Lexical Summary koité: Bed, marriage bed, sexual relations Original Word: κοίτη Strong's Exhaustive Concordance bed, chambering, cohabitationFrom keimai; a couch; by extension, cohabitation; by implication, the male sperm -- bed, chambering, X conceive. see GREEK keimai NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom keimai Definition a bed NASB Translation bed (2), conceived* (1), sexual promiscuity (1). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 2845: κοίτηκοίτη, κοίτης, ἡ (ΚΑΩ, ΚΑΙΩ, κεῖμαι akin to κοιμάω); from Homer, Odyssey 19, 341 down; the Sept. chiefly for מִשְׁכָּב, also for שְׁכָבָה etc.; a. a place for lying down, resting, sleeping in; a bed, couch: εἰς τήν κοίτην (see εἰμί, V. 2 a.) εἰσιν, Luke 11:7. b. specifically, the marriage-bed, as in the Tragg.: τήν κοίτην μιαίνειν, of adultery (Josephus, Antiquities 2, 4, 5; Plutarch, de fluv. 8, 3), Hebrews 13:4. c. cohabitation, whether lawful or unlawful (Leviticus 15:4f, 21-25, etc.; Wis. 3:13, 16; Euripides, Med. 152; Alc. 249): plural sexual intercourse (see περιπατέω, b. α.), Romans 13:13 (A. V. chambering); by metonymy, of the cause for the effect we have the peculiar expression κοίτην ἔχειν ἐκ τίνος, to have conceived by a man, Romans 9:10; κοίτη σπέρματος, Leviticus 15:16; Leviticus 22:4; Leviticus 18:20, 23 (here κοίτη εἰς σπερματισμόν); on these phrases cf. Fritzsche, Commentary on Romans 2, p. 291f. Strong’s Greek 2845 (kōitē) gathers into one term a range of ideas that stretch from the ordinary resting-place of a family, to the sacred realm of marital intimacy, to the warning against sinful sensuality, and all the way to the mystery by which God brings children into the world. Its four New Testament occurrences illuminate these facets in turn. Literal Bed and Domestic Setting (Luke 11:7) In the parable of the persistent friend, kōitē denotes the ordinary family bed: “My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed” (Luke 11:7). First-century Palestinian homes often had a single multipurpose room where the whole household slept together on mats. The image conveys settled rest, the intimacy of family life, and the inconvenience of rising at midnight. Jesus chooses this picture to illustrate the perseverance that overcomes seeming reluctance, showing how everyday domestic experience can become a window into divine truth. Marriage Bed and Sanctity of Conjugal Union (Hebrews 13:4) “Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4). Here kōitē stands for the divinely sanctioned sphere of sexual relations within lifelong covenant marriage. The exhortation joins two imperatives: honor marriage itself and guard its physical expression from defilement. The verse roots sexual ethics in reverence for God’s design (Genesis 2:24) and in the reality of forthcoming judgment: “for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.” Kōitē thus carries sacramental weight, pointing beyond physical union to a relationship protected by God and reflective of Christ’s union with the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Metonym for Illicit Sexual Conduct (Romans 13:13) Paul warns believers to “behave decently, as in the daytime—not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality [kōitais] and sensuality” (Romans 13:13). The plural “beds” becomes a euphemism for acts that violate God’s moral order. By pairing it with “sensuality” (aselgeia), Paul exposes the twin vices of hidden darkness and bodily excess. The call to walk “as in the daytime” places sexual purity within the broader ethic of living transparently before God in view of the imminent return of Christ (Romans 13:11-12). Instrument of Conception and Divine Election (Romans 9:10) “Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac” (Romans 9:10). Kōitē here focuses on the single act of union through which God initiated a pivotal stage of redemptive history. Though the same “bed” produced Jacob and Esau, God’s sovereign purpose distinguished the twins before birth (Romans 9:11-13). Thus kōitē becomes the setting for divine election, underscoring that salvation history advances through ordinary human generation overseen by extraordinary providence. Old Testament Roots and Jewish Background The Septuagint often uses kōitē to translate Hebrew mishkav (“bed,” “lying down”), whether literal (Genesis 49:4) or euphemistic for sexual relations (Leviticus 18:22, “you shall not lie with a male as with a woman”). The Mosaic law protected marriage, restricted illicit unions, and treated the “bed” as a sphere either of cleanness or of defilement (Leviticus 20:10-21). Wisdom literature celebrates lawful love’s delights (Proverbs 5:18-19) yet warns that an adulterous bed leads to death (Proverbs 7:27). This background informs every New Testament use of kōitē. Early Church Witness • The Didache 2.2 lists “sexual immorality” among offenses alien to the way of life. Fathers consistently read Hebrews 13:4 as binding upon clergy and laity alike, rejecting both libertinism and ascetic denigration of marriage. Doctrinal and Theological Themes 1. Creation Order: The union of husband and wife in one flesh grounds kōitē’s positive meaning. Pastoral and Practical Implications • Teach young believers that sexual ethics arise from God’s character, not cultural trends. Summary Kōitē weaves together rest, intimacy, morality, and divine purpose. Whether the scene is a father lying beside his children, a married couple honoring their covenant, a sinner warned against nocturnal excess, or a matriarch conceiving heirs of promise, the word reminds readers that every bed lies open to the searching eyes of the Lord. In Christ, believers find grace both to keep the marriage bed undefiled and to walk in the light, awaiting the day when faithfulness will be fully rewarded. Englishman's Concordance Luke 11:7 N-AFSGRK: εἰς τὴν κοίτην εἰσίν οὐ NAS: and my children and I are in bed; I cannot KJV: me in bed; I cannot rise INT: in the bed are not Romans 9:10 N-AFS Romans 13:13 N-DFP Hebrews 13:4 N-NFS Strong's Greek 2845 |
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