Greek word · G5499

χειροποίητος

cheiropoiētos

hand-made

'Made by (human) hands', artificial or man-made. Ordinary Greek could use it neutrally, for example of man-made lakes or walls. In Jewish Greek it became a stock term for idols, as opposed to the living God who makes everything.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

χειρο-ποίητος, -ον

(χείρ, ποιέω), [in LXX (of idols) for אֱלִיל ;]

made by hand (i.e. of human handiwork): of temples, Mark 14:58, Acts 7:48 17:24, Hebrews 9:11, 24; of circumcision, Ephesians 2:11.†

(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 Mark 14:58

Range of meaning: 'Made by (human) hands', artificial or man-made. Ordinary Greek could use it neutrally, for example of man-made lakes or walls. In Jewish Greek it became a stock term for idols, as opposed to the living God who makes everything.
Against the English: 'Man-made' (BSB) or 'made with hands' (KJV, WEB, ESV, NASB) is accurate, but to modern ears it sounds neutral, a plain description of how the building was put up. It loses the sting a Jewish hearer would feel: the word put the temple in the same category as idols.
How it drifted: The meaning did not shift so much as the background fell away. English readers no longer know the Greek Old Testament, where 'hand-made things' (cheiropoiēta) was a set name for idols.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Greek Old Testament: Lev 26:1, 30; Isa 2:18; 10:11; 16:12; 19:1; 21:9; 31:7; 46:6; Dan 5:4, 23 (Old Greek); Wisdom 14:8 ('the hand-made idol is accursed'). In the New Testament: Acts 7:48 (Stephen: 'the Most High does not dwell in hand-made houses'), Acts 17:24, Eph 2:11, Heb 9:11, 24. Philo also contrasts hand-made sanctuaries with the true dwelling of God.

From the study of Acts 7:48

Range of meaning: Literally "hand-made": something produced by human craft, as opposed to something that grew naturally or came from God. In Jewish Greek it is heavily loaded: the standard label for idols and idol-shrines, the gods people make for themselves. Later Christian writers set it against what is a-cheiropoiētos, "not hand-made", meaning made by God (Mark 14:58; 2 Cor 5:1; Col 2:11).
Against the English: "Made with hands" or "made by human hands" is accurate on the surface. To a modern ear it sounds neutral, simply "physical" or "man-made". The polemical echo of idol-making, which a Greek-speaking Jew would have heard at once, is lost.
How it drifted: Later readers took the phrase as a contrast between material and spiritual (buildings against the inner life). That flattened a word that in its own setting belonged to the vocabulary of anti-idol polemic.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) it translates the Hebrew elilim ("worthless gods/idols") and similar words: Lev 26:1, 30; Isa 2:18; 10:11; 19:1; 21:9; 31:7; 46:6. In Isa 16:12 it names Moab's sanctuary. Dan 5:4, 23 (Old Greek) uses it of Belshazzar's gods. Judith 8:18 speaks of "gods made with hands", and Wisdom of Solomon 14:8 curses "the hand-made thing" (the idol). The Sibylline Oracles (book 4, a Jewish work) praise a God who has no stone house made by mortal hands. Paul uses the same contrast before the Athenians in Acts 17:24 ("does not live in hand-made temples"). In Mark 14:58 the false witnesses accuse Jesus of threatening to destroy "this hand-made temple".

From the study of Ephesians 2:11

Range of meaning: Made by (human) hands, man-made. In Jewish Greek nearly always loaded: idols, and sanctuaries that cannot contain God.
Against the English: English 'made by hands' sounds merely descriptive, like 'manual'. To a reader steeped in the Greek Old Testament it carried the contrast between human handiwork and God's own act.
How it drifted: English lacks the word's long history in idol polemic, so the resonance disappears in translation.
Used elsewhere in the period: LXX for idols: Lev 26:1, 30; Isa 2:18; 10:11; 16:12; 19:1; 21:9; 31:7; 46:6; Dan 5:4, 23; Wis 14:8. Also Sib. Or. 3.606, 618. NT for earthly temples: Mark 14:58 (contrasted with 'not made by hands'); Acts 7:48; 17:24; Heb 9:11, 24. The opposite term ἀχειροποίητος is used of circumcision in Col 2:11.

Similar words

χείρων cheirōn · worse than

Where it appears

Mark · 1

Mark 14:58 χειροποίητον made with hands

“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.’”

Here: 'Hand-made'. In the Greek Old Testament this word is a regular name for idols. Applied to God's own sanctuary, it puts the temple in the category of human work and is close to an insult.

Acts · 2

Acts 7:48 χειροποιήτοις hand-made

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

Here: Used here as a noun, "hand-made [things/places]". In the Greek Old Testament this word regularly names idols and pagan shrines, so applying it to Jerusalem's house of God is pointed and provocative.
Acts 17:24 χειροποιήτοις hand-made

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

Here: A loaded word. In the Greek Old Testament it is a stock term for idols and idol-shrines, so it carries the sense 'man-made, therefore not divine'. It contrasts directly with the God 'who made' (poiēsas) everything: he makes; humans make things with their hands.

Ephesians · 1

Ephesians 2:11 χειροποιήτου, made by hands —

Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—

Here: Describes the circumcision: a human, physical operation. In Jewish Greek the word normally described idols and earthly sanctuaries, so it marks this circumcision as belonging to the human order and not to God's new creation.

Hebrews · 2

Hebrews 9:11 χειροποιήτου, made by hands,

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation.

Here: 'Hand-made', meaning built by people out of earthly materials. Jewish writers used it for idols and, by contrast, for what God alone makes. Compare 8:2, 'the true tent that the Lord set up, not man'.
Hebrews 9:24 χειροποίητα made by hands

For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.

Here: Built by human craftsmen out of created materials. It marks the tabernacle/temple as belonging to this created order (cf. 9:11), not as illegitimate.

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