COMMON, used in both senses, “ordinary” and “shared,” in the OT, and by association in the NT. The KJV tr. some five Heb. and three Gr. terms in these two senses by “common.” The two frequent Heb. terms are חֹל, H2687, “profane,” “without religious restrictions of impurity,” “ritually neutral” (1 Sam 21:4, et al.); and רַב֒, H8041, “great,” “many” (Ezek 23:42, et al.). The two frequent terms so tr. in the NT are Gr. δημόσιος, G1323, “public,” “common” (Acts 5:18, et al.); and the frequent Gr. κοινός, G3123, “common,” with its many compounds. This last usage is esp. important in terms of the commonwealth or community aspects of faith. Repeatedly it is applied in the NT to the interaction of the people of God (Titus 1:4, et al.). The collectedness of the Early Church demonstrated by the events of Acts 2:44 is repeated by the patristic writers who frequently apply this term to the beliefs held by the Christians of the Apostolic Age. The OT notion of uncleanliness is modified in the NT to apply only to moral iniquity and not to classes of objects. However, the community idea of the kingdom of God is still maintained. This Biblical ideal was given a central place in the Reformed definition of the Church beginning with Calvin in the 16th cent.