Greek word · G2592

καρποφορέω

karpophoreō

to bear fruit

'To bear fruit' (of plants, and figuratively of results in life). 'To grow, increase' (of plants, children, crowds, influence).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

καρπο-φορέω, -ῶ

to bear fruit: χόρτον, Mark 4:28 (cf. Wis, l.with). Metaphorical, of conduct: Matthew 13:23, Mark 4:20, Luke 8:15, Romans 7:4-5, Colossians 1:10; mid., Colossians 1:6.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: 'To bear fruit' (of plants, and figuratively of results in life). 'To grow, increase' (of plants, children, crowds, influence).
Against the English: KJV 'being fruitful… increasing' and BSB/WEB 'bearing fruit… growing/increasing' keep the pairing. NLT breaks it into 'produce every kind of good fruit' and 'grow as you learn to know God better', which loses the echo of 1:6.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Col 1:6 the gospel itself is 'bearing fruit and growing' in the whole world. Now the believers are to do the same. The pairing recalls Jesus' parable of the sower, where the seed 'grew and bore fruit' (Mark 4:8, which uses the same roots). Some scholars also hear Genesis 1:28, where the Greek has 'grow (αὐξάνεσθε) and multiply'; see debates.

Range of meaning: To bear fruit or produce a crop, used literally of plants and land. Used figuratively, it means to produce results that show what someone is. In Jewish and early Christian moral language, "fruit" stands for deeds and a life that match one's inner state (compare Mt 3:8, "fruit worthy of repentance").
Against the English: "Bear fruit" (KJV, WEB, ESV, NASB) keeps the biblical image. "Produce a crop" (BSB, NIV) suits the grain field but loses the link to the wider "fruit" language of Scripture.
Used elsewhere in the period: Mark 4:28: "the earth bears fruit by itself". Col 1:6, 10: the gospel and believers "bearing fruit and growing". Rom 7:4. Ezekiel 17:8 (LXX): a vine planted "in a good field by many waters… to make fruit". 4 Ezra 9:31 (c. 100 CE): God says, "I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth fruit in you."

Range of meaning: To bear fruit, be fruitful, produce a crop. Used figuratively for producing visible results in a life.
Against the English: 'Bear fruit' (BSB, NIV, ESV), 'bring forth fruit' (KJV), 'produce fruit' (WEB). NLT has 'a harvest of good deeds', which narrows it to actions and loses the link to 7:5.
How it drifted: In modern church language 'fruit' often means ministry success or converts. Paul means the whole outcome of a life, as in 6:21–22, where the 'fruit' is holiness ending in eternal life.
Used elsewhere in the period: Used in Jesus' parable of the sower (Mark 4:20; Matt 13:23) and in Col 1:6, 10 for the gospel and for good works. In Rom 7:5 the same verb describes the old life 'bearing fruit for death'. In Greek, as in Hebrew, 'fruit' was also used of children ('fruit of the womb', LXX Gen 30:2; Deut 28:4).

Matthew · 1

Matthew 13:23 καρποφορεῖ brings forth fruit

But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”

Here: Present tense: goes on bearing fruit. It is the direct opposite of the thorny-ground hearer, who 'becomes unfruitful' (13:22).

Mark · 2

Mark 4:20 καρποφοροῦσιν bring forth fruit

Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”

Here: "Keep bearing fruit" (present tense). It answers the thorny ground directly: there the word "becomes fruitless" (akarpos, v. 19).
Mark 4:28 καρποφορεῖ brings forth fruit —

All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within.

Here: Present tense: the earth keeps producing, a process still under way. It is the same verb Jesus used a few verses earlier for the good soil that 'bears fruit' thirty, sixty and a hundredfold (4:20), so hearers would connect the two.

Luke · 1

Luke 8:15 καρποφοροῦσιν they bring forth fruit

But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Here: They produce a harvest, in contrast to the thorny ground whose plants 'do not bring fruit to maturity' (v. 14). Present tense: ongoing yield, not a one-time result.

Romans · 2

Romans 7:4 καρποφορήσωμεν we may bear fruit

Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

Here: 'We may bear fruit.' Paul now says 'we', including himself. After the marriage image, the 'fruit' may suggest the children a marriage produces. It is contrasted at once with the old 'fruit for death' (7:5).
Romans 7:5 καρποφορῆσαι bringing forth of fruit

For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.

Here: To produce a crop or offspring. It deliberately echoes verse 4, "that we might bear fruit to God". The old life was productive too, but it produced for the wrong master.

Colossians · 2

Colossians 1:6 καρποφορούμενον bearing fruit

that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.

Here: "Bearing fruit." The gospel is pictured as a living plant that produces a crop: changed lives, the 'faith and love' of v.4. This is the only place in the New Testament where the verb takes the middle form (a form that can suggest action arising from the subject itself). Some read this as 'bearing fruit by its own inner power'.
Colossians 1:10 καρποφοροῦντες bringing forth fruit

so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

Here: This is the first of four '-ing' words (bearing fruit, growing, being strengthened, giving thanks; vv. 10–12) that describe what a worthy walk looks like. The present tense pictures continuous, season-after-season fruitfulness. It deliberately repeats 1:6, where the gospel itself is 'bearing fruit and growing'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.