adjective
echthros
Strong’sG2190
hated, hostile, an enemy
stem echthr-32 times in the New Testamentin 13 of 27 books7 of 26 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
Hated, hateful – used of someone who is the object of hatred, as opposed to being loved 13. This passive sense stands in contrast to "beloved" in at least one New Testament use 1.
Hostile, hating – used actively of a person or thing that hates or is opposed to another, sometimes with a genitive of the person or thing it is hostile toward 13. Strong's likewise notes both the passive sense ("odious") and this active sense ("hostile") for the same word 2.
Most often the word functions as a noun, an enemy or adversary 1234, a use in which the hating and the being-hated senses run together 13. It can refer to a personal foe, including in some contexts the devil, or more broadly to anyone opposed to a person or thing 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
ἐχθρός, -ά, -όν
(< ἔχθος, hatred), [in LXX chiefly for אוׄיֵב, also for צַר, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2190 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidech-thros'
hateful (passively, odious, or actively, hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan)
Fromfrom a primary ἔχθω (to hate);
King Jamesenemy, foe.
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
(ἔχθος) hated, hateful, of persons and things, frequently from Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐ. γάρ μοι κεῖνος ὁμῶς Ἀΐδαο πύλῃσι Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐχθρὸν δέ μοί ἐστιν c.infinitive, 'tis hateful to me to.., Refs 8th c.BC+; compare θεοισεχθρός.
II active, hating, hostile, first in Refs 8th c.BC+ averse from insolence, Refs 5th c.BC+
III as substantive, ἐχθρός, ὁ, enemy, where the active and passive senses frequently coincide, Refs 8th c.BC+ is one who has been φίλος, but is alienated; πολέμιος one who is at war; δυσμενής one who has long been alienated and refuses to be reconciled.
IV regular comparative ἐχθρότερος Refs 4th c.BC+; superlative -ότατος Refs 5th c.BC+
V adverb ἐχθρῶς, μισοῦντες Refs 5th c.BC+: comparative -οτέρως Refs 4th c.BC+: superlative -ότατα Refs
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 | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | echthros7×ἐχθρὸς | echthras | echthrem | echthrois6×ἐχθροὶ | echthrais | echthreim |
| object accusative | echthron2×ἐχθρόν | echthran | echthroin13×ἐχθροὺς | echthrain | ||
| direct address vocative | echthror1×ἐχθρὲ | echthrar | echthroir | echthrair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | echthrou1×ἐχθροῦ | echthrau | echthreu | echthroiu2×ἐχθρῶν | echthraiu | echthreiu |
| to, for dative | echthro | echthra | echthre | echthroi | echthrai | echthrei |
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
echthr 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
32 occurrences, every one of them listed
echthros“enemy”subjectnominative singular7×
Matthew 13:25… katheudarō toin anthrōpoin erchata autou tos echthros kai epispeirata zizanieim ana mesem tou …But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the …
Matthew 13:28tos de fēate autoi; Echthros anthrōpos houtem poiata. tois de doulois …‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the …
Matthew 13:39tos de echthros tos sperarantos auteim atō tos diabolos; …and the enemy who sows them is the devil …
Romans 12:20alla ean peinateiō tos echthros su, psōmizasōr auton; ean dipsateiō, potizasōr …On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he …
1 Corinthians 15:26eschatos echthros katargotō tos thanatos,The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Galatians 4:16hōste echthros vu genamē alētheuarōntos vi?Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
James 4:4… oun bouliteia filos arō tou kosmou, echthros tou theou katastēotō.… of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
echthron“enemy”objectaccusative singular2×
Matthew 5:43… ton plēsion su kai misasi ton echthron su.… Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
2 Thessalonians 3:15kai mē hōs echthron hēgovōr, alla nouthetavōr hōs adelfon.… do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
echthror“enemy”direct addressvocative singular1×
Acts 13:10… dolou kai pantau radiourgiau, huior diabolou, echthror pantau dikaiosunau, ouk pauesi diastrefarōntos tain …… O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full …
echthrou“enemy”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Luke 10:19… kai epi pantan tan dunamian tou echthrou, kai oudenem vin ouk mē adikateia.… over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
echthrois“enemies”subjectnominative plural6×
Matthew 10:36kai echthrois tou anthrōpou tois oikiakois autou.A man’s enemies will be the members of his …
Luke 19:43… hēmerais epi sin kai parembalali tois echthrois su charakon si kai perikuklali sin …… will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you …
Romans 5:10ei gar echthrois arōntois katallaxina to theo dia tou …For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to …
Romans 11:28kata men tem euangeliem echthrois dia vin, kata de tan eklogan …Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election …
Hebrews 10:13tem loipem ekdechorōntos heōs tithileia tois echthrois autou hupopodiem toiu podoiu autou,… that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for …
Revelation 11:12… ta nefela, kai theōrala autoin tois echthrois autoiu.… heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.
echthroin“enemies”objectaccusative plural13×
Matthew 5:44mis de legamō vi, agapavōr toin echthroin vu kai proseuchovōr huper toiu diōkarōntoiu …But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute …
Matthew 22:44… dexeiu mu heōs an tithameia toin echthroin su hupokatō toiu podoiu su?… right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
Mark 12:36… dexeiu mu heōs an tithameia toin echthroin su hupokatō toiu podoiu su.… right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
Luke 6:27… vi legamō toi akouarōntoi, agapavōr toin echthroin vu, kalōs poiavōr toi misarōntoi vin,… will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate …
Luke 6:35plēn agapavōr toin echthroin vu kai agathopoiavōr kai daneizavōr mēdenem …But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend …
Luke 19:27plēn toin echthroin mu houtoin toin mē thelarantoin min …And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for …
Luke 20:43heōs an tithameia toin echthroin su hupopodiem toiu podoiu su.until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’
Acts 2:35heōs an tithameia toin echthroin su hupopodiem toiu podoiu su.until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’
1 Corinthians 15:25… basilarō achri hou tithateia pantoin toin echthroin hupo toin podoin autou.… until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
Philippians 3:18… nun de kai klaiarōntos legamō, toin echthroin tou staurou tou Christou,… even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Colossians 1:21kai vin pote arōntoin apallotriorēntoin kai echthroin ta dianoia en tei ergei tei …… were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil …
Hebrews 1:13… dexeiu mu heōs an tithameia toin echthroin su hupopodiem toiu podoiu su?… right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?
Revelation 11:5… teu stomeu autoiu kai katesthiatō toin echthroin autoiu; kai ei tinos thelateia autoin …… from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants …
echthroiu“enemies”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Luke 1:71sōtērēan ek echthroiu nu kai ek cheirau pantoiu toiu …salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all …
Luke 1:74“enemies”afobōs ek cheirau echthroiu ruirantoin latreuarō autodeliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,