Greek word · G5517
χοϊκός
choikos
made of dust
"Made of dust/soil, earthen, dusty." It is an adjective built from χοῦς (chous), meaning loose earth or dust. The word describes the stuff something is made of, and with it the qualities of that stuff: low, crumbling, perishable.
Appears 4 times in 3 verses of 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 1 Corinthians 15:47
- Range of meaning
"Made of dust/soil, earthen, dusty." It is an adjective built from χοῦς (chous), meaning loose earth or dust. The word describes the stuff something is made of, and with it the qualities of that stuff: low, crumbling, perishable.
- Against the English
KJV/NASB "earthy"; ESV "a man of dust"; NIV/BSB "of the dust of the earth"; WEB "made of dust." "Made of dust" and "a man of dust" keep the Genesis picture. "Earthy" now means something else in English (see drift).
- How it drifted
In the KJV era "earthy" meant "consisting of earth." Modern English "earthy" means coarse, frank, sensual or down-to-earth, which is a character trait. Paul is talking about what a body is made of and how long it can last.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The word is very rare. Its earliest known literary uses are in this chapter (vv. 47–49), and later Christian and gnostic writers use it in debates about "earthly" and "spiritual" people. Its root links it directly to Genesis 2:7 in the Greek Old Testament (God formed the human being "dust [chous] from the ground") and Genesis 3:19 ("dust you are, and to dust you shall return"). Paul may have coined it himself or taken it from a small group of writers.
From the study of 1 Corinthians 15:49
- Range of meaning
'Made of dust or soil', from chous, dust or loose earth. It describes material and origin, and so mortality and perishability.
- Against the English
KJV's 'earthy' is exact: made of earth. BSB/NIV 'earthly' can sound like 'worldly' or 'sinful'. ESV's 'man of dust' keeps the Genesis echo best. WEB's 'those made of dust' turns a singular into a plural.
- How it drifted
In modern English 'earthly' often carries moral overtones ('earthly desires'). Paul's word describes what the body is made of, not its morals.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Very rare before Paul. It is built on Genesis 2:7 in the Greek Old Testament: God formed the man 'dust (choun) from the earth'. Compare Genesis 3:19, 'dust you are, and to dust you shall return'. Later Gnostic writers used choikos for the lowest class of humans. That use comes after Paul and should not be read back into him.
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 4
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1 Corinthians 15:47 χοϊκός, made of dust,
The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
Here: "Dust-made" or "dusty," formed from the word for dust (chous) used in Genesis 2:7 and 3:19 in the Greek Old Testament. It hints at fragility and mortality: what is dust goes back to dust.
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1 Corinthians 15:48 χοϊκός, χοϊκοί, made of dust,, of the earth,
As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.
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1 Corinthians 15:49 χοϊκοῦ, earthly,
And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
Here: 'The dust-man', from the 'dust' (choun) of Genesis 2:7 in the Greek Old Testament. It describes what the body is made of, which makes it frail, mortal and perishable. It does not describe worldly morals.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.