noun · feminine
adikias
Strong’sG93
unrighteousness
stem adiki-25 times in the New Testamentin 12 of 27 books5 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Injustice — unfairness or wrongdoing, the opposite of what is just 12. This sense covers legal or practical unfairness, such as a judge's unjust dealing 1.
Unrighteousness — moral wrongness of character, life, or conduct; sin or iniquity in a general sense 124. In this sense the word stands opposed to truth and to righteousness, and appears in phrases describing a "reward of unrighteousness," a "steward of unrighteousness," a "world of unrighteousness," and the "deceit of unrighteousness" 1.
The word can also denote a specific unrighteous act, a wrong deed rather than the quality of wrongness itself; in one place it is used ironically to mean a "favour" done to someone 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἀδικία, -ας, ἡ
(< ἄδικος), [in LXX for עָוֹן, פֶּשַׁע, עָוֶל, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G93 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidad-ee-kee'-ah
(legal) injustice (properly, the quality, by implication, the act); morally, wrongfulness (of character, life or act)
Fromfrom G94;
King Jamesiniquity, unjust, unrighteousness, wrong.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect -ιη, ἡ, wrongdoing, injustice, ἀδικίης ἄρχεινRefs 5th c.BC+; 'foul' in racing, Refs
II wrongful act, offence, Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | adikias4×ἀδικία | adikiais |
| object accusative | adikian2×ἀδικίαν | adikiain |
| direct address vocative | adikiar | adikiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | adikiau13×ἀδικίας | adikiaiu |
| to, for dative | adikia5×ἀδικίᾳ | adikiai1×ἀδικίαις |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
adikia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
25 occurrences, every one of them listed
adikias“unrighteousness”subjectnominative singular4×
John 7:18“unrighteousness”… pemparantou auton houtos alēthos atō kai adikias en auto ouk atō.… One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.
Romans 3:5ei de tas adikias nu theou dikaiosunan sustēatō, tinem legani? …But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what …
Romans 9:14“injustice”Tinem oun legani? mē adikias para to theo? mē genetoia;What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly …
1 John 5:17pantas adikias hamartas atō, kai atō hamartas ouk …All unrighteousness is sin, yet there is sin …
adikian“wrong”objectaccusative singular2×
Romans 1:18“unrighteousness”… apo ouranou epi pantan asebeian kai adikian anthrōpoiu toiu tan alētheian en adikia …… being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
2 Corinthians 12:13… ouk katanarkama vu? charizevar mi tan adikian houtan.… burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
adikiau“unrighteousness”of, belonging togenitive singular13×
Luke 13:27“iniquity”… avō; apostēavar apo mu, pantoir ergatoir adikiau.… where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’
Luke 16:8… epainata tos kurios ton oikonomon tau adikiau hoti fronimōs poiata; hoti tois huiois …The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly …
Luke 16:9“unrighteous”… poiavar filoin ek tou mamōnou tau adikiau, hina hotan eklipateia decheleia vin eis …… use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.
Luke 18:6… kurios; Akouavar tinem tos kritos tau adikiau legatō;… Listen to the words of the unjust judge.
Acts 1:18… oun kteta chōriem ek misthou tau adikiau, kai prēnos generantos lakata mesos, kai …(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he …
Acts 8:23eis gar cholan pikriau kai sundesmon adikiau horamō sin arōnton.… poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”
Romans 6:13“unrighteousness”mēde parastēavōr teim meleim vu hopleim adikiau ta hamarta, alla parastēavar heautoin to …Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God …
2 Thessalonians 2:10kai en panta apata adikiau toi apolorōntoi, anti heiu tan agapan …and with every wicked deception directed against those who are …
2 Timothy 2:19“wickedness”… toin arōntoin autou, kai; Apostēatar apo adikiau pantos tos onomazarōntos tem onomem kuriou.… Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
James 3:6“unrighteousness”… tas glōssas purem, tos kosmos tau adikiau tas glōssas katastēotō en tei melei …The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire …
2 Peter 2:13“unrighteousness”adikorōntois misthon adikiau; hēdonan hēgorōntois tan en hēmera trufan, …… suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight …
2 Peter 2:15“unrighteousness”… tou Balaam tou Bosor hos misthon adikiau agapata… way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
1 John 1:9… hamartain kai katharizateia nin apo pantau adikiau.… and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
adikia“unrighteousness”to, fordative singular5×
Romans 1:18“unrighteousness”… adikian anthrōpoiu toiu tan alētheian en adikia katecharōntoiu,… wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
Romans 1:29“unrighteousness”plērorēntoin panta adikia ponēria pleonexia kakia, mestoin fthonou fonou …… have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit …
Romans 2:8“unrighteousness”… apeitharōntoi ta alētheia peithorōntoi de ta adikia orgas kai thumos,… who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
1 Corinthians 13:6“unrighteousness”ouk chairatō epi ta adikia, sunchairatō de ta alētheia;… no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:12“unrighteousness”… pisteuarantois ta alētheia alla eudokarantois ta adikia.… have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.
adikiai“iniquities”to, fordative plural1×
Hebrews 8:12hoti hilaos emi tai adikiai autoiu, kai taiu hamartaiu autoiu ouk …For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no …