NEW, NEWNESS (חָדָשׁ, H2543; καινός, G2785; νέος, G3742).

I. The Heb. terms. The common OT word for “new” is חָדָשׁ, H2543, meaning “new” in the sense of “recent” or “fresh” and has both the connotations usually associated with the two Gr. words, καινός, G2785, and νέος, G3742, that of qualitative newness contrasted with chronological newness. Usually used in the attributive position, it appears, for example, in the following expressions: a new king (Exod 1:8), a new meal offering (Lev 23:16), a new house (Deut 20:5), a new wife (24:5), new cords (Judg 15:13), a new cart (1 Sam 6:7), a new garment (1 Kings 11:29, 30), a new song (Ps 33:3, et al.), a new name (Isa 62:2), a new heavens and a new earth (65:17; 66:22), a new covenant (Jer 31:31), and a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek 18:31; 36:26). From the above list, the difficulty of making a distinction between quality and time is apparent; for often, if something is new in kind, it is also recent in appearance. It is worth noting that the references from the historical books of the OT generally emphasize the temporal significance, while those from the poetic and prophetic lit. stress generally the qualitative. This word is used also a few times with no noun expressed but where the context must supply it (Lev 26:10; Deut 32:17; 2 Sam 21:16; et al.). Rarely is it used in the predicate position (Job 29:20; Eccl 1:10; Lam 3:23). Other OT words for “new” used infrequently are חֲדַ֑ת (Ezra 6:4, new timber); טָרִי, H3269, (Judg 15:15, a new jaw bone in the sense of fresh or raw); and בְּרִיאָ֞ה (Num 16:30, a new thing in the sense of a new creation).

II. The Gr. terms. The two common Gr. words are καινός, G2785, and νέος, G3742, the first used regularly to emphasize qualitative newness and the latter, chronological newness in the sense of modernity or youthfulness. Καινός is used in the NT for those entities connected with the kingdom of God and the coming age which will be radically different from what characterizes this present age. Νἐος is used frequently by Paul in the Pastoral Epistles to refer to the young members of his congregations, both male and female (1 Tim 5:1, 2, 11, 14; Titus 2:4, 6; cf. 1 Pet 5:5).

The above distinction between καινός, G2785, and νέος, G3742, is not acknowledged by all. Those who deny it base their argument primarily upon the seemingly interchangeable use of the two words in the NT. Matthew 9:17 speaks of new wine with νέος, G3742, while Matthew 26:29, in a different context refers to new wine as καινός, G2785. Ephesians 4:24 commands the Christian to put on the καινός, G2785, man, while Colossians 3:10 speaks of his having put on the νέος, G3742, man. The writer to the Hebrews refers to “the new covenant” but uses καινός, G2785, in 9:15 and νέος, G3742, in 12:24. Furthermore, the papyri seem to use the two words practically synonymously.

The usual explanation of the above passages by those who, like Trench, still maintain the distinction of meaning is that, although they may appear to be used synonymously, they are not actually being so used. Through the use of the two different words, the scriptural writers are attempting to make a distinction which, these scholars insist, must not be glossed over. ̓Αγναφος is another word for “new” used in Matthew 9:16 and Mark 2:21 and refers to new cloth, in the sense of unlaundered or unshrunk cloth. Πρόσφατος is used in Hebrews 10:20 with reference to the new way which Christ opened up into the Holy Place. The word itself means “newly slain” but here refers to the way as having been newly manifested or revealed.

Bibliography R. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (1948), 219-225; W. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Early Christian Literature (1957), 394, 395, 537; G. Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, III (1965), 447-454.