StrongerBible

ponēros

πονηρός

GreekG4190evil, wicked, ...

Appears 79 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 5:11Mat 5:37Mat 5:39Mat 5:45Mat 6:13Mat 6:23Mat 7:11Mat 7:17Mat 7:18Mat 9:4Mat 12:34Mat 12:35 (3×)Mat 12:39Mat 12:45 (2×)Mat 13:19Mat 13:38Mat 13:49Mat 15:19Mat 16:4Mat 18:32Mat 20:15Mat 22:10Mat 25:26Mrk 7:22Mrk 7:23Luk 3:19Luk 6:22Luk 6:35Luk 6:45 (3×)Luk 7:21Luk 8:2Luk 11:4Luk 11:13Luk 11:26Luk 11:29Luk 11:34Luk 19:22Jhn 3:19Jhn 7:7Jhn 17:15Act 17:5Act 18:14Act 19:12Act 19:13Act 19:15Act 19:16Act 25:18Act 28:21Rom 12:91Co 5:13
Root family
Word studypo-nay-ROSSadjective

What ponēros means

1

evil, wicked: bad in a way that actively works harm

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the New Testament's strongest everyday word for what is bad. Unlike a milder word that simply means defective or low quality, this word usually carries an active, working malice: it names evil that does damage, not merely evil that falls short. So it describes wicked people, a corrupt generation, sinful deeds, scheming thoughts, and the present age set against God.

The same word also reaches the plainer end of the scale, where the badness is harmful or ruinous without being a moral charge: bad fruit a diseased tree produces, a painful and grievous sore, a slander brought against someone. Greek lets one word run from a rotten piece of fruit to a rotten heart because the common thread is the harm done.

A distinct idiom sits inside this range. The Bible speaks of an evil eye, which in that culture meant not an occult curse but a grudging, stingy, envious outlook that begrudges others good. So a person with a bad eye is the opposite of generous.

The senses below sort these uses, but they are shades of one core idea, not separate words. The reader should hear an edge of active harm wherever this word appears, and decide from the context whether the harm is moral wickedness, painful defect, or grudging stinginess.

Nuances

1amorally evil, wicked: of people, deeds, words, thoughts, and a corrupt age or generation
Mat 5:11Mat 5:45Mat 7:11Mat 9:4Mat 12:34Mat 12:35 (3×)Mat 12:39Mat 12:45 (2×)Mat 13:49Mat 15:19Mat 16:4Mat 18:32
1bthe evil eye: a grudging, stingy, envious outlook that begrudges others good
TranslatabilityUntranslatable
Mat 6:23Mat 20:15Luk 11:34
1cbad, harmful, grievous: defective or ruinous in quality rather than morally guilty
Mat 5:39Mat 7:17Mat 7:18Rev 16:2
2

the evil one: a title for Satan, the personal source of evil

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

When this word stands alone with the article (the evil one) and the context is the spiritual battle, the New Testament uses it as a name for Satan. He is not merely an evil being among others; he is the evil one, the personal head and source of the world's hostility to God.

This usage clusters in Matthew, John's Gospel, the letters of Paul, and especially First John, where believers are said to have overcome the evil one and the whole world is said to lie in his power. The Lord's Prayer petition deliver us from the evil one is read this way by most modern translations, though some keep the older, more general deliver us from evil.

The sense is not a different word but a use of the same adjective as a proper title. The reader meets the full force of the word in this meaning: evil concentrated in a person.

