Greek word · G3625

οἰκουμένη

oikoumenē

world

A participle meaning "being inhabited," with "earth" understood. It meant the inhabited, settled world, as opposed to wilderness and unknown lands. Greeks first used it for the Greek-speaking civilized world. In the Roman period it became a standard way to describe the area under Roman rule.

Appears 15 times in 15 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 25, 2026

What it means

οἰκουμένη, -ης, ἡ

(fern. Pres. pass. ptcp. of οἰκέω; sc. γῆ) [in LXX chiefly for תֵּבֵל, אֶרֶץ ;]

the inhabited earth;

(a) in cl., the countries occupied by Greeks, as disting. from barbarian lands (Hdt., Dem., al.);

(b) in later writers, the Roman world: Luke 2:1, Acts 11:28 24:5; by meton., of its inhabitants : Acts 17:6 19:27;

(with) in LXX (Psalms 23:1 71:8, al.) and NT, also of the whole inhabited world: Matthew 24:14, Luke 4:5 21:26, Romans 10:18, Hebrews 1:6, Revelation 3:10 16:14; by meton. (ut supr.), Acts 17:31, Revelation 12:9;

(d) of the Messianic age, ἡ οἰ. ἡ μέλλουσα = ὁ αἰὼ ὁ μέλλων: Hebrews 2:5.†

(AS)

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 Luke 2:1

Range of meaning: A participle meaning "being inhabited," with "earth" understood. It meant the inhabited, settled world, as opposed to wilderness and unknown lands. Greeks first used it for the Greek-speaking civilized world. In the Roman period it became a standard way to describe the area under Roman rule.
Against the English: KJV, WEB, YLT and ESV have "all the world." NASB has "all the inhabited earth." BSB, NIV and NLT have "empire" or "Roman world." "World" keeps the sweeping rhetoric but suggests the whole planet. "Empire" gets the scope right but drops the claim to universal rule that the phrase carried.
How it drifted: Modern "world" means the whole globe. The ancient term meant the known, civilized world, and in Roman usage that was more or less the empire.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke uses it this way again: a famine "over all the oikoumenē" under Claudius (Acts 11:28), and Paul's group accused of upsetting "the oikoumenē" (Acts 17:6). Inscriptions and papyri give emperors titles like "benefactor" or "savior of the oikoumenē." Augustus's own record of his deeds (the Res Gestae) opens by claiming he "subjected the whole world" (orbis terrarum) to the Roman people. In the Greek Old Testament, Psalm 24:1 (LXX 23:1) says the oikoumenē belongs to the LORD.

From the study of Matthew 24:14

Range of meaning: Short for 'the inhabited (earth)', from oikeō, 'to dwell'. It meant the settled, civilized world people knew, in contrast to unknown or empty regions. In Roman times it was often used for the empire and the lands within its reach, but it could also be meant more broadly as the whole human world.
Against the English: 'World' to a modern reader suggests the whole globe as seen from space, every continent and island. The Greek word is about where people live, and in the 1st century it usually meant the world known around the Mediterranean.
How it drifted: Modern geography and the global picture of the planet now fill the word 'world'. Matthew's first hearers had no picture of the Americas or Australia. For them, 'the oikoumenē' stretched from Spain to Parthia (roughly Iran), and from the Black Sea to Ethiopia and India.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 2:1: Augustus orders that 'all the oikoumenē' be registered. This clearly means the Roman Empire.

Acts 11:28: a famine 'over all the oikoumenē' under Claudius.

Acts 17:6; 24:5: Paul's group is accused of stirring up trouble 'throughout the oikoumenē'.

LXX Ps 23(24):1: 'the earth and its fullness, the oikoumenē and all who live in it'. This is a broader, creation-wide use.

Rev 3:10; 12:9; 16:14: 'the whole oikoumenē', the world in its rebellion, not only Rome.

