Nouns

Nouns are words that designate persons, places, or things. They are one of the five “cases” (categories) of the Koine language system which are subject to inflections. This is best illustrated by example.

Definitions and Semantic Range

When we are confronted with an English word whose meaning we do not know we use dictionaries. What we find there are multiple possible meanings, sometimes many of them. This idea is known as a semantic range.

Consider the English word “evil.” If we referred to a dictionary for assistance as to the meaning of this simple four-letter word we would find these choices (from dictionary.com):

  1. that which is evil; evil quality, intention, or conduct: to choose the lesser of two evils.
  2. the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin.
  3. the wicked or immoral part of someone or something: The evil in his nature has destroyed the good.
  4. harm; mischief; misfortune: to wish one evil.
  5. anything causing injury or harm: Tobacco is considered by some to be an evil.
  6. a harmful aspect, effect, or consequence: the evils of alcohol.
  7. a disease, as king’s evil.

An alternative way of defining is to consider synonyms, words that can stand for “evil.” A thesaurus is a kind of dictionary that gives words that are synonyms. Again for “evil” we could find (from dictionary.com):

  1. bad
  2. corrupt
  3. destructive
  4. hateful
  5. heinous
  6. hideous
  7. malevolent
  8. malicious
  9. nefarious
  10. ugly
  11. unpleasant
  12. vicious
  13. vile
  14. villainous
  15. wicked
  16. base
  17. foul
  18. low
  19. offensive
  20. poison
  21. reprobate
  22. wrong
  23. angry
  24. atrocious
  25. baneful
  26. beastly
  27. calamitous
  28. damnable
  29. depraved
  30. disastrous
  31. execrable
  32. flagitious
  33. harmful
  34. iniquitous
  35. injurious
  36. loathsome
  37. maleficent
  38. malignant
  39. no good
  40. obscene
  41. pernicious
  42. rancorous
  43. repugnant
  44. repulsive
  45. revolting
  46. spiteful
  47. stinking
  48. unpropitious
  49. wrathful

With this massive list, 50 words including our word “evil,” and there are no doubt even more possibilities what word or words could we best use to express an idea in a context? Broadly, the question is about “semantic range.”

Koine Translations and Semantic Range

In reading our Bible in our native English language, the word that we see has been selected by a translator (or committee), in its judgement of the context (the verse, paragraph), and in view of its theological beliefs (doctrinal perspective) is the most-appropriate one word corresponding to the Koine mss word. Instead of a “dictionary” the equivalent tool across languages is known as a “lexicon,” meaning: a book of definitions given in English for words search for in Koine Greek.

So, for instance, we were considering the following five Bible texts each translated, by the ESV, by the noun form of “Evil” but for three distinct Koine original words. (Three of the five below instances have variations for gender, but come from the same root word).

The “Evil” Who Are Unsaved: Strong’s G93. ἀδικία adikía

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” 

Luke 13:22-30 (ESV; highlights mine)

Spiritual Forces of The Evil: Strong’s G4190. πονηρός ponērós (Masculine)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of [the] evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil [adjective form of ponērós] day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one [adjective form of ponērós]; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. 

Ephesians 6:10-18 (ESV; highlights mine)

Leaven of EvilL Strong’s G4189. πονηρία ponēría (Feminine)

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and [kai] evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

1 Cor 5:6-8 (ESV; highlights mine; note the “kai” construction)

The Evil of Reprobation (Judgment): Strong’s G4189. πονηρία ponēría (Feminine)

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil [adjective form of Strong’s G2556. κακὸς kakós], disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 1:28-34 (ESV; highlights mine)

Innocence Contrasted with Evil: Strong’s G2549. κακία kakía

20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in [the] evil, but in your thinking be mature. 

1 Corinthians 14:20 (ESV; highlights mine)

Evil in Behavior: Strong’s G2549. κακία kakía

16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for [the] evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 

1 Peter 2:16-17 (ESV; highlight mines)

Observations of the Translations with the Noun “Evil”

First we will not here and address elsewhere that the ESV translators made certain decisions as to whether to use, or not, the definite article “the” and to add the implication of a being, “one,” associate with “evil.” In the above Ephesians 6 passage there re three occurrences in the ESV of “evil,” one as a noun (our present interest), and two as adjectives, all derive from the same root Koine word, and all with the definite article in the mss. However, the ESV dropped the definite article in the noun form of “evil” but kept it in both of the adjectival forms, as they dropped the “the” in the 1 Cor 4 and 1 Peter 2 passages above. Further, in the second adjectival form of “evil” the ESV added “one” which is not in the mss to make clear, as it thought it should, that such was a reference to a being, not a principle or deed.

