16 Greek words
Greek Words in the New Testament, Explained
The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, and a lot of what reads as a single word in English is doing more work in the original. Take charis (χάρις), the word usually translated “grace.” In everyday first-century Greek, charis named a gift given inside a patron-client relationship — the kind of gift that created loyalty and was expected to be passed on, not just received. Paul uses that exact word, with that exact social weight, to describe what God did in Jesus. “Grace” is a fine translation, but it doesn't carry the original word's built-in expectation that a gift like this gets extended to someone else.
That gap between the English word and the Greek word behind it shows up constantly — in dunamis (power), in koinonia (fellowship), in metanoia (repentance). None of it requires learning an alphabet. It just requires someone pointing at the seam.
That's what Sola's in-app word studies do: tap any verse and see the original Greek (or Hebrew) behind it, in plain English, without leaving the passage you're reading.
- 01
Metanoiaμετάνοια
A changed mind that turns a whole life around — not groveling or earning forgiveness.
What Does Metanoia Mean? The Greek Word Behind Repentance in the Bible
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Metanoiaμετάνοια
It's never too late to turn around — turning is the moment metanoia starts.
Is It Too Late to Turn to God? What Metanoia Really Means
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Metanoiaμετάνοια
Why real change breaks a repeated-sin cycle where willpower alone keeps failing.
Why You Keep Falling Into the Same Sin (And How to Actually Stop)
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Tetelestaiτετέλεσται
"Paid in full" — a receipt term, spoken by Jesus from the cross in John 19:30.
What Does TETELESTAI Mean? The Greek Word Behind 'It Is Finished' in John 19:30
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Splagchnizomaiσπλαγχνίζομαι
Gut-level compassion — a visceral, bodily response to someone else's suffering.
What Does SPLAGCHNIZOMAI Mean in the Gospels?
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Charisχάρις
Grace — a gift given inside a relationship, meant to be received and then passed on.
What Does Charis Mean? The Greek Word for Grace
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Kairos & Chronosκαιρός / χρόνος
Two Greek words for "time": the right moment, versus the clock ticking forward.
Kairos vs Chronos: The Two Greek Words for Time
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Logosλόγος
"The Word" in John 1:1 — and why the Greek grammar there says "was God," not "a god."
What Does Logos Mean in John 1:1? Greek Word Explained
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Dunamisδύναμις
Power, ability, capacity — the root of "dynamite," though the history runs backwards from that.
Ancient Greek Word for Power: What Does Dunamis Mean in the Bible?
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Koinoniaκοινωνία
Fellowship as a shared-risk, shared-stake partnership — not a social club.
What Does Koinonia Mean? More Than Fellowship
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Teleiosτέλειος
"Be perfect" in Matthew 5:48 actually means complete or mature, not flawless.
What Does Teleios Mean in Matthew 5:48?
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Exousiaἐξουσία
Delegated authority — why praying "in Jesus' name" isn't a magic formula.
What Does Exousia Mean? The Greek Word Behind Jesus' Authority
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Hypokritesὑποκριτής
A stage actor wearing a mask — the word Jesus used most often against religious performance.
Why Jesus Was Harsher with Religious People Than Sinners
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Aphiemiἀφίημι
To release, let go, or send away — how you actually know if you have forgiven someone.
How to Know If You've Truly Forgiven Someone (What the Bible Actually Says)
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Aphiemiἀφίημι
Forgiveness as releasing a debt you're owed, not pretending it never happened.
When You Can't Forgive the Person Who Hurt You
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Hades & Gehennaᾅδης / γέεννα
Two of the New Testament's four words for "hell," and neither means what most people assume.
Sheol, Hades, and Hell: What the Bible Actually Means
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Frequently asked questions
What language was the New Testament written in?
Koine Greek — the common, everyday Greek spoken across the Roman world, not the more literary classical Greek of Homer or Plato. That matters: Koine words often carried specific everyday meanings (a business partnership, a legal debt being cancelled) that shaped how the first readers understood them.
Do I need to know Greek to study the Bible?
No. English translations are careful, scholarly work. But translation always involves trade-offs, and some Greek words (charis, splagchnizomai) carry a specific weight that a single English word can't fully hold. Knowing the original word fills in what the translation had to compress.
Why does one Greek word sometimes become several different English words?
Because translators choose the closest available English word for the context, and Greek words often have a range of meaning wider than any one English word covers. Aphiemi, for example, gets translated as "forgive," "leave," and "let go" in different verses — all the same Greek word underneath.
Where can I look up a Greek word myself?
A study Bible with Strong's numbers, an interlinear Bible, or Sola's in-app word studies, which surface the Greek (or Hebrew) behind any verse in plain English, without requiring you to learn the alphabet first.
Study the original Greek in Sola
Get the Greek and Hebrew behind any verse, historical context, and related passages, right inside the app.
Studying the Old Testament instead? See Hebrew Words in the Bible, Explained.