Words · Greek Words · Lesson 5, word 1 of 5
καιρόςkairos
A definite, appointed, opportune time.
Why this word is here. Mark 1:15's word ('the time is fulfilled') and the subject of a famous pulpit contrast with chronos that the lexicon supports only halfway.
What it means
Abbott-Smith: due measure, fitness, proportion; of time, a fixed and definite period, time, season: the time of fruit, the times of the Gentiles, 'times or seasons' (Acts 1:7); and of opportune or seasonable time: the acceptable time (2 Corinthians 6:2), redeeming the time (Ephesians 5:16), doing good 'as we have opportunity' (Galatians 6:10).
Kairos is time with a point to it: the moment when something is ripe, due, or decisive. Chronos, by contrast, is time as duration, but see the correction below before building a doctrine on the contrast.
Where you meet it
“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”
Mark 1:15 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'The time (kairos) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near.' Not time in general: the appointed time, arrived.
Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
Acts 1:7 (BSB)
'It is not for you to know the times (chronos) or seasons (kairos) which the Father has fixed by His own authority.' Both words in one verse, side by side, the neatest evidence that they are neighbours, not opposites.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
Galatians 6:10 (BSB)
'As we have opportunity (kairos), let us do good to everyone.' Kairos as the open window for action, which closes.
Why it matters
Kairos names the Bible's sense of history: time is not an empty container but a sequence of appointed moments under God's hand, with Jesus' arrival as the decisive one. Ethically it creates urgency without panic: opportunities are real, given, and not permanent.
Watch out
The pulpit contrast, 'chronos is ordinary clock time, kairos is God's special moment', is a half-truth that has hardened into an over-claim. Acts 1:7 uses both words for the same fixed dates; chronos can be specific (a long chronos, Acts 8:11) and kairos can be mundane (the season for figs, Mark 11:13). Keep the true part: kairos leans toward the significant, appointed, opportune moment. Drop the false part: a lexical law that sorts every occurrence into two spiritual categories.
In this lesson
- zoe (ζωή): Life, natural life, and the life of the age to come.
- eirene (εἰρήνη): Peace, concord, security, and the shalom of God.
- doulos (δοῦλος): A slave, owned, and (in Christ) honoured by the title.
- pneumatikos (πνευματικός): 'Spiritual', belonging to, or actuated by, the Spirit.
Sources
- Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
- STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
- SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.