What does κενόω (kenóō) mean in the Bible?
G2758 means to empty, make void, deprive of effect, or render something without content. Paul uses it figuratively when faith, promise, boasting, or the cross would be made ineffective.
Greek · G2758
κενόω
To empty
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κενόω G2758
Pronunciation kenóō
What does κενόω (kenóō) mean in the Bible?
G2758 means to empty, make void, deprive of effect, or render something without content. Paul uses it figuratively when faith, promise, boasting, or the cross would be made ineffective.
Reader summary
Full entry for κενόω (G2758) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2758?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include be emptied of [its] power (1), emptied (1), is useless (1), nullify (1), should not prove empty (1).
Where does κενόω (kenóō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 4:14. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Philippians (1), Romans (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2758 means to empty, make void, deprive of effect, or render something without content. Paul uses it figuratively when faith, promise, boasting, or the cross would be made ineffective. Philippians 2:7 uses the verb in its most discussed setting: the eternal Son "emptied Himself" by taking the form of a servant and becoming human. The following participles explain the manner of His self-emptying. Paul does not say that Christ stopped being God or surrendered divine attributes.
The word therefore serves two related teaching movements. Human boasting and rhetorical self-display can obscure the cross and prove empty. Christ, by contrast, freely embraces the servant's path of incarnation, humiliation, obedience, and death while remaining the divine Son. Teachers should keep lexical modesty. The verb alone does not settle every Christological question, but the sentence protects both Christ's true deity and His true humanity. Christian application follows Paul's appeal to humble service, not an invitation to erase personhood, accept exploitation, or neglect God-given responsibilities.
How the Bible Uses It
G2758 can describe making a claim ineffective or empty, while Philippians 2 uses it for the Son's self-humbling through taking servant form and entering obedient human life.
- 1Cor.1.17
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul refuses rhetorical wisdom that would empty the cross of its saving force in the congregation's hearing; the danger is obscuring the message, not weakening Christ's actual work.
- 2Cor.9.3
But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove empty, but that you will be prepared, just as I said.
Paul sends coworkers so that his boasting about Corinthian readiness will not prove empty, using the verb for a claim exposed as lacking substance.
- Php.2.7
But emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Christ empties Himself by taking servant form and becoming human; the grammar describes addition and humiliation, not the loss of deity.
Passage contextBook context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It be emptied of [its] power 1× 1 Corinthians 1:17
emptied 1× Philippians 2:7
is useless 1× Romans 4:14
nullify 1× 1 Corinthians 9:15
should not prove empty 1× 2 Corinthians 9:3
Show sample aligned rows
Romans 4:14 κεκένωται to is useless Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 1:17 κενωθῇ to be emptied of [its] power Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 9:15 κενώσει to nullify Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2 Corinthians 9:3 κενωθῇ to should not prove empty Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular Philippians 2:7 ἐκένωσεν to emptied Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Romans 4:14
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 4
Romans 1 1 Corinthians 2 2 Corinthians 1 Philippians 1
Source forms
κενωθῇ 2x kenōthē 1 Corinthians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 9:3
ἐκένωσεν 1x ekenōsen Philippians 2:7
κεκένωται 1x kekenōtai Romans 4:14
κενώσει 1x kenōsei 1 Corinthians 9:15
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 9:3
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Philippians 2:7
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Corinthians 9:15
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Romans 4:14
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Read Philippians 2:6-8 as a complete movement from divine status through servant form, humanity, humiliation, and obedient death.
- Apply Christ's humility without treating His unique incarnation and atoning obedience as actions believers can reproduce.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that Philippians 2 teaches Christ surrendered deity or divine attributes. The passage explains His self-emptying through taking servant form and true humanity.
- Do not turn Christ's unique humiliation into pressure for people to erase personhood, remain in abuse, or neglect responsible limits. The application concerns humble love, not self-destruction.
