πλεονέκτης

From the study of 1 Corinthians 5:11

Range of meaning

From πλέον ἔχειν, 'to have more'. A person who grasps for more than their due, overreaches, takes advantage of others for gain. In Greek ethics πλεονεξία is a central form of injustice: taking more than one's share at someone else's cost.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'covetous' and YLT 'covetous' now sound like a private inner desire (wanting what isn't yours). BSB/ESV/NIV 'greedy' is closer but can still sound purely attitudinal. The Greek describes exploitation that shows up in actual dealings.

How it drifted

'Covet' in modern English, shaped by the Tenth Commandment, is heard as an inner sin of the heart. πλεονέκτης is about behaviour others can see and suffer from, which is why a community could identify and discipline it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics book 5, treats the πλεονέκτης as the unjust person who takes more than his share. In Paul: 1 Cor 5:10; 6:10; Eph 5:5 ('a greedy person, that is, an idolater'); compare 1 Thess 4:6 (wronging a brother). In 1 Cor 6:7–8 believers 'wrong and defraud' one another in lawsuits.

From the study of Ephesians 5:5

Range of meaning

From πλέον ('more') + ἔχω ('have'): one who wants more, the overreacher who takes more than his fair share, usually at someone else's expense. In Greek ethics πλεονεξία is the classic vice opposed to justice (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics bk. 5). Mostly it means wealth and property, but the verb can mean taking advantage of someone in any area, including sex (1 Thess 4:6).

Against the English

KJV 'covetous' is accurate but sounds old-fashioned and inward ('wanting'). 'Greedy' is good. Neither word fully carries the social side, the grasping that exploits other people.

How it drifted

'Covetous' now sounds like a private feeling. The Greek word stresses the habit of grabbing more.

Used elsewhere in the period

Sirach 14:9 ('the eye of the greedy'); Philo and the moralists attack πλεονεξία constantly; in the NT, 1 Cor 5:10–11; 6:10; the noun πλεονεξία at Eph 4:19; 5:3; Col 3:5 ('greed, which is idolatry'); Luke 12:15.

From the study of 1 Corinthians 6:10

Range of meaning

Built from pleon ('more') and echō ('have'): 'one who has, or wants to have, more'. In Greek moral writing it names the person who takes more than their due and overreaches at others' expense. It covers both the grasping desire and the conduct that goes with it: cheating in business, exploiting someone in a weaker position, using advantage to take what belongs to others (BDAG: 'one who is greedy for gain, covetous person').

Against the English

'Greedy' (BSB, ESV, NIV) and 'covetous' (KJV, WEB) both point mainly to an inner appetite. The Greek word leans toward grabbing in practice and toward the person harmed by it: 'one who takes advantage'.

How it drifted

In modern English 'covet' has narrowed to an inward wanting, mostly known from the Tenth Commandment. 'Greedy' is often a mild criticism of consumer habits. Neither carries the Greek sense that someone else is being cheated of their share.

Used elsewhere in the period

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics V.1) defines the unjust person (adikos) as both the lawbreaker and the pleonektēs, the one who takes more than his fair share. Paul pairs the two in exactly the same way in 6:9 (adikoi). Paul uses the verb for 'taking advantage' of people (2 Cor 7:2; 12:17–18; 1 Thess 4:6, where it is the wronging of a brother in a sexual matter). In 1 Cor 5:10–11 pleonektai stand next to harpages, and in Eph 5:5 the pleonektēs is called an idolater.