Poneros
A
B
C
D
The accusative direct object of the verb nikao is composed of two words in the Greek text:
1. Accusative masculine singular definite article ton (toVn)
2. Accusative masculine singular form of the adjective poneros (ponhrov$), which is poneron (ponhrovn).
Classical
1. The adjective poneros is derived from ponos, “work, toil” and poneo, “to be involved in work.”
2. It does not appear in the writings of Homer but it does in Hesiod and Thucydides as well as being found in
inscriptions and papyri.
3. In classical literature, the adjective poneros has a wide variety of meanings.
4. It can denote “that which causes trouble and brings unhappiness, disaster, evil.”
5. In Aristophanes, the word can mean, “incompetent, wretched, poor” as well as “unattractive, in poor
shape.”
6. It can mean, “bad, fatal, unlucky, unfavorable.”
7. The word is used in a political sense meaning, “politically useless, parasite on the commonwealth, enemy
of the state.”
8. Poneros is also employed in the moral sense meaning, “morally reprehensible” in conduct towards men and
the gods.
9. In the Hellenistic period, the adjective poneros did not change much from the classical usage where it
meant, “full of trouble, unfortunate, useless, false, wrong, harmful, unfavorable, offensive, deceptive,
contrary, morally reprehensible.”
10. Greek-English Lexicon, Liddel and Scott, New Edition (page 1447):
a. In a physical sense, oppressed by toils; of things, toilsome, painful, grievous
b. In bad case, in sorry plight, useless, good for nothing
c. In moral sense, worthless, knavish; base, cowardly; with a political connotation, of the baser sort
LXX
1. The adjective poneros appears often in the LXX.
2. It is used to translate six Hebrew terms as well as ten other constructions.
3. The adjective is used to translate the Hebrew ra (ur^) and it derivatives.
4. The word remains in the sphere of the Hebrew original denoting a “bad” condition or nature and something
that is of little worth, useless.
5. The word is used in relation to animals, it can mean, “dangerous, harmful” (Gen. 37:20).
6. It can mean, “damaging” to a person’s reputation (e.g. Dt. 22:14).
7. The word is also used of “evil” in relation to the human soul (e.g. 1 Sm. 16:14 ff.).
8. In Nehemiah 2:2, it means, “sad looking.”
9. The word is used of the “futile” and “meaningless” acts of man as well as “misfortune, adversity.”
10. In an ethical sense, poneros, when used of persons or things, means, “evil, bad, worthless, depraved,
corrupt.”
11. Poneros is used opposition to God and His will.
12. It is also implies separation from Him.
13. Unlike the Greek New Testament, poneros is never used of the devil.
14. Generally, the poneros is used of men in the sense of “morally bad, culpable.”
15. It is used in the abstract sense for “evil.”
NT
1. The adjective poneros appears 79 times in the Greek New Testament.
2. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (volume 2):
a. Pertaining to being morally corrupt and evil – ‘immoral, evil, wicked’ (page 754).
b. Pertaining to possessing a serious fault and consequently being worthless – ‘bad, worthless’ (page
624).
c. Pertaining to guilt resulting from an evil deed – ‘guilty’ (page 776).
d. A state of being sickly or diseased – ‘to be sick, to be diseased’ (page 270).
e. A title for the devil, literally the evil one, the one who is essentially evil or in a sense personifies evil –
‘the Evil One, he who is evil’ (page 146).
3. The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (page 336):
a. Bad, unsound
2005 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
1
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
b. Evil, afflictive
c. Evil, wrongful, malignant, malevolent
d. Evil, wicked, impious
e. Evil, wrong, wickedness
f. Slothful, inactive
g. The evil one, the devil
h. Envious, implying covetous, niggardly
The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon (page 530-531):
a. Full of labors, annoyances, hardships; pressed and harassed by labors; bringing toils, annoyances,
perils
b. Bad, of a bad nature or condition; in a physical sense, diseased, blind; in an ethical sense, evil, wicked,
bad
c. Ho poneros used pre-eminently of the devil, the evil one
d. That which is evil
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (pages 690-691):
a. Adjective in a bad sense, in a poor condition, sick; painful, virulent, serious; bad, spoiled, worthless; in
an ethical sense, wicked, evil, bad, base, worthless, vicious, degenerate
b. Substantively, wicked, or evil-intentioned person, evil-doer; the evil one; that which is evil
In the Greek New Testament, the adjective poneros is employed several times as a substantive referring to
the devil, Satan himself and should be translated “the evil one.”
