What does κόλασις (kólasis) mean in the Bible?
G2851 is a noun meaning punishment. Matthew 25:46 uses it for the punishment named at the close of Jesus' judgment scene, in contrast with the life of the righteous.
Greek · G2851
κόλασις
Penal infliction
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κόλασις G2851
Pronunciation kólasis
What does κόλασις (kólasis) mean in the Bible?
G2851 is a noun meaning punishment. Matthew 25:46 uses it for the punishment named at the close of Jesus' judgment scene, in contrast with the life of the righteous.
Reader summary
Full entry for κόλασις (G2851) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2851?
The BSB source-word alignment has 2 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include punishment (2).
Where does κόλασις (kólasis) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 25:46. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 John (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2851 is a noun meaning punishment. Matthew 25:46 uses it for the punishment named at the close of Jesus' judgment scene, in contrast with the life of the righteous. First John 4:18 uses it when John explains that fear involves punishment and that perfect love drives out that fear. The noun identifies punishment in both passages, but it does not by itself explain the punishment's purpose or settle every question about its duration.
Those claims must come from each passage and the wider biblical witness. John's statement is also specific to fear associated with punishment; it should not be expanded into a claim that mature believers never experience any kind of fear.
Lexical sourcePassage context
How the Bible Uses It
The governed witness contains two uses of G2851. Matthew 25:46 places punishment within Jesus' final judgment scene. First John 4:18 places punishment within John's explanation of fear and perfected love.
- Matt.25.46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
G2851 names punishment in Jesus' concluding contrast. Interpretation must attend to the modifier, the full scene, and the broader witness.
- 1John.4.18
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
G2851 explains what the fear in view involves. John's claim is specific and should not be generalized to every experience of fear.
Passage 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 punishment 2× Matthew 25:46, 1 John 4:18
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 25:46
Aligned rows 2
Books represented 2
Matthew 1 1 John 1
Source forms
κόλασιν 2x kolasin Matthew 25:46, 1 John 4:18
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2x Matthew 25:46, 1 John 4:18
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Read Matthew 25:46 inside the full judgment scene before drawing conclusions from punishment.
- Read 1 John 4:18 as a specific statement about fear involving punishment, not as a dismissal of every form of fear or distress.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that the word G2851 by itself proves a particular duration, mode, or purpose of punishment.
- Do not claim that a believer who experiences any fear has no place in God's love.
Evidence Summary
MessiahPriesthood
Greek word. Punishment aimed at correction and reformation of the sufferer, not mere retribution or vengeance.
Strong's G2851
Lexical occurrences 2 verses Greek text appearances 2 times Word forms 1 form 2 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 John 4:17-21 Source Gloss
penal infliction
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 25:46 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
κόλασιν kolasin
chastisement, punishment
Read verse 1 John 4:18 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
κόλασιν kolasin
chastisement, punishment
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 1 Aligned forms 2 Case pattern Accusative (2) Number pattern Singular (2)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Matt 25:46 · 1 John 4:18 2×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Corrective or retributive penalty.
Showing 1 selected witness from 2 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κόλασις is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Fear tied to punitive expectation is incompatible with mature love rooted in Christ’s atonement. 1 John 4:17-21
Canonical Themes
Messiah Priesthood
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2851 teaches restraint as well as seriousness. Matthew 25:46 does not allow a teacher to remove punishment from Jesus' judgment scene, while 1 John 4:18 does not allow every experience of fear to be treated as proof of spiritual failure. The same noun serves two distinct arguments. In Matthew it names the outcome stated in contrast with life. In First John it identifies what the fear under discussion involves as John speaks of confidence for the day of judgment and love being perfected.
The noun means punishment, but its lexical meaning does not independently determine purpose, mode, or duration. Those conclusions require sentence-level, passage-level, and canonical reasoning. Faithful teaching says what each text says, distinguishes lexical observation from theological synthesis, and avoids using either occurrence to silence the other.
Anchor passage
Matt.25.46
Doctrinal connections
- Matt.25.31-46 - The full judgment scene supplies the persons, actions, verdicts, and outcomes surrounding the noun.
- Matt.25.46 - The verse contrasts punishment and life; its syntax and modifiers carry claims beyond the noun's basic meaning.
- 1John.4.17-18 - Confidence for the day of judgment and perfected love govern John's statement that fear involves punishment.
- 1John.4.19 - The following confession that believers love because God first loved them keeps application rooted in God's prior love.
Both governed rows use the same accusative singular surface form, κόλασιν. The noun supplies the idea of punishment. Its modifier and surrounding clauses supply the distinct claims made in Matthew 25:46 and 1 John 4:18.
From Old to New Testament
Broader teaching about judgment, life, love, and fear should be built from the relevant passages across Scripture. G2851 can mark where the two New Testament texts speak, but it should not replace that wider contextual work.
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