Mat 5:37Mat 6:13Mat 13:19Mat 13:38Luk 11:4Jhn 17:15Eph 6:162Th 3:31Jn 2:131Jn 2:141Jn 3:12 (2×)1Jn 5:18

What scholars say about ponēros

Standard lexica (BDAG, LSJ) split the adjective between a quality sense (in poor condition, harmful, grievous) and the dominant ethical sense (morally evil, wicked), with the articular substantive ho poneros widely recognized as a title for Satan in Matthew, John, Paul, and especially 1 John. BDAG, Harder in TDNT, and the EDNT note that this word characteristically connotes active, aggressive evil that injures others, in contrast to the broader kakos. The neuter-versus-masculine ambiguity of the Lord's Prayer petition (deliver us from evil / the evil one) and the parallel phrases in John 17:15 and 2 Thessalonians 3:3 is discussed at length in critical commentary (e.g. Davies and Allison on Matthew).

Where scholars disagree about ponēros

Whether ho poneros in the Lord's Prayer petition (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4) and the related phrases (John 17:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:3) is masculine, the evil one (Satan), or neuter, evil in general.

  • majorityMasculine: a personal title for Satan, the evil one, fitting the surrounding language of spiritual deliverance and the clear personal use in 1 John.; BDAG, s.v. πονηρός; W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (ICC), on Matthew 6:13
  • minorityNeuter: evil in general, preserving the older rendering deliver us from evil, since the grammar alone does not settle the gender.; G. Harder, "πονηρός, πονηρία," TDNT 6:546-66

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. πονηρόςlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. πονηρόςlexicon
  • G. Harder, "πονηρός, πονηρία," TDNT 6:546-66theological-dictionary
  • EDNT 3:134-35, s.v. πονηρόςtheological-dictionary
  • W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (ICC), on Matthew 6:13commentary

All attested forms of πονηρός

genitive m s

πονηροῦ

Mat 5:37, Mat 12:35, Mat 13:38, Luk 6:45, Luk 11:4, Jhn 17:15, Gal 1:4, Eph 6:16

nominative m s

πονηρὸς, πονηρός

Mat 6:23, Mat 12:35, Mat 13:19, Luk 6:45, Luk 11:34, 1Jn 5:18, Mat 20:15, Mrk 7:22

accusative m p

πονηροὺς, πονηρούς

Mat 5:45, Mat 7:17, Mat 7:18, Mat 13:49, Act 17:5, Mat 22:10, Luk 6:35

accusative n p

πονηρὰ, πονηρότερα, πονηρά

Mat 9:4, Act 19:12, Act 19:13, Mat 12:45, Luk 11:26, Mat 12:35

accusative n s

πονηρόν, πονηρὸν

Luk 6:45, Act 28:21, Rom 12:9, Mat 5:11, Luk 6:22

nominative f s

πονηρὰ, πονηρά

Mat 12:39, Mat 16:4, Heb 3:12, Luk 11:29, Jas 4:16

nominative m p

πονηροὶ, πονηροί

Mat 7:11, Mat 12:34, Luk 11:13, 2Ti 3:13, Mat 15:19

genitive n p

πονηρῶν

Luk 3:19, Luk 7:21, Luk 8:2, Act 25:18

nominative n p

πονηρὰ, πονηρά

Mrk 7:23, Jhn 3:19, 1Jn 3:12, Jhn 7:7

nominative n s

πονηρόν, πονηρὸν

Act 18:14, Act 19:16, Act 19:15, Rev 16:2

accusative m s

πονηρόν, πονηρὸν

1Jn 2:13, 1Jn 2:14, 1Co 5:13

genitive n s

πονηροῦ

Mat 6:13, 1Th 5:22, 2Ti 4:18

vocative m s

πονηρὲ, πονηρέ

Mat 25:26, Luk 19:22, Mat 18:32

dative f s

πονηρᾷ

Mat 12:45, Eph 6:13

dative n p

πονηροῖς

Col 1:21, 2Jn 1:11

genitive m p

πονηρῶν

2Th 3:2, Jas 2:4

nominative f p

πονηραί

Eph 5:16, 1Ti 6:4

dative m p

πονηροῖς

3Jn 1:10

dative m s

πονηρῷ

1Jn 5:19

dative n s

πονηρῷ

Mat 5:39

genitive f s

πονηρᾶς

Heb 10:22