οἰκουμένη
oikouménē · G3625 · Greek · 15 occurrences
Meanings
-
earth, world
The surface of the earth as the dwelling place of mankind, in contrast with the heavens above and the world below
ExamplesMatthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Luke 4:5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luke 21:26 people fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
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empire, people of the empire
The Roman Empire, including its inhabitants (οἰκουμένη differs from οἰκουμένη ‘earth,’, in that those outside of the Roman Empire are specifically excluded, that is to say, no census was to be taken of the barbarians, but only of the inhabitants of the Empire)
ExamplesLuke 2:1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
Acts 24:5 “For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
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people, all mankind
(Figurative extension of meaning of οἰκουμένη ‘inhabited earth,’) All people who dwell on the earth
ExamplesMatthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Acts 11:28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.
Acts 17:6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also;
How it’s used In 5 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Named alongside itApposition
2 occurrences in 3 groups
- Ἰουδαῖοςa Jew, Jewish 1
- λαλέωto speak 1
- μέλλωto be about to 1
What it doesIt is the subject
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- σέβομαιto worship 1
- ἀπογράφωto register 1
What is done to itIt is the object
4 occurrences in 4 groups
- κρίνωto judge 1
- ἀναστατόωto incite to revolt 1
- πλανάωto deceive, to lead astray 1
- ὑποτάσσωto submit, to subject 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
5 occurrences in 4 groups
- ἐπίon 3
- εἰςto 2
- ἐνin 2
- κατάaccording to, against, down 1
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- πέραςend 1
- βασιλείαkingdom, reign 1
- βασιλεύςking 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
- κόσμος kósmos · G2889 · cosmos, universe, earth
- Both terms can refer to the physical inhabited earth. κόσμος has a much wider range of meaning beyond this — including cosmological and theological senses — while the target more consistently denotes the inhabited world in a political-administrative sense. Their shared reference to the physical inhabited earth is a real, if narrow, point of convergence between the two terms.
In the other Testament 2 words
- תֵּבֵל têbêl · H8398 · earth, world
- Hebrew תֵּבֵל (tebel) and Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē) both denote the inhabited world or habitable earth, with οἰκουμένη carrying the additional connotation of the civilized/Roman world in NT contexts while תֵּבֵל appears frequently in poetic descriptions of the world as created order.
- אֶרֶץ ʼerets · H776 · earth, ground, land
- οἰκουμένη (oikouménē, G3625) οἰκουμένη denotes the inhabited world or empire (often specifically the Roman empire in NT contexts), while אֶרֶץ (ʼerets, H776) אֶרֶץ is the broader Hebrew term for earth/land that can encompass both inhabited world and uninhabited ground; οἰκουμένη represents the inhabited-world sense when Greek translators render this semantic scope of אֶרֶץ.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Earth, world1.39
- Describing the end times, Matthew 24:14 states “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come,” where “world” renders this noun for the inhabited earth.
- Empire, people of the empire1.83
- Introducing the nativity account, Luke 2:1 states “a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth,” where “the inhabited earth” renders this same noun, here in its specific reference to the Roman Empire under the emperor's decree.
- People, all mankind9.22
- Describing the coming judgment, Acts 17:31 states God “has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed,” where “the world” renders this same noun, here of humanity as those who will be judged.
Word family 35 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon οἰκουμένης, ἡ (feminine of the present passive participle from οἰκέω (namely, γῆ; cf.…
1. the inhabited earth;
a. in Greek writings often the portion of the earth inhabited by the Greeks, in distinction from the lands of the barbarians, cf. Passow, ii., p. 415a; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, I.).
b. in the Greek authors who wrote about Roman affairs (like the Latinorbis terrarum) equivalent to the Roman empire: so πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη contextually equivalent to all the subjects of this empire, Lk 2:1.
c. the whole inhabited earth, the world (so in (Hyperides, Eux. 42 (probably Liddell and Scott)) the Sept. for תֵּבֵל and אֶרֶץ): Lk 4:5; Lk 21:26; Acts 24:5; Rom 10:18; Rev 16:14; Heb 1:6 (πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη, Josephus, b. j. 7, 3, 3); ὅλῃ ἡ οἰκουμένη, Mt 24:14; Acts 11:28 (in the same sense Josephus, Antiquities 8, 13, 4 πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη; cf. Bleek, Erklär. d. drei ersten Evv. i., p. 68); by metonymy, the inhabitants of the earth, men: Acts 17:6, Acts 17:31 (Ps 9:9); ; ἡ οἰκουμένη ὅλῃ, all mankind, Rev 3:10; Rev 12:9.
2. the universe, the world: Wis. 1:7 (alternating there with τά πάντα); ἡ οἰκουμένη μελλουσα, that consummate state of all things which will exist after Christ's return from heaven, Heb 2:5 (where the word alternates with πάντα and τά πάντα, Heb 2:8, which there is taken in an absolute sense).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
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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