More directly on our present purse of considering semantic range of nouns, we immediately note that God’s word has three different Koine mss originating words that the ESV chose to present with the same English word, “evil.” Further, in the Romans 1 passage above, the noun form and the adjective form both translated by “evil” originate in two different Koine mss words.

One of the principals of translations, which derives from a certain fuzziness of language, is that the same mss word is not best translated in every context by the same English word, and it converse, namely the same English word may be used for multiple Koine words. This is due, in part, because each such Koine word has a semantic range that can overlap a different Koine word in a way similar to the above list of 49 English synonyms for “evil.” Yet, each Koine word has a centered meaning, a kind of semantic ‘bullseye,’ and derives from a distinct root word / idea which is (generally speaking) distinguishable.

To illustrate this point, let us dive into the three Koine words used for “evil” in the above passages:

Strong’s G93. ἀδικία adikía

“Adikia” is the negation, shown by the prefix “a,” of the common Koine word for “right,” “upright” namely “dikia.” So the root idea here is “evil” in opposition / contrast to a righteous norm or standard. In this sense “adikia” is closely related to the word for “sin.”

Again our purpose here is not to exegete the passage. However, we can note that the Lord’s strong words of condemnation are here toward the religious leaders of that day, TRI, who falsely claimed that they were the righteous law-keepers who are true descendants, both racially and spiritually, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, the Lord’s use of “adikia” designates a particular aspect of their “evil,” that of not being in that righteous line of the law in complete opposition to their claim. In their scheme to arrest, try, and compel Pilate to crucify Jesus we see the ultimate manifestation of their “adikia” form of “evil.”

Strong’s G4190. πονηρός ponērós (Masculine) and G4189. πονηρία ponēría (Feminine)

“Poneria” derives from a Koine root word “ponos,” which is associated with “pain” or “suffering.” Again, generally speaking, “poneria” is directed more toward the “evil” of a harmful outcome either by its nature or by the purpose for which the evil was done.

Strong’s G2549. κακία kakía

“Kakia” derives from the root “kakos” which is more nuanced by the idea of intrinsic “evil,” that which is “evil” in nature not specific to an adverse, undesirable, “ponos” result. It is more of a character word than an outcome word.

Other Koine Words Relating to “Evil”

In a parallel situation to the long English synonym list for “evil,” there numerous other Koine words that connote some character of “evil.”

In the linked sub-page below which is part of the Koine glossary we will refer to on this site, are examples of these other words for “evil” together with more formal definitions of there three forms we have considered directly above.

Koine which convey some aspect of the English idea / word “evil:

What Does This Matter?

A recurring question we will return to in these KAI Studies is the “So what?” question. Here I will answer that question in the context of Koine nouns.

Words Mean Something

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is introduced to us in the Gospel of John as “The Word of God.” The Koine word “logos” is so translated “word” in John 1:1 in most translations. But as willl be discussed elsewhere, “logos” is a hugely rich in meaning idea that no single English word does it justice. Some have sought to translate “logos” as “revelation” (namely that Jesus Christ is “the revelation” is both Eternal God and the fully Human Revelation of the Eternal God). Others have tried “oration” from the same perspective. One might use “doctrine of” or “theology of” in the sense of Personification. In English “logos” appears everywhere as a reference to the discipline of some field of study as “biology,” “psychology,” “zoology,” etc. where that “logy” suffix comes directly from the Koine “logos.”

Again and again, nearly 200 times, the Scriptures claim for itself to be “the Word of God.”

  • 8  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.  (Is 40:8, ESV)
  • 47 Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” 49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’ ” (Ezekiel 20:47-40, ESV) 
  • 4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,  “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”  (Matt 4:1-4, ESV)
  • 13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.  (1 Thes 2:13, ESV)

If we are to handle the Bible in any meaningful way, we must do so under the framework that we are peering into the very Word(s) of God. How each of those words have been ‘mapped to’ / translated by the English words of our native language matters because it is by words–we’re not dealing with audible sounds or smells or the touch of a purported relic let alone by our olfactory senses–that we can grasp Revelation.

