ἐχθρός

Matthew 5:43 ἐχθρόν enemy

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’

Here: A personal or national opponent, someone hostile to you. Verse 44 identifies these enemies as "those who persecute you".

Matthew 5:44 ἐχθροὺς enemies

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Here: Those who are hostile to you. Here they are set against 'neighbor' in verse 43 and linked to 'those who persecute you,' so the word covers outsiders and active opponents as well as personal rivals.

Matthew 10:36 ἐχθροὶ enemies

A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

Here: People who are actively hostile to someone personally. It is the opposite of a *philos*, a friend or loyal kinsman. It comes first in the Greek for emphasis: 'enemies' is the shock word.

Matthew 13:25 ἐχθρὸς enemy

But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away.

Here: A personal adversary who actively wishes the owner harm. In Jesus' explanation (13:39) this enemy is the devil.

Matthew 13:28 ἐχθρὸς An enemy

‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

Here: Comes first in the sentence for emphasis. This was hostility, not bad luck or bad seed. In 13:39 Jesus identifies this enemy as the devil.

Matthew 13:39 ἐχθρὸς the enemy

and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Here: A personal, hostile opponent. It echoes the 'enemy man' of the parable (13:28), who sabotaged a neighbour's field out of spite.

Matthew 22:44 ἐχθρούς enemies

‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’

Here: Active, hostile opponents. In the psalm these are rival kings and nations (Ps 110:5–6). In Matthew it carries an edge: the people listening are already plotting against Jesus (22:15).

Mark 12:36 ἐχθρούς enemies

Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’

Here: In the psalm, the hostile nations and rebels who oppose God's anointed king (compare Psalm 2). Here they are the opponents of the Messiah.

Luke 1:71 ἐχθρῶν [the] enemies

salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,

Here: People actively hostile to Israel. In the psalm language Zechariah is using, these are military and political enemies of God's people.

Luke 1:74 ἐχθρῶν enemies

deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,

Here: Israel's national enemies, the oppressors who "hate us" (v.71). In the song's psalm language these are foreign powers that dominate God's people.

Luke 6:27 ἐχθροὺς enemies

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Here: People actively hostile to you. In context these include those who hate, exclude, insult and slander the disciples 'on account of the Son of Man' (v. 22), as well as anyone who curses, mistreats, strikes or robs them (vv. 28–29).

Luke 6:35 ἐχθροὺς enemies

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Here: Real opponents. Verses 22 and 27–29 describe them as people who hate, exclude, curse, mistreat, strike and rob the disciples.

Luke 10:19 ἐχθροῦ, enemy,

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.

Here: Coming straight after 'I saw Satan fall' (10:18), this means Satan, the arch-opponent. Matthew 13:39 likewise says 'the enemy … is the devil'.

Luke 19:27 ἐχθρούς enemies

And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

Here: In verse 14 they were 'citizens' who 'hated' him. Now the king calls them his enemies, meaning political opponents of his rule, not people he just dislikes.

Luke 19:43 ἐχθροί enemies

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

Here: 'Enemies'. The word is loaded in Luke: Zechariah's song had praised God for 'salvation from our enemies' (Luke 1:71, 74). Now the enemies close in on the city that turned away the one who brought that salvation.

Luke 20:43 ἐχθρούς enemies

until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

Here: The king's active opponents. In the royal psalm these are hostile nations and rebels who resist the king God has installed (Ps 110:2, 5–6). Opposing the king is opposing the God who enthroned him.

Acts 2:35 ἐχθρούς enemies

until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

Acts 13:10 ἐχθρὲ enemy

and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

Here: 'You enemy': the third address. He is not just mistaken. He is actively hostile, standing against what God approves.

Romans 5:10 ἐχθροὶ enemies

For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

Here: "Enemies": people in a state of open hostility. It is placed first for emphasis. Paul has not yet said whose enemies, but the following "to God" makes the relationship plain. Whether it means hostile toward God, opposed by God, or both is debated (see debates).

Romans 11:28 ἐχθροὶ [they are] enemies

Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.

Here: Plural, with "they are" understood. It describes the majority of Israel as estranged from God: set against him and, in matching contrast with "beloved," treated by him as on the outside for now. It does not say they are enemies of the Gentile believers.

Romans 12:20 ἐχθρός enemy

On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Here: Someone actively hostile to you, not just someone you dislike. In the context this includes the persecutors of v. 14 and the people who do evil to you in v. 17.

1 Corinthians 15:25 ἐχθροὺς enemies

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

Here: In context these are mainly the hostile powers ('every rule and every authority and power', v.24) and finally death itself (v.26). The word does not point first to individual human opponents.

1 Corinthians 15:26 ἐχθρὸς enemy

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Here: Picks up 'all his enemies' from v. 25, which echoes Psalm 110:1. Death is counted among the hostile powers that the Messiah has to subdue. It is not presented as a neutral fact of nature.

Galatians 4:16 ἐχθρὸς enemy

Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Here: Placed first for emphasis. In the language of ancient friendship it is the opposite of 'friend' (philos). Here it most likely means 'someone you now treat as hostile' or 'someone hated by you', not that Paul has started fighting them.

Philippians 3:18 ἐχθροὺς enemies

For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Here: 'Enemies'. People whose way of life sets them against the cross. Their stance is opposition, not mere indifference. The hostility shows in how they live, not necessarily in open attacks.

Colossians 1:21 ἐχθροὺς hostile

Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.

Here: An adjective used here as a description, 'hostile, enemies'. Because it is tied to 'in mind', it points mainly to the readers' own active hostility toward God. Being an enemy is a step beyond being a stranger.

2 Thessalonians 3:15 ἐχθρὸν an enemy

Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Here: A personal enemy: someone outside the circle of loyalty, whom ancient custom allowed you to oppose, shame and drop. Paul forbids putting the erring member in this category.

Hebrews 1:13 ἐχθρούς enemies

Yet to which of the angels did God ever say: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?

Here: Hostile powers opposed to the King. In the Psalm these are the nations at war with the Davidic king. In Hebrews they include the devil and death (2:14–15) and all who set themselves against God (10:27).

Hebrews 10:13 ἐχθροὶ enemies

Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet,

James 4:4 ἐχθρὸς an enemy

You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

Here: "An enemy". Placed first in its clause for emphasis: the person who wanted to be someone's friend ends up an enemy.

Revelation 11:5 ἐχθροὺς enemies

If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.

Here: Those hostile to the witnesses. Anyone who wants to harm them is counted an enemy.

Revelation 11:12 ἐχθροὶ enemies

And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.

Here: Those hostile to the witnesses. These are the people who tried to harm them (v. 5) and celebrated their death with gifts (v. 10).