Greek word · G2757

κενοφωνία

kenophōnia

empty talk

Empty sound, empty talk, chatter (kenos 'empty' + phōnē 'sound, voice'). Speech without content or result.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

κενοφωνία, -ας, ἡ

(κενός, φωνέω), [cf. κενολογέω (צָפַף), Isaiah 8:19 * ;]

empty talk, babbling: pl., 1 Timothy 6:20, 2 Timothy 2:16.†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: Empty sound, empty talk, chatter (kenos 'empty' + phōnē 'sound, voice'). Speech without content or result.
Against the English: 'Vain babblings' (KJV) and 'empty chatter' (BSB, WEB) both work. 'Vain' is meant in its older sense of 'empty, futile', not 'conceited'.
How it drifted: Only minor: modern readers can take 'vain' in the KJV to mean 'proud'.
Used elsewhere in the period: Very rare. In the New Testament it occurs only here and in 2 Timothy 2:16, where such talk 'will advance to more ungodliness' and spread 'like gangrene'. The related idea of 'empty talk' (mataiologia) appears in 1 Timothy 1:6.

Range of meaning: kenos ('empty, void, without content or result') + phōnē ('sound, voice'). It means empty speech, talk without substance, hollow verbiage. The word is rare in Greek.
Against the English: KJV 'vain babblings,' BSB/NASB 'empty chatter,' NIV 'chatter,' ESV 'babble.' 'Babble' and 'chatter' suggest incoherent or idle small talk. The Greek is not about volume or triviality. It is about emptiness: speech that may be elaborate, learned and confident but delivers nothing true.
How it drifted: Not exactly drift. 'Chatter' and 'babble' carry a sense of silliness or gossip that the context does not stress, while the Greek stresses hollowness.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the New Testament the word occurs only here and in 1 Tim 6:20. There some manuscripts read kainophōnias, 'novelties of speech,' which is behind the Latin vocum novitates. The related mataiologia ('futile talk,' 1 Tim 1:6) belongs to the same family of charges in the Pastorals.

1 Timothy · 1

1 Timothy 6:20 κενοφωνίας empty babblings

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,”

Here: Literally 'empty-soundings': talk that makes noise but has no substance. The plural suggests many separate bouts of it.

2 Timothy · 1

2 Timothy 2:16 κενοφωνίας empty babblings

But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,

Here: Literally 'empty soundings': speech that makes noise but has nothing inside it. The plural suggests a steady stream of such talk or many cases of it. It can sound clever and spiritual and still be hollow.

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