ἀκάθαρτος
akáthartos · G169 · Greek · 32 occurrences
Meanings
-
defiled, ritually unclean
Pertaining to being ritually unacceptable, either as the result of defilement or because of the very nature of the object itself (for example, ritually unacceptable animals)
ExamplesMatthew 10:1 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
Matthew 12:43 “Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.
Mark 1:23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
How it’s used In 6 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- πορνείαsexual immorality, fornication 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- εἰμίto be 1
What it doesIt is the subject
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- εἰσέρχομαιto enter, to go into, to come into 1
- ἔχωto have 1
What is done to itIt is the object
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- γέμωto be full of 1
- φάγωto eat 1
- ἅπτωto ignite 1
Second object ofSecond object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- λέγωto say 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- τέκνονchild, offspring 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- κοινός koinós · G2839 · shared, mutual, common
- The target term ἀκάθαρτος (“unclean”) and κοινός (“common, profane”) both function within ritual purity language, converging closely in that shared sphere; ἀκάθαρτος denotes inherent defilement, while κοινός denotes a lack of consecration or ritual set-apartness — two genuinely overlapping but distinguishable concepts of impurity.
In the other Testament 1 word
- טָמֵא ṭâmêʼ · H2931 · unclean, impure
- Hebrew טָמֵא and Greek ἀκάθαρτος are direct cross-linguistic equivalents denoting ritual/ceremonial impurity, moral defilement, and uncleanness, with both terms used for unclean spirits/demons and defiled states.
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Defiled, ritually unclean53.39
- In Matthew 10:1, Jesus “gave them authority over unclean (akathártōn) spirits, to cast them out,” where the word marks these spirits as ritually and spiritually defiled, opposed to what is holy.
Word family 11 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (καθαίρω) (from Sophocles down), in the Sept. equivalent to טָמֶא, not cleansed, unclean;…
a. in a ceremonial sense, that which must be abstained from according to the levitical law, lest impurity be contracted: Acts 10:14; Acts 11:8 (of food); Acts 10:28; 1 Cor 7:14 (of men); 2 Cor 6:17 (from Isa 52:11, of things pertaining to idolatry); Rev 18:2 (of birds),
b. in a moral sense, unclean in thought and life (frequent in Plato): Eph 5:5; τά ἀκάθαρτα τῆς πορνείας, Rev 17:4 (according to the true reading); πνεύματα, demons, bad angels (in twenty-three passages of the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation): Mt 10:1; Mt 12:43; Mk 1:23, Mk 1:26; Mk 3:11, etc.; Lk 4:33, Lk 4:36; Lk 6:18, etc.; Acts 5:16; Acts 8:7; Rev 16:13; Rev 18:2 (πνεύματα πονηρά in Mt 12:45; Lk 7:21; Lk 8:2; Lk 11:26; Acts 19:12f, 15f).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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