Passage contexttheological_synthesisPastoral application
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To strip of power, validity, or effect; to render ineffective or void in theological contexts
Strong's G2758
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 5 times Word forms 2 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Source Gloss
to empty
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To strip of power, validity, or effect; to render ineffective or void in theological contexts
(κενός, which see), [in LXX: Jer.14:2 15:9 (עָמָל pu.)* ;] to empty. Metaphorical, to empty, make empty, vain or of no effect: καύχημα, 1Co.9:15; ἑαυτόν, of Christ, Php.2:7 (v Lft.; ICC, in 1, and esp. Gifford, Incarn., 54 ff.); pass., πίστις, Rom.4:14; ὁ σταυρός, 1Co.1:17; καύχημα, 2Co.9:3
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 4:14 Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Passive Indicative
κεκένωται kekenwtai
I empty, deprive of content, make unreal
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:17 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Subjunctive
κενωθῇ kenwqh
I empty, deprive of content, make unreal
Read verse 1 Corinthians 9:15 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Subjunctive
κενώσῃ. kenwsh
I empty, deprive of content, make unreal
Read verse 2 Corinthians 9:3 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Subjunctive
κενωθῇ kenwqh
I empty, deprive of content, make unreal
Read verse Philippians 2:7 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐκένωσε, ekenwsen
I empty, deprive of content, make unreal
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 5 Tenses Aorist, Perfect, Future Voices Passive, Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 2×
Aorist Passive 1 Cor 1:17 · 2 Cor 9:3 2×
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Perfect Passive Rom 4:14 1×
Future Active 1 Cor 9:15 1×
Aorist Active Phil 2:7 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 3 future 1 perfect 1
Voice
passive 3 active 2
Mood
indicative 3 subjunctive 2
NT Occurrences
Romans 4:14 κεκένωται perfect passive indicative resultant 1 Corinthians 1:17 κενωθῇ aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive 1 Corinthians 9:15 κενώσει future active indicative prospective 2 Corinthians 9:3 κενωθῇ aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive Philippians 2:7 ἐκένωσεν aorist active indicative completed
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
The cross of Christ rendered ineffective or stripped of power through human wisdom
Christ self-emptied or humbled himself by taking on human form and mortality
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κενόω is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2758 requires teachers to hold lexical meaning and sentence-level theology together. In several Pauline passages, the verb means that faith, promise, boasting, or proclamation would be deprived of effect or exposed as empty. Philippians 2:7 does not invite a bare definition to replace the passage. Paul identifies the subject as the One existing in God's form, then explains His self-emptying through taking servant form, entering human likeness, humbling Himself, and obeying to death.
The Son's humility is not a loss of deity but the astonishing path of the divine Son in true humanity. This protects the gospel and the application. Believers imitate His refusal of selfish ambition and status-grasping, but they do not repeat the incarnation or atone for sin. Christlike service is voluntary, truthful, and ordered toward another's good, never a command to disappear, enable abuse, or deny creaturely limits.
Anchor passage
1Cor.1.17
Doctrinal connections
- Rom.4.13-16 - Making inheritance depend on law would empty faith and nullify promise, so the inheritance rests on grace and remains sure.
- 1Cor.1.17-25 - The cross must not be obscured by status-seeking rhetoric; God's saving wisdom confronts the world's measures of power.
- 1Cor.9.15-18 - Paul would rather die than have his ground for boasting emptied, yet his boast concerns preaching the gospel without exploiting his rights.
- 2Cor.9.1-5 - Paul acts transparently so that prior boasting will have substance, joining truthful speech to accountable preparation in giving.
- Phil.2.5-8 - The eternal Son takes servant form, becomes truly human, and obeys to death; His self-emptying is explained by humble incarnation and obedience.
- Phil.2.9-11 - The Father exalts the humbled Son and every tongue confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, completing the movement from voluntary humiliation to universal lordship.
To empty is the reviewed display gloss for G2758. In this Pauline-focused companion, local STEP TAGNT evidence shows about 5 Pauline use(s), with common forms including V-APS-3S 2, V-RPI-3S 1, V-FAI-3S 1. In Philippians 2:7 the aorist active points to Christ's deliberate action, while the surrounding participles explain the manner of emptying.
From Old to New Testament
Isaiah's servant songs provide the canonical pattern of the obedient servant who gives Himself for others and is afterward exalted. Philippians 2 echoes that servant-shaped movement without making a lexical claim that G2758 directly translates one Hebrew term.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain