Word study
Worldly
7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “worldly”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “worldly” or one of its forms.
Compare the Greek words side by side
Greek words (New Testament)
- σαρκικός sarkikósfleshly, carnaltranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4559Adjective · Translated: worldly 3, material 2, flesh 2Full study and all 6 verses →
1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?
2 Corinthians 1:12 For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God — not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.
- ἀδικία adikíaunrighteousnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 24 uses · Strong’s G93Noun · Translated: wickedness 9, unrighteousness 3, unjust 2, iniquity 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Luke 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.
- ἄδικος ádikosunjust, unrighteoustranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s G94Adjective · Translated: unrighteous 4, dishonest 2, wicked 2, unjust 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Luke 16:11 So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?
- σάρκινος sárkinosconsisting of fleshtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4560Adjective · Translated: unspiritual 1, worldly 1, human 1Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Corinthians 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly — as infants in Christ.
- κόσμος kósmosthe world, universetranslated this way 1 time of its 183 uses · Strong’s G2889Noun · Translated: world 163, of 12, whole world 2Full study and all 151 verses →
2 Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
- κοσμικός kosmikósearthly, worldlytranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2886Adjective · Translated: worldly 1, earthly 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Titus 2:12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- ψυχικός psychikósanimal, natural, sensuoustranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s G5591Adjective · Translated: natural 4, unspiritual 1, worldly 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Jude 1:19 These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Short definition: Dodson Greek Lexicon (2010, public domain). Full entry: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922, public domain). Strong’s Greek Dictionary (1890) in the edition by Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen (CC0). These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.