a. Matt 13:37-38, “And He said, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is
the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons
of the evil one.’”
b. John 17:15, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”
c. Ephesians 6:16, “In addition to everything, I solemnly charge all of you to take up for yourselves
your shield, which is your faith because that will enable all of you to extinguish all the flaming
arrows originating from the evil one.”
d. 2 Thess 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
e. 1 John 2:13, “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the
beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have
written to you, children, because you know the Father.”
f. 1 John 2:14, “I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the
beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides
in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
g. 1 John 3:11-12, “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what
reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.”
h. 1 John 5:18, “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps
him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
i. 1 John 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil
one.”
The adjective poneros is often used in the Greek New Testament to describe something or someone as evil.
Evil originates with Satan and began when he rejected the authority of God in eternity past (Is. 14:12-14).
Evil in its root essence is independence from God.
The rejection of authority and rebellion against authority is evil.
Conspiracy and revolution are evil (Psa. 64:4-5; Prov. 17:11).
Evil is Satan’s policy as the ruler of this world and is the way that he operates as ruler of this world.
He seeks to capture and control the human soul with his policy of evil.
Satan seeks to establish his own millennium and become the victor in the angelic conflict through his
policy of evil.
God’s policy of grace is antithetical or totally opposite to Satan’s policy.
Grace and Bible Doctrine represent the genius and thinking of God in relation to the human race.
Evil represents the genius and thinking of Satan regarding the human race.
All sin is evil but not all evil is sin.
Evil includes human good, which is the attempt by man to solve his problems apart from Bible Doctrine
and apart from divine establishment.
2005 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
2
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
The area of strength in the old sin nature is the source of human good.
The area of strength in the old sin nature produces human good or “dead works” (Heb. 6:1).
Both believers and unbelievers produce human good.
God hates human good (Isa. 64:6).
Human good can include:
a. Humanitarianism
b. Socialism
c. Philanthropy
d. Public welfare
e. Social security
f. Religion
g. Legalism
h. Reversionism
i. Communism
j. Pacifism
Human good cannot please God and He rejects human good because it originates from the old sin nature.
The area of strength in the old sin nature motivates the production of human good.
God wants Bible Doctrine to motivate the believer to perform divine good, which He will accept (1 Cor.
3:11-16).
Anything that an unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life.
God only accepts divine good or good done in His power, which is the Filling of the Spirit and Bible
Doctrine (John 4:24).
The sin nature has 2 trends:
a. Antinomianism: immorality, sin
b. Legalism: morality, human good
There are immoral degenerates and moral degenerates in the world today and God rejects both.
God does judge evil (Psa. 34:16; Isa. 13:11) and He will punish evil (Jonah 3:10).
Evil will eventually be eliminated in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ (Zeph. 3:14-15).
It will be permanently eliminated when Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:7-10).
Evil is located in the soul (Matt. 6:23; 15:19) and shortens life (Amos 5:14-15).
It is distinguished from sin (1 Chron. 21:1, 17).
Evil is often mistaken for good (Micah 1:12).
Evil leadership is anti-God (Nahum 1:11).
Sincere do-gooders practice evil (Rom. 7:19, 21).
The believer is warned to beware of people who practice evil (Phil. 3:2).
Those under the influence of evil always have a price (1 Tim 6:10).
Evil distorts grace by emphasizing good works (Psa. 38:19-20).
Evil people seek to build happiness on someone else’s unhappiness (Psa. 35:11-13).
The influence of evil explains why the prayers of believers are not answered (Job 35:9-13).
Evil is self-destructive (Psa. 34:21).
2005 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
3