νίκ-η G3529
victory, conquest, or triumph; the overcoming of an enemy or obstacle
First John 5:4 declares, 'This is the victory (νίκη) that has overcome the world—our faith.' The term denotes triumph in battle, success in athletic competition, or victory in legal contests. Classical literature personifies Nike as the winged goddess of victory, companion of Athena and Zeus. John's usage is theological: faith itself is the conquering power that defeats the world's opposition, temptation, and lies. The victory is both already accomplished (Christ's resurrection and exaltation) and continually appropriated by believers through trust in God's Son. What appears as weakness—faith in a crucified Messiah—turns out to be the ultimate triumph over every hostile power.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Refers to the spiritual victory over the world that faith in Jesus accomplishes. The multilingual glosses uniformly preserve 'victory' terms (Spanish 'victoria', German 'Sieg'), capturing the martial metaphor. The domain (Hostility, Strife) reflects the conflict imagery—victory presupposes a battle. John's paradox is that faith, not military might, wins the decisive war. 1×
AR["غَلَبَةُ"]·ben["জয়"]·DE["Sieg"]·EN["victory"]·FR["νίκη"]·heb["נִצָּחוֹן"]·HI["जय"]·ID["kemenangan"]·IT["vittoria"]·jav["kamenangan"]·KO["승리"]·PT["vitória"]·RU["победа,"]·ES["victoria"]·SW["ushindi"]·TR["zafer"]·urd["فتح"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
νίκ-η [ῑ], ἡ, victory, ν. φαίνεται Μενελάου victory clearly belongs to M., Refs 8th c.BC+: frequently of victory in the games, Ἰσθμία ν. Refs 5th c.BC+ victory over.., Refs 8th c.BC+ __2 later, generally, mastery, ascendancy, etc., in all relations, νίκην διασῴζεσθαι to keep the fruits of victory, Refs 5th c.BC+ __3 success in a lawsuit, Refs 8th c.BC+; in the concrete, damages, etc., recovered,…