Translators Make Choices (Generally) Obscured from Us

As partially illustrated in the above selected passages having “evil” in their translation (by the ESV) we should recognize that the notion of a “literal translation,” often used to describe ‘serious’ / precise translations has an inevitable interpretative, nuancing of thought aspect. Sometimes this is done simply to make the text to read more smoothly. Other times the translation is directly to a simpler vocabulary such as that of an 8th Grade education level to meet the needs of a broader readership. In other cases there may be a desire to avoid any complexity especially as one that might trigger a debate deemed not to be necessary.

If we hunger for hearing God’s ‘Voice,’ what could be better than see the very Koine mss word(s) that the Holy Spirit of God, the Revealer of Truth, deigned to have express the very thoughts of God, such as can be grasped by us, by the aid of the Holy Spirt, on this side of the Eternity of God’s presence when we will be taught directly, without the imperfections of ignorance and sin.

With the many modern tools we have for peering through the curtain of English we non-Ecclesiasticals have this present opportunity to access God’s presence more richly than would have reasonably possible a few decades ago. Again, our goal of KAI Studies is not in any way to become, or claim in any way, originating translators of the Scriptures. Rather for those important words, and “evil” is one of them, we want to know the nuances, the semantic range, the deep-dive grasping of it.

An Example of Confusion

We all know God is Good, not “evil.” And we know man is prone to “evil,” because we see it in our own hearts and have experienced it from the world in which we are presently confined. So we expect there are two universals with respect to “evil:” there is us, and “evil” is present; and there is “God” with Whom there is absolutely no “Evil.”

This is so obvious to us that we may miss the history of “religion” especially its expansive pagan forms such as were present in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, the contexts of God’s Revelation in the Bible. In those cultures there were many “evil” ‘gods,’ “evil” with respect to each other and with respect to humanity, though placable by certain acts of worship / homage.

Further, there is another dimension of complexity regarding any fitting together of “evil” with “God,” known as the problem of “Theodicy.” Briefly, the question of Theodicy is this: if, and it’s true, that God is All Wise, All Powerful, and All Good–in every reference to “all” meaning without boundary or exception–then, we can ask, why is there “evil” in our world’s experience, and even more pointedly where did “evil” come from if God did not originate it (and if He did, how is it that He is “Good?”).

Such discussions are among the most perplexing for any serious inquiry into the nature of “evil.” One dimension that is helpful, and hinted at in our above discussion, is that not all “evil” is “moral evil.” Think of the example of military training in boot camp, or the intense football ‘camps’ held every year at high school, college, and professional ranks, or the rigors of beginning college or graduate school in some substantial discipline. We could add the discipline of raising children from early teen years to full adulthood as another example, as we could the preparation for dying and death of seniors who string of years allotted are expiring with attendant great physical challenges. All of these, and many other examples of life, including the planting and harvesting of crops and the mining and extraction of ores, have “evil” intrinsic to them, but not necessarily (or by design) “moral” or “ethical” “evil.” A boot camp drill instructor or a football coach might well say “welcome to hell…because that is what it’s gonna feel like for the next three months,” but none of such ‘hell’ / “evil” is about “sin” but “suffering” as an essential shaping for the tasks to be accomplished upon completion. Navy Seals do not just sit in classrooms and take notes.

Now let us consider a verse that has been a conundrum when noted.
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7, KJV’ where the subject “I” is a clear reference to God Himself).

What are to make of God as the creator of “evil?” The word translated “evil” is the LXX mss word “kaka” stemming from the root “kakos,” one of the words we considered above. Word take on meaning within their semantic range by the context in which they are used. Here in Isaiah we have a verse echoing Hebrew poetic balance where “light” and “peace” are joined as parallels as are the created realities of “darkness” and “evil” (“kakos”). So the underlying issue then is God is the Creator os a particular aspect of “kakos,” namely “darkness” being the opposite of “light.” We see that exactly revealed in the dark hour of the Cross, when God the Father seeing God the Son bearing the fullness of the sins of to-be-redeemed-ones and thus being the embodiment of sin of all ages experiences the complete judgment of withdrawal and a form of death of the Son.

I make no pretense that this brief discussion ‘solves’ the long wrestling with theodicy questions or the problem of evil in general. This example is only to show that digging deeper can help us understand better the root issue and build our faith that Our God is Good, does all things Well, and is Justly the Object of Our Faith even when–especially when–we reach whatever our limit might be of a full understanding.