StrongerBible

ktizō

κτίζω

GreekG2936“create, make”

Appears 15 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 19:4Mrk 13:19Rom 1:251Co 11:9Eph 2:10Eph 2:15Eph 3:9Eph 4:24Col 1:16 (2×)Col 3:101Ti 4:3Rev 4:11 (2×)Rev 10:6
Root family
Akin to
Word studyKTEE-zohverb

What ktizō means

to create, to bring into being; in the New Testament always God's act.

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This is the New Testament's main word for creating. Like the Hebrew word it translates, it is used only of God: God is the Creator, and everything else is what he created. Paul can sum up a whole quarrel in one line, that people worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

It looks in two directions. Backward, it names the original making of the world and everything in it, heaven and earth and sea, food and marriage and humankind. Forward, it names a second creation: in Christ, God makes a person new, and even fuses former enemies into one new humanity.

That second use is the striking one. The same verb for making the universe is used for what God does inside a believer, so that becoming new is not self-improvement but an act of creation, as much God's own work as the world itself.

Nuances

1aGod's creation of the world and everything in it, the original making of all things.
Mat 19:4Mrk 13:19Rom 1:251Co 11:9Eph 3:9Col 1:16 (2×)1Ti 4:3Rev 4:11 (2×)Rev 10:6
1bGod's new creation, making a person or people new in Christ.
Eph 2:10Eph 2:15Eph 4:24Col 3:10

What scholars say about ktizō

In the New Testament lexicon (BDAG) and dictionary (TDNT), this verb means "to create," used only of God, and of Christ as the one through whom all things are created. The Septuagint regularly uses it to render the Hebrew verb for divine creation, and the New Testament keeps that exclusive divine reference. Alongside the original creation of the world it develops a distinctive "new creation" use, especially in Paul, where God creates a person or community new in Christ. The related noun ktisis covers both "creation" and "creature."

Sources

  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich), s.v. κτίζωlexicon
  • LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones), s.v. κτίζωlexicon
  • Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), s.v. κτίζω, κτίσιςdictionary

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

All attested forms of κτίζω

aorist active indicative 3s

ἔκτισεν

Mrk 13:19, 1Ti 4:3, Rev 10:6

aorist passive indicative 3s

ἐκτίσθη

1Co 11:9, Col 1:16

aorist active indicative 2s

ἔκτισας

Rev 4:11

aorist active participle accusative m s

κτίσαντα

Rom 1:25

aorist active participle dative m s

κτίσαντι

Eph 3:9

aorist active participle genitive m s

κτίσαντος

Col 3:10

aorist active participle nominative m s

κτίσας

Mat 19:4

aorist active subjunctive 3s

κτίσῃ

Eph 2:15

aorist passive indicative 3p

ἐκτίσθησαν

Rev 4:11

aorist passive participle accusative m s

κτισθέντα

Eph 4:24

aorist passive participle nominative m p

κτισθέντες

Eph 2:10

perfect passive indicative 3s

ἔκτισται

Col 1:16