Greek word · G54

ἁγνότης

hagnotēs

purity

Purity or chastity. It comes from hagnos, a word with roots in religious purity (fit to approach the sacred), widely used for sexual chastity and moral blamelessness.

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

What it means

ἁγνότης, -τητος, ἡ

(ἁγνός),

purity, chastity (cf. ἁγιότης): 2 Corinthians 6:6 11:3.†

(AS)

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

In depth

From the study of 2 Corinthians 11:3

Range of meaning: Purity or chastity. It comes from hagnos, a word with roots in religious purity (fit to approach the sacred), widely used for sexual chastity and moral blamelessness.
Against the English: 'Pure' (BSB, NIV, ESV) is accurate. KJV, WEB and YLT lack the word altogether because their Greek text omits it.
Used elsewhere in the period: Rare in the NT. Elsewhere only 2 Cor 6:6 ('in purity'). The adjective hagnos describes the 'pure virgin' in v. 2 and is common in Greek and Jewish sources for chaste maidens (cf. 4 Macc 18:7–8).

From the study of 2 Corinthians 6:6

Range of meaning: Purity, uprightness, integrity. It comes from the hagn- word family (hagnos, "pure, holy, innocent"), which first meant ritual purity fit for approaching a god and then moral blamelessness more generally. In Paul the adjective hagnos can mean sexual purity (2 Cor 11:2, the "pure virgin"), but it can also simply mean "innocent, in the clear" (2 Cor 7:11: "you proved yourselves innocent in this matter").
Against the English: "Purity" (BSB, NIV), "pureness" (KJV, WEB, YLT). These are accurate, but modern church readers often hear "purity" mainly in its sexual sense. The Latin Vulgate's castitas ("chastity") and the Douay-Rheims "chastity" narrowed it the same way.
How it drifted: The Latin castitas, and in modern times the language of "purity culture", tied "purity" closely to sexual conduct. In Greek the range was wider: integrity of motive and conduct, money matters included.
Used elsewhere in the period: The noun is rare. In the NT it occurs only here and in some manuscripts of 2 Cor 11:3. The related ἁγνεία appears in 1 Tim 4:12 and 5:2, and in Greek honorific inscriptions praising officials for blameless conduct in office. LXX: ἁγνεία in Num 6 (the Nazirite's consecration).

Where it appears

2 Corinthians · 2

2 Corinthians 6:6 ἁγνότητι, purity,

in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

Here: Moral cleanness and integrity in the broad sense: clean motives and blameless dealings, money matters included. It is not only, or even mainly, sexual purity.
2 Corinthians 11:3 ἁγνότητος purity

I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

Here: 'Purity' or 'chastity.' It echoes 'pure virgin' (parthenon hagnēn) in v. 2: the bride kept untouched for her husband. Some manuscripts lack this word (see the variants).

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