StrongerBible

adikos

ἄδικος

GreekG0094unrighteous, unjust, ...

Appears 12 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 5:45Luk 16:10 (2×)Luk 16:11Luk 18:11Act 24:15Rom 3:51Co 6:11Co 6:9Heb 6:101Pe 3:182Pe 2:9
Compound of
Root family
Word studyAH-dee-kossadjective

What adikos means

unjust, unrighteous: failing to do what is right, the opposite of the righteous person

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This word is built by adding a negating prefix to the adjective for "just" or "righteous" (δίκαιος), so at root it means simply "not righteous, not just." It describes a person, and occasionally a thing, that fails to do what is right, whether toward God or toward other people.

Most often it labels a whole class of people. Set against "the righteous," it names those who are out of a right relationship with God, the unrighteous who are raised or judged alongside the righteous. It is the matching adjective to the noun for the wrongdoing itself (ἀδικία): that word names the injustice, while this word names the person who is unjust.

In a narrower use, especially where money is in view, the word shades toward "dishonest" or "untrustworthy." When Jesus sets being "faithful" against being unrighteous in the handling of wealth, the concern is not fairness in the abstract but whether a person can be trusted with what belongs to another.

Nuances

1aunrighteous, unjust: not in right standing with God, or not acting rightly toward others
Mat 5:45Luk 18:11Act 24:15Rom 3:51Co 6:11Co 6:9Heb 6:101Pe 3:182Pe 2:9
1bdishonest, untrustworthy: failing to deal honestly, especially with money, the opposite of faithful
Luk 16:10 (2×)Luk 16:11

What scholars say about adikos

ἄδικος is the alpha-privative antonym of δίκαιος, denoting one who violates δίκη, that is, what is right or due. The standard lexica (BDAG, LSJ) treat it as a single sense, unjust or unrighteous, applied to persons, to God (only in rhetorical denials, Rom 3:5; Heb 6:10), and to things. Substantivized οἱ ἄδικοι, the unrighteous, functions as the standing counterpart to οἱ δίκαιοι in Jewish and early Christian eschatology (Matt 5:45; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor 6:9; 1 Pet 3:18; 2 Pet 2:9). The Lukan collocation with μαμωνᾶς (Luke 16:10-11) extends the adjective to untrustworthy, dishonestly associated wealth, set antithetically against πιστός. Schrenk's treatment of the ἀδικ- word group and the EDNT entry situate the term within the wider δικ- semantic field.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ἄδικοςlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἄδικοςlexicon
  • Gottlob Schrenk, 'ἀδικέω, ἀδικία, ἄδικος,' in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 1theological-dictionary
  • Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. ἄδικοςtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of ἄδικος

nominative m s

ἄδικος, ἄδικός

Luk 16:10, Rom 3:5, Heb 6:10, Luk 16:10

genitive m p

ἀδίκων

Act 24:15, 1Co 6:1, 1Pe 3:18

accusative m p

ἀδίκους

Mat 5:45, 2Pe 2:9

nominative m p

ἄδικοι

Luk 18:11, 1Co 6:9

dative m s

ἀδίκῳ

Luk 16:11