What does ἁγνός (hagnós) mean in the Bible?
ἁγνός is an adjective meaning pure, clean, or innocent according to context. The local index records about eight New Testament uses.
Greek · G53
ἁγνός
Pure
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ἁγνός G53
Pronunciation hagnós
What does ἁγνός (hagnós) mean in the Bible?
ἁγνός is an adjective meaning pure, clean, or innocent according to context. The local index records about eight New Testament uses.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἁγνός (G53) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G53?
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include pure (5), [as] a pure (1), [is] pure (1), innocent (1).
Where does ἁγνός (hagnós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 2 Corinthians 7:11. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Corinthians (2), 1 John (1), 1 Peter (1), 1 Timothy (1).
What This Word Actually Means
ἁγνός is an adjective meaning pure, clean, or innocent according to context. The local index records about eight New Testament uses. It describes Christ in 1 John 3:3, things worthy of thought in Philippians 4:8, wisdom from above in James 3:17, conduct in Titus 2:5 and 1 Peter 3:2, demonstrated innocence in 2 Corinthians 7:11, and the purity Timothy must keep in 1 Timothy 5:22. This range is broader than sexual purity and cannot be reduced to one abstract quality such as unmixed motive.
First John 3:1-3 grounds the believer's hope in present adoption, Christ's future appearing, promised likeness to Him, and seeing Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself as Christ is pure. The statement makes Christ the standard and hope the motive, but it does not use one adjective to define every divine attribute or promise that believers become divine.
Philippians 4:8 includes whatever is pure among the true, honorable, right, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy things believers should consider. James 3:17 calls wisdom from above first pure and then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, merciful, fruitful, impartial, and sincere. Both passages shape Christian attention and conduct, but neither makes word order prove that every other virtue logically depends on purity.
Lexical sourceCanonical parallelPassage contextgrammatical
How the Bible Uses It
The local index records about eight uses of ἁγνός across Christ-centered hope, worthy thought, wisdom from above, personal conduct, demonstrated innocence, and ministerial caution. Each passage identifies what or who is pure and what response follows.
- 1John.3.3
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.
The comparison 'just as he is pure' makes Christ's character the standard named by the adjective. It supports moral conformity to Christ without claiming that believers acquire his divine nature.
- Php.4.8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
Paul includes whatever is pure among a coordinated list of things believers should consider. The command gives moral weight to attention without claiming that thought always precedes behavior or that purity can be isolated from the other qualities.
- Jas.3.17
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
James calls wisdom from above first pure and then names its peaceable, gentle, merciful, fruitful, impartial, and sincere character. The sequence should be preserved, but word order alone does not prove a technical hierarchy among the virtues.
- 2Cor.7.11
Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
Paul says the Corinthians proved themselves innocent in the matter after godly sorrow produced earnest action. The phrase concerns their response to this case; it must not be expanded into a claim of general sinlessness.
- 1Tim.5.22
Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
Paul joins the command to keep pure with caution about laying on hands too quickly and sharing in others' sins. The immediate context requires deliberate ministerial judgment, though the verse does not specify every setting in which hands are laid.
Passage contexttheological_synthesisgrammatical
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 pure 5× 1 Timothy 5:22, Titus 2:5, James 3:17, 1 Peter 3:2
[as] a pure 1× 2 Corinthians 11:2
[is] pure 1× Philippians 4:8
innocent 1× 2 Corinthians 7:11
Show sample aligned rows
2 Corinthians 7:11 ἁγνοὺς to innocent Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 2 Corinthians 11:2 ἁγνὴν to [as] a pure Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular Philippians 4:8 ἁγνά to [is] pure Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural 1 Timothy 5:22 ἁγνὸν to pure Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular Titus 2:5 ἁγνάς to pure Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural James 3:17 ἁγνή to pure Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular 1 Peter 3:2 ἁγνὴν to pure Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular 1 John 3:3 ἁγνός to pure Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row 2 Corinthians 7:11
Aligned rows 8
Books represented 7
2 Corinthians 2 Philippians 1 1 Timothy 1 Titus 1 James 1 1 Peter 1 1 John 1
Source forms
ἁγνὴν 2x hagnēn 2 Corinthians 11:2, 1 Peter 3:2
ἁγνά 1x hagna Philippians 4:8
ἁγνάς 1x hagnas Titus 2:5
ἁγνή 1x hagnē James 3:17
ἁγνὸν 1x hagnon 1 Timothy 5:22
ἁγνός 1x hagnos 1 John 3:3
ἁγνοὺς 1x hagnous 2 Corinthians 7:11
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular 2x 2 Corinthians 11:2, 1 Peter 3:2
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural 1x Titus 2:5
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x 2 Corinthians 7:11
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x 1 Timothy 5:22
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x James 3:17
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x 1 John 3:3
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural 1x Philippians 4:8
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- ἁγνός covers a wider range than sexual ethics. When James says heavenly wisdom is 'first pure,' he means unmixed with earthly motives, partiality, and hypocrisy. When Philippians 4:8 lists 'pure' among the things to think on, it means thoughts unclouded by malice, deception, and hidden agenda. Apply the full scope before narrowing to one category.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that ἁγνός in the New Testament refers primarily or exclusively to sexual abstinence. The word's most theologically significant use (1 John 3:3) describes the nature of Christ himself and the Christological trajectory of the believer — a far broader claim than sexual ethics alone.
