sampley, Ogereau) or ordinary gift-exchange (Peterman).

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • Friedrich Hauck, "κοινός, κοινωνός, κοινωνέω, κοινωνία," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), ed. Gerhard Kittel, vol. 3, pp. 789-809theological-dictionary
  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., s.v. κοινωνία, pp. 552-553lexicon
  • Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (TLNT), vol. 2, s.v. κοινωνία, pp. 305-311lexicon
  • J. Y. Campbell, "ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ and Its Cognates in the New Testament," Journal of Biblical Literature 51 (1932): 352-380article
  • Heinrich Seesemann, Der Begriff KOINΩNIA im Neuen Testament, BZNW 14 (Giessen: Töpelmann, 1933)monograph
  • Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), pp. 755-771commentary
  • Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), pp. 466-469commentary
  • J. Paul Sampley, Pauline Partnership in Christ: Christian Community and Commitment in Light of Roman Law (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980)monograph
  • Julien M. Ogereau, Paul's Koinonia with the Philippians: A Socio-Historical Investigation of a Pauline Economic Partnership, WUNT II/377 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014)monograph
  • James M. Starr, Sharers in Divine Nature: 2 Peter 1:4 in Its Hellenistic Context, ConBNT 33 (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 2000)monograph
  • Moisés Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDNTTE), 2nd ed., s.v. κοινωνίαtheological-dictionary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of κοινωνία

accusative f s

κοινωνίαν

Rom 15:26, 1Co 1:9, 2Co 8:4, Php 3:10, 1Jn 1:3, 1Jn 1:6, 1Jn 1:7

nominative f s

κοινωνία

1Co 10:16, 1Co 10:16, 2Co 6:14, 2Co 13:13, Php 2:1, Phm 1:6, 1Jn 1:3

genitive f s

κοινωνίας

2Co 9:13, Gal 2:9, Heb 13:16

dative f s

κοινωνίᾳ

Act 2:42, Php 1:5