From the study of Revelation 12:9

Range of meaning: Literally '(the land) being lived in': the inhabited world, human civilisation. In Hellenistic and Roman use it was often a near-synonym for the Roman Empire's realm (Luke 2:1, 'a decree that all the oikoumenē should be registered'). Emperors were praised as benefactors and saviours 'of the oikoumenē'.
Against the English: 'The whole world' can sound like the planet or the cosmos. Oikoumenē means the world of people, nations and their societies, and for John's readers it naturally suggested the empire they lived in.
How it drifted: English 'world' covers both the physical globe and human society. The Greek word points only to the second.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 2:1; Acts 17:6 ('these men who have turned the oikoumenē upside down'); Acts 24:5. Imperial inscriptions honour emperors as saviours or benefactors of the oikoumenē. Revelation 3:10 and 16:14 ('the kings of the whole oikoumenē').

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

Matthew 24:14 οἰκουμένῃ earth

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Here: The world where people live, meaning the known, settled world. In this period the word was often used for the world under Roman rule (Luke 2:1). Matthew uses it only here. It speaks of where people live, not of the planet as a sphere.

Luke · 3

Luke 2:1 οἰκουμένην. world.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

Here: Literally "the inhabited [earth]." In Roman-era Greek it often meant the civilized world under Roman rule, in effect the empire. It does not mean the whole globe.
Luke 4:5 οἰκουμένης world

Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

Here: Not the planet but 'the inhabited, civilised world', a phrase that in Luke's day often meant the Roman Empire and its sphere. Luke used the same word for Caesar Augustus' census of 'all the world' (2:1).
Luke 21:26 οἰκουμένῃ· earth;

Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Acts · 5

Acts 11:28 οἰκουμένην, world —

One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

Here: The settled, civilised world: in practice the lands of the Roman Empire and its neighbours, not the whole planet. Luke uses the same word for the census 'of all the world' in Luke 2:1.
Acts 17:6 οἰκουμένην world

But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,

Here: Not the planet. It means the settled, civilised world, which in the first century practically meant the Roman Empire (compare Luke 2:1, Augustus's decree for "all the oikoumenē"). It is placed early for emphasis: the whole empire.
Acts 17:31 οἰκουμένην world

For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

Here: 'The inhabited world,' meaning the people who live on the earth rather than the planet itself. Athenians would include themselves in it. It picks up 'every nation of men' and 'all people everywhere' from verses 26 and 30.
Acts 19:27 οἰκουμένη world

There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
Acts 24:5 οἰκουμένην world

We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

Here: 'The inhabited world', meaning in practice the Roman Empire, the world Felix's master Caesar rules. It makes the charge one that touches imperial order.

Romans · 1

Romans 10:18 οἰκουμένης world

But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

Here: The inhabited world, meaning lands where people live. In first-century speech this usually meant the known Mediterranean world and often the Roman Empire. It did not mean the whole globe as we map it.

Hebrews · 2

Hebrews 1:6 οἰκουμένην world

And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”

Here: Not "the cosmos" (Hebrews uses kosmos for that). It is the inhabited, governed world, a realm with subjects. Hebrews uses this word only once more, in 2:5, of "the world to come" that is subjected to the Son and not to angels. That link suggests a realm the Son is enthroned over.
Hebrews 2:5 οἰκουμένην world

For it is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.

Revelation · 3

Revelation 3:10 οἰκουμένης inhabited world

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Here: The world where people live. In Roman use it was close to "the Empire and the lands it ruled". The trial affects all human society, not just one city.
Revelation 12:9 οἰκουμένην inhabited [world]

And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Here: The lived-in world of human society. In Roman times it was also a common way of describing the empire's realm. The word is about people and nations, not the planet.
Revelation 16:14 οἰκουμένης inhabited [world]

These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

Here: The settled, civilized world of peoples and states. In the first century it often meant the world under Rome and its neighbours, and here it stresses that every human power is involved.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.