Greek word · G151
αἰσχρότης
aischrotēs
obscenity
Ugliness, shamefulness, indecency. It comes from aischros, 'shameful, disgraceful, ugly', which is the opposite of kalos, 'fine, noble, beautiful'. It can describe something physically or morally ugly, shameful conduct, or obscene speech.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Ephesians 5:4
- Range of meaning
Ugliness, shamefulness, indecency. It comes from aischros, 'shameful, disgraceful, ugly', which is the opposite of kalos, 'fine, noble, beautiful'. It can describe something physically or morally ugly, shameful conduct, or obscene speech.
- Against the English
KJV and WEB say 'filthiness', BSB and NIV say 'obscenity', NASB says 'filthiness'. 'Filthiness' can sound like physical dirt to a modern reader. The Greek is about shame: something that disgraces the speaker in the eyes of decent people and of God.
- Used elsewhere in the period
This is the only time the word appears in the New Testament. Plato (Gorgias 525a) uses it for the deformity of a soul twisted by wrongdoing. The related word aischrologia ('shameful talk') appears in Colossians 3:8, the parallel passage, and was the standard Greek term for obscene language.
Similar words
Where it appears
Ephesians · 1
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Ephesians 5:4 αἰσχρότης filthiness
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.
Here: Something ugly and shameful, the kind of thing that disgraces the people who say or do it. Coming in a list about speech, it most likely means obscene, smutty talk, though it can cover shameful behaviour more broadly.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.