- Do not claim that 1 John 3:3 demands sinless perfection as a present achievement or that its present tense proves continuous progress without interruption. The verse joins real purification to hope in Christ and His purity.
Passage contextgrammatical
Evidence Summary
HolinessMessiah
Greek word. Ceremonial purity from defilement enabling access to worship, extending to moral chastity and sincerity.
Strong's G53
Lexical occurrences 8 verses Greek text appearances 8 times Word forms 7 forms 8 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
pure
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
2 Corinthians 7:11 Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ἁγνοὺς agnouv
pure, chaste
Read verse 2 Corinthians 11:2 Adjective Accusative Singular Feminine
ἁγνὴν agnhn
pure, chaste
Read verse Philippians 4:8 Adjective Nominative Plural Neuter
ἁγνά, agna
pure, chaste
Read verse 1 Timothy 5:22 Adjective Accusative Singular Masculine
ἁγνὸν agnon
pure, chaste
Read verse Titus 2:5 Adjective Accusative Plural Feminine
ἁγνάς, agnav
pure, chaste
Read verse James 3:17 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
ἁγνή agnh
pure, chaste
Read verse 1 Peter 3:2 Adjective Accusative Singular Feminine
ἁγνὴν agnhn
pure, chaste
Read verse 1 John 3:3 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
ἁγνός agnov
pure, chaste
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 7 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 7 Aligned forms 8 Case pattern Accusative (5) Number pattern Singular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Phil 4:8 1×
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Jas 3:17 1×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine 1 John 3:3 1×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine 2 Cor 11:2 · 1 Pet 3:2 2×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine 2 Cor 7:11 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine 1 Tim 5:22 1×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Titus 2:5 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
1-john Pure hagnós
morally clean, unmixed
Showing 1 selected witness from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἁγνός is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Describes the character believers pursue in anticipation of seeing Christ.
Canonical Themes
Holiness Messiah
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
ἁγνός serves several related but distinct claims. Christ is pure, and hope in His appearing summons believers to purification. Paul directs the Philippians toward whatever is pure as part of a larger pattern of worthy attention. James says wisdom from above is first pure and then describes its peaceable and merciful character. Paul can also use the adjective for innocence in a particular matter and for the purity Timothy must guard while exercising ministry judgment.
This breadth prevents purity teaching from collapsing into a single sexual code, but it also prevents the word from becoming a vague slogan for transparency or unmixed motives. The subject and context matter. A sound pastoral approach centers hope on Christ, encourages disciplined attention and wise conduct, honors sexual and relational integrity where the texts address them, and leaves room for repentance and demonstrated faithfulness.
It avoids both shame-driven perfectionism and a purity language too thin to confront real sin.
Anchor passage
1John.3.3
Doctrinal connections
- 1 John 3:1-3: Christ's purity sets the standard within the Father's promise that His children will be like the appearing Son.
- Philippians 4:8-9: pure things belong to a coordinated pattern of worthy thought and practiced teaching.
- James 3:13-18: wisdom from above is pure, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, fruitful, impartial, and sincere.
- 2 Corinthians 7:8-12: godly sorrow produces earnest repentance and innocence in the matter addressed.
- 1 Timothy 5:19-25: keeping pure belongs to patient judgment about accusations, rebuke, and laying on of hands.
- 1 Peter 3:1-6: pure and reverent conduct forms part of Peter's counsel without authorizing coercion or concealment of harm.
ἁγνός is an adjective in the Greek purity vocabulary and is related to the verb ἁγνίζω. English renderings include pure and innocent according to the object and context. Etymology and word-family relationships may illuminate a semantic neighborhood, but they do not establish a fixed contrast between ἁγνός, ἅγιος, and ἁγιασμός in every passage. The immediate clause decides whether the adjective describes Christ, conduct, wisdom, thought, or innocence in a particular matter.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's Scriptures speak of clean hands, pure hearts, undefiled worship, truthful wisdom, and integrity before God. Psalm 24 joins clean hands and a pure heart with freedom from falsehood, while Proverbs repeatedly ties wisdom to upright conduct. The New Testament continues moral and worship-related purity language and centers Christian hope on Christ. It does not make bodily or communal holiness obsolete, nor does it reduce purity to ritual status alone.
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