Greek word · G94

ἄδικος

adikos

unjust

"Unjust, unfair, wrongdoing". It describes someone who violates what is right and owed in a relationship or under law: a judge who perverts judgment, a steward who cheats, a party who does not pay what is due. It is the opposite of δίκαιος (dikaios), "just, righteous, doing right by others".

Appears 12 times in 11 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἄδικος, -ον

(δίκη), [in LXX for שׁקר, עול, etc. ;]

1. unjust: Romans 3:5, Hebrews 6:10.

2. unrighteous, wicked: Luke 16:11 18:11, Acts 24:15, 1 Corinthians 6:1,9 1 Peter 3:18; opposite to δίκαιος, Matthew 5:45; to εὐσεβής, 2 Peter 2:9; to πιστός, Luke 16:10 (Cremer, 200).

† (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 Hebrews 6:10

Range of meaning

"Unjust, unfair, wrongdoing". It describes someone who violates what is right and owed in a relationship or under law: a judge who perverts judgment, a steward who cheats, a party who does not pay what is due. It is the opposite of δίκαιος (dikaios), "just, righteous, doing right by others".

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT say "unrighteous", which modern ears tend to hear as moral impurity or personal sinfulness. BSB, ESV and NASB say "unjust", which fits the point better: God would be unfair if he overlooked what they did.

How it drifted

In everyday English, "unrighteous" has narrowed to a churchy word for being wicked or sinful. The Greek is about fairness and keeping faith with others.

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke 18:6 uses it of the "unjust judge" and Luke 16:8 of the "unjust steward". Romans 3:5 asks "Is God unjust (adikos) to inflict wrath?" In the LXX, Deuteronomy 32:4 says of God "there is no injustice (adikia) in him". Hebrews 11:6 calls God the one who "becomes a rewarder" of those who seek him.

From the study of 1 Corinthians 6:9

Range of meaning

Someone who violates dikē (right, justice, what is owed). It covers the unjust, wrongdoers, cheats, and in legal settings dishonest parties or corrupt judges. It is the opposite of dikaios (righteous, just, in the right).

Against the English

KJV and WEB use 'unrighteous' and BSB uses 'wicked'. Both are accurate, but they hide the word-chain in the Greek. In vv. 1–9 Paul uses this root four times: they take disputes 'before the unjust' (v. 1); 'why not rather be wronged?' (v. 7); 'you do wrong' (v. 8); and 'wrongdoers will not inherit' (v. 9). In English the play on words disappears.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical Greek uses it for unjust people and unjust deeds. The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) uses it often for the wicked and for false witnesses (e.g. Exod 23:1; Prov 6:17). Elsewhere Paul contrasts the 'just and unjust' at the resurrection (Acts 24:15).

From the study of Luke 16:11

Range of meaning

Unjust, unrighteous, wrong-doing, dishonest. It is the opposite of dikaios, 'just, right'. In Jewish Greek influenced by Hebrew, adikia ('unrighteousness') is often paired against 'truth'. It can carry the sense of 'false, deceptive, unreliable' (John 7:18; Rom 2:8).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT 'unrighteous', ESV/NASB 'unrighteous wealth'. BSB/NIV/NLT 'worldly', which tones the moral edge down to 'belonging to this world'. In verse 10 BSB translates the same word 'dishonest'.

How it drifted

Modern readers tend to hear 'unrighteous money' as 'stolen or dirty money' only, a narrower idea than the Semitic phrase probably carried.

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke 16:8 calls the steward 'the steward of unrighteousness'; 16:9 has 'mammon of unrighteousness'. The Dead Sea Scrolls speak of 'wealth of wickedness' (CD 6:15) and 'wealth of violence' (1QS 10:19). 1 Enoch 63:10 has 'mammon of unrighteousness'. Aramaic Targums (ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrases of Scripture) use phrases like 'mammon of falsehood' for bribes and dishonest gain.

Similar words

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 5:45 ἀδίκους. unrighteous.

    that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

    Here: People who wrong others and break faith. Ending the verse on this word leaves the hearer with the point: even these get God's rain.

Luke · 4

  1. Luke 16:10 ἄδικος ἄδικός unrighteous

    Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

    Here: The opposite of being right before God and fair to others. In this chapter it is a deliberate echo: the "manager of unrighteousness" (16:8) and the "mammon of unrighteousness" (16:9, 11) all use the same word-family. In a setting about money it includes dishonesty, but it is wider than lying.

  2. Luke 16:11 ἀδίκῳ unrighteous

    So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

    Here: Describes the wealth as belonging to the unjust, unreliable order of this age. It picks up 'mammon of unrighteousness' (v. 9) and stands in deliberate contrast with 'the true' later in the verse.

  3. Luke 18:11 ἄδικοι, unrighteous,

    The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

    Here: People who do not keep what is right before God and neighbor. In Luke it often means dishonest in money matters (16:10–11).

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 24:15 ἀδίκων· of [the] unjust;

    and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

    Here: 'Of the unjust': those who do wrong. Including them implies that the rising leads to judgment, which is where Paul takes the conversation with Felix in v. 25.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 3:5 ἄδικος [is] unrighteous

    But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.

    Here: 'Un-right', in the sense of acting unfairly as a judge. Third use of the same root in one sentence: our un-rightness, God's rightness, is God un-right?

1 Corinthians · 2

  1. 1 Corinthians 6:1 ἀδίκων unrighteous

    If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints!

  2. 1 Corinthians 6:9 ἄδικοι [the] unrighteous ones

    Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

    Here: People who do wrong to others and break what is right. It deliberately echoes v. 1, where pagan judges are 'the unjust', and v. 8, where the Corinthians themselves 'do wrong' (adikeite). The church is behaving like the outsiders it goes to court before.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 6:10 ἄδικος unjust [is]

    For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

    Here: Someone who does not give others what is rightly theirs. Calling God unjust here would mean saying he would fail to honour what he has committed himself to.

1 Peter · 1

  1. 1 Peter 3:18 ἀδίκων, [the] unrighteous,

    For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

    Here: The guilty, people in the wrong before God. The pairing with 'righteous' is a deliberate wordplay: the just one for the unjust.

2 Peter · 1

  1. 2 Peter 2:9 ἀδίκους [the] unrighteous

    if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

    Here: Those who do wrong and violate what is right toward God and others. The opposite of the 'righteous' (dikaios) Lot of vv. 7–8, and in context it points to the false teachers described next (v. 10).

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