Difference of Καινός and Νεος: "Young" or "New"

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 8
Καινός is new in the sense of not having existed before, in contrast with old preceding it; νέος is new, fresh, young (which καινός never means), in contrast with subsequent prolonged existence by which a person or thing becomes old. What is old, was once (unless external) νέον; if it disappears and another thing takes its place, this is καινόν.
Thus in Matt. 9:1717Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:17) (twice); Mark 2:2222And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. (Mark 2:22) (thrice); Luke 5:37-3937And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. 38But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 39No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. (Luke 5:37‑39) (four times); wine is called νέος, that is, fresh, not yet old. Again, in Luke 15:12, 13; 22:2612And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. (Luke 15:12‑13)
26But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. (Luke 22:26); Acts 5:66And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. (Acts 5:6) Tim. 5:1, 2, 11, 14; Titus 2:4, 64That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, (Titus 2:4)
6Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. (Titus 2:6) Peter 5:5; various forms of the word are used in the sense of " young " or " younger." In 1 Cor. 5 it is " a fresh lump." In Heb. 12:2424And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24) it should be, not the, but " a new covenant," διαθήκης νέας. It is a fresh covenant, and just beginning, it is one yet to go on and become developed. It is not here in contrast with the old, which is exactly the point in Heb. 8:8, 138For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: (Hebrews 8:8)
13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13), where the new covenant is designated καινή (as in every other such mention of the New Testament), and the apostle reasons, " in that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old." That is, here it is new, as contrasted with the old. The attentive reader may remark that this determines the force also of Matt. 26:2929But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. (Matthew 26:29), and Mark 14:2525Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. (Mark 14:25), " until that day when I drink it new." It is not here, wine not yet grown old, which would be νέος, but wine after a new sort or of a new kind. It is not the old wine at all. Whereas, in all ordinary cases, οἶνος νέος must not be put into old skins, but into new, ἀσκούς καινούς, skins which had never been used before. So καινός is used of a new tomb, piece of cloth, a garment, report, commandment, doctrine, song, name, city, earth, heaven, creation, all things. Hence in Eph. 4:22-2422That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:22‑24) they were to be renewed, ἀνανεοΰσθαι, in the spirit of their mind. A young man was to be produced, which was to grow on and up in them. But in fact, as to the καινόν ἄνθρωπον, which they were to put on, it had in no sense existed before. It was, according to God, created in righteousness and holiness of truth. In Col. 3:9, 109Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Colossians 3:9‑10), they had put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new, τον νέον, a young life and conduct which is to go on. Still, in fact, though viewed here as the young man, it is by the power of God a newly formed thing (τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον), renewed into knowledge after the image of Him who created it. That is, though it be a young and in that sense a new life in which we live, it is not a modification of the old. The renewal is the production of a new thing in which we are formed according to the image of God. This is quite in keeping with the two epistles: Ephesians maintains the contrast of a new creation with the old; Colossians, the practical new life in which we live, though care is taken to show that this is an entirely new thing, formed of God, while in Ephesians we find the wholly new man is a young fresh path of life, as regards the practical spirit of our mind.
ΠΑΛΑΙΟΣ AND ἈΡΧΑΙΟΣ, AND RELATION TO ΝΕΟΣ AND ΚΑΙΝΟΣ
Παλαιός—more " the former," ἀρχαῖος—" ancient, antique." You could not say ἀρχαῖος ἄνθρωπος in the sense of παλαιός. Αρχαῖος is opposed to νέος but cannot be so absolutely to καινός. But ἀρχαίος can be neither νέος nor καινός. It may be opposed to both: so may be παλαιός. It is contrasted with καινός, but it is not the νέος-what now begins. In 2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) ἀρχαῖα are things which have been of old, a long time; we have a new system or creation. So in Matt. 13:5252Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. (Matthew 13:52): they are things καινὰ καὶ παλαιά, the old scribe knowledge, and other new things.