ἀδικ-ία G0093
unrighteousness, injustice, wrongdoing — moral deviation from God's standard of right, both in act and condition
Adikia is the comprehensive New Testament term for unrighteousness, injustice, and wrongdoing — the negation of dikaiosyne ('righteousness'). Its 25 occurrences range across Pauline theology, the Lukan parables, and the Johannine epistles with remarkable conceptual unity. Paul frames it as a cosmic condition: God's wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and adikia (Rom 1:18), and those who suppress truth do so 'in unrighteousness' (Rom 1:18; 2:8). In Luke's parables, the 'steward of unrighteousness' (Luke 16:8) and the 'mammon of unrighteousness' (Luke 16:9) deploy the term with ironic force, while the parable of the persistent widow features 'the judge of unrighteousness' (Luke 18:6). John's first epistle sets the word against its antonym: 'all unrighteousness is sin' (1 John 5:17), and God is faithful to 'cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:9). Paul exhorts Timothy that everyone who names Christ's name should 'depart from unrighteousness' (2 Tim 2:19). Spanish 'injusticia,' French 'injustice,' and Arabic renderings all converge on a single concept.
Senses
1. unrighteousness, injustice — Moral wrongness understood as the absence or violation of divine righteousness, encompassing both the inner condition and its outward expression. Paul uses it as a sweeping category of human rebellion under divine wrath (Rom 1:18; 2:8; 9:14), while Luke deploys it with sharp irony in parables — the unrighteous steward (Luke 16:8), the unrighteous mammon (Luke 16:9), the unrighteous judge (Luke 18:6). First John pairs it with sin (1 John 5:17) and with divine cleansing (1 John 1:9). Peter warns of 'the wages of unrighteousness' for false teachers (2 Pet 2:13, 15). Cross-linguistically, Spanish 'injusticia' and French 'injustice' confirm a single semantic core. 25×
AR["إثمٍ", "إثمُنا", "إثمِ", "إِثْمٍ", "الإثمَ", "الإثمِ", "الإثْمِ", "الظُلمِ", "الظُّلمِ", "الظُّلْمِ", "ظُلمٍ", "ظُلْمٌ", "لِلْإثمِ"]·ben["অধর্ম", "অধর্মে,", "অধর্মের", "অধার্মিকতা", "অধার্মিকতার", "অন্যায়", "অন্যায়,", "অন্যায়ে", "অন্যায়ে,", "এবং"]·DE["Ungerechtigkeit"]·EN["injustice", "of-unrighteousness", "unrighteousness"]·FR["injustice"]·heb["עַוְלָה", "עָוֶל"]·HI["अधरम", "अधर्म", "अधर्म-का", "अधर्म-के", "अधर्म-के।", "अधर्म-को", "अन्याय", "अपअधरमि", "फट-गया"]·ID["kejahatan", "kejahatan,", "kejahatan.", "kelaliman", "kelaliman,", "ketidak-adilan", "ketidakadilan", "ketidakbenaran", "ketidakbenaran."]·IT["ingiustizia"]·jav["duraka", "duraka,", "duraka.", "durhaka", "durhaka,", "kalepatan", "kalepatan,", "kaluputan", "kaluputan,", "mboten-adil", "mboten-leres"]·KO["그-", "불의", "불의-는", "불의-의", "불의-의.", "불의가", "불의에.", "불의의"]·PT["da-iniquidade", "de-iniquidade", "de-injustiça", "iniquidade", "injustiça", "injustiça,"]·RU["-греху", "неправда", "неправде", "неправды", "неправды.", "неправедности", "неправедности,", "неправедность", "у-"]·ES["de-injusticia", "injusticia"]·SW["cha-udhalimu", "udhalimu", "udhalimu,", "za-udhalimu"]·TR["adaletsizlik", "adaletsizlikle", "adaletsizlikte", "adaletsizliğimiz", "adaletsizliğin", "haksizlik,", "haksızlık", "haksızlıktan", "haksızlığa", "haksızlığın", "kötülüğün", "o-"]·urd["بدی", "بے-انصافی", "بے-انصافی-کا", "بے-انصافی-کے", "نا-انصافی", "ناانصافی", "ناراستی", "ناراستی-سے", "ناراستی-کی", "ناراستی-کے", "ناراستی۔"]
Related Senses
H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H7563 1. wicked person (259×)H7451c 1. moral evil or wickedness (234×)H5771 1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing (222×)H6662 1. righteous person (substantive) (195×)G0266 1. sin, failure, transgression (173×)H2403b 1. sin, transgression (170×)H2617a 1. Covenant faithfulness, steadfast love (167×)H2398 1. Qal: to sin, commit sin (165×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)H2403b 2. sin-offering, sacrifice for sin (120×)G2570 1. good, right, excellent (98×)H6588 1. transgression, offense against God (88×)G0018 1. good (moral quality) (85×)H2896b 1. good, what is good (85×)H7451b 1. evil, wickedness (moral) (83×)H7451a 2. evil, harm, calamity (80×)G1342 1. righteous, upright (of persons) (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἀδικ-ία, Ionic dialect -ιη, ἡ, wrongdoing, injustice, ἀδικίης ἄρχεινRefs 5th c.BC+; 'foul' in racing, Refs __II wrongful act, offence, Refs 5th c.BC+