The right time, the decisive moment, an appointed season. Distinguished from chronos (duration, clock-time), kairos is qualitative time — the moment ripe with meaning and opportunity. It is God's timing, not the calendar's.
Jesus began His ministry declaring, 'The time [kairos] is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand' (Mark 1:15). The incarnation happened at the God-appointed kairos: 'When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son' (Galatians 4:4). Paul urges believers to 'redeem the time' (Ephesians 5:16) — to recognize and seize the moments God provides. History is not random but shaped by divine kairoi.